Bosco Odonga’s turn of fortune: From child soldier to cardiologist

It may be a cliché to say the past is not equal to the future, but for Odonga Bosco, a former LRA child soldier who is now a Russian-trained cardiologist, this is no cliché. I first saw the story of this change of fortune on Twitter. 

Last week, the Russian Embassy in Uganda through its Twitter handle tweeted: “We are happy to learn that Mr Odonga Bosco, who was once a child soldier from Uganda, got married in Russia! 

In 2004, he was rescued by a Russian volunteer and eventually came to live and study in our country, where he became a certified cardiologist. Congratulations!” 

What an uplifting testimony! Attached to the tweet were photographs showing Odonga with his wife. 
Other photos showed him at work as a doctor and as a fresh medical graduate. Another photo showed him as a child soldier next to an AK-47 assault rifle.

Those four pictures speak volumes about what must have been a traumatic journey with a great ending. One has to peer into the eye of the child soldier to see and understand what goes on in the human mind in that twilight zone between despair and hope, between death and life and between choice and chance. 

When you get caught up in a war you didn’t start and get abducted and trained to become a child soldier, it is difficult to imagine life beyond the daily struggle to stay alive. 

But in 2004, everything changed for Odonga. We shall get the details from Odonga himself. BBC broadcaster Allan Kasujja has already declared an interest to dig into Odonga’s story and feature it in his programme. 

Others have even proposed a documentary film to capture this fairy tale. The filmmakers will tell us more and maybe we get a 21st Century version of From Russia with Love! For now it is enough to say Odonga was rescued by a Russian volunteer. The rest as they say is history.

The 20-year-war in the north of Uganda left behind wounds that even when healed will still leave behind scars difficult to ignore. But out of these ashes of war there are stories that speak to the capacity of the human spirit to rise above and overcome unspeakable odds. 

Odonga’s story is one such bright point of light. There are many such points of light. We need to identify them and connect them and light up a path to the future. 

Odonga’s story should be an inspiration. Koboko Municipality MP Charles Ayume tweeted: “Congrats Dr Odonga. You defied all odds and your story is a bestseller. Visit motherland once in a while and inspire some of the youth who have no hope; and try and look up your cohort who were not fortunate enough.”

Indeed, Odonga has visited his homeland and even announced a plan to build a hospital. This is as well. The hospital will be a solid reminder of his triumph over a past riddled with risk. 

But it will also be an inspirational symbol that the sun will also rise no matter how dark the night. It will demonstrate that the hostile winds that force weaker souls to wander aimlessly can actually be tamed by a sense of purpose.  The story of Odonga should thrill those battling insurmountable odds. It is an assurance that one can dream big even in the dreariest of circumstances. 

It is a summon to those with dreams to stop drifting in the sea of despair and adjust their sails, take hold of the rudder and confront whatever hostile winds may beset their life’s voyage. Soon calm will return and the shores of victory will be within sight and reach. 

As Ella Wheeler Wilcox wrote: “One ship drives east and another drives west/ With the selfsame winds that blow. /Tis the set of the sails/ And not the gales/ Which tells us the way to go./ Like the winds of the seas are the ways of fate,/ As we voyage along through the life:/ Tis the set of a soul/ That decides its goal,/ And not the calm or the strife.//.”

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