Schoolgirls earn public caning
An item recalling her school days in Uganda by Lillian Ikulumet, by the local Observer newspaper on 15 November 2009:
Have you ever tried to remember some high school adventures? Some were so imprudent…
There was this Mathematics teacher at Ngora High School who was very tough. He made everyone coil in fear whenever he roared: “Go for prep!” Everyone trembled except my best friend, Nancy. Up to now I don’t know where she drew her courage from.
One evening after supper when it was…, oops, I just remembered I didn’t tell you his name! On second thought, let me keep it to myself. It’s a small world and you never know when I will need his help or service. Let’s just call him Amon in this story.
It was Amon’s week on duty. His weeks on duty were the worst ever because the school would be as silent as a grave. No one ever dared to speak because you never knew where he would come from to pin you down. Nancy came up with this idea of locking Amon in the dormitory and then teasing him to take his shirt off.
Like any brave leader, she called the shots and drafted the plan. All we had to do was follow her and we did like ants. The plan was to make as much noise as possible, which would draw Amon to the dormitory, then someone would lock the door from outside and the teasing would begin.
To be honest, I was scared to death. I had never been expelled but somehow something told me that I had to go down that road this time round. The plan worked flawlessly and the girls had a field day shouting all kinds of insults at the guy. But no one was showing their face. Did I mention that we first removed the bulbs? Yes, there was darkness everywhere.
When Nancy deemed it fit to stop, she ordered for the door to be opened. To my surprise, the outwardly tough Amon was a hollow shell deep down inside. He was speechless and the speed at which he went out, you would think he was Usain Bolt’s cousin!
But there is always a price to everything. Despite the fact that it was worth every fun, the one acre of potatoes that we had to weed, not to mention the canes we had to endure in front of the whole school, was too much a price to pay. As for Amon, he realised that one hundred mice could bring down a lion!
