Humanist

Watching my grandson, Eyou Paul Jacob, stand proudly at the start line of the competition was already a delight for me. I have forgotten the name that his teachers gave to the competitive game, but it was all about bursting balloons by sitting on them.

When the whistle to start was blown, Eyou was the first to sit on the first balloon on his lane, but it did not burst. Instead, the chair on which the balloon was fell and Eyou stumbled and fell. But he did not give up, he got up, put the chair and balloon straight, sat on the balloon and it burst.

Obviously, because of his stumble at the first balloon his fellow competitors who didn’t at first stumble went ahead of him. Eyou did not despair and give up, he kept going until he completed the race. Albeit coming last, he is a winner.

Click here to watch a short video clip of Eyou in action.

I am happy for Eyou, at only five years of age, he knows not to give up, but to stay the course to the finish line.  Exemplifying the wisdom and approach of “Building Character through Competition,” which I agree with.

“Sport should be much more than just wins and losses. Unfortunately, we oftentimes get caught up in how many wins rather than if we are making an impact on our athletes that will lead them to be great teammates and people outside of sport. That’s why we talk specifically about certain character traits that we believe will not only make great athletes, but also great teammates and people.

We use different competitions to build these character traits (belief, leadership, attitude, consistency, effort and desire) for our athletes. There is no better way to see an athlete’s true purpose and qualities than to put them in a high stakes, stressful environment and see how they respond.”

Stephen Bryant

Massive credit and gratitude to Eyou’s teachers at St. John’s Parish Nursery and Primary School in Entebbe for a job well done. And massive credit to his parents, my daughter Itipet and her husband Odyang, for the great job they are doing nurturing Eyou to be confident and a know he has wind beneath his wings.

“And when you know the wings you ride

Can keep you in the sky

There isn’t anyone holding back you

First you stumble, then you fall

You reach out and you fly

There isn’t anything that you can’t do”

Lyrics of “Fly on Your Own” by Rita MacNeil. She was a Canadian country and folk singer who was born on 28^th May 1944 and died 16^th April 2013.

Named after his great grandfather, father of the mother of his father, Eyou is growing up knowing who he is and what his roots are. He has graduated from Nursery School and next year he will start his Primary School Education, likely at the same school, St. Johns. 

The competitive games he participated in, that inspired this post, were part of their graduation ceremony, which was held at the school grounds on Saturday, 25^th November 2023.