April 2011Bright Doves perfomance

A REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES, PERFORMANCE AND PROGRESS OF THE BRIGHT DOVES OF ST. FRANCIS AS AT 16^TH APRIL 2011:

Introduction:

Since January 2011, the Bright Doves have experienced a lot in the various departments in the bid to reorganize and transform the club. Below is the assessment of the club’s performance on departmental level for your consideration:

1.0  Performance of the club:

In line with its objectives, the club has shown a great rate of performance since last year i.e. 2009 as it has registered a number of achievements in different departments. The hard working team has achieved a lot in almost all aspects of the club and this is as below:

v  Liturgy Department:

This is a department concerned with the liturgy programs of the club and the spirituality of the members. Under this department, the following ought to be considered:

Leading in the liturgy:

As one our major activities, Bright Doves has continued to lead in different liturgy and Masses here at church and across the Parish. Members have led in the Children’s Mass which is every 3^rd Sunday of every month. In this Mass, members have participated in taking readings, offering prayers of the faithful, collecting offertory, seating the children and ensuring that they are orderly during Mass, singing and above all dancing in the processions involved such as during entrance, Gospel Acclamation, offertory presentation as well as Thanksgiving making the Children’s Mass more vibrant.

We are also trusted with leading in singing during the 9 O’clock Mass that is every second Sunday of the month. Here the Bright Doves stand in for St. Francis Choir which is the mother choir an act that helped the young expose their potentials in this field of Liturgy. One of such was early this month on 12/09/2009 when the congregation was left in amazement on looking at the performance of the young stars as they proved to be perfectionists in all languages as they sang hymns in almost all languages across the country..

Members have on different occasions visited other churches and lead in the liturgy. On Sunday 4^th July the Bright Doves led in the 10 O’Clock Mass at St. Andrew Sub Parish – Bukoto which was presided over by the Parish Priest Rev. Fr. James Ssebayigga who thanked the members for the good works and challenged the Christian community at Bukoto to join the youngsters in praising the Lord saying that “He who sings nicely prays twice – St. Augustine”

On Sunday 22^nd Aug 2010, members led in singing in the Children’s Mass at Kyebando Sub Parish which was presided over by the newly ordained priest Rev. Fr. Ronald Bwanika (from Namayumba Parish). He was very inspired by the audisty of the young ones as they sang and gave each member a gift of a rosary an act that motivated all to even do better.

Spirituality of members:

The club has in place a liturgy committee headed by Mr. Mukundane Dennis which is charged with the spirituality of the members. This committee has enhanced the spirituality of the members especially through the Prayer Minute which is every Monday starting 6 – 7 Pm in which members pray, reflect and share in the word of God. This has helped improve the morals of the members as they put in practice the good morals they learn during this time. Thanks to the Franciscan Family Uganda which has assigned us a Spiritual Director – Sr. Leonie Kindiki (LOSF) who has continued to boost the spirituality of the members through her visits to the club.

In addition, members do undertake Franciscan Instructions during the same time as facilitated by Mr. Onyango Bernard – the Patron and Mr. Ssekibuule Augustine. This has helped members to discover more about St. Francis who is the club’s Patron Saint and the Franciscan life of humility, simplicity and love of all creation.

Christmas Carols

The Bright Doves presented in a Christmas Carol service which was organized by the Youth Apostolate of St. Andrew Kaggwa Sub parish – Bukoto on the 21^st Dec 2009.  This not only proved the competence of the members but also showed their ability to perform as different experienced choirs from different Parishes like Our Lady of Fatima – Nakulabye Parish, Bunamwaya Parish not forgetting St. Andrews – Bukoto (Anglican) and St. Matia Mulumba – Old Kampala Parish were in presentation.

The Children Ministry

The Kamwokya Parish Children Ministry (KCM) is a programme that caters for all children in Kamwokya Parish, runs under the Liturgy department. The Ministry which as set up to meet the needs of children from 4 to 15 years of age focuses on children’s spirituality through Prayer meetings, Bible study, Retreats and Children’s Mass as well as their social life through different leisure activities.

The Ministry’s major aim is not only to reach out to the spiritual needs of the children but also to meet their physical and emotional needs. This not only brings them up as God fearing children but also helps them grow as good and responsible citizens. The children programs undertaken focus on interactive teachings, where children are encouraged to express themselves through role-plays, music, dance and sharing the word of God.  To this therefore, Biblical principles are taught using simple everyday life experiences so that the children can grasp the word of God easily.

Through programs such as Sunday school which is now spread throughout the Parish and the Children’s Mass which is a vibrant one and heavily attended, the Bright Doves have been able to organize the children as a means of helping them learn and discover more of our faith – Catholicism since our mission is to partner with parents to raise children who love and serve God with all their hearts thus nurturing them into a loving, serving relationship with God.

v  Information & Publicity Department:

This department is charged with publicity and information disbandment. The department has been very instrumental in the growth and development of the club and thus the following out to be observed;

The study scheme:

Last year saw the club reap from the anonymous study scheme. The scheme which was started after parents complaints of over neglecting the Academics of the members had its best fruits when all members who were in candidate classes passed with flying colors. Efforts put in this scheme saw one Andrew lead Kitante P/S with Agg 4 in the 2009 PLE and becoming the second best in Kampala District. Others like Franklin, Ainebyoona Elizabeth, Bukenya Faizo, Buleru Patricia, Niryamategyeko Fortunate, Nabyanzi Ritah, Namuyomba Benna and many more passed in first grade and have made it to good Secondary school like Mt. St. Mary’s Namagunga, Makerere College School and Kings College Buddo. Thanks to Ggalabuzi Moses for the tireless efforts.

We have been able to run rounds of tests i.e. every 1^st and 3^rd Sunday before the sports program where we spend 1 hour testing or revising the last set of the tests. Results show that there is some consistence especially in lower class i.e. P3-P5. Much as the concentration has been put in Primary level we hope we will be able to consider other levels this time round when we get resources.

In addition, the year 2009 saw many more successes get registered in other levels that is five of the members made it to A’ Level, while others including our Treaurer Jackline Kyomukama joined different Institutions of higher learning a sign that shows that academics are not neglected in the club. Others members including Kugonza Nicholas have just completed their college studies and await graduation. We thank all that have supported in this noble cause.

The club has considered taking this scheme to another level where we have begun the “Youth for Technology” program in which we are introducing members to computers in a bid to close the Information Gap in our community and help them become competitive in the ever changing world of Technology. We call for your support towards this project.

The Bright Doves Audio Album

The department was instrumental in the Production of the Audio Album which was launched in a heated function on Sunday 16th Aug 2009 presided over by Hon. Christopher Kibazanga as the Chief Guest. The department critically handled the audio recording of the seven songs that make up the “U Deserve the Glory” music album, production of both audio CDs and tapes, design and printing of the launch posters and flyers and most important the invitation cards/letters for the show. This proves the potentiality of the departments and shows that if empowered fully we would nolonger spend lots of money on production but do it internally. Thans to the committed team led by Nicholas.

Videos/Photo movies:

With the so many activities the members are involved in; it was seen as good if our parents are made ware. This we did ensuring that our different occasions are recorded and that videos are produced. Videos for the different occasions are out and we have ensured that different people especially our parents, supporters and well wishers get them at a small cost to support the club. In addition we have produced Photo movies out of the photos taken during our visits or performances. These movies are out but are got on demand due to limited resources.

Other publications such as the Bright Times Magazine and the Sunday Bulletin for Kamwokya Parish have also been done by the club.  The Bright Times magazine is set to be out in its fifth publication and the issue of Oct-Nov 2010. Its now in a better form than the previous editions though not yet to the standards. It has not been simple to have it out but thanks to the committed Team. The Sunday Bulletin gets better and better every Sunday and we are soliciting for more support towards this as we have a dream of publishing it on A4 size than the current A5 size which limits us in content. We hope to better their publication and thus look at the production of many others.

The department also ensured that all members receive their membership cards following the fresh registration of the members. We have also organized booklets containing the values and policies of Bright Doves as well as leaflets of the prayer of St. Francis to all members and well wishers an effort aimed at sensitization of the public about the activities of the club.

v  Music, Dance & Drama Department:

This department is charged with promoting music dance and drama and activities as talent shows, procession dances and musical festivals are under this department. The following out to be considered:

The Music Album Launch:

The club had its first and ever musical Album Launch on Sunday 16^th Aug 2009 an event that was really a success. The long awaited “U Deserve the Glory” a seven song Album was launched in a colorful ceremony presided over by Hon. Taban Kyibazanga – the Chief Guest and the Agaba’s Family – the Guests of honor. It was attended by several honorable, our parents, guardians, well-wishers and above all the Religious and was honoured by Gospel Groovers – a youth evangelism group from St. Matia Mulumba Parish Old Kampala, Mt. Zion Gospel Kids from Bukalango, Jazz man – Solomon and our very own Divine Ministries from KAmwokya. Special thanks go to Rev. Fr. Sylvester Buwembo our club Chaplain, Rev. Fr. James Ssebayiga our Parish Priest, Mr. Bernard Onyango our Patron, the Franciscan Sisters - St. Ann Convent Nsambya, Mdm Akaaki Patron St. Francis Choir, KYDEVA (U) Ltd, NATU Decorator, MacTec Ltd and Skyline production among others for both the moral and financial support rendered for the success of this event. Now that the Album is here our efforts have been on the sale. Thanks to the committed membership which is doing the best in sales.

The Children Gospel show:

Under the Children Ministry, the club organized the Children Gospel show basically to unite all the children in Kamwokya Parish. The show held on Sunday 16^th May 2010 at Holy Trinity Church – Kamwokya and presided over Eng. Jim Muwanga (C/man St. Francis Choir) as the Chief Guest and honored by Rev. Fr. James Ssebayigga – the Parish Priest Kamwokya Parish draw all children from all Sub Parishes i.e. Kyebando, Bukoto and Uganda Martyrs who entertained their parents, an invent that proved our role in forging unity among the youth in the Parish.

Members have also represented the club and performed on different occasions. The bright Doves were the chief entertainers on the Kamwokya Parish Day held on Sunday 30^th May 2010 at Holy Trinity Church. In their favorite ‘Katitira’ a creative dance from western Uganda and ‘Kadodi’ a traditional from the East, members left the crowds yarning for more. We were also involved in entertainment on both the Uganda Martyrs Sub Parish Day and Bukoto Sub Parish Day. Members have performed in Wedding receptions, Feast day celebrations as well as Birthday parties among others, the most recent being on the Thanksgiving of Rev. Fr. Ronald Bwanika held on Sunday 15^th August 2010 at his home in Namayumba Parish where members left the crowds amazed at the great performances.

With the inception of the Kamwokya Parish Children Ministry (KCM), the Bright Doves have taken a lead in helping the children across the Parish in the art of music, dance and drama which is aimed at increasing their level of understanding of our faith through singing and acting. Thanks to Kiiza Peter and his team in this department.

v  Sports Department:

The department is charged with promoting games & sports in the club. A lot has not been done under this department but the club has acquired balls for both Football and Netball which are used on Sundays during the practice sessions. A lot is desired here but we hope with the new team of Board members this will be even better.

v  Welfare Department:

This department is charged with the welfare of members. Being the mother of all the other departments, it has ensured that all activities move on smoothly.

Under here we have the Saving Scheme which has seen members move a step in understanding the culture of saving. Though not fully fledged, the scheme has seen some members reap heavily. Beneficiaries such as Mafabi Joselyn had a wonderful time at school when she had her education for last team being financed by her Savings with the club.  Twinomujuni Ferdinand also had his back to school a smooth way when his parents withdrew his savings with the scheme to do his shopping.  With these and many more attributes to the scheme we hope to take it to another level with more guidance from our superiors and do urge all to open up accounts with the scheme and save for the future.

The department also financed the Back to school package that was organized for all club members on Sunday 31^st Jan 2010 in recognition of their tireless efforts to see the club grow and their performance in the year 2009.  Here members received books, pens, mathematical sets, pencils among others that would be used for school.

The children also take part in Children Rights programs and have on several occasions been hosted on Mama Fm (A radio station for the Uganda women Lawyer Association) to air out their views on the rights of children and thus help teach the rest the need to respect the children. Thanks to Madam Robinah Nanfuka – the presenter of the children program and Raising Voices for their support. Members have also been hosted on Radio Sapientia on children programs. One of such was on Saturday 29^th July 2010 where DJ Josh hosted Ataali Miriam and Joshua Walusimbi together with Kiiza Peter the C/Man who talked about the talent among the young in reference to the Bright Doves music album which was majorly a production of the young. The presenter promised to always play our songs on Saturdays during the Children’s program i.e from 1:00 – 2:00pm. Thanks to Mr. Mpagi Eddy Mary (the catechist) who organized the show.

2.0  Challenges:

The challenges to the club are many. Below are a few that have been identified:

• The club experiences a problem of laxity among some members especially during practice days and other programs such as computer lessons. We hope to enforce the club rules and regulations so as to have every one actively participating in all the activities of the club.
• On the spiritual part, the club lacks prayer books, hymn books most especially on St. Francis which is really a set back as we have always improvised and got some material from the internet. We also lack constant superior input from senior Franciscans who can guide, counsel and direct us through the right ways of St. Francis.
• The idea of YOUFRA a Franciscan Youth section to which we belong has not been realized. This is because we have failed to have somebody to fine tune us as members through the lines of young Franciscans.
• The club attracts limited attention from the Parish and thus literally gets no support to enhance its programmes. This leaves a lot to be desired by the members whether their activities are not approved or are still lacking.
• As a club we lack scholastic materials such as text books, marking guides, charts and chalk among others to enhance our study scheme.
• The club lacks finances to run the club project most especially the Sunday Bulletin, our Magazine “The Bright Times”, the study scheme among others. The Parish gave us an offer to run the Sunday bulletin which runs weekly but this is still lacking due to limited finances. We have challenges financing its production yet we see it as a future strong source of income to the club. The Bright Times magazine has not run since April last year due to lack of finances.

·         Lack of resources such digital camera, computer, video camera, projector etc. which are very crucial for our performance to improve. The Information’s department which handles all these depends on outsourcing where sometimes we are let down/ disappointed at the very last minute and find it hard to go on.

• We lack funds generally to meet some of the members' needs such as paying their school fees since majority are orphans and have limited support from the unemployed parents or guardians.
• As the numbers increase, we continually lack a training ground where we can carry out our activities such as drama, sports since the church area is a very small one and some times Sr. Miriam Duggan is in use.
• The club lacks costumes, instruments for drama as well as sports gear for games and sports.
• Friends of Bright Doves (FOBD) as funs base for the club has failed to kick off and thus all the prospects under it are not yet realized.

3.0  Future plans:

• The club is organizing a Franciscan Carol service in which we can fundraise for musical instruments especially the key board, shakers, jazz drums, among others as we celebrate the humility, simplicity, love and peace advocated for by our father Francis.
• To acquire spiritual books, leaflets, videos & audio recording of St. Francis so we can boost the faith of the members.
• We hope to hold seminars and workshops especially on liturgy, morality, the life of St. Francis and Franciscanism as a whole so that members can get better understanding of our patron saint as well as live responsibly.
• To take the Children Ministry program to a better level where we involve all children in our Parish in more activities such as Retreats and recorrections, musical concerts, sports galas among others.
• To strengthen the association of ‘Friends of Bright Doves’ where all the well wishers of the club who might be beyond the age limits but still feel they are part of the club may come in. This we hope will provide checks and balance to the club executive and the general support needed by the club.
• To get on new experts who are able to train the members in different fields such as drama, games and sports as well as liturgy.

·         Develop a content management system for record keeping purposes and communication within and outside the club. This will be in form of a website where every member will have an account and be able to post articles or any information he/she wishes to pass on.

·         Make a documentary about our club that will highlight where we have come from and where we are heading.

·         Create a database for tracking members of the club as well as well wishers and thus grow the funs base.

• Create an application for tracking our members’ savings and thus grow the scheme to another level.
• To reach out to our brothers and sisters in need to our capacity since one of our objectives is to support the minority and disadvantaged in our reach and capacity.
• To have some more recordings of the members’ songs so we can produce more music albums and even do video recording of the already produced songs. We hope to have more of the videos and Photo movies so we can have our activities known to all especially our parents.
• To improve on our performance in the parish by involving ourselves in all the activities we can so as to create a cordial relationship will all the other sections in the Parish especially the youth.
• To try to our level best and strengthen all the club departments in regard to the club activities.
• To come up with project proposal on the projects we are running most especially on the Savings scheme, Youth for technology, a printery and gift shop in Kamwokya as well as Children welfare which can attract funding.

4.0  Requirements:

The needs of the club are many and range from musical instruments, uniforms (for both male and female), games (like ruddo, chess and scrabble), balls (all types for both boys and girls) and generally funding for our magazine-The Bright Times and Sunday Bulletin for Kamwokya Parish as well as the study scheme. We hope with your support and contributions we will be able to have all these which will improve and better our performance as a club.

5.0  Conclusion:

Our sincere appreciations go to all the people that have made it all the way with Bright Doves most especially the Parish Priest Rev. Fr. James Ssebayigga, our Chaplain Rev. Fr. Sylvester Buwembo, the entire membership of the Board of Trustees, the SFO members here in Kamwokya, St. Francis Choir, the entire membership of KCCC most especially the management of Sr. Miriam Duggan P/S, our dear parents, friends and all the well wishers of the club who have helped us work towards attainment of our Main Objective of making Bright Doves a model youth group of our times. We pray always for your support and that the Almighty God may bless you abundantly as we strive to be “Instruments of peace.”

Yours in service:

……………………………..                         

KIIZA PETER

Chairman

RE: 2011 END OF YEAR MESSAGE

 20^th December 2011

RE: END OF YEAR MESSAGE

Dear colleagues,

I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour and in the love and humility of our Father St. Francis.

The end of year is finally here, a time to look back, reflecting on our achievements, ponder on where we went wrong and to look forward, to see what we still need to accomplish.

In a club big as Bright Doves, working on a wide range of activities in many areas no one can ever see the entirety of our work. That's a pity, because in fact, what we are able to do is quite remarkable. We don't usually draw attention to the work of individual members - we all work as a whole.  But in this message to you all, I want to look at a few particular moments through the year where I have been especially proud of what has been achieved. At the outset I want to thank you all, especially those of you who have given your all affectionately for what we set out early this year to do. 

Please note the following successes as I leave you to ponder on the shortcomings;

·         The Patron Mr. Onyango Bernard and the Programmes Coordinator –Mukundane Dennis attended the Uganda & Tanzania UPR Follow up workshop that was organized by Franciscan International (FI) Uganda at St. Augustine –Nsambya. The workshop which begun on the 16th Nov 2011 and ran to the 19th Nov 2011 was facilitated by Fr. Markus Heinze (Ofm) the FI Coordinator (Europe & Africa) and Ms. Silvia Palomba from FI – Geneva.

·         Again M Dennis and Kyomukama Jackline represented the club in a one week JPIC workshop in Mwanza – Tanzania that was organized by JPIC-Franciscan Africa which was a success and a boost to our knowledge of Human/Children rights, Peace and Justice as well as the Catholic Social Teaching (CST) values.

·         I and the Liturgy Coordinator – Mrs Auma Lynette were among others at Nsambya on the 15^th Oct 2011 as we joined the rest of Kampala region to celebrate the feast of St. Francis – our Patron Saint.

·         We were also represented in different meetings such as the CCFMC meeting held at Nsambya on Saturday15^th Oct 2011, the Franciscan International (FI) meeting held on 20^th Aug 2011 at Lavarna and the JPIC-FA Ugandan chapter preparatory meeting at St. Josephs Girls SS Nsambya.

·         To celebrate the Spirit of Assisi, we joined together with St. Francis choir and organized Franciscan Carols on 23rd Oct 2011 at Holy Trinity church. It was a success as we hosted the President National Fraternity (SFO) – Br. Vincent Kiiza and the Vice President St. Maximilian Kolbe Fraternity – Kamwokya Mrs. Nsababera Alice.

·         We have continued to produce the Kamwokya Parish Sunday Bulletin every week which somehow sustains our finances as a club.

·         Following the inspection of the club activities by officials from KCCA early May as an annual review, we had our certificate renewed to guarantee our operations as a CBO for the year 2011/12.

·         We successfully ran the 5^th Edition of our Bright Times magazine which was produced in May 2011 and the sales went on till the end of July. We are finalizing the production of the next edition which will be out soon.

·         We created a Bright Doves page on Face book as one way of reaching out to and sharing with our well-wishers.

·         We reached an agreement with BeezSports a South African based sports company to support our sports programs.

·         We purchased some instruments for the MDD department i.e. drums and Balls for the Sports department.

·         We secured training grounds i.e. at Immaculate Heart P/S for sports programs and at KCC P/S for the rest of our activities including MDD and liturgy.

·         We were able to organize a children’s show on May 15^th 2011 which was a success

·         We successfully organized a birthday party for members in May in which we celebrated with the birth day boys and girls of the month, unveiled our secret friends as well as awarded the best performers in our Back to school package.

·         To boost our spirituality we have maintained our payer meeting every Monday at 6pm where we share in different aspects of our faith and spiritual being.

·         We have organized and participated in a number of talent shows including the most recent on Dec 4^th 2011 as organized by the Uganda Martyrs Youth Apostolate

·         We rolled out our Justice and Peace program (Turning the other Cheek) where youth from Uganda Martyrs Sub Parish were mobilized and trained in Active Non violence (ANV) at KCC P/S – Kamwokya after which they watched a deepening video (A Force more Powerful).

·         We have successfully run our Children Rights in Education (CRiE) program which has been hosted by schools like Sharp Infant, King of Kings and Hormisdalen P/s and supported by different organizations such as Raising Voices, Uganda Police and Mama FM among others. Thanks to all our facilitators.

·         To celebrate the International Day of the right of the Child, we organized a Children Rights Day on Sunday 20^th November 2011 at Sharp Infant School an occasion that was a success.

·         We were able to produce our first ever Children’s Voice – a newsletter of the Children Rights in Education (CRiE) and a tool through which we hope to communicate the children’s ideas and appeal to the responsible persons to come to the rescue of children.

·         On top of this we recorded a song ‘Save the little ones’ featuring Peter and Miriam and more others are still in studio.

·         A film documentary on the Children Rights in Education programme is underway and other video productions for this year are yet to be released.

·         We held a general meeting to evaluate the club’s performance of the year 2011 on Monday 28^th Nov 2011 which was well attended and we got lots of ideas from you. This meeting gave us an insight of what we really are as it was very engaging; we shall continue welcoming constructive criticisms.

·         Recently we have been able to design, develop and finally host our official club website (www.brightdoves.com).  Though some sections are still under construction, we believe it will help us communicate and inform a wider audience. The website came with email addresses to be used for our communication. E.g the official e-mail address for the club is info@brightdoves.com, don’t hesitate to use it.

As you can see we are making great strides with which we can look ahead into the New Year with confidence, hope and resilience. We know that there are vast problems ahead. But we also know that we have the right resources to meet those challenges as believers.

As one man said, ‘all dreams can be turned into reality with hard work, patience, determination, dedication, positive thinking and with the right people around you.’ I hope none of us is misplaced.

Thank you for all your hard work. I wish you all the very best for the new year ahead as instruments of peace. MERRY XMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

Sincerely,

KUGONZA K NICHOLAS

Ag.  Chairman & Head (Information Department)

E-Mail: knicholas@brightdoves.com