Laying Foundations; the anxiety and hurdles

December 2018 gave birth to an idea. I cannot tell with exact precision how long the gestation period was but what I am certain of is that the labor and delivery heralded new beginnings. The start of what would be building blocks for many generations after us.

In the middle of December last year, an extraordinary meeting sat somewhere in the leafy neighborhood of Kololo. This time though, the venue wasn't a hotel with stars and neither was it a palatable mansion but it was small well kept compound that would accommodate a bunch of people pregnant with big ideas but moving around with empty pockets. Mind you the compound had been secured by one of us who as you would expect by now exploited his relationship with a friend to allow us hang around in his compound. Nevertheless we sat, luckily enough on some chairs that were out of use at the time. For us ‘the now’ didn't matter, what we looked at was the horizon beyond where we stood; the unforeseen future that we only hoped would present with it not what we feared but rather what we figured.

The faithfuls (I call them so because everything has been done by faith) who were gathered in the compound that evening were proud bearers of the Debate Society Uganda tag name. It wasn't a get-together to make merry but what you would term as an Annual General Meeting if you were to borrow the business lexicon.

It is here that we thought of having a high school debate championship organized and facilitated exclusively by Debate Society Uganda. Not that there had been an arid of debate championships before but what we intended to bring to the fore was a very well organized and highly competitive tournament that would still stand even if double checked against what we rate as the world's elite debate competitions. If you had asked me for an opinion then, I would have dismissed us as a group of youth who detest dreaming individually but choose to come together to share the sleep. I was wrong!

In two weeks time, we shall cross the newly constructed bridge in Jinja and descend on the Eastern region of this country to do what will be our second regional tournament after a successful one in the Northern region just a month or so ago. For those who have been following our social media pages, the pictures tell the story but for some of us who have been in the thick of things there is a bigger story which we would rather not tell.

The one moment I will never forget about this program was the conversation I had with our team leader after we had agreed on the dates for the respective regional tournaments. When I asked how we intended to raise the finances (a very huge budget it was) to run the tournaments, this was his response; “Patrick we have to find money in some way, in any way but whether or not we find it the program will still go on.” Unfortunately we didn’t raise the amount we needed but it didn’t stop us from going to Gulu. We shall hopefully be in Jinja the weekend after the next and hopefully to Mbarara in the sixth month of this year.

Our currency of operation has been faith and hope, they have refused to run out and we pray that the tank doesn’t empty soon, because we need them around for some time. It is Robin Sharma who says that when you are inspired by some great purpose, some extra ordinary project, all of your thoughts break their bonds; your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person than you ever dreamed yourself to be.

The path we have chosen is one of laying foundations. We are committed to filling the foundation with stone, brick and poured concrete to ensure that it withstands the storms but should the ‘structure’ by any stroke of bad luck falter or waver, it will never be because of a weak foundation.

Blessed week ahead!

Politics, Governance and the Price of Leadership

There are three constants in life; death, taxes and you can all guess the third, politics (you all guessed right). It is written all over, ticks most boxes that affect us, and like a big bully is always stamping authority even in places it is most undesirous, we can feel it and we can almost touch it. For the few who find it nauseating, the options are not many! We have nowhere to hide, like a hound tracking down its prey the domineering influence of politics always catches up.

I cannot attempt to belittle the work of many of our country men because I am aware of the sacrifices made for any individual to occupy these spaces. A place where you are rarely appreciated, accept even those from the lowest economic stratum to toss about your name as if you were a little pet but still accept to remain a servant of the people.  

As a matter of example, when the British Prime Minister was leaving office after seven years of hard work but also of uproar, furore, and the tumultuous decisions, Phillip Stephens described him this way,

“The Tony Blair who spoke to that slightly bemused audience in Sedgefield in the spring of 2004 was scarcely recognizable from the fresh-faced young man who had become his party’s leader a decade earlier. Seven years in Downing Street, the burdens and battles of office and the angry controversy over the war against Iraq were etched deep into the lines under his eyes. His hair had thinned. The grayish hue of his skin had for some time told of stress and exhaustion.”

The truth is that office can wear you out, for those who are unlucky it can even reduce your life span, it can also cast you as a lonely and tired figure well past their sell-by-date.

The past two-three weeks have been unsettling not just for Makerere University but for many other institutions of higher learning. The university has been all about colours and slogans, about affiliation and loyalty, the surprises were not many. The search for a new set of leaders, responsible and enterprising to spur their respective constituencies to higher grounds has been ongoing and it still continues. I will not make mention of the ugly side that the campaigns took because some things are best left in the past but for the greater part will focus on the after period.

Two things have always informed my view of student and youth leadership but also by default any kind of position of service. That first of all we can choose to take these places of leadership and responsibility and make them count but second and most importantly we can use that opportunity to show everyone why it was important that you are in that place.

One of two things can happen when you are elected. You can either be that once in a generation leader whose election heralds an earthquake that alters completely the contours of how the others look at the politics of that position. Alternatively you can be that drab, dreary and spineless leader that we quickly make reference to when we need quick and evident examples of ‘nothing doers’. Some things should not be about politics, they are simply a matter of willingness to learn, focus and intention together of course with a little dose of good upbringing.

Even when the storms begin raging it shouldn’t be much of a concern. That is the moment to display true character, the moment to show your mental adeptness and why it is you and not someone else in that office. In the words of Tony Blair when asked whether he wanted to continue being Prime Minister of the UK after the Iraq invasion that had turned out a complete disaster, he had this to say; “It is always a privilege to do the job. You have to be resilient in this because you have to believe in what you are doing, and, in the end it is for the people to decide.  

If anyone took up a leadership position today we expect their job to be simple, to serve and to simply serve us well. That is the price of leadership and it is not a big ask!

On a personal note, I take the opportunity to congratulate all those that have been lucky enough to take up positions of leadership in the past few days and those who are still waiting in the wings. It is by no means a small feat having a group of people fully vesting their trust in you. We look forward to good service in the coming days.

Blessed week ahead!

Balance for Better; why women rightly deserve a place at the table

There is always something memorable about one’s childhood days. For some it is the games and toys, for others it is the special treatment but for many it is the moments that proved you were the child that you actually are. Calling and you have an immediate answer or crying and a minute later you are in someone’s arms, being soothed and caressed remains among the joys and blessings of being a child.

Growing up has never been an event, it is a process that requires you to undergo a series of transitional rites that take you from one stage to another. My own experience was no different from the rest. The moments that can’t easily go away are those where the privileges and perks that caused much joy over our elders would suddenly be taken away and just like the crowds, we would settle for the normal.

The most pronounced was mostly at dinner as the evenings unfolded into nights. Because of the limited capacity that the dining table could handle, we the little ones would be allowed the licence to roam on the mats (not the carpets because they were a luxury). It is while ensconced somewhere in a far away corner, a good distance away from the table that you would loathe the visitor that came around because ultimately, they had cost you your seat at the coveted table.

 Uganda joined the rest of the world on 8^th March to celebrate the International Women’s Day. It was a day to hold special, to celebrate and honour our mothers, wives, sisters, girlfriends and fiancées. The real purpose of women’s day as it should be is to celebrate women’s history, highlighting their achievements and milestones and not forgetting to use the opportunity to raise awareness about the need for equality. We cannot run away from the enormous value of women in our society today, from the mother who carried you for nine months, bathed you and made sure you slept satisfied to the sister who chose your first date outfit to the wives who have to find a balance between family and career.

Our mothers, sisters, wives and girlfriends have however been constantly suffered marginalization. And this is not a thing of yesterday; it is part of the things our predominantly patriarchal society has accepted to live with at times by omission but majority of times by commission. But we can’t say we haven’t made strides because our great grandmothers, grandmothers and some of our mothers were denied certain delicacies, lived without may privileges, that is now partly a thing of the past, the titles that had been constructed for a certain gender are beginning to be unconstructed and the women are accepting to challenge in the arenas that were recently male dominated, the strides are being taken. The campaigns and women movements are also doing great work in debunking certain myths, unshackling those in patriarchy bondage and freeing the minds of those still held hostage.

I for one didn’t understand the real place of women in my entire childhood; I didn’t appreciate them enough because my surroundings didn’t favour it. In school, the teachers would unashamedly admit that the first place was not meant for girls. The boys would be kept on constant pressure of making sure they outdo the girls. I didn’t bother to ask myself why until it happened one day, a girl topped the class. The day was normal just like any other, the sky didn’t come down and the sun rose from the East and set in the West. It is at my later stage in life that I learnt about how gifted the same way we all are, what a man can do, a woman can do and sometimes even much better.

I will share a simple story. During the 1994 Genocide, Sula Karuhimbi hid and protected hundreds of people in her property and nourished them with food from her field. Using her reputation as a healer, Sula convinced the militia that whoever dares to enter her house will be eaten up by her fetishes. She was an example of courage and humanity, like so many other women in the world. This is just one of the many examples of women that have stood tall in this world and created an impact on the lives of others, they have displayed to those ready to see that you don’t need a certain genetic make up to accomplish certain feats.

 The world didn’t seem to pay attention many years ago but that is no longer acceptable today. The achievements of women stare in our faces wherever we choose to look, they are hard to ignore and we must embrace them.

For many years, women have been pushed away from the table, huddled in a corner away because the men had turned into permanent visitors. That is a thing of yesterday, if the seats are not enough; the men are going to have to push up and accept to share the table with women because that is where they deserve to be!

Blessed week ahead!

The Corruption Conversation is either tired or we are tired of it

On a chilly Tuesday evening in the upscale suburb of Kololo, it is an event that is familiar to those in attendance. One that has outlived the presidential campaign of its chief protagonist even when many thought it was only strategically made for the season.

The territory and location is familiar but unlike previously when we had our engagements in the spaces on the ground floor, this time we had to move a few feet high. No coincidence, it is only those who like to over-think that would relate the nature of discussion expected to the few steps that we were obliged to scale.

There are definitely new faces in the crowd as always, trying to feel comfortable and yet striving not to discomfort others, adjusting to the set up and yet struggling not to look lost. But there is no complexity in all this, just a group of advocates and those intending to be gathered on an evening out, sharing experiences over a cup of coffee. A guest is usually invited to share their experience from far and wide with a group of mostly the young people, eager to listen.

The guest of this particular day is familiar, atleast to the audience. He is not a media darling and neither is he a social media person but he is someone that has appended his signature to numerous decisions, made orders to various effects and sat as an arbiter in tones of cases as a judge of the High Court in Uganda. Justice Yasin Nyanzi, a Judge attached to the Criminal Division of the High Court, in charge of juvenile justice was our guest speaker. In a low and almost inaudible tone, he spoke a lot about his humble background, the primary school where he went to and how it was never on the grid of recognized schools in the country, the sacrifices he made to be able to move from one class to another. But despite all odds, he remained resilient and steadfast, for us who saw him that evening, he stood tall on the platform in front of us, accomplished in every sense of the word and you could not help but simply admire what the man had become.

On every such day, a topic for discussion is laid out and like a careful navigator; the guest speaker guides us through. It was a turn to discuss corruption.  For every one of us, this is something that has been discussed, mentioned in passing, pondered in the dead of the night or even been a part of. But like Justice Nyanzi pointed out, it is a thing that has existed from the time of Adam and Eve, lived through generations, is stuck with us and will not be shy to pass it on to the generations that will come after us.

As expected he talked about the different forms in which corruption manifests, from the small favors to dishonesty, to blackmail, bribery and preferential treatment. For many of these we knew, had probably experienced or were part of but the standout was his personal story. As a judge of the courts of judicature of Uganda, the temptation to be drawn in either of the above is huge. People have grown not to have any trust in their judicial officers. But Justice Nyanzi went on record to say that for all his time as a judicial officer, he had never attempted to take a bribe knowingly or unknowingly. “I leave within my means but most importantly I want to leave a legacy of honesty.” It was heart-warming.

As he summed up the evening, he rallied us to be passionate fighters against corruption, because if blame is to be rationed out, when all has been said and done we shall have only ourselves to blame. In the minds of mortals, this is an impossible goal to achieve but there are no limits to humanity, we can be bad but we can be good and very good too.

This conversation may be tired or we may even be tired of having it but in our small ways we can do something about it!

Blessed week ahead!

Classless acts and how they mirror on our image

There is something unique and distinctive about class. It is a thing that is quite difficult to define with precision, one that you may not touch with your physical hands but yet seems obvious to the human eye. Class has never been about resources, wealth or power although these could accentuate its existence, but it is a cocktail of bits and pieces of one’s acts, conduct and general outlook. You cannot attach a price to it but its unflagging aura is one that you would classify as priceless.  It comes in simple and innocuous ways such as what you say, how you say it, the things that you choose to do, the manner in which you do them.  

In a week that has been dominated by thinly veiled barbs and cheap shots, from water melons to pumpkins to sending others to hang and in hell, it was not an audition of character or good morals but it was a display of classless acts that mirror the image of us, our society and how much we have accepted as okay.

I will share a very short story about a very important lear that I picked from one of the most impactful teachers I have met in my education life. I have since come to terms with the fact that some of the greatest lessons I have learnt in life, were those imparted in me during my callow years at the beginning of my mid education life. As it is the life of many of us to be naughty and jumpy at this age, so was this little boy in class whose name I can hardly recall. During a school gathering on a certain occasion, he did something (I don’t remember what) that provoked the ire of one of the teachers. The teacher looked at him, then looked at us all and then looked at him again; at that point no one could guess what would be next, probably a slap or rebuke but neither was forthcoming. Instead, with a calm and gentle stance, he asked a seemingly simple and straightforward question from no-one-knows-where; “Did you grow up or you were brought up?” It wasn’t just about the strangeness of the question but his face was also revealing, you didn’t need to be an expert in body language to know how disgusted he was. Because that simple statement had attracted the attention of many, he seized the opportunity to give us a life lesson. He explained that there is a huge difference between growing up and being brought up because the former means that like an offshoot of a plant you accumulated years and without being tendered and raised you have reached that age of your life, the latter on the other hand means that you were cared for and most importantly in the meticulous process of bringing you up, you were taught manners and how to behave especially in the presence of other members of the public. He wasn’t done yet. Much more than being brought up, it needn’t have been in a house but rather a home, the difference being obvious! For the little boy who had misbehaved, he wished the earth could swallow him up but for the rest of us it was a point driven home.

Ultimately as a matter of fact, our conduct as individuals is not something that is watermarked on us at birth but rather components that we learn bit by bit from the actions and examples that are before us. This is exactly why the family environment is very important for child upbringing because in the absence of a caring and compassionate atmosphere, the effects are easy to notice.

I don’t proclaim sainthood for starters but for more times than not, the young people (call them the millennials or even the burger-sausage-pizza generation) have been castigated for mostly their shortcomings rather than their achievements. But we also need to look at it in a larger context; do these young ones have older people that they look up to? If they look up to them, then we must consider what the elders have in their showroom that we visit and take along with us ready to adopt and make part of our lives. It is easy for us to adopt in our vocabulary watermelons or pumpkins or even send people to hang or in hell because those are the examples we are being fed on everyday and each day!

Blessed week!

Of depression, moods and the need for a support system

In the fall of 2018, the Mental Health Foundation of the UK carried a rather captivating story. A guy who was only identified as Benj was experiencing severe depression and other mental problems. He started experiencing these when he moved to university. “I thought it was a natural part of the experience-trying to establish social networks and getting to grips with my studies. But looking back it’s clear I became very isolated.” Benj started to spend long periods alone in room, anxious and fearful of meeting new people. He struggled to sleep and make decisions, even to remember that he had left food on the fire. Away from home and his usual support networks, there was no one he trusted to confide in and with all this he struggled to be well but he never was. He was lucky to receive counseling sessions that helped him pull through.

The statistics in the UK put it at 5 of every 16 people being affected by depression. Research has been carried out in our country and it was revealed that 3 out of every 10 northern Ugandans suffer from depression, a mood disorder that causes sadness, downheartedness and gloom. The only limitation in this study is that it was carried out in a single region but imagine we are to take it as a representation of the entire country then that puts the percentage at 30% for those affected by depression. If I am sitting in a class of 300, then that means 90 or so of my classmates are depressed. Disastrous! That figure is astronomical! The minister of state for primary health care, Ms Joyce Moriku during a press conference at the ministry headquarters in April last year noted that depressions is the second leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 29 years. You need no expertise to guess why. From coursework results to enervating examinations, to the graduation battle and finally to whether you will be employed or not. But that is only the academics window, the social life has its own revolving door, you are faced with relationship huddles, with financial constraints, ego and prestige fights and with so many life choices. All these can easily take a heavy toll on one.

But these are the moments in our lives that delineate us, that define who we are, exposing our very soft and weak spots but in other times they spell out the turgid variations that hide in the furthest corners of our hearts. The reaction to what befalls us differs depending on the thickness of one’s skin but also by reason of many other factors among them being the support system that holds us up. We have created a society in which people find it harder and harder to show one another basic affection. Despite the fact that millions live in close proximity to one another, it seems that many people have no one to talk to, but even if they do, it is the usual things that dominate everyone else’s conversation.

But the dimensions are different for even those who laugh and have a word for everyone; they struggle with thoughts in the dead of the night maybe because they are afraid to be called weak, or much worse than that is they just can’t find a way to start.

The basic human feeling is not just about what you feel about yourself; it goes further to our ability to empathize with others. The Dalai Lama in his book Ancient Wisdom, Modern World makes the point that this basic human feeling is what enables to enter into, and to some extent participate, in others’ pain. It is what causes us to start a sound of a cry for help, to recoil at the sight of harm done to another, to suffer when confronted with others’ suffering and it is also what compels us to shut our eyes when we want to ignore others’ distress. As  a people who have understood the heavy handedness that depression can exert, we ought to offer shoulders for those in need to rest on but most importantly to be the support system that we can ever be.

When all has been said, we need to ask ourselves three fundamental questions. The first is that, why is there so little known about metal health compared to physical health and yet this is a disease like any other and it kills too at a very high rate? Secondly, why have the older people continually denied the existence of depression and its surrounding ramifications? Lastly but most pertinently, if this is a government that cares about its next generation, why is it mute about their leading killer? Before we get to the bottom of these three questions, we may as well be where we started off.

In truth, like Benj we never know when it starts but just like a physical illness, with time the signs begin to show!

I can’t break off without congratulating the mighty Makerere Law School JESSUP team that made sure the school represents Uganda in Washington. If we all agree that the week started off on a bad note with a recommendation to have the mighty school closed, the tweet by the Vice-Chancellor’s official handle at the end of the week summed it up for us; thank you for flying our banner high.

Blessed week!

A Spiritual Revolutionary; Remembering the Life of Bishop Patrick Kyaligonza

“To live life to the fullest, you must stand guard at the gate of your garden and let only the very best information enter. You truly cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought-not even one. The most joyful, dynamic and contented people of this world are no different from you or me in terms of their makeup. We are all flesh and bones. We all come from the same universal source. However the ones who do more than just exist, the ones who fan the flames of their human potential and truly savour the magical dance of life do different things than those whose lives are ordinary. Foremost amongst the things that they do is adopt a positive paradigm about their world and all that is in it.”

February 11, 2010. The day was supposed to be like any other, the sun rising from its favourite direction, people going about their normal business but sadly it never was. Like an old Tibetan proverb puts it, ‘The next life or tomorrow- we can never be certain which comes first.’ Bishop Patrick Kyaligonza Ateenyi only consecrated less than a year was out going by his usual duties but only this time it was his last. Minutes after he had set out for what was supposed to be confirmation of candidates in the Anglican faith, he was involved in a fatal accident that claimed his life.

Ateenyi (as he was fondly referred to) was among the select few who inspired respect and affection, very passionate in the pursuit of causes he believed in. We have created a society in which we find it harder and harder to show one another basic affection but no one could accuse him of this. The most outstanding thing about his personality was his simplicity, he mingled with anyone irrespective of denomination. It didn’t matter if you were Catholic or Muslim or even pagan, he always oozed the calm reassurance that humanity is more important than anything else. He was a clergyman before he was Bishop; however he was human before he was clergyman. So while as Bishop he had a special responsibility to the clergy, as a clergyman he had a special responsibility to his flock but as a human being he had a much larger responsibility toward the large human family, Catholic or Protestant, Muslim or Pagan. There was something special about him; he was someone that glued people together, he refused to give up on anyone irrespective of what those around you thought about you. He was a man whose company you sought simply because it enriched your life. To many of us who were glad to share moments with him, the truth is that it never crossed Bishop Patrick’s mind that if he asked, you wouldn’t give because he spent his whole life giving.

While at his funeral, outside the Cathedral where he had had his last assignment, where he had served for many years even before he became bishop, there was sadness engraved on the faces of each one, everyone had their personal moment to tell about him. The funeral attracted religious and cultural leaders, politicians, the powerful and mighty, but this funeral seemed to be of a difference, for it was filled with many ordinary members of the public, who had simply come to say thank you. He definitely was no saint, but we were sure that Saints would be standing at the Gate of Heaven waiting to greet him.

Today he would be celebrating a decade as Bishop of Rwenzori Diocese and three decades in ministry but the Lord had a different plan for him. His life was lived to the fullest because he could not afford the luxury of a negative thought, his was a positive paradigm on any day and all this radiated to those around him.

 Like Robin Sharma says, when all is said and done, no matter what you have achieved, no matter how many summer homes you own, no matter how many cars sit in your driveway, the quality of your life will come down to the quality of your contribution.

Bishop Patrick Kyaligonza will be remembered for many things but the most endearing is that he was a spiritual revolutionary and to many of us he was a spiritual father; we shall forever miss him as he continues to rest in peace!

Blessed week ahead!