A Note Of Appreciation After The 34th UNAA San Francisco Convention

*A NOTE OF APPRECIATION TO ALL UNAA MEMBERS & FAMILY FOR THE SUPPORT AT THE 34th UNAA ANNUAL CONVENTION!!*

I bring hearty greetings from my home state of Illinois with immense gratitude for the historic Convention that we pulled off this past Labor Day Weekend. We expected a turn up but boy did you all Show Out!

To the San Francisco Local organizing Team led by Madam Hudah Mukiibi, we are proud that you answered that volunteering call and worked to see that this was indeed “the Best Convention ever”, we in the UNAA Leadership, stand before you once again and say, thank you, thank you!

We couldn’t have pulled this off without the best volunteering team ever, right from Marketing led by Shantal Mbabazi and Robert Kiggundu who worked tirelessly throughout the year to market UNAA, to Registration, Security, Decorations, Meals, Ushers, Programs, Speakers, Entertainment, Forums, Boat logistics, etc. Each individual that led a team, or was part of a team played a key role in ensuring a smooth flow from one event to another. I would like to thank all those volunteers that rolled up their sleeves and put in the hard work, most folks were excited and thanking us for a job well done, but little did they know that we put in hours, days, months to get this event as flawless as possible.

I would like to thank Mr. Walter Mulondo for heading the trade and investment forum and his counterpart, Mr. Moses Wilson. Special thanks go to Ms. Hanifa Nakiryowa that headed the Women Empowerment forum and Family forum, Mr. Joel Kikomeko that led the Opening Ceremony, Ms. Loy Lwabai that headed the children’s committee, Dr. Michael Kaluya that headed the political forum, and special thanks go to Mrs. Grace Mulondo who was in charge of the Programs. Special thanks also go to the Catering Team headed by Mrs. Joyce Bazalaki (who put on a Dinner Gala to remember), The Registration Team headed by Ms. Shantal Mbabazi, The Vendors and Protocol Team led by Mr. Gilbert Mulaabi, The Entertainment team led by Lawrence Asaba, The Finance Team led by the Treasurer Mr. Elvis Henry Nsereko and DOF Mrs. Rebecca Namwase Ssemambo, The Transportation Team led by Mr. Saidi Luko (Thank you for catering to attendees), The chairwoman of this convention Ms. Hudah Mukiibi, the Technical Team led by Mr. Julius Kabugu in absence of our DOC who is in Uganda, and last but not least the Man that is in charge of it all, the COO of the convention Executive Secretary Mr. Lambert Etibot. Thank you!

I would like to thank all the Leaders in UNAA that were part of this successful event and commend you on a job well done. We were not able to have the AGM as scheduled on Saturday afternoon and did not meet quorum on Sunday afternoon to discuss the Constitution Amendments and as proposed by the CRC, but will call a meeting for all paid members and forge our way forward.

As you witnessed throughout this weekend, the Youth have been put centerfold as we promised when we took office for the second term and we will continue to harness their potential because they are the future of UNAA. This convention introduced a yard stick of where we would like to see UNAA and continue to stay focused on issues and facts, that affect us as Diasporas living in North America.

As we envisage, our vision will always be putting you Diasporas first and solving problems that pertain to us, putting more emphasis into Youth Programs so as to have a strong foundation for our youth to make us better; for when we are better, we can, as a united front bring the change that is desired even in our motherland.

To the local San Francisco Community, it was a pleasure working with you and seeing you come and support UNAA, to those that came back home especially my lovely friend Damalie Nanfuka and your beautiful crew, you made our weekend, we will always love you.

To all our UNAA supporters and friends, how can we thank you enough? Words alone are not enough, but we are grateful from the bottom of our hearts for having showed up and attended in big numbers.

To you all our community members, I implore you to help us protect the UNAA brand by refraining from negative activities such as (social) media slander that tarnish the image of the organization and discourage new members from joining UNAA.

You are all UNAA ambassadors, so let us unite and work collectively for its growth and advancement to attain our full potential. Always remember, ultimately this isn’t about my administration or any one individual; we shall succeed or fail together as UNAA. Let’s continue with the good work!

Thank you for standing with us and May God bless you all and let’s meet again in Dallas!

Sincerely,

Henrietta Nairuba Wamala

President & CEO, UNAA on behalf of the Ugandan North American Association Leadership.

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