When social media went buzzing with a picture of Henry Ssubi Kiyimba’s picture in which he carried a metallic suitcase and a bag as he reported at Makerere University, there was an initial backlash directed to Emmanuel Aupal, who posted the photo on social media, for ridiculing his fellow student.
However, when Allan Kasujja, the London-based journalist and radio broadcaster, expressed his desire to extend a helping hand to Ssubi, a litany of unimaginable and life- changing opportunities sprung up.
Eventually, the critical voices that initially highlighted the important moral issues associated with taking and sharing one’s picture on social media went silent. It can be speculated that the critical voices went silent partially after conceiving that the legitimate concerns associated with sharing a supposedly embarrassing picture of Ssubi without his consent were of periphery importance.
In Plato’s Republic, the classical Greek philospher and the first moral philosopher of the Western tradition, Socrates, argued that matters of “morality are equally crucial since they concern how we ought to live.”
If we can help someone without harming them, then we ought to do so. Taking and posting Ssubi’s picture attracted some much-needed help for the university student. However, the same act harmed Ssubi by compromising his privacy and dignity.
In his own words, Ssubi mentioned that his target was to report to university as early as possible, so that he would attract less attention and embarrassment due to his suitcase and bag. The fact that his plans and wishes to report to university incognito were sabotaged implies that he was wronged.
Secondly, not all who donated to Ssubi are praiseworthy. The only people who are fully praiseworthy for donating to Ssubi are those who gave but tried to remain anonymous. As the famous author of How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie, stated bluntly, “every act you have ever performed since the day you were born was performed because you wanted something.”
Surely, there was a way of contacting Ssubi and passing on to him a laptop, an iPhone, among other things, without the presence of cameras. This kind of publicity further robbed more dignity and privacy from Ssubi.
Publicizing the charity qualifies the givers as opportunists who used Ssubi’s unfortunate circumstances to gain some publicity for themselves. It, therefore, follows that the donation was simply used as a publicity stunt.
Some people always defend their need for publicizing their charitable actions by claiming that they need evidence for accountability purposes. Surely, if any institution/company must require the presence of cameras to ‘successfully’ deliver a laptop or an iPhone to a student in need, then there are obviously serious trust issues with either the company or the person delivering the donation. Such trust issues ought to be resolved before even considering the donation.
As the adage goes, ‘no man [and woman] is an island’. We all find ourselves in situations where we need some help from another. While we may need the help, we may not necessarily wish the world to know who we have helped.
By publicizing the charity, we not only stripped Ssubi of his dignity, as the attention has now shifted from his extraordinary academic abilities and personal resilience, to a university student who got help after unconventionally showing up with a metallic suitcase and a bag.
The immediate consequences of the public attention to Ssubi is that he will struggle to be a ‘normal’ university student. Already, it appears that some media houses have camped at Makerere University to trail all Ssubi’s daily routines, including which parties he goes to, which girls he dances with and so on and so forth. At this rate, the next updates will be on how often Ssubi goes to the toilet and how long he spends each time he goes there.
For purposes of precedent, it is important that regardless of some unintended positive outcomes of our charitable actions, we should never lose sight of the inherent wrongness, rights violations and the self-serving intentions embedded in charity.
The writer is a social worker and social commentator.