Redefining Africa's Future

A few nights ago, over dinner with a workmate, we found ourselves lost in a conversation about parenting. We compared the way we raise children today with the way we were raised, and we both agreed that our generation of parents is much softer. We laughed at how we once survived tougher rules, the sticks, and discipline that seemed harsh then, but somehow made us who we are today. The conversation brought back a flood of nostalgic memories of my childhood in Gulu, Uganda, growing up under the watchful eyes of my mother.   She was a single mother, raising four children on a primary school teacher's salary. At the time, I never understood the weight she carried: Feeding us and paying school fees on one hand, working full-time, doing her lesson plans on the other hand, and still planning for a future. What I knew was that when she raised her voice or her eyes narrowed, you obeyed. And when you disobeyed, the stick reminded you. Her primary weapon was a stick and caning as a form o...

In the year 2000, I was in Bishop Angelo Negri College School, a catholic boys' boarding school in Gulu, Uganda. In October that year, pressure was building on us like a storm. We were in Senior Four, preparing for the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations set by the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB). UCE exams are considered very important because they define your future. So, students need to prepare the best, master 4 years' worth of knowledge in 8 to 10 subjects. This means extensive revisions to prepare for the exams. Yet, at Bishop Angelo Negri College, there was no slowing down on other co-curricular activities, even with UCE exams just two weeks away. We still had to say the rosary every evening. We still had to attend church every Sunday. And our Headmaster, a strict, serious man with a heavy Acholi accent, made sure every boy followed the rules. The Plan to Escape to Read One Sunday, at 6:30 AM, I quietly packed my books. So did Tabu, my dormmate. ...