The man behind the Rising Woman diaries Share Bookmark Print Rating The man behind the Rising Woman diaries Dan Boston was born in Guayana in the West Indies, but bred in Australia. He is, however, married to a Ugandan, Jacquelline Kemigisha Boston from Bushenyi district. Photo by Rachel Mabala. Posted Saturday, August 10 2013 at 00:00 In Summary Ivan Okuda caught up with the man behind the inspirational diary with motivational and encouraging quotes that has made the rounds among Ugandan women this year. SHARE THIS STORY 0 inShare I’m a Rising Woman Diary is a holistic planner for the modern day woman divided into four 12-week sections that cover everything the modern woman requires to live a fun, prosperous and fulfilling life. The planner has four core sections, the rising body (physical wellbeing), the rising mind (building mental capacity), the rising heart (cultivating rich and fulfilling relationships) and the rising soul (feeding your spirit). Each section is curtain raised by an inspiring success story of women like Noerine Kaleeba who, upon losing her husband to HIV/Aids, turned her predicament round to found TASO, which continues to turn around lives of many people living positively with HIV. Trisha Olsson, in her fore-word, underpins the book’s objective; “When women are supported and empowered, all of society benefits. Our families are healthier, our children have greater values and our economies grow. In short, as a people we become more resilient, after all it is women who form the backbone of every nation.” From the bright almost shouting black, yellow and red multiple colour play out, to the chic designs, at first sight, the impression rushes to the women rights’ organisations like Mifumi or Fida as the brains behind this work of art. But no, it is a man behind the book. “The time for change is now, men have ruled the world for over 2,000 years, we have invented great technology, been able to fly to the moon, but we still live in a world filled with poverty and war. All we (men) do is compete for resources, I believe that the feminine spirit can help mankind as we move deeper into the 21st century and we need women’s compassion and sense of love to create win-win situations,” is howDan Boston clears the air on why a man would think of a woman’s diary. Born in Guyana, a state on the northern coast of South America, but bred in Australia, Boston is married to a Ugandan woman, Jacquelline Kemigisha Boston, from Bushenyi whom he met at a shopping mall in Australia. It is this marital connection that partly induced his passion for a prosperous Ugandan woman. “While heading to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, I dropped my wife in Uganda but decided to return here and take up the role of CEO of the HUB entertainment which runs Boda boda bar and restaurant (Garden City) and The Hub (Nakumat.)” Meanwhile his reserved wife who takes the two little children away from distracting papa during the interview was running the family business, the Mbuya based Enkombe Place apartments. “The first thing I did as CEO of the business was to try and build a successful team around me, one of the challenges I found was that the young people I was interviewing lacked critical thinking, the ability to put things together and have a logical thought,” he says in a deep western accent, going into a tirade on the pathetic state of Uganda’s education system. “I came up with RAISE, a revolutionary education programme that provides students with a holistic approach to education, teaching the fundamental skills that they need to be successful in this century,” he shares. Under the programme, RAISE partners with selected secondary schools and trains students alongside teachers periodically in aspects of effective communication, personal finance, customer care and technology. “This programme was so successful in transforming lives of children that women started to come to us, saying there are skills they need but never get and that is how the I ‘m a Rising Woman diary was born,” he explains. Even when one can comfortably argue that the diary negates the rural woman and appears to confine a rising woman to the upscale, corporate woman, some testimonies on the fairly interactive Facebook page of the diary paint a rather bright picture. “My Diary is a constant reminder that I can do all that I want to as long as I am consistent at it- the tips, the quotes remind me that everything is possible even when despair is knocking and one of these days, it does that ALOT! So I am thankful and oh, it is good eye candy- it just brightens up my day,” confesses Dearna Letasi. On how much input his wife makes, he laughs the question away saying, “Obviously being a woman and she is my wife. I am not a woman and will never be and will never get to understand women.” But some hard questions abound, for instance, some skeptics writing off the diary as idealistic and shedding doubt on its sustainability. “Actually I love to be idealistic. You don’t know what the future is going to bring but I can tell you I have dedicated my life to doing this, it is my passion,” the former IBM executive and graduate of economics in international business from Queensland University of Technology in Australia says. While he admits to this being his source of income, he insists the motivation to continue goes beyond the money. “The book is pretty much dedicated to my mother. She was the sort of woman to whom failure was never an option. We lost our father when I was only five but she did an incredible job and raised three boys with very little education.”
Posted on: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 08:00:15 +0000
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