Post #2: A lunch conversation for all time
Richard Mugisha, Director of Open Society Institute, Eastern Africa Initiative; Despina Namwembe, Regional Coordinator for URI Great Lakes; Ambassador Mussie Hailu, Director of URI Africa Continent and myself talked in a breezy outdoor restaurant in Kampala. Talk turned to politics, realities of famine and violence, no employment for qualified youth, killer malaria, bad deals for the land, corruption in government. Talk could have turned sour and depressing but we started to imagine a big shift – what if there were mottos on Kampala buses and everywhere proclaiming “Government with Heart?” What if citizen conversations took places in villages and city squares where people discussed important values? What if…? We imagined a different future – one that even in our idealist euphoria seemed far-fetched but alluring. I reminded us of Abraham Lincoln’s phrase, “touched… by the better angels of our nature.” Richard rejoined that in Uganda a similar sentiment is known as touched by the “auntie in your heart.”
Little did I know that in the days ahead I would witness diverse citizens of Uganda, fiercely compassionate and dedicated, joyful and attentive…who were people acting from the “auntie in their own hearts.” It was Thomas and Eddie, bonded in their enthusiasm to help people in need; Mussie and Mr. Ayogu focused on the role religions can play to build peace and combat extremism; Bahiyyih and Tahirih forging friendship across religious identities.
Prevailing culture worldwide likes to focus attention on the problems, scarcity, divisiveness, human depravity - but let’s take a stand, as the people I met in Uganda are doing, to unleash the “aunties in our hearts.” “Aunties” are making a difference everywhere. Let’s look for them
