James Kimanje was born in a hut near a dirt road in the backroads of Uganda, about 50 miles from Murchisson falls. There were not many children at his school, and they had all moved on by the time James was invited to return to give an inspirational speech, but there had been an explosion of growth at his home and there was now a large secondary school. As James stood at the podium and looked out across the 400 bored faces who had no idea what hockey was or why he was there, he realized that his accomplishments meant nothing for these kids. They needed hope more than anything. So James tore the speech he had written about his hockey career thus far in half and stomped it into the ground. He began to talk about his journey from the village to the capital city, where he had picked up odd jobs wherever possible but always practiced his skills at the same time every day. He talked about how when he finally had the money to come to the States, he almost missed his flight but was able to make it. He talked about his firs few days in the States and how different it was. And as he talked, he slowly saw the faces in the room begin to gain interest and light up. After he mentioned his hockey career briefly, he closed by telling the children to always be hopeful and to never give up on your dreams, that they do come true. And James was able to leave the school confident that he had made an impact on each of those 400 teens.