Four years ago today, Nate Henn, a beloved member of the Invisible Children team, was killed in a terror bombing in Kampala, Uganda. Nate’s legacy is one of honor, dedication and service, and we want to honor him by sharing a few reflections from Innocent, Nate’s close friend and fellow Roadie from Uganda.
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In February 06, 2010 I made a huge step in my life. After having asked myself a lot of times what I really wanted to be in life and for the fact that all I cared about in my selfish life was me. I realized I wasn’t young anymore and I could give back in some way to the community. I made a choice I would never stand to regret and that was to participate in the first ever Invisible Children Legacy tour – a fundraising and awareness tour in the US. We flew as a team of Invisible Children African roadies all the way from Uganda to San Diego and right at the airport was a group of amazing young bloods standing with banner so colorfully written in, “Welcome Opwonya Innocent.” I felt like a president.
Among these people was my tour team leader to be, by then called Nate Henn. He drove me to the hotel ahead of our one week office training before hitting the road. That was the first one week of my life that I stayed away from my family and didn’t even realize. We did an arm race where Bony and I raced against Nate and for the fact that he still managed to beat us down, we gave him the name ‘OTEKA’, meaning “the strong one.”
As time passed, while already on the road, I realized Oteka was not only physically strong but emotion wise too. He was such a leader by nature and he never stopped telling me how great of a leader I would be. We had so much in common: we were Red Sox fans, love the Glee cast and so forth. One thing I admired most about him is that he would do everything he could to put a smile on your face. Everybody wanted to ride in the same van with him because you would be assured of a fun good day. Three months felt like three weeks; time really flew so fast and all I wanted was a visa extension so I could stay longer near my new family.
Nate OTEKA Henn made one promise to me before I left the US; “Innocent I shall come and visit you in Uganda this year but I don’t know when”, he said. In July 2010 I got a phone call from my Invisible Children brother Kilara Tony Bazilo saying Nate was at his home in Kampala. I was in Gulu (280 miles away from Kampala) but I couldn’t hold the excitement. I rushed immediately to a bus station and joined Nate at Tony’s house. It was such a fun three days reunion until the fourth day which was a Sunday. Sunday 11/07/2010 turned right the opposite of Nate’s birthday.
I stood right next to him as I helplessly watched it happened. It could have happened to anyone of us but Nate didn’t deserve it. I met his family from the States and the plan was to have him meet my mum the following Tuesday. People said what they wanted, pointed fingers, consoled us and so forth but nothing could have been any better than showing my life back home. It happened so fast. One thing he told me while on the road is that, “Leadership is not inherited, neither is it genetic. But leadership is a process that cannot be rushed. It’s like an egg that is kept under warm temperature to mature into a chick.”
RIP Nate Oteka Henn. I love you and will always miss you.
[See more about Nate’s legacy here]
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