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I Will Try
In 1958, inspired by the life of Abraham Lincoln and the motto of his secondary school, a 16-year-old Malawian village boy, named Legson Kayira, decided to travel on foot to America to further his education.
Walking barefoot and carrying food, an axe and two books, he travelled more than 2,500 miles through the African bush crossing four countries in search of an education. Most people would have given up, but not Legson. Braving lions, hyenas, snakes, elephants and language differences, he kept going reaching Khartoum in the Sudan, where American consular officials, amazed by his remarkable walk, helped him to travel to the United States to take up a scholarship at Skagit Valley College in Washington State.
I Will Try records his early life and the details of his epic journey in his quest to realise his seemingly impossible dream. Published in 1965, while Legson was studying at the University of Washington, it became a best seller in the United States and England, and was translated into numerous other languages.
Legson went on to study history at Cambridge University in England. He wanted to return to Malawi to help build a post-colonial state, but was prevented from doing so by the despotic Dr Hastings Banda. Instead, he remained in England where he pursued a career in the British Home Office, and wrote four more books.
This volume contains the original text, photographs, as well as a memoir by Legson’s widow, Julie Kayira, written after his sudden death in England in October 2012. At the time of his death Legson was working with Rivonia Media Group on a feature film of I Will Try.
As vivid as the day it was first published some 50 years ago, it continues to teach young people in Africa and the world over that, if they are determined enough, there is nothing they cannot achieve.
Walking barefoot and carrying food, an axe and two books, he travelled more than 2,500 miles through the African bush crossing four countries in search of an education. Most people would have given up, but not Legson. Braving lions, hyenas, snakes, elephants and language differences, he kept going reaching Khartoum in the Sudan, where American consular officials, amazed by his remarkable walk, helped him to travel to the United States to take up a scholarship at Skagit Valley College in Washington State.
I Will Try records his early life and the details of his epic journey in his quest to realise his seemingly impossible dream. Published in 1965, while Legson was studying at the University of Washington, it became a best seller in the United States and England, and was translated into numerous other languages.
Legson went on to study history at Cambridge University in England. He wanted to return to Malawi to help build a post-colonial state, but was prevented from doing so by the despotic Dr Hastings Banda. Instead, he remained in England where he pursued a career in the British Home Office, and wrote four more books.
This volume contains the original text, photographs, as well as a memoir by Legson’s widow, Julie Kayira, written after his sudden death in England in October 2012. At the time of his death Legson was working with Rivonia Media Group on a feature film of I Will Try.
As vivid as the day it was first published some 50 years ago, it continues to teach young people in Africa and the world over that, if they are determined enough, there is nothing they cannot achieve.
- GenresAfricaMalawiNonfiction
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
37 people are currently reading
558 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 28, 2014
In straightforward language and with inspiring humility, Legson Kayira recounts his extraordinary journey from an impoverished village in Malawi (then Nyasaland) to college in the US in the 1960s. His journey was one of remarkable determination, during which Kayira traveled miles upon miles by foot from Malawi, through Uganda, to Sudan, where he could apply for a passport. It also included the generosity of a community in rural Washington State which Legson choose by chance as his destination, as they rallied to bring him to their community college. offering not only tuition but also room and board with a local family. Kayira went on to complete his undergraduate education at University of Washington, and graduate studies at Cambridge, UK.
I read this book 15 or 20 years ago, but was motivated to buy this newer edition because I was interested in the postscript added by Legson Kayira's widow, (disclaimer) who is my aunt. It's an inspiring story of determination in the face of all odds.
I read this book 15 or 20 years ago, but was motivated to buy this newer edition because I was interested in the postscript added by Legson Kayira's widow, (disclaimer) who is my aunt. It's an inspiring story of determination in the face of all odds.
August 16, 2015
I read this book when I was in secondary school and it may a huge impression on me. After more than three decades, I have read the book a second time and the depth and magnitude of Mr. Kayira's journey is being appreciated from a different vintage point. I too made a journey to the United States of America for graduate studies, with no money and no scholarships and the account in my book "Coming to America: A Journey of Faith".
September 29, 2022
Impressive story of a young African (from Malawi) that travels +2500 miles by foot through Africa on his way to follow education in America. For most of his journey, he doesn't own more than the clothes that he wears, a blanket, and a cup.
It takes him 2 years to walk from Nyasaland (Malawi) to Sudan, where he manages to secure a scholarship to an American college, and get a passport and a visa as well.
It shows how incredibly stark the contrast between mid-20th-century Africa and America was. The first few chapters talk about his youth in Nyasaland. His village. The remarkable superstitions. The strong sense of community that a small village can have. Etcetera. Very interesting to read.
The last part of the book talks about his education in America and later in England. The saddest part of the book is included in these chapters. When Malawi finally gets its independence and Dr. Banda comes into power, Legson has high hopes for his country. He works for the new government for some time, but after a while Dr. Banda seems to get scared of him. (Since Legson is an educated man, and even studied in America! + apparently Legson had said in an old interview when he was very young, that he dreamed about becoming prime minister of Malawi one day). Legson gets practically exiled from his own country and will never return. The letters he sends to his mum don't even get delivered and he can not be there when she dies. Extremely sad ending to an otherwise very inspiring book.
I have to remark that the book is very inspiring because of Legson's adventurous journey. The events that happen and manage to bring him to America in the end. This book is mostly that: a description of his journey to America. It does not contain many reflections on that journey, or many other things for that matter.
It takes him 2 years to walk from Nyasaland (Malawi) to Sudan, where he manages to secure a scholarship to an American college, and get a passport and a visa as well.
It shows how incredibly stark the contrast between mid-20th-century Africa and America was. The first few chapters talk about his youth in Nyasaland. His village. The remarkable superstitions. The strong sense of community that a small village can have. Etcetera. Very interesting to read.
The last part of the book talks about his education in America and later in England. The saddest part of the book is included in these chapters. When Malawi finally gets its independence and Dr. Banda comes into power, Legson has high hopes for his country. He works for the new government for some time, but after a while Dr. Banda seems to get scared of him. (Since Legson is an educated man, and even studied in America! + apparently Legson had said in an old interview when he was very young, that he dreamed about becoming prime minister of Malawi one day). Legson gets practically exiled from his own country and will never return. The letters he sends to his mum don't even get delivered and he can not be there when she dies. Extremely sad ending to an otherwise very inspiring book.
I have to remark that the book is very inspiring because of Legson's adventurous journey. The events that happen and manage to bring him to America in the end. This book is mostly that: a description of his journey to America. It does not contain many reflections on that journey, or many other things for that matter.
December 30, 2019
Fascinating
This is an extraordinary document of record, telling a story of extreme determination and courage. What is most shocking is that for many poor Africans almost nothing has changed in the half century since this book was written.
This is an extraordinary document of record, telling a story of extreme determination and courage. What is most shocking is that for many poor Africans almost nothing has changed in the half century since this book was written.
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June 8, 2019i will learn stuff from this story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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October 18, 2019it is help me
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 11, 2019
Loved it!!! Inspirational. A story of determination and reaching out for your dreams and never giving up!
Want to read
November 5, 2021This is the book I read when I was in class 5 in 1997, this book remained as my favorite motivation. I still want to read it once more.
Want to read
April 26, 2022interesting story, and me i will try!
October 12, 2025
Enjoyed this one a lot. Easy to read and inspirational how he had a goal and he managed to achieve it despite many obstacles
September 20, 2014
This one had been on my radar for a while, and it always seems odd to me that there are so few ratings and reviews -- until I remember that Goodreads (hell, the Internet) wasn't around in the 1960s, when this was originally published, and probably most people who read it then aren't leaping to their computers to record the books they read fifty years ago.
Kayira had gone as far as he could in the Nyasaland (Malawi) school system, but he didn't feel finished with his education. Instead he set his sights on a university education in America...and with no other means to get there, he decided to walk north, until...well, until he could find a way to get from Africa to North America. And so he did.
It's striking -- he thinks of giving up, sometimes, and going home; he knows he could reclaim the life he left behind, and anyway, at least he'd have tried. But he also knows that at home there is no other life than the one he left behind, and that's enough to propel him forward, day after day, week after week, eventually year after year. That's dedication -- two years of travel for an uncertain future.
Along the way he meets with a tremendous amount of luck, not least that the college he picked out of a directory was eager to take him as a student and provide scholarships to pave the way. If his drive feels timeless, the college aspect does not. (Can you imagine a college receiving that kind of letter -- or, more likely, email -- now? They'd trash/delete it as some kind of phishing scam.) But in the interim, Kayira has adventures and scares; he meets new people; he stays in towns for various lengths of time, earning money to tide him over. (At some point his poor mother probably realises that America is a bit farther away than the five or so days Kayira had mentioned to pacify her.) Appropriately, the bulk of the book is taken up by his long trek, but he also talks about his childhood and his early adventures in the U.S.
The copy my library had is from the 60s -- not the more recent printing that Goodreads lists -- but I'd like to get my hands on one of those more recent copies, to read his widow's words as well.
Kayira had gone as far as he could in the Nyasaland (Malawi) school system, but he didn't feel finished with his education. Instead he set his sights on a university education in America...and with no other means to get there, he decided to walk north, until...well, until he could find a way to get from Africa to North America. And so he did.
It's striking -- he thinks of giving up, sometimes, and going home; he knows he could reclaim the life he left behind, and anyway, at least he'd have tried. But he also knows that at home there is no other life than the one he left behind, and that's enough to propel him forward, day after day, week after week, eventually year after year. That's dedication -- two years of travel for an uncertain future.
Along the way he meets with a tremendous amount of luck, not least that the college he picked out of a directory was eager to take him as a student and provide scholarships to pave the way. If his drive feels timeless, the college aspect does not. (Can you imagine a college receiving that kind of letter -- or, more likely, email -- now? They'd trash/delete it as some kind of phishing scam.) But in the interim, Kayira has adventures and scares; he meets new people; he stays in towns for various lengths of time, earning money to tide him over. (At some point his poor mother probably realises that America is a bit farther away than the five or so days Kayira had mentioned to pacify her.) Appropriately, the bulk of the book is taken up by his long trek, but he also talks about his childhood and his early adventures in the U.S.
The copy my library had is from the 60s -- not the more recent printing that Goodreads lists -- but I'd like to get my hands on one of those more recent copies, to read his widow's words as well.
February 17, 2016
Researching Malawian history, I stumbled on this extraordinary book and had to download it to my kindle. In 1958 a 16 year-old boy, inspired both by the motto of the Livingstonia Secondary School in Karonga and his own thirst to learn, decided he was going to study in America. Not having any money or other means to get there, he walked – through Nyasaland (Malawi), Tanzania, Uganda and Sudan, where in the library in Khartoum, he found a directory of American universities and chose the first one to meet his eye: Skagit Valley College in Washington State. Astonished US consular officials helped him take up the scholarship that Skagit Valley, who must have been astounded by such motivation, promptly offered him and he started his degree course a mere 2 years after setting out on his journey.
Kayira’s clear, detailed account of every step of the way is very readable, and his difficulties in adapting to American culture amusingly and touchingly drawn. A memoir added in 2012 by his widow, Julie Kayira, sketches out his subsequent life as a gifted writer and successful civil servant. An extraordinary achievement, by any measure; yet I couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for the family left behind in the village in Malawi.
Kayira’s clear, detailed account of every step of the way is very readable, and his difficulties in adapting to American culture amusingly and touchingly drawn. A memoir added in 2012 by his widow, Julie Kayira, sketches out his subsequent life as a gifted writer and successful civil servant. An extraordinary achievement, by any measure; yet I couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for the family left behind in the village in Malawi.
April 24, 2015
Many, many connections to this man and his story that have inspired others...after years of encouragement Malawian politics were such that he agreed to share the 'p.s', to answer the question 'then what?'. Then he suddenly died and his wife, my sister-in-law, completed the epilogue for the edition that has recently published. This paperback edition is only available as an e-book in the United States, but still certainly worth reading! Blessed be the memory of Legson Kayira.
July 9, 2013
A truly inspirational story, very easy to read. Looking forward to other books by this author!
Great review on the the following blog. Have a read and get inspired.
http://bikkiesue.wordpress.com/2013/0...
Great review on the the following blog. Have a read and get inspired.
http://bikkiesue.wordpress.com/2013/0...
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September 9, 2018Excellent
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews