Peter's Update: Learning to Appreciate my College Education

For too long, I have taken for granted the fact that I could always expect to attend college and even grad school, if I were willing to work for it. My education has been readily accessible and all but guaranteed. And now here I am, a student in Africa, and I’m finally gaining some much needed perspective on what an education is really worth.

(A girl at a local school has to go retrieve a spare desk by herself in order to do her coursework.)

The perspective I’m talking about comes from a sad reality: access to education may be the single most important factor for ending poverty and conflict in Africa, but there is not nearly enough to go around!

Here’s an overly simplistic summary of the issues at hand. African countries are poor and often corrupt. Many government leaders do not take care of their people, and the people lack the power and unity to make things better on their own. There are not enough schools or teachers, and the students don't have enough money in their pockets to pay for uniforms and tuition. And there are very few jobs available to the determined kids who overcome all these challenges and make it through the system. Yet without educated, middle-class citizens, African nations will not develop fast enough to keep up with poverty, disease, and war. So you’re probably going to keep seeing the starving kids on television – at least for a while.

(This is Julius. He is mute and has severe physical retardation, yet he absolutely loves to be at school. If only he could benefit from some kind of special education program, he might be capable of developing self-sufficiency.)

So, my account of African education is a major guilt trip, right? Well, that’s not really my intention. I’m actually just trying to set the scene for a pretty amazing juxtaposition that I’ve been witnessing since I arrived here. I am studying at Uganda Christian University literally with the future leaders of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and many other African countries, and although I know our high school graduation speakers all told us we’d be the future leaders of our country, somehow it just strikes me so much more when I come to study in Africa. In this context, the future leaders of the continent are living amongst beggars and AIDS victims and people whose entire families were murdered in a civil war (take your pick of which war). These students don’t need to do internships in the inner city to learn how they might possibly apply their majors in real life. “Real life” is shockingly ever present in Africa.

And you should hear these students talk about the futures of their countries! I’m taking a politics class with almost all Africans, and they literally tremble with passion as they describe their ideas for bringing about development, peace, and social harmony. And when faced with all of Africa’s problems, many of them have this unbelievable optimism for creating a society where everyone can hope to enjoy the blessings they’ve received. Who am I, that I get to sit in on their discussions and even offer my own opinions?

(This is Jones, a friend of mine who graduated from UCU. He's the kind of student with the charisma, talent, and integrity to do great things for his country.)

But that inclusiveness is the beauty of my semester abroad. The brightest young minds in East Africa are fully willing to engage with me and discuss the tough global issues that made me want to come here in the first place. And if they had the resources for education that we have in the United States, I cannot imagine the impact they could have in their countries. Perhaps enough that we’d no longer need to televise starving babies. Now, there’s your guilt trip!

And if you want to know more about this, I’ll talk to you about it at Gordon when I'm back for the spring semester. Until then, good luck with your homework, and wish me luck with mine.

Peace and love from Mukono Town.