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Stephen Gottlieb: Jajja’s Kids And The Power Of Kindness

I awoke yesterday to the horrible reports from Las Vegas but I decided to take a week to organize what I want to say, and deal with guns and Vegas next week. This week I want to tell a story about generosity.

For some of us, generosity is its own reward. Others need to be shown that it does some good, not only for others but for themselves. Take it either way. I don’t care to be judgmental but the consequences, both ways, are important. I want to illustrate that with Jajja’s Kids. Jajja means grandmother in Uganda but it’s an honorific, not confined to actual family relations. A lovely local woman, Diane Reiner, has taken on that role with Ronnie Sseruyange who has become like a son to her.

I have spoken about Jajja’s Kids before and WAMC’s Joe Donahue has interviewed the people who make it happen. But I was at a fundraiser for Jajja’s Kids and it’s message is important to ponder.

When his mother died, six-year-old Ronnie Sseruyange, had to fend for himself on the streets of Uganda, and was promptly welcome to the streets by an older child who broke his jaw. But at 16, Ronnie was taken in to a youth shelter, and he turned around to look after other street children, to feed, clothe, house and educate them, though he himself had no formal education. He became known as the Chairman of the Street Kids. 

A few years later, Diane, a photographer from this area, went to Uganda for a workshop, and there she was introduced to Ronnie. Instinctively she wanted to help. They set up a charitable organization here and an NGO there so that Diane could raise money and Ronnie would have the wherewithal to provide for the children. Diane has been there repeatedly and brought back stories, letters and photographs that make clear their progress in feeding, clothing, housing and educating the street children in Ronnie’s care.

That brings me to a remark that Ronnie made at the gathering I attended, that the children he takes care of have said “God bless America,” to which Ronnie added that he has not heard that said about their own country.

I don’t want to be naïve about this. I suspect the song had something to do with the kids repeating that phrase. And generosity doesn’t solve all problems. Nor does it create an obligation to do whatever otherwise generous people want. But it does matter. It does create opportunity for children who would have none, for children who would be terrorized by older kids intent on impressing them with their power, what can euphemistically be called a rite of passage all too common in the ghettos of the world.

And American generosity is a form of diplomacy. Some call it soft-power. But it matters. The Peace Corps matters. Our Congressman, Paul Tonko, was at the gathering to lend his support because kindness matters. In this age when so many suffer from the what-about-me’s, it’s important to recognize the corrosive implications of thinking only of ourselves and the international reach of open hearts. The what-about-me’s are all about creating a jungle. The openness of kind hearts is all about creating civilization, and the wealth of kindness and productivity that cooperation make.

Steve Gottlieb is Jay and Ruth Caplan Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Albany Law School. A widely recognized constitutional scholar, he has served on the New York Civil Liberties Union board, the New York Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission and was a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Iran. His latest book is Unfit for Democracy: The Roberts Court and The Breakdown of American Politics.

The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management. 

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