TRT News
Tag Rugby Trust Tour Season 2010 gets underway in Uganda
on Jun 28 in News, Tour, Uganda tagged by RuckinRugbyMuli Mutia banyabo ne basebo (you’re just going to have to find a Ugandan to work it out !!!)
It’s fantastic to be back in Uganda, reunited with our local employees and volunteers and hearing stories of their work with Tag Rugby over the last year first hand, the highlight of which must be the Grand Kampala Tournament featuring 24 teams held two weeks ago. Since the group arrived in Uganda on Friday morning (is it really only 3 days ago !) they have had the opportunity to acclimatise and familiarise themselves with Ugandan ways (which included a push start for our normally reliable bus !). They have felt the heat of the sun, tasted the hearty local food (Goat, fish and chicken all with matoke, g-nut and doh doh), walked around the town of Jinja, settled into their new homes for the week (tents !) and provided endless amusement for the locals when hand-washing their clothes (badly !)
There are plenty of tasks to complete during the first few days of a Tour. Kit, of which we had 17 bags full, (thanks to British Airways and Ian Allen Travel for our generous luggage allowance) needs to be sorted, counted and arranged into group bags. TRT Rugby Coaching Leader, Aidan Botten, ran a “coach the coach” session with a difference … before hand everyone had to learn the Ugandan terms for basics instructions they will need with the 1000+ children they will coach in the schools this week (well done Lara – reportedly top of the class). Naturally, this ended in a “friendly” tag match where Tag Rugby novice Meg scored a last gasp winning try in the corner when the teams were locked at 9 – 9 !
Rafting in Uganda with TRT
It hasn’t all been hard work. Most of the group took the opportunity to take a dip in the River Nile by way of a rafting trip – not only is it a very long river, it has some very impressive / scary rapids !
We try to plan our trips as thoroughly as we can, but sometimes things come along that you just can’t plan for … like the birthday celebrations for the Chairman of Jinja Nile Rugby Club (our hosts for the week). An evening of music, dancing around the camp fire (where our Indian volunteer Rajeev brought the house down !) and one or two refreshments were enjoyed ! So it has been a great start … everyone has got to know their fellow Tourists as well as members of the local community and are raring to go.
As I type, the group are all running their first sessions in their schools – we’ll be in touch later in the week with an update prior to Tournament Day on Friday, but we hope you enjoy these images of the trip so far.
Comments
Bwali
Jul 8th, 2010It was great having you in Jinja and spreading the beautiful game. Through your programe children have been attracted to school with the game especially in Walukuba area where the game is new. I shall continue supporting you with all the plans that you will come up with to BUILD THE FUTURE OF PEOPLE THROUGH RUGBY
Bwali
Jul 8th, 2010Thanks for spreading the beautiful game
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