TRT News

Uganda 2010 Phase 2 and Tour Party returns

on Jul 15 in News, Uganda tagged by RuckinRugby

The touring party has arrived back in the U.K. having completed the Mbale leg of the tour, attended a reception at the High Commission Social Club and held an all-comers fun Tag Tournament in Kampala.  But let’s go back a week ….
Having pitched camp in the gardens of the Mbale resort, the second phase in Mbale started with a trip in to the mountainous region to see the Sipi Falls. After an hour of torrential rain, the climb to the falls was muddy and steep and more than one volunteer slipped over and returned fully caked with mud. Fortunately the recent rain also made for a spectacular sight at the falls.
The touring party has arrived back in the U.K. having completed the Mbale leg of the tour, attended a reception at the High Commission Social Club and held an all-comers fun Tag Tournament in Kampala.  But let’s go back a week ….
Having pitched camp in the gardens of the Mbale resort, the second phase in Mbale started with a trip in to the mountainous region to see the Sipi Falls. After an hour of torrential rain, the climb to the falls was muddy and steep and more than one volunteer slipped over and returned fully caked with mud. Fortunately the recent rain also made for a spectacular sight at the falls.

Monday morning meant splitting up into new training groups and heading to the schools to start the training from scratch. It’s another chance to get to know new kids and new schools, but also a chance to get to know and work with new local volunteers. We were helped by at least eight members of the Mbale Elephants Rugby team (a newly formed team now competing in the shield division (2nd division) of Ugandan club rugby.

The other big difference this week is the experience of the volunteers. After a slightly daunting prospect last week, the volunteers showed no signs of nerves and ploughed right into mass organisation and training. It’s a pleasure to see how well the groups cope with the unknown numbers of kids that turn up (somewhere between 30 and 100) for training and create new plans and exercises on the hoof. The enthusiasm starts young!

Even though it was the week between Internationals in East Africa, The Elgon Cup : Uganda vs Kenya, TRT’s first “tag graduate” (we have 2 now !) to play International rugby, Benon Kizza, managed to make his way up to Mbale to inspire children with his “Tag to Ugandan National Team” story.  He managed to work his way around four schools leaving the kids with a buzz of excitement … they all wanted to be the next Benon!

The end of week Tag Tournament in Mbale once again kicked off with all the participating schools marching through town to the sound of a local schools marching band.  They led a growing trail of players, supporters and inquisitive bystanders all the way from the cricket ground to the tournament venue at North Road Primary School, one of Uganda’s biggest!

Eight years ago the model for TRT Tours was given a chance by an XCL Expedition to run a pilot in a school in Eastern Uganda.  This year we have been able to provide a similar opportunity for a fledgling Netball charity lead by volunteer (Monica Thandi) who toured with us last year and couldn’t resist trying the model with Netball after seeing some old posts at one of the schools she worked at.  Mon, along with Symone and Marie from the UK were joined by three young Ugandan international players to try out their ideas in two schools in Mbale, culminating in a Tournament on Thursday afternoon.  We will pass on the final report of their findings when it is ready, but in the meantime, here are a few photo’s.

After the rugby tournament, we headed off on the long drive back to Kampala.  Hot showers and beds awaited, and having camped for 2 weeks, Luca couldn’t help marvelling at the thought of cupboards (I don’t know why, we had nothing to put in them, just one big bag of urgent washing)!

Saturday was a pure R & R day (we don’t have many of those). Some of the group went to the crafts market, others to a nearby African coffee shop and a stroll to the rugby club to watch Uganda vs Kenya.

Saturday night was spent as guests of Clare & Jason at the High Commission Social Club where we traditionally say a little thank you to growing family of people that help our tours operate successfully in Uganda (oh and did I mention dancing the night away in Bubbles bar and night club?)

So that was the week, you’re up to date and hopefully keen as ever to experience a tour for yourselves. Our Tours in Zambia are now underway & we will be in touch with their report … internet connections permitting !!!

Thanks again from all those on tour for following our progress and for supporting TRT.

Martin, Rob, Aidan & the Uganda 2010 Tour Group