Tribute on the Fallen Tony Woods - By Dr. Temi Mutia

Antony Woods aka Miti

 JOINED IMAGINATIONS- A TRIBUTE TO THE LATE ROBERT ANTHONY WOODS ( a.k.a Miti).

By Temi M Mutia

Fri. 26th May 2023

~ In the recent past, I have not been a great fun of both the mainstream media as well as social media.

~ I am increasingly finding both, quite toxic in the kind of news they carry.

~..... so, soooo predictable with politics being the main menu on offer;

~ And so, when I first got the news that, Mr. Tony Woods ( the Long serving Principal of St. Charles Lwanga School) was gravely ill, I quickly rushed to the St. Charles Lwanga Old Boys whatApp Wall for some concise updates on the matter only to learn that he was no more;

~ I have quite a lot I could say about Mr. Woods, but chose to restrict myself to just 3 incidences about about Mr. Woods, which I still remember as if they happened just yesterday;

A visit to our girls at St Angelas...

~ The first one was when I was in form four in the first term, in 1979. It was on a Sunday evening and we had just returned to school after an outing to St. Angelas, Girls, 

~At the time, girls from St. Angelas were presumed to be close to boys from St. Lwanga, while those from Mulango Girls were presumed to be close to boys from Kitui School;

~ NEVER mind, the stories going round through the grapevine today that, the current generation of Lwangalarians have since lost St. Angela's girls to Matinyani boys;

~ After returning from the outing in St. Angelas, the evening roll call was called out.

Rejecting weevil infested githeri ...

~ This is the time word went round to the effect that, the beans cooked for dinner were full of wevils and hence unfit for human consumption;

~ Occasionally, during those days, when something was not right with super, Mr. Woods would either buy bread for us or allow us to take porradge meant for breakfast, the next day;

~ This particular evening, both Mr. Woods and his Deputy ( Mr. Mbua - a k. a - Krakatoa), were not in School and the Teacher on duty said he had no powers to give authority to substitute Kitheri ( a. k. a - Kyaa ) with porridge;

~ We would hear none of this. We stormed the kitchen and drunk all the porridge meant for breakfast the next day;

Porridge drinkers expelled... 

~ The better part of the following morning was spent in trying to find out who were the ring leaders of the unauthorized consumption of the porridge. 

~ Finally, the whole school was called to parade and Mr. Mbua ( the Deputy) was asked to read the riot act;

~ I was one of the four students send home for two weeks, following which we were asked to surrender all the School text books in our possession;

~ As we approached the main gate, we saw a form three student rushing to us. Mr. Woods wanted to see us;

~ When we got to his office, he allowed us to take with us ALL the text books we had surrenderd and even allowed us to borrow some more books from the library;

~ He fully supported the 2 weeks suspension metted to us, but did not support our beign denied our right to knowledge;

~ The *2nd big lession* I learned from Mr. Woods was during our last week in School,in form four. After taking us through some revision work in commerce, we started discussing life after school. Then, out of the blues, someone asked him what kind of a woman should someone marry.

( A beautiful woman, an educated woman, a woman from a very rich family). He allowed quite some bit of debate on the matter;

Wood's advice on a good wife...

~ At the end, he told us, when you start marrying, ensure you marry a woman who is a good cook and loves cooking. 

~ He further told us that, this is important because when both of you are old, she shall always cook good food for both of you.

 *The 3rd major lesson* I learned from Mr. Woods was after I had finished form six and went back to Lwanga to collect my school leaving certificate. I had delayed collecting it because, I was not sure what kind of leaving certificate I was going to get and especially after my porridge debacle;

Teaching among my former teachers ...

~ When, I got to his office, I did not only get a great leaving certificate, but he also offered me a teaching position;

~ You can imagine how it felt sitting in the staffroom, where nearly ALL the teachers who were there when I was being expelled were now my fellow teachers;

~ I tought in St. Charles Lwanga for 2 good years ( courtesy of the failed 1982 coup) which kept the University of Nairobi closed for 2 good years;

~ Muuuch later, after Mr. Woods was long retired, we had coffee in Nairobi and we talked about many, many things. I told him that my PhD thesis had been published into a book and asked him when he was going to write and publish his memoirs;

Mr Woods moulding hands ...

~ His response was most humbling. There is no need. The story of my life is manifested in the thousands of "Dudus" who passed through St. Charles Lwanga;

~ Dudus was his pet name for nearly ALL the students who passed through his hands, most of whom, he know them by name;

 However, if some of you so wish, you may loudly tell your stories about Lwanga, and especially after am gone, he continued, as we finished our coffee and went our sperate ways;

~ NOW that, he is no more, it may be worthwhile if some of us ( especially the word-smiths in our midst from the alumini), will come forth and compile the story of his life from the prism of St. Charles Lwanga, where he dedicated almost his entire life.....and then publish it into a book;

~ For now, we may, but ONLY continue reminiscing about the Man and what he truly stood for, through our joined imaginations.

~ My Teacher; my Mentor; my very first employer, my friend), fare thee well!!!!

Aureviur !!!!!!

Temi 

Dr. Temi Mutia