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Kevin Wallace
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Kevin Wallace
| House: |
Nicholson (Serengeti) |
| Year: |
1974-1977 as a day boy |
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Born 1961 in Kampala. My parents moved to Uganda in the late 1950s. My father was there as a
teacher at Ntare School, Mbarara. One of his pupils was Yoweri Museveni, now the president of
Uganda. We later moved to Kampala, where I attended Nakasero Primary School all the way from
P1 to P7.
We were in Uganda when Idi Amin came to power. I started my secondary education at Makerere
College School. However, because the country was in economic turmoil and we felt unsafe under
Amin's rule, we had to leave. Also, the British government stopped providing aid to Uganda,
and so stopped renewing the teachers' contracts.
We moved through to Nairobi in 1974 and stayed near Westlands. I used to catch a bus up to the
school each day. My only sporting success was in swimming. I was a backstroke expert and swam
for my house and in the school team. I was awarded "colours" for this. During my period at
Nairobi School I was one of only a handful of white boys. I can't say that I noticed any great
racial problem and look back with fondness at my time spent at "Patch".
Family responsibilities forced my parents to return to Scotland in 1977. We moved to Monifieth,
near Dundee, and I hated it. It was such a different life from my childhood in Africa. However,
the education at Nairobi School stood me in good stead. In most subjects I was way ahead of my
class and passed my O-Grade and Higher exams with ease. I graduated with a B.Sc degree in
Applied Mathematics at Dundee College of Technology (now Abertay University) in 1983.
Since then I have been working in the IT industry. Initially I worked for Nixdorf Computer in
Perth and Glasgow. I left in 1985 to work as a freelance and have been doing so ever since.
I specialise in installing, configuring and maintaining ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
software packages, as well as being a qualified network systems engineer (Microsoft Certified
in 1998).
I have been back to Kenya a couple of times - in 1982 and 1991 - and went to see the old school
both times, though as both visits were at the end of December the teachers and pupils were on
holiday. Sadly, I felt the school had become quite dilapidated and uncared for. The wooden
classrooms didn't look like they had had any attention since my time at the school and the
buildings around the quad all sorely needed a fresh coat of paint.
I married Pauline in 1988, and we have three children: Kirsty (1996), Ruairidh (1998) and
Eilidh (2000). We live in a farmhouse overlooking the Trossachs near Stirling in Scotland.
(Registered - 26th December 2002)
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If anyone wishes to contact Kevin, please e-mail webmaster@oldcambrians.com
to obtain his contact details
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