Eddy, the hero
Updated: Aug 12
It started in 2011. This young guy, Eddy Balina from Uganda, reached out to us at the Non-Violence Project Foundation, NVP.Think he was some 20+ years old, and he had found us on the internet. He asked if he could use our educational program Schools For Peace, and run it at his former high school in Jinja. We sent him the Teacher’s Manual and the Student Booklets, and he managed to get it all printed somehow, and the principal of the school let him do it. His former school was a violent place. He wanted to do something about it. Living in the suburbs of Jinja with a family of 11 is not easy.It turned out to be very successful. The students loved it, and Eddy had found a purpose in his life.“Inspire, motivate, and engage young people to understand how to solve conflict without violence”. That was the NVP’s mission Eddy introduced into his community. An informal educational program that has been shown to make a difference everywhere it is introduced. I worked with the foundation for 10 years and saw it light up young people’s self-esteem in Sweden, Denmark, India, Greece, Brazil, Japan, USA and other places I have forgotten. Yes in Columbia, even. It woke people up no matter if they were very young kids on the streets in Sao Paulo, kids from a wealthy tennis academy in Båstad or a bunch of spoiled 50+ year old IT-developers in a shining conference room in Stockholm City. It definitely worked in Jinja under Eddy’s wings.
Just six months or so after Eddy’s first test, he suddenly appeared on Facebook in a suit and a charmingly crooked tie on his profile picture under the title “CEO of Non-Violence Uganda”. He had been invited to Kenya to do a presentation for a school district. I helped him with his first Powerpoint. It was his first ever traveling, first time flying, first time in a hotel room. Success again and the ball kept rolling for Eddy. He started training teachers with the program Schools For Peace and Sports For Peace. He initiated events for young girls, to build self-esteem, learn how to be entrepreneurs, study, and get out of prostitution and sexual abuse. Eddy and his crew created miracles in a very harsh community.
Fast forward to 2018 and 2019. Eddy had built a school with his partner Eva. Building hope for 100 young kids with no chance to get into schools whatsoever in that part of Jinja. A few years later, they built another school for 500 students. When I say "they built", I mean built. Manually making bricks by hand of clay and doing it more or less themselves with their crew and great help from community members. He has also built his impressive CV by hand. Against many odds, facing most young men like him in the region. Eddy was invited to, and is now certified by, the Obama Foundation as a young leader after training in South Africa. He has also been certified in kindness at the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute and Life University. The list goes on and on. However, one of his most impressive merits is without a doubt skippering at the tiller of the sailboat 100% Sun Wind Water in the Stockholm Archipelago:-)
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