The Rotarians of Naalya under the leadership of Dennis Jjuuko organized an event where Nnaabagereka Sylvia Nagginda was the Guest of Honor and she used the opportunity to encourage the Rotarians to empower the youths in all its activities so that they can together build a good and better Buganda and Uganda. The Naabagereka said “We have also heard that addressing social changes requires selfless leaders imbued with empathy and who are guided by the principle of service above self. Drawing on the Women in Rotary 2019 Theme to inspire and empower, I call upon all the Rotarians and business leaders in the room to mentor and empower our youth so that they can become the transformational leaders that our society requires for the future.”
The Nnaabagereka thanked the Rotarians for being a pillar in fighting for women’s rights through the civil society organizations that fight for women rights. She stated that it would be very good if the Rotarians joined her on the initiative of restoring the moral aspect in communities for the youth under Culture Coaching Programme (Ekisakatte Kya Nnaabagereka). She went on to say “We established Ekisakatte Kya Nnaabagereka in the tradition of the Royal enclosure which is used to groom young people into holistic individuals, social managers, and ethical leaders. Ekisakatte cultural camp as you all know runs several camps every year and has reached hundreds of children in Uganda and Ugandans in the diaspora in Canada, South Africa, and the UK.”
Nnaabagereka vowed to continue with the development programmes while spearheading activities that transform their socio-economic livelihoods saying “…to emulate them by accommodating and acknowledging our diversities and celebrating our unity as women. We should be challenged to document and widely share their struggles, joys, and victories.”
Carol Mushoka was the Guest Speaker on the event and she spoke on three issues through which any country can use to undermine women. These include the diversity in cultures, politics whereby in many countries the number of women in politics is very low and changing the ways through which the males are nurtured so that they can know how to cordially relate with the females and stop all acts of gender inequality.
The Katikiro of Buganda Charles Peter Mayiga while handing over gifts thanking the Nnaabagereka, thanked the women for being brave enough in the fight for their rights. He was also joined by the Minister of Development Dr. Prosperous Nankindu Kavuma who expressed appreciation to Rotary activities that have transformed people’s lives saying “about a decade ago, the debates in the world were mainly in value addition but that was related to commodities. But now, I introduce to women in rotary, they are women of value, they have added value to themselves and we have a lot to learn from them. I assure you they are going to hear what you are going to say and they will take the message to other women who are not here.”
Shamilah Bati the President of Rotary who is also the first woman to assume such position has stated how the women have been able to fight for their rights although, there are still many whose rights are violated and need our intervention. She said “rotary’s challenges today is to make sure that we engage young people, women so that with this sort of membership we can together contribute to bringing about social justice, peace, and understanding.” There was also a discussion held on the day’s theme of ‘balance for the better’. It is now 116 years since the inception of Rotary in the whole world with one of the main aims being the improvement of people’s lives.