HE Bockari Kortu Stevens and others view “The First Grader”
Washington, DC, Thursday May 17th, 2012: Honouring an invitation to view the launching of the Africa Film Series, His Excellency Mr. Bockari Kortu Stevens joined his colleagues and hundreds of other people from all walks of life to view the much talked about film “The First Grader” at the World Bank’s Preston Auditorium in Washington, DC, at 6:30p.m.
Sitting next to H.E. Mr. Somduth Soborun, the Mauritius Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Stevens (accompanied by the Information Attaché II, Ms. Elizabeth Foray) spent the evening watching on big screen, the 103 minute-long film, “The First Grader”.
The First Grader, written by Ann Peacock, was produced in 2010 and directed by Justin Chadwick. It has a touching human-interest storyline, centered around one character – Kimani N’gan’ga Maruge (Oliver Musila Litondo) – who fought the British during the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya (1952-1960). Maruge lost his wife and two children in the struggle and became a subject of torture and suffering but he endured and survived to tell his story.
At 84 years old the freedom fighter stepped forward to take advantage of the Kenyan government’s 2003, offer of free education for all. His admission in a village private school was not immediately approved and when eventually it did, it caused a outcry in the village that sometimes became violent. In spite of the odds, Maruge asserted his right to education, while images of the Mau Mau struggle kept haunting him in his new drive for freedom from –this time around – ignorance. The Director of Photography, Ron Harding, did justice to the mixing between the two times – past and present.
Maruge’s side won the struggle for freedom from the Brits and, in the struggle for education, he also won. Even though he may not have received a degree, on the five years that were left of his life, he became a star, giving talks and receiving awards. Maruge ‘s story has served as inspiration for old people around the world that nobody is too old to learn, and young and old can learn together. His belief in the “power of the pen” takes him to his grave (in August 2009) leaving a legacy behind. According to the film, he was invited to the United Nations in New York to give a talk on education. He is in the Guinness Book of Records as the World’s oldest pupil.
After the viewing, the producers engaged the audience in a tête-à-tête during which Mr. Litondo called on the World Bank for support to African countries for film-productions to better tell their story, provide jobs and preserve their culture. Mr. Harding is coincidentally a nephew of Ambassador Stevens, through his Sierra Leonean mother Nemahun R. Stevens-White. “The film is worthy of the publicity it has received since it was launched in 2010,” Ambassador Stevens observed on his way home.
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