BUDECA – 2022 SOWA: KIDS & YOUTH SUMMER CAMP Highlights ~ Nkoza & Nankya Partnership

The Buganda Development Cultural Association of Washington’s (BUDECA) Kids and Youth Summer Program (2022), in partnership with School’s Out Washington (SOWA) and Sowl Studios, the producers of The Adventures of Nkoza & Nankya, was a great success!!! We are so proud of all our campers that were able to make it and take part in the creative activities. Thank you so much to all our parents for sending your beautiful children so they could experience an amazing opportunity to celebrate our rich Buganda Cultural Heritage through STEM, Art and Animation.

We are extremely grateful for the financial support fom School’s Out Washington, which made it possible for all the campers to attend the Kids and Youth summer camp for Free, including all the meals and fun activities. Thank you so much SOWA!!  You can learn more about SOWA at this link: https://schoolsoutwashington.org/

Through the awesome Financial support provided by Schools out Washington (SOWA), each child was able to attend the summer camp for free and they each received 2 copies of the Nkoza and Nankya Comic books, featuring fun stories and Luganda Language Lessons.  We were also able to invite Mr. Solomon W. Jagwe, the Creator and Director of the Adventures of Nkoza and Nankya, to speak to the campers about a career in Art and Animation. It was very inspiring to hear the excitement and questions from the campers, and for them to see a fellow Ugandan working as a Creative Director in the animation field.

The Nkoza and Nankya app was able to help the campers dive into learning the Luganda names of Fruits, Vegetables, clothing, animals and vehicles. The campers got an opportunity to play the fun Luganda games which sparked a lot of questions and excitement due to the audio and visual representations of the subject matter. If you wish to introduce your young ones to the Luganda Language, you can download the iOS, Android and Amazon version of the Nkoza and Nankya app at this link: https://www.nkozaandnankya.com/mobileapp/

The campers were able to learn the awesome spirit of Buganda Unity, through an exercise of building a Hut as member of a team. Each camper contributed to the craft by creating a part of the hut, which they then presented as a Show and Tell. It was very exciting to see the different teams coming together to create unique versions of their huts and the joyous team spirit was evident throughout the summer camp.

The campers also learned how to create a character made out of fuzzy sticks, to go into their hut, while adorned in the traditional Buganda outfits of a gomesi and Kanzu. This provided the campers an opportunity to learn about the cultural attire from the Buganda Kingdom.

Through this Summer camp, BUDECA was able to carry on the goal of seeking to expand opportunities for children and youth within the Buganda and wider Ugandan community in Washington State – to create, develop and advance community and social connections through various educational, physical and outdoor activities targeted and children and youth within the community.

A big thank you to all the BUDECA team members and parent volunteers for making this SOWA Kids and Youth Summer Camp a great success. We look forward to seeing you all next year. Do please share with your families and friends and continue to encourage our kids and youth to celebrate our beautiful Buganda Culture here in the Diaspora and back home Uganda.

Below are some Photo Highlights. Enjoy and Share 🙂