Young people having access to inspiring people tends to be a matter of chance. That’s the tragedy we have.

The young people may be even shy to reach out to the people they think are up there or who they may think are not even approachable.

We should be able to grow a crop of people who are approachable and inspire others. How can we do that?

We need to be talking about this in various missions that we undertake.

As a teacher, as somebody who goes to church, as a community person, we need to grow this kind of mentality in the people.

To be approachable when you are successful.

And perhaps also encourage the youth to just be able to step forward and reach out to people and ask for ideas. But not many people are approachable. That is the challenge.

I want to see a way in which we can think out of the box. If it is not easy to reach out to these people, we should try as much as possible, through our various systems to grow these people up; and empower our people to reach out to people who can be able to get them inspiration to do things.

When I go to Kampala to shop in Nakasero, I park in a particular place. One day, a guy took the chance to ask:

“You park here all the time, what do you do?”

And so on. We had about a 30 minutes chat and he said:

“I want to be like you when I grow up.”

The ability that I was talking about is that sometimes as a young person getting the opportunity to talk to people is very important.

But it is not easy. Not everybody has the heart to listen. And, therefore, there are so many guys who could be useful, but it is not easy to approach them. This is the big dilemma.

Text of interview of Professor Dr. Christopher Garimoi Orach, Board Chair of CPAR Uganda, by Mr. Philip Luswata, on Friday, 16th April 2021 at the CPAR Uganda Lira Centre. Prof. Orach is a professor of public health at Makerere University School of Public Health, where he has  been working for many years – including as Head of Department of the Department of Community Outreach and Behavioural Sciences; actively involved in several research activities; and he teaches.