Empower African Children Blog

“When the music changes, so does the dance”

By Agnes Kasule, program manager at Empower African Children

That’s the new logo of our Spirit of Uganda 2012 Tour T-shirts (pictured above). The African proverb speaks on a deep level to all of our students.

Half of those students arrived in the United States on New Year’s Eve to begin the four-month Spirit of Uganda tour. Meanwhile, the 21 primary and secondary students left in Uganda are carrying on their own dance.

Last November, the group returned to their respective villages/homes, where they each had to carry out a service project.

Here are some of the highlights:

• Phyllis’ first visit to Sanyu Babies Home was with Empower African Children... 

Phyllis Asiimire, 14, spent her school holiday volunteering at a home for babies.

 She observed that the home received many (although not enough) material donations, but there were not enough people to carry, hug, play, feed, and love the babies.

During this school holiday, Phyllis volunteered there for a week. Her day started at 6:30 a.m. and ended at 4 p.m. Her tasks included waking, bathing, dressing and feeding the babies, making their beds, laundry, helping in the classroom, and changing diapers — her biggest lesson of the her time there, along with learning the tragic histories of the babies.

She feels the experience has made a difference in her life, the lives of the babies, and the “mothers” who care for them. Phyllis wishes to see the birth rate in Uganda drop and for schools and communities to engage in teaching about the consequences of early parenthood. This, she believes, will curb the cases of child neglect and abandonment.

• Daniel’s uncle owns a traditional dance troupe...

Daniel Tashobya, 18, organized a behavioral change workshop in his uncle's community.

In his interactions with the troupe, Daniel noticed there was a general lack of respect for leaders, for each other, and time for prayer. He organized a behavioral change workshop for the troupe and other interested locals. He asked a teacher from the his alma mater, Taibah Junior School, to give a talk on HIV/AIDS, as well as a community development agent to talk about living and working with others. More than 50 people attended the workshop, which was so well received Daniel plans to have it annually.

• Jengo has the rare opportunity to influence people in two countries – Uganda and Tanzania...

Jengo Munawiru, 19, focused on teaching his community good hygiene habits.

His home is on the Uganda-Tanzania border in southern Uganda. Last year, he conducted a soccer camp and tournament in Uganda. This year, Jengo tackled hygiene in Tanzania, which, by the interest and help from a few individuals, spilled over into Uganda.

He started his campaign by cleaning his home, compound, and bathrooms. He then recruited five individuals, who went house to house teaching people how to clean their homes, compounds, bathrooms, and keep their babies safe. As a result, people started collecting their trash in plastic bags and burned it less often than before. He will continue to inspect and teach whenever he returns home. His hope is that those in his community have learned the importance of good hygiene and will maintain it.

When our Spirit of Uganda performers dance their way into your hearts over the next few months, we hope they are influencing you in meaningful ways. In the same way, we hope all our students positively influence others wherever they go — be it on a renowned stage in New York City on in a little village in Mitooma.

Agnes Kasule is program manager at Empower African Children and is based in Kampala, Uganda. She can be reached at Agnes@EmpowerAfricanChildren.org.

 

The Lessons of Spit-up and Community

By Gable Roby

Empower students performing with the 2012 Spirit of Uganda Tour pose with 5-month-old Parker Roby. From left to right, Mary Nakabuubi, Faith Kansiime, Sharon Kyomugisha, and Miriam Namala.

As most moms of American babies will tell you, there is a palpable sense of unease when people meet your new infant. Americans gush oohs and ahhs and put their hand over their heart and congratulate you. But we Americans wring our hands and adore from a distance, afraid to actually touch without a squirt of Purell, afraid of disturbing their peaceful sleep by speaking too loudly. We even hesitate handing them off to others, as if the slightest jostle might injure their tiny necks.

So, imagine my surprise on a recent Sunday at lunch when my baby was hoisted from my arms and passed around the room. Nobody seemed to need permission, and they certainly didn’t wait for approval before handing her off to another friend. I watched cautiously — OK, anxiously — as my daughter was bounced, danced, snuggled, and sung to by 11 girls whose first names I didn’t know and whose last names I couldn’t pronounce. Their confidence was impressive.

“How old are you?” I asked one of the younger ones. “Eleven,” Donatina said. Wow. OK.

My daughter began to fuss and Sharon immediately grabbed her. “She’s hungry,” she said. “Can I feed her?” Umm. I glanced at my watch. Gosh … it is bottle time. “OK, let me go warm it up.” Man, how did she know that? It took me weeks to learn what that cry meant.

My hesitation turned to relaxation, and before long I had wandered off to join the buffet line. I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch and listened in on several fascinating conversations with the boys. As Sharon wiped my daughter’s spit-up off her Empower African Children sweatshirt, she smiled across the room to reassure me that things were still going well.

Of course, they’ve been raised in an environment where helping out with the unending rocking, feeding, and burping is a part of being in community. Skin on skin. Spit-up on sweatshirts. And suddenly, I couldn’t feel more comfortable with it. So strange. Just 10 minutes ago I was so nervous. But when you truly live in community, you have more experience with small children than I do. So I enjoyed the lunch and trusted that someone would come find me if I was needed.

After lunch, we heard the group sing a beautiful a cappella prayer, a harmonious experience in more ways than one. Our daughter’s crying stopped; she was mesmerized with the sound. As tears filled my eyes, I wondered — if my husband and I were to unexpectedly leave this earth, would a community of people quickly rise up to take care of my daughter the way these girls had done today? Am I doing what I can to ensure that other people’s children, like the ones that sang before me, are being provided for?

A great reminder, in that moment, to continue trusting in, and investing in, community.

And leaving the hand sanitizer at home.

Gable Roby is the daughter-in-law of Empower African Children’s CEO Frank Roby. She can be reached at gable.roby@gmail.com.

 

Sandwiches and Global Competence

By Cecilia Nipp

Ursuline students who traveled to Uganda in November reunited with their Empower friends on New Year's Eve, as students arrived in Dallas for the 2012 Spirit of Uganda tour.

I think a lot about relationships in my work as dean of diversity and global education at Ursuline Academy. We want our students to be competent and knowledgeable global citizens. But how does that goal become a reality in their daily lives?

At Ursuline, part of that global competence comes from developing relationships — that is, friendships — all over the world. Once a student has a friend in another part of the world, that part of the world suddenly becomes interesting and matters in a real, personal, and profound way. So, as we have deepened our partnership with Empower African Children, we have deliberately created the opportunity for relationships between our students and Empower students. We are guided by the timeless words of St. Angela, who founded the Ursuline order in the 16th century. She instructed the women in her company to “know each student by name” and to know the “special circumstance” of each student. This type of knowing — by name and circumstance — is exactly what we wanted for our students as we traveled to Uganda last November.

Our time was an awakening of so much awareness for our students. The great privilege in which we live in the United States became clearer, as did the infinite potential Africa holds. We spent time — the most critical ingredient for relationship building — with the Empower students. Together with our new African friends, we shared meals, attended mass, rode on the bus, sang, chatted, painted, volunteered, danced, and just laughed and laughed.

Strong friendships were formed with great ease and joy. Today, our Ursuline students feel particularly close to the Empower students because now they know them by name and circumstance. We know where they come from and have experienced their culture. We know about their passion for Oreos and dislike of sandwiches.

We know Faith is the youngest but not necessarily the quietest.

We know Donna’s favorite American restaurant is Wendy’s.

We know what awesome musicians Moses and Brian are, and that they are patient teachers when faced with really bad drummers such as ourselves.

We know Noelle loves fashion, and Sharon is an expert hair stylist in addition to being a talented dancer and singer.

Our Ursuline students could tell you so many details about their Ugandan friends —from their favorite songs to what obstacles they have faced and overcome in their young lives. And, as in all good relationships, the love goes both ways. The Empower students have come to know the Ursuline students by name and circumstance as well.

We also learned that welcoming others works both ways. The joy of being reunited with our friends when some of the Empower students arrived in Dallas on New Year’s Eve as part of the Spirit of Uganda 2012 tour was immense and the laugher, again, abundant. How ecstatic we will be this week when we welcome Spirit of Uganda to our school! The children will not only perform but will also join our entire student body in a day of learning, celebration, and, of course, relationship building.

Cecilia Nipp is dean of diversity and global education at Ursuline Academy in Dallas, Texas. She can be reached at cnipp@ursulinedallas.org. You can find her blog at www.uadodge2011-12.blogspot.com. If you’re interesting in visiting our students in Uganda, please contact Rosie@EmpowerAfricanChildren.org.

Making Way For Those Who Follow

By Frank Roby, CEO Empower African Children

Betty Nakato (U.S scholarship student), Libby Kingman (Spirit of Uganda tour manager), Gyavira Kasule (U.S. scholarship student), Peter Mugga (U.S. scholarship student), and Jack Fielder (friend of Empower) in our storage unit.

Who would have thought a simple afternoon project to move inventory to a storage unit would prove Empower’s 10-year, deeply rooted commitment to students works? But it did. What started as a mundane task became one of those revealing moments when you get to witness a hand-off from one “generation” to the next. 

Three of our U.S. scholarship students were in town on Christmas break. They all gave freely of their time to help make the storage move happen as we prepared for the 22 Spirit of Uganda students who arrived on Dec. 31. What’s the big deal? If you examine most people’s images of Africa based on media and news, it is a land of survival at all costs. Think about it. We read about food aid provided to save people from starvation being raided and stolen by thugs and terrorists. How do you get from the image of Al Shabab and the brutal tactics of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) — images we can’t even put in print — to Ugandan students with 3.8 GPAs at prestigious U.S. universities giving freely of their time to help the “next generation” of Empower students whom they barely know? 

You do it by doing what Empower does – and does not do. 

• We take 10 years or longer to prepare our students for a lifetime of influence, seeking out their unique capabilities so they can realize their promise.

• We care for them — and about them — in ways that family cares for each other.

• We provide academic rigor and supplement that with learning experiences in character, etiquette, and enterprise value to prepare them for their important role in developing their nation — economically, socially, intellectually, and culturally.

• We do not patronize them with low academic standards and low expectations while creating a false belief that basic skills will be transformative.

• We do not raise their expectations and then tell them to fend for themselves having shown them a world they cannot realize.

• We do not structure any of our programs in a way that is based on the pity factor, but rather on the reality that performance is rewarded.

Now, back to the move. The best part of this story is that when we were moving boxes, our U.S scholarship students were not thinking about how their actions were affecting others. Service had become so routine, they were just having fun sharing stories of their past and wondering what would happen with the new group. There was the story about the student who forgot to go to the bathroom before the performance (enough said on that!). Another one about how different their first impressions of America were compared to the media images they had seen. Having a great time being together, unaware of how much they have done to make life better for others, their satisfaction was in their sense of community and continuity, not in their own hard work preparing the way. 

In this new year,  a season of reflection and planning for each of us, maybe we can all take a cue from our Ugandan students and have some fun each day while preparing the way for someone else. 

Frank Roby is CEO at Empower African Children, based in Dallas, Texas. He can be reached at Frank@EmpowerAfricanChildren.org.

 

A Lesson in Dignity

Jeremy Phillips, program director in Africa

Jeremy Phillips, Empower's program director, with his father at the site of Empower's future school.

As I drive in Kampala, I am fascinated by the vehicles on the road from the various other non-profit organizations. Many of them focus on orphans, AIDS, and “the least of these.” While I am sure the organizations do meaningful work, it occurs to me that some of their names, logos, and mottos are often geared toward the donors they rely upon and are not always sensitive to the dignity of the people they serve. It reminds me of a story my dad once told me that taught me an important lesson.

My dad was born in China in a missionary family and returned home to Oregon when he was 6 years old. His family’s home church took baskets of food to needy families at Christmas. Everybody involved enjoyed it and felt proud they could help the poor. When he was 10, his dad (my grandfather) died in a workplace accident at the power plant where he worked. They were not a wealthy family, so the loss of his dad also meant they lost their primary source of income. It was soon Christmas time. While they were grieving, friends from the church showed up at his house with a food basket. One might assume he was happy to receive the food, but rather than run to receive the gift, he ran and hid instead. Why? He felt ashamed that he had become one of the poor families that needed a basket of food.

My dad went on to spend his entire career helping others through non-profit work. But he never forgot the lesson he learned about the importance of protecting the dignity of those you serve so they can hold their head high rather than bear the stigma of their condition or be ashamed of needing help. As a child I did not know this story, but I saw the effects of this lesson my dad learned in the way he treated people and the way they responded to him.

If we are not careful, our helping can hurt the very ones we intend to serve. We can focus on their needs and ignore their humanity. I often wonder how a family in Uganda feels when one of those vehicles drives up to their house. They are genuinely in need — just as my dad was — but are they happy to see the vehicle or do they want to run and hide?

Our name, Empower African Children, if often shortened to “Empower.” It is a name that speaks of our student’s abilities and potential. I get the sense our students are proud to say they are a part of “Empower.” Whenever we communicate what we do, we try to keep the focus on where our students are going and what they are capable of, not dwelling on the challenges they have experienced in the past.

A recent experience at our students’ school leads me to believe we are successful in this goal. They go to one of the top private schools in Uganda, so the majority of the other students come from well-off families. While attending a soccer match between the Empower students and the school team, one of the regular fee-paying students watching the match approached me and asked if she could join Empower. She didn’t realize we are a scholarship program; she simply saw the quality of the children in Empower and wanted to be among them.

We want our students to always be proud to be associated with Empower and hold their head high — with dignity.

Jeremy Phillips is program director of Empower African Children and is based in Kampala, Uganda. He can be reached at Jeremy@EmpowerAfricanChildren.org.

 

The Strength Within

By Frank Roby, CEO Empower African Children

Joseph, pictured in the center, is preparing for the Spirit of Uganda's 2012 U.S. tour in ways that aren't always obvious.

You know that really dark wood called ebony? It is very hard, very precious, and actually so heavy it sinks in water. But I learned something new about it in Kenya last week when I was meeting with our social enterprise partner, Bata Kenya. The outside of the wood looks  very much like most other trees. It is the core that is so strong and dark. The bigger the tree, the bigger the ebony core. So when you see a large object carved from ebony, you know it came from a massive tree.

Learning more about this tree made my observation of one of our students in Uganda especially poignant. Joseph is one of our emerging student leaders and a great talent who will be traveling to the U.S. as part of the upcoming Spirit of Uganda tour. I saw the strength of ebony  growing within him as I observed his leadership and his attention beyond the music and into the overall performance. Joseph is talented and soft spoken. Our students are no different than any other group in that some are quiet and others, well, not so quiet. Joseph is a quiet study of Peter Kasule, Spirit of Uganda’s artistic director. He is a protégé much like Peter Mugga, our music technology major at Sante Fe University of the Arts once was.

Joseph is becoming who he is capable of becoming. He now sees beyond his role and into how the pieces fit together to make for a spectacular result. And this skill now allows him to adjust and adapt to circumstances. There is an African proverb that you will see featured on our 2012 tour T-shirts. It says, “When the music changes, so does the dance.” What a perfect statement alongside the image of ebony. A strong center, often hidden from view, but resilient, and able to be molded into something of great beauty — in heart, in character, and in knowledge.

That is Joseph. And that is the nature of Empower students. I can’t wait for you to meet them. May we all have a core like Joseph’s that when revealed, shows the beauty that stems from our inner strength — a strength that allows others to lean on us in troubled times. That is the character of what Peter Kasule is teaching Joseph and what Joseph is learning to do in turn for our younger students. And it is a measure for each of us as we prepare for this Holy season.

Frank Roby is CEO at Empower African Children, based in Dallas, Texas. He can be reached at Frank@EmpowerAfricanChildren.org.

 

Practice Makes Powerful

  

Twenty-two of Empower African Children’s students have been training over the past year to launch the Spirit of Uganda tour in January 2012. The tour is comprised of 22 students, ranging in age from 11 to 20 years old, and will be presented in 23 cities and 13 states throughout the United States. Having just finished exams, the students are working on the final details of the production, preparing for a farewell performance at the National Theater in Kampala on Dec. 21 and their departure to the United States on Dec. 30. Eleven of the students have toured before, while 11 are looking forward to their debut performance with the group. Here is a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into the show with Peter Kasule, Spirit of Uganda’s artistic director:

What is the most important part of the tour for the student performers?

The No. 1 thing is to step outside of their country and have their eyes opened. When we leave Uganda, most of them want to be teachers and farmers. They go outside Uganda and meet doctors and professors. Once they come back, their lives have changed. They want to be choreographers, doctors, dancers. The most important thing is when they meet and talk to people, they tell them stories about what they do and where they come from. The bottom line is sharing stories.

Is the tour difficult at first for the children who haven’t done it before?

That is my main struggle at the moment. Half of the group has traveled and knows the industry. The new ones who haven’t yet performed get better the more they perform. A theater that seats 3,000 people does not exist in Uganda. The lights, the sound system, they have never seen all that. But they get used to it. Sometimes, though, the nervousness is not about what is there but it is about their stories. It can be overwhelming.

How do they do their schoolwork while they are on the tour?

Part of the tour is during their school break. We take a teacher with us and they study geography, American history, and English while we travel. As they travel, their English improves tremendously. Our tour is not just about performing. It’s also about creating global connections and transformative learning experiences.

What do you enjoy most about the tour?

Sharing the culture. Really, the goal of the tour is to share the African culture with American audiences. We share our stories and tell people the land we come from is not about poverty, that there is abundance beyond that. I may have my own history but I have another life. The way they see us on stage, they see us happy. We are creating a positive image out of our sad background.

How much does the performance change for each tour?

The dance may remain the same but the music that accompanies the dance changes. Whatever is happening within the area, we implement that with new traditional music. For instance, if part of Uganda is in war, the songs are about wars. Sometimes we are in a period of rejuvenation. For example, there was a time when in the central part of Uganda, the king was very happy. Then the songs are praising what is happening.

Why is the tour so important for Americans to see?

Africa is changing by the moment. What the kids are revealing and what the audience is seeing is history. At the moment, Africa is full of conflict and struggle, full of change in terms of politics, leaders. Africa is known for AIDS, all the people who have died, people who are suffering. But the message of this tour is that inside the war and the struggles we are going through there is joy. And if we live positively, we can make change without fighting, without suffering. So join us and let us be one.

Peter has been with Spirit of Uganda since 2004 and researches, creates, arranges, and directs the performances. Peter was born in Kampala, Uganda, in 1981. His mother died when he was 9, his father four years later of AIDS. He and his siblings grew up in the Daughters of Charity Orphanage. With the assistance of Empower African Children’s U.S. scholarship program, Peter graduated from the College of Santa Fe with a degree in music technology.

For more information on the Spirit of Uganda tour and its public performance dates, please visit EmpowerAfricanChildren.org/spirit.asp.

Surrounded

By Frank Roby, CEO Empower African Children

We are surrounded.

What is your response to that statement? Does it mean comforted, as in surrounded by the love of friends and family? Or captive, as if surrounded by forces that are against you?

Surrounded was the word I could not get out of my mind when I participated in a summit last Friday at SMU’s Tower Center for Political Studies. Global leaders and local experts on the Horn of Africa came to address the dire situation faced by millions of people in that area. It is not where Empower operates, but we are essentially surrounded by it.

Allow me to provide one paragraph of geography and history. From the “Horn” nations of Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Ethiopia to the “greater Horn” that includes Sudan and the new nation of South Sudan, the systemic pressures are enormous. And when you add in drought, famine, and the terrorist group al Shabaab, well, surrounded is not a comfortable feeling. Yemen is just a hop across the narrow part of the Red Sea from Djibouti (east). And the Lord’s Resistance Army is hiding in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Ugandan’s western neighbor). Add all these pieces to this region’s puzzle and you have emerging East African nations literally surrounded by troubles.

Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda are all trying to work together to reinforce the economic growth and potential they share — even as they are surrounded by chaos. How will they define “surrounded,” and how will that affect our students and graduating young professionals? That is the type of question I must face and the definition I must influence as I try to guide us through troubled waters.

But these facts are not to be confused with truth. The difference between fact and truth is in the fullness of understanding. Our students simply refuse to allow the word “surrounded” to trigger a survival instinct. Instead, their experience of surrounded is based on what they have, not what they might lose. Therein lies a valuable life lesson for all of us facing challenges. Our students have a sense of community and well-being that cares for them as they help each other accomplish more than their individual circumstances would normally dictate. This happens because they know they are there for each other and that you are there for them, surrounding them with hope.

Ugandan native and spouse to one of our former students, Monday Atigo (third from right) established his U.S. trucking business early this month. Monday and his wife, Sarah, hope to bring the service over to Uganda some day.

To show you how far this “surrounded” feeling can take someone when seen as a positive, allow me to close with this story.

People ask us all the time whether our U.S. scholarship students plan to return to Uganda. They did not come here to get away from Africa, and they will not stay here to stay away from Africa. What they want, and what they are creating, are plans that will connect their educational experiences in the U.S. to plans for service with businesses and NGOs in Africa, even if returning takes time. For example, when we think about the formation of South Sudan and the troubles in that area, we think avoidance. When they think about the formation of a new and friendly nation, they think … trucking services. Knowing that there is so little there, so much needed, and so much investment pouring in, our students and their spouses, all from Uganda, have been working on the best way to seize that opportunity.

Here is their plan. Step one, learn that business in the U.S. Step two, take it to Uganda. Step three, help us teach our Ugandan students to see the opportunities within being “surrounded” rather than as the inhibitor a fear response would cause.

In this season of Thanksgiving, let’s take a lesson from our Ugandan students and look for the good that surrounds us.

Frank Roby is CEO at Empower African Children, based in Dallas, Texas. He can be reached at Frank@EmpowerAfricanChildren.org.

Our Seven Primary School Graduates

By Agnes Kasule, program manager at Empower African Children

Percy is one of seven Empower students who graduated from primary school earlier this month.

On Nov. 5, seven of our students graduated from primary school. Next year, they will join secondary school. I thought you might like to meet them:

Daniel has been the headboy (student body president) this year and is the fastest runner in the school and among his Empower African Children peers.

Yudaya has been the entertainment prefect and is one of the tidiest children the school and Empower have known.

Percy has been the sports prefect, is a talented netball player, very active, and has a positive attitude and an open mind.

Anthony is academically the strongest in the group. He is helpful, a great soccer player, and a great sport.

Violet speaks wonderful English, is eager to learn, and tries everything.

Susan is the fastest female runner in the school and is a beautiful singer.

Sylvia has made the greatest strides academically and in her personal growth. She always strives to be better, takes risks, and is good at riding a bike.

Each of these students has had a challenging personal and academic background, but all have achieved beyond their perceived limitations. None of their prospective high schools, however, would ever know or consider these abilities and achievements in their selection of students.

After kindergarten, the Ugandan school system is divided into three levels. Primary is seven years (P1-P7). Secondary or high school is divided into two levels – Ordinary (O) Level is four years and Advanced (A) Level is two years. At each of these levels, students take mandatory, standardized national exams that allow them to advance to the next level.

At P7, students take Primary Leaving Exams (PLE), which are comprised of English, mathematics, science, and social studies. The exams, taken by our students earlier this month, are marked by the Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB), which releases the results in January. The best aggregate a student can get in each subject is 1 and the worst is 9. Thus, the topmost students have a total of 4 aggregates.

When results return, national newspapers are full of headlines about and pictures of the best students, schools, and districts. Parents proceed to making sure their children get their first choice picks of high schools. Schools answer back by revising their point structure requirements, depending on how the entire country performed. Schools might drop some points from their regularly accepted criteria if students performed well in general. This means some students, although bright and promising, might not get into the academically competitive schools because the whole country managed to perform relatively better than the previous year.

PLE results are the only criteria considered for high school entry. All seven years of primary school come down to these four exams. This system is not unique to Uganda, and we have used it for decades. For those who have the means to achieve highly, it works. But from my experience, there is so much more to a student than just academic achievement.

As Empower African Children, we cannot change the Ugandan system. We have to work within it. But our hope is to give our students the opportunities and support to develop and utilize all their talents to benefit themselves and others. In the long run, maybe we will influence the system as well.

For our students graduating from P7 is the beginning of the path – on their way to knowledge, influence, thinking skills, and opportunity. If not for the scholarships provided by Empowers’s donors, graduating from P7 likely would be the end of the path, followed by unemployment, poverty, and, statistically for the girls, pregnancy within two years. Thank you for clearing a new path in their lives.

Agnes Kasule is program manager at Empower African Children and is based in Kampala, Uganda. She can be reached at Agnes@EmpowerAfricanChildren.org.

Zaam's Journey- From Scholarship Student to Mentor

By Jeremy Phillips, Director of Programs in Africa

You may remember seeing the photo above featured on the back of the Transcendent Spirit book published about Empower African Children in 2006, as well as in other communications we’ve sent out in recent years. It is an incredible photo that captures the vitality and passion Empower’s students exhibit on stage and in life.

So who is that impassioned girl dancing? Her name is Zaam.

Like so many children in Uganda, Zaam came from a poor rural family. She was raised by her mother, who is a subsistence farmer and couldn’t provide all she needed. So she was sent to an orphanage to receive an education. As a teenager, Zaam was among the first group of children to receive a scholarship from Empower African Children in 2006, the same year this photo was taken.

You often see photos of African children like Zaam as a little girl in her uniform at school or living at the orphanage where she was raised. What you don’t often see is perhaps the most important piece of Zaam’s story — where she is today.

Zaam is now working with children who need her help, much the way she once needed ours.

It has been five years since that photo was taken on stage in the United States. At the time, she was in S4 (the equivalent of the 10th grade). Since then, she has finished secondary school and completed a university degree in guidance and counseling. During her studies, Zaam also had internships as a counselor at a school and in the child malnutrition ward of Mulago Hospital, the massive government hospital in Kampala.

Upon graduation from university, Zaam began her job search with the support of Empower African Children staff members. She quickly identified a job vacancy in an organization called Children of Grace.  She submitted her application and received a call for an interview in Jinja, a two-hour drive away, for the next day. She came into Empower’s office that day so excited … and nervous. We gave her an impromptu practice interview and crammed her full of all the advice we could drum up. She headed out the door, and we all said a little prayer for her.

Last week, they called her back and offered her the job.

At Empower African Children, our mission statement ends with the phrase “to prepare them for a lifetime of influence.” Zaam would not be where she is today without the help of many people who cared for her along the way.  Now, in her new position, she will be a mentor to 70 children who are in the same position we found her in only five years ago.

It has been an exciting week for Zaam as she packed up her belongings and prepared to make this monumental transition— from Kampala to Jinja, from student to staff member, from scholarship-supported schoolgirl to independent adult.

I suspect the most exciting part for Zaam may come in the next few weeks when she gets her first opportunity to sit down with a child who needs her help. I think Zaam may see her own reflection in that child’s eyes as she offers the comfort and support she knows that child needs. And the same passion she showed on stage in her now famous photo will be transferred into creating a lifetime of influence.

Jeremy Phillips is Director of Programs of Empower African Children and is based in Kampala, Uganda. He can be reached at Jeremy@EmpowerAfricanChildren.org.