A journey to Moeng College

| Friday November 14, 2008 00:00

FRANCISTOWN: Our long wait for the Moeng College bound trucks to pick us from the Palapye railway station had already exposed us to many risks.The motor vehicles that incessantly splashed some stationery water trapped in the black cotton soil at the station bothered us a lot. The rains had come early that year and the thick dark clouds that hung above promised that rain could return anytime.Palapye's known pickpockets were also lurking around the station area to possibly make hay from us as some of us were careless with our valued possessions.Moeng College, which was popularly known as MOCOL, opened its doors to its first students in 1949.

The construction of the country's oldest school started in 1947 with Tshekedi Khama, then Bangwato regent, mobilising his tribe to build the school. He built Moeng College in honour of his father Khama III who loved the valley (Moeng) and visited it often. The area also had lots of water, which attracted royal attention. In October next year, the school will commemorate its 60th Anniversary. The long list of the school's alumni includes former president Festus Mogae, former cabinet minister and business magnate David Magang, former Debswana managing director Louis Nchindo, Finance Minister Baledzi Gaolathe and many other notables who are expected to grace this occasion.Around 1982 there was a story doing the rounds at Moeng that Tshekedi once instructed his subjects to construct a short cut road from Moeng across the hills to Maunatlala passing through the villages of Mosweu, Mokokwana and Seolwane, but he unfortunately met much resistance from Tswapong ancestors or spirits. We were told that after his men had cut down the trees in preparation for this road they were disappointed the following day to find the trees up again.

Michael Leburu, Molaakgosi Oreetseng(late), Onameditse July(late),Mmelegi Tshabatau, Tsheboeng Dikgang, Dikgang Mogokgwane, Ookeditse Seboko (nee Saboi), Lucia Selebogo (late) and Fredah Mabua, amongst others, were some of my former school mates at the Serorome primary school who joined me on the journey to our new school - Moeng College. Today, they are men and women of various professions.The Palapye railway station during our time provided a vital meeting point for students travelling to schools across the country. The day preceding a trip to Moeng College, students from the north, south and other parts of the country converged at the station, especially at night to 'entertain' themselves before they finally vanished to their various destinations.Some of the students whiled away time by patronising entertainment jaunts in Palapye at night whilst others thronged the station area boozing the night away. This is where friendships were built and some destroyed.A trunk bearing the student's name was a symbol of power and a source of pride. Mostly, the trunks represented the only valued possessions that the students had. On the gravel road, jokes were cracked, but for the Form Ones there was an imposed 'moratorium' prohibiting us from laughing even if it was a laughable matter, in the 88 km stretch journey. Ours was a journey into the unknown, yet exciting.After passing Ratholo village, there is a lovely road which goes up a hillock before taking a sharp turn left heading towards Moeng College proper. Before the truck could climb this road, senior students forced us all to close our eyes 'as you are likely to disappear from school.' We were prevented from enjoying a view of the natural beauty of the Tswapong thickets.Surrounded by the Tswapong hills, Moeng College landscape is strikingly beautiful and offers an admirable picturesque. It is here that a variety of vegetation is found. Besides the flora, the hills and thickets around the school are home to a variety of fauna. In a nutshell, Moeng is a tourist attraction site of great importance. In particular, the area is home to kudus, baboons, snakes, birds and other wildlife.A climb up the hill provides a panoramic view of Moeng, which still bears the mark of the colonial development as some of the teachers' quarters were not touched when the school was given a facelift a few years ago. There was a lovely stream which ran between the school orchard and the classrooms. Naturally, this was fed by water flowing from the hills. It snaked its way behind the dining hall and disappeared into a tshimo or farm, which was ploughed seasonally. Throughout the year, the area was green. Come winter, it was possible to find water frozen here. Possibly, because of the abundant water sources and the hills, Moeng College was very cold in winter forcing a majority of the students to burn stones and warm their hands.Taking a walk away from the classes and hostels one enjoyed the melodious sounds of various birds. But of course, one ought to walk carefully out there as the hills and caves around it offer shelter to a variety of snakes including pythons, which are often uninvited guests to the teachers' quarters.There was a time when the South African soccer giants Kaizer Chiefs, Moroka Swallows, Mamelodi Sundowns and others enjoyed massive support from the student community. Whenever the teams clashed, the students will converge up the hill where there was reception for the radio and follow the commentators as they gave a blow-by-blow presentation of the game. The beginning of the year bullying was a seemingly 'normalised' exercise, which saw beginners abused mostly by Form Twos who previously were the victims of the same exercise. Prefects, who in most cases were older people and of senior classes could not help the situation by intervening. A senior student would approach beginners with his fingers drawn out and tensed before roughly pressing you from the face downwards up to the chest, in a manner that will leave the victim in pain and seriously embarrassed.

One would be expected to bleat like a goat, 'pe-e-e-e-e-e!' on the instruction of a senior boy commanding you like a choirmaster holding a tuning fork. This was done in full view of one's peers. This was more like a ritual or initiation and if one regarded it like a passing phase it will pass quickly. But for those who treated it more like abuse, it came to haunt them.There was a time when some of us even contemplated hiding in the hills around Moeng, until the ill-treatment had subsided, but after thorough self-counselling we decided to stay on. As former Moeng College students and teachers brace themselves for the 60th anniversary next October, this is a reflection of the three years I spent at the school before I was transferred to the Shashe River Secondary School.I remember vividly at the southern part of the old dining hall, on our first day at Moeng, when I caught up with the young Tachilisa Balule with his head decorated with some sugar and flowers roughly cut from some trees outside the school-dining hall. He was trying to communicate, but it could not help as Balule struggled with his Setswana so much that I could not grasp his story. He then resorted to Sekalaka, which was also a problem for poor me. He ended up gesturing at me so that I could quickly grasp his story. It was not long before I was also quickly decorated by some abusive senior boys. We were expected to remain like that for the rest of the day.

We joined Moeng College at a time when the school was famous for its academic excellence and high level of discipline. Moeng used to top the charts both academically and in the co-curricula. It was perhaps because of the administration style of the then school head, Bernard Moswela, who was a feared disciplinarian that the school performed very well. The debating team and the History symposium club were a marvel to watch and to listen to.Some of the members of our class of 1982 included Paul Magazine, Patrick Boitshwarelo, Mmoloki Thomola, Jericho Jonas, Otswakae Tshoganetso, Tsietsi Molefhe, Motswamasimo Lekintane, Jalang Diane, Mmelegi Tshabatau, Kebotswe Manowe, Cortina, Ishmael Maseelane, Seabelo Selato, Marang Ooki, Tshidiso Mphoyakgosi (late) and others.The other factor that separated Moeng from the rest of the schools was its prefect system, which was really advanced. Although there were occasional complaints that prefects and the head girl/boy were behaving like teachers, they were so much involved in the governance of the school. Cases of indiscipline involving fellow students were disposed of by the prefects without even the involvement of the teachers.Boys and girls dormitories were located in the eastern part of the school and they were several metres apart. They would later be separated by some teachers' quarters. In my three years at Moeng, I never heard of any incident in which a male student had strayed into the opposite sex dormitories, which was common in other schools during our time.Walking with the opposite sex at night was also prohibited to the extent that once caught one would be hauled before the prefects and the punishment meted out would amongst others include cleaning rows and rows of tables in the dining hall, clearing the bushes, digging a pit and filling it up with sand again or any other punishment deemed pertinent.

There was a roommate who was always caught on the wrong side of the school regulations in company of his girlfriend. He hailed from Lerala village whilst the girlfriend was from Gootau. He was fond of keeping his girlfriend longer at the classes than it was permissible. The classrooms were a bit distant from the dormitories. A dormitory accommodated about 18 students. There were sad moments when some of the students soiled others' blankets with urine.

At some stage, I shared the room with the likes of Temperance Ketshabile, Stillwell Dambuza, Dennis Legopelo, Edule Gaeratwe (late), Japhter Masunge, Listen Kealotswe, Moses Ramabele, Chepete Chepete, Bethuel Botumile and Lenkokame Sesowa to mention but some of them. For three years, at the school, Moeng was home away from home and the fear that characterised our first day was now gone.

In the early 1980s, communication was chiefly through letters as there were no Internet facilities and mobile phones. Receiving a letter from anywhere was therefore a great honour. The letters were read out openly in front of the boys' or girls' hostels.