Amadi’s character was molded after the young boys who frequently drop out of school so they can earn money doing street business. See this blackboard? My husband took these pictures while visiting schools for UNICEF in the summer of 2003.

Can you see a pattern?

According to the last statistics*, 66 per cent of boys, and 58 per cent of girls attend primary school.  And yet, the enrollment in that Igbo model school of Oweri shows different numbers. Now, Amadi would be about 10 or 11 years old, and so, he might be attending Primary 3, 4 or 5. As you’ll notice, the number of boys is inferior to the number of girls, and by the time we reach Primary 5, there is almost twice as many girls as boys. Then, the trend seems to reverse, and that is due to the fact that it is still not widely believed that girls need an education, especially after certain basic levels and once they reach a certain age.

*Unicef, The State of The World’s Children 2008

Still, not every boy in Nigeria, or in Igbo land, feels the way Amadi does at the beginning of the story. In fact, many children are not only eager to attend school, they can walk a long time to get to the closest one, and sometimes, they even carry their own benches on their heads all the way.

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0107847.html : Information about Nigeria, its history, etc.

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0930071.html : More information about families in Nigeria, games, food, etc.

Check out award-winning Ifeoma Onyefulu’s books illustrated with stunning photographs.

A Is for Africa

Ebele’s Favourite: A book of African games

Emeka’s Gift

My Grandfater Is a Magician

One Big Family : Sharing Life in an African Village

Etc...