By Jerry Burley
It was another perfectly normal, hot, dusty and noisy day in Kampala when my mobile phone rang for the thirtieth time that morning. I could see it was a UK call but the number was new to me - another cold-calling sales rep who had gleaned my number off the Internet and was now trying to unload redundant electrical engineering hardware on Africa no doubt...........

“Hi, is that Jerry Burley?” came the ringing voice, clearly originating from south(ish) of the Watford Gap.
“Aaah, yeeesss....” I replied cautiously, preparing to repel yet another irresistible sales pitch advocating the use of pre-WW2 fuse links from Old Sparky Electricals of Shoreditch.

“Great, came the reply “this is Andy Berry from Touraid.”
Well, silly old me, how come I didn’t recognize the voice immediately?
Who?
“I got your contact through Paul Dobson (never heard of him!) of Rugby365.com website fame. We want to bring a party of your Ugandan kids to the UK to play a curtain-raiser match at Twickenham before the England vs South Africa test in November.”

Yeah, right ho, of course you do - this type of mundane, routine offer is made to us here in darkest Africa every single day, after all! “And it gets better - we are paying for everything except your visas” he chirped. By this stage I had got beyond being suspicious that this was a wind-up (particularly as Paul D, who I do know, was unlikely to partake in such a pointless joke when he handed over my contact details and he had already alluded to the fact that something was about to happen to Ugandan rugby in an earlier contact) and the infectious enthusiasm in Andy’s voice was enough to prove this was indeed no joke. With me listening more than talking now, Andy bombarded me for the next twenty minutes with the history of the Touraid charity, of which he is CEO, details of the huge rugby personalities who had agreed to be its patrons and ambassadors and what their corporate aims and ambitions were.

In short, the charity intends to raise sufficient funds annually to bring three teams of kids or youths per year from disadvantaged or third world backgrounds to UK to play a couple of games against schools or colleges, to watch a big club or international match and, without doubt most importantly, to help forge lasting relationships with sympathetic English organisations that may be in a position to support rugby development initiatives in less privileged environments than their own, through provision of kit, free in-country training expertise, tours in and out-bound and what will hopefully be some (very carefully managed at this end) financial support.

The Touraid tag line of “Tour for a week, learn for a lifetime” is hugely apt when it comes to the kids who will be travelling from here. A good number are orphans or come from violent backgrounds in the troubled north of Uganda. None is in any shape or form privileged, with each day being a further battle for survival. A familiar story from Africa where the documentaries love to show a dirty, crying child with a fly on its mouth to illustrate the continents many continued woes? Perhaps, and I have no doubt there are other kids out there who are in a far more desperate state than even these, but unfortunately we just can’t help them all through this initiative. What the 19 Kyadondo “Balenzi” (the local Luganda word for youth or juvenile) kids, most of whom have never even left Kampala before I don’t think, let alone the

country, are preparing for is the trip of a lifetime by almost anyone’s score - flying on BA to London, a trip to Twickenham, a bus tour around the capital, staying with UK families who, comparatively, live in almost unbelievable splendour and comfort, visiting and playing a match at the hosting schools, entities which will bear little resemblance to anything found here. Of course, this will be a huge culture shock but one can only begin to imagine the stories that will be repeatedly told to wide-eyed friends and relatives when the weeks tour is over and all return back home to the hum-drum normality of life here in Kampala.

So how did Uganda come to be chosen from amongst the many other countries that could have been selected? Well, there are a variety of reasons that contributed, rather than there being any one particular driving factor. Uganda recently came perilously close to a major upset in the Rugby World Cup, being the lowest ranked team still in the tournament a few weeks back before finally being knocked out by Morocco. Former Springbok (and World Cup winner himself), Chester Williams, has been up here for a period coaching the national side, a sporting headline-grabber if ever there was.And a number of successfully-held rugby internationals staged in Kampala over the last year or two have given the country and the sport the credibility needed for outside support to be interested. Kyadondo Rugby Club, under the longtime patronage of Club Chairman Ian Walker MBE, has developed and nurtured children’s rugby through their Tag rugby development program, which has also been noticed from without.

The combination of factors resulted in new charity Touraids’ (www.touraid.org www.touraid.co.uk) decision to select a junior Ugandan side, made up of underprivileged kids, to be amongst their first beneficiaries.

The BBC has already announced that it will be following the tour with their cameras and the party will be met at Heathrow or soon thereafter by Touraid Ambassadors John Inverdale (of the Beeb), England and British and Irish Lion Mike Catt and former England no.8 Dean Richards. So, in a few short weeks time (it will have happened by the time you read this article) the Uganda “’Balenzi”’ U13 side will be running out on to the hallowed turf of Twickenham, not something many people get to do in a lifetime, let alone a group of marginalised kids from the backwaters of Africa!

Provisional Tour aid Itinerary for the Kyadondo Club U13 “Balenzi”

Wednesday 22nd November
Depart Entebbe on BA 062 09.55
Arrive London Heathrow 20.25
Met by 2 minibuses from Lanesborough School and transferred to meet host families.
(Boys will be hosted in pairs.)

Thursday 23rd November
9-11am With pupils of school
11.30-12.45 Rugby Training
1.00pm Lunch with the School
2.15pm Match 1 v Lanesborough School
4.40pm To Host families

Friday 24th November
10.00am Watch training session probably Harlequins RFC (Meet the players)
12.30pm Tour of London
4.30pm To host families

Saturday 25th November
10.00am Coach transfer to Twickenham
2.00pm Match 2 v Lanesborough /Ripley Court School
2.30pm Watch England v South Africa
4.00pm Return by coach to school and then to new host families

Sunday 26th November
11.30am Transfer to High Wycombe - Guards of honour and traditional performance prior to Wasps game.
3.00pm Watch Wasps v Leicester
5.00pm Return to billets

Monday 27th November
Morning with School-
2pm Rugby Festival at Ripley Court School (4 schools) Return to billets

Tuesday 28th November
6.45am Meet at school and transfer to Heathrow Depart Heathrow on BA
Flight Number 063 at 09.55 arrive Entebbe 20.25