THE INHERITANCE OF HOPE

This year my old school Cornerstone Leadership Academy celebrates 20 years and many know I have been involved in this work for as long as I can remember. My reflections therefore take me to the early years when back John Riordan was headmaster. As headmaster he was strict, kind and loving. John gave his first-born son the middle name “Kutesa” this is a Luganda (or better still Bantu) word to, “to negotiate”, to talk together. John was headmaster of Cornerstone Leadership Academy boys at a very formative stage when the school was struggling to find its identity. The proprietors who included Tim, Michael and John sought to build a different kind of school. A school with no rules. Where students are guided by principles. To date this is true. In many ways this was a blend blend of cultures that the American friends wanted where freedom and order would meet. Negotiations was therefore inevitable. It was critical that the talk was walked. That the student new they coul...

A GOOD MUGANDA IS A DEAD ONE - this statement is attributed to Former president Obote whether of not he said it is a different issue, my concern has always been on how this is attributed to him, it is normally stated with a not so good tint. I have always wondered how Uncle Milton Obote who is arguably one of the greatest orators and with a very high level of intelligence could go so wrong in making a statement like this and in all honesty that is if he made the statement at all – knowing that he himself was married to a Muganda and needed votes from the Baganda to keep in power. I am yet to get a satisfactory explanation and my search rages on – this week I meet an old friend of Obote for lunch and I was marvelled  by this explanation although I still have many questions I will hold on to this one because it seemed authentic and personal. This was the explanation: One of Mama Maria’s relatives is abandoned. Mama Maria is wife to the former president. This relative suffers...

Today we took our son for immunization and it got me thinking. Why immunize? The response is simply that the child will have immunity from diseases in the future. In Africa, there are 6 killer diseases: Measles, TB, Whooping Caught, Diphtheria, Polio and Tetanus. However there are many threats to life than just that. This brings to light the concept of looking forward. Now the culture in Africa gives very little mention of looking forward, may be that explains the reason why we are so subsistence in nature. I recently did a simple study asking many people from across Uganda the simple question on the word for Good Morning which in English is a wish for one to have a good day looking forward - all the responses across all the tribes was; How did you sleep, how did you wake, how was your night, how was your morning, did you sleep, did you wake and the list goes no. Basically they are all looking back. While the English word on the other hand was forward looking in wishing the p...

I have been part of a small group for the last 4 years that meets every Wednesday for breakfast many of the members of this group are very prominent so in ways I feel privileged that every week I can share breakfast and be a part of people who have made their mark on Uganda. However on Monday July 26, 2010, I picked up my phone and called one of the Wednesday group Mr. Chris Rwakasisi to come and share with a group of young men and women that I have also been part of the last 14 years. This is the joy of being in relationship with a large group of people. This group has as its long term mission a mandate to mobilize a movement of men of integrity and women of virtue whose lives will depict the character qualities we teach at our schools. To this effect we meet in small and large groups monthly and weekly to share and be part of one another’s lives. We have managed to do this by creating small self supporting groups that meet and are committed to one another for life. Au...

I CAN ONLY TEACH WHO I AM A few weeks ago I was blessed with a son. The feeling is great but the responsibility that comes with it is overwhelming. It may take my whole life to figure that out. For now i hold him every morning and give him a blessing. It is unfortunate that I even never remember if I was ever held or given the same blessings. I have begun to think through what I want him to learn from me. The more I think the more I wonder what life would have been if I had a proper relationship with my real dad. What lesson would I teach my son. How would I relate with him. As I have come to know these few weeks, teaching has three important sources: The Subject, The student and The element of self. For success I believe that an in-depth understanding of these three is important. 1. THE SUBJECTS: What we teach are as large and complex as life itself, so our knowledge of them is always flawed and partial. No matter how we devote ourselves to reading and research, teaching requires a co...