I'm a man of firsts.
There's a special thrill that comes with that first ever time u encounter an
experience. Let me take you back down memory lane, when you wore your first
uniform, the first day you came home and could write your full name, when you
first met that girl/guy who made your heart skip a beat, the first day you
attempted to ride a bike (oooh, wait, that came with wounds and lots of girls
wailed so maybe not a thrilling first but you get the general idea).
As it was, on 8th November, I received a whatsapp message from Paul, inviting me for a Rotary fellowship with mother club. Now I did mention some time that I am student, so the weekday allocated to Rotaract regardless of school is Wednesday. (This is a Tuesday Fellowship boss, first relax. Class. I respond)
The next day, my phone beeps, whatsapp message, same content as Paul's, a much much better looking face the source. Joseph, I would like to invite u to our fellowship with mother club, Zed's message read. (Where's this boda guy, I need to be at Kabira by 7.)
Sadly, the manager had some questions, so I didn’t arrive till about 7:20.
I like to stand tall when I’m late (at 5'7" maybe 5'8" tops wen I have grown my hair, it makes standing tall a hard number). As usual though, i do my thing, head held up, potraying confidence, in I walk. Serial back bencher.
Onward forwards to introduction of the guest speakers and lo and behold, ours truly, Paul and Brian; quantity surveyor and architect respectively. (yaaah, definitely a construction topic you must be thinking, well, you are definitely as wrong as I was).
What is the one thing our generation can confidently boast at being better than our predecessors? (No one giving it a try; fine, I’ll tell you). Technological advancement. With the advent of the smartphone, apple tearing it up with all those “Igadgets” there’s no way they are able to keep up with us. (My mum's questions; Does it call? Does it send texts? Wait, it takes pics too? Added advantage in her book)
Wait, where was I? Yes. Presentation. Paul says he’s going to take on social media, twitter to be specific, while Brian would deal with blogging.
As it was, on 8th November, I received a whatsapp message from Paul, inviting me for a Rotary fellowship with mother club. Now I did mention some time that I am student, so the weekday allocated to Rotaract regardless of school is Wednesday. (This is a Tuesday Fellowship boss, first relax. Class. I respond)
The next day, my phone beeps, whatsapp message, same content as Paul's, a much much better looking face the source. Joseph, I would like to invite u to our fellowship with mother club, Zed's message read. (Where's this boda guy, I need to be at Kabira by 7.)
Sadly, the manager had some questions, so I didn’t arrive till about 7:20.
I like to stand tall when I’m late (at 5'7" maybe 5'8" tops wen I have grown my hair, it makes standing tall a hard number). As usual though, i do my thing, head held up, potraying confidence, in I walk. Serial back bencher.
Onward forwards to introduction of the guest speakers and lo and behold, ours truly, Paul and Brian; quantity surveyor and architect respectively. (yaaah, definitely a construction topic you must be thinking, well, you are definitely as wrong as I was).
What is the one thing our generation can confidently boast at being better than our predecessors? (No one giving it a try; fine, I’ll tell you). Technological advancement. With the advent of the smartphone, apple tearing it up with all those “Igadgets” there’s no way they are able to keep up with us. (My mum's questions; Does it call? Does it send texts? Wait, it takes pics too? Added advantage in her book)
Wait, where was I? Yes. Presentation. Paul says he’s going to take on social media, twitter to be specific, while Brian would deal with blogging.
Paul laid out the basic
concepts around twitter from the maximum number of characters in a tweet, the
significance of the hash tag, down to the use of the mention symbol. He
highlighted the role twitter had played in advertising the cancer run as an
example of twitter’s role in publicizing events.
Paul’s presentation
centered on showing Rotarians that there is no such thing as twitter is for the
young people, his proof being a slide that raised murmurs through the room. The
slide had H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, H.E Paul Kagame and H.E Uhuru Kenyatta.
The existence of a twitter handle for our very own H.E Museveni seemed to
convince the most people that twitter really wasn’t a thing just for the young.
Brian stepped up and his
concept was a fairly new one, even to the Rotaractors in the house. Lots of
them, though on twitter, had never so much as attempted to blog. (Wait, I’m one
of them too. Why am I taking myself from the equation?)
Fast forward to the end of
the presentation, and Rotarian Mercy requested president Yohannes to handover
the contributions from the Rotarians for past president Grace’s wedding. (She
actually called it a small contribution. *ahem*)
Rotarian Linda was called
upon to move a vote of thanks to the guest speakers, and she joked that she
would not blog but rather tweet (A jargon that was picked up by the house from
the guest speakers’ presentations, the former to signify speaking endlessly,
and the latter to signify keeping it short)
As she concluded, she
reminded us of the Rotarians' plan to visit Kiswa Primary School and Luigi
Giussani High school, to provide scholastic materials and take part in a tree
planting exercise, and requested Rotaractors to join the cause.
The photo session after
the Rotarians left, is evidence that we love to enjoy ourselves. (How about I tease you with a picture)
So, Sunday 14th
September, how about we put aside what we feel we have to do, and do something
that we genuinely need to do. Let us go give back. Service above self.
Take over of mother club's
fellowship, yet another first on my list.
I just keep falling in
love with this Rotaract plan.
