Once Upon a Time: Lamin and the Learner Driver
Once Upon a Time… Lamin and the Learner Driver
Once upon a time, in the busy village of Busumbala, there was a school where laughter, learning and the sound of children filled the air each day. The school was cared for by a kind and hardworking man called Lamin, who made sure everything at the school ran smoothly.
One hot afternoon, Lamin had been at the school keeping an eye on some plumbing work for the new toilet block. When the work was finished for the day, Lamin climbed into his car and began to drive home along the dusty road.
But just as he was on his way, his phone rang.
It was a call from the school.
On the other end of the phone was a very nervous learner driver.
You see, the learner driver had been practising his driving on the road beside the school. Unfortunately, something had gone wrong. Very wrong indeed.
The learner driver had accidentally driven into the the brand new shiny school gate!
The gate was bent and part of the wall had fallen down.
“Oh dear,” said Lamin.
Lamin turned his car around and drove straight back to the school.
When he arrived, the learner driver was still standing there looking rather worried. Nearby stood Nanny, the school’s caring helper. She had heard the crash from where she lived and had run to school to see what had happened.
Lamin looked at the gate.
He looked at the wall.
And then he looked at the learner driver.
“Well,” Lamin said firmly, “that wasn’t very good driving!”
The learner driver nodded. He knew he had made a mistake.
But then something surprising happened.
It turned out that Lamin actually knew the learner driver. In fact, they were related! And even more wonderfully, the learner driver’s daughter had once been a pupil at the very same school.
Because it was the holy month of Ramadan, the learner driver wanted to do the right thing.
“I will repair the gate and the wall,” he promised kindly. “And I will make sure it is done properly.”
Lamin nodded.
First, Lamin made a quick temporary repair so the school would be safe overnight. Then he drove home again as the sun began to set over Busumbala.
Five days later, the learner driver had done just as he had promised.
The gate was fixed.
The wall was repaired.
Everything looked as good as new.
And everyone was reminded of something very special.
In Busumbala, the school does not belong to just one person.
It belongs to the whole community — and the people there care for it, protect it and help look after it together.
And they all lived happily ever after.
Inshallah.
Read the Introduction to ‘Travels With Lamin’ here:
👉Travels With Lamin – An Introduction | Building Futures in the Gambia
Book Lamin and his taxi here:
👉Lamin Barrow Taxis – The Gambia’s Number One Taxi Driver
