The Start

We're going back to the start. 

We're going back to some of Aphoyo's first stories to share them with you all over again.

I thought it might be nice to return to the beginning. Reminiscing about the start of things often makes me laugh at my past naiveté. It gives a feeling of, "Then I was just learning, now I am a master." 

This thought process applies well at high school and college graduations, getting on an airplane for the 700th time, or when you look back on your first year in your career. But not here. 

I am no master. I am the ultimate learner. 

Here I am to  document what we've learned. The people we've had the privilege to encounter along the way. The inspirational stories we've collected. 

I'd like to start with a lesson I learn again and again and again: 

Children are universal. 

Our students are just like your babes. They are silly and out of hand. They are brilliant and lazy. They are creative and curious. They show off to guests. They get into mischief. Oh man, they are just plain old kids. The regular kind you might meet at your local elementary school or playground. They just happen to live 7000 miles away in a house that looks different than yours. Their skin might be a different shade, and their language might be foreign. But ultimately, these tiny people are just waiting to unlock their potential: to be doctors, engineers, teachers, accountants, architects, pilots, bankers, world changers. 

Aphoyo believes education to be the ultimate key to unlock a child's potential. Give a kid a few resources and a teacher who cares and their life will take on a new form. They will start to dream bigger than they thought they could. They will start to have a confidence that wasn't there before. They light up when they tell you, "I can read!" 

We believe this because we have seen it. We have sat with these children and poured over their books. We've laughed with them as they've explained the reason they want to be a doctor (to wear that white coat of course). We've danced with them as their Mama has announced that HER DAUGHTER will go to university. A feat that no other woman in their clan has ever achieved. 

Here, you will be able to track the incredible impact that our supporters have made in Northern Uganda. 

I hope you'll join that team of remarkable people who have negated a few of their own comforts to unlock a world for children they have never met 7000 miles away. I hope you'll be inspired by our students, their stories and the lessons learned.