________________

It was a night of resounding excitement for Rotarians at Lugogo Cricket Oval in Kampala as they celebrated scores in service to humanity on Saturday (March 30, 2024). 

Engulfed in a volley of delight, ecstatic dance was irresistible for many of the Rotarians as Afrigo Band legends and Maddox Ssematimba, among others, took them on a tough ride with live performances.

The event dubbed: Gather For Impact, coincided with the TRF (the Rotary Foundation) recognition dinner.

The key highlight for the Rotarians to celebrate was the grace to donate shillings 1.5 billion ($400,000) to the Rotary Foundation (TRF) to finance projects that change life.

“We are here to celebrate as Rotarians the significant contribution to our bank called Rotary Foundation. The TRF is the one which finances the Rotary projects in Uganda and Tanzania plus other parts of the world," Francisco Ssemwanga, the Rotary governor of district 9214, said.

“We are grateful to our partners in organising this event, the Swangz Avenue and others, to celebrate service to humanity,” he added.

Rotary clubs in Uganda are estimated to be about 400 actively engaged in various community service projects to help the Government address challenges such as inadequate sanitation, water scarcity, education, and healthcare services.

Rotarians' dedication, Ssemwanga said, has helped to improve the lives of many Ugandans and positively impacted communities.

“The problems are many in these countries, which are still growing like Uganda. Women are still delivering in poor health facilities, there is still a great need for better schools, and many other things. So, as Rotary, we know the Government cannot solve all those problems alone which makes our support necessary,” he said.

The target, according to Ssemwanga, is to contribute $450,000 this Rotary year and they are still going with the contribution drive to achieve the balance of $50,000 (about shillings 194 million).

The International Rotary president (2023-2024), Gordon McInally, has since rallied Rotary to create hope in the world by working for peace and mental well-being.

He has urged members to engage in tough conversations and earn the trust that’s necessary to realise these values.

Ssemwanga announced the provision of basic education as the priority of his year of service.

Rotarians join Hon. Racheal Magola (extreme R) on stage to groove to the famous ‘obangaina’ hit. This was during the gather for impact event that was organized by district 9214 with an aim to contribute funds to the Rotary Foundation at Cricket Oval Lugogo Kampala on March 30, 2024. (All Photos by Lawrence Mulondo)

He has since implored the Rotary membership in Uganda and Tanzania to contribute towards the construction of schools, facilitate scholarships for the education of needy children, and support with lunch at schools, among others.

Supporting USE school

Accompanied by governor of district 9213 Edward Kakembo Nsubuga and several past governors of both districts, Ssemwanga expressed gratitude that Rotarians have achieved a number of signature projects in line with the theme of his leadership.

“At Kitara Secondary School, a Universal Secondary [Education] (USE) school in Wakiso district, Rotarians have built a stored classroom block and all the clubs have something they have individually done in the area of education,” he said.

Several Rotarians were recognised and pinned accordingly for contributing to TRF more than $1,000.

The Rotary year 2023/2024 ends in the next three months. In conformity with Rotary global rules, the end of June brings a global change of leadership in over 34,000 Rotary clubs and the new leaders underline programmes or projects in line with the world president’s theme.

The proceeds from the event, according to Faruk Busulwa, the TRF country chair, were dedicated to Kitara Secondary School to further support it in achieving among others necessary infrastructure.

To access the event which attracted performances from the Afrigo Band, Maddox Ssematimba, Azawi, among other local artistes, each Rotarian contributed a specific amount to the cause of supporting the school.

According to Busulwa, the school located less than 40kms from the capital Kampala, at the start of the Rotary year they discovered that it lacked any classroom blocks made of concrete and they were using papyrus to demarcate their classrooms.

“When we visited it with the governor, we felt that we should start with the school since it was even nearby. We have been helping schools far away from Kampala forgetting that even schools near Kampala are in a sorry state,” he said.

He added; “This year alone we have supported over 50 schools with rehabilitation, equipping laboratories, lunch, among others. In the health sector, we have implemented the ambulance project where we have donated Tuktuk ambulances to the villages, we have implemented projects in the malaria fight and supported Rotary Cancer Run.”