My four year old granddaughter was preparing to go to Kindergarten and for a couple of weeks there had been some serious discussions and concerns as to how she was going to cope with the new routine. Would she cry, would she get along with the other kids, could she handle her lunchbox, could she manage the bathroom. In our time there were no such commotions, we simply go to school.
I started Primary One at age 6, there were no kindergarten then, at the “La Paix” Government Primary school. As I wrote in an earlier post, I remember my father, holding my hand, walked me from Aleppo Street, a 15 minutes walk to school, and bought me a treat from an old Indian lady selling goodies by the school gate. I do not remember much about this school except that I was bullied by a senior student. His complexion was quite dark for a Chinese, with small eyes like most of us, and with pretty thick lips. I thought then that he looked like a black pig and I hated him. In a strict sense it was not really “bully” because he actually liked me. But he always pinched my cheeks, I was a little bit chubby, and it was painful. I was terrified each time I came face to face with him. Then there was another older boy who would protect me whenever he saw that I was in trouble. He was a native boy, good looking and strong, he was my hero. But unfortunately he could not be there for me all the time and I was miserable when he was not around. Ultimately my brother-in-law made arrangement to transfer me to another school situated at Arsenal Street, one street south of La Paix Street. It was a great relief. When I looked back the scenario was very much like today “Batman”, the hero who fights the bad guys and protects the weak.
My new school, The Arsenal Government Primary School, was a small school. It was in an old wooden building, two storey high. There were the administration office and two classrooms on the ground floor, then up the staircase to the second floor with two more classrooms plus one larger room that accommodated two classes. All the kids sat on a long bench with a long desk. I could not remember the faces of any of the teachers but I would recognize the Headmaster if I see him today. The headmaster was a kind person, never putting a stern face, and after school he would walk out of the premises with the rest of the students, holding the hand of his small son who was also a student at the school.
My classroom would look a little like this but we did not wear uniform.
My school had a large play yard, so I thought, and the kids spent recess running and chasing one another on the hard ground, in the process stirring a storm of brown dust into the hot summer air. There were no trees or shrubs, just plain dirt ground which got muddy when it rained. On one side of the school was a row of lavatory, primitive and smelly by all accounts. A large stone basin filled with water sat on one corner near the school main entrance. We all drank from the basin, though we often saw small reddish worms wriggling their way at the bottom.
We drank water from basin with reddish worms wriggling at the bottom
Once every couple of month the students would gather by and behind the lavatory whenever the schoolmaster announced that an Inspector from the Education Department was coming to inspect the children. It was a traumatic moment as we had to get prepared for the inspection, we were all scared. For an hour the kids, mainly girls, would be busy helping each other looking for lice in their hair. Lice are small and difficult to find but once caught they were placed between the nails of the two thumbs and squashed, often with a popping sound. We were also instructed to clean our teeth as well, and each student always carried a toothbrush to school in case of need. To protect the tooth brush we used to place the bristles end in a matchbox. Then we checked our nail, trimmed it and removed the dirt that often lay under. Actually we never saw the Inspector, it was a ploy to get the kids to practise hygiene.
Most kids in our school had lice. It was common to see mother, sitting on the porch, picking lice from children hair
Lice looks ugly and gross but it was part of life then
My second recollection of early school days was that each student carried an enamel tin mug with a small round handle that we hung to our belt. At around 10 o’clock each morning all the students gathered in the school yard and formed a long queue, each holding a mug. The “peon”, the school caretaker had earlier prepared hot milk out of powdered milk in a huge tin container, and he served one quart scoop to each student, a legacy of the British Colonial administration.
Enamel tin mug each student had one hang on the belt
Then one day we heard of the visit of a member of the Royal Family from England, Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret, the only sibling of the present Queen Elizabeth II. To commemorate the Royal visit all school kids on the Island received, I believe, a 25 cents newly minted coin. A lot of happy kids indeed.
HRH Princess Margaret visit to Mauritius 1956
When going back home, walking with other kids, we had to pass over a bridge which then to me was huge and imposing, but in reality was a small bridge barely a hundred feet long. I have a deep recollection of this bridge for two reasons. First we were told about the dangerous and terrifying “Loup-garou”, a type of werewolf that appeared at night under the bridge with its long eerie howling. The only way to catch this creature was to throw a bag of beans at her and she would need to pick up each and every one of the spill bean before she could leave the area. If all the beans were not picked up before day break she would be unable to leave and she could be caught. Secondly one evening I was galloping on the bridge, with my parents, pretending to be driving a car. A car was coming towards us and I decided to cross the road once the car had passed us. With my head down and my eyes on the ground, I waited for the car to pass and immediately thereafter turned left to cross to the other side of the bridge, without realizing that a second car was, unknown to me, following suit. I was almost hit, a life and death experience I had never forgotten.
The mythical “Loup garou” that scared the hell out of the small children
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