So, in the move to Lira I forgot to post about my experience with Rotaract! The night before I left I went with Morris to the Makerere University Rotaract Club’s installation (where they inaugurate the next year’s officers).
I have spent 2 1/2 years in the Rotaract Club at ASU. I’ve been involved with Rotary, Rotaract’s parent organization, since I was born. My dad has been an active member in Rotary for years and I can’t count the number of meetings I’ve attended and the number of fun events in which I’ve been involved. It was nice to see the work of a club in another country.
I met a lot of great people, hanging out and having drinks before we all sat down for the big night. The departing President gave a speech and talked a lot about how Makerere had moved forward in the passed year, and the incoming President gave a long speech in which he described Rotaract, and I think rightly, not just as a project of Rotary but also as a partner.
After the speeches there was some downtime in which one of the officers asked trivial questions and gave out airtime for rewards. I won 2000 UGX for knowing the club’s web address! Thank goodness it’s in Morris’s e-mail signature :)
After some free time we started dinner, and it was a sizeable sum of pasta and meats with some traditional food mixed in. Morris and I left soon after dinner as people started dispersing to different afterparty parties. On the way out I met, who would have thought, a college student who will be going to ARIZONA STATE this fall. How weird is that?
Anyways, the whole affair was much more like a Rotary Club induction than anything Rotaract Clubs, or at least mine, do. We have an annual benefit dinner in the spring and we usually use that time to introduce the incoming President. I’ve been to a couple with my dad for his club and what I saw in Kampala was reminiscent of that. All in all a fun night!