M.Takel
Following the success of the Uganda 2000
trip it has always been my hope, together with Chris Boorman, Fran Salussolia,
(with her idea to return to the village of, and school in, Lukataime) and
lately Julian Sore and Rob Turnbull, to return to Uganda to further the links
and friendships that we made. It was after Nick Winter made it his intention
to run another Explorer belt in Uganda that he and I talked about our hopes
and started to turn our thoughts into reality.
Communication has been the main obstacle in pushing these plans forward. Each
of my letters to Soroti went unanswered, undelivered or took months to receive
the return communication. I began to realise that, if we were to really go
forward with a return visit, I would need to go to Uganda and talk to the
people in Soroti and find ways and means to communicate in a better and faster
way than before. Nick and I talked about Elgon and Mbale. We both felt that
we should offer the town of Mbale their own contingent. Therefore we now had
possible visits to Soroti, Lukataime, Mbale and explorer belt. October's meeting
had also thrown in a possible visit to Tororo, and lately a wish for a contingent
to Masindi. On January 9th 2002 Rob Turnbull, Julian Sore and myself flew
to Uganda for a whistle stop tour of Kampala, Mbale, Soroti, Kamuli, Jinja
and back to Kampala. We met the Chief Commissioner, Victoria Namussissi and
the Assistant Chief Commissioner, Joseph Ameete at the Kaazi training centre.
We informed them of our known intentions and possible intentions. Victoria
had some foreknowledge due to the fact that I had been in communication with
her for some time. She assigned the former DistrictCommissioner (Scouts) of
Mbale, Hajji Musana, to accompany us around the districts. His presence allowed
us to arrange meetings and contacts in advance, and without his help we would
probably still be looking for everything. It is a lesson for those planning
to go to Uganda in advance of their projects.
Victoria also warned us that hardly any progress has been made in the districts
since our visit in 2000. The Chairman in Soroti agreed there had been little
progress with the scout site. Most of the trees that were planted there were
dead or uprooted by itinerant farmers using the land to grow crops. Unless
there was a 'caretaker' in place on that land there is unlikely to be any
progress in that direction. I have emailed the Chairman to ascertain how much
it would cost to install and maintain a caretaker. However, a positive result
of our visit was the installation of one of the younger leaders, Apollo Ambrose,
as assistant DEC (subject to Soroti scout council approval). The leaders seem
very keen on the idea of a 2003 contingent visit and the very fact that we
have email contact will help to ensure that the proper plans are put into
place.
Mbale, on the other hand, dealt with the possible 2003 visit in a far more formal way. We were taken to the Scout office first, then to the Area Administrator's office. He seemed very enthusiastic about a Scout visit in 2003. It turns out that he was a Scout himself in his younger days. We reminded him that once a Scout, always a Scout, and he promised his assistance in facilitating the projected visit in 2003. We further went on to talk to all the local education people. As most of their Scout Troops are based in schools they felt that they had an interest in the visit. They promised full support, and that they would ensure security and location were up to standard. We agreed that any community project would be of their choosing but they were reminded that it should not involve the group for more than 5 days out of the ten days visit. This would allow both groups of Scouts to follow other activities. I certainly felt that Mbale will approach U2003 in a very positive way. The only 'fly in the ointment' was the lack of email facility. However they felt that they could work on this problem. As usual it is the problem of funding and telephone lines. Until such time that we have direct contact, all emails and communication will go through Kampala.
We then moved on to Kamuli. We had a contact in Kamuli in the form of the District Security Officer. But again, Hajji made contact with the DEC and the Training Commissioner in advance and we met up at the DSO's office for a discussion. Kamuli district were extremely happy, not only to host the Explorer belt, but to assist in the project at Lukataime. Our trip up country to Lukataime was an eventful one but a resounding success. I do not wish to get into too much detail as regards to Lukataime as this will be Fran and Julian's opportunity to expand on their plans at the meeting. (See Contacts page for link to the Lukataime project)
The trip ended by returning to Kampala. After a visit to the Baby orphanage ( where some of the Beaver and Cub uniforms, pens and toys sent in 2000 were distributed) and gave our reports to Victoria.
M.Takel