Joe Walker — Remembrance Day Relay — Episode 4— Preparing For Take Off

The UMA showground looked much more different than when I was a little boy. It looked much smaller. I could now walk from end to end of the premises without getting tired.

I remember coming here when I needed the safety of my mother and father. Yes, they brought me here when I could walk but I would never let go of their hands.

There were just too many people. Those days they wouldn’t let us pass through the main gate.

There were GST turnstile crowd control gates at the sides with a rotating wheel at the center that allowed for only one person to pass through at times.

We would spend hours at the trade fair. I always looked forward to October because of that.

Funny how the Joe Walker event was just after the trade fair in October starting off from the same location.

I wondered why we would never buy anything from the trade fair. I remember my dad saying, “It’s just an exhibition.”

None of the things I saw at the trade fair ever caught my fancy but I just enjoyed the atmosphere.

I enjoy big event atmospheres. Seeing people swarm here and there. It’s sad that there’s no MTN marathon this year. I was so looking forward to it.

I use the fitness events in Kampala these days as my social media. I go to say hello. I tell myself, you never know who you will meet. You just never know.

Most of my social interactions outside the fitness world is with people who are already similar to me. It’s the fitness events like Joe Walker that launch me into a new and colored world of social interactions.

I thought about Philippa. She lives in a place that’s not ideal for 5 AM morning travel through Kampala city. Even more so on a Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

She was one of the people on the WhatsApp group I created for my team members.

It was ideal for preparing for the relay instead of having to text all the members individually.

Joe Walker appeared. The cameraman stood in front of him. He gave a very nice speech letting us know that the relay was not just for fun.

It was about changing the actions around the quality of safety on all roads in Uganda probably with a lot of emphasis on Kampala.

He talked about how families struggle for decades when they lose someone to road accidents.

It was one of the reasons I have chosen to make the Joe Walker community my primary fitness group. There’s a moral reason behind the existence of Joe Walker.

In my thirty-plus years of life, I’ve found that organizations work best when there’s a moral reason and drive and action behind the existence of the organization.

I checked my WhatsApp again and saw a missed call from VPK. I called back and she said she had arrived.

I asked about where she was.

“Look near the van. I am wearing black.”

I spotted her and we said hello to each other.

I was given six reflector jackets by Sarah the head of the Joe Walker crew.

I was wearing one. Timina was wearing the other.

Our team was number 14.

Timina was wearing number 14 A. I was wearing number 14 B.

VPK would be taking our team from Busega to Wandegeya so I gave her number 14 E.

She had received a reflector jacket without team branding which she handed back to one of the members of the crew wearing cool, cool, blue.

I headed back to hear the last parts of Joe Walker’s speech and then Brian Mulondo delivered his legendary hype.

He called out the names of the different teams and said, “OYEEEEAAAHHH. TEAM KISOBBOKA.

The members of the different teams he called said, “OYEEEEEAAAHHH.”

He never called out our team name. I guess that was because of time.