Stories of Hope: Okullu Jimmy

One word that comes to mind immediately when thinking of Okullu Jimmy is the word “overcomer”. Faced so many daunting and despairing situations in his life, Jimmy could have easily chosen to give in to despair on more than one occasion. Yet he has always found a way to overcome, clinging tightly to his faith through every ordeal. Jimmy is bright young man who is passionate about Jesus. Known by his friends as “pastor”, Jimmy is often leading rousing worship sessions or pious prayer meetings. He is a natural leader both at school and within the project. Though he faces the same problems of poverty as his peers, Jimmy has a decidedly positive outlook on life and he strives to spread that positive attitude to everyone around him.

Jimmy was born and raised as a child in the village of Loro in Northern Uganda. He is from a tribe called the Langi, close relatives of the Acholi. Though both his parents were alive when he was a boy, Jimmy was raised by his maternal grandmother and great-grandmother. As the story goes, Jimmy’s paternal grandmother did not approve of her daughter-in-law - Jimmy’s mother, Grace. Consequently, after Jimmy was born, his paternal grandmother convinced her son (Jimmy’s father) that he should send away his wife and his infant son, and marry another woman instead. Apparently, Jimmy’s father took the advice. He severed his relationship with Grace and married another woman. Grace took her young daughter – Jimmy’s half-sister – and moved to Kampala in hopes of finding some work there. She left Jimmy behind in the village, in the care of her own mother. And that is where Jimmy remained for the first 13 years of his life.

Growing up in the village, Jimmy was surrounded by the culture and lifestyle of his people. His grandmothers instilled in him a respect and understanding of his rich heritage. He became very skilled at farming and growing crops, an important way of life for his tribe and most people in Northern Uganda. His passion and skills did not translate into the classroom, however, where he struggled with his school work. Part of the reason for his struggles was due to the fact that he would sometimes miss school to help plant or harvest the crops. Another reason was the poor quality of teaching and the limited resources available in many rural schools in Northern Uganda. In addition, disruptions caused by war would often distract students and teachers alike from the academic process. The combination of mediocre teaching and the lack of specialized attention prevented Jimmy from realizing his own potential in the classroom. The only subject he enjoyed was mathematics, a subject that dealt with concrete numbers instead of words.

During his early life, Jimmy was too young to understand why his parents were not around. He was probably told that his mother was away working in Kampala. However, he was told nothing about his father. Consequently, Jimmy tells me that, as a young boy, he simply believed that he did not have a father. When Jimmy became older, his grandmother eventually told him the truth: that he did indeed have a father, but that his father wanted nothing to do with Jimmy. The shocking fact was that his father lived nearby and was a man that Jimmy had known and seen before. His grandmothers, bitter and hurt at the way that Jimmy’s father had cast aside his own wife and son so long ago, forbid Jimmy from ever approaching his father. In their minds, Jimmy’s father had made his choice long ago, especially now that he had a new wife and other children, and he did not deserve to have a relationship with his first-born son. He had never helped to provide for Jimmy’s needs, as any responsible father should do, and had never even expressed interest in Jimmy’s life. In their concern, Jimmy’s grandmothers not want to see him hurt further by the man who had abandoned him as a baby.

Living in the same small, rural area, however, makes it difficult to avoid someone completely. Jimmy tells me that he remembers talking with his father one time when they met along the road. As is custom in Uganda, they greeted each other. By this time, Jimmy knew who his father was. And, of course, his father knew who Jimmy was. Jimmy’s father extended an invitation for Jimmy to come visit him at home. Jimmy deliberated within himself, but eventually decided to visit his father. When Jimmy went to his father’s home one day, his father greeted him and made small talk. But in the end, he said that he had nothing to offer to Jimmy as his son. When Jimmy told his grandmother about the visit, she warned him to never go back to his father’s home. That was the only interaction he ever had with his father. Jimmy’s father died in 2003 of a sexually transmitted disease, most likely syphilis or HIV/AIDS.

Jimmy continued to struggle through school in the village. By the time he reached P.5, the class work so challenging for him that he was forced to repeat the grade again the next year. After the second time in P.5, Jimmy was finally promoted to the next class. However, he continued to struggle in P.6 and failed that class the first time as well. He repeated P.6 the next year, but by the time he completed the year, he still struggled to understand the concepts taught by his teachers. His grandmother talked to him about taking a vocational school course the next year, which meant that he would drop out of primary school and learn a skill instead. Jimmy began to think that he would have a better life as a farmer anyhow than he would if he continued to struggle through his studies with little to show for it. Additionally, it was difficult for his grandmother to continue finding the money to pay his school fees. By the end of the school term, Jimmy had decided he would not return to school the next year.

In 2002, the same year he failed P.6 for the second time, Jimmy traveled to Kampala to visit his mother. He had planned on settling down in the village and continuing a life of farming when he returned from his trip. While in Kampala, Jimmy’s mother expressed her desire for Jimmy to come live with her in the city. Jimmy had never been given the opportunity lived with either of his parents. Such an opportunity was nearly too good to be true. He decided that he wanted to stay with his mother, so he moved to Kampala.

Grace desperately wanted her son to continue his education. After moving to Kampala, she encouraged him to continue with school and Jimmy eventually agreed to keep trying. But financial difficulties plagued the family, especially after money was stolen from their home one day. Grace had started her own business selling some small items, but it did not generate much income. She searched Kampala for a school that would allow her to pay the school fees in installments, rather than all at one time. She finally found a school that would enroll Jimmy and accept her partial payments. So Jimmy returned to his studies, but he found a number of challenges awaiting him in his new Kampala school. The most minor of these problems was that he had to walk a very long distance across town each day to and from school. A much bigger problem was the fact that Jimmy could not speak English. Although all schools throughout Uganda are, in theory, required to teach in English, most rural schools do not do so. Jimmy had spent his entire life in the village, speaking his tribal language both at home and at school. But in Kampala, all schools teach in English, even in primary school. Consequently, children in Kampala learn from a young age to speak the language. In addition, the academic standards in Kampala’s urban schools were much higher than the standards in rural schools. Thus, Jimmy was far behind his classmates both in academics and in his ability to speak and understand English. The school decided to demote Jimmy to P.5. After already repeating both P.5 and P.6 in the village, the demotion at his new school was incredibly disheartening for Jimmy. His first semester at the Kampala school was spent struggling to understand English. The only subject in which he could really participate and excel was mathematics. He could at least understand the numbers, even if he did not understand the words that the teacher spoke. After the first term, Jimmy had performed the poorest out of the entire class.

For the second term of the school year, Grace was able to transfer Jimmy to another school that was closer to their home. He would no longer have to walk such a long distance to attend his classes. However, once the teachers at the new school observed Jimmy’s performance in class, they decided to demote him further to P.4. Jimmy became exceedingly discouraged, expressing his desire once again to quit his studies and simply work for a living. But his mother encouraged him to stick with school at least until the end of the year.

In the third and final school term, the family’s financial difficulties were getting worse. Grace’s business had collapsed and she was forced to work in the market sorting beans and peanuts. Every day after school, Jimmy would come to the market to help his mother sort. Their situation became so critical that his mother decided she would leave Kampala and return to the village by the end of the year. They did not even know where they would stay when they reached the village. Jimmy believed that this was the last time he would ever go to school for the rest of his life. Though he knew that he would never be the top student in his class, he wanted to end his education with some kind of small achievement. So he resolved to be the student in his class with the highest marks in mathematics. Incredibly, he succeeded.

By the end of the year, Grace had begun to receive some food through the World Food Program to feed her children. Released from the burden of having to buy food, she could use her paltry earnings from the market to pay rent and the remainder of the school fees that she owed. In addition, the family had another stroke of good luck. A sponsorship program had heard about their struggles and wanted to sponsor Jimmy’s education. Thus, at the end of 2002, Jimmy was enrolled into Children of Hope. His sister also gained sponsorship through another aid organization in Kampala.

Life was suddenly infused with hope for Jimmy and his family. Grace decided to remain in Kampala now that Jimmy and his sister could attend school through the help of the projects. The depression and discouragement that had gripped Jimmy for the whole of the last year suddenly paled as he realized the new world of opportunity that had opened before him. Someone wanted to pay for him to go to school, which meant that someone believed he could succeed! Before he received sponsorship, what Jimmy saw in his future was a “very dark” life of hardship and gloom. But the unexpected aid offered through Children of Hope roused him to believe that he had the chance to “be something” in the future.

Jimmy again transferred to a new school where he began P.5… for the third time. He had at least learned a little English after a year in Kampala, but he still performed very poorly in his classes during the first school term. His marks were slightly better the next term, but he was still near the bottom of his class. Finally, one of Jimmy’s teachers took notice of him. She believed that he was a bright boy, but struggled due to his limited English and disrupted schooling. She moved him to the front of the classroom where she would be able to help him more readily.

It was around this time that Jimmy was given the nickname “Pastor” by his classmates. He had been learning about God both from church and from his involvement with Children of Hope Bible studies. One day, before a big exam, he announced to his classmates that he was going to pray for them to do well on the test. Some students laughed, but others bowed their heads and joined his prayer. After that day, his classmates always waited for him to pray before they started an exam. And they began to call him “Pastor” from that point on.

When he passed P.5 that year, Jimmy had moved up to the number three position in his class - an incredible improvement for a boy that had started out the year in last position. Throughout P.6, Jimmy continued to improve his standing. First term, he was in ninth position. Second term, he was in fifth position. And by the last term, Jimmy had become the top student in his class. He became very popular with the students and teachers alike for his disciplined study and his outgoing personality. In his final year of primary school, P.7, Jimmy was consistently the top student. He was also elected to be “head boy” – the equivalent of school president – by his peers. Such a turnaround, from demoted, dejected village boy to head boy, was astonishing to all who knew Jimmy’s story.

Meeting Jimmy nowadays, I would have never had an inkling of his depressing past. He is confident and outgoing. He has continued his academic excellence well into secondary school and is now into his third year of secondary school. In addition, he continues to be well-liked by his peers and teachers. He was easily elected to be assitant head-boy this term. Jimmy desires to study medicine one day at the university, a dream shared by many Ugandan youth. However, he also has a knack for business. He has often bought seeds or other food products at a low price and then resold it for a profit to help his family. He also still carries the love for farming that was instilled in him by his culture while growing up in the village. He dreams of one day having both a farm - where he can grow crops and raise animals for a profit - and a clinic where he can practice medicine.

Aside from his academic accomplishment, Jimmy has an incredible passion for the Lord. The label of “Pastor” has stuck with him over the years. He is often called upon to lead prayer or worship sessions, a task which he performs with enthusiasm. In addition, he is a member of the Hope Alive! Leadership Corps, a group of students chosen by the director for their outstanding leadership potential. As a member of the Leadership Corps, he is tasked with responsibility to help lead activities or Bible studies for younger students in the project. In addition, he continues to use his excellence in math to help others. He now tutors some of his peers as well as a number of younger Hope Alive! students. Even in the midst of his busy schedule of studies, church activities, and caring for his own family, he finds time to help others.

Jimmy has much to say about the influence of the project on his life. He first points out that the small things the project gave him, such as school supplies and school uniforms, helped him to fit in at school. Because he was wearing a uniform just like all his classmates, people could not judge his background or economic status. It helped to “balance” things and give him more confidence in the classroom. He also appreciates the opportunities given to him by Hope Alive! to be in leadership positions where he could learn how to speak to others and offer guidance. Additionally, Jimmy appreciates how the project has stood by his family, even when his mother has faced extreme financial difficulties. Currently, his mother makes hand-made jewelry which she sells to Hope Alive! in order to get money for rent and food. Finally, Jimmy’s face becomes serious as he tells me what I can see is really on his heart. He says he feels like the project has “built” something in him: a heart of helping. Hope Alive! supported him and saw him through the difficult times in his life. Now he believes God has brought people to him whom he can help in return. Jimmy still lives in poverty, but now he can offer the skills and knowledge that he has gained through his own life situations, coupled with his intimate understanding of the love offered through Christ, to give others hope for their own bleak lives.