Meeting the President

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So the title might have been written with a slightly deceitful intent yet it is true. The first day I arrived in Uganda I was able to meet the President…the Ghetto President, as he is named. The backstory to this potentially still confusing intro is this:

I got a link from a friend at school to a website that plays underground/alternative music. The link was about this rapper (?) from Kampala whose name is Boochaman (a.k.a. the Vice President). The link was only sent to me because the guy is from Kampala, however I soon found out something really interesting about him through the video clip series I watched. Boochaman and the rest of the Firebase Crew (the group he’s apart of) actually work with the government and other organizations in the area to educate and inform the public concerning public health matters.

He worked with the Ministry of Health to announce immunization days for the ghetto children. Another guy named Bobi Wine (a.k.a. the President) worked with the Ministry of Gender and created a song about domestic violence. That’s all I can remember right now, but I just got the impression from the video series that they are doing some good work. It also seemed from the video series that he and the rest of the group are a pretty big deal. Well, to get to the good part, I asked my driver from the airport (who’s an awesome guy) if he had heard of Boochaman and he sort of chuckled (more of an “I can’t believe you know who that is” chuckle). He said he did know of him and he also knew the location of the studio through which they produce their work. Low and behold 30 minutes later, we drove up to one of his studios and met with a producer of his who put me in touch with the President. The President showed up at the studio a little over an hour later. What!!!!!! The guy was great and humble. He grew up in one of the slums of Kampala and was able to rise to success and stardom and there he was right in front of me.

I actually felt pretty nervous about talking to him, but I managed to get out a few sentences without seeming to be at a loss for words. I spoke briefly about the reason for wanting to meet him, which was to potentially work with him in the coming months on some public health work. I don’t really know what it is or could be yet, but maybe something will come of it. I’m still waiting to meet the President…of Uganda though.

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