Winnipeg Adult Education Centre

When I was in my home country, Ethiopia, I bought a tiny monkey. His name was Hanko and he lived with us for about a year and a half. He was a very friendly and amusing pet. However, he could be a trouble-maker which caused my family and me many problems.

When I first bought him, many people were opposed to what I’d done because they knew about the disadvantages of keeping wild animals. However, my father had a photography studio, and as I’d graduated from the Photography and Videography Institute, I decided to buy a monkey to use in photographs and videos.   I looked after Hanko very well and he began to grow bigger. Most people offered him food because he was so friendly to everyone. Hanko’s favourite foods were candy and cereal.

Hanko could be very entertaining. He was very funny, so many people loved him. Hanko was incredibly intelligent, and my father trained him very well. Because of Hanko, we received many benefits. For example, the income from our photography studio rose, and I made a wonderful three-hour documentary film about Hanko’s antics which became very successful. Also, we had so much fun with Hanko, especially when we were in restaurants. Hanko used to sit beside me as he ate his food.  Hanko attracted people’s attention and a lot of people asked me questions regarding my interesting pet. Hanko even knew how to approach kind-hearted people in order to get some food. He was also a good listener. All my family loved him.

Shortly after that, Hanko’s behaviour began to change. Children loved to see Hanko, but some of them taught him bad habits, and Hanko acted dangerously towards some of them. Hanko would react violently to those who tried to hurt him or bite him. Hanko clearly knew the difference between a good person and a bad one. Some kind children were his best friends, so many children had a great relationship and so much fun with him.

After a while, small amounts of food no longer satisfied him and he began to steal the neighbours’ food.  His behaviour became much worse and the number of complaints grew. Things spiralled out of control. I was arrested by the police and held for 24 hours. All my family was worried about the problems. All our neighbours were very angry. Hanko never stole from my family; he only stole from my neighbours. Unbelievable! We were becoming so angry with my monkey because he was causing us so many problems. Things became really tough, and my father and I wondered what to do.  Hanko had special respect for our family members, so that made our decision even more difficult.

Hanko’s  physical appearance changed, too.  He became huge. At that time, things became very tough. My father, my mother, and I worried so much about what Hanko might do because he had become such a dangerous thief. Some people said,” Hanko ate my lunch!”

Others said, “Hanko ate my husband’s lunch!” So many  people complained to my mother. Finally, my mother began to tell them, “Talk to Megersa .” The number of complaints grew. I developed severe headaches. All my neighbours had begun to hate me and began to be verbally abusive to me. It was very hard to stop what Hanko was doing. Finally, my father, my mother  and I sat down to discuss the situation. My mother had become so tired and depressed that we decided to make Hanko stay in his room.

One day, I decided to allow him to relax outside. However, shortly afterwards he killed a neighbour’s cat. The following day, he ransacked two neighbours’ houses. At that time, the owners were not at home. He ate a lot of their food and destroyed a lot of property. As a result, our neighbours went to the local government office and told the officials what had happened. They arrested me and held me for 24 hours. After that, they gave me a warning and said, “We don’t want to see this dangerous wild animal again.”  My family had to something.  As a result, my older brother took my monkey to a nearby forest and set him free in the wild to fend for himself.  We were very sad to have to do that. Three weeks later, we heard about the death of  our monkey.

Truly, I cried and cried. Many people felt sad, except for some of the neighbours. Hanko had a lot of good characteristics, didn’t he?  But his bad habits led to his death. After a while, I heard how he’d died. He had been killed by two dogs.

When I look back, even though my monkey gave me a hard time, he did so many interesting things and he has left me with some wonderful memories. Now my question is this, “Should I have taken a wonderful but wild animal like Hanko as a pet?” The answer is “No!” When I first bought him, people predicted the result, but I didn’t listen. A lot of people had made recommendations and given me advice. What happened at the end was certainly very sad.

If Hanko had been treated fairly, he would not have endured all those difficulties. Anyway, I am still proud of him and I will always love and remember him.          

Megersa  Hunduma is a student in Sheila Morris’ Grade 11 English Class.