BACKGROUND

My father was a civil worker and my mother was a teacher [still is] by the time I was born. I do recall that by that time she was operating a small kindergarten school at home having retired from teaching in government public schools. When I asked her later why she retired from public service to private school business, she answered that she was never contented with the salary she was receiving from gov’t and the passion to teach the young children she had developed.

I’m the fourth born in my family of 7 where there are six boys and only one girl. As had all my brothers before me, so did I attend my mother’s school for the kindergarten classes.

Eventually I also had to go through the conveyor belt school set up of my country, so I had to join primary grades, secondary and later I had to reach high school where I was to decide on my professional destiny by deciding on the subjects to take up. I really do agree that my parents inspired me to take up science subjects for they always talked of how they greatly wanted me to be a medical doctor. So with this inspiration I had only my self to worry about in doing sciences, but the real contrast on family ideology started contrasting when time came for choosing the career I was to undertake for my future.

Having had the first three sons ending up as university lecturer’s, my parents decided against my will of being a teacher for the society held a teacher with a low regard and indeed one normally becomes a teacher having failed to score better grades for other high paying professions. I for one, I acknowledge the fact that I grew up when my parents could provide and meet all my needs, and I managed to go through all the school ranks with ease. But this decision of mine to take up education course at university was completely rebuked by my entire family.

My desire to be a teacher was a result of an inner feeling I had acquired during my grade six in primary where I had a friend who was an orphan and was coming from the streets. This boy Tony [RIP] had both his parents die of AIDS in 1992 and his uncles throw him out of his father’s home for material possessions. Eventually Tony ha to move to the streets, but he was never deviated from his mission of attaining education. I recall he used to make bricks at school for his fees dues despite his HIV status. I remember we had developed a mutual relationship where I used to smuggle some food cramps for him from home one day it even led me to be beaten by dad for spilling food in my books and also I received the same reception from my teacher.

If I had known that Tony was to die so soon, I wouldn’t have accepted to enter a vow with him. It was one of those adventurous days with him that he asked me to do him a favor. He called my name all of a sudden and asked me if we can promise one another to love one another’s future families in case one of us does end up failing in life. I didn’t take anything seriously from his talk because by that time a 10 year old had no fundamental idea about what may come in the future. But it only took 7 months for the world to turn around me as Tony died and he was buried in the cementary, but I promised on his grave that I would make him a family in his memory.

I said all that when not quite sure how I would do it, but I eventually decided to be a teacher when I grow up. For I believed that teachers are great people.

I never opted to do computer science at university but it was my parent’s decision. I knew I had a mission to fulfill but I didn’t exactly know how to go about it, all I knew was that come what may I had to do something when the right opportunity arose.

Eventually I had to graduate from university but I didn’t wait to receive my results from university to take the first step towards my goal. I asked my parents to permit me be teaching in the nearby secondary school as I awaited the results. They allowed me on condition that I was to start searching for a job in my profession in the meanwhile. However, I started teaching with an insatiable heart. Eventually I was completely taken up by teaching that my parents and brothers started asking me to quit. In fact, my brother got me a job in a telecommunication company as a systems administrator. I shunned the job, which sparked off a great disagreement within the family. Once started, I never went back and eventually I was on track of something extra ordinary in life.


SETTING UP OF AN ORPHANAGE

Two years down the teaching road a flash of sympathy struck my heart as I met a fellow teacher who happened to be from the war torn northern part of the country where the rebels led by Joseph Kony had fought with government since 1987. by then it was 2002 and he told me of all the atrocities committed by the fighting forces. I used to hear of these atrocities like rape, murder and violation of human rights through the media but from his story, I felt I needed to make a trip to this region.

I made the trip, but what I met there really called my soul to come to a conclusion that something had to be done. And this was requiring me to take an initiative to help out at least the so many orphaned children. The first persons I was to contact were my parents who anonymously with my brothers referred and held me as an insane son. Indeed apart from my mother, they all swore never to sit to listen nor watch me disgrace the family. They threw me out of the home and I had to start putting up at a friend’s house [fellow teacher]. It was at Julius’s home [my host] that I made up my mind to follow what my heart regarded as right to start raising a new family constituting of needy pupils.

But how was I to do this when I even left home with only one pair of clothes and I was receiving only 35,000 Uganda shillings for salary a month and I neither owned neither a building nor a land title. Julius laughed at me as I told him of my plans but eventually tells me of a friend whose family had a piece of land and some old buildings meant for small living quarters. I ask him to take me to this guy, which he eventually does. On reaching the guy, he laughs his head off as I narrate my vision to help provide accommodation to a group of needy pupils. Jokingly, he permits me access to his family premises sighting he wanted to see the drama I was going to create. So this is how I met one Kabali Wahab who has all these years granted me access to his family premises. As part of the agreement we entered with him, I was to pay rent fee of 10.8 million shillings a year for the period between 2004 and 2011, after then I’m to look for another place for he would need his land for setting up his own school on the same ground. I agreed immediately with his offer for I badly needed to make my dream a reality. I could always see child outcries in my dreams and whenever I have set up on my adventures, I have always come face to face with needy children under the following categories; orphans, street children, abandoned babies, outcast children from broken families and some others had been married off by their parents. These have been my closest family for the past five years.

I then started figuring out how I was to generate revenue for my orphanage for at first I thought of creating a mere orphanage as I send these pupils to near by public schools. But this proved not to work for even in public school set up some little money was to be paid up to cater for meals and development funds. Then I considered that they will have to feed and be clothed on top of availing other basic requirements, and I had no definite source of income because even my salary wasn’t even sufficient. I then thought of opening up this orphanage as well as the school so that they can be educated at the same venue they stay. But as for the funding, I decided to subsidize on the fees structures for the different nearby schools for I opted to acquire some students from the community who could pay fees as my source of funding.

My goal was to at least adopt 20 students, but I have realized that as you think your problem is the worst, then stand to be astonished as you listen to your neighbor’s tragic story. This I have experienced for the last four years for to date I’m accommodating 350 needy children from different areas of the country that I had never even dreamt of reaching before I started running this orphanage and this number has nothing to do with the day to day appeals I receive from different corners to take up more of them but I at times turn deaf ears to them for I have already bitten more than I can chew.

My strategy begun with me clearing the bush around the land as well as painting the old small quarters which where to serve as classrooms as well as dormitories. This work I did my self for I had no funds to hire anyone do it for me. I remember working from 6:00 am in the morning till 3:00 pm in the afternoon digging, making furniture painting clearing bushes and in the evenings I could walk through the community soliciting for students from the community and having registered 60 students who could at least pay 15,000 shillings a term, I set off for Gulu but before I could board the bus for this northern town I meet three street children [Peter aged 9, Mary aged 10 and Thomas aged 6 who had lived on the streets in Kampala since their childhood] I stopped to interact with them as little did I know that this marked the very beginning of my endless interactions with needy children, for since that day I have always adopted many children from such scenarios. I remember starting with 50 orphans in 2004. But to date, I have these orphans spread over the years[6months old baby to 22 year olds). In northern Uganda I was to receive saddening outcries and stories of murdering, raping and kidnapping children. I remember getting five kids who had been found wounded over their parents dead bodies. To date, I have 350 children below the age of 11 years. On top of these 350, I also have 140 who are under my care but dropped out of school having completed the primary level here but I have failed to take them to senior secondary.


CHALLENGES

Over the years, I have grown stronger into my vision than I had never before that is the reason as to why I have always been strong in whatever step I take. Though this has nothing to do with the fact that I have always had setbacks in my progress. First and foremost I have always been stressed by the ever cropping up problems and the tireless duties I do from the beginning to the end of the year. And this is catalyzed with the worry for how we are to survive the following day, month or year. Provision of basic requirements, feeding, accommodation, paying salaries, transportation and security over these kids has contributed to this stress. And the fact that I’m not certain over the future of these students after leaving this primary school set up and the un certainty of our next destination after 2011 on top of the continued threats of closure from the ministry of education for lack of proper facilities required of a habitable school set up. And also the outstanding bills over the years. For there is no single year that ended without its own outstanding bills!

However, I acknowledge the fact that my family accepted me back and are now supportive in my struggle as they have also granted me 4 acres of land to establish the orphanage permanently but it only waits developing.

Over the years I have always engaged these students in growing some of the food we eat during the seasons to cut down on food costs and the land I have always rented for each season for growing these crops.

As for the staff, I normally employ people who are still searching for better jobs and I pay some little money as they look for jobs and as soon as they get one they leave. But of recent getting such civilians has become mythical.
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