One Shot

 "Look if you had one shot or one opportunity, To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment. Would you capture or  just let it slip."

I had done this once before, talk to nine hundred and fifty eager, wonderful young men at St. Peter's College. I understood better the opportunity this time.  These students eagerly wanted to hear what I had to say.  They wanted to hear the words an America  might tell them.  My friends and students hopefully know that my words and thoughts are not any more valuable than yours.  But I had an audience that really wanted to listen, and so I was blessed with an opportunity to maybe reach a dozen out of nine hundred.  

I wanted to tell them that Lila made Lydia a better student and chasing them Maria would gain valuable lessons that she might not get again.  I wanted them to know that Kate and Mary made each other better and Jack made himself a great student. I wanted to tell them that I loved them and believed in them.  No matter what.  Father Boyle sign my book, "No matter whatness" many years ago at Nerinx.

And I wished I still had that book in my possession, but just maybe someone else picked it up, read the quote, read the book, and maybe lived the lesson better than I.

Okaali John, gave me a wonderful introduction.  So it was set up, all I had to do was carry the ball across the goal from the one. I asked them if they worked hard and raise their hands if they did.  They all raise their hands.But my american students they get up at four thirty every morning to begin their school day, so yeah, I think all of them should have put their hands up.  I then asked look to your left and look to your right. And raise your hand if you think you work harder than those two people. I wanted them to have the confidence of my recently graduated eighth graders, who knew their efforts were extraordinary?And were always trying to out do their peers.  

I then asked them, how many of them believed in themselves. Most raise their hand it was a good day to be a man who was blessed with this opportunity to speak. I'm coming home with a 150 Letters written by ugandans who want to know my students.  I am hoping these letters encourage, all of us to think outside of our bubble and to appreciate so many others in the world who work so hard and deserve our acknowledgment not our hatred.

The students of St. Peter's College wull do just  by not listening to my words and listening to themselves.  I have learned listen listening to others and listening to yourself are not mutually exclusive and sometimes the best path forward is to take your own steps with the advice of good people around you.

You Should.....

 Students there is going to be a time in your life, where a trusted person, a good person, a person who knows your talent and your soul, says to you.---You should....

Listen to that person and do it.

Eighteen years ago or so, Shona Clarkson walked into my math class and asked to watch a dvd with the whole class. I said no. She looked at me and said, "Mr. Magee, you of all people, should watch this." Shona is a great person and she knew me, or at least she knew what I wanted to be and insisted.  I ended up watching the dvd twice that day, with both senior math classes because they insisted ( or maybe they just didn't want to find roots of quartic equations).   

It was in Room E14 that at that exact moment I signed up to go to Uganda with the Invisible Children.  It's been too long since i've seen Shona,  I am going to have to find her just to thank her again.  All of my experiences in Uganda, all my friends, all my joys happened because my student Shona insisted.  Shona Clarkson changed my life.

Near the end of my second tour in Uganda a fellow teacher Josh Robinson asked me if I was coming back for a third year.  Of all the teachers in that year, josh was one of the best and I remembered looking forward to the weekends, because he would come back from Lacekoyot and we would get to hang and raise a cold Nile. Josh is a great person and he knew me, or at least he knew what I tried to be so he said, "You should teach at Atanga next year just to meet the Head Boy, Kwoyelo Ronald.  Josh gave me the greatest gift a person can give, he gave me my friend, Ronald.

So remember students when a good person, a person who knows you says, "You should...." Make sure you do it.

But wait this story just gets better, yesterday I probably said for the third or fourth time on this trip. I really need to find Josh Robinson and thank him.  Ronald  tells me he has a number that did not work for him.  I copied down the number with a chicago area code and sent a message.  

Last night, I got a message back. It said , "John, this is Josh from Atanga! Wow, it has been a while. I hope all is well, sir."

So today after fifteen or so years, i will call a number and Ronald and Josh and I will talk like old friends.

And next week, Shona my spirit guide, I will find you again.

Father's Day

 Happy Father's Day.  Jack Magee, my father, had quite an obituary, many honors, holder of a National office for many years, Veteran, and driver of the St. Dominic Savio bread truck.  He was a good man.  And maybe at his best as a retired guy who drove other retired guys around the city, sharing extra from one place to others who needed it.

I have to admit, i have no idea how to write this post.  So I took a very long boda boda ride to visit Ronald and his family.   And of course to see Magee. When I got there jonathan, the 3-year-old wandered out of the hut in a cardinal shirt. Magee soon followed in the Minnie Mouse dress.  It fit!!!! Score one for my powers of extrapolation.

I had told Ronald that food was not necessary.  So of course we had irish potatoes, warnermelon, Ugandan doughnuts and Orange Fanta.  Luckily I talked Ronald and his wife Catherine into NOT sending me home with a chicken.  For those of you who want to laugh, imagine me holding an upside down chicken on my lap for thirty minutes while trying my best not to fall off a motorcycle.

I pray a lot for Ronald and my friends in Uganda.  It is tough here for there are too few jobs for a nation of hardworkers. This is a country where people sweep the dirt and mop every morning to make things look better for just one day. The wind brings the dirt back each day.

  I thought about my own troubles. And that 3 year period where I just wandered and each moment of hope  was pulled away in the last minute. Luckily a savior named Pat Waddell yanked me out of the abyss with her recogniton and kindness. I sat in Ronald's house and looked at his wall of bricks each put their there by his own hand. All of a sudden Cecelia Marten was singing to 150 of the best people I know.

      "Momma cut out pictures of houses for years, from Better Homes and Garden Magazines, plans were drawn and concrete poured, nail by nail, and board by board, Daddy gave life to mama's dreams."

The House tjat Built Me--Miranda Lambert

I hope that Magee and Jonathan love that house as much as Mary, Tom, Katie and I loved 5919 Holyoke.  Last night we had a wonderful dinner at the home of Julius and Ketty and got to see 2 of their three,  Carol and Micah.  For those of you who know, why I love Micah.   Could it simply be a coincidence??

As our day grew to a close Ronald thanked me for supporting him.  I thought this is like Lila thanking me for teaching her math or Camilla thanking me  for bringing joy, William thanking me for being a gentlemen. You get the picture.  I am blessed. I could write this paragraph 100 times with different names and different talents.  To all my students, it was something you always had, if I did anything it was simply to shine a light or lift up the bushel.

Tomorrow on Father's Day for the first time in a long time, I will not be sad.  I will thank God for the life he has given me, the Father he gave me, the cross that was meant for me to carry and the friends along the way. Also thanks to my "sons and daughters", I LOVE YOU more than you know.

John

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In Praise of Older Women

 I feel sorry for young people as they might never get to see the wonderful sisters I have known who dedicate their life to the poor and the education of children.  We are losing some of the best ones, because the generation older than me or the half generation older than me, have ssen some extraordinary sisters. Sr. Carol Lehmkuhl in East St. Louis who really helped mold some Loyola Men  For whatever reason, we have not seen younger people take on this cause.

I purposely stay at Palm Gardens which is part of the Comboni Sisters grounds.  Maybe just a small bit of my lodging money will go to keep their programs intact.  90% of you that have had souvenirs from me got them from a shop called Wawoto Kacel.  Women brutalized by the LRA and shunned by their villages have found their home here.  Wawoto Kacel means in the Lwo language, "Together We Walk."

The other day at breakfast i met a sister, Sister Dorina and she encouraged me to visit their school. The school is entirely made up of students who were street kids and lived distressing, violent lives.  I now  have pictures so please look to your right and see how small these  wonderful kids are.

All the children of the school rose together and were  led by an able eleven?year old Choir master.  Together they sang me a wonderful josh Groban tune.  One of them told me he wanted to be a pilot. I encouraged them to hold on to their dreams and working hard in school, is one way to achieve them.  As part of the tour, they showed me the dormitory where every bed was perfectly made and all of the clothes neatly folded and put away.  When we left Sister Dorina took the hand of a small boy and they walked and talked together on the way back to Palm Gardens.  We were soon joined by five of the others, older kids, who had a basket to pick up the mangoes. I was too slow with my camera to capture sister and the young boy, but I will never forget that image.  A young child who until recently  probably had nothing, now has the hand of a kind and very understanding " grandmother".

Aliker David Martin and St. Sylvester

 When a Ugandan tells you it will only tale 30-45 minutes to get somewhere DOUBLE IT. I i thought I could handle A32 45 minute. Boda ride. If I was allowed to stop occasionally and stretch my legs.  Well I handled it there and back and it was well worth the slight uncomfortableness.   

  We left Gulu, headed past Layibi and headed toward Olwach.  The UNRA had kilometer markers on this road so I could least see how far we had been traveling.  At one time David pointing to a small path/ road and told me he could have taken that. Because it goes right past the school. So I thought oh great we're 400 meters from the school.  There's a lot longer, we ran into three young students in very bright blue and yellow school uniforms.  Much like Noah seeing the dove, i understood. We were at least as close as  three 7 year olds could walk.

I hope that you can get to facebook and see the song, the students greeted with me with. It was quite humbling, please don't dwell on my appearance.   This song is by itself. So if you see seven or eight pictures posted together, it is not with them.

I am joining Sister Dorina this morning and she is showing me a school that the Colombini sisters of Italy have started for kids that live on the street. So this might have to be a shorter post, and I still wish I knew how to add pictures. They are also on my facebook page.  If you have trouble finding them let me know in the comments.

So St. Sylvester is a school that my friend Aliker David Martin started on land next to his childhood home.  The stidents were wonderful and I co-taught a class on place value.  My students will remember my 3 x 6 example and my what is 46 x 5 question.  After the lessons, David and I walked and he told me the history of his family, he shared their successes and their failures and how Ugandan people judge the infidelity and mistakes of others.  I met David's mother a strong woman who used a walking stick but also toiled several hours each day digging with the plants.  Whatever the family history, the fact that it had produced david my friend who had built a school, tells me the end of a very good story.  Aliker (btw i call him all three names when i'm with him also) had done something incredible to honor his family and his community.  

David told me that he would have been in real trouble if he had brought me all the way to the school and we did not visit his mother. They were going to present me with a chicken  to thank me for the visit.  I already somewhat feared the the long motorcycle ride home but with a chicken, it's trapped upside down to the handle bars would certainly not  lessen my anxiety.  

I told him to give a teacher the chicken but he assured me word would get back to his mother and that would be bad for both of us.  David I had chosen kindness when he hired some of his teachers.  I thought  surely they would welcome a chicken dinner.  Winner winner.

On the road back I was struggling somewhat and realized Aliker  was one of my favorite ugandans to have a beer with and we should stop before we get home and raise a couple of Niles together.    

David found a better place where he knew the owner, Brian and his wife. Brian was sitting 15 feet away from us with three friends.  They said something to us in lwo and david laughed.  They said we should cook them the chicken now. I told them I would gladly give them the chicken. The chicken  had already startled me once on the way home when out of nowhere, she decided to ruffle her feathers and send a few in the air as she squawked loudly.  We were still a bit from town. And  the idea of traveling through the somewhat busy streets of gulu with the chicken Did not appeal to me.

Hello from the other side

 What a wonderful start to the day.  3 years ago when I tried pen pals between Ugandan and American students, things did not always go well. So why not try again? 

I did remember some young student expressing disappointment that the letters for me.Ugandans were only from boys.  I do not remember who told me that.But your message got through.  So the top girls' school in Gulu is thought to be Sacred Heart Secondary School and I dressed the part my favorite teaching shirt and a tie.  

Sister Helen is still the head teacher and she greeted me, "Big John, you are welcome here." and we sat and talked about the old days of invisible children and teachers we'd both have known.  Sister Helen is not only the head teacher of Sacred Heart she has also started her own school in town for children who were falling through the cracks.  John Gabriel you have some catching up to do.

She introduced me to a wonderful math teacher named Vincent and soon Vincent and I were off to see some classrooms snd talk of mathematics. It was great because we were soon  joined buy five S6 students imcluding the Head girl.  They enjoyed my enthusiasm. So of course, I showed them the sum and product method of solving quadratics.  Hopefully there a St. Gabriel student reading this that has seen me geek out on math and my enthusiasm for teaching students wonderful new things.  These girls were wonderful, and I soon had them participating in a solution of a problem and finding, of course, that half of eleven sixths is of course eleven twelfths.  Hopefully, I remember to add their picture to Facebook so you can see them.  When we debriefed on the problem Vincent asked me if all teachers in America write upside down.  

Several hours later, I returned to sacred heart with 79 different pages of St. Gabriel's student names.  I asked for 10 volunteers and of course, 25 students. Immediately surrounding me wanting to be the first to start their letters.  "You have Amaya Bellon, I said she loves to draw and is very talented." The S1 student smiled broadly and held the the single piece of paper high. ( big thanks to Rick Lundak for snapping pictures so all of these students could see a picture of their new  American friends). For two  and a half hours i handed out papers and took pictures of the Ugandans and said things like, "You have Lucia,  she works super hard and is talented in all she tries."  There was only supposed to be 85 students in the room. But I bet you there was a hundred and thirty. And I only had a 79 names. So a couple of you,  might have two pen pals and I am hoping Mrs. Slama and others will help me find kind studebts who are curious and want to hear what Ugandans are doing.

I had, I brought a water bottle along because I knew it was going to be a long night. But the enthusiasm of the Sacred Heart girls  prevented me from taking even 15 seconds away from the task at hand.  Collecting papers at the end of the night,  was tough because the students wanted to keep writing and did not want to stop. Much like the end of an algebra test.  "Who has Adelaide Weller please turn in hour letter, who has Molly Cochran this is your third request."  I will come home with about 105 pieces of gold in my carry on bag and maybe we will have a pizza party in the cafeteria to hand out letters.  

It is almost time for breakfast but one more story.  Several S4 students came into the hall when we were leaving.  There was a tall girl wearing a green Mountain Dew sweater, that contrasted greatly, with the red and pink uniforms worn by the rest of the students. Knowing students I believe it was intentional1. She boldly came up to me and  informed me that she would be in america in two years working at an airport. I encouraged to hold on to that dream and pursue it.  It was funny because she followed me and Vincent back to the staff room but did not dare come inside, she kind of hid behind the portal of the door and just smiled.  So add one more student to  you prayer list.

So many times these students come into my heart for just a brief moment and they are wonderful, they are curious, they will work hard to accomplish their goals. So I just pray. Luckily I have a helper now.   Mom, please watch over these ones she will be easy to spot, she is tall and you always had a soft spot in your heart for the tall ones.

THANKS TO ALL THOSE AT SACRED HEART. and to Anne Hatahaway and Leo McGarry for encouragement and inspiration on a night filled with insomnia.

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high and life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving

Lesson Plans

     How do I teach my students what I have learned in the last week in Gulu.  Maybe I start with an article I read, about how towns in America are adopting World Cup teams with open arms. (The article is on my FB page).  The sisters of St. Joseph pride themselves on providing " a place of extraordinary welcome".  I hope Dory or Lyla or CC stumble upon these words because you have the ability to make those welcomed happen.  There was sometimes more energy in you then, the rest of the eighth grade combined.

I think about the wonderful dinner Ronald just made for the five of us or how Aliker David shared Nile beers with me or more importantly the camraderie of his good friends. Laughter between old friends is the best...sometimes with Fool's Overture playing in the background. 

     So you found your solution,

     What would be your last contribution

I just realized that Paul and Nanci are my St. Louis Ugandans.  In a tough year, they always knew when to call and give me that extraordinary welcome.  The two of them always come running to the door, wagging their tails, and acting like this is the 6 time they met me (okay that is actually the dogs but Paul and Nanci do the same in human terms)

Who do I give the extraordinary welcome to?

....I'm thinking......

Well I told Leysen and Marianna, the couple from Cuba who I i'm told I would take him out to dinner when I got back.  I have to hear More about two people who traveled over land so i'm chile to are southern border.

And I i am going to take the Nerinx girls out to dknner, I so value their humor and their friendship.  Their love and support  have been a constant for more than twenty years. All will be excited to be there except maybe Holly ( maybe this'll change her mind).

The thing is I am going to be in Uganda for ten more days and I know more extraordinary welcomes will happen.

And each in their own way, will give me something to teach my students,  the lesson plans will write themselves.

Ronald

        Some time in your future, a good man or a good woman, is going to suggest something to you.They're going to really encourage you to try.  They are going to  recognize something in you,  a talent or a passion, and direct you somewhere. A task ...a request.

Do it.

A teacher and I think his name is Josh Robinson told me about the wonderful time, he had at Atanga Secondary School and of a student he was teaching named Kwoyelo Ronald.  He told me next year. You need to go to Atanga and teach.  I have not seen Josh since he gave me this advice.  Right now, he's probably coaching girls soccer in Northern Illinois maybe we can find him through the power of the internet.   

I met Kwoyelo Ronald the next summer as a student. He did not disappoint.  In fact, Ronald has never disappointed me since the day I have met him.  Disappoint  is an interesting word. Because the world has not been kind to Ronald. when I think of this young man,  So many disappointments have been heaped on this young man.  

And still he rises.

Ronald overcame several hurdles to become a teacher.  Even though on his journey, he had to take a step or 2 off his dream path to provide income for his family.  He was finally settled in and was a teacher And if you know ronald like I know ronald he was putting all of his time and his considerable talents into giving his best to his students.

Meanwhile, far far and away from Ronald some men (and unfortunately they are always men) decided they would make decisions about things, they knew nothing about.  The DOGE boys decided we do not need USAID.   The rippl effects of those decisions made by unserious men in a serious matter made their way to Gulu.  Ronald was teaching in a school that needed more teachers,  there were forty three on the staff.  Because the money dried up, the staff went from 43 to 21.  Ronald and his cohorts did what ronald always does, kept working,  kept teaching, kept giving their best. Alas, in a second round of cuts Ronald was let go.   

A math problem. What percentage of the US annual spending was USAID?  And if you took that percentage away from John Magee's height, how tall would he be? ANSWER AT THE BOTTOM.

Yesterday,  we  traveled to ronald's place to see his house that he has built, enjoy food he prepared, and of course to meet his daughter .  Lagum Bridget Magee now almost six years old. Students remind me when I'm back in the classroom and you don't quite you feel like square roots today to tell you the story about this day and ronald's triumphs.  

Today in saint louis  gathered around a BBQ pit are young men talking about their houses, their mortgage rates and how they are going to make their houses better. Julius and Amos have big plans for their future and we were sitting in Ronald's front yard, enjoying the nice weather in Gulu and having a similar conversation.  If you remember from me yesterday Amos sometimes walks two and a half hours into town to save money (for perspective 5000 shillings or about $1.42) for his future. The boys talked about ronald's purchase of land for his home and their own plans for their future. It really was not that much different. Then, conversations in south saint louis, around the barbecue pit, dreaming about a better life for you and your family.

Ronald was cooking and soon brought out beans, rice, and beef for his 4 friends. It was a wonderful meal and the beef melted in my mouth like a good piece of stew meat.  I think if you would ask Ronald, when's the last time he had beef, It would be many months.  But he had it today for us, because we were his friends and his generosity for his friends were worth the sacrifices he has made.

So like most struggling Ugandans, ronald has become the master of the side hustle.  He has a motorcycle that is occasionally for hire. He has built himself a piggery and is raising the four small pigs to bring to the market.  Ronald is a quiet man, a man who always thinks of others,  a thoughtful man, and when you catch him, he is quick with a smile. And a laugh.

So thank you josh robinson for giving me the suggestion to go to Atanga and meet their head boy,  Ronald.

ANSWER: He would be 6'11".

NOTE: If you are a student or St. Gabriel's family and found this blog. Can you please direct your classmates and neighbors to this slightly different address.

A Teacher

 I come back to gulu for several reasons, one i feel like I can make some steps to help my friends and the students of Gulu.  More and more the true reason I think I come back to Gulu is the friendships i've made. And I guess the most prominent of those friendships havec been with  four young men who many years ago, i met at the same age as my current students. Amos, Ronald, Julius, and Geoffrey.

This post it's about Amos.  Since i'm in the old blog and have not figured out quite how to get to the new blog. You can probably read more stories about him.  He still struggles, and when money is tight. And he needs something in town. He walks for two and a half hours to get there.  He just smiled when he told me this story.  No complaints, just the way it is.

That is not the main story here. The main story is a young man who is in love with teaching and loves his students.  At the end of the school year, I got a little complacent, and did not wear a tie every day.  I don't think that will happen this year because a young man named Amos clearly demonstrated what professionalism is.

I fought hard this year to get three eighth grade classrooms.  So I could teach seventeen students instead of twenty three.  This morning Amos i taught a hundred and thirty fourth graders we were jumping out of their seats to get him to review their work or to answer a question.  

Amos  has only been at the school since august  and he has already been promoted to director of studies.   I have the address of his primary school Akonyibedo and I suspect we will find ways to send this school things that will help these students learn.  We had a wonderful conversation with Head Teacher at Akonyibendo, Lucy a wonderful educator and a very amicable host.

I always like to tell my students. I am a lifelong learner, and today I was taught by a wonderful teacher, my friend, Orach Amos.

Gulu half a world away but so close

It is 4:30 in the morning and i'm wide awake . Yesterday, at this time, I followed the nba finals via just a box score and a written play by play, but it still felt like a gut punch in the final minutes.  Today was a good day Geoffrey helped me obtain a Ugandan  phone so it is easier for me to communicate with my Ugandan friends.  We also met julius and his wife Ketty.  Julius, it is a charismatic preacher and one of the most grounded and practical man I've met in any part of the world.  Oh by the way the Immodium worked.  So I ordered plain rice at 1 of my favorite restaurants Pagoda .

Pagoda has new management and they were not too friendly after the chair was sitting on, I broke into pieces.  Just call me goldilocks. But I paid for the chair, and we learned a lesson today. Large men should be careful on plastic chairs.

And tonight, I got to meet my friend. Aliker David Martin.  We think it might have been 10 years since we have seen each other. But we settled in quickly like old friends. The cold Nile beers may have helped.  It is interesting that I i call my friend both Aliker and David drew interchangeably.  His good friends did we one better by occasionally calling him Martin also. Aliker has started a school called Saint Sylvester and I hope to visit next week.  Our dinner consisted of oxtail, millet bread and greens coomed with a peanut sauce.  The immodium held the line.  I first met David years ago with a group of 25 teachers at a Buffet lunch.  He loudly announced that he would get next to John in line, " I want to see if he can defend his mass."

NOTE: i have not yet figured out how to post to my new blog. So I am again posting here.  I wanted to share these stories with my St. Gabriel students past and current.  If you have found these via Facebook. Then please share with the others in our community.

1st Day in Gulu 2026

 I am relaxing at Palm Gardens in the exact room I had 3 years ago.  Last night I could not sleep and ended up watching the Spurs blow that big league.  By watching I mean watching the box score change. So today started out with the breakfast of spanish omelet which every hotel in Uganda makes. With a sliced Mango, it turns out I like this one because I did not have to pick it the strings out of my teeth.  Jeffrey has arrived bright and early to help me in town with some errands.  I realized this is on the other blog, but I haven't figured out how to publish them both yet.  All is well in gulu, but I have not really seen it.

Go See the World — So many Wonderful, Wonderful People.: Yin Aye Iber

   What a day!! Maybe one of the best ever, so a couple of odds and ends at the market than back to my room.  Something that did not agree with me, so rush to the bathroom.   I decided to take my anti-biotics and several other pills and just rest for 2 hours, I had planned on taking the boys swimming at Bomah hotel.  This short trip is mostly connecting with old friends and setting things up for future trips (Stephens, Hellwig).  Last year the guys and I had such a wonderful trip to the pool I was hoping a little rest would help me answer the bell.  The pool was totally calm when Ronald and Geoffrey showed up and I told them a Ugandan mist pierce the stillness, I would follow but they must start.  Ronald, Geoffrey, and Amos have different levels of skill and comfort in the water so we spent some time this year actually teaching them how to swim and be more comfortable in the pool, they made amazing progress in just 45 minutes time.  I was showing them how to just be comatose in the water and how relaxing it could feel.  Soon I heard another voice asking them questions about me. It was my host for the evening Julius. He had invited me to dinner, as we left the pool we travelled together as a team.  It soon dawned on me that we were all going to dinner together.  I should have known, Julius is a preacher and a man of God, and he certainly would INCLUDE all. What would Christ have done?

          It is amazing what Julius had done and how many people he brings with him.  He is now preaching in his home to over 100 people every Friday and Sunday. Tonight at midnight he is riding a bus to Kampala to make sure his wife has a passport.  They will spend no time in Kampala after the passport office and immediately take another 8 hour bus ride home, so Julius can preach on Friday.  Joyce his wife and her friend just prepared the best meal I ever had in Uganda.  We had deep fried chicken and fried pork, roasted pork, american salad, Irish potatoes and more.  All of the dishes were cooked in a way I have not had in Uganda.  Unbelievable, the thought of going slow with my weakened stomach immediately vanished.  Oh and the pineapple was wonderful.  The boys and I had the most wonderful conversation all evening and were joined by a 22 year old student teacher at the end of the meal.

     We all started walking home in the dark to our 5 different homes.  Ronald even went the wrong way for awhile to continue this amazing evening. I am so blessed to have not one, but all 4 of these men in my life.    I will try to update this with more details later, but I am joining Amos at his school tomorrow morning and have to go to bed.   Of course, Julius called a boda boda driver he knew to make sure I got home.  Samuel was his name and he described Julius as his Father, the one who leads him to God.  1 kilometer from home the headlight on the motorcycle  went out.  Samuel asked me to get off the bike, I told him I could finish on foot, but he insisted no.  He picked up the heavy motorcycle shook it twice and the opened up the gas tank put his mouth on the opening and tried to suck the gasoline up.  (For us Gulu boda boda riders this is not all that uncommon).  The motorcycle rose to a start and we finished our journey.  For those of you who know a boda ride through the cool Ugandan night with the wind whipping at your face is a experience like no other.

After, arriving home and grabbing my iPad to FaceTime mom, I noticed two selfless kind colleagues at home Gail and Lisa had both come through.   

Get out see the world—people are quite something.

Everything has Value

     This morning I took a boda boda. (Motorcycle) into town to buy some envelopes to organize my expenses for the rest of the trip.  The ride of a mile or so cost me 57 cents.  On a ride earlier in the week, th boda driver told me he had to stop for petrol and gave the pump attendant 2000 shillings, enough for about a water bottle worth of petrol.  I bought the envelopes and walked past a shop that had several soccer balls on display.  All were used , but so,e were in pretty good shape.  In the last rack was a basketball with several panels coming off. It was for sale.  For some young one who could not afford the decent soccer balls, I guess the old basketball was to be his prize. It would not be displayed if someone was not going to buy it.

    I sometimes smile when I see recycle signs in Uganda, they are very thrifty and will reuse and repurpose a lot.  Plastic and plastic bags need working on.  But the plastic water bottles that started with water often are used 4 or five times and often that is how kerosene is sold to people.  It is easy to be here for a week and want to stop throwing so much away when I get home,  In Uganda old car wheels become grills to cook the Rolex (rolled eggs—breakfast burrito).  I usually come back more purposeful and conscious, you can let me know if you see it in my actions.

Why we kneel —Part I

When the Africa students would come and talk to a teacher. They would walk to the table in the staff room and kneel in front of it until their were instructed to rise. While I was at Amos' school, he stayed kneeling during the entire conversation with the teacher while we were discussing his school fees.

It would be tough to imagine American students kneeling in front of teachers. I think it would appear too subservient or beneath them. But if we can remember why we kneel, then we can maybe start down a path we all want to take. We kneel to show humility, not subservience, and by kneeling these students immediately show a respectfulness and a courtesy for others. It is the opposite of ego, of boastfulness, of arrogance. It is saying not "me first", but no you first my friend. I really enjoy going through a buffet line last. It is a simple pleasure I get by saying, "No it is your turn first, my friend, my colleague, my brother." By being humble it allows communication to happen. It is saying I want to go more than halfway to meet you where you are, and I am on my knees and expressing your interests and your wants first.

Humility does not deny our self or our worth, but rather it affirms the worth of each and every human being we see or meet. And by affirming the value of others first, it triumphs us also. So we say, "Here I am my brother, meeting you down on my knees to listen before I speak, help before I ask favor, love before I am loved." It, our humility, is the ultimate risk, it is asking us to show love to show that we care before we know it will be reciprocated. And sometimes our humility is not met immediately with compassion or love, it can be met with derision or hate or indifference. And in these cases, we must be true to ourselves, we must understand that by kneeling, by being humble, we have truly gained. We have sacrificed ourselves and the needs of ourselves for others. We are truly then "Men and Women for Others."

I am sitting on a bed, typing this blog, and looking at my feet, which still bear some stains of the incredible red mud that is prevalent all over Africa. All of us in our travels, riding in dusty Mutatus joked about how dirty our feet were. Most of us, kind of gave up, on cleaning our feet, and just tried to keep the rest of our body clean. It is this setting, at 48 years old, looking at my still somewhat dirty feet, that I can really understand the incredible humility of Jesus' washing of the feet. And just as important, how enjoyable it must have felt, as an apostle, having your friend, your brother, wash your feet. To kneel before you, and be that humble--that is my goal. To be humble, is to live at peace, and borrowing this line from the website "twopaths.com"----"Humility dissipates anger and heals old wounds. Humility allows us to see the dignity and worth of all God's people. Humility distinguishes the wise leader from the arrogant power seeker." And kneeling on the concrete or the hard wood pews in the churches of Gulu, I tried my best on bad knees to say to my Acholi brothers and sisters. That I was not better than them. I was just a man who was born into abundance and great wealth in the United States. But the wealth, I am seeking on my knees with you, the Acholi, is a far better prize.

A couple of years ago in a visit to the Jesuit Volunteer house, I saw the following quote which I have, of course, used on a basketball t-shirt for my team.

"The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker."

Several of you have praised my efforts in going to Africa, and treat me now as the mighty hero. But I strive to think of my actions, not as the hero, but as one of many honest workers giving the tiniest push. I met so many people in Africa doing more, taking bigger risks than what I have accomplished in the last six weeks. And also if you think of me as a hero, of someone accomplishing a great task, than it is easier for you not to act. But if you consider my actions in their true context, of just one tiny push, then you can do something. You might not have the same talents or the same opportunities, but there is always something that each of us can do. When I tell people, we are going to end hunger and extreme poverty by 2025, I am occasionally met by the skeptic. They say things like that will never work or others have tried and failed and if you look at the enormity of that goal it seems impossible. But if you look at each of us giving one tiny push, and I have met many in Africa giving those tiny pushes, then all of a sudden we can see the world beginning to move little by little. And once we get it moving, you never know what WE can accomplish.

I found out that the quote actually starts this way. "I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker."

So there my friends is the simple answer, I will continue to strive to accomplish the humble tasks, and to do that I have to start at the beginning. Just like my Acholi students, I will begin on my knees.

peace,

john 

4 girls in Uniform walking Home from School

 I saw these 4 young girls in pink shirts and blue skirts, laughing and talking.  In a different place one of the could have been Tessa, or Maggie, or Maura. They looked happy that the day was done and looked like they could have walked forever.  It turns out there daily walk to and from school was over an hour each way.  That is what it took so they did it each and every morning and each afternoon.  I need to walk more,  twice a month to St. Gabriel’s that should be a goal I can accomplish.  Have to start the walking school bus next year.  I am constantly amazed at how much the Ugandan students want to learn.  Earlier in the day it was 5 S2 boys around lunch.  I noticed one young man lagged from the group just so he could talk to me.  I told him I was a teacher of Mathematics in America, I asked how he did in Maths and he looked at me with pride and said loudly, “I do well in maths, Sir!”  Good thing I have 72 great 8th graders waiting for me in St. Louis or I might be staying.

    

Amos

   I think Amos was one of the first children I met and actually talked to in 2007.  We had a remarkable discussion argument about chickens.  I was amazes at how many chickens wandered around the 4 or 5 huts and wondered how they would return to the right place for dinner—they were the chief guest as they say in Gulu or entree as we say in America.  Amos wanted me to see, “Do you not see the chicken has 2 eyes”: pointing to his own eyes with 2 fingers and then to me.  I was aghast, “But it is a chicken, a chicken!”  We did not answer the chicken question then, but soon many days as I ducked into a 3 ft. Gate on a 12 ft. Fence, Amos would be waiting with new questions and new thoughts.

    One day that summer I asked why Amos was not in school that day.  He told me that he had been sent home because he had not paid his school fees. Invisible Children had told us that first year that they were many children like this, and we should not pay school fees.  The reason being, a tall American stepping in as a Savior for one 3 month period was not a path for success for these students.  I eventually found a way to get Amos back in school that time, knowing that to truly care about any student there had to be some follow up.  Ams did not have a straight path in school, he moved to Kampala, the big city and some school official decided that Gulu education was inferior to the great Kampala moved him back a year or two,  7th Grades, think of this, what if I showed up in August and told you you were a 6th grader and not an 8th grade, would you have the strength to move forward, to battle, to triumph?  I think of Henry and Elise who handled every new challenge —I think maybe so.  Or maybe a Zack and a Mary who battled through mountains this year.  (my students be clear as I write this at 10 a.m. I used those 4 names I could have used Sarah and Louis or Ava and Dominic, there are so many good stories and……more to come).  Let’s just say the effort of Amos to continue his education despite the obstacles was and is outstanding.

     There is a wedding and a reception 100 yards from my room today, so I am listening to very loud Ugandan Praise music.  A nice background for the Amos story.  As I kept in touch with Amos over the years he finished his schooling and was working 6 days a week for a luxury hotel ironing sheets.  In class, I will tell you what he earned in those days.  Through his hard work and alacrity, he moved up to be a waiter at the Churchill Downs.  (In my first year with IC we had our welcoming dinner there where I met my first teaching partner, Nyeko Alfred.  I just realized two of the hardest working, kindest people I have met in my life are both named Alfred and are both from Africa.).  Amos told me last night he had an aunt who believed in him and wanted more from his so he began to go back to school at a Teacher’s college.

      I had told the hotel manager that I wanted to see him so I could settle up on my room.  As GEoffrey and I tried to organize electronics in my room. A tall man in a sport coat filled the room. The hotel manager?  And then he smiled, it was Amos. His smile quickly filled the space, the 10 feet between us, the six years I had not seen him.  The space between friends can end so quickly as both of us remembered who we were, our journey together, (and cue the Wicked soundtrack) because I knew Amos I was changed for good.

      last night was a great dinner between the five of us Julius, Geoffrey, Ronald, Amos and myself.  I apologize that I started this blog this year with my stories of my frustrations and hardships.  My journey to Gulu had some problems, but how selfish am I to realize in this table of 5, I had carried the lightest burden by far.  Amos is now a P4 teacher at Gulu Primary,  he has 2 streams in his school, they divided it up to make it easier to teach he has about 95 students in each section.  NINETY-FIVE.  I think his aunt and I can agree Amos is probably a good teacher now and will be a great teacher one day.  Amos and I talked quite a bit before the other arrived.  He proudly showed me the receipt for the school fees he had paid for his daughter, Vanessa.  I had found a piece of paper packing for my trip it was a letter from the headmaster at Kusibi Army school acknowledging that I had paid school fees for Orach Amos.  

          There are some that brag that they bought Apple at $11/share.  I bought a share in Orach Amos in 2007.  They got the leading innovator in technology whose ideas would change our lives,  I got to say my friend Amos is changing the lives of 190 students at Gulu Primary school.

  If I am smart enough to get the picture of Amos up, you will see.Also scroll down to the bottom to see the Amos I met in 2007.

1st World Problems. 3rd World Problems, (subtitled Big Man in Small Places)

 On Monday, I said goodby to my friends as they ended their London trip by heading to Scotland. I thought I would be leaving early Tuesday Monring to head to Amsterdam then Entebbe. the airline told me Ineeded to get an electronic Visa before entering Uganda.  I had never needed one before and had always got them at the airport. So I sat down in a chair in the Uganda House (embassy) and started filling out the application, when it asked for my documents I used my phone to snap the pictures unfortunately my pictures were 2.2 Mb and they needed to be less that 250 Kb.  So back on the tube, back to my house got help from my brother Tom’s IT guys and John Stephens son, Mike, All was golden until I got to the last page and it would not let me pay.  I tried to start a new application, but it would not help me because there was already an application started.

Went to sleep at 10:pm and woke every hour to try to pay it would not let me.  Hopped in my Uber at 2:30 am hopefully I could talk my way on the plane.  The agent had none of my sob story, and now I thought holy cow, I am stuck and not going to Uganda.  I would be crestfallen, but I was also thinking of the things I had set up for both my Ugandan friends and my American students,  So I found a chair to sit in and plug in all my devices while I waited for normal people to wake up and help me.  There are 4 hotels at Heathrow Terminal 4 and I went with best one to see if they would let me check my bags for a few hours, the guys were great and talked me out of the expensive black cab to get back on the tube.

Despite my frustration, when I showed up at the Ugandan Embassy, they were very nice and very helpful, and got me a paper visa for my passport.  In the middle of it they asked for a credit card and I inadvertently gave them my debit card which was 5 minutes of panic before I got to verify through USAA.

Feeling chipper and full of success, I went to KLM and they kept referring me to online sites and What’s App bots.  No one at KLM London had the ability to sell me a ticket or modify my existing one!!! 90 minutes later I had a ticket because I bought it myself with my own credit card, of course it timed out one click away from getting the ticket.

I think I am boring you, I arrived safely in Entebbe and after 10 hours bus ride I am now home in Gulu.

Standing on the of Precipice of a New Journey

 I get to spend a few days in London with the oldest and dearest of friends cheering on the Cards and calling the Cubs (deleted grade school audience).  The people on this trip are my biggest supporters and have helped the homeless through large financial gifts or weeks of their time repairing walls and putting fresh flowers on the stoop.  Kindness no one asked for, but changes hearts.

If you want to get a feel for this blog. I reread this one and thought you would like it also.

http://mageeinuganda.blogspot.com/2016/06/sometimes-answer-was-there-all-time.html

Everything's Up to Date in Gulu.

This post is especially for all you IC TEX people.  The road from Kampala to Gulu is completely paved, but not only paved, but good drainage ditches on both sides.  The main roads in Gulu are also mostly paved.  From town to Sacred Heart, out to Keyo, but not to Sir Samuel Baker.  Yesterday we went to Lacekocot and they were building the road as we arrived.  Isaac the road was better on the way home and we made it in 46 minutes!    A lot of the roads in town, now also have covered sewer trenches and they are working on more.  Uchumi is out of business across Uganda, but the brand new market is complete.  Sankofa is in the same place, but is now called Elefante.  The old Kope Cafe is now called Iron Donkey and another munu hangout.  Their garlic bread with their Spaghetti and Meatballs is as good as any in the states.  Heinz 57 is everywhere and I have not seen a bottle of Top Up.  I am probably coming back again next year anyone else?

Today Hayley and I went to St. Jude's, we talked to a couple of new people in charge and there are several brand new buildings.  Since we arrived unannounced, we did not get a chance to play with the kids.  We decided to respect what they were trying to do.  They did allow us to go to the Chapel.  I prayed  for Samuel and all the kids of St. Jude .  I prayed that maybe the need for a St. Jude will be eliminated in the future.  They are now making their own crafts and hope to open a craft store on their compound soon.

Kwo pi naka naka,

Oteka

Our New Family -- Part II"

Note:: Sometimes when the posts get long they are very difficult to edit on my iPad.  If you have not read Part I,

      In a mud hut down the longest "1 kilometer" road in Lacekocot, we still had the formality of a former British Colony.  I was the 6th of the 8 scheduled speakers for this program. As they all praised me and thanked me, I also realize I could have done more for Ronald.  As Ronald's uncle talked in Lwo, I realized that I wish I had gotten a copy of Marian Wright Edelman's A Measure of Our Success for Ronald.   Ronald's uncle said it was the three of us: Ronald's mom, himself, and I who had helped this boy succeed.  He wanted me to know that I was now a part of the family.

      " This hut in Lacekocot was now my home."  How do you follow that? It turns out I would use Marian's words, "Home remains as you go out to serve and conquer the world. And I always follow you wherever you go in spirit, in prayer, and in love. You are never alone."  I began,  "Home remains,"  I paused and Alfred translated, "Gang bedo,".    I  tried to let them know,  that I not only accepted their invitation, but we WERE family.

        This year I was watching the evening news and a refugee shouted at a Hungarian cracking down on the refugees, "We are human, you are human, why will you not help us."  I do not think I will ever forget that man's face or his question.   We can help each other and should help each other.  There was not a time in my life when I was supposed to be "helping" people that I did not receive more in return.

         In a small hut down a 1 kilometer road, we found an answer much different than the xenophobia in Brexit or the racism of Trump, we were family.  It is what we should all strive to do.  The fact that Hayley Kuehner was still sitting in her sturdy chair, made it even more special.  The Kuehner's have through their kindness and their camaraderie have made me feel like I am part of their family.  As I write this, either a man from Ghana or his American wife will be cutting my grass, hopefully while their two boys ride bikes down my driveway.  If you are reading this, you a part of my family, and I could not have helped Ronald without you. Your help, your love or as my neighbor Alfred says, "just a conversation."

One Family--One Love*--One World

*for Hayley and all the ones who have sang our song.