The Pagee Wine Lesson: A Teenage Mistake That Shaped My Life
tasted alcohol and its most devastating effects on the very first day I tasted Pagee Wine from St. Mary’s Lacor in Gulu, Uganda, in 1998. Pagee Wine is a local wine made from pineapple. Even though that moment happened nearly 27 years ago, just the thought of walking back into that local drinking joint in […]
How I Beat a Bully and Learned to Stand Up for Myself
Growing up, life wasn’t exactly straightforward. I lost my dad when I was seven, and my mom, a teacher, did her best to raise me and my siblings. We lived in two tiny grass tukuls at the school where she worked. I didn’t realize how poor we were until I came of age. Everyone around […]
Managing Staff in Conflict Zones and the Hidden Price of Doing the Right Thing; Upholding Accountability.
Managing a team in conflict zones can be a different ball game depending on the context and organization. Forget about the usual office politics or the daily “Did you sign the form?” issues. Here, firing someone can quickly escalate from an HR matter to something that threatens your safety. Sometimes, doing the right thing requires […]
What is Joseph Kony saying and why does it matter for National Reconciliation?
In the Daily Monitor of January 27 2014, it was reported that Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel leader Joseph Kony wrote to Ugandans seeking forgiveness and resumption of peace talks. This comes amidst unconfirmed media reports that Kony’s health is deteriorating. Joseph Kony was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2005 for war […]