One of my 2023 New Year resolutions was to join rotary as a volunteer though it never occurred to me that I would be spearheading the formation of a rotary club. I initially contacted a colleague who has been in rotary for a long time to get an insight into what it takes to become a Rotarian. He advised me to visit RC Nsangi since it was near my home. He gave me the contact details of a one Rotarian by the names of Kigoye Yusuf.

When I contacted Rtn Kigoye Yusuf to express my intention to join the rotary fraternity, he instead requested me to spear-head the formation of RC Maya. He informed me that RC Nsangi had been mulling with the idea of forming a new club at Maya.

Ab initio, I confessed to him that I had a very hectic work schedule which would render me ineffective in executing such a huge task. His response was that rotary belonged to busy people only.

Rtn Kigoye Yusuf assured me that I was the right person for such a task and he assured me of his total support during the club formation. I requested him to give me 3 months so that I could further research about rotary and review the task ahead.

I contacted Mr. Bbaale James (Charter Member and President-Elect) and discussed with him the possibility of forming a rotary club in our area of Maya.

The immense positivity exhibited by Mr. Bbaale James set the pace for our first meeting, which was chaired by Rtn Kigoye Yusuf at Mlex Hotel Maya on 15th August 2023. On that day, we were joined by Mrs. Kahunde Immaculate and Ms. Nakiyimba Annette.

The rest is now history; Rotary Club of Maya is here for all to see with a total of 31 members from diverse walks of life. Special thanks go to members all club members of Rotary Club of Nsangi who worked tirelessly to ensure RC Maya acquires charter status. Their encouragement when we were facing challenges during the formation stage can never be forgotten.

I would like to thank our new club advisor, Rtn. Kigoye Yusuf who has mentored us by offering guidance and counselling not to mention inviting excellent facilitators who have imparted a lot of vital rotary information to us. None of the charter members had ever been a Rotarian but we are now firmly finding our footing in the rotary systems, thanks to the excellent training.

I would like to thank Rotarians, Rotaractors within Masaka Road Corridor who have been present during the exciting journey of acquiring our charter status. We will always be indebted to you.

We are forever grateful to our sponsors who ensured our maiden projects are a success. I can’t forget to thank the management of Mlex Hotel who have given us a home; you are priceless and we will always be indebted to you.

Final thanks go to all the fellow charter members who have worked tirelessly to ensure RC Maya is where it is now. Your resilience and teamwork during the formation stage have been terrific!

Let us continue serving humanity by focusing on rotary core areas of maternal & child health, environmental protection, basic education, peace building & conflict prevention and providing clean water and sanitation. The hard work starts now; we should put in place a fantastic and vibrant club that will serve our community, Uganda and the world at large. As we serve humanity, let us not forget to have fun.

In the midst of all the above, let us deliberately continue attracting new members so that we can get more hands that will further serve our community. There is a lot that needs to be done in our community and more helping hands are required.

Let us embrace and always uphold rotary core values of integrity, fellowship, diversity, service and leadership.

Thank you so much for gracing our charter ceremony. Thank you, Rotarians, for making this world a better place.

Ssebanakitta Kiyaga Vincent Charter President