ROTARACT CLUB OF KAMPALA WEST

Issue 4

Western Times
we mean rotaract

September 2013

ROTARACT CLUB OF KAMPALA WEST | 2013

IN THIS ISSUE

Editors Note
Hi people, I hope you are all well after a rather busy first quarter of the Rotary year. It is amazing how time goes by really fast especially when you are having a good time, like we are at Kampala West! If you missed our vocational tour to Kakira you want to continue reading to the end, what an experience it was. Kampala West fielded a winning team for the Cancer Run so we share some insights on that as well. As we go through this Youth Service month the President has some special nuggets for yall tweeps and pweeps and warreva LOL; oba do you catch my drift? This and more in this issue of The Western Times. So read on and enjoy.

Vocational Tour to Kakira

Learning, fun, chicken, rain and more fun!

Page 3

Bright Onapito Public Relations Director and Chief Editor Rotaract Club of Kampala West

Ivan Tells Tales

Vocation through the eyes of Ivan Kalungi

Proudly sponsored by the Rotary Club of Kampala West

Page 3

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society. So let me share with you a few pointers I read recently, on how young people can make the make the most of this phase: Spend 25% less than you make. Talent is overrated; you need to put in the hard work. Speak up, not out. Read more books, less tweets and texts. Your reputation is priceless, dont damage it. Youth is the trustee of prosperity so lets tell young people the best books are yet to written; the best painting, the best government the best of everything is yet to be done by them. Benjamin Disraeli, John Erskine

Presidents Remarks

Rotaractor of the Month

And the winner is

Finally, let me thank Kakira sugar Factory and the Madhvani Group, more so, Mr. Kenneth Barungi and Rtn Winnie for allowing us to explore the dreams to reality story of a young man, Muljibhai Madhvani. We really had an amazing vocational tour and were truly inspired. Have fun reading The Western Times as we share our youthful engagement of Rotary, in a bid to change lives. Emmanuel Wanyama President, Country Projects Coordinator 2013-2014 Rotaract Club of Kampala West

Its September, the Youth Service Month, I beam with pride as the President of an award winning Club for the best Rotaract-Rotary Partnership. This month as we champion the generation mix between Rotary, Rotaract and Interact, we should reflect on the fourth and fifth goals of Rotaract. That is, to provide opportunities to work with sponsoring Rotary Clubs and to motivate young people for eventual membership in Rotary. The youth need to look up to the older generation for mentorship and seek to not only sustain but surpass their achievements. As a club, we shall celebrate the month with joint activities with the mother club as we hope to grow the bond between mother and child. I also welcome you back from the marathon, the fact that cancer patients experience 1000 times more pain, than I felt in my joints after the run, shows the worthiness of this cause as well as the sacrifices we have to make. As we go through this youthful phase in life we need to make the most of it, our time is now; research shows that its between the ages of 25 to 35 that individuals make the biggest life jumps in earnings, career, business and

Betty Maraka (left) and Caroline Muwonge (right): Two of our newest KWest crew ______________________________________ Contributors: Betty Maraka Bright Onapito Caroline Agaba Emmanuel Wanyama Ivan Kalungi Rachel Nabwire

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their children. As such it has led to very poor mentorship.

Ivan Tells Tales

By

Ivan Kalungi

As Rotaractors, our goal to provide hope to the community through the skill we have acquired from our different vocations like taking the unprivileged children of Masulita through a reading, spelling and writing exercise has put a brick on these children's lives, which is shown through their letters of appreciation.

A Day in Kakira
By

Caroline Agaba

I love road trips! The idea of leaving everything behind if only for a moment! Watching the road fade in the rear view mirror as different landscapes fleet bytheres just something about this that I love. When I was growing up mum always told me that tough times come and go but the tough men stay. On the other hand dad said that what makes a man is what he stands for and not what he falls for, not forgetting jjajja who says that from whom much is taken much is given. Vocation and talent are two different words that are synonymous and contribute to the same sphere of thought and understanding. Like charity that begins at home, vocations are conventional practices that we pick throughout the years we take through school. This is magnified by the skill of understanding and comprehension that we express after our graduation. Simple things like first aid lessons, changing a car tyre, painting practice, taekwondo, karate and ballet dance classes are those that build our confidence as children to the level of us getting the guts to decide what we want to be and represent in life. To every magnitude of something- either big or small, there is always a beginning, that is, parents attitude ,employers influence, work environment, and so on are a big influence as well to our vocations and skills at the end of the day. However so many times this has not come to manifest since times have changed now that parents hardly spend any time with On the other side one would argue that why would a prominent farmer in the country side after a long stretch of toil insist on taking his child to law school when there is a whole faculty of agriculture which field this child entirely knows through experience? I guess may be Mukwano, Madhvani, Toyota, Suzuki and Tata will have a better judgment on this. Before I leave let us not be victims of our times and prodigies of our age. Times have changed; the youth should therefore emphasize more on expressing themselves by what they can do other than what they assume to know. The reason why Africa has remained behind is because we spend most of our time looking for our opportunities which gets our ambitious emotions drained. I remain yours truly. President Elect, Membership Director, Rotaract Club of Kampala West I havent been on a road trip in a while, let alone out of town so I have been having an itch to just get away. The journey to Kakira wouldnt count as a road trip but an opportunity to get out of town was just as good, so when my Rotaract club came up with this idea of a vocational tour to Kakira,I was in all the way, heart and soul. The journey was planned to start at 8:00AM but in typical Ugandan fashion we set off much later. I was worried our hosts for the day wouldnt take us seriously for arriving late but it turned out I had no need to worry. We had a warm VIP welcome on arrival, a welcome that showed they had put a lot of thought to our visit. We were welcomed with an eagerness that surprised me but also showed me how willing they were to share their world with us.

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The boardroom was well set up and the Assistant to the Manager was more than ready with a power point presentation to take us through everything that Kakira/Madhvani was about.

The presentation was not only captivating but thoroughly educational and many were engrossed in it with active participation from the members. It lasted about two hours and then a team of process engineers was invited to show us around the factory. In youth speak I must say these guys were cool peoples. They were friendly and made the factory tour that much more fun for us.

The return journey was even more exhilarating. Talk about after fellowship on the bus! You just had to be there to know how awesome it was. With different wannabe DeeJays taking turns to DJ using Innovative Spinning Technology-IST ( OK, that doesnt exist but surely thank God for smart phones) led by our one and only (real) DJ Betty. Blow Blow Blow! The trip was pleasantly awesome and we were asked to spread the word about Kakira. More Rotaract clubs are more than welcome to tour the factory and learn from the Kakira/Madhvani success story. International Serivce Director Rotaract Club of Kampala West

Kakira Vocation Tour in Pictures

The next part of the plan was lunch on the salacious Linya hill. Unfortunately the gods decided to bless us with a heavy downpour and the bus couldnt make it through the mud. The boys took this opportunity to show their muscles as they tried to push it through, this had some of the girls squealing with delight at the idea of having real men as part of our club. We also didnt get to enjoy Linya hill to the fullest and we revenged by downing the lunch wholeheartedly. The food was great and worth the hole it put in the clubs coffers; prepared by chefs from Chobe Lodge. Lots of friendly banter was exchanged throughout lunch and the ambience and mood were awesome despite the cold. Finally time to say goodbye came. Speeches were given as well as Kakira sweets and business cards exchanged.

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of unofficial ones, I have been to a service project, board meeting, club assembly and I must say Rotaract is alive and well and changing lives. Being able to see how each club goes out, charting its own course and making strides in the business of humanity while giving its members a worthwhile Rotaract experience is indeed something of a marvel. I must say it takes a while to adjust to the new titles and some people still call me President, I too forget to respond to the new ones. So once again I find myself with a full schedule. Being a member of both Country and District teams, not to mention the numerous committees I have somehow found myself on (Are you planning for RIPAY 2013, thinking of DCA 2014?). Quite Frankly I do not mind! I am settling in just fine; just had one of my mentees inducted, up to date with the ins and outs of my 8 clubs and meeting (possibly exceeding) my obligations as a member of KWest. I should say I have no complaints whatsoever!

From Presidential Service to IPP and More

By Rachel Nabwire

The Run started and ended at Kololo Airstrip. The different routes for the three categories 5km, 10km and 21 km were mapped around the Kololo area. The Run was graced by the presence of IAAF Marathon World Champion Stephen Kiprotich. Kip arrived incognito but was mobbed by photo hungry fans immediately he was recognized. Among other notable attendees were the Speaker of the national parliament, Hon. Rebecca Kadaga who was also the chief runner, golfers Flavia Namakula and Deo Akope and the Uganda Cranes led by head coach Milutin Sredojevic. The Rotaract Club of Kampala West was well represented in the race and even better represented at the breakfast by hosted by Shell Uganda thanks to our Mother Club. Over 7000 people participated in the run this year. Main Sponsors were PEPSI (sinking 140 million Uganda Shillings) and Centenary bank. Other sponsors were; CAA, Parliament of Uganda, Rwenzori Beverages and Shell Uganda

IPP, ADDR D9211 2013-2014 Rotaract Club of Kampala West

On the 21st of June 2013 I handed over the chain to fourth President Emmanuel Wanyama. And with just 9 days to the end of the Rotary year, I had completed my mandate. Now in the two months and a half that I have been IPP (Immediate Past President) I must say quite a bit has changed. For anyone who has served as President you know what a full schedule you have; lots to do and so little time. Of course you delegate but you still have to follow up. Going through the work plan I noted what my mandate would be as IPP, and went about scheduling my tasks. No more busy presidential schedule, just specific roles. Wow now I was going to really rest! I guess I spoke too soon. Having been appointed as ADRR (Assistant District Rotaract Representative) to 8 clubs my duty was spelled out, but like IPP Nicholas says it cant be half as hard as being President, right? Having made contact with 'my clubs' through their Presidents I was ready and rearing to go. This will probably keep me very busy this year because in just a month I have had 3 official visits to some of my clubs and plenty

The Cancer Run as I saw it

By Betty Maraka

The Second annual Rotary Run against Cancer took place on Sunday 25th August 2013. The purpose of this run is to raise

additional funds to complete the building of the Rotary Centenary Cancer Center at St. Francis Hospital NsambyaKampala, Uganda. The 32-bed ward once complete is estimated to cost 1.1 billion Uganda Shillings. Up to 600 million to date has been collected.

Club Member Rotaract Club of Kampala West

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wrecking. According to history, nearly 20 million slaves went through this strategic island. The Door of no return as it was referred to marked the last memory of Africa for any slave passing through this island. As the name suggests, it was a one-way path and ticket to sadness and misery. I was not going to let this somber history ruin my adventures, so I moved on to witness Senegalese art voodoo. With just sand of different shades, a few strokes of the paint brush and wind, anyone would be amazed to see how a painting can be drawn in under 10 minutes with almost no effort! This was surely the signature of Goree Island. There were lots of souvenirs and other artifacts for sale on the island so I indulged myself. I should say that Dakar is city where the sun sleeps. The sunset over the Atlantic Ocean is a breath-taking experience! Sitting by the ocean sipping a Virgin Colada and eating extremely sumptuous pizza in the calm of the evening was definitely something. Sadly, it was time for me to leave after a busy week in Dakar. I was treated to the famous Teranga (meaning Hospitality in Wolof, the main ethnic group in Senegal) and honestly I must say Africa is a blessed continent in spite of the many issues we face. The people of Senegal are definitely among the nicest I have encountered throughout my African adventures. Because of that, I am in love with Dakar!

I Fell in Love with Dakar

By The Editor

Had you beaten us, I would have made sure you didnt get a visa!, joked my host as he welcomed me at Leopold Sedar Senghor International airport, with respect to the World Cup qualifier match recently played in Morocco. I couldnt imagine being sent back after enduring 14 hours of flight. Dakar is such a beautiful city bursting with all sorts of people and activity. Everyone seems to be jogging on the streets by the ocean in the evenings. When I inquired, I was told Senegalese like to be fit and look good. It is no wonder that for all the time I was there I hardly saw anyone out of shape. The men are built, lean and tall. The women are something to marvel about; the true definition of African beauty queens! A visit to Dakar is not complete without taking the ferry across the Atlantic ocean to the tiny but rich-in- (in)famous-history island of Goree. Being a UNESCO heritage site, the buildings on the island have been maintained in their original state when the Portuguese first landed here in the 1600s. They still use donkeys and no cars allowed on the island! It sent my mind racing back to the West African history I learned in Olevel of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Listening to the island guide about how slaves were treated and abused is nothing short of heart

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Cancer Run Pictorial

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