Naguru is the highest of all the five hills in the suburbs of Kampala. As you descend the hill, you enter another world, and that is Naguru Go-down and Naguru Katali Zone. Here, children in tattered clothes compete for space with sheep, goats, and rodents in the shanty homes.
Other than rent being affordable (between sh60,000 and sh100,000) for a bedsitter, the value of property here is not any cheaper in spite of the area’s ghastly appearance. The area is a small, closely packed, dirty slum on either side of the road.
What used to be a posh place in the 1970s has become a modern slum with algae-matting walls and is now a hub for criminals and dream-makers.
According to Division Community Liason Officer Jinja Road Police Station, ASP. Paul Ssali, the Rotary Club of Kampala Sunshine has come up with the programme of uplifting the boy child and commended the club for helping police change the mindset of young children who are victims of crime in the area.
“We needed a community to help us; there are so many cases of crime involving children that go unresolved, and most cases we get involved with involve young boys,” he mentioned.
Last year at Kati Kati, the Rotary Club of Kampala Sunshine celebrated a significant milestone. The club emerged victorious in a prestigious 5-a-side trophy competition, marking a promise to transform the lives of boys in Naguru under the theme “Year of Hope Creation” for 2023-2024.
At the moment, President-elect Geofrey Ssekandi expressed the club’s commitment to collaborate with the Church of Uganda to make a significant impact on the lives of people in the communities.
This came to reality as the Rotary Club of Kampala Sunshine in the district of 9213 Club No. 224210 officially installed the President-elect, Geofrey Ssekandi, a born Naguru, at the event that took place at Naguru Katali Primary School on June 9, 2024.
In the 2024-2025 theme, “The Magic of Rotary,” Kampala Sunshine is determined to change the face of Naguru, among other places.
During the installation of the new president, Naguru received a generous hand from the Rotary Club of Kampala Sunshine, with several activities, including a health camp, tree planting, blood donation and skilling, taking place.
Among the key activities was a tree planting campaign where over 200 indigenous trees were planted, thanks to Climate hub and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).
“We have closely worked with Rotary Club of Kampala Sunshine, among others, to see how we can support them on the issues of climate change,” said while Patrick Ahebwa from Climate Hub.
KCCA says that in their focus on greening the city, the authority is focusing on using indigenous species.
“As KCCA, our focus lies in planting the whole city with 80% indigenous species; we are now back on introducing more species
President Ssekandi emphasized that the tree planting campaign project is intended to deal with the challenges that come with the effects of climate change and KCCA explained why they chose to join the rotary club at a time like this.
“The project will help us improve on the challenge we face collectively with climate change; the exercise involves planting 200 trees along Naguru Katali,” he said
The latter were later joined by the District Governor (DG-Elect) for District 9213 Anne Nkutu in the planting exercise.
The Rotary Club of Kampala Sunshine also brought in a team from C-Care IHK Hospital, which provided our free medical services ranging from blood pressure monitoring, weight nerve testing, HIV counselling and testing, yellow fever vaccination and malaria.
“We have come to give back to the community; we do essential services in medication attending to everyone, including the elderly, the young and the old. We believe this is the heart of the rotary to help the vulnerable community,” said nurse Alice Tezikya from C-Care.
DG-Elect Nkutu explained that they targeted Naguru as one of the unique places with a large number of vulnerable urban poor. She said that the partnership enables the rotary clubs to partner and help communities.
“One of the challenges affected by our communities is access to health care, Many people in our communities walk around with illnesses. Today we have brought hope, we encourage this kind of partnership; they enables us to help the communities,” she said.
Skilling Girls
One of the key activities during the installation of the president by the Rotary Club of Kampala Sunshine was skilling the girl child. Many girls went through different skilling programs, which included pad making and tailoring.
Wendy Biraaro, the Rotary Foundation Director at Kampala Sunshine, said the project of training girls and ladies in the community came to help in economic empowerment to be able to skill the girl child with the basics.
She said that over 200 girls have since benefited from the project and their livelihood have since improved.
The event attracted sponsorship from big entities like the Church of Uganda, Malaika products, and the community leadership, among others. The club, through its partners, donated reusable pads by IRise Uganda and tailoring machines to the girls in the Naguru community.
On the installation exercise led by several leaders, they spoke and posted stories of change and impact on the communities. Several members of Rotary highlighted the need to expand projects to various places across the country.
The inauguration
The incoming president, Jeff Ssekandi, took an oath and promised to start work immediately as he introduced his cabinet. Ssekandi unveiled a team of thirteen members with whom he is going to work with immediate effect.
“We are going to support with all that it takes. I want to call out one particular project to start with, and that is the Wokadala Project in Wokadala Primary School in Bulambuli district in Easter Uganda. The school is special with no female teachers; we thought of this school, and we want to support and see that the school acquires a female teacher,” he pointed out.
One of the members under the new president’s cabinet, Yesigye Brian Bravo, the head of projects, said that Kampala Sunshine, in partnership with Bravos Shoes Community Support Organization (BSC), commented that the idea of supporting Wokadala P.S. will create a lasting impact in the region.
Several speakers hailed the activities of Kampala Sunshine and commended the milestone achieved in only 3 years since its initiation.
