“She connived with my paternal uncle” Ivan said, “and they sold his land, the cows and three goats a few months after my parents’ death and divided everything between themselves. They never gave me a single cent and never sent me back to school claiming they didn`t have the money.”

He now plays football and is one of the many children being housed, educated and fed by Kampala Junior Team, although currently there are not enough funds for him to go to school.

Ivan Muzinguzi was interviewed by Sonko Joel.

-On 18th July 2011 Kampala Junior Team travelled from Vaxjo to Gothenburg to take part in Gothia Cup, On the teams arrival in Gothenburg, they were highly welcomed by an Italian News journalist Mr. Massimo and he had an interview with the team director.On 19th July KJT played their first match with Örgryte IS, the match ended in a draw (0-0), On 20th July we played the second match against Ystads IF FF 2 and the game ended 3-0 to KJT’s favor. On 21st July the team played its final group stage match against BP-Akeshov and won 7-1 and managed to top the table with 7 points.The next day 22nd July KJT played its first quarter final game against a Swedish Academy Hoganas BK, KJT won 3-0 and qualified for the next quarter final game.Same day evening Kampala Junior Team played its next quarter final game and lost to a Brazilian Academy Space/Ordin 2-0 .
The loss marked KJT’s final participation at Gothia Cup 2011. Having the best play topscorer in group stages by the names of SONKO JOEL. KJT managed to make many friends which was one of the agenda and a good step to the progress of the academy.

We had to prepare to come back home.

Posted by Sonko Joel, member of the Kampala Junior Team

Kampala Junior Team are the new Airtel Rising Stars Uganda Champions, beating rivals CRO 3 –  0 on Saturday in a penalty shootout after a no-doubt fiercely contested match.

Heroes of the match were goal scorers Lutalo Bossa, Munoga Henry and Sekatebe Ronald, and goalkeeper Byamukama Jackson who successfully defended his goal-line from the penalty takers of the opposing team.

Coach Kabugo told me : ‘This is a big win! We got two cups and a cash prize which we will use to help with food, rent and living costs, and to register with the football leagues. Plus the kids will get a small gift each and a celebratory party.’

Each of the winning team members will also receive gifts from the tournament organisers Airtel and six of the boys get a chance to attend a skills workshop in South Africa next year.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!

You make us proud!

Coach Kabugo and those of the team whom he shelters and cares for – as many as 18 at any one time – returned from their impressive campaign in Sweden’s Gothia Cup to find themselves evicted from their home in Kisenyi slum. Having nowhere to go and no money for a hotel room Coach had no option but to send most of the boys to their villages, those who have surviving relatives taking their orphaned friends with them, whilst coach desperately searched for the advance rent needed to secure a new place. Just this week they have moved into the new premises, fortunately an improvement on the old, and the children are back together in Kampala. But they never know from one day to the next where the next due rent is coming from, or their next meal.

I talk to some of these kids – those who live with Coach, and others – when they can get online. They are ashamed to say how poor they are and how hard their lives are, they are desperate for hope and support. I talk to a 16 year old former team member, himself an orphan, signed to a well known European club, he tells me how worried he is for his former team mates and how much he misses them. I talk to an orphaned 14 year old who tells me he has not time to train because he has to work all day to try to ensure his 7 younger sisters and ailing grandmother are fed.

These kids hold their own on the football field against some of the wealthiest and most privileged junior clubs in the world.

I am determined to help them get the recognition they deserve in Uganda and abroad, so that they can be free to grow and to study and to excel as they should. Imagine if they had a purpose built premises where they could sleep secure, train, and be educated, from where they could reach out for and achieve a future that would transform their lives and the lives of their brothers and sisters. Imagine an income for Coach Kabugo that would free him from worry about how to house and feed them all so that he can concentrate on coaching. Imagine what they could achieve with just a fraction of the corporate sponsorship Western clubs of their calibre attract.

I am asking for your help, readers, wherever you are, whether that is through working with me and the Team on a promotional campaign, or by direct fundraising, or by simply sharing this blog and telling the world you support the Kampala Junior Team.

Fundraising Book

Wasswa Donald, one of the best of Uganda’s emerging young artists, has already pledged his support by joining me in donating much of the proceeds from I Speak Elephanish, a children’s book featuring his beautiful paintings which I have co-authored with him. The book is available from online publishers Blurb, and is the first of an anticipated series of publications featuring African and international collaborations between writers, artists, grassroots organistions and social enterprises, from my own philanthropically minded arts-based business Kushinda. You have my personal guarantee that 100% of my own proceeds from this edition of the book, plus a generous contribution from the artist, will go to Kampala Junior Team funds to help lay the foundations of that brighter future which these exceptional young people deserve.

I SPEAK ELEPHANISH by Wasswa Donald and Ceris Dien | Make Your Own Book

Kampala Junior Team  7  BP Akeshov  1

(Corrected, not 9 – 1 as previously stated)

They finished top of their group

Go KJT Go!

On to the next round!

KJT now lead their group with one match to play

Go KJT Go!

Their next match is today, Tuesday, at 1700 local time against Ystads IF FF 2 who on Monday beat BP Akeshov  2 – 0.

Kampala Junior Team play BP Akeshov on Wednesday at 9.40.

Your comments and messages to the team will be passed on and welcomed, so please, feel free to comment here!

How do you like this ? … A logo design by Welsh artist Osian Efnisien created free for the Kampala Junior Team, use it as an avatar or profile pic if you want to show your support on Facebook, but please credit the artist, and let us know!

HERE IS THE NEWS

Gosh, it’s two years since I last made an entry, when I last wrote the Under 16s were on their way to play in the Norway Cup. There they outperformed many of the best youth football clubs from all over the world, with scorelines such as 9 – 0 !  However they lost in the quarter finals to the eventual tournament winners, a team from Mexico (the name evades me, but I’ll find it again)

Since then we (myself and my daughters) have kept in touch with the team members and Coach Kabugo, although we haven’t yet been able to meet in person again we have nonetheless become firm friends. It may be a cliche but it’s true to say that it feels like family.

THE GOTHIA CUP

18th – 25th July 2011

I’m very pleased and genuinely excited to say that the KJT Boys’ Under 14 Team are currently in Sweden for the Gothia Cup, ” The world’s largest and most international youth football tournament ” where their campaign starts today, July 18th, at 1300 local time. I’ll be helped to keep you informed by the team striker, Joel, who will be joining me as co-editor on his (I believe triumphant) return to Uganda. Meanwhile the team have already won a ‘warm up’ tournament in the week since they’ve been there, so they already have a cup to bring home!

Kampala Junior Team Under 14s

A FEW WORDS

I want to say a few words about what I’ve learned through getting to know the team, about what a difference these extraordinarily talented and dedicated young people make to the lives of their friends and others in the slums, on the streets, and in the impoverished countryside of Uganda. Most of the team, including Coach Kabugo and the boys he shelters and cares for, themselves go home after tournaments to slum shacks and often cannot afford second-hand shoes or school fees. Yet they have the strength of spirit, the ability, and the commitment to succeed against all the odds, and perhaps more importantly they have a real commitment to each other. What they give back to the extended family of all their members, supporters, and most importantly their neighbours and communities, is more than just pride, more than focusing the attention of government and funders on Kisenyi Slum, or the attention of professional clubs on the young players. It’s proof that social or economic status defines no-one, that if we believe in our dreams and work at them, together we change our lives. Let me try to put it in a single phrase, ‘  To aspire is to inspire ! ‘ I think that sums it up.

Secondly, I went to Kampala and met up with my friends at the KJT for the first time (but not the last)! More pics and a couple of vids to come, but for now here are 2 of my favourites :

Marcey is one of the stars of the Girls’ Team, she is also the pen-friend of one of my kids. She lives in a tiny little house in the Kisenyi slum – no running water, no sanitation, no electricity – with her Mum and numerous brothers and sisters. Meeting her was one of the highlights of my visit, she’s a great kid who wants to be a Midwife when she grows up, she also has potential as a TV reporter as you will see later when I get around to uploading the vids! Here she is outside her house – she is the tallest, in the center of the doorway.

And here are some of the boys who live with Coach Kabugo in an even smaller house in the heart of Kisenyi.

And here am I with Kabugo’s daughter, future captain of the Ugandan Women’s Football Team!