Amos grew up in the village of Buna in the current day Bududa district of Uganda, one of fourth children. Unlike most parents there, my father, who had a seventh grade education, knew how to read. He collected books and encouraged us children to listen to the radio and learn about the larger world. my father taught me and my siblings the value of an education.

Every morning Amos and his siblings awoke at 4 a.m. to work in the fields and then headed to school at 7 a.m. Sometimes the headteacher there turned them away publicly because they didn’t have money for their school fees, but my father kept telling us to go back. After finishing chores in the evening, the family usually read books around a kerosene candle.

Whenever one of us came first in their class, the whole family celebrates with gifts, such as bread from 30 miles away and a cooked chicken for dinner. These were major incentives, and I learned to hope and dream for more……….)

After I completed primary school, he went to a secondary boarding school 160 miles away, as my older sister had done. Carrying their suitcases on their heads, Amos and my siblings would walk this distance through treacherous forests that held wild animals and armed bandits every beginning of school term, and then back home at the end of the term because they had no money for transportation. But they were determined never to give up. Amos focused on his studies while my father sold land, produce, and sometimes even their own furniture to pay his sons’ school fees. Amos never wanted to disappoint his unselfish father.

After successfully finishing secondary school, I was admitted to a free, government-run university and earned an degree . After a few years of work in Uganda and further studies in Australia on sponsorship, I eventually found his way to America

Looking back, I feels like “a guiding hand led me through all the upheavals of my childhood.” I sought to help village children and poor communities follow in their footsteps and also to make those steps easier to take. A Harlon school aspires to be a guiding hand to scores of eager, young learners from community and beyond.