I recently received a letter from my Ugandan pen-pal, Godfrey. My family is sponsoring his Secondary School, which is Ugandan High School (grades 8-12). His life dream is to become a doctor, something he has been working at his entire life- even before I knew him when he was in 5th grade. While reading his letter, I was reminded strongly of myself- he’s smart, driven, and a hard-worker. He likes some classes, hates others- he’s worried about his grades, and his friends, his soccer, and a job- just like the typical American teenager.

Godfrey studying at the One School at a Time field office during his long break from school.

Logan (5th grade) hard at work on his computer.

Which got me to thinking, are Ugandans really so different from Americans? Are all the barriers of different races, religions, nationality, and wealth just arbitrary? Is this line we draw between us and them really warranted? To me, it seems that Ugandans are just like us- just born without the wealth that we’re used to. It poses an interesting question, too. Were our positions reversed, would the world look any different than it does today? Would they be helping us, the way we’re helping them? If so, then it is our duties as westerners to help them up, just like they would help us.