Looking up a tall man

Ogal ‘s wonder height dwarfs the writer. PHOTOS BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA

What you need to know:

HEIGHT perks. James Morgan Ogal is 6ft eight ins, and dwarfs people around him. He tells Angela Nampewo what it is like to share life with different people and what is like in his world up there.

At 5ft 10, Julius Ocwinyo, a writer is not a short man. If, however, he is awestruck by the height of another man, then that man must be very tall. Standing next to his friend James Morgan Ogal however, Ocwinyo appears short. The two men are friends, introduced by one of Ogal’s tall, female relatives.

At our first meeting for the interview, I walk through the café without noticing Ogal. When he is sitting down, Ogal looks like a man of average height. It is when he stands up that one realises he is not just tall, he is outstanding. At 82 inches or 6ft 8 ins, Ogal stands almost a foot shorter than the deceased Tororo giant, John Paul Ofwono, who measured 7ft 6.5 in.

Walking down a busy Kampala Road with Ogal, I notice how he towers over and above everyone in sight. Since I deliberately walk a few steps behind, I also catch the discreet glances cast at him as he passes people on the street. Although there may be some men of comparable height, what makes Ogal stand out is that he is tall and heavy set at the same time. With his height and weight of 125 kgs, he comes off as a giant.

At 5ft 6in, I’m too short to take Ogal’s height measurement. When stretched to its full size, a tailor’s tape measure of roughly 160 cm (5ft 1 in) stops short of Ogal’s knees, leaving 20 inches (close to two feet) unmeasured. It takes a taller member of staff of the café where we are meeting, to get the job done.

Who is Ogal?
Born to Paul Odong and Erimiya Amolo in Lira District on December 25, 1949 in a family of seven tall children, the 65-year-old is the tallest member of his immediate family, even though he feels that he may have shrunk an inch or two over the years.

“From what I recall, my granddad was taller than my dad and my grandmother was equally tall,” recalls Ogal’s eldest son, Jimmy Otim. At 6ft 7in, the nearly identical-looking Otim is just a few inches shorter than his father and yet somehow, Ogal looks more distinguished and extraordinary, compared to the son.
He may be big and tall but meeting Ogal, you do not get the feeling that you are in the presence of an overbearing, imposing character. He is a soft-spoken and patient man who admits that he has learnt to smile back at people who stare at him in amazement, just to put them at ease and let them know that he is comfortable with his physique.

Born to parents of average means—his father was a headman at Ministry of Works—Ogal grew up in a cattle-keeping community and as a child, did not lack for much. A bright student, he emerged the best student in Lira District when he sat for his Primary Leaving Examinations. His stellar performance won him a bursary and he was admitted to one of the best schools, Lango College.
It is when he reported for Senior One admission at Lango College that Ogal felt different for the first time in his life.

“The headmaster, Mr Ross, a Briton, asked for my birth certificate because he said, I looked overage. He was a short man. I think he had psychological fear of my height,” recalls Ogal.
Even though he proved that he was indeed of the right school going age, James Ogal was denied entry into Lango College; something he believes changed his life.

“I still believe my life would have been different if I had gone to Lango College. Maybe I would have made it to university,” Ogal reflects.

Moving to Kampala
After failing to get into Lango College, Ogal came to Kampala to live with his in-laws. In Kampala, he joined Kitante Hill School where he was classmates with Dr. Kizza Besigye. When he completed Senior Four in 1972, he went straight into employment at Uganda Garment Industries Limited (UGIL).

Ogal later did a marketing course at then Uganda College of Commerce. He also holds a diploma from the Institute of Commerce in London. He worked with UGIL for almost 30 years until 1994 when UGIL was privatised. Following the sale of UGIL, he was out of work until 2003, when he got his current job as a marketing officer of Alpha Woollens Uganda Limited, a company that sells corporate uniforms and school uniforms, among other things.

Ogal has five children ranging in age from 30 to eight years of age. From the family photographs, it is obvious that at least two of his sons; the eldest, Jimmy Moses Otim and his second born, a student at Kyambogo College, have got his height genes. Married four times in the past, Ogal’s relationships did not work out for various reasons including rifts caused by long distance relationships and the economic difficulties he suffered during the period he was unemployed. When his fourth wife left in 1998, he decided not to remarry.

Ogal’s son, a scholar of International Business and a lecturer of business at Makerere Business School understands why his father thrives in marketing.
“When I was studying marketing, I came across the concept of “authoritative appearance”. When the tall guy enters the room, everyone is distracted enough to pay attention,” he explains.

Benefits of being tall
Ogal also believes that his height gives him an edge over the average guys when it comes to making first impressions.

“People, especially women, admire me when I walk because I am tall,” he says, adding, “Because of my height, I look distinguished and I am easily recognised at functions.” Ogal tells how he often gets special treatment like being given front seats at events.

“When I was flying out of the country on KLM in 1985, the air hostess gave me the first seat next to the pilots. I was in the business class,” he recalls.

Disadvantages
If there is an area where Ogal’s height gets in the way, it is transport. Owing to the length of his legs, often his comfort in transport is compromised.

“The space in the taxi is not enough. I can only sit in the front or the second row. That is where my legs can fit. If that space is taken, I do not board. In the bus, I sit in the middle back or in the front, next to the driver,” he explains.
“I ride bicycles but I’m uncomfortable because of the length of my legs. On a bicycle, my knees almost reach the handle bar. I have to adjust the bicycle seat to fit properly,” confides Ogal.

To confirm his transport difficulties, Ogal’s friend, Julius Ocwinyo recalls an incident; “one time, I gave him a lift in my Toyota Crown and his legs went over the dashboard. I think if he had to buy a car, he would need to get a Prado or one of the other bigger cars.”

Ogal also has to have a special bed made because most beds are made for the height of 6ft 2 in. “I barely find trousers that fit. If I get them, price is higher. I pay Shs40, 000-50,000 more to buy the same type of second hand shoes for my size. I also have problems finding shirts whose sleeves are long enough,” he says about his clothes.

Ogal compared to others in the world
The tallest man living is Sultan Kösen who measured 8 ft 3 inches in Ankara, Turkey, on February 8, 2011. The part-time farmer was the first man over 8 ft to be measured by Guinness World Records in over 20 years.

Sultan first became the world’s tallest living man in 2009, when he measured 8 ft 1 inch in height. He took the title from Xi Shun (China, b. 1951), who measured 7 ft 8.95 inches in height when measured in 2005.

The tallest man in medical history for whom there is irrefutable evidence is Robert Pershing Wadlow (USA) who when last measured on June 27, 1940, was found to be 8 ft 11.1 inches tall.
His greatest recorded weight was 222.71 kg on his 21st birthday and he weighed 199 kg at the time of his death. His shoe size was 37AA 18.5 inches long and his hands measured 12.75 inches from the wrist.

What others say about Ogal
I first got to know Ogal’s niece, a nurse, who used to work at Naguru Health Centre. She is also very tall, about 5ft 11 in. When I met Ogal, I was struck by the special resemblance between the two and then we just hit it off. I have known him for about five years. We happen to have a drink together often.

When I first met him, I found his height quite intimidating. I had seen people that tall but lanky ones, not heavy ones. And yet, he is quite gentle; he does not take advantage of his height.

There was a day I bumped into him around the bus park and you could see people stopping to stare but they stare at him from the back. I think they are afraid to be caught staring. Since I have known him for a while, he looks quite normal to me.
Julius Ocwinyo, friend of Ogal and creative writer

“Tall people tend to develop back problems faster and I have noticed this with my dad. This is probably because tall people struggle to adjust to everyone’s level, all their lives. I have hit my head a couple of times because many of the door frames are only 6ft high. The world has not adjusted to tall people.

Shorter people would often say to me, if I had your height, I would step on the world. But, when you are tall, you have to be disciplined because you stand out. That is something I suffered all my school life.”
Jimmy Moses Otim, Ogal’s eldest son (6ft 7in), lecturer and professional pool player

EXPERT TAKE ON HEIGHT
Dr Alex Kakoraki Amooti, General Practitioner at Murchison Bay Hospital

How height affects the body
“Taller people are more prone to back problems than their shorter counterparts. Taller people compromise their backbones more from activities that involve bending, such as picking up something, sitting or even doing certain exercises.

Bending compromises the muscles and there is a possibility of protrusion of the backbone backwards with age.
The shorter person can carry heavy things more conveniently than the taller one. Short people do not have to compromise their backs to do this work.
Taller people age faster. They are also more prone to injuries like fractures because they have a longer surface area to break.

When we age, we lose some height through bending of the backbone but there are also some degenerative bone diseases, which could lead one to lose a few inches.

Height versus weight
The normal weight range for someone who is 195 cm tall is 93-97 kilogrammes. In the ideal situation, Height minus Weight should equal to 100(+ or -2). If at that height a person weighs 125 kilogrammes, it is like having an extra load of 30 kilogrammes tied to their body. This excess burden can cause swelling of the joints.

Body Mass Index
The body mass index (BMI) is a measure of relative weight based on an individual’s weight and height. The standard formula for getting one’s BMI is by dividing one’s weight by the square of one’s height in metres.

According to Dr Kakoraki, the normal BMI ranges from 19.5 to 24.5. At 125 kg and 1.95 metres of height, one’s BMI is 32.8, above the normal range.