Zimbabwean Film Tackes 'Rejection' at 3rd Lola Kenya Screen
By Mary Gesare
Everyone likes being accepted and appreciated regardless of their color, nationality,ability or disability. Being rejected is one of the most unfair things that can ever happen to a person. Here is a story that tells you how painful it is to be rejected.
The film starts in a train whereby a single woman by the name Molly McBride together with her son Peter are escaping from their country South Africa because it has been politically torn apart. In the train they meet the train attendant who is unfriendly to them and that’s not all, it’s just the beginning of what they are about to encounter being a mixed race in a foreign country. They settle in a small village in Botswana, peter is afraid that he’s never going to cop with life there as a foreigner but his mother promises him that everything is going to be fine.
After settling in, Miss McBride decides to go and look for a job as a teacher so that she could be able to sustain herself and her son. Luckily, she is employed as a teacher in a nearby school and her son also gets admission in the same school. She starts teaching immediately; this is not easy for peter being in the same class his mother teaches. The first day in school doesn’t go that well for Miss McBride, she is coldly treated by the other teachers making her feel out of place, aside from that she gets a warm treatment from the students, they appreciate what she is trying to do and they seem to like her very much.
The head teacher of the school on the other hand is a hypocrite who pretends to like McBride’s approach on the kids but to be honest he’s after something which we’ll soon find out as the story unfolds. Peter on the other hand makes friends, something his mother has been unable to do. The first day after school Peter sets off for hunting with his friends.
The following morning Miss McBride on her way to school, meets the school kids making fun to an old lady whose clothes are toned and dirty such that you can’t differentiate if she’s walking barefoot or wearing shoes, they are toned beyond repair and there is nobody who even sets an eye on her. Miss McBride pity’s this woman and sends those kids away, she tells them to apologize but they refuse and leave the place.
That incident leads to the topic Miss McBride was going to teach at school that day .She tells the kids a story about South Africa where there is a group of people who think that they are better than others, she asks the kids if that’s good, they all agree its not good and now understand why they shouldn’t tease that old lady again.
Just before the lesson is over the other female teacher inform McBride that she is needed in the office by the head teacher. She goes to the office and all is well, she explains to the head teacher why she had to stop those kids from teasing the old lady, the head teacher congratulates her and tells her to continue fighting like Nelson Mandela.
During the weekend Miss McBride gets a visit from the head teacher, he brings along a book with Mandela’s story and gives it to Miss McBride. McBride welcomes him and they both have tea together .just before the teacher leaves, Peter comes home from playing and finds him there they exchange greetings and after the guest Leaves.
Peter asks his mother if she is not afraid of what the people might think if the teacher becomes a frequent visitor. his mother answers by telling him that he is the only friend she has and he only came to ask about South Africa.
After the weekend things don’t go that well for Miss McBride, all the teachers turn against her including the head teacher after trying to force a relationship between them and to add to that she looses her job, as if that’s not enough the head teacher goes to her class and informs the students that their teacher will not be coming because she’s gone mad. This comes as a blow to peter because he came to school together with his mother in the morning and nothing was wrong with her. that day from school peter went home straight to check on his mother, he tells her of the rumors which were circulating in school about her being mad, he asks for an explanation from his mother and since she cant really explain what happened between her and the head teacher, they get into a fight and peter runs away, he tries to kill himself by jumping from the top of a mountain but he couldn’t do it.
He spends the night out and the following morning he goes to school and faces rejection from the other students including his friends, they send him away and claim that he is mad too like his mother. Peter goes home only to find his mother depressed, drinking and smoking at the same time. He lacks the words to tell his mother, they argue again and peter goes to rest. the next morning peter wakes up early only to find a crowd of women not far away from their compound, he decides to go look at what was happening, he found out that they were staring at the old lady who the kids were teasing, he asked what had happened to her only to find out that she had fallen down. Peters mother also joins Peter, asks for his forgiveness and requests peter to help the woman into their house as she goes to fetch water since everybody else had left the venue without helping.
After taking the woman inside they give her food and water and finally the woman gains strength, she thanks Miss McBride together with her son for standing for her all the time. That day a woman comes to thank Miss McBride for helping her relative something their family has been unable to do, she says she has nothing to offer in return but only a pail of water for showing her goodness.
Miss McBride appreciates and that’s where her life takes a turn around, she is now accepted in the village and the teacher who was unfriendly to her becomes her friend and even tells her the head teachers evil doings and that is what she uses to get her job back as a teacher and tells the head teacher she’ll take him to court for misusing his position to use all the female teachers in the school. The film ends after Miss McBride has been accepted in that community and has made friends with those who had once rivaled her.
That’s why she says those who judge Africa should be sorry for themselves because Africa is full of friendly people.
About the writer
Mary Gesare, 18, is a member of the Lola Kenya Screen 2008 Festival Press
Everyone likes being accepted and appreciated regardless of their color, nationality,ability or disability. Being rejected is one of the most unfair things that can ever happen to a person. Here is a story that tells you how painful it is to be rejected.
The film starts in a train whereby a single woman by the name Molly McBride together with her son Peter are escaping from their country South Africa because it has been politically torn apart. In the train they meet the train attendant who is unfriendly to them and that’s not all, it’s just the beginning of what they are about to encounter being a mixed race in a foreign country. They settle in a small village in Botswana, peter is afraid that he’s never going to cop with life there as a foreigner but his mother promises him that everything is going to be fine.
After settling in, Miss McBride decides to go and look for a job as a teacher so that she could be able to sustain herself and her son. Luckily, she is employed as a teacher in a nearby school and her son also gets admission in the same school. She starts teaching immediately; this is not easy for peter being in the same class his mother teaches. The first day in school doesn’t go that well for Miss McBride, she is coldly treated by the other teachers making her feel out of place, aside from that she gets a warm treatment from the students, they appreciate what she is trying to do and they seem to like her very much.
The head teacher of the school on the other hand is a hypocrite who pretends to like McBride’s approach on the kids but to be honest he’s after something which we’ll soon find out as the story unfolds. Peter on the other hand makes friends, something his mother has been unable to do. The first day after school Peter sets off for hunting with his friends.
The following morning Miss McBride on her way to school, meets the school kids making fun to an old lady whose clothes are toned and dirty such that you can’t differentiate if she’s walking barefoot or wearing shoes, they are toned beyond repair and there is nobody who even sets an eye on her. Miss McBride pity’s this woman and sends those kids away, she tells them to apologize but they refuse and leave the place.
That incident leads to the topic Miss McBride was going to teach at school that day .She tells the kids a story about South Africa where there is a group of people who think that they are better than others, she asks the kids if that’s good, they all agree its not good and now understand why they shouldn’t tease that old lady again.
Just before the lesson is over the other female teacher inform McBride that she is needed in the office by the head teacher. She goes to the office and all is well, she explains to the head teacher why she had to stop those kids from teasing the old lady, the head teacher congratulates her and tells her to continue fighting like Nelson Mandela.
During the weekend Miss McBride gets a visit from the head teacher, he brings along a book with Mandela’s story and gives it to Miss McBride. McBride welcomes him and they both have tea together .just before the teacher leaves, Peter comes home from playing and finds him there they exchange greetings and after the guest Leaves.
Peter asks his mother if she is not afraid of what the people might think if the teacher becomes a frequent visitor. his mother answers by telling him that he is the only friend she has and he only came to ask about South Africa.
After the weekend things don’t go that well for Miss McBride, all the teachers turn against her including the head teacher after trying to force a relationship between them and to add to that she looses her job, as if that’s not enough the head teacher goes to her class and informs the students that their teacher will not be coming because she’s gone mad. This comes as a blow to peter because he came to school together with his mother in the morning and nothing was wrong with her. that day from school peter went home straight to check on his mother, he tells her of the rumors which were circulating in school about her being mad, he asks for an explanation from his mother and since she cant really explain what happened between her and the head teacher, they get into a fight and peter runs away, he tries to kill himself by jumping from the top of a mountain but he couldn’t do it.
He spends the night out and the following morning he goes to school and faces rejection from the other students including his friends, they send him away and claim that he is mad too like his mother. Peter goes home only to find his mother depressed, drinking and smoking at the same time. He lacks the words to tell his mother, they argue again and peter goes to rest. the next morning peter wakes up early only to find a crowd of women not far away from their compound, he decides to go look at what was happening, he found out that they were staring at the old lady who the kids were teasing, he asked what had happened to her only to find out that she had fallen down. Peters mother also joins Peter, asks for his forgiveness and requests peter to help the woman into their house as she goes to fetch water since everybody else had left the venue without helping.
After taking the woman inside they give her food and water and finally the woman gains strength, she thanks Miss McBride together with her son for standing for her all the time. That day a woman comes to thank Miss McBride for helping her relative something their family has been unable to do, she says she has nothing to offer in return but only a pail of water for showing her goodness.
Miss McBride appreciates and that’s where her life takes a turn around, she is now accepted in the village and the teacher who was unfriendly to her becomes her friend and even tells her the head teachers evil doings and that is what she uses to get her job back as a teacher and tells the head teacher she’ll take him to court for misusing his position to use all the female teachers in the school. The film ends after Miss McBride has been accepted in that community and has made friends with those who had once rivaled her.
That’s why she says those who judge Africa should be sorry for themselves because Africa is full of friendly people.
About the writer
Mary Gesare, 18, is a member of the Lola Kenya Screen 2008 Festival Press
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