The coach from Zamora, Aitor Llandres, has traveled to Uganda this summer (from July 3 to 25) with an NGO and apart from collaborating on what his work is based on, he has moved a badminton school to these African lands, which has turned out to be quite a success and that supposes a pioneering experience in the diffusion of this sport in the Third World.
The Spanish Federation donated rackets, nets and shuttlecocks to this project, and the Zamorano coach managed, through the families of the players of the Zamorano Club and other clubs, to bring a kit to each child, sports shoes and socks.
The initiative was channeled through Babies Uganda, an NGO that came to this country more than 10 years ago. It started with an orphanage in one of the poorest areas of the Ugandan capital and now they have two, a school with 600 students, a medical center, a dental clinic and a school for the blind.
“They are doing an incredible job, sustaining themselves mainly from sponsorship from Spain (people who collaborate with the amount they want),” explained the coach and player of the Zamorano Badminton Club.
His volunteering began on July 3 in Kikaya, a fairly poor area next to Lake Victoria, residing in the orphanage of the NGO Kikaya House: “My job was to play with the children of the house, play sports with them, help them with homework, and help with any work that was needed, such as painting an oven, for example, within a week of arriving in Uganda”.
“Also, one of my dreams was to bring badminton here and thanks to the Spanish Federation I have been able to bring rackets, nets and shuttlecocks. Thanks to the families of players from the club (CD Badminton Zamora), and from other clubs such as CB Valladolid, CB Burgos, among others, I have also been able to provide them with club kits -one for each child in the orphanage, 29 in total-, a couple of sports shoes and socks for all of them”.
For several days, he held sessions with groups of children from the NGO Kikaya Junior School, “and they have loved our sport. I have also created some notes for the Physical Education teacher and the person in charge of sports in the area, so that, with the material that I am going to leave here, I can do badminton when I leave”.
“I think that Zamora and badminton have come to stay in Kikaya (Uganda)”, concludes the coach from Palencia who lives in our city.
