Mwiine Derrick

“One day, I will get the Nobel Peace Prize. I will get it...I will.” These were words spoken by Derrick Mwiine, a young, intelligent, inspiring and confident teenager, who blew my mind away. His passion for life, positive attitude, love for the environment and patriotism for his country are unmatched. His zest for life and inspiring worldview are contagious. If you hang around him long enough, you will be challenged to get out of your comfort zone and do something for your surroundings, your tribe, your community, your country and the world. Born in 1996, the 14-year-old boy has done much more than many adults get to do in their entire lifetime. As he shared his passion, I was amazed: “As a young boy, my favourite television programmes were about the environment. I used to watch documentaries from developed countries that showed beautiful cities, well kept streets and good looking country sides. And I thought to myself, why can’t we have that in my country Uganda?” says Mwiine with great conviction. His first inclination was to be proactive. “What can I do to improve the deteriorating environmental situation in my country,” He wondered. In his own innocent but determined way, Mwiine started on a lifetime crusade that will perhaps change his destiny forever. “I grew up seeing many seedlings and plants around our home. I soon figured that it would be good if I multiplied my seedlings and shared them with people in my neighbourhood so that we can all live in a healthy community,” he says. From his neghbourhood, Mwiine spread his efforts to the central region of Uganda where he is currently living. “I wanted to give seedlings to people in places where they needed them most. I started in central Uganda I worked with old people more especially women and the youth and we went on a sensitization spree around. The spirit is catching on,” he says. With the help of his father, Nathan Muhiire, Mwiine has distributed thousands of tree seedlings and vegetable seeds to a number of recipients across the entire country where he is encouraging women and youth to conserve their environment. At 14 years of age, most Ugandan teenagers barely know who they are, what they want to be in life and what drives or motivates them. All this is caused by our rigid and purely academic education system that encourages students to cram theoretical concepts based on a curriculum that was passed on from our colonial masters. Uganda’s cultural mindsets and ideologies also constrain many youths and stifle their creativity. Like it is in most African countries, most young people are not allowed to express an opinion or give a suggestion about anything. It is believed that only adults have anything sensible to say.

Seventy eight per cent of Uganda’s population is 30 years and below. Unfortunately, these youth are the forgotten lot and yet they can tremendously contribute to the quality of Uganda's population. The youth account for a larger portion of the population than mothers and children. Can efforts to support enterprising and passionate youth like Mwiine increase so that our environment is saved for our posterity? The youth account for the strongest structure of the population, but because they are not listened to, not given opportunities, empowered with information, education and skills, their overall productivity remains low.

An S2 student, Mwiine Derrick is exceptional. “I wake up early in the morning, pray, take my breakfast and head to school. I attend class mostly because I want to learn,” he says, “not because pop forced me to. I must attain all the skill and ability to do things because I need power and influence. If I had power and influence, I can make anything move,” He says. Mwiine believes it is important for one to love their country. Short of that, they will not take care of it. “People in developed countries love their countries. That is why they take good care of them and confidently market them,” says Mwiine, “We should do the same,” he emphasises. Since his stirring crusade began, he fights to stop climate change in Uganda by mobilising rural women and youth to plant trees in every part of his country. Whereas many teenagers will spend most of their time watching movies, roaming the streets and giving their parents unreasonable demands about what they want, Mwiine will be reaching out to see if he can make a positive contribution to save his environment. He will be reading, researching, writing proposals, moving around doing work with NGOs like Green Uganda Foundation and any other groups or individuals who are passionate about preserving Uganda’s environment. An extremely confident teenager, he mingles with high profile personalities, the movers and shakers in the political arena; something I find absolutely incredible. At his age and in high school, I wonder what he will be like by the time he turns 20 years. “By the time I finish high school, I will probably be looking forward to becoming a president. According to my world and where I see myself going, I am just warming up. I have not even started yet,” he says, leaving me completely bewildered. His pulse is to see a green Uganda, a country where people are disciplined enough to practice proper waste disposal and waste management. “I may tolerate the rubbish that litters our streets. However, I cannot stand people who throw rubbish everywhere and anywhere with impunity. It shows a lack of responsibility and purpose,” he says. He is fighting for a nation that protects its rich natural resources by showing what it has been able to yield even when it has been man handled. He is not bothered about the constraints. He believes in the opportunities. The conviction and purposeful way Mwiine does this will challenge any pessimist to throw away self pity and do something for their environment. Not that he is the only Ugandan doing that. There are politicians and local artistes who once in a while will give a speech here, write a song there and that will be about it. However, for Derrick, words and songs are not enough. After he himself composed a song detailing Uganda’s rich resources which was launched by President, Yoweri Museveni in 2007 before the cabinet and MPs from the ruling party, he has consistently followed his words with actions. He has so far produced a two hours Documentary Film on Uganda detailing the best products, facilities and services that Ugandans can boast of. Clips of the film are showcasing on the internet(youtube). What is amazing is that in Mwiine’s documentary Welcome to the Pearl of Africa, sworn political adversaries, foreign diplomats, church leaders are all involved in looting for tourism sector in Uganda. It’s the kind of patriotism which any Ugandan should be proud of.

Early this year (2010), Mwiine undertook a sensitisation campaign where thousands of Ugandans, especially the youth above 18 years, signed his petition to the speaker of Parliament compelling the government of the republic of Uganda to make Uganda the greenest country in the whole world by planting trees in every part of the country. Many Ugandans in and outside the country signed the petition in support of his cause. In the petition, he hopes to convince his government to: a) Plant fruits on both sides of all the roads in his country Uganda, b) extend electricity to all rural areas of Uganda and make it affordable for the poor communities, c) plant trees on all bare mountains in Uganda, d) regulate the cutting down of trees on private farms, e) compel local leaders in Uganda to provide the number of all trees to a national data centre at least twice a year, f) to make it mandatory for every Ugandan who is five years and above to plant at least 24 trees each year, g) to use government security agencies to protect all public trees on public land from being cut anyhow and h) to secure a government nursery garden in every county in Uganda where to raise tree seedlings.

Is there a cause for one to fight for Uganda’s environment with such a profound passion? What pushes Mwiine to fight for environment conservation when most people do not care about what happens to it? According to the Encyclopedia of the Nations on Uganda’s environment, there are major environmental problems in Uganda, which include overgrazing, deforestation and primitive agricultural methods, which lead to soil erosion. Uganda’s water supply is threatened by toxic industrial pollutants like mercury from mining activity. Uganda has 39 cu km of renewable water resources with 60% used for farming and 8% used for industrial activity. Roughly 80% of the nation's city dwellers and 47% of the people living in rural areas have access to pure drinking water. Forests and woodlands were reduced by two-thirds between 1962 and 1977. By 1985, 193 square miles of forests were eliminated. Between 1983 and 1993, an additional 7.7% of forest and woodland were lost. Wetlands have been drained for agricultural use. Poaching of protected animals is widespread. Uganda's three national parks total over 6,300 sq km (2,400 sq mi). As of 2001, 7.9% of Uganda's total land area was protected. The same year, 18 of the nation's mammal species and 10 of the nation's bird species were endangered, as well as 8 species of plants. Endangered or extinct species include the mountain gorilla, northern white rhinoceros, black rhinoceros, and Nile crocodile. This is just a glimpse of the perturbing situation our environment is in. If only the larger part of Uganda’s youths could pick a leaf from Mwinne’s vision and take responsibility of their surrounding, because it is the only hope for a better future. If only their parents could acknowledge their creativity and potential and empower them to be resourceful and productive like Mwiine is. We need more young visionaries in our homes, schools and communities. Evangelist Robert H Schuller once said, “You can often measure a person by the size of his dream”. Well, Mwiine’s dream is much bigger than him. But that is okay because it shows he is big too. If he has the capacity to dream it, he surely has the will to see it come to pass. The fact that he is doing something rather than complaining and remaining complacent is an astounding challenge for us all. That is the spirit we all need to make a difference in Uganda. That is the material world changers are made of. Mwiine Derrick, go change your world. The writer is a journalist