- From a boy battling tuberculosis and loss, Captain Fred’s journey to becoming a pilot embodies resilience, hope and triumph
- Captain Fred overcame tuberculosis, and after losing his family and home, Fred found hope at Watoto Children’s Home
- Fred’s determination and support from others led him to graduate as the best performer in flying school, and now he is set to start flying commercially
Captain Fred is now a pilot, and if anyone had told him how life would turn out when he was a boy struggling with tuberculosis and the death of his parents, he wouldn’t have believed it.
Source: Facebook
Speaking to Winds of Uganda, Fred said that before the death of his parents, all was good with their family, as their father was blessed early in life, and he owned a home, businesses and even a petrol station.
Things, however, changed when Fred’s dad died, and their relatives grabbed everything from them, including a petrol station that the father had toiled and invested in.
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As if that was enough, Fred became very sick and was admitted to the hospital, suffering from severe tuberculosis, and after some time, they were discharged.
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“The medicines we used to take would make people have allergic reactions and be spotted from far away, I looked like I had HIV and the stigma in the community was so bad,” he said.
“In 2002, we joined primary school with a bursary and it was during that time when we were told that our mum is very sick, and I was very close to my mum so I decided to go and be with my mother. When my mother died, I cursed God. I felt that the only person in the world who would have done anything for me was gone,”he added.
Source: Facebook
How did Fred land at Watoto Children’s Home?
Fred’s uncle and auntie took him to Watoto Childcare Ministries, and while he performed well in Form Four, he did not perform well in physics in the subsequent exams.
“It made my credits go down to one point. I was doing a theology course, and I called out to the heavens because my dream is gone, and God said my ways are not your ways,”he said.
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“I dropped an engineering course and was introduced to a pilot at Kampala Air Maintenance; I asked to be given anything to do, and they paid for my rent. I started working without pay, which included a 50-hour inspection and a 100-hour inspection, before a plane leaves. I worked without pay for three years,”he said.
One day, a person who chartered the plane was my team leader, who took me to the USA and Canada; the Country Director of Watoto in Australia, they talked, and just like that, Fred was taken to be with the big boys pilots who used to hang out upstairs.
“He told me you had been given funding to start flying school, and the following day I was the kind of person I was supposed to be; I graduated from flying school as the best performer,” said Fred.
“Each hour of flight is 250 dollars, and you need 45 hours; it doesn’t guarantee that you will be ready, and you will pay for extra,”he added.
After graduation, Fred took on a job as a driver and served faithfully for a year, and Barry King went to the US, got the necessary documents, and came back to train me. He applied to Canada seven times but was denied, and he lost a scholarship for both Bible school and flying school.
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“I got a scholarship to the US, but my visa was denied; my wife called me to join her fellowship, and there I learnt that they needed a pilot, so I applied and got the job and I’m due to get my commercial license,” he said.
Ceerations as man, 20,becomes pilot
In a different story, Joshua Ochando yearned to be a pilot, writing “Pilot Joshua”, and while still in Vihiga county, he used to write about it in his schoolbooks.
The dream of the young man was inspired by his father, a former aviator, who encouraged him to pursue aviation and was also his biggest supporter
The Vihiga village community celebrated Joshua’s graduation with a lot of joy and pride during a flashy party.
Source: NgGossips
