Pius Isabirye: Championing youth empowerment and climate action in Uganda

Tasha: [00:00:00] Good morning. Can you please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your nonprofit origin story?

Pius: Thank you, Tasha. It’s evening here. It’s a fix. So it’s a good evening. My name is, Pius, and I’m from Uganda. I’m of Comrades to Arms Africa

I’m personally passionate about, youth empowerment and, it’s the reason I founded the organization. I would say why I started this organization. My story is a bit funny. When I was a child, I really loved community work, I used to see my grandparents used to go to school, leave them alone at home, and I was wondering, how they take care of themselves when they around, refresh their water.

So my mind was there. And once I was at school, I’m one person that, pleased used to go to school, but I didn’t like I feel the system somehow to do [00:01:00] all.

I saw that there are many youth in school that are like me. We are there because maybe our parents expect tuition and maybe because we have, we passed because maybe we are blessed with our village knowledge and maybe we don’t wanna get ashamed. But I felt that most of the youth needed something else.

Something that, brings out their ability and, at school they not to encourage, talent shows, where, show own talent. For example, my school not even participate in sports, to debate. They’ll criticize you after there was no that free environment. So I felt like, I should, set up something to help students in schools to explore their talent and other abilities.

That’s how I came up with Comrades to Africa.

Tasha: And what has been your favorite part of the journey into nonprofits so far and setting up your own nonprofit?

Pius: The amazing bit is that the schools and the students [00:02:00] welcome this idea because, first I thought, this is something I’m thinking of.

Maybe it won’t work with, certain people, but the first school we went to,, that’s my primary school. The head teacher was really amazed. He told us, I personally like the idea, but maybe let me call you my, the owner of the. school. We didn’t talk too much with the gentleman and, he was like, no, no, no, no, no.

Just come. You have your Friday evening is all yours. Yes. And, we were amazed. We were like, yes. If they could accept this, that means it’s something valuable entirely. That’s my biggest aha moment in this one.

Tasha: That’s fantastic. And tell us a little bit about, you’ve really gotten into some climate initiatives in information for, people across Uganda about clean energy.

And tell us about your [00:03:00] bike ride that you did this past year.

Pius: Thank you for that question. That year I called it the bamboo bike , expedition. The bicycle was basically made out of bamboo, purely the frame, the other, pathway of, an usual bike. And, yes, I started it because, I wanted to show people that, by the time I sacrificed to ride for this, it’s very important ’cause in my circle, people used to think I was given money to ride a bike. And, I used to tell them, no, I’m just going to ride. Because I want people to know that we are really doing bad with the environment. What I would like to say about it, maybe run a bit fast before I talk about, the expedition itself is that, my friends now don’t throw, plastic out of the tower when they’re driving. Actually, when I’m with them, they always laugh and be like, Hey, Mr. Environment, let’s keep, the plastics in here. And yeah, I feel like yes, it hits some people and if [00:04:00] the people that are close me are doing this, it seems other people out there that read my message to me are doing the same.

So the expedition was, eight, sorry, 14 days. And, it was about 700 kilometers, but it ended up for 18 days and, 714 kilometers. Why it increased like that positive weather and a time I used to meet people that laid me on the way and I canceled, my journey and also the bike repairs.

I’m not, knowledgeable about repairing bicycle per se. And, I used to need help on the way. I would say that the journey was really easy. I can tell you that, I wanted to cry. One time. I reached out to a friend. I called them and, they were not picking the phone call, but I think that’s how I was around, 11th day.

I wanted to tell them that, you know what, I can stop here. Do you feel you’ve got my message? I wanted to hear from them before. That got the message. Yeah. And I can say [00:05:00] fortunately they didn’t pick up the call and, I started to push the bicycle for around seven kilometers to find a town where they would repair it.

And I repaired it. I started riding over again. I would say I thank him for not picking the call, but still, that day was really hard. There are days when rain hammered me all along the way and. I couldn’t stop because I was in a lonely place. Yeah, I would stay. There were those moments, but also I was happy to the people, communities I reached to.

I didn’t organize reaching out to communities per se, but I used to take the advantage when I could stop, take breakfast and where I would sleep. I’ll park in the middle of the training center itself, what we can call it down. Now the bike was unique so I could let people speak about the bike the way they want, climates, this and that.

But I come late and explain to them why I’m doing this [00:06:00] expedition and they get to learn a thing or to, and, I used to link it, to, our farming , seasons. In here, in, our continent, sorry to categorize everyone, but most people feel that, God is annoyed with us.

That’s why the season has changed and, he is punishing us and yet our own doing. So, I used to open up their thinking about that. Some had ideas and some didn’t. What I forgot to tell you is that an expedition was, purposely for, spreading out the message about environmental conservation and the use of solar energy because, solar is known fine, but people don’t know its abilities.

Most people are using it for light and charging phones and maybe doing a tv, but they don’t know that solar can, helping, schools, they can help in hospitals. They can use it to cook. They don’t look at the economic sense of it. They look at, our have power drought maybe.

But we used to [00:07:00] have discussions and some people were really amazing and they were surprised that, these powerful solar that can do this and yeah, some that I thought it’s expensive to maintain, it’s expensive to buy. We used to have all those discussions. I would say I met around, roughly I could meet around 50 people a day, 20 in the morning and 20, 20, 30, in the evenings.

Yeah, briefly. That’s what I could talk about the expedition. And, it gave me the satisfaction. Besides the expedition alone, I learned a lot, maybe to add this, I have people that didn’t believe in me at my workplace. I live alone, comrades too, but at my workplace. And, I was disappointed, but then I had to show them that, this is doable.

And then also I learned that, , life is not a flat, race because I face the challenges, but at times they used to motivate me. I felt, really down, for example, that day that I wanted to give up, but just a [00:08:00] moment of someone not picking a call pushed me until I finished for another week.

So I would like say that besides the message, moving an expedition is really a life challenging journey, and I would like to plan every day and every about it.

Tasha: Well, that sounds like such a. You know, it’s a big commitment, particularly to do a project like that while you’re also running a nonprofit itself.

I’m sure there’s many challenges as there is for any founder of a nonprofit, but what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve been facing in your work in nonprofit?

Pius: One challenge is resources. I like to categorize them. Because they work together. One may say that the biggest challenge in nonprofit is money, which is correct. But when you don’t have human resource, when you don’t have the materials you use to maybe, [00:09:00] like for us that I need kind of education to teach, the money will not really work.

The challenge is most people come in an early profit, thinking you’ll get money the next day and give them some. Which is not the case, so I don’t like always re echo it, but I’ve found a challenge working with people as volunteers. They come with a lot of expectations and, at the end of everything, they let you down.

I would like to say that, I’ve had, over 15 people that have come in and we have separated, not in bad faith, but because I’ve pushed you and you’re not, responding. The best way is to go silent. It’s good. You have my calls to return, you have my emails to reply, and you have tasks to accomplish. If you don’t return , for maybe two months, it’ll be clear education that you’re not supposed to be together.

One resource, especially volunteers, has been my biggest problem. But, I would like to thank Glory. I don’t know, but you know [00:10:00] her, I guess. And, I would like to talk her when she made a statement on, you’re the owner, you know what you really want. Don’t think that someone else will do it best for you if you feel that there’s something you need to do urgently.

We have a saying in Africa here that,, it’s the owner of the dead body that touches the smelly part. So she was trying to really mean that for some important tasks you have to do them yourself. I thank her for that because it started in my mind, I started doing that. I manage the disappointments.

I no longer feel a lot disappointed.

Tasha: Yeah. Managing volunteers is so challenging. I’ve had some offers. From our own community members here at the nonprofit hive to go, I could do this for you. I could do this, I could do this to help. And sometimes figuring out , especially [00:11:00] when you’re that founder, you’re the leader, you know how you want things to run or you have a vision, right?

Your vision of how it’s going to happen. It can be so challenging to communicate to others how to have them involved, right? It can sometimes be. Work more, to be honest, to get to the spot where a volunteer is really useful to what you’re doing, because they, of course, don’t know all of the pieces that , you know, in your heart and you know how to do it very quickly or you have an idea of how to do it quite fast, I think.

Nonprofits can benefit from volunteers greatly, but it’s also often, another piece of work for a period of time. And like you noted, finding the right people and, and then leveraging their skillsets, and then you finding time to manage the volunteers. It’s a really big job.

Pius: Yeah. But I like to appreciate.

There are people that genuinely come out. For example, now I have a team of [00:12:00] 12 people on board, but I have five people that I really trust and, whenever I share a work in WhatsApp group , they actively respond and give them input. So I would clearly say that patient is all bad, but yeah, they are those disappointments.

Tasha: Yeah, absolutely. And so in your work moving into being, a founder and running a nonprofit, how do you use peer support and meeting other people in the sector to help you grow and advance your mission?

Pius: Ever since I started actively using LinkedIn last year in March, I’ve learned, to ask. And, is it Rod of, is the one that emphasized it though?

I used to hear it, but I used not to feel it. She say that, what they’ll say is a no, and I added that they won’t beat me, they won’t slap me, they won’t abuse me, they won’t do anything. But, so I’ve made asks for example, if, I know that Tasha is good at connecting [00:13:00] people and is that one person I need.

I get an opportunity of having you on a call already tell you that, you know what, Tasha, I need this help. And most of them have really helped.

Tasha: Yeah, absolutely.

Pius: If someone is good at website, I really ask them that, can you go through our website? Give me your comments. And they have done, and I note them out, I work, I’ll come out, share.

Tasha: Yeah, I think it’s really important to, have others that you can connect with. And do you have other , nonprofit founders that you have connected with that are running missions across, what even in Canada, us, , across Africa that, have provided you with some support as you’ve been growing your charity?

Pius: Yeah, you’ve asked about, non-profit leaders, but I have a list of, consultants that helped, [00:14:00] but, I don’t want to mention his name because he mentioned my name. But, I’ve improved my work because of him. Joshua, one time we just started to have a casual talk and I was asking how his work, I told him, I know connecting people, and, he gave me some tips and he was like, you know, first of all, we make change.

Create a community and then start engaging them actively. There’s a way he explained it. That has pushed me up here actually among the ladies that, supported him on the way, also applied our organization. She’s called Diana. She’s an with a certain NGO in Uganda here. And, she has really been supportive.

She has given me tips here and there, and I would like to say it’s all from.

Is he called Grace, the one of GGRM?

Tasha: Yeah.

Pius: We engaged. He has connected me to different consortiums that, have really joined Learn thing, [00:15:00] but registration process is what is waiting. I like Simon. Simon introduced me to all this, though it was not so formal, but, that’s been there because. He’s good at giving you the emotional support when he discovers that you’re really down.

He calls you, we speak for over 30 minutes on the phone call, and, he’s giving you emotional support. By the time you leave call, you feel , I can now catch this direction and make it. Yeah, probably those are the two non-profit leaders I can talk about that have remained in connection For Grace.

We minimally speak, but actually I haven’t have a message from him. Grace is, wanting us to meet physically just to have a dog culture.

Tasha: Yeah, it’s so wonderful. As much as I love having hive chats, which I mean, you and I have had one in the past and it’s so lovely and you have certain people you connect with more and speak with more.

It is very cool to meet in person, individuals who you may [00:16:00] never cross paths with otherwise, or life is very busy. But I think prioritizing connection for people in nonprofit is really important because as you noted, the work is really challenging and sometimes it’s just wonderful to brainstorm with other people who have the same kind of challenges that you’re facing too.

Pius: Yes

I’ve met very many people in the learning profit, in groups actually. I always brag that, I think people don’t take time to trade. I don’t know whether it’s, my country or my community, or it’s all over Africa or maybe all over the world.

And they have so much knowledge to apply and, when you’re sharing with people, they’re not sharing they are wondering how come that is there. It’s one of the reason I, I talk much about the nanny profit and, linked it when I’m in a gathering because, LinkedIn increased my knowledge in that.[00:17:00]

And, the nonprofit hive makes me talk to people that have applied that knowledge. There are two things that I found in one month and they have given me that, for example, if I read your posts and read them, I give this and this. When I meet you in the nonprofit, I have chance to ask you what I really feel and explaining people to me verbally works for me.

And I like tell you that on every call that I’ve made in an any profit. Hi. I’ve picked a thing to apply. So if there are 10 calls, just not have 10 action points I’ve worked on and , it has pushed me. You may not see that, I’ve shifted from one two, but in me, I am happy that I’m pushed from one to five.

Tasha: That’s awesome. My final question I always ask is , what do you feel that you’ve gotten out of being a member of the nonprofit Hive community?

Pius: I’ve met people that are free to share knowledge. [00:18:00] That’s one thing I give credit to the nonprofit Hive, in whatever way.

Whether it’s the algorithm, whether it’s nature, it selects people that are free to share. I’ve never come to a call however much a consultant is expensive because I always check out them before I come on a call. They give you time. It’s like you’ve paid for the 30 minutes. And on top of the time, they have given you non profit Hive.

They’re calling you out to go and book their 30 minute call so that you complete your conversation. So they’re giving you one hour of free talk and they’re also giving you support in the email and LinkedIn chat. So I would like to say that I found a community I needed at the right moment. By the time I was confused, I didn’t know I like, I don’t know whether it’s this charity is draining me.

Just beyond my personal things, but when I came March, 2024 on LinkedIn, things changed a bit.

Tasha: That’s [00:19:00] awesome. Well, we very much appreciate you’ve been one of our champions, one of our supporters. I’m deeply thankful that you found us. It’s been wonderful and I’ve loved following along with your journey and I know there’s been many challenges along the way and, you know, nonprofit founders.

Some of my favorite members because they believe, so deeply in what they’re doing, and they’re truly out there, making big changes. How can people get in touch with you, Pius? How can they follow along, with your journey from here?

Pius: LinkedIn can work so fine because, it’s now my status. So I put almost everything I do daily and I’d also like to tell them that now I’m actively, with, LinkedIn dm so I can reply quickly and connect from there.

Tasha: Okay. That’s wonderful. Thank you so much for doing this with me and I really appreciate you taking the time and the investment you’ve put into this community has been wonderful.[00:20:00]

Pius: Thank you so much, Tasha. If life keeps us and I come to Canada, I’ll get for you an already food from this way. I just pray that I get opportunity.

Tasha: I would love that excuse to, meet members. I know I need to start traveling more. There’s people all over the world now, that would be very exciting.

Pius: Yeah.