Joy and happiness and tears were in the eyes of Uganda’s students last Saturday in Prince Louis Rwagasore Stadium of Bujumbura as the East African Secondary School Games came to a close. St Mary’s Kitende of Uganda won the 11th Edition of the East African Secondary School Games football tournament. It was their seventh victory.
<doc5085|left>This 1st September at Louis Rwagasore Prince Stadium saw the closure of the 11th Edition of the East African Secondary School games, bringing together schools from around the East African Community. Teams of Kenyan, Rwandan, Ugandan, Burundian and South Sudanese students attended. Not only did many students attend the event, different authorities were there too. The Himbaza traditional drummer club and Ihunja club of traditional dancers entertained the spectators.
St Mary’s Kitende of Uganda met Ecole Technique de Gestion (ETG) of Burundi in an afternoon match. St Mary’s Kitende won 1 to 0 over the Burundian team on a first-half goal.
Some participants expressed that this championship was really a big opportunity for them. Stephan Othieno, a student of Kololo S.S.S school of Uganda said he benefited from this championship by making new friends. He liked how he worked together with students of EAC.
Joel Gashaka, a Burundian organizer, said, "It is a huge step for Burundi to host for the first time the games. We learned various techniques and we saw new games like hockey and netball.”
David Ngugi, general secretary of the Federation of East African Secondary School Associations (FEASSA), recalls:" The aim of the game is to strengthen friendship of EAC students. This is done through sports. We accommodate them in the same room without making differences of culture, customs and country. This gives us hope that even in the future they will make one state."
The event ended with a parade of EAC students, speeches from various authorities of EAC member’s states, including Burundi’s basic education minister Sévérin Buzingo and FEASSA officials, and the awarding of certificates, medals and cups to the winners.
Other games, such as basketball and volleyball were played in different fields around Bujumbura.
