Mwekuume Installation Awards

Upon the invite to attend the dinner, a friend of mine kept inquiring what the theme was for the day, and being a pseudo-organizer, all I could say was, “as per now, there isn’t one, but let me get back to you” till the final day when I strongly informed her that all she had to do was come dressed elegantly. To my surprise, she did more than that.

Due to my earlier engagements, I got to the venue late but a blessing in disguise it was. What my eyes bedazzled me was an astounding scene as I entered into the hall responding to my president’s call for the board. To make it to the front without tripping, I applaud myself.

Ladies and gentlemen allow me recognize the personalities that added a touch of glamour to it, to be precise a few ladies that gave the evening a chic touch.

Lady of the night, I know, I know, I know…..lady of the night has always been associated with a topic that we are not going to talk about. President Zahara Mpaata is one I award Lady of the Night. Having tirelessly steered the club for a year and achieved all that she could do, I can only but say congratulations president, you have fought the good fight.

Voice of the night, every time the band got to sing, there was that voice that had a touch of immensity to it. President Mellanie from the Rotaract Club of Mulago (yes, she is a Rotaractor and a President) was the lady behind the voice, to award this to someone else would truly be an act of treachery. President Mellanie, I will be sending some of my club members for a few lessons.

Lady in red, if you have listened to the song lady in red by Chris De Burgh, you know very well that one of the awards has to go to a lady in red. There were a number of ladies in red which makes this harder than it should be, but with a touch of elegance, President Loyola of Kampala Ssese Islands takes this award. And yes, I managed to steal a photo moment with her and No, I never got to dance with her. President Loyola, thank you for gracing our function.

Dame creative, this award goes to the most creative ladies of the night, I say ladies because it’s a duo-award, personally I cannot make a choice between these two, maybe you will help me, Past President Racheal Nabwire of Kampala West and President Elect Annita Mukundane of Bugoolobi were spectacular in their attires as they strode away from the habitual ‘dinner dress code’ and opted for something out of the conventional. Ladies bravo!!!!

Smartest lady of the night, you may agree or you may not, but there is something about a lady dressed in black to a dinner event; and since it’s me awarding,  Rtr Ruth Ninsiima from Bukoto, I can gladly say, from the reviews I have received, no one deserves this award more than you.

The list is endless but for now, let me get back to the awarding committee for more awards.

An insightful presentation on Monitoring and Evaluation: Guest Speaker at Rotaract club of Bukoto on 15/4/2015

In life, the greatest things are achieved through sharing knowledge.
On 15/4/2015, Rotaract club of Bukoto hosted its President Elect, 2014/2015 to give a talk about her field of work, speciality,experience and profession in Monitoring and Evaluation.
She is a young lady, self motivated and has her eyes on career development and self actualization

Well done Ms.Nanziri Sharifa

Mwekume Joint Installation15

Its with great pleasure that the Mwekume Family invites you to their annual joint installation of President Elects of:

1.Rotaract club of Bukoto - Ms. Sharifa Nanziri

2. Rotaract club of Kyambogo - Bbosa Collins

3.Rotaract club of Rubaga -  Chandia

It will take place at Silver springs hotel on 29th May, 2015 @ 6:00p.m.
Fee : shs. 40,000 per head.

Kabutemba 2015

It's one dayleft. # KABUTEMBA15 . Rotaract Club of Bukoto Initiative. COME CHANGE LIVES. Only 30k. Be a gift to the world. Sacrifice those 6 beers and change hundreds
of lives. We await your attendance. LIGHT UP ROTARY.

Charter Night Celebrations

Rotaract Club of Bukoto, proudly sponsored by the Rotary Club of Bukoto made two years in Service on the 16th of November, 2014.
Appreciation to all those that were with us during this celebration. It wouldnt have been a success without you.

Second Annual Swimming Gala

The swimming gala is a fundraising event organised by Rotaract Club of Bukoto. It will take place at Le'Grande Hotel Bwaise on 1st November, 2014 starting from 12:00 hours. Come and participate...
Proceeds go towards the Kabutemba Literacy Project.

Luigi Giussani High School Project, a story like no other.

3:57 pm on Sunday 13^th of September, 2014 clocked as I was gazing at the beautiful building surrounded by magnificent scenery in the compound of Luigi Giussani High School (call it LGHS). Dumbfounded by the architecture of the building, the finishes to the structure and the detail to cover every aspect you could think about (be it the light from the sun) I stood in awe. I was only wondering why we were at this place and what kind of project we were going to do. Were we here to offer scholastic material, start an interact club or talk to the students of the school? I had many questions running through my head. But having escorted mother club for their project, I simply looked on as I awaited further information about the project. By the looks on the faces of the Rotaractors and Rotarians, I could tell many had questions but no one wanted to judge. We stood in the compound as we awaited the DHL team.

Our colleagues from DHL later arrived and we were ready to start on the project. I had seen the program, and few speeches were lined up, I hoped that someone was going to explain to us what kind of project this was. Probably, the various questions people had would be answered.

The Director of the school (an Italian gentleman) then invited us to take a tour with him around as we headed for the main hall which was a few flights of stairs above. He had to explain to us what the school was about, and why it was as it was. His opening remarks, “this school is beautiful and clean, and we wish to keep it that way” later followed by “we hope to take in as many children from the slums of Kireka as we can” hit me hard. I could now tell partly what the project was about but I did not figure out why the kind of structure (triple storied building spanning over 100 meters in length) that was very aesthetically appealing.  Further to this, how were these children going to keep the structure as tidy (considering the various schools I have visited, this seemed impossible).

As we ascended, we couldn’t help but notice the paintings in the buildings, replicas of paintings hang on the walls. “The calling of St Mathew by Caravaggio” is one of the paintings that had been hung. These were paintings that had been purposely placed to remind the students every day of their purpose and value. They were paintings that had value (a word we later got to learn had a big role in the school). In addition to this, was a painting of Father Luigi, a person after whom the school had been built, his painting also had a story to it (a story for another day).

On arrival into the main hall, we were received by students who were singing happily and cheerfully a song in a language we were not familiar with. But looking at the people singing, and how they were singing, we were sure they were happy to receive us. “Wiki, wiki……wiki, wiki” are words I remember from the song. It was here that the story about LGHS was told to us by one of the ladies from AVSI (one of the bodies behind the project).

Having been displaced during the war in northern Uganda by the LRA, many ladies were moved to a slum in Kireka now known as the Acholi village because of the language being spoken there. Many of the women had not only lost their loved ones during the war, but also contracted HIV AIDS. Many of these women viewed life as meaningless because of their state. The coming of AVSI into their lives was a life changing opportunitiy for these people. AVSI presented hope to these people, not in monetary means per say, but rather teaching them about the value of life. What they had, and what they meant to those around them.

The women in this area began viewing life differently, they began using available resources to make a living. They also began appreciating the use of ARVs to help them live a better life.

At one point after Hurricane Katrina, these ladies collected the little they had, others went to the streets to beg, and after collecting what they could; they approached their coordinator with AVSI and asked her to take their collections to the people affected by the hurricane. All they had to say was as much as we have little, those people need help too.

But with all of this, they wanted their children to have a better life than theirs, they wanted their children to study from good schools, to have access to facilities like all other children did. It was a dream they longed for.

To achieve this dream, the women of Acholi village started making paper beads, these they sold in the European market with the help of AVSI at a 15 – 20 Euros a piece, 48,000 pieces were made. The money from these sales contributed majorly to the setting up of LGHS. Donations were received to complete the school and their children had the gift of a school before them. Their dream was realized and the women can proudly say, they contributed to their children’s future.

LGHS is a school that has been built on a basis of “value”, everything about it is related to value. It is a school where the children not only go to read and pass exams, but rather realize the value of education to life. To make the best of the opportunity presented to them.  It is a school where the chair and the table have value.