This text was written in 2007 by Noah Liberi. He was 20 at the time, his only formal education being a rural secondary school in Bukinda, Kabale. But he would read a lot and condense the wisdom of life into the following paragraphs that open the story about Teach Inn Uganda that we will publish in weekly instalments. You can learn more about Teach Inn and Noah in Miha’s Blog.
I hope and wish this blog will be an easy approach for everyone who would wish to know much about the Teach Inn Uganda project. A project of the people for the people by the people and with people. A project that was set up as an experiment to see whether business enterprise could cure poverty in a remote village.
Teach Inn Uganda was what one could call a dream of the majority. Surely it is rare around the world to find most of people’s dreams coming true but to us it was a reality. In fact it was blessing, and a blessing that everybody had to adore and cherish.
It was like TV had read our minds, oh my Lord! A British production “Silver River” had the brilliant idea to get a group of successful entrepreneurs to Uganda and see what business approaches could do for development. They set a project up that would in one way or the other ceteris paribus ameliorate the people of Nyakasiru and Uganda at large from the state of quandary!
It had really taken ages of people utterly manoeuvring with all life experiential expertise and pertinaciously looking out and wishing for the day when they would be relieved from their looniness and loopiness of untold muzzy about where, when and how to raise the bamboo curtain of striking poverty. And there came Teach Inn Uganda, at this right time when everybody needed and deserved it.
So it is here today and now that we must take this golden opportunity to present with humility and uttermost gratitude this token of our appreciation of the unprecedented love for Nyakasiru community and Uganda as a whole displayed by the British entrepreneurs, the TV crew and Channel 4. Besides improving on the lives of the community members both economically and educationally, this could surely join the comity of other communities in our march towards political irredentism, social equality, economic emanicipation and education independence and benefit.
The importance of having one of these in the vanguard of this march of progress is nothing short of axiomatic. Our people have a saying “ours is ours but mine is mine”. Every town and community struggle at this time of our political, education evolution and economic balance to posses that of which it can say “this is ours”. We were happy and lucky we had such an invaluable possession in this area. It was an investment which had to yield heavy dividents and the beneficiaries had to appreciate the scheme so that an endless stream of sons and daughters be able to drink deep at the Pierian Spring of knowledge and business approaches.
When we talk of Teach Inn Uganda, we are truly talk about a hotel attached to a primary school. It was situated below Ryabirengye Primary School, Nyakasiru Village, Kabale District. A building that before the 2007 renovation appeared so ancient and useless was now interesting with a welcoming mural painted by Martin, a student at Makerere University. And everywhere inside the place was so lovely and interesting than one could expect “just a bit of a home a way from home”.
As mentioned above, our people say “ours is ours and mine is mine” but this story, I can say, is “ours”.
It took me ages writing and gathering all the necessary information. It took many a sleepless night and my full concentration trying to think of what would impress the reader. Being the first best of its kind, it really attracted my attention.
I would sometimes ask myself why I needed to write down all the events, but I could as well realise that it was good for me and my mind, for I had nothing else to contribute to Teach Inn Uganda.
However, for legal reasons, I was not able to name any of the institutions in which I was posted or any of the people who abused, disrespected, annoyed and threatened me before and during my days at Teach Inn Uganda. I hope that one day the situation will be resolved and I will be able to tell my story in full.
I recognise that while it was my own and personal choice to look forward to coming forward to tell my story, there are many who would prefer to avoid this glare of publicity. Out of respect for them, I agreed not to mention their names. The only ones for whom I used their names were my friends and friends indeed. Some desperately wanted their story to be told and I’m proud to have been able to call them my friends.