Dear friends
While you are hopefully enjoying the summer days, I would like to tell you about Paul, an unassuming hero who perhaps exemplifies the difference a place like Kids of Africa can make. Either way, I wish you a wonderful summer and thank you very much for your continued support. You mean the world!
Paul is perhaps something of a “late bloomer”. Whether at school, in sport or socially, he always took his time. Even at a young age, it was clear that this boy was blessed with many good gifts. Reserved, but incredibly attentive. Helpful, but always from the background. Hard-working at school – but always unobtrusive. That’s how it started. And then, a few years ago, he noticed that he could run faster than most.
He was nominated to represent Uganda at the World Youth Championships in Brazil. However, the trip did not take place because he did not receive a Ugandan passport in time. Instead, he ran in an East African competition in neighboring Rwanda. He later had to take a break due to a minor injury. But today Paul is an unusually mature athlete. He is one of those boys who are changing the world in their own way. And that’s what it’s all about.
Whatever he does and will do one day – Paul’s heart and soul radiate from them. He is one of those people around whom others automatically feel at ease. Because he radiates empathy, a deep inner balance and maturity. I believe that Paul has everything it takes to become a Ugandan hero. And he is not the only one.
You see, I think that’s what it’s all about. Kids of Africa is a grassroots organization. We give young people roots and wings so that they can stand on their own two feet in very different ways. I believe this is the best seed for sustainable change. Because revolutions are known to eat their own children. They achieve nothing. But Africa needs change. Urgently. This change can only come from within. It cannot be brought about from outside. Otherwise, decades of Western development aid to African governments would have brought about progress. But as a rule, it has not.
Most state development aid primarily helps states and elites. Kids of Africa, on the other hand, helps those who are in the shadows. And it does so with a lot of patience, love and a long-term approach. Kids of Africa is now around twenty years old. And I rub my eyes every time I visit the project. Today, our former “children” want to give something back. To their Uganda, to their society. As role models, they want to change Uganda on a small scale in different ways.
This always reminds me of the American social scientist Margaret Mead (1901 – 1978, who once said:
“Never believe that a handful of committed citizens cannot change the world. Because, in the light of day, that’s the way it has always been.”
I wish you a happy Somme and send you my best wishes – also on behalf of Paul and many other young heroes.
Always yours
Burkhard Varnholt
