A World of Difference
On a cool, overcast and breezy morning on July 28, students, faculty, staff, distinguished guests, family members and people from the wider community gathered to celebrate UCBC's second Commencement. Graduates were robed in their garments with stoles draped around their necks--down one side was printed "U.C.B.C." and down the other was the name of their academic discipline. The Commencement address was given by Daystar University's Vice-Chancellor Dr. Timothy Wachira. Special awards were presented by UCBC President ("Rector") Dr. David Kasali. The UCBC Welcome Center was dedicated to the late Lyn Lusi, a courageous woman who dedicated her entire adult life to Congo, founded HEAL Africa with her husband, and served on the Board of CI-UCBC in Congo.
So what's one more graduation? Honestly, we have them every year. Many of us have gone through them ourselves and sat through those of family and friends. Aside from the distinctly Congolese flair, in many ways this graduation looked a lot like other graduations. So what's the big deal?
The big deal is that the young men and women graduating from UCBC one month ago are not simply cogs in the machine. They did not graduate merely by satisfactory completion of assignments and rote memorization, which is the standard for Congolese universities. These graduates have not simply completed their studies, but they have been formed. They have been transformed. And now they will go out to transform. It will not happen overnight. It will not be easy. It will take years. Decades. Generations. But a new thing has begun and is flourishing at UCBC--the intentional, deliberate formation of leaders who are choosing peace, justice and hope for Congo--who take seriously the call to serve others.
The big deal is that each graduate from UCBC represents another rupture in the cycle of poverty. Poverty that is not only physical, but mental. Circumstances may not change, but mindsets do. Value systems are formed that give new meaning to being fully human. Life, in all of its beauty and terror, is suddenly very different when seen through the lens of hope rather than despair. This is why a UCBC graduation makes all the difference in the world.
