The Passion Newsletter, September Issue, 2019 2The Passion newletter September 2019 | Page 4

DRR’S MESSAGE SEPTEMBER 2019 A s the rains poured this morning, I saw my neighbours braving through it to save their belongings mainly clothes and, in the moment, I thought of what we do as Rotaractors. We go out of our way to change communities but unlike my neighbours, we neither own nor have a strong attachment to the communities we build. Through the six areas of focus, our club projects target specific community challenges and deliver sustainable interventions. This month we reflect on one of these areas of focus: Basic Education and Literacy. It is often said that, “Knowledge is power” and that “Ignorance is no defence”. These two statements underpin the relevance of knowledge and skills especially the mechanism to deliver it to others: education. We live in a region with some of the highest school dropout rates the world records. In Uganda, according to Samuel Kamugisha’s article in the Observer newspaper of 27th February 2017, 5 million pupils drop out of primary school each year and in Tanzania 1.5 million adolescents are not in school according to the Human Rights Watch Report (2017). That notwithstanding, about 60% of the population in these two nations is below 30 years of age. Regardless of that I am proud to be a Rotaractor because as young people of action, through our Rotaract Clubs, we have chosen not to lament about the situation but be part of the solution. We do this because we value our future and know that it is us to create a society with better access to education. Today 70% of club projects in our District address poor access to quality education. The provision of teaching and other scholastic materials, construction of a classroom block, and porridge for pupils at Kakuba primary school by the Rotaract club of Nateete-Kampala has ensured an increase in enrolment coupled with performance of pupils at this school; public speaking trainings organised by the Rotaract club of Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) and others produce a generation of better public speakers of our time. This is a just a glimpse of the numerous interventions we make as Rotaract as a reason to be proud to associate. We also know that this month we shall head to Bushenyi district in Western Uganda to continue with our environmental intervention through the Rotaract Earth Initiative program. I would therefore like to thank you all that participated in the caravans and to ask you to join me for yet another wonderful edition of #REI19. This edition is very unique because we are connecting with our friends District 9212 and you wouldn’t want to miss this. I look forward to your company through 27th – 29th September 2019 as we do what we do best: Fellowship through Service. Happy New Month Ssendawula Jakob District Rotaract Representative 2019/20 RAC Kampala City, Sponsored by the Rotary club of Kampala 256 701 583 837, [email protected] Rotaract District 9211 District 9211 The Passion Bulletin 4