Among the people who embodied the spirit of compassion on the Ssese Islands was Jjajja(Grandpa) Andronico Magatto. The now 110 years plus grandpa as he is famously known, saw vulnerable children in his community and chose to respond with care. Through shelter, guidance, and educational opportunities, he helped children whose circumstances might otherwise have kept them from imagining a different future. Richard Tusabe and his brother Patrick Talemwa were among the children whose lives Jjajja Magatto touched on the famous Buggala Island.
The brothers had lost their mother when they were just three years old, and their father became the only parent they knew for much of their early childhood. Their family circumstances were shaped by
deep poverty, and they had no known wider family network they could readily turn to for support. When their father later died, the two brothers were left in extremely difficult circumstances at their bush home, having lost the only remaining parent they had.
Their situation reflected the painful intersection of bereavement, poverty, limited access to essential services, and the absence of a dependable family safety net. They were children facing an uncertain future with very little protection or support to rely on. It was at this vulnerable moment that Jjajja Magatto stepped forward. He welcomed the brothers into his home, cared for them, and helped open the door to education—giving them not only a place to turn, but also an opportunity to imagine a future beyond the hardship that had defined their early lives.
His actions did not remove every obstacle from their lives, nor did he act alone in the wider story of community support. But his decision created a crucial opening: the brothers had an opportunity to continue learning and to imagine a future beyond the circumstances surrounding them.
Jjajja’s story is pivotal because it shows what one person’s compassion can make possible. It is not a claim that he was the only Samaritan. Rather, his example helps us recognize the many people who quietly stand up for others in homes, schools, neighbourhoods, care settings, and communities around the world. Before The Global Samaritans became a movement, there were people like Jjajja putting compassion into action.