Tales of Strength and Resilience: Ep 7 with Muhumuza Faizo King

Tales of Strength and Resilience podcast explores the boundless dimensions of strength and resilience. Join the host, Muthoni Waigwa, on a transformative journey as we delve into the very essence of these profound qualities. We will unveil the multifaceted nature of strength and resilience in heartfelt conversations with extraordinary individuals.

Episode Seven
Muhumuza Faizo King is a professional Technologist, an Educationist and a Leadership mentor who currently serves as Co-Director/ Chief Technology Officer at MTA Computers the developers of AfriMed a healthcare ERP and Teleka a financial inclusion software solution. Muhumuza is also the Founder of Imperial Junior Schools. He sits on USAID Uganda’s Youth Lead Advisory Board.

Muhumuza is a former Chairperson of the Young African Leaders Initiative - Uganda (YALI) and the current President of the U.S. Exchange Alumni Network. Muhumuza was the lead organizer of the inaugural U.S. Exchange Alumni Impact Awards sponsored by the U.S. Mission Uganda.

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Transcript

Muthoni Waigwa:         Welcome to the Tales of Strength and Resilience podcast, where we explore the boundless dimensions of strength and resilience. Join me, your host, Muthoni Waigwa, on a transformative journey as we delve into the very essence of these profound qualities. We will unveil the multifaceted nature of strength and resilience in heartfelt conversations with extraordinary individuals. We will empower and enlighten through these inspiring stories, triumphing over adversity and discovering transformative lessons embedded within. Get ready for today's episode where untold stories of inner power and tenacity await us. Let's begin.

                                    Hey there, thank you for choosing this podcast and for listening wherever you are in the world. Leadership entails embracing risk by positioning ourselves at the forefront. As leaders, we must shoulder the weight of responsibility and it is this very responsibility that forges our resilience. Accepting the role of a leader is paramount, because one can always opt not to bear the burden of leadership.

                                    Reflecting on my formative years, I recall instances when I hesitated to embrace the responsibilities of leadership. Nevertheless, I made the conscious decision to assume the mantle of leadership. Our guest today, Muhumuza Faizo, similarly embraced leadership from a young age. He resides in Uganda and is a professional technologist, an educationist and a leadership mentor who currently serves as co-director, Chief Technology Officer at MTA Computers, the developers of AfriMed, a healthcare ERP, and Teleka, a financial inclusion software solution. Muhumuza is also the founder of Imperial Junior Schools. He sits on USAID Uganda's Youth Lead Advisory Board. Muhumuza is a former chairperson of the Young African Leaders Initiative Uganda, and the current president of the US Exchange Alumni Network. Muhumuza was the lead organizer of the inaugural US Exchange Alumni Impact Awards, sponsored by the US Mission Uganda. Let's listen.

                                    Welcome onto the show, Muhumuza.

Muhumuza Faizo:          Thank you so much. Thank you for hosting me.

Muthoni Waigwa:         So, who is Muhumuza?

Muhumuza Faizo:          Muhumuza is a proud son of Uganda, a social entrepreneur in Kampala, Uganda, with interest in education and Imperial Junior Schools, and also a co-director at a technology company called MTA Computers. MTA builds technology solutions that help people in terms of healthcare service provision and money and financial inclusion provision. Muhumuza serves as the president of US Exchange Alumni Network in Uganda, a position he got since January 2023. And as of now, he participates so much in community work, but he spends most of his time reading, researching and helping people. Thank you.

Muthoni Waigwa:         You've described yourself and I'm like, "Wow, he is doing so much." And the question that comes to mind for me is, have you always been someone that puts yourself out there? Like, you are willing to take the risk. And if not, how are you able to become this individual that takes on responsibilities and is willing to put themselves at the front line?

Muhumuza Faizo:          Thank you, once again. I'm a firm believer in the saying that, "It all falls and rises on leadership." So, I've always wanted to take responsibility, to be the leader. Every time I see a community problem, I want to take charge and taking charge in a way that is not maybe arrogant, in a way that makes other people accept my leadership. So, I'm a risk-taker, because many times it's not easy to lead without taking a few risks here and there.

Muthoni Waigwa:         I like that. Continue.

Muhumuza Faizo:          Yeah. So, that's clearly how my resilience has been growing, because when you're a leader you have to take responsibility and responsibility makes you a resilient person, especially if you accept it and I've accepted it. Thank you.

Muthoni Waigwa:         I like how you are saying, "... if you accept it," because, truly, there are sometimes the moment to rise up as a leader, you can actually refuse because of the weight of the responsibility and also because you don't want to stand out. And for me, I remember myself as a young girl, finding myself in different leadership positions and I would shy away from them because I didn't want to accept those responsibilities then. But as time went by, I realized that I have to accept these responsibilities, because the people around me are seeing the leadership potential within me, so it's time to rise up. So, as you were growing up, did you always know that you would be a leader? And did you have people around you who embodied strength and resilience?

Muhumuza Faizo:          Yes, I think two people around me, my mother and my father are two people I saw take on responsibility. My mother was a health worker and my father was a businessman. I would see them take responsibility in what they do daily, 365 days in a year. And I don't remember seeing any one of them complain. But also, when I entered school, I remember these teachers who are so good to us, I should say so good to me, always telling me, "You will do good. You'll be a leader. You will. Please work on this and that." I have two teachers I fondly remember in primary school who sat me down and told me, "You're going to be something."

                                    So, when I entered secondary school, I always thought, "I am going to be something." So I would participate in every election, and for the record, I won all elections that I participated in, in secondary school. So, I was always a leader at secondary level. When I entered university, same story. So, it started coming natural that I want to be the team leader. And that's how taking lessons from my two parents and the teachers that I met in school and some strangers who really met me when we are trying to think, trying to be creative as young people, university going, and they would want to hold your hand. So, never underestimate the power of strangers as you walk your journey.

Muthoni Waigwa:         I like how you've mentioned, "Never underestimate the power of strangers." Because sincerely, we don't know who's seated across us and we don't know who can give us access to the next opportunity that we are seeking. And one of the things that I'm learning is to recognize that each individual that I meet has a story within them and they have overcome many challenges and they are strong and resilient. So, with that in mind, what does strength mean to you and resilience?

Muhumuza Faizo:          Such an interesting question. But for me, the strength I feel natural, the strengths that I describe is the ability to keep fighting, to keep dreaming, to keep the hope alive. The ability to understand that the future is brighter than the past and keeping a teach, but also the ability to show up daily. If you say you are going to do something, strength is in your ability to show up daily to keep at it. Sometimes the opportunities come to the people who have showed up. When you stay home, when you stay wherever, the opportunities may just pass. So for me, that's strength. And strong people eventually become resilient. The feeling that I can survive this, I survived the situation before, I can survive this too, but we're going to do this, we're going to achieve this. And yeah, doing the magic by putting in the actual work, the actual hours, attending all those meetings and delivering on what you promise you will deliver.

Muthoni Waigwa:         When we keep showing up, sometimes we get really tired, and I'm looking at your bio where you have founded many initiatives and now you are the sitting president of the US Exchange Alumni Network. And I remember when I was applying for YALI, year in, year out I would just get, "No, you haven't made it. No, you haven't made it." And I was like, "Why? Why am I not making it through?" But eventually I did, in 2018 for the Regional Leadership Center. And one of the things that has stood out for me-

Muhumuza Faizo:          Beautiful.

Muthoni Waigwa:         ... as you've been talking, is that when we show up and keep showing up, the opportunities will come. So, how do you encourage someone who's facing a challenge right now and they're wondering, "I'm showing up, but I keep getting rejected. I'm showing up, but the opportunities aren't coming." How do you encourage them?

Muhumuza Faizo:          Yeah. One, is we get frustrated for doing a mistake of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So, many times when you show up, you need to change the colors. You need to adjust the way you show up. The person who showed up last year shouldn't be the same person this year and the next year. As a person you have to keep learning. When you learn, first you have to allow yourself to learn, because most people refuse to learn, because sometimes it's ego. You want to show that you also know everything, which is impossible, especially when you're a young person. You want to allow yourself to learn. Now, when you learn, chances are you're going to show up in a different way, talk differently, express yourself differently, maybe pitch differently, but also write differently. So, that means the same person is showing up but in a different way.

                                    Now, chances are, and the reasons why you couldn't make it last year are now in your past, you fixed them. So this year, the person who's showing up deserves the chance. But also because, for example, in workplaces, when you join a company as an intern, a graduate trainee, if people keep saying, "Your skills have changed," over time they start saying, "No, this person deserves a promotion. This person deserves to now go on our payroll. If we lose this person, it'll be a bad move." You can even threaten your manager, "Manager, I'm going to leave." Because you know you have grown, you have changed, and you are a new person. Talk about these applications. Sometimes we apply without giving in our best. We just wake up, log in and apply. When we receive a regret message, if we are not, for lack of a better word, arrogant enough, and go back again to reapply, you realize maybe this time you are more careful.

                                    I remember joining yearly with someone who said... I wasn't called 17, so I joined with someone who said he had applied for 17 times and they were able to make it on the 17th time. So, for someone who wants to give up, for someone who feels challenges, the message is: don't do the same thing over and over again, expecting different results, keep changing, but also don't think you're the first to experience those challenges. People have gone through those and they have made it. If that can't be an inspiration, then it'll be hard for you to be inspired.

Muthoni Waigwa:         17 times. I'm just thinking you apply again, and again, and again. I think somewhere along the way I would have said, "It's never that serious. I am not going to apply." But it just shows the person was so committed to the application process and wanting to be part of YALI, and it's really admirable that they endured and they were resilient through it all. We may be sitting here having this conversation-

Muhumuza Faizo:          Maybe I can tell you something.

Muthoni Waigwa:         Sure, go ahead.

Muhumuza Faizo:          The same person having applied for YALI 17 times. He learned how to apply well when he's applying for something. So, while at YALI, when we were still at YALI, he had just applied for a mastership in the USA and he got it. So, he had the good news while we were at the center and he left for his masters.

Muthoni Waigwa:         And it's amazing that we can overcome challenges, but at the same time, I would want whoever is listening out there to know that even if you face a challenge, you can overcome it. But one of the things to become comfortable with challenges, is becoming comfortable with failure. So for you, is it okay to fail? And what are your thoughts on failure?

Muhumuza Faizo:          Yes. I think it's very, very okay to fail. And that's one of the lessons they never teach us in school. Failure is one way to tell you, "You can do better than this. You can do better than this." And, like you said, if you get comfortable in a good way, say, "Yeah, it's okay, I'll try again tomorrow. I'll do it better." For example, in a business, you start up something and you don't get customers, you keep failing at it, you can't market it, you can't do your books, so you fail, only maybe to realize that the reason why I failed, maybe I didn't have time. So, I need to create time the next time I'm starting a business.

                                    Two, the reason I failed, I didn't even understand the project. I wasn't technical enough. So, I need to get a partner who is technical enough. Or the reason I failed, I didn't have the money to do the business. So, maybe I need to go through the process of looking for investors. And if I do appreciate my idea, it means I can pitch it out there and have other people invest in it. So, failure is just one way to tell you, "You're doing a mistake here. You can improve it and you can do better than this." And personally, I want to say I have failed many times. I can't lie that I've not failed many times, like many other people.

Muthoni Waigwa:         When we think about failure, you're just like, "Oh, my goodness, I went through that, but yet here I am because I learned through that mistake or I learned through that challenge and I rose up from that moment of adversity." And sometimes we may see people around us who are, quote, unquote, "failing" and sometimes because of our immaturity or lack of wisdom, we may shame people because they're going through low moments. So, how would you help someone who is surrounded by people who are shaming them, rejecting them because of their low moment?

Muhumuza Faizo:          Wow, more reason for safe spaces, like they say. More reason for inclusive education, an education system that tells others that it's okay not to be so good in mathematics. It's okay to have a different accent. It's okay. So, also in most cases, like you said, lack of maturity, the people who actually do the shaming, in most cases, need more help than the person they're shaming, because they don't know. They don't understand. Because we, at one point, at least all of us taste low moments. They might come in different ways, but we all taste low moments. So really, why shame someone?

                                    Also, the other thing is mental health education. Like I said, those people shaming someone, who's at their lowest, someone who's failing, sometimes they also have mental issues and they choose to take it on someone who is actually suffering. So, organizations worldwide, governments, hospitals should prioritize mental health support to people. Otherwise, without mental health care, without inclusive education, many people will keep failing and the system will reject them. The system, being the DNA of what people thinks, what people believe, how people treat failure in a certain district, in a certain county, or in a certain city, or in a certain ghetto or country at large. Because there are societies which are built to help people be resilient. And that's something that every one of us should participate in. But most importantly, the development partners, governments and leaders at whatever level. Thank you.

Muthoni Waigwa:         I agree with you. Creating safe spaces where everybody can support one another, we can build the capacity for resilience within each person, be it at the family level, community level, government level, or at the world. And it's something that we can work towards. And as you said earlier, it's something that can keep the hope alive when we are working towards creating safe spaces for ourselves and for future generations. So, with that in mind, what else would you want to share with someone who's listening to this conversation so that we can wind down this conversation?

Muhumuza Faizo:          Thank you so much. Maybe as someone who speaks from Kampala, I want everyone, especially young people in Africa, to remember that we have countries to build, communities to build and an Africa to build. An Africa that wants to sit on the table like many African leaders have said, but we have to show something. We have to be resilient enough, we have to build a culture that supports Africa, free trade. We have to change the way we think, the way we do things. And yeah, maybe one day we shall live in a really great continent, but also, I'm not saying it's not already great, but I would want to see it thrive. And that can only be done by local people in all African countries, especially the young generation. Thank you so much.

Muthoni Waigwa:         I couldn't agree more. Let's keep fighting. Let's keep hope alive. But as Muhumuza said earlier on in the conversation, "When you keep on showing up, continue changing the colors," so that you can be recognized for the opportunity that you're seeking in that moment.

                                    I invite you to carry the lessons learned in this podcast into your own lives, embracing your inner strength and nurturing resilience in the face of adversity. Let's forge a future where we support one another and celebrate the triumphs shaping our journeys. Thank you for listening, and stay tuned for more inspiring episodes that will continue to ignite the flame of strength and resilience within you. Until next time, I'm your host, Muthoni Waigwa, bidding you farewell, but not goodbye.