By Ernest Jacob Tuape

Sunday, July 26, 2015. I am absolutely sure no participant from Cohort 1 will ever forget this day. Unless there's a reported case of amnesia, which I don't think any of us has. This day meant so much to me that I had to borrow a fitting jacket from Moses Mwenda, a guy I had known for just 6 days. I needed to be smart for this occasion. This was a it, a day to remember for a lifetime. I needed to feel every ounce of positive energy right from the outset. The way I dressed, walked, talked, and generally carried myself needed to have a presidential feel to it. I couldn't let this day pass without having the aura of presidency waft around me. It is not common for a boy born in a small hut, in the little known village of Pakwach in Northern Uganda, to get the opportunity to meet (or even share space with) President of the United States. 

I, in my borrowed suit and the rest of the participants smartly clad in their best attires (I guess), set off for one of the most secure locations on planet earth that day; the Safaricom Indoor Arena. The journey to this place felt like eternity.  You should have seen me in the bus; I was constantly pulling my sleeves, slightly dragging my legs all over the place, rubbing my palms. I don't understand whether this was because I was nervous or excited. The bus was stopped on two occasions by those guys in blue uniforms also known as police officers. I still have a problem with these blue uniform guys because it seemed like they were working so hard to block us from reaching our destination. Can you imagine, even after reaching a few meters drive to the arena, these guys still stopped us from proceeding with our bus to the parking area? They owe me (us) an apology. Ok, may be they don't.  But how on earth do you put one of those CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS yellow tapes across a road where there's been no visible crime? For a moment, I thought some guy who was grippled with Obama-mania had rammed his bike into the police vehicle that was parked in the corner causing multiple injuries. Is that a crime? May be. But why did they have to use a CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS tag when there was no visible evidence of any crime?. Nevertheless, we crossed the crime scene do not cross line on foot and walked to the arena.        

The excitement grew stronger. The expectation even bigger. We reached Gate 2 and a security guy in plain clothes politely told us we were at the wrong gate. He was American and knew about YALI. I remember him saying to us, "I perfectly understand you guys are YALI but I'm sorry, you are at the wrong gate. You are meant to use Gate 12". Gate 12 was another twenty minutes walk away. I was all sweaty. My shoes that were well polished and shiny had gathered so much dust. I noticed some girls had removed their high heels. These heels must have been like, "wewe msichana, can't you see we are tired of carrying your weight? Give us a break" and so the ladies obliged. People held hands, walked in teams, shared stories and took pictures. It was a good way of bonding. I think this is one of those experiences that brought Cohort One closer to each other. Finally, there we were, somewhere around Gate 12 which wasn't visible due to the long queue ahead of us. Thank God for YALI, we got some really impressive VIP treatment. I felt special because I was allowed to jump the queue with no consequences. Into the arena we got, sat on those comfortable leather seats right behind the podium, and patiently waited for POTUS. At 11:52am, President Obama jogged on to the stage and we all went crazy. Some got into a frenzy and fortunately, they didn't need much restraint to calm down. Just like that, I forgot the struggles I had gone through to get into the arena. The joy of being there with the President of United States meant so much to me at that moment. It meant that the struggle of making a detour from the original road by our bus driver was worth it. It meant that the long walk, sweat, and dusty shoes were all worth it. The goal had been achieved. The mission of having an experience with President Obama had been accomplished. Real life lessons can be learned from this journey that we made. Whatever life lessons you can pick from it, I leave it up to you.