A couple of months ago PP Chris Whelan got a message enquiring whether Applecross Rotary would be interested in hearing about the Wakiso Dance Kids Foundation in Uganda (
https://wakisodancekidsfoundation.org/) and flicked it to me. I checked it out with Dr Google and came across this picture:
and lots of others so decided to contact the enquirer, a certain Jangchub Tenzin.
Chris Whelan with Jangchub Tenzin, aka Bruce Carstairs
I know a little bit about Uganda and was pretty sure it was not a country you’d expect to find a Tibetan sherpa. Turns out it’s an alias used by mild-mannered Bruce Carstairs to confuse trolls on the Internet. It also confused me and quite a few others before Bruce arrived for our recent breakfast meeting. Turns out Bruce works in aged care at the RAAFA Estate Bull Creek, and has a long term interest in Homelessness and Human Rights.
A couple of years ago he developed a ‘bucket list’ of things he'd like to do and places he’d like to see before his aging body called “time”. High on the list was “African Safari” and before long the algorithm inside his laptop started inundating him with lots of expensive options, as well as a few others like the dance kids in Uganda.
He sent a message to the Founder of the Wasiko Dance Kids Foundation, David Mubiru, who responded with an invitation to come to Uganda, meet the kids, and 'live the life they live’. So he did, and enjoyed himself so much that he keeps going back nearly every school holidays.
Bruce didn’t ask for our financial sponsorship, but he did ask for members to connect with one of the kids. I’m sure if we did decide to help financially, Bruce would be able to facilitate this. The Wakiso Dance Kids Foundation is a registered charity.
Who is David Mubiru?
David Mubiru, Founder, Wakiso Dance kids Foundation
The kids call him Daddy Mazzina. He set up the Wakiso Dance Kids Foundation in 2018 as a service to his community, and as he was a professional dancer, dance and dramatic arts became the foundation of all he wanted to the kids to learn. David is also a formally trained healthcare provider, with the training being funded by a Japanese NGO’s assistance and so he was inspired to do the same to the children in his community but through his dancing talent.
David started with three kids and the ‘family’ has grown to 17. They are given three things that they wouldn’t be able to access otherwise: Education, food, shelter. Corn meal and beans forms the main diet of David and the kids, and Bruce supplements this with eggs, milk and fruit when he visits. The kids do all the chores and also put together parcels of food to take to rural villages nearby.