Please note: This article is as of 2008!
Text and photos by Mike Haslam.
DBN-Editors Note: This article reports about the very early stages of developing a National Federation in a country new to dragon boating. Meanwhile Uganda is listed as a member of the IDBF.
UGANDA A COUNTRY OF CONTRASTS
-RICH IN HERITAGE, CASH POOR BUT FULL OF ENTHUSIASM FOR A SPORT THEY HAVE NEVER SEEN
As with most dragon boat trips to new Countries joining our World Dragon Boat Family, this one started with an email inviting IDBF Executive President, Mike Haslam, to come and meet with the founders of the newly formed Dragon Boat Federation,in this case Uganda,and help them to get the sport going.The email was from Nicholas Onegi -p’ MINGA the UDBF Founding Secretary-General. And so it was that our EP, accompanied by Bryan Hartley from the Race Officials Secretariat, set off to Uganda, a Country that neither traveller had visited and, according to the email correspondence received from Nicholas, a Country that has yet to see an actual Dragon Boat either.
Arriving in Kampala at around midnight, via Nairobi in Kenya with an 18 hour trip from Europe to pass away the day, it was a tired two who finally arrived at their Hotel, after having been met at the Airport by UDBF President, the Hon.Gerald Menhya, a leading Member of Parliament.
The next day bright and early there were people to meet and potential Dragon Boat places to see, as well as a chance to visit a traditional King’s Palace where a gift of a table and chairs from Queen Victoria are still on show. But first there was a meeting with the Prime Minister of Buganda, the largest of Uganda’s three Kingdoms, to discuss the sport of Dragon Boat Racing and how it would fit perfectly with the Tradition Boat & Canoe Races held annually near to Kampala, under the King’s Patronage.
Accompanied by Nicholas and Wilfred Katoole (UDBF Deputy Sec-Gen) the visit was soon over but with promises of support given and with the obligatory press and TV interviews concluded, it was time to cross town and meet with Uganda’s Minister for Sport to discuss the practicalities of formally establishing the UDBF and receiving recognition and support for the sport.
The Minister,Hon.Charles Bakkabulindi, was equally supportive and enthusiastic about bringing our sport to Uganda but as with most Countries what money there is for ‘Sport’ goes mainly to the Olympic Sports leaving very for the Non Olympic Sports. In this Uganda is no exception and so financial support would not be coming Dragon Boating way but help with importing boats was possible and some admin funding may be possible once the UDBF Constitution had been accepted – good news for Nicholas and Wilfred.
Off once again, this time to meet with Officials from the Uganda Sports Commission – the guys who actually offer the practical support for sport in Uganda. Here after giving a brief presentation and showing the IDBF promotional DVD, the delegation were delighted to be given an even more positive and enthusiastic reception over introducing Dragon Boating to Uganda, with a clear support programme and a dedicated Commissioner for the Sport discussed and agreed. In short a good morning of meetings had been held, important people met and support for the sport given.
After a good night’s rest, it was off to Lake Victoria the next morning to Jinija the colonial centre of the British in the 19th Century. A little run down after years of neglect during the Adi Amin period of the 1960/70s, Jinjia never-the-less has the buzz of a town that is proud of its past and is looking to a bright future.
Located beside Lake Victoria,with the local ‘Source of the Nile’ proudly proclaimed wherever you go, Jinja hosts both a Golf Course by the Lake and White Water River trips down the nearby rapids of the River Nile. There are a host of other adventure activities to do too and good standard of Hotels and restaurants on the Lake-side.
Here our intrepid two were hosted by Robert Kanusu, the Marketing Rep for the UDBF who designs web pages and works for an IT company in Kampala but commutes to his home village near Jinja on an almost weekly basis. Robert’s enthusiasm for his home area, its villages and people and now Dragon Boating was a joy to see and one that bodes only good for the future development of Dragon Boating in Uganda.
The first day in Jinja, having safely arrived from the 2 hour car drive from Kampala, started with a whirlwind look at the Nile River Explorers Rafting and White Water Centre run by Jon Dahl, to where we returned the next day to brief his Rafting Crews on Dragon Boat Sport and their possible future part in it. And boy, from the look of these guys Helming Rafts down the big rapids of the local Nile, they will make great Dragon Boat paddlers !
The rest of the day was spent in the area down River,in the Hon. Gerald Menhya’s home constituency, looking at potential sites to hold Dragon Boat events and meeting the local villagers to explain what a Dragon Boat was and talk about the sport. There was even time to hold an impromptu ‘training course’ on how to paddle a Dragon Boat in time, by getting 40 or so assorted children and adults to line up, side by side, in two crews worth and going through the paddling motion – no boats or paddles available of course !
And thereby lies the big, big, problem in getting Dragon Boat Sport started in Uganda. No Boats or paddles are presently there and, more importantly, no money with which to buy any. Self help fund raising is one way of buying boats but this can be very difficult in a Country where 70% of the population are below the poverty line and whilst sponsorship is another -we all know how difficult that is – even in the supposedly affluent Western world. However, where there is a will, there is a way and with the support of the IDBF through getting some development boats to Uganda and by mobilising the potential fund raisers within our Dragon Boat Family, the big, big problem can be solved – given time !
On day two,it was time to look at the possible facilities available on the River’s edge for a Dragon Boat Regatta which would not only involve the local lakeside villages but also potentially crews coming to Jinja to race from overseas. Such a venue was found based around the Jinja Sailing Club,a facility not used for a number of years but which would make a good location for a Dragon Boat Race, especially as it is overlooked by one of the better Hotels in town and is next to the Golf course !
Having established one good potential location our ‚intrepid two’ took off for a spin on the Lake, looking for other sites, seeing more villages and meeting more villagers along the way.
Everywhere there was unbridled enthusiasm to take up Dragon Boating and that is no surprise because all the villages on the Lake have their own Traditional Long Boats that vary in size but most are comparable in length with either the IDBF Standard or Small Racing Dragon Boats – and they paddle their boats too, so again the number of potential Dragon Boaters is huge.
Back in Jinja, it was time to return to Kampala where on the final day of the visit plans had been made to try and see potential boat sponsors from the commercial world and to visit the Chinese Embassy to elicit their help in developing the sport too, before holding a Race Officials Training Course for themgood folk from the UDBF, which resulted in nine people getting to grips with the wonders of race organisation and receiving a National Race Officials Certificate.
The final day was one of mixed success in that, whilst the ‘big guys’in two of the international companies that we had hoped to see were ‘out of town’, a good and positive meeting was held with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce who now want firm sponsorship proposals from the UDBF. The local Chinese Embassy Officials too promised positive support and promotion to help the sport develop.
On the return journey to the UK, there was much to think about and much reflection on what had been seen and what had to be done to establish Dragon Boating not just in Uganda but in Kenya and the other four or five East African Countries that border Lake Victoria too.
The potential is tremendous, the poverty in the villages immense and the challenges to overcome Herculean,but it can and will be done because the determination to succeed is there in abundance, in the eyes of Christopher, Gerald, Wilfred, Robert and the many other Dragon Boat enthusiasts that the intrepid two met in their journey ‘Into Africa’.
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