S-Man (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} chiviak) wrote,@ 2005-07-15 13:29:00 |
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Legson Kayira
"I learned I was not, as most Africans believed,
the victim of my circumstance but the master of them."
As a boy, Legson found it easy to pity himself and to believe that living in a poor village in Africa's Nyasaland (now Malawi) doomed him to a life of want.
But then in a schoolbook he read about Abraham Lincoln, a poor man who grew to be a great man after rising above his background. "I had never dreamed that there was such a person who was poorer than I was," Legson later wrote, "yet who in the course of his life had accomplished much more and far above the powers of my ambition." Legson decided he, too, wanted to serve mankind - to make a difference. And it seemed clear to him that there was only one way to accomplish his goal: Go to America and get an education.
Despite having no money, no contacts, and little schooling, in 1958 Legson set out to walk to America. "I saw the land of Lincoln as the place where one literally went to get the freedom of independence that one thought and knew was due him." His plan was to walk to Egypt - barefoot, I might add - some three thousand miles away, and then figure out a way to get on a ship bound for the United States. His only possessions on his journey were a Bible, The Pilgrim's Progress, a small ax, a spare shirt, a blanket, and five days' worth of food.
Of course, he had no money to pay for the trip to America and no idea which college he would attend, or even if he would be accepted at any school. But he emptied his mind of anything except pursuing his dream of getting an education.
After five days in rough terrain, he had covered only twenty-five miles and was out of food. But still he trudged on, sometimes walking with strangers but often walking alone. Between him and his destination were hundreds of tribes that spoke more than fifty languages, none of which Legson knew, so he entered each new village cautiously. Sometimes he found work and a place to stay, but often he camped and foraged for food. When times got tough, he repeated over and over his school's motto: "I Will Try."
At one point he became gravely ill with a fever, and more than once he considered returning home. But each time he became discouraged, he read his books and reignited his passion.
Fifteen months after he began his journey, he reached Kampala, Uganda, having covered about a thousand miles. He rested there for a while working odd jobs and indulging in his love of books at the local library. One such book was a directory of junior colleges in America. He opened it, and his eyes fell on the listing for Skagit Valley College in Washington State. He decided that was where he would go to school.
Legson wrote Skagit's dean explaining his situation and inquiring about scholarships. The dean was so impressed with the young African's determination that he granted him admission to the school as well as a scholarship and a job that would pay his room and board.
While elated with the news, Legson was unaware of the obstacles that lay ahead. He needed a passport, but to get that he needed a verified birth date, which his illiterate parents didn't have. As if that wasn't enough, he also needed round-trip airfare before he could even apply for a visa.
Without enough money for food and lodging, Legson pushed on, believing he would somehow come up with the money. Meanwhile, word of his remarkable odyssey spread, and by the time he reached Khartoum, Sudan - tired, weak, and hungry - he learned that Skagit students and local residents there had raised the $650 he needed and found him a place to stay in Washington.
In December, 1960, more than two years after he'd begun walking, Legson Kayira arrived at Skagit Valley College, still carrying his two treasured books.
Legson graduated from Skagit and continued his education, earning a doctorate from Cambridge University in England, where he later became a political science professor as well as the author of an autobiography (I Will Try) and four respected novels.
If you have the freedom to do anything, learn everything, live anywhere, and love anyone, what excuse could you possibly have to be unhappy with your life?"
the victim of my circumstance but the master of them."
As a boy, Legson found it easy to pity himself and to believe that living in a poor village in Africa's Nyasaland (now Malawi) doomed him to a life of want.
But then in a schoolbook he read about Abraham Lincoln, a poor man who grew to be a great man after rising above his background. "I had never dreamed that there was such a person who was poorer than I was," Legson later wrote, "yet who in the course of his life had accomplished much more and far above the powers of my ambition." Legson decided he, too, wanted to serve mankind - to make a difference. And it seemed clear to him that there was only one way to accomplish his goal: Go to America and get an education.
Despite having no money, no contacts, and little schooling, in 1958 Legson set out to walk to America. "I saw the land of Lincoln as the place where one literally went to get the freedom of independence that one thought and knew was due him." His plan was to walk to Egypt - barefoot, I might add - some three thousand miles away, and then figure out a way to get on a ship bound for the United States. His only possessions on his journey were a Bible, The Pilgrim's Progress, a small ax, a spare shirt, a blanket, and five days' worth of food.
Of course, he had no money to pay for the trip to America and no idea which college he would attend, or even if he would be accepted at any school. But he emptied his mind of anything except pursuing his dream of getting an education.
After five days in rough terrain, he had covered only twenty-five miles and was out of food. But still he trudged on, sometimes walking with strangers but often walking alone. Between him and his destination were hundreds of tribes that spoke more than fifty languages, none of which Legson knew, so he entered each new village cautiously. Sometimes he found work and a place to stay, but often he camped and foraged for food. When times got tough, he repeated over and over his school's motto: "I Will Try."
At one point he became gravely ill with a fever, and more than once he considered returning home. But each time he became discouraged, he read his books and reignited his passion.
Fifteen months after he began his journey, he reached Kampala, Uganda, having covered about a thousand miles. He rested there for a while working odd jobs and indulging in his love of books at the local library. One such book was a directory of junior colleges in America. He opened it, and his eyes fell on the listing for Skagit Valley College in Washington State. He decided that was where he would go to school.
Legson wrote Skagit's dean explaining his situation and inquiring about scholarships. The dean was so impressed with the young African's determination that he granted him admission to the school as well as a scholarship and a job that would pay his room and board.
While elated with the news, Legson was unaware of the obstacles that lay ahead. He needed a passport, but to get that he needed a verified birth date, which his illiterate parents didn't have. As if that wasn't enough, he also needed round-trip airfare before he could even apply for a visa.
Without enough money for food and lodging, Legson pushed on, believing he would somehow come up with the money. Meanwhile, word of his remarkable odyssey spread, and by the time he reached Khartoum, Sudan - tired, weak, and hungry - he learned that Skagit students and local residents there had raised the $650 he needed and found him a place to stay in Washington.
In December, 1960, more than two years after he'd begun walking, Legson Kayira arrived at Skagit Valley College, still carrying his two treasured books.
Legson graduated from Skagit and continued his education, earning a doctorate from Cambridge University in England, where he later became a political science professor as well as the author of an autobiography (I Will Try) and four respected novels.
