I was born and raised in a tight-knit community. Today that community is buried under a flurry of visitors, tourists, developers and small businesses catering to their whims.
But I remember. I feel like I'm the only one who remembers. When our little community was self-sufficient and stored away.
We were fenced off from the outside world by two main roads. We had three internal routes that led to these main roads but it was rare to reach that far. Whoever took one of those routes rarely came back. They were either going to their eternal resting place, moving away or forcefully taken.
Like my sister. She was four when a one-eyed woman kidnapped her. Everyone they passed believed her when she called sight-Barbosa "auntie." It was the third worst night of my life. The entire community organised a search until dawn. Fights broke out as each person looked for who to blame.
The next day, in the afternoon, I remember hearing a mighty yell in the distance and hope flooding my chest. A woman ran into our compound yelling, "She’s back. They found Faith." The world was okay again.
We never had to cross that fence because we had everything we needed.
A hospital. Two nursery schools. One government primary school.
A market, I always bought matooke from Aida (she used to make fun of me for not knowing how to peel them) . Abas was the town butcher. Kidomoole had the best gnuts. Nansubuga sold tomatoes. Mufumbakasoli sold roasted and steamed maize. Maama Night sold charcoal.
We had a games field, grandma’s three brothers, sons and my dad’s brother were star football players against teams from neighbouring communities. Our goal keeper, Mawalo, was famous for his hilarious stunts and gifted hands.
Famous springs named Nnalongo covered us and neighbouring communities during times of tap water outages.
A famous tree named Kabaka Anjagala.
A famous black cow, Bagalakyabwe.
A famous dog, Rocky.
A famous bully and disabled boy called Kimune.
A "witch", she was a reserved woman whose house was surrounded by trees and various herbal medicine plants, her face was a copy of a lioness’.
A Community Centre which doubled as Faith Foundation Church.
This is where the magic happened. Each month all households gathered here on a Saturday to take part in an event. Cookathons, gift sharing (Nigina), talent show, etc. It was my favourite time and I would be tied to my mom’s hip helping her prepare. Getting up early on Sunday to go clean up and loot decorations in time for church service.
That fateful evening, when I returned from school and found that my family had packed up our lives, I found them in the moving truck and was told to get in, that magical place was lost so abruptly forever.
We moved to a place wrought in superstition and bereft of community spirit.
I never made a friend in the neighbourhood and one day it was too late to make new childhood friends.
I committed to seeking out community events. There was football which happened once a year. A few Born Again Cristian crusades. I used to walk to Mandela Stadium to watch people play and dance in the parking lot.
I love Red Bull for this reason. How it keeps coming up with these crazy and borderline dangerous sports and games. Seeing people gathered to watch and cheer Soapbox runaways explode in a splash of water or hay bales is a complete lifetime.
In 2021, "HacKampala" came to mind in the middle of a conversation with a friend. I thought it would be a good event to return to from the lockdown. But as life started to normalise, it seemed that there was only time for survival.
It is always time for survival but squeezing in a moment to put together a model of a personal idea or skill to share with peers and the world isn’t a distraction. I hope it isn’t.
In fact, "HacKampala" is a model, although not scientific. I’ll be sharing how it develops and connects with you who it wishes to represent.
HacKampala Science Fair
The first edition of the fair will take place on 21st February 2025.
Signing up is free and will continue up to September 25th 2024.
Submit your name, age, address and project idea adhering to category and criteria to hackampala@gmail.com.
Once you sign up, you can begin building the model of your project idea as you follow updates and pick inspiration on our Twitter page: @hackampala.
Between September 25th and November 30th, you may request for support and send inquiries concerning your project and/or the fair.
Vision
Build the next generation of scientific innovators and creators.
Mission
Give young adults space and support to explore and experiment their ideas and concert collaboration in science-related fields .
Objectives
- Extend resources for young people to reach their aspirations.
- Promote the use of available and accessible resources to create physical models of ideas and solutions to personal and community problems.
- A platform for showcasing skills and innovation, holding discussions and debates about community experiences and needs.
- Science competitions and collaborations for all community members.
For inquiries: hackampala@gmail.com.