Uganda, April 3 -- I have always wondered how different my life would have turned out if I had not run into Opio Sam Caleb. I had just turned eight when I was yanked out of the comforts of Kitante Primary School and thrust into the depths of despair that was Kamuli Boys Boarding and Primary School.

One day, I was having a warm shower. The next I was walking uphill balancing a basin of suspiciously green water that had just been retrieved from a valley dam two kilometres away. The distance was probably shorter, but it felt like 10 miles.

On rainy days, the path uphill back to the school was particularly treacherous and it was not uncommon for boy, basin, and green water to slide back down the hill, requiring the effort to be repeated. Ov...