Dénouement...

It has been a year since I was elected as the president of the Interact Club of KISU, and my time has finally come to an end. It is bittersweet to let it go, but I am glad that the Club legacy will remain at the school. This blog will be updated by the new members of the Interact Club from now onwards.

I would like to thank everybody who contributed to the club in any way during my period of presidency. I am so grateful for all that the Interact Club of KISU has given me and everything I was able to achieve. Never will I forget to engage Rotary, and change lives.

Ingrid

Interact Club of KISU President 2013-2014

 

Rotary Cancer Run 31st August 2014

Rotary Club will be hosting the 2014 Cancer Run on the 31st of this month! 

The proceeds from this event will go to the construction of a cancer ward in Kampala, so make sure you show some support by taking part! 

It will be at 7:00 AM at the Kololo Airstrip on the 31st of August (as mentioned earlier) 

You are free to choose between the following races: 5km; 10km; 21km. 

The charge is only 10,000/=! 

See you there!! 

Who we are and what we've done so far...

The Interact club of KISU (2013-2014)

The Interact club of KISU was founded by the director of public relations at the Rotary Club of Kasangati, Mrs Sophie Bamoweraki, in September 2013. Since then the club has prospered from having only two Interactors to over twenty active members. Initially the Interact club collaborated with a teenager named Josephine, a sickle cell anemia patient in rural Kampala. Her father passed away from the disease when Josephine was younger, and her mother had recently lost her job. Through organization and conduction of several fundraisers, the club was able to raise over 1 million Ugandan Shillings which was used to purchase a crutch, medication, shoes (specially designed for her as her right leg was four centimeters shorter due to her medical condition), and enabled Josephine to get a general check up as well as an X-ray scan of her hip. Although this was a small-scale project, there was nothing small about Josephine and her mother’s smiles of gratitude. 

In October, the Interact club of KISU had their very first opportunity to work as an arm of the mother club, The Rotary Club of Kasangati. The Interactors had the chance to aid the community by assisting in the public sales and healthcare sectors. It was a touching experience especially because the Interact club of KISU encompassed several future doctors and they were able to get a glimpse of their potential career. Another prestigious event the members of the Interact club of KISU were able to attend was the Rotary International Presidential New Generations Africa Conference 2013. The Interactors were blessed enough to be able to exchange a few words with the Rotary International President Mr. Ron Burton and his wife, Mrs. Burton. The conference gravitated around the theme of empowerment and it was a poignant event which deeply touched many Interactor’s hearts. 

The Interact club of KISU, evidently, was gaining momentum and developing more courage and knowledge to tackle down larger projects, which led the club’s collaboration with Sir Apollo Kaggwa Memorial Primary School Manyagwa Gayaza- a local primary school with a deficit in fundamental resources such as notebooks and pencils. The president of the Interact club of KISU then bowed to provide them with the equipment needed to allow the pupils to soar. Interactors worked together to conceive completely revolutionized fundraisers such as “movie night”, as well as selling roses on Valentine’s Day. Ultimately the club was blessed with over 1million Ugandan Shillings (again!), in addition to the 100USD the district chair of Uganda and Tanzania donated to aid the club’s success. 

On March 17^th, the club members were finally able to hand over the resources which had been purchased for the occasion, which included 2 netballs, 2 footballs, 1 world map, 1 pump, 2 javelins, 100 boxes of crayons & coloured pencils, 2 shot-puts, a tape measure and 315 custom-designed notebooks. 

They say that what you give is what you get, I, as the president of the Interact Club of KISU can only hope that the tremendous effort that the Interactors of KISU have put into the projects will fulfil their lives with nothing but blessings and pride to be an excellent ambassador of the International Action Club. 

Ingrid Saito

Rotary International President

In an affluent society no useful distinction can be made between luxuries and necessaries - J.K. Galbraith

Interactors (green uniform) with the KISU interact treasurer, vice president and president posing with The Rotary International President Mr Ron D Burton and Mrs Burton

On Tuesday, the 5th of November, The members of International Action (Interact) club of KISU
were able to attend the Rotary International Presidential New Generations Africa Conference
2013. Over 3000 Interactors, Roteractors and Rotarians from as far as China and the United
States of America gathered at Hotel Africana to discuss and debate imperative issues like the empowerment
of the youth, the breakdown of cultural barriers and eradication of diseases, among
other controversial topics.
We live in one of the most youthful nations in the world where around 30% of the population are
under the age of 9. It is then only natural and vital to reinforce the power, voice and education that
young people of this generation deserve. The conference primarily gravitated around the theme of
empowerment, and we came to know that we do not only hold the key to the future, but the key to
the present- the NOW. We were also blessed enough to spend a few minutes with the Rotary International President 2013-14, Mr.
Ron D. Burton and Mrs. Burton.
It was a touching experience for the members of the KISU Interact club, and we were overjoyed to partake in such a prestigious conference.
We will definitely be”engaging Rotary and changing lives” and aspire to be the best ambassadors of Interactors.

-Engage Rotary, Change lives-

Engaging Rotary

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.- Helen Keller

The KISU Interactors had their very first opportunity to work in collaboration with The Rotary Club of Kasangati on Saturday, the 12th of Octorber 2013!

^(from left to right) Nathan, Sadiq, Mahdi, Karan, Zara, Anthony, Shahinaz (Interactor), Siddiquah, Edoardo (KISU Interact Club vice president), Ingrid (KISU Interact Club president), Naomi, Sandra (Interactor), Albert, Mrs Sophie B (KISU Interact Club patron)

The Rotary Club of Kasangati was celebrating Health Day on this day and the Interactors had the chance to help out their Mother Club by assisting the sales and the medical care section. The Interactors seemed to be inspired by the skilled Rotarians and here are some photographs from the occasion: 

 ^Albert with the local kids at the Bazaar 

^Edoardo (left, KISU Interact Club vice president) and Karan, filling syringes. 

^(left to right) Anthony, Zara and Naomi at the medicine counter.

 ^Albert taking the blood pressure of a patient. 

 ^Anthony writing the names of the patients. 

 ^Sandra (Interactor) assisting the sales section.

 ^Mahdi (right) and Sadiq assisting the sales section. 

^Nathan taking care of the finances.

^Ingrid (KISU Interact Club president) with the local kids. 

^Siddiquah helping at the medicine counter.

^Ingrid (Interact Club president), Mahdi and Nathan at the sales section.

^Edoardo (KISU Interact vice president) 

^Edoardo (KISU Interact Club vice president) with Siddiquah and Sandra (Interactor) 

^Ingrid (KISU Interact Club president)

On behalf of all the Interactors I, Ingrid, would like to thank the Rotary Club of Kasangati for hosting us and allowing us to participate in their activities. Many volunteers seemed to be inspired and I can only hope that we can work collaboratively again in the future. 

On another note, I hope that the Interactors have a wonderful midterm holiday and have enough time to prepare for the impending bake sale on mole day! :)

-Engage Rotary, change lives-

Second fundraiser

It is not doing the things we like to do, but liking the things we have to do that makes life blessed.- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 

Hello Interactors!

Our dear friend Josephine was able to go to her checkup with the money we raised and her results came back today. It turns out that she had been straining her right leg too much and it would be vital for her to have a walking stick/single crutch in possession. Also, her right hip joint has dug 4cm into the pelvis thereby causing her pain and discomfort.

So in order to help her with her situation, the KISU interact club is aiming to raise over 300,000 Ugx in our second fundraiser to cover for her medication, crutches and custom-made 4cm platform shoes. 

Fortuanately, the head of our science department has lent us a helping hand. Every year, the science department hosts what is known as "mole day" on October 23rd. On this day this year, many activities will be carried out (like simple games for primary school-pupils) and a bake sale. Our generous head has decided to donate all the profit from the bakesale towards Josephine's well-being. We will be updating you with more imformation soon. 

A massive shoutout to you, Ms Catalina! 

-Engage Rotary, change lives-

Handing over

On Monday, the 23rd of September, Josephine and her mother, Sylvia, paid a visit to KISU!

^Sylvia (left), Josephine (centre), and Ingrid (right) 

Ingrid handed over 317,000 Ugx to Sylvia and Josephine which would cover for her medical checkup. Needless to say, they were ecstatic. 

"God bless you," whispered Josephine as she shyly received the money. 

^josephine (left), and Ingrid (right) 

"It was a poignant encounter and as long as being president gives me a certain authority and power to put a smile on somebody's face, this is something that I would never want to stop doing."- Ingrid, president of interact club. 

-Engage Rotary, change lives- 

Josephine

Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin- Grace Hansen 

Today the KISU Interact Club members had their very first outing!

^Kampala

As stated in our previous post, our aim is to improve the lives of those who need our help, and we decided that our very first project will be a collaborative project for a 19 year old girl living in a village in Kampala. Her name is Josephine and this is her story...

She has sickle-cell anemia which is the commonest genetic disease in the world. It is due to a mutation which causes haemoglobin molecules to stick together, in tissues with low oxygen concentrations. The chains of haemoglobin join together into bundles that are rigid enough to distort the red blood cells into a sickle shape. These sickle cells cause damage to tissues by becoming trapped in blood capillaries, blocking them and reducing blood flow. (Allot, Andrew and Mindorff, David. Biology Course Companion. Great Britain: Oxford university press, 2007.Print.)

Her father passed away and her mother lost her job recently. Her right hip joint has dug into the hip socket/pelvis so she has a limp. She finds it challenging to walk so she goes to school on a boda-boda. Due to the lack of income sometimes she cannot get the respective medications and has no choice but to endure the pain...

^(from left to right) Emmanuel (Interact Club member), Sandra (Interact Club member), Ingrid (Interact Club president), Josephine (sickle-cell anemia patient), Sylvia (Josephine's mother) 

^(from left to right) Josephine, Sylvia, Mrs Sophie B (our supervisor), Sandra, Emmanuel 

^an X-ray image showing Josephine's displaced right hip joint and socket. 

Unfortunately sickle cell anamia is more often than not considered a death sentence- meaning the life expectancy of the patient is very short. So we as members of the Interact club will be paying regular visits to her home and hosting fundraisers at school in order to purchase her medicines or pay for her boda-boda or even her school fees. For more updates please keep an eye out and please don't forget to subscribe! 

-Engage Rotary, change lives- 

First fundraiser

Greetings! 

This blog will be solely run by the Interact Club members of Kampala International School in Uganda. This club was founded this academic year by Mrs Sophie B, who is the director of public relations at Kasangati Rotary club, here in Kampala. 

Our aim is to illuminate and aid the lives of those who are in need of our help, and as a part of our first Interact project we conducted a fundraiser this week which successfully raised 317,000/= Ugandan Shillings (which would be equivalent to about 124.26 US$). Below are the pictures which depict what the fundraiser was about. 

 ^the president of Interact Club 2013-2014, Ingrid Saito in DP1 

 ^More than 120 roses were sold on Friday the 20th of September 2013-teachers' appreciation day.

^All the roses were hand-wrapped by the president of the Interact Club. Each rose included a card on which the sender could write their own message.

The Interact Club would like to extend our gratitude to everybody who purchased roses and contributed. And to those who didn't, there will be many more fundraisers to come! Keep an eye out and thank you for taking your time reading this. 

-Engage Rotary, Change lives-