The Man with the Stick

This is a light-heated and very readable collection of twelve stories, reflections and vignettes. The Flamingo Bar was the liveliest social hub in the roadside township of Tonota from the early 1990s until it closed around 2004."They were gathered together" writes David Hughes, "as memories and scribbled notes during the time I was a teacher in the bar's heyday when I lived and worked in the local secondary school. I drank beer and ate grilled meat, laughed and listened..." Hughes brings to life a small community where the locals mixed with the teachers from other parts of Africa and from England. He recalls a selection of memorable characters - the footballer who missed his chance to play for his country and ended up servicing fire extinguishers; the old man whose bicycle pump could locate the thief who stole the bike; the over-sexed "cock of the village"; reactions to the rise in the price of beer; the education seminar that had a surprising sequel...