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Keeping the Spirit Alive

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Keeping the Spirit Alive ISSN 0816-6315 US$6.00 Vol 31 No. 1 July - September, 2015 Keeping the Spirit Alive 1 need to toe the line. We all know that given half a chance most young- Aspects of School Life sters will flagrantly take advantage at the first sign of weakness, as we by OMicron Man frequently see today. It’s a funny old World though that any adult who caned kids now would probably be locked away. Alas the tables have Anyone will tell you that as one gets older time seems to fly by turned, for the worse I suspect. I’m sure many will agree that our fairly quicker, and one reflects back on the past more often. Whether those strict upbringing must have instilled some discipline and a sense of times were better than the present obviously depends on the memo- respect in us, and no doubt a certain amount of pride too... ries being dwelled upon. Generally though, we tend to look at past May I just add that during the many years that Rhodesians Worldwide experiences with a certain amount of nostalgia and often refer to them has been issued there appears to be a definite lack of input from fel- as the Good Old Days. With retirement looming, I got reminiscing and low classmates of our generation. School certainly wasn’t boring, and decided to do a little writing. we sure had our fair share of interesting personalities. Come on guys, The period in our lives we spend at school is definitely the most especially all those who shone at English and examinations, don’t let intense. At school there wasn’t a lot of choice to be had. You are put those O, M and A levels be entirely wasted - send in an anecdote or on this earth, and you were either bright, average or dumb, studious two ! or lazy, you passed or failed. If pressures mounted you had to learn to cope with them. You couldn’t just chuck it in and try something else. Bunking school would only lead to some very complicated stuff best RHODESIAN WAR TESTIMONIES left alone. You were at the mercy of so many people. It was quite a By Brian ORFORD difficult time. We all have to endure the system of compulsory school attendance. It’s the law. There’s no way out. Sometimes the routine In reading this account it is good to remember God looks after His daily slog is hard to deal with. own, and does not pick sides. In the old days there was an additional incentive to attend school – Basically what happened on the 21st October, 1978 was this... the cane. Corporal punishment was in vogue back then. It was being We had just finished lunch when I asked Allan, aged 8, and Sylvia, sensibly used as the first step in discipline for the wayward juvenile and aged 6, to move the two horses into some shade. The horses were common criminal, and it was also dished out to the sometimes inatten- tied to the inside fence of our two security fences. Allan and Sylvia tive schoolboy, and girl. Step out of line and you were in trouble. Painful went out the gate of the first fence and along the fence to where the trouble. It was written into the statute books of the Government of the horses were. They had just untied the horses and began to walk them day, no doubt under the heading Law & Order. So beware ! to the shade when 12 terrs (terrorists) opened fire on them. The terrs In ‘hind’ sight it’s an interesting and controversial part of the school had come up from behind our sheds and the closest was 25-30 metres curriculum in the 60’s and earlier. Many teachers ruled with a stick. from Allan and Sylvia. The furthest was no more than 50-55 metres Some preferred to wield a small cricket bat, another a large PT hockey from them. stick, or a length of Bunsen burner tubing, or a size 12 takkie (just Allan ran down the fence, some 20-25 metres, through the gate and guessing). I seem to recall even a hair brush was used on occasions. up to the house. The gate to the house is about 30-35 m. (Allan and And there were sometimes choices too, Slim a flexible piece of dowel- Sylvia were both under fire the whole time they were running. The at- ling, or 007 a carefully hollowed out baseball bat. All manner of items tack switched to the house later.) Sylvia initially ran to a tree between were used successfully to inflict pain, in the name of education and the two fences. She could not have been behind the tree for quite liter- obedience. Officially this was called caning, but in schoolboy parlance ally a few seconds, when she realised Allan had gone. She then left her words like beat, cuts, lashes and dorks were used. All one and the shelter and ran to the house. Her distances were the same as Allan’s. same thing. After the attack we went out and collected 193 spent cartridge cases. As with the different weapons used degrees of forcefulness also The tree where Sylvia had been had 21 bullet hits. The inside fence came into the equation, and this is what really mattered. A bacon slice had numerous hits in the line where the children had run. The ground delivered by Mr C would cause some chuckles in class when the blow across which they had run was completely open without any form of missed the target altogether. On the other hand a couple of whacks cover except for the one tree which was not in the line of fire. by Mr B’s cane was on clear display for all and sundry to observe In the meantime, we in the house returned the fire, and managed, days later as angry red and blue welts on the back of the legs, below with God’s help, to beat off the attack. We do not know if we managed short trousers height. No chance of any hidden padding helping you to hit any of the terrs or not. Not one of us, however, had even a scratch out there. except for Sylvia who had two marks, which we assume, were from the It goes without saying that the embarrassment factor played a large sand being thrown up by bullets as she ran. part when punishment took place in front of the class. You were not There can be no other explanation except God’s hand and keeping. supposed to flinch or howl, but you should remain dead pan and take This also applies to the timing of the attack because: it like a man. Perhaps this served as a bigger deterrent than the cane 1: At the time we had two chaps with us and we were, literally, in the itself. process of leaving for a meeting when the attack started. Most teachers fell into the ‘mediocre’ category (no derogatory term 2: A few minutes later would have found me at the outside fence, intended), but their wrath was still to be avoided at all costs, unless checking that the gates were locked and the alarm was on. I would you were a masochist. They handed out punishment fairly and con- have been no more than 10 metres from one of the terrs. sistently, usually for well deserved reasons and were not influenced 3: Five minutes later three men would have been in open ground by mood swings. Some of these teachers were real characters, they closing the vehicle gates as we left. Some 40 metres odd from the laughed and shared a joke, chatted with us about life, were well liked gang. and respected by the average student, were very good teachers and 4: After that, my wife, four children and another lady would have been nice human beings, and a few went on to become legends. Ex-pupils completely on their own in the house. would even make a special effort to re-acquaint themselves years later. When one stops and realises what could have happened (e.g. Allan Adversely a small minority of teachers just proved to be a hindrance or Sylvia being wounded between (the fences), one can only say Jesus to one’s pursuit of a happy education, and history has hopefully for- was there and He protected us. gotten them already. The extreme side of the spectrum belonged to That evening the children were saying their prayers, as normal, and a couple of miserable specimens whom I thought went too far. One they only had thanks for God. We are grateful that there was no bitter- had a tendency to bully and humiliate, which you don’t expect from a ness on their behalf and still isn’t. They can and still do only thank God teacher, they are supposed to set an example. And if you were unfor- for His keeping. tunate enough to get on the wrong side of the other, then I believe one Sylvia was telling my brother and others about the attack and said, can safely say the ultimate in dorks had been received – hit for a six. “Do you know why I wasn’t hit? Because Jesus had His arms around All in all though, looking back I suppose we weren’t particularly hard me and the bullets just bounced off Him.” done by. It certainly served as an ominous reminder in those days, Strange as it may seem, we are thankful for the experience, it was distinguishing between Master and pupil, Parents and child, and the a turning point in each of our lives.
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