After considering a number of options, the Board of Trustees agreed to fund a visit to Uganda to assess the potential for supporting the existing project Community Development Through Sport (CDTS). On 2 December 2009 Neil Cole, Independent Trustee, and Chris Smith, Football Development Officer, were lucky enough to represent Hampshire FA on the ten day trip.
Diary of Trip
Day 1:
We arrived in Uganda and were met by Stephen Pritchard, CDTS Project Manager, and David, our driver, for the duration of the visit. After the 45 minute journey to Kampala we stayed overnight at the Aponye Hotel…comfortable bed, ok shower and an armed guard!
Day 2:
After being awoken at 06:00 by noise from the street, already busy, we met with Uganda Rural Community Support Foundation (URCSF). URCSF are the parent NGO for CDTS and are responsible for a portfolio of projects. The primary purpose is to address the impact of HIV/AIDS on the family and community structure in rural Uganda.
We then visited the offices of the Kampala Kids League (KKL) and met Trevor Dudley, MBE, Country Director of KKL. Trevor established KKL 12 years ago as a response to the Ugandan government decision to provide free primary education. Class sizes rose from 40 to 100+ and as a consequence schools were unable to continue with sports provision. The meeting demonstrated the significant impact of a mature, sustainable football development programme in Uganda.
After the meetings we set off on the 6 hour drive west of Kampala to Ibanda, a small village in Kasese District near the Congolese border where the project is based. In the evening we met some of the key project staff who were keen to impress upon us the impact the project has had on them and the local community.
Day 3:
After breakfast we met Wisley, a CDTS staff member, who is employed full time to repair damaged footballs (approx 7 per day). Wisley was more than happy to show us his work. Joseph, a local teacher and CDTS Assistant Manager, explains that local teams have to save up as a group to buy a football and then again to repair it if it is damaged. Most however cannot afford it so they make balls from old rags bound tightly with banana strands.
Joseph then took us on a tour of the local area including a number of ‘fields’ in which CDTS were coaching. We visited Ruboni, Kyanya and Kirulli, each field was different and none of them would be considered playable in England, with goalposts made of banana trees, uneven ground, bolders and a mixture of overgrown grass and no grass whatsoever. We were lucky enough to see some ground maintenance taking place with two barefooted children cutting one of the fields with hand scythes.
In the afternoon we visited the CDTS’ “stadium” for senior team training. There are no real ancillary facilities but the pitch was significantly better than anything else we had seen. The pitch construction was supported by Noremco who are constructing the local hydropower station for Tronder Power.
In the evening we attended the weekly staff meeting to be introduced to the remainder of the 22 project staff. We were pleased to see all the staff sporting their new Hampshire FA kit which they were very excited to receive.
Day 4:
The CDTS senior team took us on a trip up to the Rwenzori Mountains, or the ‘Mountains of the Moon’. The journey started with 11 of us in David’s car over a very rough track, and incorporated lots of pushing! We walked 12km climbing around 1000m to an altitude approaching 3000m to arrive at Nyabitaba Hut, the first campsite. We found it very hard work in hot and humid conditions but the players literally ran up and down with ease. The trip was a great opportunity to get to know the team better as they started to relax more in our company.
Day 5:
We met with representatives of the Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) to discuss how the CDTS project can aid the development of football across the district. The FUFA delegates were keen to praise the impact CDTS has had in Ibanda and would really like to see it rolled out to a wider area. We were then showed around the District Stadium, a flat but dusty and grassless pitch with a rickety wooden stand (under which several goat were making the most of the shade) and a haulage container alongside which doubled up as changing rooms and the home of the groundsman. The ground made Winklebury look like Wembley in comparison.
Day 6:
A youth 8-a-side tournament took place on the main pitch with competitions for under 13s and under 16s. Despite torrential rain early on, enough players arrived to put together 8 teams in each age group. A great standard of football was maintained throughout and wet conditions were made more difficult by the fact that 90% of players were barefoot. Hampshire FA medals were presented to the winners of both competitions and there were a lot of smiling faces.
In the afternoon we travelled further into the mountains to visit some of the more inaccessible villages - Isule and Kabiyirie - and test out the CDTS strap line “take a ball to a field”. Arriving at the centre of the village with a football in hand we are immediately surrounded by hundreds of children of all ages desperate to have just one kick of the ball. This again underlined the impact football can have in Uganda.
In the evening we travelled to Maliba to see the darker side of Ugandan village life. We visited one of the bars behind the trading centre, an agricultural barn with a mud floor staffed by prostitutes and frequented by local drug addicts. CDTS have both drug addicts’ and prostitutes’ sports teams and do a lot of work in the community to guard against the risks they take. Up until this point we had always been greeted with smiling faces but this experience helped us to understand the everyday troubles that people face.
Day 7:
Chris Smith delivered a coaching session to the CDTS first team ahead of the important tournament the next day. The session focussed on defending as an individual and a team and despite some communication problems was well received.
In the afternoon Joseph invited us to see his home and meet his family. Joseph has his own land on which he keeps chickens, ducks and goats and grows matoke (green banana). His house, which he and his family share with his brother in law and his family, consists of a communal area and two living/sleeping areas, one for each family.
Day 8:
The day of the big tournament and the official opening of the Noremco Stadium, the new home of CDTS Football Club. CDTS competed against the three best teams in Western Uganda.
The site had been transformed from when we first saw it. The pitch had been cut using a petrol strimmer hired from Kasese and marked out using oil to burn the grass black. Goal nets, corner flags, subs benches and technical areas had also been installed.
Around the pitch a rope fence (of sorts) had been installed and armed police brought in to keep the 2000 strong crowd at bay and a marquee had been erected with a seating area for the VIPs. Guests included Reverand Mutooro Baluka Jehoiada, the 3rd Deputy Prime Minister, who was representing the King of the Rwenzori Region, the District Chairman of FUFA and the Regional Chairman of FUFA, all of whom had nothing but praise for CDTS.
A commentator complete with generator and speakers - normally used for AIDS awareness/education events - relentlessly described the action and two locals with camcorders did their best to record the games (and us).
The four teams involved were CDTS, Kasese Youth A, Kasese Youth B and Young Boys. A fourth team pulled out on the morning of the competition due to problems with transport so Kasese Youth entered a second team. The final game finished as darkness fell and was won 1-0 by CDTS seeing them crowned as champions, a fitting end to a great day.
There was a formal presentation of the trophy by the 3rd Deputy Prime Minister and Neil Cole was asked to give a small speech on behalf of Hampshire FA before the celebrations began.
Day 9:
The final day of our trip, football was put to one side and along with some of the senior CDTS staff we visited the Queen Elizabeth Game Park where we were lucky enough to see a whole range of animals and bird life in their natural habitat.
Day 10:
Early start, lots of goodbyes, a long drive back across Uganda to Entebbe and the flight home.
In summary the trip was an amazing experience for the two Hampshire FA representatives that were lucky enough to go. CDTS have achieved an amazing amount in a relatively short space and with a minimal budget. They have established themselves as an integral part of a tight knit community and are helping them to develop in very challenging circumstances. Hampshire FA are now looking to work alongside CDTS and explore ways in which the County FA can support the amazing work they do.
If you would like any further information on CDTS, the project or the trip itself please email Chris.Smith@HampshireFA.com or visit the CDTS Website.