Rotary Club of Kampala North Bulletin - February 1-7, 2016

RC Kampala North Newsletter
February 1-7, 2016
February Is Peace and
Conflict Prevention/
Resolution Month
From The President’s Office:
Kampala North Visits Opit Kic
1-Feb-2016
Activity: Inductions
Buddy Group: Katanga
*****
8-Feb-2016
Talk: Immunizing
Conflicts
Speaker Rose Othieno
Buddy group: Kamwokya
*****
15-Feb-2016
Talk: Managing Estates
Speaker: Irene Bayiga
Buddy Group: Kikoni
*****
22-Feb-2016
Talk: ICT Intervention in
Rural Teaching and
Learning
Speaker: Charles
Muhindo Buddy group:
Kaleerwe
*****
29-Feb-2016
Joint Informal
RC Naguru
Pr. Margaret Okello
Buddy Group: Kawaala
T
he Opit Kic Project Team led by our
own Penny Mbabazi was in Siriba subcounty,
Kiryandongo district over the
weekend engaging a community there and the
local government in preparation for a multi
focus Adopt a Village project. This is the second
year of comprehensive engagement and all
signs are that it is going to be yet another exciting
project by the Rotary Club of Kampala
North.
The community is mainly composed of widows
and orphans who survived the war in
northern Uganda. They are organized under an
association called Opit Kic Widows group.
Loosely translated, “Opit Kic” means “…it is
easy to give birth to a child, but not that easy
bringing the child up”. My expectation was to
meet a group of crestfallen widows with a long
wish list of demands. It was pleasantly surprising
to find the reverse. This community of
widows has an amazingly positive attitude
towards changing their circumstances. We
were joyously welcomed with traditional dances,
hugs and smiles and we broke bread with
them in a neat and comfortable grass thatched
house at no cost to Rotary. Their emphasis was
on what they had done so far to alleviate themselves
from poverty. They started by renting
small gardens for subsistence agriculture but
have now progressed to larger scale cash crop
farming. Their challenge now is that the land
they till is rented making their tenure insecure.
They have given their children elementary
education. Their challenge is the costly post
secondary education and in some cases employment
for children who have grown up in
the camp and have completed diploma and
graduate courses. Their first request for Rotary
intervention was training and not handouts like
(Continued on page 4)
RCKN members meeting Opit Kic group in Kiryandongo at the weekend
A Publication of Rotary Club Of Kampala North. All Rights Reserved. E-mail: rcknnews@gmail.com

Page 2
Kampala North Newsletter February 1-7, 2016
Focus on Peace And Conflict Resolution
This month is Peace and conflict resolution/prevention month.
What does it mean, how is done, and what should we be doing,
as individual Rotarians and as a Club.
The first Area of Focus for Rotary is Peace and Conflict prevention
/ Resolution. Below is a summary of how they see this best
undertaken in developing countries:
Rotary supports the training, education, and practice of peace
and conflict prevention and resolution.
Area of Focus Statement of Purpose and Goals
TRF enables Rotarians to promote the practice of peace and conflict
prevention/ resolution by:
1. Training leaders, including potential youth leaders, to prevent
and mediate conflict;
2. Supporting peace-building in communities and regions affected
by conflict;
3. Supporting studies for career-minded professionals related
to peace and conflict prevention/resolution.
Ideas for Peace & Conflict Prevention / Resolution Month:
During World Understanding Month, Rotary clubs focus on projects
and programs that promote peace and reduce conflict in our
communities and around the world. For example:
Ask someone to address the club about the psychological
effects of conflict;
Have a speaker on reducing alcohol related conflict amongst
young people; or ask a group of young people come to
Rotary Aside: Tit Bits In The Strange World
speak to you about the issue and how it could be addressed
from their perspective;
Educate youth on preventive measures to avoid conflict;
Seek a sister club from another part of the world; Put
some money towards a ShelterBox (one of the DG Partner’s
projects in 2015-16)
Find out about, take part in training programs or campaigns
to address negative social dynamics in a community,
including but not limited to overcoming racial differences;
Learn about Rotary’s Peace and conflict Resolution
programs;
Contribute to a district scholarship for graduate-level
study in programs related to peace and conflict prevention/resolution.
Have a quiz using a PowerPoint to see how many members
will recognise flags from around the world. The
same thing can be done with photos of cities, or monuments,
or famous people, anything that makes us think
about other people in other places.
Have a speaker who has emigrated to Australia speak
about their experiences;
Pause each meeting to remember Rotary’s quest for
goodwill, peace and understanding among people of the
world.
Update your club’s goal achievements on Rotary Club
Central.
A pastor in Canada has opened up about his sexuality after
two decades in the closet but insists he won’t be getting divorced
from his wife.
The church leader – whose movement does not embrace
LGBT people – spoke about how he was taught to believe it
was possible to ‘change’ his sexuality.
He explained: “All the teachings were that it was wrong, and
some of the advice being given was that God would ‘change’
you if you just believed enough.”
The pastor even got married to a woman in an attempt to turn
himself straight – but after 20 years in the closet, he decided
to tell his wife the truth.
The pastor added that despite his homosexuality, the pair have
taken the decision to respect their marriage vows.
He said: “Our plan is to stay married.
Mobile Health Program in rural India signals
new era of mHealth for emerging economies
On January 15, 2016 the Government of India launched a nationwide
mobile health program designed to train community health workers
and to directly reach millions of women within three years. The program
is powered by MOTECH, a robust yet simple-to-use mobile
health (mHealth) technology developed by Grameen Foundation, with
support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced the national
roll out of two MOTECH-powered programs developed by BBC Media
Action, Mobile Academy and Kilkari (which is the Hindi word for
"a baby's gurgle,"), both aimed at addressing health challenges that
result in high infant and maternal mortality rates.
Kilkari directly calls pregnant women and mothers, delivering crucial
health information targeted to their stage of pregnancy or their infant's
age. Mobile Academy uses Interactive Voice Response (IVR) messages
on mobile phones to train front-line health workers in maternal and
infant care. The health workers, known as ASHAs (Accredited Social
Health Activists), are selected by the village they serve, and are central
to India's strategy to improve maternal and child health. [Source:
Washington Post]
A Publication of Rotary Club Of Kampala North. All Rights Reserved. E-mail: rcknnews@gmail.com

Page 3
Kampala North Newsletter February 1-7, 2016
Internal Communications In The Club: How Are We Doing On Whatsapp?
W
hen KNN published results of a survey that showed that
email reading had gone down from 40% to 29%, the
immediately reaction was that Whatsapp Group had
taken center-stage in the communications arena within the Club.
KNN has analysed the conversations in the Official Whatsapp
Group and the results are interesting reading:
1. The group was created by Rtn. Mark Sam Luswata on Thursday
August 28, 2014 at 7:22P.M.
2. At least 71 group members have posted at least 1 post to the
group
3. A total of 3566 posting over the period of 1 year 5 months.
This makes an average posting of 7 daily posts.
4. The top 10 communicators on the Group are shown in the
chart putting President Eric in Number 1 position and Stephen
Ssendi in Number 10 position.
5. Saturday August 8, 2015 was the busiest day on the group.
That was a day when DG handed over Nkondo to the community.
Many of the posting were photos.
Retirement: 3 Ways To Catch Up On Savings
One question I get asked a lot is how to catch up
on retirement savings. This question comes from
people who are getting serious about retirement
for the first time, or people who have been saving
but got off track. They lost their job or had a
baby or just got lazy, and now they’re trying to catch up.
When you’re behind on funding your retirement savings, you
have two choices: You can give up and pretend that retirement
won’t eventually happen, or you can get serious about planning
for your future. And you need to get serious, because retirement
is coming. When you decide to take action, you can start
with these basic steps:
1. Look at Your Budget
Find the gaps or holes that are causing you to lose money. For
example, decide if you need a telephone landline for your
home. Could you get rid of it and go with your cell phone only?
Another area where people can cut costs is their DSTV bill.
Could you use a free set-top box digital converter instead? Or
better still a cheaper StarTimes decoder?
2. Look Around the House
What could you sell? If you made Shs 1.0M on a garage sale,
and that’s a beautiful thing for a few hours’ worth of work.
You may not think that would matter, but what if you did a
garage sale once a year for 10 years? That extra Shs. 1.0M a
year could seriously add up! There’s no reason to keep stuff
that’s just gathering dust and taking up space.
3. Look at Your Skills
What could you do to earn extra money? Perhaps you have a
hobby that could earn you some cash. That means you’ll need
to sacrifice in other areas, but I don’t know anyone who has
gained anything significant without sacrifice. Maybe you
will watch less TV or miss out on that night out with friends.
If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll keep getting
what you’ve been getting—an underfunded retirement
account. You have to change your behavior if you want that
dream retirement. Ask yourself what you can do tomorrow
or next week. Then do it. Remember, you’re changing not
only your future, but also the future of those you love—
possibly for generations to come.
About the author:
Chris Hogan is a popular speaker on the topics of personal
finance, retirement and leadership. You can follow Chris on
Twitter at @ChrisHogan360 and at ww.chrishogan360.com.
A Publication of Rotary Club Of Kampala North. All Rights Reserved. E-mail: rcknnews@gmail.com

People, Events And Beyond
Birthdays This Month
Rtn. Wilson Ssendikwanawa
5 th February
Rtn. Isaac Serwadda
10 th February
Ann Benny Mary Sekimpi
13 th February
Rtn. Harrison Mutikanga
14 th February
Rtn. Asaph Ntengye Ruhinda
17 th February
Ann Emily Katamujuna
24 th February
Rtn. Stephen Mwanje (DG)
24 th February
Rtn. Charles Lubowa
25 th February
Rtn. Harriet Obbo
25 th February
Ann Susan Kasangaki
26 th February
Anniversaries This Month
Benny and Deo Mary Sekimpi
2 nd February
Sarah and Fred Mukwanga
7 th February
Mercy and Abel Rwendeire
10 th February
Grace and Bob Nsibirwa
13 th February
Rotary International 111 th Anniversary 23 rd February
Mr. Bear: The Un-answered questions
By Sam Mark Luswata
hen PP Fred Mubiru announced the introduction of the
W “Mr. Bear” Program to booster on-spot attendance at
Club fellowship (never mind whether it allowed in the Club’s
Bye-laws), little did he know that the program would open up
questions that challenge the Club’s constitution and by-laws.
The program, which has become very popular, requires that the
Buddy group with the lowest attendance at the fellowship takes
‘home’ Mr. Bear.
Two weeks ago one prominent past President and who has had
a stint at Parliamentary elections was quoted as saying, “And
since when did this ‘stupid’ animal become a big thing in the
Club?” [End of quote]
But more fundamentally was the interpretation of the rules of
attendance. For example: We all know the rules require that a
member attends 60% of the time. So what does this mean the 1
hour [6:00-7:00 stated in the by-laws]. If so what does this
mean in the following circumstances:
1. The fellowship starts on time and ends on time (1 hour)
2. The fellowship start on time but ends 20 minutes late?
3. The fellowship starts late (say 15 minutes) but ends early
(say 15 minutes early)
4. On Club Assembly day, Fellowship starts on time but ends
early and Club Assembly starts.
There is also another un-answered one: What is the appeals
procedures for aggrieved Buddy groups?
When all is said and done, I must admit that the Mr. Bear project
was a wonderful creation!
President’s message (Continued from page 1)
is commonly the case. As an immediate intervention, RC
Kampala North undertook to support their Youth Dance and
Drama Group under the Vijana Poa initiative. The group performs
on a commercial basis to support their families but
lacks basic support. We are grateful to Tusu who pledged to
provide the group with uniforms
Penny who met them during her Human Rights work long
before she became a Rotarian introduced Opit kic to the club.
She empathized with the community at the time, but could do
nothing to alleviate their desperate economic situation because
such interventions fell outside her organization’s mandate.
The opportunity to intervene availed itself when she joined
Rotary whose mandate complied with her dream to change the
lives of these widows. Rotary has an opportunity to intervene
in education, health, water, sanitation and economic empowerment.
Rotary can offer the greatest gift of peace to this community
that has suffered the effects of conflict in our nation.
This is a space to watch!
A Publication of Rotary Club Of Kampala North. All Rights Reserved. E-mail: rcknnews@gmail.com