Speak to millennials if you are scared of retirement, they know how to move on

Early this year, a colleague and I stumbled on an interesting platform called “Big and Mini”, started by three college students in the United States. Its creators had intended to foster connections and combat loneliness resulting from the Covid-19 lockdowns that were forcing a new way of life on everyone.
How did we find it? One of our mentors had been asking if we could design a programme that enables retirees and senior citizens to interact with young people. Apparently, both her parents are retired public servants whose experience is wasting away because we haven’t found good use for them. And there are hundreds, maybe thousands of those in every corner of this country – distinguished men and women who served Uganda with honour and now sit idly waiting for God to call them.

We weren’t very enthusiastic about the idea because social innovations of that kind are a somewhat prickly issue in Uganda. You just never know what the ramifications might be. But we did go on to research on ideas like that, to see about modelling – and that’s how we discovered Big and Mini. Basically, it connects young adults – professionals at the onset of their careers – with seniors – typically retirees over 60. 
The fear was that much older people (Bigs) would fall on even harder times from the social isolation of being forced to stay alone for weeks and months on end. So, the idea was to give them a sense of purpose by keeping them connected to younger people (Minis) with similar interests to talk to, teach and learn from – during the down time.

You can think of it as an act of care for the old by the young. In listening to stories about the World War, and the Cold War, and the evolution of the world through the decades, Minis were able to hear firsthand, accounts of their own and their nation’s evolution through the generations. Some are stories and experiences that they probably would never have heard, had it not been for this platform. They too were able to share their own contexts around digital and cultural evolution.

But something else, more intriguing, started to happen. When they automated the matching system, they found that many Bigs and Minis preferred to be paired with those they shared professional interests with. Nurses with nurses, teachers with teachers, social workers with community organisers, and the like. Suddenly, the platform was not only providing companionship but it was offering mentorship – both ways.

The lockdowns are easing up but the creators say that now more than ever, they realise that there will always be people who are isolated, especially because of old age and won’t be able to meet with others. But also, that there will always be something for one generation to teach another, which is important if we are going to make this world better for us all. Ergo, they are not shutting down the platform; and in fact, have since added physical gatherings to their offering.

You might have seen the headlines this week, that a couple of civil servants – about a thousand actually – have applied to have their dates of birth amended downwards. They are due for retirement but don’t want to go home just yet, so amending the age limit is their next best option. Of course, they got the idea that you can tinker with age restrictions and stay around longer than you should, from “above”.

You have got to sympathise with them because this is the only life and routine that they have known for an average of three decades. What will they do with the free time, should they retire? But also, one or two have gotten ridiculously wealthy from illegally dipping into the feeding trough. Others understand that there is no power, authority or relevance to be found outside the offices they occupy. Once they are gone, that is it – no favours to dispense, no hangers on, no value, no sense of purpose. 

Few things are as scary as walking into the unknown. It is worse if that involves starting afresh, with little to nothing, and no social standing.
 Those in power know this and that is why they hang on and make leaving a literal matter of life and death. Young people don’t see the world the same so, maybe, older folks should talk to them a lot more often.

Mr Rukwengye is the founder, Boundless Minds. @Rukwengye