MY GRANDFATHER STARTED TEACHING AT MALANGALI MIDDLE SCHOOL IN 1930

 Between 1929 and 1930 my grandfather finished his teacher's course and began teaching, his first school was Malangali Middle School, it was  quite a new school then. It was the first Government Middle school in the area. There were a number of lower primary schools which were called ‘Elementary Schools' that had 4  classes, Standard one to Standard 4.  Malangali was now a Government school that had standard 5 to standard 9, so it was called a Middle School. Malangali opened its first classes on 15th April 1928, it started with 60 children. 37 of the children were children of different tribal chiefs and 23 other children were from different government elementary schools.
 At the time there were 4 government elementary schools from each nearby district. Iringa district one school, Rungwe district oneschool,  Malangali (which represented Njombe district) one school, and Igali district which in 1927 changed the name and became Mbeya district, one school.
In 1929 there was an intake of 78 children of chiefs and 39 children from the different government elementary schools. So it was about that time that Raphael Mwagutangu Kitime was posted to start his teaching career in this school.
In 1930 Raphael Mwagutangu Kitime, married Elizabeth Benedict Saula the daughter of Kavalang’ombe Benedict Saula and Bibi Kongo, Adelaide Semkombe.
By this time Elizabeth had also completed a teaching certificate at Tosamaganga Girls School and had a  Grade two teachers certificate. Raphael’s salary was 60/- per month and Elizabeth was entitled to 40/- per month. Just to show the value of that salary then by comparison, at the time a cow cost 6/-, a chicken was just 50 cents an egg was 5 cents, so 60/- was a lot of money.
In 1931 they had their first child Francis who was to become my father, and two years later they had another son Joseph. In 1934  my grandfather was transferred to Mpwapwa Middle School, where he moved with his family, he was there for the next 4 years.
On Thursday, 21^st February 1935 my aunty Isabela was born, three years later they had a daughter Clementina Victoria. Francis who was by then old enough to start attending school was enrolled at the local elementary school. Unfortunately Clementina Victoria did not live long she died as a baby. When the news of her death reached my grandfather’s brothers in Mgama, they decide to travel to Mpwawa to give condolences. They travelled by foot  via Mahenge and Kilosa and eventually arrived in Mpwapwa, walking more than 200 kilometers just for the condolence of a month old baby. Those who were in that trip were Waligunga, Vangumsindo who called himself Chogiliwa, and Fwalisimba (Die like a lion), who also called himself Mtandakile. They stayed in Mpwapwa for three months, even building their own hut. Raphael's best friend was another Hehe teacher whose name was Halfan Mayagila. The two would always be together after school hours, their favorite  relaxation was drinking traditional beer.