Pius

Pius is the man for several reasons:
1. He just graduated from university (hoorah!) and is already a full-time social worker for Child of Hope (the NGO I’ve been doing the most work with)
2. He’s friends with everyone and he knows everyone
3. Everyone loves him, even though he’s quiet and doesn’t say much (like when he neglected to tell us that he was graduating on Friday—as in yesterday Friday)
4. He’s really funny and good with kids
5. He’s super responsible and gets things done
6. He’s humble
7. Oh yeah and at 22 years old he lives in a two-bedroom addition to another house with four little boys between the ages of 11 and 13. He gives the boys the bedroom that barely fits two bunk beds while he sleeps on a mat on the floor. Nope, he didn’t tell us that either.

The only reason we know this is because we got caught in the rain once in Namatala and it was pouring rain, so he ran us to his house. And that’s how we found out. This is a man who walks the walk. He’s here to help the people and he’s taking care of four orphan boys who go to the Child of Hope school while being a social worker for that school. He goes out every day and tries to improve people’s living conditions while he himself sleeps on a mat on a concrete floor.

This is Pius, the man. I look up to him and he has my utmost respect and admiration, even though he is younger than me. I can’t imagine an American 22 year-old being willing to take care of four orphans that weren’t related to them, let alone let them have the good room while you sleep out in the front room that gets dirty when people walk in. He is super legit and I’m grateful to know him.