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All-Sports |
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| Anonymous Muzungu |
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| Title and Organization: |
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Director of Sport, Bavubuka Foundation |
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Gender and Age: |
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Male, 22
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| Location: |
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Kampala |
| Country of Residence: |
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 Uganda |
| Country of Birth: |
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 Canada |
| Languages: |
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English
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| Website: |
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 http://www.bavubuka.com |
| Instant Messaging: |
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 About Me |
I was born in the Niagara region of Ontario. As a child I was heavily involved in a variety of team sports including basketball, soccer (European football), volleyball, etc. When I was 10 years old my Aunt was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. At first everyone in my family felt helpless and none of us were sure what we could do to help the situation. However, one of my Aunt's daughters was planning on running a marathon in the fall and decided she would fundraise for ovarian cancer. Everyone else was excited about the idea and support grew rapidly. I was inspired by everyone's commitment and decided that I was going to run a half marathon. I fundraised for months before the event and found myself running along side more then five thousand other participants in early October. I participated in the event for the next three years fundraising a running in the Toronto half marathon finishing under two hours every time and always improving on my last time. Over three years my Aunt's daughter raised over $35,000 for ovarian cancer and not soon after the third year my Aunt’s cancer went into remission.
I continued playing sports throughout my elementary and high school career in both Ontario and British Columbia. Over coming injuries and off court issues was a common struggle on the road to gaining respect for my unique basketball skills. However, during my grade twelve season my sister passed away in a car accident. My sister had been a mentor and a motivator for most of my life and with her gone I was unable to function. I gained almost 40 pounds, my school marks dropped drastically, and I was slipping into dangerously unhealthy habits. I needed to find an outlet to turn my destructive energy into positive energy. Reflecting on my friends I realized that one of my friend’s older brothers had offered me the opportunity to come stay with him in Uganda and run sports camps for kids. I immediately started looking at the cost of flying to Uganda and how I could bring as much sports equipment as I possibly could. Two months later I was playing basketball on the equator with inner city kids who could jump out of the gym. The trip helped me gain perspective on tragedy and allowed me to refocus on the more important things in life. Upon my return back to Vancouver I realize what an impact Africa had really made on me. I was no longer depressed and although my marks didn't increase as drastically as they had decreased I found myself being involved in much more productive activities. At my graduation I was honored to receive an award that is given out to the student who is most involved with humanitarian work.
Post-high school I began working in a steel factory to fund my next trip to Uganda. I worked for half a year to save enough money for a three and a half month trip back to Uganda where I saw what a differences my project had made.
On my first trip I had given a young person one soccer ball while running a basketball camp in Gulu (Northern war region of Uganda). When I returned to Gulu in 2008 the young man found us and asked if we would come visit his up and coming soccer club. We traveled out into one of the most remote regions of the country to find an empty dirt field with no posts. Very few of the children had shoes and many were playing in next to no clothing. He then proceeded to explain to us how he had been supporting three teams (who were all playing in Superleague...the best league in Uganda) with the one ball he had been given on my trip in 06-07.
I returned to Vancouver in March, after distributing almost one thousand pounds of equipment, with many more unbelievable stories about the will to succeed in Africa. Later that month I attended an innovative youth conference called the 'Just Peace Summit' where I was able to expand my network, learn what it takes to brand my project and build towards the dreams I have been pursuing.
Now I am working towards building sports facilities throughout Uganda and holding peacemaking events that will combine Music, Fashion, Dance and Sport into one distinctive blend of Hip Hop culture. I am also looking to facilitate individuals who are interested in coming to Uganda for the purpose of coaching, mentoring and learning from the kids that I have been working with.
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User is Offline.
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| User Joined: April 8, 2008 |
| Last Login: July 26, 2008
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 Active Rank: #114255 |
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 Anonymous Muzungu's Content |
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