Talib Karagos

Talib Karagos was my first classmate at Gulioni School. I have many fond memories of my friend. One in particular has stayed with me.

Talib and I were both very sporty and were therefore selected for our school’s special athletics programme. This programme was organised by the Ministry of Education.

We trained for it every day in our school playground and were even excused from lessons for the training.

Every year, there was a major sporting event in Zanzibar in which all the schools took part.

Talib and I were selected for the so-called ‘three-legged race’. We were really good at it and absolutely ready to represent our school at the school qualifying round at the Mnazi Moja field. The qualifying round was scheduled for early afternoon – unfortunately, I can no longer remember the exact year or day. Perhaps it was 1950.

The huge field at Mnazi Moja was packed. Thousands of spectators had turned out to watch the spectacle. All the schools had sent their best athletes. Our parents and friends were there, as well as high-ranking government officials, guests of honour and staff from the Ministry of Education. It really was a huge event!

Talib and I could hardly wait for the starting gun. We wanted to win and gave it our all! In the end, we came second. That, too, was a fantastic result for Gulioni School. For one day, we were the undisputed heroes of our school – and so proud of it!