The story,Leaving is set in Tanzania.

A woman raises her five children alone after the

early death of her husband.After the two elder girls get married and the eldest son
acquires a job,the mother focuses on the two younger ones,Aloo and the youngest
daughter(the narrator).Aloo is in his final year in school and the girl is in university.She
pins all her hopes on them that they will have a better education.She winds up their store
and moves them to a quieter part of town,Upanga.The place is quieter and provides a
better environment for them to study.The return of Mr Datoo,a former teacher inspires
Aloo to think of furthering his education overseas in medicine in America.He starts
writing to American universities to get the necessary information.He is not keen on
studying agriculture in a local university.He is offered a place with a scholarship in the
California Institute of Technology.However,his mother would not allow him to accept the
offer,citing finances and fear of losing him as the reasons.Finally,on the advice of a
school officer,the mother relents and accepts the idea of allowing Aloo to leave home for
a different sky.The narrator,for the first time,sees her mother as a person and not just as
her mother-someone who has always thought only of the children's welfare.Aloo's first
letter was a graphic enthusiastic account of London but to the mother,she is uncertain of
his return.