Doing it for your country

Abraham Muganzi returned to his former school and donated a mathematical set, two pens and a pencil to every PLE candidate. The gesture provoked mixed reactions from the online community with some branding him another crafty Ugandan homing in on some political office.

Abraham Muganzi giving back to the school that made him

But I'm with those that see nobility in his deed. In this country as everywhere else, genuine charity is hard to come by. The mantra is quid pro quo – I scratch your back, you scratch mine. Still, many whose backs are scratched do not reciprocate even when their cups are full and running over. Thus whoever returns the favour, moreover for a greater cause, deserves more than plaudits.

Muganzi's effort is also a welcome addition to the punches that will smash the fallacy that the social responsibility act of giving back to our communities is exclusive to big-time firms or to filthy-rich individuals like Sudhir or Wavamuno.But just as it's not the size of the dog that matters, but the fight in the dog, it's also not how much you give but the heart with which you give that matters. One compliment can turn a low-esteemed person into the most confident, and one word of optimism can prevent someone from committing suicide.

Evidently, doing good is akin to planting a small seed that sprouts into a giant roadside tree that not only serves as a reinvigorating shade to weary travellers but also supplies them with life-giving fruits. Muganzi may not even be aware of it but I bet one of those who received a mathematical set will one day in retrospect remember his benevolence and be inspired to do likewise and better.

This brings me to words of a former president that have continued to resound ever since they were uttered 51 years ago. John F. Kennedy challenged fellow Americans thus: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

I don't know about you but there was a time when those words haunted me as I spent day and night asking myself what my role on earth is and what I was created to do for my country. Today I know it's through motivational deeds like Muganzi's, and the implementation of our creative ideas, as well as living responsibly and with integrity that we serve our countries better and provide the spark for others to do the same.