Redeem JI from the hell he has been consigned to
Apr 21, 2009
LAST week, I wrote about 11-year old J.I. You will remember that he is the Entebbe schoolboy who was brutally assaulted sexually by a neighbourhood youth councillor. The accused pedophile suspect was arrested, but is free on bail while waiting for a court
PERSPECTIVE OF A UGANDAN IN CANADA
Opiyo Oloya
LAST week, I wrote about 11-year old J.I. You will remember that he is the Entebbe schoolboy who was brutally assaulted sexually by a neighbourhood youth councillor. The accused pedophile suspect was arrested, but is free on bail while waiting for a court date in early May.
However, what made J.I.’s story so tragic was his expulsion from Kennedy Primary School in Entebbe. The school apparently felt that his presence was scandalous to its reputation!
J. I.’s story brought an outpouring of concern and support from many readers of The New Vision who wanted to help. I received e-mails from around the world including from Iraq and Darfur in western Sudan.
Yesterday morning, still jet-lagged from my flight the previous night from Toronto, I met J.I. and his mother at the Stanbic Bank in Entebbe. The occasion was the unveiling of the J.I. Trust Fund.
He came across as a very polite young boy with good manners. He reminded me of my son Ogaba who is shy around strangers but who has a sharp mind, appraising everything around him.
I introduced myself and asked how he was doing. He said he was feeling a lot better. I asked him whether he was back in school and he responded that he was still at home. He missed school, he added. I told him that we would make sure he returned to school.
At that point in the conversation, J.I.’s mother took over. She is a small woman with a very determined face. She has four other children, she told me. She added that J.I. was still distraught, and was receiving treatment. He was responding much better.
The school still would not take him, and she was beginning to look for another one. I told her about the trust fund that had been set up by Stanbic Bank at Entebbe called the J.I. Trust Fund. I also told her that I was going to do my best to see that J.I. got the help he so desperately needs.
Meeting the boy in person only made me more upset that an adult would perpetrate such a dastardly deed against such an innocent child. He could be anyone’s son, or one of my Grade 7 students. I know that were the same incident to occur to a pupil in my school, the entire community, including staff, would react with compassion, understanding and deep concern.
That was why I found it hard to understand the response from the school authorities where J.I. attended school.
J.I. and his mother are very grateful for the support that he is receiving from the public. The mother asked how the trust fund will work. The bank manager told her that the J.I. Trust Fund is primed to receive donations from anywhere in the world.
The trust deed directs that the money be used specifically for J.I.’s education, personal care, medical needs and legal fees. The trustee will make sure that the money is spent only on those items. As I left J.I., his elder sister and his mother, I could not help thinking how a week can make such a big difference in a person’s life. Last week, this boy was a broken vessel, hurt by an adult he trusted.
When I wrote the story, readers immediately stepped forward promising to donate money to the trust fund. To make it happen, Stanbic Bank stepped in. Specifically three Stanbic personnel deserve kudos—Paul Omara, Ronnie Muganzi, Paul Sengooba, Denis Kilama, Hasfa Namatovu and Entebbe Branch Manager James Sempebwa—who moved with such speed and dedication in helping to establish the J.I. Trust Fund.
Through a flurry of faxes, e-mails, and even a trip from Kampala to Entebbe Stanbic Bank Branch, these men and a woman ensured that the J.I. Trust Fund account was up and running by last Friday afternoon. Stanbic has earned my utmost respect. A bank that stands by the community is a bank worthy of support. As Mr. Muganzi put it, “This is about doing something positive for the community.†Obviously, J.I. needs your help, generosity, and kind giving spirit in order to return from the hell that he was consigned to live in by a sexual predator who betrayed his trust.
I ask that you, my dear readers, wherever you are, to open your wallet to give what you can afford. I know times are tough, but members of the global village, we owe it to young people that when an unspeakable wrong is committed on their persons as it was in J.I.’s case, that good people will stand up in solidarity.
Please, donate today, and show J.I. that we care enough to do something positive in the face of his suffering.
Check the New Vision website on how to donate from overseas. Let us see if we can reach a modest goal of sh5m (about $2,500) within the week. I will keep you posted on donations.
Here is the account number: Account Title: J.I.Trust Fund Account Number: 0121457180501
Branch: Stanbic Bank Entebbe Main Branch.
Remitters abroad should advise their bankers to pay: Stanbic Bank Uganda, BIC: SBICUGKX
Opiyo.oloya@sympatico.ca
Opiyo Oloya
LAST week, I wrote about 11-year old J.I. You will remember that he is the Entebbe schoolboy who was brutally assaulted sexually by a neighbourhood youth councillor. The accused pedophile suspect was arrested, but is free on bail while waiting for a court date in early May.
However, what made J.I.’s story so tragic was his expulsion from Kennedy Primary School in Entebbe. The school apparently felt that his presence was scandalous to its reputation!
J. I.’s story brought an outpouring of concern and support from many readers of The New Vision who wanted to help. I received e-mails from around the world including from Iraq and Darfur in western Sudan.
Yesterday morning, still jet-lagged from my flight the previous night from Toronto, I met J.I. and his mother at the Stanbic Bank in Entebbe. The occasion was the unveiling of the J.I. Trust Fund.
He came across as a very polite young boy with good manners. He reminded me of my son Ogaba who is shy around strangers but who has a sharp mind, appraising everything around him.
I introduced myself and asked how he was doing. He said he was feeling a lot better. I asked him whether he was back in school and he responded that he was still at home. He missed school, he added. I told him that we would make sure he returned to school.
At that point in the conversation, J.I.’s mother took over. She is a small woman with a very determined face. She has four other children, she told me. She added that J.I. was still distraught, and was receiving treatment. He was responding much better.
The school still would not take him, and she was beginning to look for another one. I told her about the trust fund that had been set up by Stanbic Bank at Entebbe called the J.I. Trust Fund. I also told her that I was going to do my best to see that J.I. got the help he so desperately needs.
Meeting the boy in person only made me more upset that an adult would perpetrate such a dastardly deed against such an innocent child. He could be anyone’s son, or one of my Grade 7 students. I know that were the same incident to occur to a pupil in my school, the entire community, including staff, would react with compassion, understanding and deep concern.
That was why I found it hard to understand the response from the school authorities where J.I. attended school.
J.I. and his mother are very grateful for the support that he is receiving from the public. The mother asked how the trust fund will work. The bank manager told her that the J.I. Trust Fund is primed to receive donations from anywhere in the world.
The trust deed directs that the money be used specifically for J.I.’s education, personal care, medical needs and legal fees. The trustee will make sure that the money is spent only on those items. As I left J.I., his elder sister and his mother, I could not help thinking how a week can make such a big difference in a person’s life. Last week, this boy was a broken vessel, hurt by an adult he trusted.
When I wrote the story, readers immediately stepped forward promising to donate money to the trust fund. To make it happen, Stanbic Bank stepped in. Specifically three Stanbic personnel deserve kudos—Paul Omara, Ronnie Muganzi, Paul Sengooba, Denis Kilama, Hasfa Namatovu and Entebbe Branch Manager James Sempebwa—who moved with such speed and dedication in helping to establish the J.I. Trust Fund.
Through a flurry of faxes, e-mails, and even a trip from Kampala to Entebbe Stanbic Bank Branch, these men and a woman ensured that the J.I. Trust Fund account was up and running by last Friday afternoon. Stanbic has earned my utmost respect. A bank that stands by the community is a bank worthy of support. As Mr. Muganzi put it, “This is about doing something positive for the community.†Obviously, J.I. needs your help, generosity, and kind giving spirit in order to return from the hell that he was consigned to live in by a sexual predator who betrayed his trust.
I ask that you, my dear readers, wherever you are, to open your wallet to give what you can afford. I know times are tough, but members of the global village, we owe it to young people that when an unspeakable wrong is committed on their persons as it was in J.I.’s case, that good people will stand up in solidarity.
Please, donate today, and show J.I. that we care enough to do something positive in the face of his suffering.
Check the New Vision website on how to donate from overseas. Let us see if we can reach a modest goal of sh5m (about $2,500) within the week. I will keep you posted on donations.
Here is the account number: Account Title: J.I.Trust Fund Account Number: 0121457180501
Branch: Stanbic Bank Entebbe Main Branch.
Remitters abroad should advise their bankers to pay: Stanbic Bank Uganda, BIC: SBICUGKX
Opiyo.oloya@sympatico.ca