Empower African Children Blog

The Character of Leadership is Forged In the Unseen

By Frank Roby

Behind the scenes as student performers practice in Uganda.

You know that phrase, “What you see is what you get?” If that is true, why do we also say, “It’s what’s on the inside that counts?” So which is it? The seen or the unseen? This posting has two important messages. Really important.

First, the seen. Come see our students perform on April 14 at SMU’s McFarlin Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. and be inspired by what you see, the electrifying cultural energy of these remarkable students. In 23 cities, more than 50,000 Americans now know Africa in a way they never imagined existed. Be among them. Get your tickets for our Spirit of Uganda 2012 grand finale through our website at www.empowerafricanchildren.org

Now the unseen. Do not judge them by their performance. I say this because I do not want them to get a pass because they are incredibly talented. They are and you will want to do that. Be inspired by their achievements. Be amazed by their talent. But look beyond what you see to the unseen character in them. That is what they need.

You see, at Empower African Children, our mission is to raise up a generation of real leaders, people of influence who have benefited from more than a decade of our globally connected learning experiences beyond the classroom, in addition to their outstanding academic education. And we cannot do that if you give them a pass on character because they are talented.

To be one of the few selected to tour the U.S. and perform in front of so many is an incredible lift. They are humble, but they are aware that fame has its privileges. With the Kony 2012 video coming out while they have been on tour — and with their personal stories tied to the challenges in Uganda, a few of them directly to Kony — their fame is at a peak level.

Yet even with this exposure and a raised awareness of Americans as to the struggle they represent, they are not defined by this moment. Leadership is never a snapshot. It is hard to earn and even harder to maintain, which is why so many people in the world try to hold on to power through imposing fear on others. Maybe it is the fear of violence. Maybe it is economic fear. But it is fear nonetheless.

The leadership we seek in our students is the leadership we want in our own society. That is, leadership that is earned through trust and respect. Wealthy or poor, famous or unknown, the consistent characteristic of all true leaders is trust and respect.

Leadership is not the same as being extroverted. It is not about being famous. It is not even about having a talent that is shared with the world. The only real measure of leadership is in the answer to one question. Who would you choose to follow? Decide that and then ask yourself: What does that say about them? About you? About all of us?

Come see them. I will step out boldly and say that you should not form an opinion about Africa until you see this performance. Once you experience their inspiring reminder of the importance of achieving beyond what circumstances deem possible, your tendency to pity “those less fortunate” may well turn to envying those who see so much promise. That is the character of the unseen.

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

 

Lessons from a Third-World Father

By Frank Roby

Two Spirit of Uganda performers look out over the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry earlier this week, a beautiful image of the hope these children and their families have for their opportunities with Empower African Children.

The father of one of our younger students recently sent a letter to his daughter, who is on her first tour with Spirit of Uganda. The letter contained an important message about his hopes for her. He used the book of Hebrew to guide her in her travels, his guidance framed in the 11^th chapter: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

The father became the teacher and I became the student.  

This father is a man who loves his daughter deeply, but is not able to provide for her; so he entrusted her to Empower’s scholarship program. The girl, our student, now keeps this letter in her pocket and reads it each day. It is her letter, so it is not mine to share. But I can paraphrase his words and tell you what they taught me about stepping out in faith — being confident in what we hope for.

• Hope for your journey to be meaningful.
• Know that you are not alone.
• Learn, and share what you have learned.
• Believe you are worthy.
• Trust God. With faith, all things are possible.

These lessons came from a man whose circumstances give him every reason to question these points. It came from the simple love a father has for his daughter. It came from someone who understands abundant living even when faced with financial poverty. And his lessons hit me right between the eyes as a person who has experienced relative financial abundance but has also felt poverty of spirit when things didn’t go my way.

His letter and these lessons may have come from the third-world, but the message is first world thinking. If we are not confident in what we hope for, as this father is, maybe the self reliance of third world survival thinking is keeping us from being  as advanced as we think.

This man and I have never met. But I hope one day to talk with him and let him know that I am grateful for his lesson in faith. And while I’m thanking people, this lesson reminds me to be especially appreciative to each of you who have had faith in our work, our students, and our plans for the future. You make it possible for us to  fulfill our promise this man’s daughter.

Maybe we should all take a minute for introspection. Just one minute to check ourselves in our busyness. Is our journey meaningful? Do we know we are not alone? Are we learning and sharing what we know? Are we accepting our worthiness? And finally, are we living our lives with the faith that all things are possible?

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

Five favorites from touring America

Miriam, age 13, joined Empower African Children in 2007 and is a founding member of Spirit of Uganda. The second of four children, Miriam is from southern Uganda, where her mother is a subsistence farmer and supports the rest of her family. Miriam makes excellent grades and plans to become an architect. 

By Miriam Namala

Miriam Namala in front the Lincoln Memorial, her favorite Washington, D.C., monument.

My name is Miriam Namala and I am in ninth grade at Taibah International School. I have been on five tours with The Spirit of Uganda. Well, Spirit of Uganda is a program under Empower African Children. Empower organizes these tours every two years, and the main aim is to raise a global awareness for orphans and vulnerable children in Uganda and to also express East African culture to American audiences. 

Every time we come on tour, I look forward to doing the following things:

1. Meeting people with different careers and letting them share their experiences with us. Well we had a visit at CNN in New York City, and we got to see how they broadcast the news. I think it was a good experience because it made some of the members who want to become journalists have a clue of what their work is like. There was a lot of technology that goes into producing a broadcast and I didn’t have a clue about it before. I am still wondering how they manage to use all of it. It’s amazing that I am still learning how to use a computer very well while every worker uses like three computers and presses different buttons on each.

2. Performing for very big audiences. I love when the curtain of the stage opens and I see a big audience in front of me. It lets me know that people really want to know what the East African culture is really about.

3. Getting new friends and telling them about Uganda and myself.  Most people have very little knowledge about Uganda and the people that are from there. So if I get the opportunity to tell them about Uganda, I think it would help them add on to the little knowledge they had. Sometimes people ask if we have buildings, technology, if we only wear shoes on tour and even if we study. On tour I can tell them that long ago there were wars and now it is a peaceful country that is growing into a better place. And that we do have technology and building and lots of schoolwork! 

4. Visiting fun places like Universal Studios, Disney Land and Six Flags in Dallas. I like it because we don’t really have places like these in Uganda, and it’s a nice break from performing. 

5. Sleeping in nice Hotels like Westin, Hilton, Embassy Suites, and Holiday Inn. Resting is part of our lives but it matters a lot where you rest. These hotels have soft and smooth beds with nice free breakfast that is better than even the one you would have at your home. They also provide free soap, shampoos, lotions, towels, and also free Internet.

It’s always a privilege for us to come on tour. We work so hard for a year on top of schoolwork to make it a success, and we always look forward to it year after year. I am grateful to those who help to make it happen.

We have about four weeks until the end of the tour, and I am so excited to go back and see my family, friends, and also to go to school. I have enjoyed the tour so much, and I will make sure that I work so hard for the next tour to come.

The Collateral Damage of KONY 2012

By Frank Roby 

These are the faces Frank Roby (pictured here with his wife, Linda) sees when he thinks of Uganda — the faces of inspiration, hope, and possibilities on our students.

As CEO for Empower African Children, my reaction to Jason Russell and Invisible Children’s viral video is all over the map. I am thrilled, frustrated, and, truth be known, a bit jealous. What courage. What arrogance.

My guess is Russell, whom I have never met, is so focused he’s just fine with that. He wants to sustain the conversation until the bad guy, Joseph Kony, is finally crushed and the captive children are saved. How can you not celebrate that great purpose?

My purpose is to make sure people gain enough insight into the reality of Uganda and its people to appreciate the powerful story of their will to prevail and the capabilities of those who are given the opportunity to succeed.

It matters to me that the respect and dignity of a nation is not collateral damage in the media frenzy of the moment. Where does the video say that for every death to violence there are 10 deaths to disease? Where does the video acknowledge the impact of hundreds of organizations that have worked tirelessly in silence on this issue for a generation? Where does the video make the connection to the relationship between human rights and extreme poverty? And, most importantly, where does the video acknowledge the hard work of so many Ugandans to heal their own nation?

But Russell knows exactly what he is doing. He knows he cannot raise the awareness of the entire challenge and hope of Africa. So he caters to our natural instinct; the adrenaline rush of passion — to right the wrong. That is why I love this guy. And why I fear him.

Love him because he created a movement about something that plagues a region of Africa. Fear him because so many are willing to tie their beliefs to his singular purpose. His video is not a 29-minute video that teaches and informs; it is a 1,799-second lightning bolt that causes an emotional reaction, but misses the chance to teach the world what we really need to know.

And what is that?

First, admittedly, he is right; Kony must be stopped. But we need to know the difference between what he did and what he is doing. He did everything in that video. But now he is on the run in other nearby countries, his “soldiers” numbering closer to 250. But bad people, like diseases, can make a comeback if you do not finish what you start. So let’s finish it.

Second, we must gain a new awareness of the reality of Africa’s capabilities. The best part of the video is that tens of millions of people are talking about Africa for the first time. The worst part of the video is that it is cementing an impression already formed in this country that Africa is a place to fear or pity and America can save the day. We need to use the best part (awareness) to overcome the worst part (stereotype).

But how can Americans be expected to have any impression of Africa other than those we are bombarded with on conflict and human desperation? Yet the reality is changing rapidly. According to a McKenzie report on Africa, six of the world's 10 fastest-growing economies over the last decade are in Africa. As further evidence, the United Nations Human Development Report reports “Africa's progress in human development (access to education, health care, food, etc) could outpace that of every other region in the next decades.”

So we’ve seen the 29 minutes. What now? What can each of us do?

Bottom line: charity is out and investment is in. Here is how Empower African Children is investing in the capabilities of our Ugandan students:

1. Investing in education that changes the trajectory of each students life. Not just with basic services, but with long-term, deeply rooted commitments that fully prepare today’s youth for tomorrow’s leadership. This takes learning from the chalkboard to the laptop in a single generation.

2. Creating globally connected learning experiences. Beyond the classroom, these experiences prepare our Ugandan students for a lifetime of influence with integrity. Examples include:

• Spirit of Uganda, our performing arts group touring the U.S. now, raises awareness of the capabilities of our students.
  
  
• Our social enterprise, Uwezo Brands. The purpose of Uwezo (Swahili for “capable”) is to bring high-quality goods, made in Africa by Africans, to the U.S., demonstrating their skills.
  
  
• Service projects created by our Ugandan students within their local communities that teach the importance of giving back.
  
  
• A university level study abroad program that connects students in the U.S. and Uganda to learn the relationship between human rights and economic development. We see in our work the close relationship between extreme poverty and human rights violations.
  
  
• And, beginning this fall, a high school interactive learning program between Ugandan students and American students that teaches human resourcefulness with a global understanding.

3. Informing American students and families: Americans will not truly realize the capabilities of Ugandans until we come to know them, understand them, and respect their abilities. How can we have an answer when we have never understood the question?

Funny thing is these were our three action plans before the KONY 2012 video was released. 

The Tooth Rat vs. The Tooth Fairy

By Jeremy Phillips 

Finn, 6, and Max, 4, walking through their village in Uganda.

One of the best parts of my job is being immersed in Ugandan culture. Being thrust into a new culture causes you to stretch and grow. You end up having thoughts, experiences, and conversations you could have never imagined yourself having. We see it when Empower students travel on a Spirit of Uganda tour, when a new Ugandan scholarship student arrives in America, and when American visitors come see our work in Uganda.

Personally, I also get to see it in my own children as they experience the complexities of living in a different culture.

Recently, our family returned to Colorado for Christmas. It was our first trip back to America since we moved to Uganda a year and half ago. A week or so before leaving for the U.S., my wife and I were in the kitchen talking one night when we heard our son Finn, age 6, shouting from the shower. “Guys! My tooth is getting looser … it’s getting REALLY loose … IT CAME OUT!”

Finn showing off his lost tooth.

He had lost his first tooth. He came running down the hall bare naked, dripping wet, with blood running down his lip, and his tooth in his hand. He was jumping up and down and in tears he was so excited. But then he stopped. He realized he had a dilemma. Should he follow Ugandan protocol and leave his precious first tooth in a corner of our house for a rat (yes, a rat) to leave him money? Or, should he keep the tooth and bring it to America for the tooth fairy? Who would pay more? It was a monumental cultural conundrum for our little first grader.

Cultural side note: You may laugh at the notion that Ugandan children believe rats collect teeth and leave money for children, but it actually is much more believable than a little fairy that slips under your pillow, isn’t it?

Finn went with the tooth fairy. Once in the U.S., he wrote a carefully crafted letter to the tooth fairy, explaining that he would like to collect his money and keep the tooth. The next morning, he was thrilled to find $2 and the tooth.

“Dad, how much is $2 worth in shillings?” he asked. I converted it to roughly 5,000 Ugandan shillings, to which he pumped his fist and said, “Yesssss!” He was confident a Ugandan rat would not have paid that much. He had made the right decision.

What a privilege it is to step outside of our own culture and learn about another. It expands our understanding of other people, it opens us up to new ways of thinking, and it presents us with the opportunity to see the good and the bad from our own culture. It changes us. That is why creating connections between Americans and Ugandans is a critical element of what we do at Empower African Children. And it is a playing a pretty important role in shaping the lives of two little American boys, too. 

Jeremy with Max and Finn at Murchison Falls on the Nile River.

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

 

Seeing the Light of Africa

By Frank Roby 

Looking down on the continent of Africa.

Maybe you have seen this photograph from space, often used to describe Africa as the “dark continent.” It reflects the reality of how much of the continent is rural and how little electricity is available in so many of its countries. It is also used to seed the idea that Africa is a vast continent of backward darkness.

Now look at Africa through the lens of our students. Have you ever seen such stars in all your life, with the Milky Way so full of light that it appears almost like a cloud? You will never see this beauty if you are standing in the light:

Looking up at the sky from Africa.

What people tend to miss is the other perspective. In the first photograph, the camera is looking down on Africa. In the second photograph, the camera is looking up to the heavens — figuratively and literally.

Of course, we all wish there was a more consistent supply of electricity in Uganda and the rest of Africa. But this blog post is not about our wishes. It is about how our students triumph over darkness and chose to see light in a new way. When we think we know something, it is always good to examine it again from another perspective, like these two photographs. Looking down, we see darkness. Looking up we see light. Our view of the world is always shaped by where we choose to stand, looking down in judgment or looking up in inspired humility.

Yet that choice will surely define us because it ultimately influences what we believe. When you look down, you see what seems broken. When you look up, you see the vastness of what is possible.

Our students are not simply optimistic. Optimism often fails when disappointments are prevalent. Rather, our students have the character to know they will prevail. This is much deeper than optimism. It requires an ability to face the challenges of circumstances and prevail until you are able to overcome those challenges. It is a positive attitude fortified by the will to achieve. It is the realization that even in the loneliest moments of darkness, the light still shines. It is the effect of being in a community of acceptance, offering and receiving grace, rather than the isolation of judgment.

Only 22 of our students are in the Spirit of Uganda group touring the United States now. But if there is one thing they want you to know about their friends back home, it’s that when they look down, there they do see sorrow, because virtually everyone has experienced loss. But when they look up, they want you to know they see joy, because they can see so far beyond themselves.

Let’s take a lesson from our kids today. Let’s choose to look up and see what is beyond our limited vision.

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

 

The Hope A House Built

By Ford Noble

This blog post by Ford Noble, 16, was submitted to the Huffington Post, winning a runner-up award in the publication’s “Teen Impact” contest. Noble, whose mother is on Empower’s board of directors, started a group at his school called ReThink the Possibilities, through which he continues his work in Uganda.

Ford Noble and Sharon Kyomugisha in Uganda.

My parents have instilled in me from an early age the importance of traveling and experiencing other cultures. Last Thanksgiving on a trip to Uganda, I realized the significance of other cultures and the position I am in to help others.

My experience began with an emotional encounter with an African girl named Sharon. Sharon is an Empower African Children student. Her father died of HIV; her mother is destitute, HIV positive, and cares for her three siblings by ironing clothing for money.

Sharon was able to join Empower and thus receives the highest quality education in Uganda. Her younger brother has one uniform, one pair of shoes, and attends school at the local grade school. In Uganda, grade school is free until sixth grade as long as you can pay for a uniform and books. Many families cannot.

Sharon’s older brother has diabetes. Sharon’s mother spends almost all of her money trying to buy him medication that needs to be refrigerated. The family had no refrigerator, so Sharon’s mom would bury his medicine in the sand, hoping for the best. Her home was one room, no bigger than my closet at home, filled solely with bunk beds. Next door, the landlord leased a small space to a bar owner. Late at night, people would drink and play loud music. The wall she shared with the bar did not reach the ceiling. Besides being loud and uncomfortable, the house was in a dangerous location.

Instead of asking how people lived like this, I found myself asking why people had to live like this.

I raised $7,000 and gathered donated supplies that filled 25 duffle bags. The money I raised purchased computers, desks, and chairs for a learning lab. I then made sure I had enough money leftover to move Sharon’s mother out of danger. A few thousand dollars allowed for her relocation, a refrigerator for the medication, replacements for the shoddy bunk beds, and basic household appliances.

Moving Sharon’s family changed me. After they had settled in, the youngest son came home from school and immediately led the family in prayer. First Sharon’s mom began to cry, and then tears flowed from her sons’ eyes as well. I turned to see my mother and father crying. Before I knew it, tears started streaking down my face.

I began to look at Africa not for what it did not have, but for what it did have. There is so much poverty, but within the poverty, there is so much hope, gratitude, and inspiration. I realized that one small gesture snowballed into inspiration for many.

I never knew what hope truly meant until that day. 

Ford Noble is a sophomore at Parish Episcopal School in Dallas, Texas. For more information on his continued work in Uganda, visit the Huffington Post article or Ford’s 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.