I want to tell you about Obadiah Monday. Isn’t that a great name? I will surely use it in one of my novels.
I have paid this young man’s school
fees since 2004 when I met Ob while visiting a secondary school on Bwama Island in LakeBunyonyi
with some other
Americans. In this indescribably
beautiful place, we were greeted by several young men who told us they were orphan boys working
their way through school. 
Ob was 20 years of age and a junior, certainly older than
one would expect, but we learned that if you don’t have school fees, you don’t
go to school. Secondary school here is a
boarding school. It costs the equivalent
of $250.00 for a year of room, board, tuition, books and uniform. But Ob and
his friends are orphans – no one takes care of them. And for them to go to school, they have to
earn school fees. Between terms, the
boys would break rocks, haul water, sell things on the street – anything to
earn school fees. Sometimes they don’t
make it and they would skip school until they saved enough to return.
This broke our hearts and that day,
four of us each agreed to help one student stay in school. Once the burden of earning shillings was
lifted from their shoulders, these four started to blossom. They are immensely motivated. Within a year, Ob was 19th in his class of 64 students. “I want to be a doctor,” he
said.
I continued supporting his tuition
after secondary school. He had a hard
time in junior college but after some extra studies, he graduated. Then he went to work in his home village
where he realized he had a talent for organizing people in community
development. In one summer, he taught
people in three villages how to launch successful beekeeping enterprises. Last year when I met him in Uganda. He
said, “Mzee, I want to go to veterinary school to learn animal husbandry. I hate to ask you for more school fees, but
will you support me this one last time?”
Looking into his eyes, seeing the fire of desire was still blazing, I said
I would.
Ob is now 27 years old with one more year of education. So far, his grad school has set me back $800.00
including a lab coat. But I plan to be
there when he graduates because, with his winning smile, gentle manner and solid education, this young man will be an
outstanding leader, a practicing doctor of social improvement if you will. I’m proud to have
helped launch Obadiah. I'm glad he calls
me Dad.