Message from Sharifa,

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s with immense gratitude to God Almighty that I have come this far as President of the Rotaractclub of Bukoto. As you are aware, my tenure as President comes to a close on 30th June, 2016 and in compliance with the provisions of the Rotary leadership, I am required by law to handover the power of President to another person who will occupy the seat.

For me it’s been a very interesting time working with all members of the Rotaract club of Bukoto and I have learnt that,the difference between success and failure is a great team. No matter how smart, talented, driven or passionate, as a leader, your success depends on your ability to build and inspire a team.Each club member’s commitment to a group effort strengthened our team work and the ability to work together.

Since 1st July, 2015 when I assumed office, it has been a learningexperience about the capacities, talents and dispositions of my club members. In the course of offering the leadership we enjoyed the good times and also experienced challenges and frustrations as a team, we have worked closely to achieve the set objectives throughout this Rotary year. We have successfully held weekly developmental and professionally building fellowship meetings, improved the quality of our membership, held a successful swimming gala fundraiser, contributed $400 towards the Rotary Foundation and acquired a Paul Harris Fellow.

In pursuit of fulfilling the third goal of Rotaract: that emphasizes the requirement to address the needs and concerns of the community and our world, the Rotaract club of Bukoto carried out a number of projects. The most popular of all annual Kabutemba literacy project which entailed donation of 30 desks, 6 blackboards, provision of scholastic materials to the students of Kabutemba Infant school,  provision of food stuffs, basic needs and payment of school fees for 3 orphans, a medical camp that treated over 700 people.  This project was successful with great appreciation and gratitude going to Lamudi Uganda that sponsored the swimming gala from which we raised money towards the project and other contributions from PDG Tusubira, his Ann Vice Country Chair Dorcas Tusubira and AG Mike Sebalu.

Second in line was the visit to Essezza Foundation home based in Magere, Gayaza which takes care of marginalized children and youth with physical and facial deformities. The club not only recognized the founder of this home Ms Anne Katuregyefor her humanitarian contribution by awarding her the Vocational award 2015/2016, but also went ahead to support the home through provision of food stuffs, basic needs and purchaseof two sawing machines to develop their tailoring skills for future income generation.

Thirdly the Rotaract club of Bukoto alongside the Rotary club of Bukoto carried out a joint Rotary Family Health Day in October in Mulimira zone in Bukoto suburbs where services on HIV/AID testing, Cancer screening and sensitization, de-worming, immunization, hand washing sensitization, malaria treatment were offered.

Additionally during this Rotary year, other than only having a Mwekuume joint Installation the three Presidents of the Mwekuume Fraternity embarked on carrying out more engaging Mwekuume joint activities. These include; Mwekuume Joint In-house Training, 3 Mwekuume Joint fellowships hosted by each of the clubs, first Mwekuume Vocational Tour at NWSC GgabaPlant and  above all the Mwekuume Joint On-line Hand washing campaign.

Me and my board are handing over the office of President of the Rotaract club of Bukoto with a great sense of fulfillment based on our modest accomplishments at the recently concluded D9211 District Conference & Assembly and Rotaract Country Awards as ; Most Outstanding club in 9211, Most Outstanding Rotaract- Rotary activity in D9211, Most Outstanding Professional and Leadership Development club in D9211, Rotaract Award for Best Performing club in D9211 and  Professional and Leadership Enhancement Award respectively . Surely we did not take Rotaract club of Bukoto to the enviable and lofty heights as we desired and worked rigorously to attain. But certainly we have laid a solid foundation for growth of our club which I believe the succeeding administration will leverage on.

Lastly I congratulate all World Class Presidents that have served this Rotary year with the main goal of being a gift to the world and wish my President Elect Solomon Baguma a great year of  Rotary serving Humanity.

Yours truly 

Sharifa Nanziri

President 2015/2016

Rotaract club of Bukoto 

                                       PROVING YOUR WORTH AS A WOMAN

I give great praise to the Almighty God who created a woman. You must agree with me that a woman is nature’s most beautiful creature regardless of the race, religion, origin, level of education and intellectual understanding.

Without going any further into the religious perspective of this, I want to zero down to the gist of the matter, a woman’s worth. Through the recent world evolution, a woman’s worth has as well evolved to a level that we term as woman emancipation. Question is, “Is a woman’s capabilities, growth and development in the society being valued to optimum despite the existence of woman emancipation?” Take a second and think about it and personally, this is how I see it.

Whatever a woman does, she must do twice as well as a man to be thought half as good. Therefore because you are a woman you must make unusual efforts to succeed. If you fail, no one will say, “She doesn’t have what it takes.” They will say, “Women don’t have what it takes.”

Despite a woman’s beautiful nature, I believe that a woman should be valued for her brains rather than her physical appearance. Many women’s careers have been crumbled, crashed and stepped on by people in superior positions as a failure to comply with unprofessional advances towards them and at the end of the day; they drop out of the race of becoming one of the next best successful persons. 

It takes a woman with great determination, self esteem and great principles to manoeuvre through such hindrances. This is when you see the likes of Hillary Clinton, emerging and rising up as the few successful ones. Have you ever wondered what they have had to endure to get there, how much they have had to prove their worth, how they still have to prove their capability everyday to those they serve?

I applaud Rotary for giving women an equal opportunity to lead and serve their communities as well as men. If we continue to have very many organisations like this, am sure that we shall be moving towards the right direction of gender equality.

President Sharifa

                              What you can do during this Rotary Vocational Month

I congratulate you all upon the successful completion of the previous calendar year 2015 but more specifically in Rotary, I congratulate you upon the completion of the first half of the Rotary year 2015/2016. For the first time in history, the vocational service month will be celebrated this January as opposed to the previously celebrated in October. Allow me share with you more about this month which  focuses on the second avenue of service in Rotary: First and foremost within this month, the  adherence to and promotion of the highest ethical standards in all occupations, including fair treatment of employers, employees, associates, competitors, and the public is very important. Secondly the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, not just those that are pursued by Rotarians and thirdly the contribution of your vocational talents to solving the problems of society and meeting the needs of the community.

During January, Rotarians are encouraged to focus on this important avenue of Rotary service. Discussions on vocational service can lead to projects that not only develop the ethical consciousness and vocational skills of Rotarians but also the talents within their communities. Vocational Service Month is an opportunity to begin year-long vocational service activities, ranging from Rotary discussions to awards to community projects. Following are some suggested activities to undertake during Vocational Service Month:

Devote a meeting in January to examine the second Avenue of Service, including The Four-Way Test and The Declaration of Rotarians in Business and Professions. After expanding members' awareness, solicit their input in planning projects for the remainder of the year.

Introduce a "mini-classifications talk" series in which each member gives a five-minute talk on his or her vocation. Schedule one speaker for the beginning of each meeting until everyone has made a presentation. The purpose of these talks is to promote vocational awareness among Rotarians and help them recognize the worthiness of all useful occupations.

Present a vocational award to someone in the community who has exemplified outstanding professional achievement while maintaining very high ethical standards. Promote the presentation within the community, and consider making it an annual event.

Invite experts to give a presentation on the vocational needs of the community and develop a project in response to those needs. Possible projects could focus on developing character, providing career information to youth, mentoring small businesses, or organizing workshops that provide employees with new skills.

We have got less than two weeks to the end of this Vocational month, the big question is “What have you done to honor it?” With the above tips, I encourage you all to implement at least one to commemorate every vocational month. 

Sharifa Nanziri

President Rotaract club of Bukoto

#Mwekuume15 Handwashing Campaign.

Global Handwashing Day is an annual global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap as an easy, effective, and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives.
It is celebrated annually on October 15, Global Handwashing Day was founded by the Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing, and is an opportunity to design, test, and replicate creative ways to encourage people to wash their hands with soap at critical times.

Global Handwashing Day is designed to:
1.Foster and support a global and local culture of handwashing with soap

2.Shine a spotlight on the state of handwashing around the world.

3.Raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing with soap

The first Global Handwashing Day was held in 2008, when over 120 million children around the world washed their hands with soap in more than 70 countries. Since 2008, community and national leaders have used Global Handwashing Day to spread the word about handwashing, build sinks and tippy taps, and demonstrate the simplicity and value of clean hands. Each year, over 200 million people are involved in celebrations in over 100 countries around the world.

Global Handwashing Day is endorsed by a wide array of governments, international institutions, civil society organizations, NGOs, private companies, and individuals.

The MWEKUUME FRATERNITY in D9211 launched a campaign on 8th October to create awareness in the community about the importance of Hand Washing within the community as a way of celebrating the Global Hand Washing Day.

Breast Cancer Awareness – Rotaract Club of Matopos Chapter

The month of October is universally dedicated to this cause, call it the pink month; a colour that was chosen in the early nineties (90’s) to highlight this cause. You have probably heard about breast cancer, know a person suffering from breast cancer or have lost someone to this cancer, so you definitely already have an idea as to what I am sharing on. Like any other cancer, early detection of the cancer can save a life. However, we are usually caught off guard when the cancer is past its early stages and can therefore not be curbed. The awareness campaign is ideally one whose base is; not just to know about breast cancer but rather detect the cancer at its early stages and encourage others to do the same whether you are male or female.

Many foundations, organizations, bodies’ etcetera have set out to create awareness to the best of their ability. Personally, one group of people have gotten my attention due to their consistent campaign across social media; The Rotaract Club of Matopos (all the way from Zimbabwe in D9210). These Rotaractors have dedicated their month’s activities to creating awareness about breast cancer. Everything they eat, walk, dress, talk is aimed at creating awareness.

To increase breast cancer awareness in Zimbabwe and all over the world, the club is using social media to the best of their ability. With the motto “Weeding out Breast Cancer from the roots”, they are targeting as many people as they can. Some of the hash tags (#) that are being used are #PowerOfPink, #PinkOctober, #ThePinkMove and #PinkMovement (do remember to check them out).

Further to their campaign, there are pod-casts that have been shared by club members to create awareness, something that everyone should listen to; https://soundcloud.com/rotaract-club-of-matopos/sets/breast-cancer-campaign-october-2015-weeding-out-breast-cancer-from-the-roots is one you can start with.

Thando (a member of the Rotaract Club of Matopos) also told me about “Pink Fridays”, Fridays where clubs members post “selfies” wearing something pink. A tweet by @peter_oracle from the same club saying his way of going pink was by getting himself a pink tooth brush; clearly a sign as to how committed he was to the cause. Therefore the next time you see someone putting on pink, do not simply admire the pink, but be reminded about the need to check for breast cancer. So whoever you are, whatever you are doing, join the pink cause during this month and let’s create awareness about breast cancer; but most importantly do remember to check your self-first (at least once a month).

How can you do that; here are 5 steps to an effective self-checkup as per the Breast Cancer Organization on http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/testing/types/self_exam/bse_steps

Step 1: Begin by looking at your breasts in the mirror with your shoulders straight and your arms on your hips. Here's what you should look for:

• Breasts that are their usual size, shape, and color
• Breasts that are evenly shaped without visible distortion or swelling

  If you see any of the following changes, bring them to your doctor's attention:

• Dimpling, puckering, or bulging of the skin
• A nipple that has changed position or an inverted nipple (pushed inward instead of sticking out)
• Redness, soreness, rash, or swelling

Step 2: Now, raise your arms and look for the same changes.

 Step 3: While you're at the mirror, look for any signs of fluid coming out of one or both nipples (this could be a watery, milky, or yellow fluid or blood).

Step 4: Next, feel your breasts while lying down, using your right hand to feel your left breast and then your left hand to feel your right breast. Use a firm, smooth touch with the first few finger pads of your hand, keeping the fingers flat and together. Use a circular motion, about the size of a quarter. Cover the entire breast from top to bottom, side to side — from your collarbone to the top of your abdomen, and from your armpit to your cleavage.

Follow a pattern to be sure that you cover the whole breast. You can begin at the nipple, moving in larger and larger circles until you reach the outer edge of the breast. You can also move your fingers up and down vertically, in rows, as if you were mowing a lawn. This up-and-down approach seems to work best for most women. Be sure to feel all the tissue from the front to the back of your breasts: for the skin and tissue just beneath, use light pressure; use medium pressure for tissue in the middle of your breasts; use firm pressure for the deep tissue in the back. When you've reached the deep tissue, you should be able to feel down to your ribcage.

Step 5: Finally, feel your breasts while you are standing or sitting. Many women find that the easiest way to feel their breasts is when their skin is wet and slippery, so they like to do this step in the shower. Cover your entire breast, using the same hand movements described in step 4.

Step 6 – Yes, I said they were 5; the 6^th is create awareness, spread the message and advise your friends to do the same.

“Let’s weed breast cancer out from the roots”

The taxi grind

The word "taxi" varies in meaning given your location on this vast planet of ours. However to a person living in the CBD, Kampala and its surrounding areas, it is simply associated with a fourteen sitter passenger vehicle that enables one move from place to place (of course it does, why else would it be a taxi?). Taxis in Kampala have been associated with chaos, disorderliness, indiscipline, to mention but a few. But why is it this way, I ask myself? Could it be that everyone who drives a taxi gets these traits or do we all have these waiting for an opportune time?.

At 8:00pm on a random evening, I stood in the taxi park with a number of people waiting to get taxis to head home. After a long day's work, the thought of getting home was top of my list, and what I wouldn't do to achieve this. What I wouldn’t do.

My thoughts were cut short by the flash lights of a taxi that had just arrived, and the outcry of the word “Kajjansi” by the taxi tout just made me lighten up. This was however blocked by the horde that rushed past me as I strode majestically towards the taxi.

As the door opened, I stood in awe, I looked on as drama unfolded, what some people call "katemba ataali musasulile" (luganda isn’t my first language and neither is it my second, so I will just leave the spelling to you).

I had been to a boys' school, break time was basically what one could term as “survival for the fittest”. With 3 canteens to serve a population of over slightly 1000 pupils within twenty minutes, you either stood up to the challenge, asked a friend to help you or simply forget about taking a snack from the canteen. The options were limited. Sweater on, money placed in your shirt pocket or any other place where one would easily access it once you made it through the mammoth of students to get to the canteen window; the battle to pave a way was officially on. We called it "nkonde" it was not about the small or the big, the weak or the strong but the strategist. I had witnessed "nkonde" of all sorts (of course I am not mentioning the option I opted for), but what stood before me now in the taxi park was a completely different play field, one I could not relate with. There were people of all walks of life struggling to get into the taxi. The woman with a baby pushing against a student well built at that (he could pass for a bouncer if it wasn’t for the uniform) who with one push would throw her and her baby flying. The nun standing out because of her veil fighting off a rather well suited up gentleman. The drunken guy staggering (probably had one too many) and struggling to find his balance yet being pushed away by everyone and seemingly the easiest target to everyone. It was no longer about who did what or who was who, clearly everyone wanted to go home and the how had already been answered. When everyone was done with the pushing and fighting, there was one seat left, and clearly the Lord had heard my silent plea, no need whatsoever to fight, but rather calmly take my seat and head home.

This was about ten years ago! How time rushes. Now I stood with the same challenge at hand. The dynamics had changed, I had rubbed shoulders with both sides of the coin; single and mixed schools, I was proudly a product of the only hall at Makerere University (silently whispers to self; “Gentility with a purpose”), I had joined Rotaract and the four way test and goals of Rotaract were running through my mind, age was definitely no longer “just a number” too much was at steak and yet I needed to go home. Should I, or should I not? I thought to myself….. As I kept thinking of what to do as of when the taxi showed up, the taxi flashed its lights, it was like a “Deja vu “. Would this play out as it had done so many years ago?

“Chief, will you be going to work today?” shouted my younger brother. I had been dreaming, the taxi lights flashing had been a result of him opening the curtains to the window. The question now lingered in my mind….”what would I do given the situation had actually been realized?” what would you do?

Tax at Bukoto

It’s either about Uncle Barry (POTUS Barack Obama) visiting Kenya and Ethiopia (a fact no one is talking about given that he blasted the presidents), Hon Mbabazi's ambitious presidential bid (which now seems like a joke) or Hon Byandala heading to the coolers (someone had to take the bullet, willingly or not). There is practically the same news in town, nothing much to muse about. Why not give you an insight of what happened at fellowship?

Wednesday is the day the Rotaract Club of Bukoto has its fellowship, and this week the tangerines buddy group took the horns by the cow, or should I say a cow by its horns. Oh well, either way, it was a fellowship that was a worthwhile.

In the president's absence, IPP Zahara chaired fellowship, and this she did well. With the Rotaract norms, make ups & visits, introductions and Rotary information out of the way, it was time for the guest speaker to indulge us on the topic of Tax as was expected of him.

A past interact president in his high school days and later on a secretary for the Rotaract club of Uganda Martyrs Nkozi, the question everyone asked was why this man had quit the Rotaract family.

Edgar from KPMG went on to take us through indirect and direct taxes before diving into the Income Tax Act and the Value Added Tax Act to discuss the various taxes levied in Uganda as summarized below;

Pay as You Earn, is levied on individuals and is the obligation of the employer based on the residency status of the individual and the amount of money they earn.

Corporation tax is levied on companies on all business income after allowable expenses as described by the Income Tax Act.

Withholding tax is an advance tax and is the responsibility of the person making a payment to the supplier.

Value Added Tax is an indirect tax that is levied based on the nature of the supply and can be standard rated, zero rated or exempt as per the provisions of the Value Added Tax Act.

The talk about Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) got many by surprise given its necessity and importance in the days that lay ahead.

Rotarian Solomon from mother club gave the vote of thanks and awarded the guest speaker with a certificate of recognition from the club.

July babies were then celebrated. Cake was on the house and celebrations were in order. P.P Amina and Hellen from the club were joined by P.E Martin of Kyambogo for the cake cutting.

The final toast followed shortly, and fellowship was done.

A round of applause to all our guests who joined from the various Rotaract Clubs.

Do join us next week for another fun and informative fellowship.