Let's do it for him

Yesterday, he came to see me and asked if I could lend him a book to read in English. I said ‘yes’... This morning, as I arrive to school on my motor bike, he was waiting for me... I took a book of social studies and chose a text about how European nations carved up Africa at the 1884 Berlin conference. I first asked him to read a passage loud to briefly assess his level. He did quite well. Then, I asked him to read the rest of the text quietly in his head and focus on meaning. By then we had about 40 pupils from the senior school (Tronc commun) surrounding us. I checked if he/they knew the meaning of some key words and expressions, such as ‘scramble for Africa’, ‘spheres of influence’, 'signed agreements with chiefdoms’, ‘all wanted a slice of Africa’, ‘Africans were not consulted at all’... It does not that many words to understand colonialism from the colonised perspective! He/they had no problem. I have decided with them that I will come and work with him and his class a few hours a week. I want him to ‘have a slice of universal education’.
Let’s do it for him! Let’s do it for a proud, free, Rwandan boy...