Our first week here in Uganda was spent in Jinja. We were staying in a hostel along the Nile River for a few days. It was near a village on the outskirts of the bigger city. During that time I developed a few relationships with some of the locals just outside the gate of our hostel. One night I went out to buy some rolex (a local dish) when I saw some of the local kids dancing. I decided to join them. This is when I met their leader, James.
James runs a little charity for some of the local kids mostly on his own. He focuses on teaching them important skills that can brighten their future. Many of these skills are important to their culture: painting, music, dance, agriculture, malaria prevention. He also teaches English lessons.
In the afternoon I could often see James in front of his shop painting. Normally he would come in the afternoon and have programs for the kids in the evenings.
The shop is filled with his own artwork. This is what he uses to raise money for the kids.
Turns out he also has a small library in the back of his shop that needed a little fixing up. I asked if he needed any help and a few days later we showed up and fixed up the back of his shop to get it prepared for the kids.
With a lot of pounding of rocks and removal of debris, it didn’t take long for us to prepare the way for this fountain of knowledge. Our main goal was to make the ground smooth.
The kids needed a comfortable place to sit and read.
The ground was smooth, the carpet was laid, and the books were brought in. Later on we joked that we “built a library in a day.”
It took us only about an hour and a half to finish the work.
My big takeaway from this experience is that our time is valuable. Many of us live busy and distracted lives when only an hour and a half of our daily lives can have a lasting impact on others. How will you carve out that time? How will you show that love? An hour and a half of interruptible, others-centered focus has the power to transform the lives of others… Just like this library has the power to transform the future of these kids.
Who knows? Maybe you’ll even get to enjoy the (jack)fruits of your labor!
