You know that high school that is literally in the middle of a bush??? That one you see when you use the Southern bypass. Si you know that school that was recognised for its integrity by the Education CS just the other year??? The best one south of Sahara and north of Limpopo. Sasa umeget shule naongelelea…yees??? Read below the perks of being a student there.
There was so much love in that school. The 4-letter word was spelt in all classes, houses, in the field…basically EVERYWHERE. You would be walking along the streets and find a teacher giving a student a warm hug. Teachers chatting with students in the subject departments wasn’t anything new; it was the order of the day.
You guys don’t know how big of a deal Valentine’s Day was(and still is). Kwanza my first Valentine’s Day in the school is the one I vividly remember.
It was still the first week of school, so we were having the form one orientation. Just before morning assembly, we were instructed to go to our classes. Was I ready for the day that unfolded??? NOT AT ALL!!! So we found our class teacher with a bouquet of rose flowers. He gave each of us a stem and then we went for the assembly.
We used to have a vibrant principal, Mrs. Kamwilu. This was a lovey dovey woman😂❤. At the parade ground, she led us in singing songs like “Someone loves you honey” by June Lodge and Prince Mohamed and “I just called to say I love you” by Stevie Wonder. I honestly had never had a more amazing Valentine’s before.
That was not all. After lunch we had a whole celebration in the school auditorium. The first lady, who happens to be the school’s patron, had a bar of chocolate for the 1500+ of us. And those guys that have their motto as “Strong to Serve” had their student council bring us a bouquet and a card. A WHOLE CARD my peeps!!! To crown the day we had a meal of pilau, chicken, chapati and soda. This is just one of the many instances love was in the air; pure love.
FYI we used to have photoshoots in our school 😎. This used to happen on Sunday afternoons. Which other school will allow you have shoots save for those funkies???
School functions was the order of the day. I remember there’s this time we had functions almost every Saturday. Functions used to range from school birthdays (yees BIRTHDAYS 🤣), speech days, open days, AGMs, fun days and individual birthdays. Not a week would pass without one of us celebrating her birthday. I always looked forward to singing the birthday songs. Ok I wasn’t singing really 😂. I was among those that were aimlessly hitting their desks to back-up the ones singing.
Btw our morning program used to start at 0500hrs. I always was surprised whenever my friends from other schools talked of how they’d wake up at 3AM and rush to class. “Why???” I’d often ask. “Because that’s what you do in Allayo” .I’d laugh out loud because what do you mean??? I am not sure who fed them with this information but I am yet to come across a scam bigger than this.
I love how the school administration recognised all denominations and religions. Muslims used to have their service that ran parallel with our Sunday service. Catholics and Adventists had time for their services as well. For the 4 years I was in high school I took this as a normality. Not until my campus friend told me how their school only recognised one denomination. Why would you do that?!?
You see how medics have their jargon, now we had ours. Let’s just call it a register. Trust me, if you ever found yourself in the midst of Busherians talking, you’d get lost. Top on the list for me were: Para, George, Wayo, Rolling, Cop, DT, Downarea, Maro…I realize I’ve forgotten several of them😂. It is amazing that even our teachers embraced this register and you would more often than not hear them use a word or two in their conversations.
Lest you think AGHS was all about fun, lemme tell you of the pressure there was. To whom much is given, much is expected. Since much was expected from us, we had to put in a lot. Form four was hell on earth. We had a paper everyday, practicals every week and we still had assignments. It got to a point I was like “this life I can’t kill myself🤦🏿♀”. I think I’ve talked about this in one of my previous blogs.
Other perks of being in Bush were;
- In form four we used to have tea/coffee after night preps
- Several dignitaries visited the school very randomly and the beauty of it is that we always interacted with them
- We had both mid-terms and visiting days 😎
- We weren’t allowed to have fancy hairstyles;you either have neatly combed hair or cornrows(which had to be removed before Sunday service or when going out)
- We were assured of a special meal during all holidays; even the ones that are not recognised as much.
Bush was a whole mood. I would go back, but not for the books😹. It was all about “Walking in the Light” and in the light I have walked all these years😊.
~Bible Vibes~
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
Psalms 119:105
CoFfEe SeRvEr 