Denis Oraku is a 25-year-old casual laborer in Kampala. He grew up in Arua, the youngest of fourteen children born into the polygamous family of a peasant. As a little boy, when he was not at school, he helped his mother to cultivate gardens of maize and other food crops. He dropped out of school in 2019 after completing Senior Four, seeking and finding employment as a mason and builder with a construction company that brought him to Kampala. That job did not last, and soon he was looking for casual work, anything that could help him sustain his life in the city. These days he looks after a construction site in the Namugongo area, just outside Kampala, the caretaker of a residential property that will almost certainly remain incomplete for the next year or so. Some days are busy, as recently when the landlord worked on plastering the storeyed structure, but for many months prior there was no business going on. Oraku could sometimes be found sunbathing when he was not looking after his patch of maize plants.
Oraku’s circumstances are not unlike those of many others in Kampala today – young men who migrate from their villages to Kampala and other cities in search of work opportunities. Oraku’s work is effectively hard labor – because, he said, “there is no option.”
“I am guarding and doing construction work, when it’s there,” he told TWR. “You use a lot of energy. Sometimes you can get tired.”
Stylistically, his diary doesn’t aim to record his days and how they proceed; he is often recalling what happened to him and others years ago in Arua. The result is still poignant. One sees traces of his education, however brief, when he plumbs his mind for the psychological insights that can astonish the reader. We visualize his struggle to live, his compassion, even his sense of hope.
Oraku told TWR that in secondary school he studied English literature, so “I can paint my own story. I can even watch a scene and create a story out of it.” That explains his unique style. His musings on alcohol, which he doesn’t consume, and his mother, whose chronic back pain he tried to relieve as a boy, are among the most poetic writings we’ve had the honor to publish in a TWR diary. As always, the diary is not substantially edited. We’ve made minor interventions here and there in the interest of clarity. – TWR
26/05/25
There may be days when you get up in the morning and things are not the way you had hoped they would be. That is when you have to tell yourself that things will get better. There are times when people. disappoint you and let you down. But those are the times when [you] must remind yourself [to stay] focused on believing in yourself. There will be challenges to face and changes to face in your life, and it is up to you to accept them. Constantly keep yourself headed in the right direction for you. It may not be easy at times but in those times of struggle you will find a stronger sense of who you are. So when the days [are] full of frustrations and unexpected responsibilities come, remember to believe in yourself and all you want your life to be. Because challenges and changes will help you to find goals that you know are meant to come true for you. Keep believing in yourself.
27/05/25
A jobless man applied for the position of office boy with a lottery company called Fortebet. The employer interviewed him, then a test. Clean the floor.
“You are hired,” the employer said. “Give me your email address, and I will send you the application to fill as well as when you will start.
The man replied, “I don’t have any computer, neither [do I have] an email.”
“I’m sorry,” said the employer, “if you don’t have an email that means you don’t have the job.”
The man left the office with no hope. He then did not know what to do with only 35,000 shillings in his pocket. He then decided to go to the supermarket, bought a 10kg tomato crate, then sold the tomatoes door to door. In less than two hours, he succeeded and doubled his capital. He repeated the operation three times and returned home with 75,000 shillings. The man realized that he could survive by this way, and started to go every day earlier and returned late home. And his money doubled or tripled every day.
28/05/25
Once upon a time there were two boys called Marvin and Jerry who worked in the same poultry farm in Wakiso District, Nansana Municipality. One day Jerry woke up feeling as [if] he had malaria. His friend Marvin was active participating on farm works, looking after the chicken that whole day, while Jerry was too weak to do any activity. Later on, the report about his sickness was given to the manager of the farm called John. Unfortunately the manager was a person who never took any quick response to the matters the two boys had raised before. The sick boy spent the whole of that day without medication, the condition became worse as he didn’t take any water or eat food. The one called Marvin called again and angrily shouted [at] the manager. He said, “You the manager, what kind of responsibilities are you taking?” Immediatelly the home neighbors came as they heard the voice, then saw the boy lying on the floor helplessly. Later on, the boy was taken to the nearest health centre for medication. Few days later he was feeling okay and was secured. Let’s be equal in all aspects of life and love [one] another.
29/05/25
Long ago, in my vilage called Amori, there was a rich man who owned a television. This man was called Peter. Every evening people would gather at his home to watch news announcements and enjoy entertainment. He was the only person who knew how to operate his television. One day Peter went to visit his friend called Levi, who lived in the next village, Osua. That evening, Levi had visitors and there were lots of eats and drinks. Peter enjoyed the eats and drinks up to late in the night. He couldn’t walk back home in the dark. The people who had gathered at his home to watch news were disappointed. One of these people, called Ayub, thought of a plan to buy a television. He suggested to his wife, called Anna, that they should sell one of the cows so as to buy a television. His suggestion pleased the wife as she had not been happy about her husband going out every evening to Peter’s home. The following morning, Ayub went out to look for someone to buy one of the cows. Luckily enough, Yassin the butcher in our village bought the cow. The cow was sold at 250,000 shillings only. After Ayub [received] the money he went to the town and bought the television set at 200,000 shillings only. He had some money left in his pocket. He bought meat, rice and a carton of soda so as to have a delicious meal with his family as they watched the news for the first time in their home. That night, the whole of Ayub’s family and neighbors jubilated as he had become the second person to own a television in the whole village. They watched several programmes until midnight.
04/06/25
Yesterday, during Martyrs’ Day celebrations at Namugongo Catholic shrine, a small boy approached me. He was holding a bunch of pens in his hands. He asked me to buy some. I told him I didn’t need any. He gave a beseeching look, explaining that they were very cheap. The boy had an innocent face, looking tired of trying to sell his pens. My friend who was with me suggested that we should give the little boy some money. We did give him some money [instead] of buying four pens. The small boy was very thankful to us and went happily to look for more customers for his business.
8/06/25
There was once a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that whenever he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the fence built of bricks. The first day the little boy hammered thirty-seven nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually reduced. The boy later discovered that it was easier to hold his temper than to hammer nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all nails were gone. The father congratulated him and said, “You have done well, my son, but look at holes in the fence, the fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one.”
9/06/25
The crazy thief. There was a man who lived in our little village. The man claimed that stealing people’s property was his way of surviving in the village. The first night, he made an attempt to steal our goat from the kraal where we normally keep them. Luckily enough, at that very moment my father was not asleep, he was sitting next to the kraal. The thief went directly towards the kraal but he was not aware of anyone near him. As he entered the kraal trying to check on the goats, my father immediately went and locked him inside the kraal and started making an alarm. My elder brother woke up and rushed outside to help my father as few of our neighbors came. The thief was caught. One of those people suggested an idea of killing the thief as theft cases had been rapidly noticed in the whole village. But my father suggested that the thief should be taken to the police for his crime. Finally the crazy thief was imprisoned and the whole village celebrated and they wished him a long life in the cell.
12/06/25
I miss and think of my dad every day, that is something that won’t ever go away from my mind. Growing up, my dad was always there for us. He was a hard worker and did whatever he could do to support his family financially. As we grew older, my mom and dad started agribusiness of selling food crops such as beans and maize, whereby we helped them in running the other activities such as cultivating the land as well as harvesting the crops. His hard work helped us to study, especially we five boys, we managed to finish O Level. Later on, one of my elder brothers joined the army and started earning handsomely and was able to look after some of the responsibility. He built an iron sheet house at our home for my dad for his hard work done towards us. Finally we all thank our parents for being capable towards our lives.
18/06/25
Life Disappointment. Being my father’s last born child, I like always to be with him. He was a farmer, grew tobacco and other food crops like beans, cassava and maize. I used to assist him in doing farm activities like cultivating land and taking him food when it comes to break and lunch times. One time my father had an acre of tobacco plantation, whereby he could work tirelessly just to raise the tobacco for good yields. Every week we would go together with him to apply acaricides and fertilizers to ensure good production. As my father had a well grown tobacco plantation that was ready to harvest, he made a suggestion to borrow loans from the tobacco company. Well, the company offered him 300,000 shillings to buy the logs to fire the tobacco. He got the money and went to a certain village to look for the logs. He finally bought the logs and brought them home. Unfortunately, that same night of the day he brought the logs, it rained heavily with hailstones which destroyed the whole tobacco plantation. My father and his family got disappointed and sad. He reported the incident to the tobacco company whereby they were able to abort the loans he took from them.
26/06/25
This month of June, I [was] really fed up of life at my site. It normally comes when there is no work going on. Life becomes meaningless, as there will be no money to afford and sustain life, especially food and other things. But I always give time to myself to get used and [hope for a] better tommow. Work will come and I will be able to buy what I want. A day came when the site engineer called my phone, told me to get ready and mobilize other workers, that after two days we shall resume work. After his call, I did so. I mobilized the workers [and] we were able to resume the work and I was very happy to work.
28/06/25
I really believe that hard work pays. I had a small plantation of maize around the homestead where I am living. After taking care of it, the maize yielded well and got mature well. Later I was wondering how to get a market as I couldn’t find any customer to buy the maize from me. One day I woke up in the morning and I was sitting on the veranda thinking what to do and where to go and sell my maize. But with God’s effort two neighbors came to my place and asked to buy maize. I sold to them and they continued to buy the maize every day until it got over. I was very happy and I thank God for his effort. The money I got from selling the maize taught me a lesson that hard work pays. Through it you will be able to achieve whatever you need.
29/06/25
What a [sad] mood I had today. It’s still early when the birds are still in their nests and I [got] a call from my elder brother telling me my mother is sick. I felt a little bit astray as I could not help the matter. I was emptyhanded and [with] empty pockets, but with God’s mercy we were able to take my mother to the nearest clinic. She was tested with fever and malaria infection, as the doctor agreed to treat her on credit. We felt a little bit [better] as we did not know what to do minus money.
30/06/25
I love my job. I am a guard and I love my boss. He is a good, kind man, he normally pays my salary on time. Indeed, he also does not overwork me, normally gives me enough time to do my own jobs like construction works, building houses and other activities. Giving me enough time to do construction works, I am able to gather some money to run well my own plans, and also with his kindness l am able to feel at home. Right now I am very respectiful to his requests and suggestions and I am sure that I will not disappoint and disobey him. My boss is a real pillar of my life where I am now, so I thank God for bringing him in my life.
01/07/25
The day I got married, I was happily married to my tribemate, as we dated almost for a year. Later I got one child. I became a man of taking responsibilities, as time was not enough for me to do my own activities and money was not enough to buy what I needed. I became a father and a mother to myself as there was no support, not even from any of my parents. But through what I had experienced with life, I remained strong and firm and I started working hard to help my family and support them tirelessly. I could dig and provide them with enough food and sell the rest to afford other things like clothes and fine foods such as meat, rice to show love to my family.
02/07/25
Life without money nowadays becomes meaningless as everything needs money to be okay. Even the food you [eat] and house you sleep in needs money to be paid. All these have taught me a lesson not to spend all the money I get. There was a time of emergency as I was needed to attend my grandmother’s funeral [in the] village, but I was not having money to go to the village. I tried to look all around to borrow some money from few of my friends such that I [could] go and attend the funeral. But I [could not] find any money from my friends, until I asked my boss to lend me some money, even when the month had not ended. He did well, he lent me some money [and] I was able to go to attend the funeral, and took like a week in the village. He was able to send me transport to come back.
06/07/25
Conquer yourself. It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. Neither angels nor demons nor heaven nor hell can take it away from you. To conquer yourself, you must conquer your mind. You must control your thoughts.
07/07/25
Falling down is not a failure. Failure comes when you stay where you have fallen. I came to realize falling down for a moment is not the end of life. There was a time when I was a poultry farmer rearing about twenty layers. I was confident enough about my farm, managing it well and getting enough profit out of the products especially eggs. But a moment came when the layers all got infected with coccidiosis whereby each day I could lose more than five chickens and later I lost all. I felt pity because I had invested much money in keeping the layers. I started looking for options of what to do to refund back my money. Then I shifted to growing onions. I started small scale whereby I was able to get two sacks. I repeated the same and later I got five sacks whereby I was able to recover my money and started hiring people to work for me until I bought my motorcycle.
09/07/25
Once, the wife of my elder brother decided that nobody loves her at home. Feeling offended by her family, she gathered her things and left in an unknown direction. Her son, upon finding out, immediately ran to my elder brother and said, “How could you just let go of mom like that? Where could she have gone? What if something bad happens to her? Why didn’t you hold on to her? Do you not love her in fact?”
My elder brother replied, “I could have held her back. But her soul would still ache and break apart. Now she may find that part of herself that she lost for some reason recently. It is not for nothing that pilgrims went to far off places. On their journey, they found simple answers to complicated questions, healed themselves and returned to themselves. It’s much more important to be able to let go at the right time.” After some time my brother’s wife returned and they lived a long, happy life together.
12/07/25
A young man, about 17 years old, got on the bus. The boy was extremely happy to find nobody on the board, so he could sit wherever he wanted. He chose a comfortable seat by the window, as he was going to ride until the last stop. The bus started its journey and after 20 minutes it was completely packed with people. The young man sat listening to music and looking out the window when suddenly an elder tapped him on the shoulder and said, “How dare you? At your age?” Another woman joined in, “This is the youth of today. A healthy young man sitting comfortable while a sick elderly woman has to stand.” In just a couple of minutes, the whole bus turned on the young man. Unable to stand the pressure, the young man spoke up. “Fine, I will stand up but only someone who is not ashamed of their words can take this seat.” Of course his statement shocked everyone but they didn’t stop scolding him. The boy frantically [reached for] something under his seat and pulled out a crutch and then another. He stood leaning on them and the bus rode in silence until the final stop.
15/07/25
Are there any benefits got from drinking alcohol? When I was still young, I used to ask myself about the values of taking or not taking alcohol. It also reminds me how my father behaves at home when he is drunk. I later learnt that it’s not necessary for me to take alcohol. Healthwise, alcohol is not good, so I normally feel good because I am out of team alcoholism. My agemates, they normally laugh at me for not taking alcohol. Others call me a lady and not a man as they think a man is meant to take alcohol and smoke.
17/07/25
One day I fell in love with my nearest and closest neighbor. The girl was pretty and ever shy, she spoke only when neccessary. I could not approach her, as she was always busy. One day I talked to her closest fried called Gloria to give me her contact, and she did well. She gave me the contact. The first day when I called the number, she received my call well and we spoke well and excitement was amidst us. The second time, on the following day, l called her number and it was not going through, as it was indicating busy and later I found out she blacklisted my contact in her phone. I felt pity. I finished the day lonely and unhappily up to now she doesn’t want to share her intentions with me.
18/07/25
Wonders shall never end. Sometimes I wonder why in every aspects and places thieves are always arround. Where I stay is a site where they are plastering the building and also wiring at the same time… Most of my work is to monitor the materials and the tools at the site. One day the electricians, as they reported to work in the morning, went in the store and found the mk boxes were not in the store. They called me and asked [for] the mk boxes, even me I didn’t know where exactly they had put the remaining mk boxes. One of them claimed that they had put the remaining mk boxes in the store. I had to ask them, Now if you put mk boxes in the store, so, how comes they are not in the store? I felt speechless. I could not even tell my boss that the mk boxes were stolen, he could fire me.
21/07/25
I believe that some people only just come into your life when you have something to offer them. I noticed this one time when I got a call from my elder brother, who lives in the village. He had requested some amount of money. He told me that his business needed additional capital to stock other commodities. At that very time I had 500,000 shillings, so I decided to lend him 300,000 shillings to add to his business, whereby I agreed with him to return the money after three months. By the time the three months got over, I tried to get to him through phone calls. My brother insisted I give him extra months to look for the money. After two more months, he called saying that he is still looking for money. So from his words I lost morale and I gave up. Up to now I am not asking him again.
07/08/25
If there is anything I have noticed in my life, it is that confusion is a must in different spheres of life –career, school life, work life, house work, even in love. So I have come to believe that confusion is normal and everything does not have to be too clear for me to emerge a success. It is, however, important to re-discover and re-direct myself for great settlement and happiness. Love is confused with a number of different things. As a result, people who need and expect love end up being clingy, frustrated and depressed in this confusion. Love is confused in many ways. Because of this, teenagers rush into what they call love prematurely and hurt themselves.
10/08/25
One day l opened the newspapers and there was a story of a retired officer I always admired. He had gambled away 30 million shillings and had lost his home, his retirement job, his children and his family. I have never stopped to ask myself why? How could someone so ambitious and who seemed to have it all end up so wasted? He had a nice salary, a great wife, beautiful children… He had everything anyone would have ever wanted in life. But why? Why him? So that reminds me that not all gamblers are born fools, some were once very intelligent beings, successful in life and experts in their professions. But gambling can happen and destroy you completely, leaving you broken and humilated with very low self-esteem.
17/08/25
Friends are a family away from home. Friends play an important role in an individual’s life. They support your development mentally, psychologically, socially and emotionally. They will teach you to love, share, care, and confidently succeed… Everyone wants to belong and it is okay. Friends will give you a sense of belonging and boost your happiness. But some friends are so wrong and bring havoc to you and your loved ones. When you choose bad friends, they teach you all the wrong things and influence you in all the wrong ways.
22/08/25
Are you really young and innocent when it comes to gambling issues? Your innocence, however, is a myth and you too know this. Teens have gone deep into gambling and hide it well. It is very difficult to see through them. Many parents have shielded you [and don’t want to talk] about gambling. This is because they see you as an innocent child and believe you are still so small for gambling and information about it. It is always better to deal with the problem than to deal with the consequences.
27/08/25
Our world is now controlled by technology… How you use the digital technology matters because it can destroy you so badly. This reminds me of my uncle Tom who is a parent to three teenagers. He can afford to buy each child a smartphone and laptop but has refused to do so even after being advised by the teachers in school. His argument is that he has seen a number of teenagers misusing the gadgets. He is also reluctant because of the fear that the children will learn the wrong things through the gadgets he buys.
06/09/25
Today let me tell you about friends. Friends can help each other. A true friend is someone who lets you have total freedom to be yourself and especially to feel, or not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at the moment is fine with them. That is what real love amounts to. Letting a person be what he really is.
17/09/25
All children are brought up differently. People will engage in drinking alcohol depending on the historical expectations… Many expect that alcohol will bring them pleasure. They have been brought up to believe this and so have a life of alcohol purposely for pleasure. Such persons who expect drinking to be a pleasurable experience drink more than those who do not. I never tasted alcohol until I was in Senior One. My dad gave me a bottle of a beer at home [during a] Christmas party and when I refused to take it he said I was not man enough.
22/09/25
When I was growing up, my mother had chronic back pain. Always in pain, attention for me was the very last thing on her mind. Something I understood and accepted. I felt my mother’s pain as life-threatening to me. Despite understanding, I still needed love as a child. In order to get any attention from her, I had to first try and make her feel better because my physical neglect always became high-pitched whenever my mother was hurting. If she felt better she could then focus on me too. I learnt to give her body [massage] as directed by physicians in order to connect with her. I eventually became addicted to helping her as it was the only way for me to feel close. This experience with my mom made me believe I needed to work for people and make them feel good in order for them to love me. ▪