Nine moths at REC seemed only but a moment. They seemed to have passed by so quickly. Probably because we were busy most of the time and naturally couldn't notice the sluggishness in the passing of time. Work was moving on quite well. But it wasn't all about work. Paul, I and our friends often got together for the youth fellowship at St. James Cathedral. It was fun. Of course, being in such meaningful fellowships not only created deeper relationship with God, but stronger friendships as well. I reckon Paul was our fellowship leader. This guy oozed with special and natural abilities of leadership. and you can be sure during his time, "fello", as we fondly referred to it, was the place to be every Wednesday and Sunday. I also recall going on an outreach ministry with this gentleman somewhere at the outskirts of Mbarara in a Muslim school (Nyamitanga, think) where we talked to young people and shared experiences with them. He played the guitar that day and we sung our our hearts out. I now look back at those days with immense nostalgia.
Soon after, it was time for our UACE results to be released. Anxiety ate through us. We had prayed and believed God for "super" A's or at least B's. Now was the time to face off with reality. Paul was always his confident self. He was sure he would go for his MBchB. I don't know how best to describe the aftermath of our results being released. We hadn't got the A's we so much craved and prayed for. Quite naturally, we were jaded in our souls. We had believed. We had prayed. We had fasted. And somehow, things turned out the way they did. i should mention at this point we didn't fail. Leaving all factors constant, we had done well. But peharps we had set high standards for ourselves (realistic standards i should say) but looks like God had other plans. The best plans, so we encouraged ourselves. Maybe it was a period of great thought for my dear friend because in his own projections, it seemed like his dream of becoming a doctor was now hanging on the line, more than ever. But this soul always tried not to get "under" things and instead get "over" them. He later discovered he was never going to be a doctor, anyway. But he kept his head up high.Always believing.
Just before the end of our long vacation, it was confirmed Paul would have to settle for an engineering course at University. He amazingly adjusted to this and was soon telling me how he looked forward to being the best engineer he could be. Studying Automotive and Power Engineering at Kyambogo University proved to be such an illustrious project because it was a rather new course and i imagine quite marketable in many aspects.
In September 2004, i parted ways with my friend. We had been together for such a long time and it seemed campus with all its "dynamics" would try hard to keep us apart. Moreover we were going to study in different Universities. We kept in touch though, but i must confess not so often. Our lives seemed to have changed in some sense and now it was all about books and careers. University was never going to be a luxurious yacht ride but on the contrary, a challenging and as we later found out, a difficult one. Apart from meeting Paul during the holiday,we found it hard for us to hook up on any other time. But we always knew the all important fact that friends are forever. Whenever we happened to meet, we just began from where we had stopped previously!
I sadly discovered one day Paul had some heart complications, hirtheto unknown to me. But i remember him telling me he was asthmatic, way back in vacation. I could never have connected the two because it really didnt look like it. When it was decided he had to be taken for surgery in India, that is in 2007, we prayed that God sails him through. And he did. I got to meet Paul i think 4 months after his heart surgery at his home. By that time i was trying to wrap up with University. Though he looked weak physically, on the inside he was the Paul i always knew - full of life and vitality. He surely would pull through this and get back to study (he was almost a year behind schedule at this point). Its as if we were going down memory lane because we talked about everything we could and allowed ourselves reminisces of the days gone by! True he went back to Campus to our great joy the following semester.Later on in the year, i learned Paul had developed more problems with his condition and was back in Hospital. Bad news indeed. With time it became more and more clear that my friend's heart problem was more serious than i had thought. I began to wonder what would become of him. Would he ever completely get over this? Or he would have to endure it the rest of his life? Or he..would never make it, anyway?? The last question, i dismissed harshly whenever it surfaced and earnestly asked God to spare this guy's life.
Just like a month before he was to be flown to India for a second heart operation , i had a phone conversation with Paul. It was great hearing that familiar joyful sound again. I apologized for having been "off the radar" for long but assured him i always prayed and thought about him. While i told my self i would get to see him in the near future, somehow this didnt happen because soon after he was flown to India at the end of April where he was to endure a grueling 2nd surgery. I have been in theater before (albeit for a simple matter compared to Paul's) and wondered how it "felt" having your chest knifed...really awful. And as it turned out on the morning of Saturday April 24 2008, that phone call was the last i would ever make to Paul. He died just before the operation and went to be with the Lord.
Soon after, it was time for our UACE results to be released. Anxiety ate through us. We had prayed and believed God for "super" A's or at least B's. Now was the time to face off with reality. Paul was always his confident self. He was sure he would go for his MBchB. I don't know how best to describe the aftermath of our results being released. We hadn't got the A's we so much craved and prayed for. Quite naturally, we were jaded in our souls. We had believed. We had prayed. We had fasted. And somehow, things turned out the way they did. i should mention at this point we didn't fail. Leaving all factors constant, we had done well. But peharps we had set high standards for ourselves (realistic standards i should say) but looks like God had other plans. The best plans, so we encouraged ourselves. Maybe it was a period of great thought for my dear friend because in his own projections, it seemed like his dream of becoming a doctor was now hanging on the line, more than ever. But this soul always tried not to get "under" things and instead get "over" them. He later discovered he was never going to be a doctor, anyway. But he kept his head up high.Always believing.
Just before the end of our long vacation, it was confirmed Paul would have to settle for an engineering course at University. He amazingly adjusted to this and was soon telling me how he looked forward to being the best engineer he could be. Studying Automotive and Power Engineering at Kyambogo University proved to be such an illustrious project because it was a rather new course and i imagine quite marketable in many aspects.
In September 2004, i parted ways with my friend. We had been together for such a long time and it seemed campus with all its "dynamics" would try hard to keep us apart. Moreover we were going to study in different Universities. We kept in touch though, but i must confess not so often. Our lives seemed to have changed in some sense and now it was all about books and careers. University was never going to be a luxurious yacht ride but on the contrary, a challenging and as we later found out, a difficult one. Apart from meeting Paul during the holiday,we found it hard for us to hook up on any other time. But we always knew the all important fact that friends are forever. Whenever we happened to meet, we just began from where we had stopped previously!
I sadly discovered one day Paul had some heart complications, hirtheto unknown to me. But i remember him telling me he was asthmatic, way back in vacation. I could never have connected the two because it really didnt look like it. When it was decided he had to be taken for surgery in India, that is in 2007, we prayed that God sails him through. And he did. I got to meet Paul i think 4 months after his heart surgery at his home. By that time i was trying to wrap up with University. Though he looked weak physically, on the inside he was the Paul i always knew - full of life and vitality. He surely would pull through this and get back to study (he was almost a year behind schedule at this point). Its as if we were going down memory lane because we talked about everything we could and allowed ourselves reminisces of the days gone by! True he went back to Campus to our great joy the following semester.Later on in the year, i learned Paul had developed more problems with his condition and was back in Hospital. Bad news indeed. With time it became more and more clear that my friend's heart problem was more serious than i had thought. I began to wonder what would become of him. Would he ever completely get over this? Or he would have to endure it the rest of his life? Or he..would never make it, anyway?? The last question, i dismissed harshly whenever it surfaced and earnestly asked God to spare this guy's life.
Just like a month before he was to be flown to India for a second heart operation , i had a phone conversation with Paul. It was great hearing that familiar joyful sound again. I apologized for having been "off the radar" for long but assured him i always prayed and thought about him. While i told my self i would get to see him in the near future, somehow this didnt happen because soon after he was flown to India at the end of April where he was to endure a grueling 2nd surgery. I have been in theater before (albeit for a simple matter compared to Paul's) and wondered how it "felt" having your chest knifed...really awful. And as it turned out on the morning of Saturday April 24 2008, that phone call was the last i would ever make to Paul. He died just before the operation and went to be with the Lord.
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