Shimon Aijuka – I was raised by my grandfather

“My father died when I was so young but I still have a picture of him in my head. I know that he cared for me so much, a bit more than my brother. I know this because whenever my brother and I got in trouble, he only punished my brother.

I was raised by my grandfather who took on the father figure role in my life and I must say he did a great job. My grandfather always told me about how he knew the challenges of being an orphan and how orphans always feel lonely and begin to think that nobody cares about them. He made sure that wasn’t the case with me and my brother.

He also told me about his friend who was an orphan like me but turned out to be a Bishop leading a whole diocese. He would encourage me and tell me everything would be alright. I remember whenever I paid school fees, banks would normally have very long queues so my grandpa would use his status as an elderly person to skip the line and just head straight to the teller.

This showed me that he was determined and willing to do anything for me. “I never went to school but I want you to go as far in education as you can,” he would say. My grandfather is a very jolly person. You’d be laughing around him whenever he starts telling his funny stories.”

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This story is part of the project called “#MyFatherSeries” that we are carrying out with our friends at Humans of Uganda. We hope to share a series of life stories of different boys and men about their experiences with their fathers or father-figures. We hope this will bring healing of relationships and an opportunity to celebrate fathers every day. Above all, our prayer is that all men who share and read these real life stories will discover the heart of God the Father through our encouragement and community.

Thank you for reading! God bless you.

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© The DAD Base. / Humans Of Uganda

We are building a united force of men walking proudly and courageously in wisdom, knowledge and understanding of our identity in Christ. Surrendering our pain, fear, shame and guilt to Him. We believe every son needs a present father who raises them to be men who are spiritually, physically, financially, socially and emotionally strong through discipleship and mentorship.