I didn’t realise it was so long since I posted here! However I have an excellent excuse, I have not only thought but acted :

http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=27745799143&b=&ref=pd_r_a

and I wrote :

http://www.aainaa.info/2008/10/15/what-matters-ceris-dien/

and I read :

http://ourwwworld.blogspot.com/2008/10/ourwwworld-team-blogs.html

and am further inspired!

so… lots of artists are offering their help in the form of artwork, I’m still trying to figure out the best way of turning all that enthusiasm they’re displaying into a funding source for the KJT. All suggestions, as ever, are more than welcome!

The Kampala Junior Team don’t have a home, they need a ranch of their own. I mean a Clubhouse. Somewhere to hang their hats, pull on their boots, and call home.

I’ve been talking to Kayiwa Fred today on g-chat, he says (and I agree) that the absolute priorities right now are scholarships for the kids ( 60 GBPounds per term) and a clubhouse and training ground. 5000 GBPounds would buy a house and a compound, 100 GBPounds per month would be the cost of renting the same.

Thinking …

FB Art Apps, invite artists, house theme, Peace tiles, education theme…

…I’ll be back when I’ve thunked…

In honour of the aforementioned BlogDay I decided to saddle up and head out over the range, aka the blogosphere, looking for kindred souls and friendly homesteads. Now, I have a problem with most of the blogs I’ve come across so far, which is this – most of the posts in most of the blogs consist mainly of links to other posts in other blogs which contain mostly links… you can see where I’m going with this. Not a criticism, you understand, just not what I’m looking for right now. Nor am I currently actively seeking out collaborators on here, not tonight, I’m taking the evening off.

It’s like this – getting on the boat was easy, free passage for all to the brave new world of web2 pioneers (yes, I’ve an obsession with the American dream, yes I know it’s nothing like the movies, no I’m not going to apologise for it), no customs check, no entry fee, just hook up to a wagon train and away you go. Ah, the glow of the camp fire, the camaraderie, the adventure of it…. but what’s this? A great plain criss-crossed with thousands of roads and thronged with people all pointing this way and that. The wilderness is a metropolis. Good job I like paradoxes.

Mark out a plot, stake a claim and call it home, go looking for rancheros. Windows everywhere (not a pun), choose a likely looking domicile (need to find a hand soon, my horse is getting restless), door’s open, do I really dare go in? No-one’s home, leave a message, wages negotiable, payment in kind preferred, just be there at noon, and by the way I like the way you’ve done up your cabin.

Should I get off the horse now, let it go, before it throws me? It’s quite a high horse after all, and I keep hitting my head on the lintel when I go in… whoah, what am I doing taking my horse into the house? I’m so confused! The world is full of signposts but I’m lost, I’m not even sure what I’m looking for any more. You can probably tell that by the way I’m speaking in metaphor – horses are my ideas, windows are web pages, signposts are, well, signposts.

So, to get to the point, when John drew my attention to BlogDay I thought great, more signposts, more links to links, and whilst part of me really did say “Great! Links from John, gotta be good!” part of me said it in a jaded fashion, have to confess that. Part of the reason is that the methodology of link-culture (did i just invent that phrase?) does not come naturally to me, being organisationally challenged I find it very hard to, it’s enough of a job for me to concentrate on teasing out a framework for the KJT, never mind linking to it in all the “right” places (wherever they may be).

But somehow or other I ended up at a window that isn’t full of signposts, a destination, somewhere to watch the world from, the world my friend Kayiwa knows, though he may view it from a different perspective. Scarlett Lion is a journalistic blog from Kampala, Uganda. The author calls herself a cynic. I don’t know, I don’t really care, I’m just happy she writes so well about what she sees. Right now, that’s just what I need.

And, John, thanks for your friendship and the signposts, they too were just what I (didn’t realise!) need.

I really must surf more, read more blogs, link up more, write more, I really must find more time!

Whilst I tackle the Herculaean task of managing myself better, here is a link to 5 Great African Blogs for BlogDay 2008, thanks to John Bazungu Bucks for bringing it to my attention.

Browsing this custom goods supplier blog I note that 100 personalised wristbands sold here at 2 GBPounds each would raise 85 Pounds – worth considering?

Here’s a link to the Norway Cup to which the KJT have been invited in 2009.

Time to find some serious sponsors!

(Apologies to those who read this post earlier, when a few wires got crossed and I mistakenly stated that the team were invited to the Gothia Cup in Sweden. It is the Norway Cup. The team have been offered accommodation for it’s duration after impressing someone who is a football coach, to a Norwegian girls team, during the Ligi Tournament.)

KJT Girls Team have been invited to play in Norway in 2009 – more news on that as it comes in. Are there any Scandinavian football fans reading this, I wonder?

I just uploaded some team photos to the gallery at the KJT International Supporters’ Club.

And I’ve decided to put the project outline in a separate page for ease of reference, see it here.

Please if you have any comments or suggestions post them here, I’m working this out as I go along and I need you!

Firstly, a link to the Kampala Daily New Vision’s report on the KJT’s triumphal wins at the Ligi International Tournament. They won the Under 12 and Under 14 trophies, and narrowly missed out on the Under 10’s. Are these guys good or what?

Secondly, an update on the brainstorming process – I’m about to be joined by an old and dear friend who is a true football fanatic and Fantasy League addict, we’re meeting on Wednesday to explore the possibilities of a virtual league of some kind.

Thirdly, news of the Cavalry – they may be on their way in the form of some (as yet unnamed) International players! Here’s the back-story : I approached an acquaintance (I can’t call him a friend because I barely know him, but he’s a lovely guy!) about a month ago, asking him if he would mind bringing the KJT to the attention of some of his footballing friends. He is a Tai Chi coach to several UK international and premier league players. I had kind of resigned myself to thinking that he was not able to help, and that I had pushed things a little too far by asking a virtual stranger, but on Friday morning he called – he’s very interested in helping! He suggested he could ask some of his friends to ask their teams to sign football shirts, which we could then use to raise funds. He thinks this is the best way forward as it will be great for general publicity purposes and also introduces the KJT to the players. Of course I said yes!!

So now I need suggestions : How to maximise (a) the fundraising potential of the shirts; (b) the publicity potential.

..and my metaphors are getting muddled, but never mind about that!

I have news, the KJT International Supporters’ Club has just taken the field (hey, that fits both metaphors!)

Also you are all cordially invited to take a look at Ned, the most collaborative place I have yet come across, it’s where most of my online brainstorming takes place. Discussions specifically relating to and involving the Kampala Junior Team take place here. Mentioned there today was Street Football World and Grassroots Soccer, two organisations which the KJT are looking into as possible partners. Does anyone know of any other, similar, organisations?

Primary objective

• securing or creating a sustainable source of income for the organisation known as the Kampala Junior Team (KJT), a fledgling sporting academy with big ambitions and an overriding concern for the welfare of it’s members

Primary means

• collaborative online pooling of talent

Guiding principle

• give what you gain, you’ll gain more then you give

Short term goals

• creating and consolidating a network of interested parties and individuals, to include artists, entrepreneurs, PR people, the tech savvy, sports fans, journalists, aid and development workers, the KJT organisers in Kampala, and anyone else who has ideas, experience, or practical help to offer.

Assets

• 3 successful boys’ football teams and a newly created girls’ team
• 3 dedicated and hard-working organisers on the ground
• a small but supportive network of individuals with varying degrees of experience in the field of international development (to date, soccer boots and kits, 70 GBPounds and 1 computer have been donated thanks to the Facebook groups Boots for a Soccer Team , Kayiwa Fred’s Computer Club and the KJT Wales Supporters Club)

Ambitions

• solving the problem of housing and caring for the 20 or so orphaned young team members who currently stay with coach Kabugo (and who do not attend school as they have no means of paying their school fees – education costs in Uganda)
• developing and expanding the range of sporting, social and educational opportunities the KJT provides in the community
• ultimately enabling the KJT to function successfully as a social business and to manage it’s own structural and financial affairs

The next step I envisage a collaborative blog entitled KJT International.

Interested ? Please leave a comment.

More information on the KJT can be found here :

http://www.onehelpinganother.com/