{UAH} 2104 UNAA Convention - Day 3 (Part 1)

2014 UNAA CONVENTION – DAY 3 (Part 1)

The events of this day were too many to cover in one posting.  So I have broken them into two separate communications.

After 2 straight days of early rising and late nights, I rested a bit and arose a little later on Sunday.  In many ways I was much more at ease as my principle assignments had been successfully completed and my role henceforth was mainly supportive wherever and whenever needed.

As such I spent the rest of the morning networking, socializing and browsing through the wonderful vendor expo.  I also very briefly poked my head into the "Breaking Barriers" and "Technology" Forums.  More information about these forums will be presented by those who led or more fully participated in them.

The next major event of the day was the scheduled "Special Meeting" of the Association which was open only to officially registered members.  However, the meeting did not attract a quorum of registered members and so a decision was made to turn it into a Town Hall meeting open to all convention attendees.  For all intents and purposes, there was only one topic of discussion in this meeting – the ongoing division within UNAA leadership that had resulted in the creation of a competing organization and convention.  The discussions ranged widely with views being very freely expressed by supporters from both sides.  At the end, 4 concerned participants in the meeting volunteered to meet with the leaders of the competing organization and seek a resolution.  Eventually this small ad hoc committee grew to 5 of whom 2 were UNAA members and the other 3 were concerned friends and well-wishers from the community (all five were registered delegates at the UNAA Convention).

If I may jump forward just a little bit here, after holding talks with leaders of the competing organization, this ad hoc committee returned and met with several members of UNAA leadership (3 Executive Committee members, 2 UNAA Council Members and myself representing the BOT) at about 2 AM that night.  However, it was very quickly determined that the differences separating the two groups were too great (and to a large extent entrenched) to resolve in a matter of one day.  As such, it was decided that the ad hoc committee would continue their work in association with the UNAA President and Speaker of the UNAA Council.

The intense interest and discussion in the Town Hall meeting were such that it eventually ended much later than planned and I had to rush to change and prepare for the Formal Banquet where again, my role was to provide support wherever and whenever called for.

Now here again, the literally overwhelming number of people who registered for the convention had necessitate many last minute changes to the format of the banquet.  Thankfully the Hyatt management personnel had ample experience with such scenarios and had moved the buffet food lines out of the banquet room and into adjacent hall spaces.  I can only describe the buffet as "out of this world fantastic!"  Diners had a vast selection of entrees to choose from ranging from traditional Ugandan to contemporary American dishes and included beef, chicken (2 different versions), goat, fish, matoke, rice (2 different versions), potatoes, posho, peanut sauce, beans, greens, salads and many more items that I cannot even remember.  Then to quote one diner, "the desserts were to die for!"  So much food had been prepared that every single diner ate until they were satiated. 

I estimated over 800 people sat down for the Formal Banquet in a completely full banquet room.

The crowd was again thrilled by moving renditions of the Ugandan, Canadian and US national anthems by UNAA youth members from the Los Angeles Community.

These were followed by the Key Note presentations which featured 4 speakers from different parts of Uganda.  All of the presentations were in keeping with the theme of the convention, "Unity Through Cultural Awareness."  The first was Mrs. Maria Rwamukunyu who spoke on the traditional marriage rituals (Kwaranga) of the Batoora people of Western Uganda.  The second was the Rev. Sam Magala who spoke on the history, cultural significance and status of ongoing renovations to the Kasubi Tombs in Buganda, Central Uganda.  The third was Ms. Beatrice Owere who spoke on history and marriage traditions of the Japadhola people of Eastern Uganda.  The fourth was Dr. George Otto who spoke about culture and its role in the lives of the Acholi people (Northern Uganda) over the past 100 years.

The speeches were followed by a presentation by Mr. Stephen Asiimwe, Managing Director of the Uganda Tourism Board, and a fashion show hosted by Ms. Beatrice Musisi of Afrisent.  Ms. Musisi donated two sets of attire (one for a man and the other for a woman) that were auctioned off and raised $800.00 for the UNAA Emerging Leaders Scholarship Fund.  In a rather amusing turn of events, the Uganda Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Amama Mbabazi won the auction for the man's suit and then turned right around and donated it to the UNAA President.  The auction for the woman's outfit was won by Ms. Angela Semukutu of Boston.

More to follow …………..

Moses R. Wilson

Member – UNAA Board of Trustees