Hi Doug, it's good to meet you. I think you may have been one year junior to me at Mbeya. Perhaps you may recall my younger sister, Susan Frost, but don't worry if you can't. Like you, I'm trying to remember many of the other names that I've read in this forum. As I have reached back in my memory to my younger years, I have recalled some friends in Dar-es-Salaam and others at Mbeya School. However, it's been quite a struggle. I remember one particular friend when my family lived in Roosevelt Road, Oyster Bay, as 'Todd' and I think he may have been, some years later, in Burton house at Mbeya School. 'Todd' may have been a nickname. I remember well that he was Scottish. I'm sure he had a younger sister, whose name escapes me, and I'm not aware of her being a pupil at Mbeya. I remember there was a large baobab tree near their house. Also while I lived in Roosevelt Road, I'm fairly sure that I knew two other boys, Ruston and Clinton Thompson, as near neighbours. I believe Ruston was a good few years older than me, while Clinton was perhaps nearer my age. During this period, 1950/53, I would have been at the Junior European School in Dar-es-Salaam. I returned to the UK with my family and remember watching the Coronation of our Queen Elizabeth II on television during 1953 while living in the northeast of England.
I returned to Dar during 1954 with my family and lived in Hill Road, Oyster Bay. One thing I did almost immediately upon returning to Dar was to cycle to Roosevelt Road to see if I could find 'Todd' and his family. I was very happy to meet up with him again. Another friend that I recall from that time was Malcolm McCallum in Hill Road, who may not have attended Mbeya School. I'm simply just not sure. There was another neighbouring family with children called Rachel Wenban-Smith and her brother, also in Hill Road. While I'm well aware of Rachel, I'm not sure that she attended Mbeya School, although it seems very likely that her brother, Alan, attended and may have been a year below me. Another close friend of mine at Mbeya was Peter Hopp(e), who may have been of Dutch or German extraction. Also at Mbeya, I remember the twins Dianne and Yvonne Gil(l)man very fondly. I'm not at all sure where Peter's family lived, except that it wasn't Dar, while I can't recall other than Dianne and Yvonne hailed from somewhat south of Tanganyika, perhaps even south of Nyasaland and the Rhodesias, but not necessarily in South Africa. I don't intend to be cryptic, but it's simply that I just can't remember clearly.
Rather like Alec Wight mentioned earlier, my view of life in Dar and Mbeya is also that it was a strange mixture of freedom, privilege and deprivation, but I'd add that the opportunities we enjoyed sometimes came with a hidden cost that we only realised later. I've finished scanning my rather small collection of photographs and shall upload them somewhere soon and write further as the photographs encourage more recollections.
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Topic: Contact from Michael/Rae Stanley, Mbeya 'kids', Dar teenagers circa 1958-63? (Read 2009 times)