Optimist's medal for most tolerant personality

A woman picked a street boy and brought him into her home. She raised him like her own; took him to good schools and gave him all the good things that money could buy. The more the boy grew, the more she loved him no matter his imperfections and idiosyncrasies.

A woman with former street children. All we need is love with patience

But the boy did not appreciate the unfettered kindness of his guardian. He got into trouble with school authorities and gained notoriety as an unrepentant provocateur who fought everybody everywhere. The poor woman was advised to send him back to the streets. She wanted to yet something deep inside convinced her otherwise. Every time the boy got expelled from a school, she would get him an even better school.

When the boy entered pubescent stage, his hormones and demons raged like never before. One evening during the holiday, his guardian returned from work early and caught him seducing his daughter for sex. It was the greatest provocation to banish him back to the streets. Instead, she locked herself in her room and cried a river. Then she prayed. When she got up from her knees, she decided to give the boy another chance.

The two talked like mother to son. She poured out her heart; told him he was now family; a 'big brother' to her three daughters, and having carnal knowledge
of them was the worst ignominy. Told him, she saw in him something that the world did not.

"I've a lot of faith in you to grow into a leader who will return to the streets to spark something in those boys to become responsible citizens," she said. "And I know you will not disappoint me."

For the first time, the ex-street boy shed his hard skin and broke down like a little girl. After wiping his tears, he told his guardian two words: "Thank you."

That was the beginning of his metamorphosis from Saul to Paul. He stopped fighting, was never expelled from school again and started excelling in class. Today, he is at Makerere University pursuing a law degree only because one woman understood and tolerated him with amazing love and patience.

Saturday (November 16) was International Tolerance Day, and the heroine of this story wins the Optimist's medal for most tolerant personality. We all have foibles, and if we learn to love with patience those who need love, it will make all the difference.

Why women ought to love the beautiful game

There is something about playing soccer. It subtly and openly teaches us about how life ought to be lived and appreciated. So, it perplexes that some women bluntly dismiss the beautiful game as a useless activity in which 22 grown-ups’ chase a round piece of rubber around the pitch.

I play ball too

At home she insists on a Mexican soap opera and, when you go out to watch with the boys, she throws a tantrum, saying flatly she did not know she had a co-wife named soccer.

Sweetheart, collect yourself and get a little knowledgeable about the game. Many benefits accrue being on the same team as your man's. When you win you celebrate together- passionately. When you lose, you console one another - passionately. Either way, you bond like never before and sparks fly every soccer weekend.

My friend Kenneth is one of the lucky ones. His wife is passionate about soccer and supports Arsenal, his team. Last weekend before they played with Liverpool she asked him, "Do you think we shall win considering the form of Suarez and Sturridge?" Kenneth felt good that she could turn to him. He knew it was going to be a tough match but he spoke as a man who knows his stuff.

"Honey, this is our season," he said. "We have the best midfield at the moment, and our team is solid in all aspects. Nothing will stop us tonight." When Arsenal won 2-0, she hugged and kissed him and said in the loveliest voice, "You are so right; this is our season!" And you can bet Kenneth had a great night, ha-ha!

Anyhow, that spontaneity that women love, ball control, the marvelous dribbles, spectacular saves, the unity of the team, the telepathic communication that makes a player pass a ball perfectly without looking up, the strategy and verve that wins and the gleeful celebrations -- if all applied in real life, they can make living a magnificent thing.

It is always beautiful to see some players on the losing side exchanging jerseys with the winning players after the match. It shows what a beauty it can be when the contests of life do not turn us into enemies. Moreover, losing is not the end. When you reorganise, train hard and stick together, you bounce back and do amazing things.

Home to the most amazing sights

Today is November 3, the day of the Hybrid Eclipse [rousing applause]! I am hypnotized; giddy with excitement and anticipation like a virgin about to consummate with the woman of his life on their matrimonial night.

Who am I to belong to a country that the world's best scientists have designated the best spot to view the moon strut before the sun? When this happens at 4:15pm today, the sun will be so mesmerized that it will forget its job and usher us in darkness so intense that for one minute and 40 seconds you will feel like your eyes are shut even when they are wide open! The last time something like this happened was a whopping 547 years ago, and it will not happen again until June 3, 2114.

Really, this is the kind of history I cannot afford not being part of. Here I am in Packwach, right on the pass of the eclipse, and will for the whole day be peering at the heavens through a pin-hole camera. I am sure some people behind the Guinness Book of Records have flown in to watch the astronomical occurrence. They also won't help gazing at our physical endowments and confirming that this country is the most beautiful. This is what Winston Churchill meant when he called us the "pearl of Africa" but fell short of calling us the pearl of the world for fear of being accused by his countrymen of extolling a foreign nation more than his.

You have to pity Ugandans who go roaming the world in search of riches instead of developing the riches of their motherland. There is nowhere else where the grass is greener than here unless you have eyes but do not see. Hey, we are the Source of the Nile, the home of the mountain gorillas, perfect weather, loam soil, oil and now the eclipse!

That "American Dream" you hanker after is depicted in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald as a sham. All that intellectualism and dominance, the glitter of Hollywood, the revelry and the philosophy of doing as you like, have left many with scarred consciences and inner emptiness of alarming proportions.

We have to be wary of Western influences, develop our country our way and protect who we really are. "Uganda - gifted by nature" is not just another colourful slogan. The world will best observe the Hybrid Eclipse in this very country. It shows how beloved and favoured we are by God!

Who wants to be Ugandan this weekend? I'm one proud patriot and will always sing the national anthem to that effect!