The “Extra”

Jim and Darla with Bob, after we were awarded our Honorary Doctorate Degrees

I got a solid eight hours of sleep – from 8:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. and then got up to catch up on what was happening in the world.  During breakfast, the team (which has been joined by two recent female college graduates from San Diego who are working here in Uganda with Restore for a few months) prepared the diplomas for each kid.  Bob goes big with graduation, and the diplomas are no different.  He “borrowed” the diploma template from an Ivy League college and makes the Restore diplomas really fancy, including dripping a pile of candle wax on the page and then creating a seal with a Restore insignia.  They look awesome.

Restore International has recently completed the paperwork for the purchase of a huge piece of land (called Seven Corners) down the road from where the school currently resides.  They are feverishly working to put up the buildings for the new school and decided to have graduation at this new property that it took three years to secure.  When we arrived at Seven Corners, it was about 11:00 a.m.  Everyone was already there and they were waiting for us.  A huge troupe of students in traditional African garb escorted us down the road toward graduation field, dancing, drumming, and singing the whole way.

Henry had decided he wanted to surprise his parents so he didn’t tell them I was coming.  Henry greeted me and pointed out where his parents were sitting (front row).  When he did, I could register their surprise.  We hugged and I took some pictures of them just before the four-hour ceremony got underway.  Go big or go home.

Since it was Sunday morning, the graduation ceremony blended in a worship service, and consisted of about a half dozen tribal dances/performances, a couple choir performances, and several speeches from local dignitaries.  As you might expect, Bob is adored around these parts and he got rousing applause when he spoke.  That guy has more enthusiasm than anyone I have ever met.  At some point, he asked me and Darla to each say a few words of welcome and greeting.  Eventually, we got around to awarding the diplomas and wrapped up the ceremony with a meal.  Bob went nuts each time a graduate was introduced – 38 from S4 and 25 from S6 – his enthusiasm for making each graduate feel special never waned a bit.  I took some more photos with Henry and his family, and just in time, as the rains came – and oh did they come.  The dirt roads soon turned to rivers, which masked the potholes that we had to maneuver on the way back.

Before I left the graduation, I arranged to meet up with Henry and his parent that evening at my hotel.  They arrived at 5:30 and we ate dinner and talked until 8:00 p.m.  While they understood and spoke English well, they had a difficult time with my Mzungu English, so Henry often had to interpret.  I would say something in English (as slowly and clearly as I could), they would look at me quizzically, then Henry would repeat what I said word-for-word in English, and they would smile and respond in English.  It was a bit surreal.

As we were wrapping up dinner, I took them to the lobby where the internet worked and called Joline and the kids via skype.  Henry had told them about the magic screen whereby they see and talk to people in America, but I am not sure they really understood until they experienced it.

Throughout the evening, every ten or fifteen minutes, one of them would rattle off something in Runyoro, and Henry would tell me how appreciative they were for us helping Henry get out of jail and back into school.  They were also incessant in their gratitude for my assistance in them being able to travel to Gulu for the graduation.  They told me that they had to sell all of their cows when Henry’s father was in prison for nearly two years on the charge that was dismissed when the evidence was examined.  They explained that since the arrest, they have not had any “extra” money to travel.  We eventually said our goodbyes and I promised to come visit them in Hoima early next year.

Throughout the day, I couldn’t help but marvel at what can be done with the “extra.”  There were 63 graduates, most of whom otherwise would not have received an education, and 200 kids in other grades in the midst of their own life transformation because Bob decided that he (and others who joined him on this journey) could make a difference with the “extra” income he had but didn’t need to live on.  Just being there in person really drove home just how rich we are, and just how much others’ lives could be enriched with the “extra.”  Bob has been my hero for a couple years now.  He just moved up a notch to superhero.