Rev. Dr. Wes Hall shares some wisdom

It was at the opening ceremony of the 4th Pan Commonwealth Veterinary Conference in Barbados. Reverend Dr. Wes Hall was the featured speaker. What a good choice he was.

I will not promise to write about his oratory skills and style but believe me that he has a lot that we can learn from - his speech was captivating not only because of the content but also because of the style of presentation, moreover without the famous PowerPoint / LCD projector. I will just share about a few comments he made that I think will be useful to readers of this blog.

He confessed that when he was invited, he did not know what to share with veterinarians in such a big conference and from such diverse countries. He settled and decided to speak about Cricket in the West Indies - his past experiences and vision for the future. Although I am not a cricket fan (yet), and I have never played cricket, I learnt a lot from what Dr. Hall shared. He spoke with reference to Cricket but the principles apply to all aspects of life. He referred to Cricket as the legacy of the Commonwealth experience although he lamented that in the West Indies, the game had moved from amazing grace to disgrace.

As part of the team working towards reviving Cricket in the West Indies, he shared their strategy of harnessing talent from deep down in the communities and developing it through the so-called 'bottom up' approach. This way they would not have anybody joining the academy to learn basics. The basics would be acquired at an earlier stage such that when one gets to the academy they would be handled differently - polished to attain world-class status. Who said this strategy only applies in Cricket?

(In the picture below - L-R: Sam Okech - Uganda, Wes Hall - Barbados and Nick Gumede - Swaziland).

He also shared about how teamwork was vital in shaping his legacy as an outstanding Cricketer. He joked about how one time he did not openly acknowledge the contribution made by a teammate even though he knew it was the main factor in their success. The teammate withdrew his vital contribution with disastrous consequences! He had to repent of his 'sins' thereafter. Any lessons for you?

Motivation is one important thing in life, no wonder Dr. Daniel Goleman lists it as one of the elements of Emotional Intelligence. Rev. Hall shared three major things that a Cricket player (read everybody) should aim at achieving to be successful: knowledge, skill and desire. He shares these with the youngsters as a way of motivating them to strive for excellence in Cricket. He described desire as the starting point of all achievement.

Some short motivating quotes I picked out of the speech:
"Courage should overcome challenges"
"You do not go to the academy to learn basics"
"Dinosaurs did not adapt to changing conditions hence they went extinct"
"Success is sustained level of excellence"

Dr. Hall's choice of words and word combinations were remarkable. For example, in conclusion he said, "I am thankful for your hospitality that can only be surpassed by my gratitude and capacity to hold it."

Barbados

Barbados. I could easily live there for several reasons. I was privileged to visit Barbados in November this year (2007). I arrived 1 November and left 8 November. The trip from Uganda was of course a long one with a one night stop-over in London. The total flight hours from Entebbe (Uganda) is about 16-17 hours. Stressful though it was, I think the nature of the destination paid it all in full. No regrets.

The people in Barbados (the ones I interacted with) were very hospitable. I got ushered to this immediately I arrived at the immigration desk at the airport. Throughout my stay, this factor did not change. The staff at the three hotels I had something to do in were excellent. Within that short time, I stayed in two different hotels and had meals in three different hotels. They all had wonderful staff. My speculative conclusion is that this country being one of the tourist destinations in the West Indies, the citizen learn early in their life to be excellent hosts. Could it be true that both at home and at school the children are taught some skills in handling guests? Maybe it is introduced so early in their life that it becomes a lifestyle and not a professional practice. What lessons can we draw from that?

The 'strange' experience I got was the heat. I thought Uganda was hot (maximum temperature of 28 Celsius on a hot day) but I discovered it was relatively cooler. At the time, Barbados was 30 Celsius and a bit humid. I felt it immediately I disembarked from the plane. The drive to the hotel was good, of course in an air conditioned vehicle that suited most of us visitors. The environment looked familiar - suggestive of a tropical weather. It almost looked like home.

I met very many nice Barbadians (famously called Bajans) including the legendary Wes Hall, the Cricket legend (middle in the picture below - L-R: Sam Okech, Wes Hall and Nick Gumede). He is such a good orator and was a good choice for a speaker at the opening ceremony of the 4th Pan Commonwealth Veterinary Conference I had travelled to partcipate in (as speaker in the conference; moderator of a group session on animal welfare and invited observer in the CVA Council). Wes is a clergyman, a politician and leader (I believe that the latter two words can and should not necessarily be used to describe the same abilities, especially in Africa).

Rev. Hall shared with us his vision for the revival of Cricket in the West Indies and one of the many things I recall in his speech was that they are developing cricket right from the 'bottom upwards' - harnessing talent from the communities and growing them into international standards. I am totally persuaded that is the best way to go - it seems to be more sustainable.

My confession is that before I met and heard this gentleman speak about cricket, I had no interest at all in cricket but now I am very interested in learning how to count the points. What do these terms mean: wickets, runs, overs, etc and how do they happen?

Surely this page is not exhaustive of my Barbados experience. I will come back with more soon. Although I did not taste rum, I will write something small about it. I should also share something about the ship experience. I missed seeing the black belly sheep so do not expect much in that direction.

Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever

It was named Ebola, after the Ebola river in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Ebola river flows through an area where the disease is alleged to have first been identified (in 1976).

The current outbreak is the second in Uganda in about 7 years. On both occasions, it's origin is tracked to the Democratic Republic of Congo and consumption of infected animal carcasses have been alleged on both occasions.

Since the disease has no known treatment, prevention is vital in its control. Lots of information is available on Ebola. Getting the population to know the facts is, but just one, significant step in controlling the disease.

I provide the following sources for readers of this blog:
1. Information packet from CDC.
2. A fact sheet from DHPE
3. Q&A from msnbc

I am back

After a period of silence (on this site), I return with quite a bit of energy to share lots that happened while I was away. I promise that I will be writing more regularly on diverse subjects as I have so far done. I provide a buffet and the reader chooses what to consume to their fill, and return for more.

The subject line above reminds me of our Ugandan politics. It was once written in a Newspaper headline in Kampala that, "Bad news; Akena Adoko is Back". Several years later on, in another paper, somebody rephrased it as, "Good news, Akena Adoko is back". The said Dr. Akena Adoko was in the helm of leadership in Uganda in the 60s and early 80s. He got exiled several times: in the early to late 70s, then in late 80s and again in the early 90s. He currently lives in the UK. Each time he returned to Uganda he hit the headlines. There are some interesting writings about the life of Dr. N. Akena Adoko e.g. Simon Regan's "Scandals in Justice" and in "NHS Exposed".

For my case, please consider it good news that I am back to the blog. Welcome aboard.