Suubi Centre Update Blog

5-4-2016, Focusing On Suubi's Self Sustainability

With so many successful and varied initiatives now happening via Suubi on a day to day basis, this year we have made the conscious decision to focus on consolidating everything. While the past few years have seen an enormous amount of construction, all of which was required to get Suubi Secondary & Vocational College up and running, this year we will be focusing on income producing projects that will ultimately make Suubi self sustainable in the future. With this in mind, we were very excited when the 2016 Uganda Marathon selected Suubi Centre as one of only a handful of projects to receive funds raised by the runners of this years June 5th event. By joining forces with them we are aiming to fill the Suubi goat house, that was constructed during last year, with 200 goats. The income raised, from the sale of kids produced by these goats in the future, will enable Suubi to cover staff wages and administration costs for themselves. As part of the marathon, a group of Suubi staff, students and friends have entered a team to run in the event.

The Suubi team were keen to sign on to run in this year's Uganda Marathon when the official launch took place on March 8th.

Suubi staff and SSVC students hit the training track in preparation for the big event.

Check out the short video telling prospective runners how their fundraising will support Suubi's self sustainability.

Since the video was made by the Uganda marathon team, late last year, we have been able to increase the number of goats at the project to 28, thanks to the generosity of Aussie Suubi supporters.

In addition to the marathon and goat project we are excited to have also joined forced with Suubi Centre Director, Ssemwogerere David and his partner Mbabazi Hellen to develop a cottage that will part of the accommodation at their newly established Elite Backpackers Services in Masaka Town. The cottage will also provide an opportunity to create an ongoing income for Suubi's self sustainability as a increasing percentage of the profit will be directed towards Suubi projects as the business develops. We are delighted that the Uganda Marathon team has agreed to utilise the facilities at EBS for some of the many international runners that will be coming from all corners of the globe to participate in the event in June. This of course will provide excellent exposure for both Suubi and EBS, which will surely increase the number of people coming to visit/volunteer in the future. This all certainly bodes well for Suubi's self sustainability in the future.

The cottage at EBS has recently been completed and received the first guests at the beginning of April.

The restaurant and bar at EBS will be the ideal place for guests to wind down and enjoy good food and drinks with their friends. The marathon participants will be sure to pass on the word to family, friends and future travellers, that Elite Backpacker Services is 'THE' place to stay in Masaka Town in Uganda.

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8-3-2016, Suubi Team Signs Up At Uganda Marathon Launch

While we are usually busy with the rest of the world celebrating International Women's Day on March 8th, today Suubi Centre staff instead joined others in Masaka town for the official launch of the Uganda International Marathon 2016. With Suubi Centre being one of the very few projects selected to receive funds raised from this years marathon, we decided we should also enter a Suubi team to run in the event! International runners will come from all over the world to run and we can't wait to be running along side them all. We will make many new friends throughout this event, who are sure to become part of our ever growing worldwide Suubi family.

Some of the Suubi staff at the launch today for the 2016 Uganda Marathon.

(L - R) Robert, Ishmael, Lydia, Shanitah, Zidinah, Alad, David, Peter and Sematico were some of the first in line to sign up to be part of the run on June 5th.

As part of the launch activities today we helped paint the gazetted zebra crossing points in Masaka. This certainly drew a lot of attentions from people in town and will be lasting reminder to everyone about the positive things that Uganda Marathon brings with it.

David and Robert proved to be very handy with the paint rollers... and also their phones for taking photos of all the action!

Shanitah and Lydia also got involved as the zebra strips slowly but surly made their way across the very busy main street in Masaka.

With the zebra crossing complete marathon entrants walk the streets around Masaka to tell people about the event.

Ishmael, Robert and Alad had a race among themselves!

There were lots of smiles from the Suubi team at the end of the day when the very eventful and successful launch was over.

Although competitors have the choice to run either a full (42km) or half (21km) marathon, or the shorter 10km course, they will all be very challenging; the route takes runners up and down hills and over rough terrain, but also through some of Uganda’s most beautiful scenery. With this in mind, once back in the village, the Suubi team realised they needed to hit the training track.

Suubi staff and students gathered at the local Lubanda pitch in preparation for their first real training session.

(L-R) Elias, Peter, Lydia, Zidinah, Alad, Robert and David lead the way as the large group of staff and students took off.

But the team soon spread out as the training run progressed.

SSVC students continued on along the tracks throughout the village.

Students finally finished by running up the hill back in to the school compound. Funny that there was not an adult left running in sight. Lucky there is still time left for plenty more training sessions!

While the marathon is obviously going to be a big adventure for everyone involved, fundraising is also a big part of the event. One of the core values of Uganda Marathon is that they want to give back to the community that is opening it’s arms to runners from around the globe. Their approach is very simple: They want to raise as much money as possible in order to support the chosen projects in Uganda, of which Suubi is one. Marathon runners who chose to fundraise for Suubi will see funds go straight towards the Suubi Goat Project. This has been established to help Suubi to become self sustainable, eventually being able all cover staff wages and administration costs itself.

Check out the video that was put together for the Uganda Marathon website so people can see how they can help by choosing to run for Suubi Centre:

As you can see, when the marathon team visited the goat project late last year we had only 4 goats. Since that time, thanks to the generosity of Aussies over the Christmas period, we have been able to increase the number to 28. This is still a long way from the 200 we are aiming for though, so it is important to help spread the word and get behind the Uganda Marathon runners, especially Suubi team that will participating on the day.

It is great to see the goat numbers already increasing. Imagine what it will look like with 200 goats inside and the amount of money that will be able to be generated to support the entire Suubi project!

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10-1-2016, Most Successful TeamMed Visit To Date

The third annual collaboration between TeamMed, Monash medical students from Australia and Suubi Health Clinic has proved to be the most successful to date. Each year the relationship and understanding between the two medical cohorts has continued to grow; this years team of Emily, Milo, Kirby, Imogen, Hayden and Bridget fitted in quickly with the local community and worked perfectly, side by side with Suubi medical staff to carry out the successful testing and treatment exercise at Suubi Clinic and two out reach locations of Nakateete and Kyasonko.

After arriving in Uganda on 30th Dec 2016 the team drove directly to Masaka where they spent the night and had a chance to recover from their long journey. An orientation session was held for them the following morning before heading to Masaka Referal Hospital, one of the bigger medical facilities in the area. This gave the team the opportunity to see first hand the differences in facilities that their counterparts in a metropolitan hospital in Uganda have to cope with, before heading to the much remoter location of Suubi Clinic, where they were based for their 10 day stay.

The Monash medical students listened intently as they were given a guided tour around the Masaka Regional Hospital.

Having travelled to Suubi on New years eve, January 1st saw TeamMED joining forces with the Suubi medical staff to unpack supplies and set up for the testing and treatment exercise that had been scheduled. Money the team had raised prior to their arrival had enabled the testing reagents and medications to be purchased, meaning patients seen throughout their time at the clinic would be charged the nominal fee of only 2000 shillings (approx 80c). This allowed patients to access all testing and treatment being offered without it being seen as a hand out; something that is always at the forefront of everything that happens at Suubi.

All the supplies that had been purchased needed to be accounted for and sorted out before the patients began to arrive on the following day.

Dental supplies of toothbrushes and paste had also been bought from Australia to distribute at the dental workshops that were to be carried out.

An important briefing was held for the Suubi Medics and TeamMed members so everyone was very aware of how things would run over the following days.

The first two days of the exercise held at Suubi Clinic saw 72 patients attend to be tested and treated for various conditions including malaria, HIV, TB and hypertension to name a few. The Suubi medics and TeamMed members worked sided by side to access, diagnose and decide on the best possible treatment for all patients.

Patients at Suubi Clinic waiting patiently for their turn to be seen.

Once inside patients were accessed by a Suubi medic and TeamMed members. Bridget and Elias, from Suubi Clinic, worked side by side to decide on the testing and treatment required by this patient.

Suubi student nurse, Deborah, and Imogen worked in the laboratory taking blood pressure and then bloods if they were required for testing.

With so many patients to be seen, another area in the Suubi Clinic was set up for blood to be taken. This was then sent to the lab to be analysed. Hayden and Bridget make the best of the alternative facilities that were available.

With the diagnosis complete patients were then sent to the dispensary to receive any medication they required. Emily and Alad worked together to make sure everything dispensed was well recorded.

As usual, some patients that were seen at the clinic during this time needed to be admitted for further treatment, often administered via a drip. The three available beds at Suubi Clinic are used predominately for short term stays and treatment of less serious cases. Anyone that presents with acute issues are transferred to the hospital in Masaka.

Imogen and Alad worked on a small child that required a drip to be inserted so that treatment could be given more directly.

This saw him improve quite quickly and he was soon happily chatting with everyone.

In addition to the treatment days, two very successful dental workshops were held at Suubi Secondary and Community College on January 4th. Approximately 140 people turned up to learn about best dental hygiene practises and how to brush their teeth; over 80 children/youth and over 60 adults. All the dental workshop participants were happy to be given a start up dental care kit comprised toothpaste and a toothbrush.

Some of the younger children were guided by Kirby as she showed them the best way to brush their teeth.

While the adult participants learnt the additional importance of dental hygiene, not only themselves but also for providing it for their children.

All of the participants were happy to receive a toothbrush and toothpaste to take home so they can continue to take good care of their teeth.

On January 5th a community outreach was conducted at Nakateete where 46 patients were treated. Then on January 6th the team saw a further 26 patients back at Suubi Clinic before a 2nd community outreach was held at Kyasonko on January 7th, where a total of 31 patients accessed the services on offer.

Outreach sessions at Nakateete and Kysonko were conducted in the local schools. Patients registered as they arrived and wait in the shade outside for their turn to be seen.

Bridget joined Suubi Clinical officer, Robert, as he accessed one of the patients at the outreaches.

Milo made use of the desks in classrooms as he took the blood pressure of this lady.

While Emily used a pillow for support as she drew blood from a patient to be analysed.

On January 8th the TeamMed guys took a well deserved break from seeing patients and spent time touring Lubanda village and some of the other projects being run through Suubi Centre. They loved spending time with the Suubi ladies and took the opportunity to buy african printed clothing and craft made by them for their family and friends back home.

January 9th and 10th wrapped up the teams time at Suubi with the final testing and treatment carried out back at Suubi Clinic. All in all the entire exercise has been a huge success. The Aussie medical students have been exposed to conditions they simply will never come across back at home in Australia. They will surely be better doctors in the future for having gone through this experience and equally the Suubi medical team will have learnt many things from them along the way. So it is a win win for everyone! Lasting friendships and that have been formed will ensure that the TeamMed/Suubi Clinic collaboration will continue to go from strength to strength in the future.

Suubi and TeamMed 2016 have achieved great things as they worked side by side and formed lasting friendships. (L-R Back - Elias, Hayden, Zakah, Robert, Peter, Milo, Alad. Front - Kirby, Bridget, Imogen and Emily.

A huge thank you the entire TeamMed 2016 and Suubi Team crew, for the great work done over the last 10 days. Webale nnyo, nnyo, nnyo.

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6-11-2015, Vocational Workshop & Tools Unveiled At SSVC During Music, Dance & Drama Final

The 2015 Music, Dance and Drama Festival finals have proven to be the most successful to date. When our annual MDD Festival first began in 2010, we would have never dreamed that 5 years later we would be needing to hold preliminary rounds to accommodate all the schools who want to be part of this much anticipated event, or that we would be staging the finals day at Suubi Secondary & Vocational College to unveil a brand new workshop and vocational tools. It is absolutely amazing how far we have come!

This years festival saw 13 primary schools take part in the preliminary rounds, with 8 of them going through to the finals that were held on November 6th. The theme throughout the event was “An educated community, is a transformed community”. The eight finalists captivated the large audience as they performed in the five categories: creative dance, a poem, a play, traditional dance and an original composition (song). The level of competition between the schools was highly competitive this year and the standard of the performance outstanding. A huge thank you must go to the teachers and trainers who put in countless hours with the student for them to be able to reach this level. Each and every school did a wonderful job of finding their own entertaining way to get the theme of the event across to the huge crowd that had come along to enjoy the day.

The day opened with SSVC students performing the national anthem.

The drums that were to be presented at the end of the final were put front and centre to motivate the performers.

First time finalists, St Jude, Lwagulwe P/S were the first on stage to perform in each category.

The students from Lubanda Islamic P/S were tiny in size but their performance in creative dance certainly got the crowd cheering.

It is estimated that in excess of 1600 people were at SSVC to be part of this wonderful finals day. More than 1000 students were joined by over 600 parents, teachers, officials and well wishers from the community. The performances were obviously enjoyed by everyone as they learnt the valuable message of the importance of education, but there was also another exciting reason for the huge crowd to have gathered; the unveiling of the new vocational workshop and tools.

Bana Uganda Ltd of Aspire to Inspire project were happy to be invited to attend. Jeremiah gave and inspiring speech to the students and the wider audience.

Mr. Muwanga Goerge, from the Lwengo District Education Office, also spoke of the many great things that Suubi Secondary & Vocational College is now able to offer.

There was much excitement as everyone entered the newly constructed vocational workshop to check out the vocational tools that had recently arrived from TWAM.

SSVC teacher, Tinjebwa Deo, directed the large crowd and explained about the various tools for many different trades.

Suubi staff member, Niwamanya Elias, (left) took time out of his hectic MC duties of the day to show off some of the many power tools that had arrived from the UK.

It is hard to describe the excitement that everyone felt on seeing all of the new facilities; it is definitely creating great hope (Suubi) in the community. It is hard to believe that, as from the beginning of the 2016 school year, many additional vocational trades will now be able to be incorporated in to the day to day curriculum at the school. This is definitely another important step in the development at SSVC!

With the unveiling complete it was back to the the remainder of the days performances to find the eventual winners of each category. The results are as follows:

ORIGINAL COMPOSITION: 1st - Hope bulemere P/S. 2nd-Namugongo P/S

POEM: 1st - St. Agatha Makondo P/S (first time participants in the event) 2nd - Save The Child P/S

CREATIVE DANCE: 1st - Lubanda Islamic P/S. 2nd - Bright Light P/S

PLAY: 1st - St.Jude Lwagulwe P/S. 2nd - Save The Child P/S

TRADITIONAL DANCE: 1st - Namugongo P/S. 2nd - St.Agatha Makondo P/S

As is always the case, a tour and full evaluation of all 13 participating schools was held in the lead up to the finals and the following schools were judge to have the best school garden and hygiene and sanitation.
SCHOOL GARDEN: 1st - Namugongo P/S. 2nd - Hope Bulemere P/S
HYGIENE & SANITATION: 1st - Namulanda P/S. 2nd - Lubanda Islamic P/S

In the hope of encouraging all schools to continue to participate and work hard in the future, all 13 participating schools were award with a certificate and a long drum. All eight teams that made it through to the finals were awarded an additional drum and the winners and runners up received cash prizes.

The teacher from Save The Child P/S was happy to receive their participation certificate from Jeremiah, from Aspire to Inspire.

The eight finalist schools were all thrilled to receive both a long and short drum for all their effort.

Namagongo P/S had made significant improvement this year and were very excited to be award with the best school garden.

We've put together a short video of the finals day so you can get a real feel of the excitement of the event and as the community toured the new workshop for the first time. Enjoy!

How wonderful to see so many people enjoying this much loved annual Suubi event and the positive energy that SSVC and the new vocational workshop is bringing to the entire community.

A huge thank you must go to the incredible Suubi staff who put in an enormous amount of work to make the 2015 Suubi MMD event was another huge success. And we certainly can not forget to thank the amazing builders and everyone else who helped to make sure the construction was completed and the tools in place in time for the event. Webale nnyo, nnyo, nnyo emirimu buli omu!

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24-10-2015, MDD Helps Draw People to Cancer Screening & Family Planning Outreach At Suubi Clinic

Two preliminary rounds for our Music, Dance and Drama Festival, which is conducted annually for Suubi's partnering primary schools, have been held over the last two days. Fifteen schools in total gathered across the two consecutive days at Namulanda and Kyembazzi Primary Schools. Each competing school performed a composed song, a skit, creative and traditional dances to reflect this years theme of "An educated community is a transformed community.” It was fabulous to see students, teachers and the wider community enjoying the high stand entertainment, while at the same time learning more about the importance of education.

As usual, the traditional dance performances were a favourite with everyone who had gathered to watch.

The colourful dance costumes of Lubanda Islamic P/S students were a stand out at the first preliminary round held at Numulanda P/S.

The performers from Namugongo P/S were lucky to have many of their fellow students there to cheer them on.

Each song that was perform conveyed the message, in its own individual way, about the importance of how education can transform a community.

It was a tough job for the judges to choose which schools to send on to the finals.

After two wonderful days of entertainment four schools, from each preliminary round, were eventually selected to compete in the finals, which will be held at Suubi Secondary & Vocational College on November 6th. From Group A, Namugongo P/S, Bright-Light P/S, Lubanda Islamic P/S and St.Jude Lwagulwe P/S were selected while Group B saw Save The Child P/S, Makondo P/S, Hope Buremere P/s and Kawerimidde P/S make their way through to the finals. All of these schools were very excited to be selected and they are now busy practising as the wait for finals day to come around.

Cancer Screening & Family Planning Outreach Held At Suubi Clinic

This years MDD theme of "An educated community is a transformed community” also gave Suubi Clinic staff the opportunity to educated the community about the importance of family planning and cancer screening. It was an ideal chance for them to promote the two day outreach that was being held concurrently at Suubi Clinic, in collaboration with Pace/Profam.

The outreach saw 79 women turn up to be either screened for cervical cancer and/or take on some form of family planning. Patients were treated by Suubi Clinic staff, Arinda Alad and Kayiira Robert and overseen by an expert from Profam/Pace. The turn up was a wonderful result and there is already discussion of when another session can be conducted for a large number of women associated with our good friends at St Jude Training Centre. With Pace/Profam subsidising the family planning and cancer screening service, the cost to each lady is a mere 1000 shillings (approx. 38c). This makes the collaboration between Suubi Clinic and Profam/Pace extremely worthwhile and is sure to benefit many of these rural women in the future.

The number of women who turned up for the family planning and cancer screening, held in conjunction with Profam/Pace at Suubi Clinic, was very encouraging.

Suubi Clinic's Arinda Alad with one of the 79 patients seen across the two day outreach.

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20-8-2015, Great Progress With Knitting And Bracelets

It has been fabulous to have Meri and Oriol from ILIKEMYSOCKS back with us to work with the Suubi ladies knitting group during August. The ladies certainly have come a long way since they first began learning to hand knit under the trees in the Suubi compound, a little over twelve months ago. It is amazing to now see them hard at work, in what is becoming a thriving business.

Meri began teaching Suubi ladies the art of hand knitting during July/August 2014.

This year a dedicated space within the training hall has been set up where the ladies work each day to produce a variety of beautiful baby garments.

Winding the wool from hanks is now far easier after Meri bought a special machine for the knitting group this year.

We are enormously proud of the Suubi ladies for their hard work and commitment to learn this new, and often challenging skill. But their hard work has paid off; it is very exciting that Meri will be taking a large number of garments back to Barcelona with her and they will soon be on sale via their website.

In addition to the ladies knitting it is also very exciting to see the Suubi Secondary College students learning the new skill of making beaded bracelets. With a market already established in Australia, for the Suubi ladies craft, we will soon be adding the students bracelets for sale. This will give them another realistic way to help pay for their own education.

It is wonderful to see the SSVC students learning skills beyond the academic classroom work; this gives them skills for self-reliance.

The volunteers from Setem, Spain were happy to be able to teach the students new bracelet designs during the current holiday vocational program.

Some of the beaded bracelet designs the students have made.

So be on the lookout for both of these fabulous hand made items for sale on both sides of the world. Whether you chose to buy a beautiful hand knitted baby garment or beaded bracelet from the SSVC students, is the perfect way for you to help Suubi community members to help themselves. Perfect!

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1-8-2015, Volunteers From Around The Globe Arrive

Suubi is a buzz at the moment with three brand new groups of volunteers/visitors arriving from around the globe; past volunteers were joined by first time visitors to Uganda from both Barcelona and Australia.

As the different groups arrived it was exciting to see them all taking the opportunity to stop over at Elite Backpacker Hostel so they could recover from their long journeys before heading out to Lubanda Village. Suubi Centre director, David Ssemwogerere and his partner, Hellen Mbabazi, have recently establish this business, in Masaka Town. They are aiming to provide a homestyle hostel, for budget conscious volunteers and international travellers, and it seems the latest arrivals very quickly felt right at home!

Meri & Oriol and two sons Guillem and Thierry loved the homestyle breakfast at EBH.

It is great to have Meri and Oriol and the boys back with us again. Meri will be hard at work with the Suubi ladies, over the next month, teaching them the new knitting patterns for their summer range of babies clothes. Check out ILIKEMYSOCKS website, where you will soon be able to purchase the cutest little baby pieces that the Suubi ladies have made.

The new Setem team were also happy to get in to the kitchen to help prepare their breakfast; which included eggs bought from the SSVC students home based project! Just one of the many fabulous ways that EBH will be supporting other Ugandans.

Andrea, Anna, Bea, Paula and Anna, from Setem, were happy to share breakfast at EBH with Kristie from Australia.

Kristie and the Setem team will be spending the next month together at Suubi. With each of them having different interests and passions, they are all looking forward to getting involved in the many different initiatives available at Suubi. Be sure to keep checking back in to see what they are up to - maybe you'll see them helping out schools or the Suubi Clinic..... playing sports, or with the Suubi craft ladies....... or you might even see them working on the construction of the new workshop that is currently going on at Suubi Secondary & Vocational College!

Before heading out to Suubi an orientation session was held for the eager group in the common room at EBH.

Once in the village the girls were introduced to the SSVC students

and teachers. The girls have settled in well now and we are very sure they are going to have a fabulous time.

Back at EBH: while the accommodation is an important component of the business, as usual with David and Hellen, it is the ability for the backpackers to help other Ugandans that they are most happy about. With Hellen recently graduating from her university degree in art/education, the space at the hostel has also enabled them to set up the EBH Art Gallery & Craft Shop. This will allow them to showcase the art work of Hellen's fellow artists, and also craft made by the Suubi ladies........ giving them exposure and an opportunity to sell to people from all corners of the world!

Meri and Thierry check out some of the Suubi ladies paper bead jewellery which is for sale in the EBH Gallery & Craft Shop.

The 2nd group to arrive at EBH were also impresses by the all the art and craft available in the gallery.

What a lovely sight to see - Spanish, Aussies and Ugandans all enjoying the spacious grounds surrounding EBH.

We were also happy to have past volunteer, Laurence Webb from Australia, back with us again for a couple of days last week. He was keen to bring Ugandan counterpart, Gabriel, to check out all the wonderful progress that has happened at Suubi since his last visit in 2012. Gabriel runs a project in Kagadi and it was the perfect opportunity for him to learn from Suubi's success and also share his experiences and ideas with the Suubi staff.

So as you can see, Suubi Centre and EBH, are bringing like minded people together from different corners of the world. The current bunch of volunteers from Spain and Australia are passionate about working together with the Ugandans to empower locals who want to build a better life for themselves. What a fantastic, multicultural way to make positive change through community development!

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20-7-2015, Suubi Sports Tournament 2015 Our Biggest Yet

The 5th annual Suubi Butonde Bwansi Sports Tournament, which has been running over the last 2 months, concluded on July 12th with our biggest finals day ever. The 2015 finals saw over 5,000 people turned up from Lwengo District and beyond to this much anticipated day that brings such joy and excitement to everyone in the villages around Suubi Centre.

Activities started bright and early with the bicycle racing competition. The 27 riders excitedly gathered on the starting line to receive cycling jerseys and shorts that had been so generously donated by Logan Cycling Club in Queensland. A huge thank you goes to Phil Baker for organising to have their out of date kits sent to Uganda, rather than letting them gather dust in a box in Australia. Both the cyclist and tournament organisers are now proudly wearing the gear, which also had Suubi Centre printed on it. This will continue to help promote cycling in the area, but also Suubi. What a wonderful outcome!

A record number of riders took part in this years race; it was fabulous to see 27 riders excitedly lining up at the start.

The competition was fierce as the riders passed through many of the villages surrounding Suubi Centre - what a fabulous way to promote the Centre and get people talking about the many wonderful activities, projects or services that Suubi provides.

The race concluded at Suubi Secondary & Vocational College, which also gave the many spectators an opportunity to check out the new school while they were there. It was a fabulous sight to see the winners and organising committee on the finish line, all kitted out in gear donated by Logan Cycling Club.

With the bike race complete, the action moved to the Lubanda pitch where lots of other sporting activities got under way. The tug of war, matooke peeling and mini marathon were thoroughly enjoyed by the huge crowd as they waited for the finals of the netball and football.

The tug of war events created great excitement. The crowd cheered loudly as the participants used every ounce of their strength to get across the line.

A huge crowd also gathered to watch the matooke peeling; while it didn't require the same strength, it certainly require concentration and speed.

The opportunity for the SSVC students to perform in front of so many people was another highlight of the day. Through their songs they were able to pass on important messages about how education can fight poverty. The school head master also took the opportunity to tell the huge crowd all about SSVC and the inspiring education it is offering.

The netball and football matches were the final events for the day. Eight teams, in each of these sports, had started out the tournament in May and fought their way through the earlier knockout rounds. It Kyassonko and Kinoni football clubs and St Mary Manja and Kisweera netball clubs that eventually earned the right to play off in the final.

The St Mary's secondary school girls proved too strong for Kisweera on the day by winning the match 34 to 10 goals.

By the time the football match got started, the pitch was surrounded with an estimated 5000 spectators.

The huge crowd proved to be somewhat of a challenge during the final of the football. With score on 0-0 and the match only 3 minutes away from completion, Kinoni FC scored a goal, only to have the Kyssonko goal keeper say a spectator had pushed him, making it impossible for him to intercept the goal. As the daylight very quickly faded it was decided that the match could not go on and the two teams and the event organisers would need to meet and decide the fairest possible way to proceed. At a meeting held on the following day it was decided there would be a rematch yesterday (19th).

Once again a huge crowd turned up to watch the rematch:

Nets were set up behind the usual open goals to avoid a similar problem occurring.

Much to everyone's credit the rematch was played in a hard fought but very fair manner and the spectators were very well behaved.

Somewhat ironically though, the end of ordinary time saw the two teams locked at 1 goal each. This of course meant the decision came down to a penalty shoot out, which Kinoni FC eventually took out!

The runner up prize of a goat was awarded to Kyssonko Football Club.

Kinoni FC were thrilled to received a cow as their prize for being the eventual winners.

So although the original football match had caused some controversy, it actually proved to an added bonus for everyone as they enjoyed another fabulous day of sporting activity. Overall, throughout the entire event it was wonderful to see so many people actively involved in such a variety of sports. Just as importantly though, was the fact that it gave Suubi the opportunity to inform the public on the many things that are happening at the project and how they can get involved.

A huge thank you and congratulations to the amazing Suubi staff and sports committee for running our biggest and most successful tournament to date!

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1-6-2015, Greater Masaka Business Exhibition.

Suubi Centre, in particular the ladies craft group, was excited to be part of the Greater Masaka Business Exhibition that was recently held. This was a show case forum, organised by the 7 Districts that make up the greater Masaka region including Lwengo, Masaka, Rakai, Ssembabule, Lyantonde, Kalungu and Kalangala.

This event showcased Greater Masaka business potentials to the delegation from China's Yibin City and Sichuan Province. The delegation, that was lead by the Ambassador of China, was at the event to officially launch the Greater Masaka Industrial park; a result of China Africa Friendship Association Uganda. This development is looking at the possible social-economic transformation of the people of greater Masaka through business partnerships with the Chinese people.

The Suubi craft ladies proudly displayed their various craft items to the many people who attended the Greater Masaka Business Exhibition.

The Chinese contingent were happy to hear more about all the wonderful things the Suubi craft ladies are making.

The Suubi ladies were very excited to have their craft exposed to another possible international market and look forward to seeing what may come from it.

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17-5-2015, Suubi Staff v District Police Kicks Off Sports Tournament

It was another exciting day in Lubanda today as our annual Butonde Bwansi Sports Tournament was officially launched.

After the growing success of the previous 5 years sports tournaments, everyone in the district had eagerly been awaiting the kick off of this years event. With this in mind, we wanted to make the first day of play even more memorable than previous years so a friendly curtain raiser match was organised between the Suubi staff and Lwengo District Police. The match was played in great spirt and with lots of laughs, which of course proved to be a huge hit with the community. It certainly succeeded in showing the police in a positive light; yet another fabulous positive to come out of the Suubi run tournament.

Suubi staff started their prematch warm up with a run around the pitch,

followed by some stretching exercises to make sure they were ready for the opponents that most perceived to be quite intimidating.

Prior to the start of the match the Lwengo Police and Suubi staff teams lined up to hear from the referee and be presented to the spectators.

The police team got off to a flying start when they scored the first goal of the match, but the Suubi staff team soon fought back and eventually proved too strong. They took out the match 3 goals to 2. This result definitely proved popular with the majority of the large crowd who had come along to watch! Having said that, everyone was thrilled to see the police interacting with the community in such a positive way.

The large crowd were happy to see the district police officers participating in a friendly, fun filled football match.

One of the supporting officers celebrated the first goal of the match by running around with the police flag.

The speeches after the match gave the District Police Commissioner a great opportunity to talk, particularly to the youth, about some of the more positive ways the police can help the community.

The District Police Commissioner encouraged everyone to enjoy the rest of Butonde Bwansi Tournament which will run throughout the remainder of May and June.

The official opening match of the tournament followed and was played with a little more competitive spirit. Kisweera F.C proved too strong for Buziranduulu F.C, taking the match 3 goals to 2. With many more matches to be played over the coming rounds we look forward to keeping you updated and seeing who makes it through to the finals.

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