After 30 years in the diaspora, the author of the storyline that produced the widely-loved 1988 movie, The Consequences, is back in town.
Prof Harriet Masembe (a Ugandan-born English lecturer) has returned home to help with teaching the language to students.
In a lengthy interview with The Observer, Prof Masembe explained that on her return late last year, she was disheartened to note the drop in standards of English language usage and teaching.
The highly-lauded academic, now staying at her home in Makindye, said she had the opportunity to continue working in a university but had elected to work with students looking to improve their appreciation of the English language.
“I’m happy to sit with a student and show them how to improve their writing … write their CV (resume), job application letters and preparations for exams in English,” she said.
Asked why she would opt to teach English to teenagers, rather than going back into academia, Prof Masembe was emphatic: “If the opportunity [to get back into academia] came up, fine … but for now I’m focused on the youngsters who want to improve their English.
She is particularly scarred by several visits to government-aided primary schools where classes are crowded and teachers are struggling to impart some knowledge.
“These teachers are overwhelmed and I think classes should be smaller than they are now … to make sense,” she remarks.
Asked about her life in filmmaking, she says she is proud of preparing the storyline for The Consequences.
“I was trying to develop a film that would teach children about the dangers of HIV/Aids in those dark days … the only place to film it was Zimbabwe, which had a well-developed industry,” she relates. She used the caricature of a typical African situation, where the female student would get pregnant and get expelled.
“Normally, the boy would stay on to study, while that would be the end of the girl’s education, but this time, we changed by getting both Richard and Ritah expelled to show students the dangers of premarital sex.”
She is pleased to learn that Joel Phiri (who acted as Richard in the move) is now a successful movie producer in South Africa, while Yvette Ogiste (who played Ritah) is an actress based in Zimbabwe.
“If the opportunity to write another storyline presented itself, I would embrace it, but for now I’m focused on teaching students English.”