บท 7: Sinanda, the Soldier.
Sinanda was born in a tiny village fifty kilometres from Tima, which was the only town in Timanga. He had three brothers and two sisters. He was the youngest of the six children.
His father and mother could not afford to send all the children to school, so only the two oldest boys received a proper education. His mother tried to make sure that all the children could read and write a little.
Sinanda was not a very intelligent boy, but he was not stupid. He wanted to do well and make plenty of money. But he wanted it at once. He was greedy, but he did not want to work hard. He had worked hard to learn what his mother could teach him. He had only done this because everyone told him that education was important.
Sinanda, like all the other boys in the village, had to work every day. He and his sisters collected water every morning at daybreak. Immediately after a breakfast of akara and tea, he went with the village boys. Their job was to drive the goats and cattle into the bush to look for good grass and fresh leaves.
The animals belonged to the various families in the village. Sinanda's father owned ten goats and four cows. The cows gave them all the milk they needed. Compared to most of the other men in the village, Sinanda's father was quite rich. But they had a bad harvest the previous year and Pa Mininda, Sinanda's
father, had borrowed money from the wealthiest man in the village. Pa Mininda was hoping for a good harvest this year or he would have to sell some of the animals to pay back the money.
Sinanda was not popular with the other boys. He was very big and strong for his age. He liked to bully the smaller boys and make them do all the work. He would lie on a pile of grass while the other boys looked after the animals, At first some of the other boys flattered him and pretended to be his friend but soon they grew tired of his bullying. One day they all ganged up on him and gave him a severe beating. He was so badly beaten he had to stay in bed for three days. His mother, who could see no wrong in her son, blamed everyone but Sinanda.
After that Sinanda worked along with the other boys, but he hated them in his heart.
When he was fourteen he read a poster in the village asking for recruits to join the Royal Bamangan Army. Sinanda wanted to get away from the village but there was one problem. Applicants had to be at least fifteen years of age when they applied. Sinanda read the words carefully. There was free food and accommodation, free uniforms, free education for those who wanted to study and recruits would receive a weekly wage.
At that moment Sinanda decided to join the army on his fifteenth birthday. He went to talk to his mother. He recited all the things he had seen on the poster. He told her that he would work hard and really make something of himself.
There was nothing in the village for him, and all the other boys were jealous of him, he said. When he was successful, he would bring his father and mother to live with him in Port Bamanga. He did not intend to spend money on his mother and father, but it sounded good to say it.
His mother knew the other children in the village did not like him, but Sinanda was her favourite. She was sure he could be an important person. She said she would talk to his father but Pa Mininda was very worried about money and the harvest. He did not listen carefully to what his wife told him. What he did hear was very good. It would help him a lot if there was one less mouth to feed. It would help if Sinanda sent some of his wages each week. He agreed to let Sinanda join the army.
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The nine months to Sinanda's fifteenth birthday seemed to pass more and more slowly. Sinanda's head was full of the army. He marched everywhere. He saluted the village headman and the witch-doctor. He saluted the wealthy man who had worked for years in Port Bamanga. This was the man who had lent Sinanda's father the money to buy grain for this year's crop.
He tried to get the other boys to play soldiers with him. After one game in which he hurt four of them with a big stick, no one would play with him again.
Six months before his fifteenth birthday, Sinanda and his mother wrote to the army headquarters in Port Bamanga. Two weeks later, one of the women in the village told him that there was a letter for him at the village post office. It was an application form to join the army. It had to be completed in Sinanda's own handwriting and signed by his father and the village headman. Sinanda sent the form off immediately.
One month before his fifteenth birthday he received another letter. This time he had to go to the army barracks in Tima for an interview and a medical examination.
Although he was very nervous, Sinanda enjoyed every minute of his visit to Tima. He had never seen a town before and he stared in amazement at the shops and buildings. He had come with his father, who was required to attend the interview and sign all the papers for Sinanda's entry into the army.
Sinanda tried even harder to look like a soldier as they approached the gates of the army barracks. He put his shoulders back and marched alongside his father feeling proud of himself. The interview was very short and the officer in charge was clearly impressed by Sinanda's height, size and enthusiasm. After the medical examination, the officer told Sinanda that he would hear if his application had been successful within a few weeks.
Sinanda returned home full of his trip to Tima. He told anyone who would listen all about it. He exaggerated some of the story, saying how the army liked him. Also he said they had told him he would be an officer in no time at all.
Two months passed and Sinanda began to believe that the army had not accepted him. The other boys began to laugh behind his back. They pretended to march the way he did and they called each other captain and general, saluting each other every time they saw him.
Just when Sinanda was about to burst with rage, his father came home from the village shop one evening with a thick envelope. Sinanda almost held his breath as he opened the envelope. He was to report to the army barracks in Tima in seven days. He would be taken to Port Bamanga to begin his army training. There was a list of things he had to bring with him, and two more forms to be filled in and signed. The most important one had to be signed by both Sinanda and his father. It said that Sinanda agreed to remain in the army for a period ot twenty-two years. He could, if the army was satisfied with him, sign for a further twenty-two years at the end of the first period.
The morning on which Sinanda left the village was the happiest day of his life and the bus that took him to Tima was better than any magic carpet. He said goodbye to his mother, father, brothers and sisters as quickly as he could. Then he loaded his box on to the bus and scrambled in after it. He waved at his family and settled down in his seat. He would show everyone what he could do.
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