Students of Kitgum High School could not help but wonder how lucky and privileged he was when they heard his name ‘Okumu’. “How did one ‘Okumu’ become an American soldier?” Within no time, word spread around the school that there was a Luo in the U.S Army. Soon, a crowd gathered around the young Staff Sergeant, asking him all kinds of questions “Ningo, Itie” (How are you?) they kept asking him in Luo and he would replied, “Atie Maber” (Am fine thanks) to their amazement.
From making small conversations with individual students, Staff Sergeant John Okumu found himself addressing a crowd of more than 100 students some of who braved the scotching 11am sunshine, like he did, to listen to him. Next to an old, abandoned, dilapidated classroom block, Okumu answered the burning questions of the enthusiastic and intrigued students about his life and how he got recruited to the U.S Army.
“Education is the key, determination is important,” he told them. “You must be ready to sacrifices pleasures in order to excel and the rest will come easy. There are no shortcuts to life; hard work, honesty and discipline are my pillars of success. These three can be the pillars to your success too if you are ready to embarrass them and live by them. I did and so can you.”
John Okumu is part of a team of U.S Army officers in Uganda deployed for an army exercise code named ‘Natural Fire 10’. A Staff Sergeant attached to the TSC based in Germany, Okumu is part of the section in this team providing logistical support for the U.S Army during a military exercise code named Natural Fire 10. The U.S Army chose Okumu to be part of the advance team because of his language skills in speaking two East African local languages; Swahili and Luo. Born in the Kisumu area in Kenya, an area predominantly inhabited by the 
Kenyan Luo community, Okumu’s family later moved to the capital Nairobi where he was raised and schooled at Huruma Primary School(Class1-2), Jogoo Road Primary School (Class 3-8) and Nairobi Secondary (Now called Nairobi Milimani Secondary School). He later attended several colleges in Nairobi before he moved to the coastal town of Mombasa in 1996 where he worked for Span Freight Limited on Moi Avenue. In 2000, after making enough money, Okumu quit his job and moved to the United States to pursue studies in Journalism at Lincoln University Missouri. He later moved to Southwest Missouri State University where he continued with his journalism studies. In 2003, Okumu got a Green Card which gave him permanent residence in the U.S. In 2004, he joined the U.S Army and after training, he was deployed in Iraq between 2004-2005 and later 2006-2007. He was later deployed at the AFRICOM headquarters in Germany before he was sent to Uganda. Okumu says he is happy to be in Africa, particularly close to the country of his birth. “This is the first humanitarian deployment I have received and I am honoured to be here. I go back to Kenya at least twice a year to visit relatives and being in northern Uganda make me feel closer to Kenya. I am happy to give back and to give hope to others so that they too can succeed like I am.”
Okumu is instrumental to the U.S Army team since he can speak both Swahili and Luo. This means that he can coordinate communication between the UPDF and the U.S Army, and between the locals and the U.S Army.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
An African child with a lot of potential can not get anywhere reasonable in his own Land, often being called all sorts of derogatorily names.
Decides to go to another country where Human resource is appreciated and "becomes successful".
Why can't the same people become successful in their home countries- B'se their Governments do not see their value. They are considered just threats.