Last Sunday I was directed to turn into a fraternity carwash by two Teletubbies and a man clad in a Hawaiian shirt with a megaphone. I paid my $5 and took a drive through the circle to have my car washed and scrubbed by a bunch of frat guys who rolled all over my car and kept making faces at me through the windows. Given the ridiculous situation, all I could do was watch and laugh.
In the midst of all the hilarity stood Bo Machayo, the philanthropy chair of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He had a huge grin on his face, the grin of someone who knew that this good deed, although performed in a goofy manner, was going toward something great. The charity wash was for the Lisha Mtoto Initiative, which helps provide food, clean water and basic primary education to needy and orphaned children in Nairobi, Kenya. In just one afternoon of fun, the goofy fraternity members raised over $400 for the cause.
The fact that Bo was in charge of organizing a charitable fundraiser came as no surprise to me. I have known Bo for a few years now and have been aware of his travels to Africa and his large-scale involvement on Wake’s campus. But when I asked him for an interview that Sunday afternoon, I had no idea how much I didn’t know about the energetic and driven Bo Machayo.
Bo has accomplished more in his first few years of college than most people do in a lifetime—impressive? Absolutely. But Bo remains modest about his endeavors.
“I just want to help, I want to see other people do well,” he said with that same grin on his face.
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Bo’s family heritage was (naturally) the first topic of conversation. He is the son of a Kenyan father and a Ugandan mother, who both came to America for educational opportunities and a new life. In his mother’s case, it was a life away from the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, who was a threat to her politically involved family of 12 brothers and sisters.
Today, one of her brothers, Bo’s uncle, is the current president of Uganda. During the summer and first semester of his sophomore year, while everyone else his age was enjoying their second wonderfully-abysmal Wake football season, Bo studied abroad in his mother’s home country.
He took classes on developmental studies specific to Uganda and held an internship at the East African Community, an intergovernmental organization comprised of five countries: Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda. Through the organization, Bo was able to work closely with his uncle and the prime minster of Uganda to create a constitution for the future East African Federation. How’s that for ambition?
This federation would combine all five countries in the community under a common currency, a common government and a common goal.
“We had a two-week summit where we had to present the constitution to the other leaders,” he explained. “It was well received because it is beneficial for development. It’s everyone working towards one common goal and focusing on building great infrastructure viable for all of the countries.”
The goal of the EAC is to implement the constitution in 2015 by first uniting the nations economically and then politically.
With all of this experience in international politics, I could see why Bo is a political science and econ double major with his sights set on Georgetown law.
“I want to be able to take advantage of all the resources that America has to offer,” Bo explained. “It will do East Africa a lot of good if this next generation returns with as many resources as possible and ideas for the development of these countries.”
But politics aren’t the only thing on Bo’s agenda. He has also been working to improve the social aspects of life in East Africa from right here in North Carolina. He is president of the Wake chapter of Building Tomorrow, a national organization that helps to build schools and improve educational conditions in the Kampala district of Uganda.
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“Uganda is the third fastest growing country in the world; there is an average of 7 kids per family and 100 to 200 kids per teacher. A lot of these kids can only make it through the fifth grade in those conditions,” said Bo.
So Bo has international politics and social reform already on his mind, but throw in all of his other commitments, and you wonder how he even has time to sit down for an interview with me, much less have an active social life.
He attends RUF, has a job at the Bridge fixing computers, holds multiple executive positions (philanthropy chair for his fraternity, legislative representative for Student Government, secretary for AfriCasa and the president of Building Tomorrow), and he has a little bro, Keyshawn, through the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program.
“It is kind of a lot … yeah,” he laughs as he lists it all off. But when I asked him which commitment from Africa to America he feels he had the most impact in, he gave an answer that proves why he can take on so much and still maintain balance and a positive attitude.
“Usually you go somewhere and you think that you’re impacting all these people, but it really puts life in a different perspective. There are so many things that we take for granted here, like peace and like the value of what family is and how great they are. The people in Uganda impacted me more than I could ever impact them. I had the thought that I was going to go over there and help them, but they helped me, they helped me appreciate everything I have been given here and I can only hope that one day I can be a vessel to them and reciprocate my gratitude and love for the region.”
And with that, Bo’s big smile was back.