February 22, 2004
Squash Racquet changes a person's
Life
Well one of those 4 squash rackets I took along
to Uganda really helped to change someone's life.
I
arrived in Mbarara on Jan 5 with Peter Louie, a pediatric resident
from Children's Hospital. That night we set out after work to
go play squash in the one and only squash court in Mbarara, and
noted that we were watched the whole time by 2 young fellows (you
can sit on a "balcony" at the rear of the court and
watch the game). After we had finished one of them came up and
asked if he could play. We assumed he meant with his friend, and
offered them the use of our rackets. No, he wanted to play with
one of us. So we began. It became apparent in moments that this
fellow was good - very good. His name is Immanuel (friends call
him Imma), and he gets to use the court thanks to the largesse
of the club members who also pay him to play with them as there
are not a lot of folks who play squash. After the game he joined
us for a refreshment, and his story gradually unfolded over the
next days.
He is 17 an HIV orphan - his parents both died of AIDS when he
was 15 (his exact words were "my parents left me when I was
15") This leaves him with 2 brothers who live a 4 hour drive
south in their home village, and a sister in Kampala (4 hours
north). He lives alone. He graduated from high school last fall,
thanks to the generosity of an uncle who payed his school fees.
He loves squash and tennis, but does not own his own squash racket.
(the retail value of a squash racket would be about 4 to 5 months
wages for an average worker). You can imagine his 500 watt smile
when I invited him to choose his own racket! Over the next few
weeks we played every night, him mostly beating Peter and I soundly.
He is a delight to play with - a very gracious player who constantly
critiques his own game and praises good moves by his opponents.
He dearly wanted to go to Kampala for further coaching, and I
ensured that he had the money to do so. Sports means so much to
him - he says that it is what keeps him going in a world that
is lonely and often looks bleak. So rest assured that your generosity
helped to shed a large beam of hope into one persons life in Uganda.
Thank you.
Paul Thiessen
PS - The club was very grateful for the other rackets and the
balls, as the latter are also very hard to come by in the third
world.
