The members of Mr. R. A. Snoxall’s family have worked together to produce
this highly entertaining little book of his memories of life and work in Africa as an
Educational Administrator. Gifted with a flair for languages he soon becarne closely
involved with the establishment of the Swahili language and the development of one
common orthography for its many dialects. He served on the Swahili Committee and
co-operated in the writing of Swahili School Readers. His duties as Schools Inspector
took him far and wide, often accompanied by his two sons - who also enjoyed this
means of getting to know the country and its peoples, their customs and occupations.
Not all his time was devoted to the provision of good educational facilities to
people of many beliefs and cultures but he was also engaged in the promotion of
scouting and other sporting activities. For his long service to Uganda scouting he
received the Award of Merit and he reminisces nostalgically about the wonderful
jamborees in which he participated. Early retirement due to ill health did nothing to
curtail his activities and we find him combining teaching at a Sussex Preparatory School with teaching Luganda at Oxford to cadets selected for Government Service
in Uganda, — and writing his English-Swahili and English-Luganda Dictionaries in
between. Then followed a visit to India to recruit teachers for Uganda, and soon after
a post with the School of Oriental and African Studies in California where, in protest
at the meaning there attributed to the word ‘colonialism’, Ron Snoxall stoutly stood
up for the British Colonial Service he himself had served so well.
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