Guus Hiddink for President

"Guus Hiddink for President" read a banner over 8 years ago when the Dutchman steered the South Korean Soccer team to a level they had not reached before in Soccer World Cup. Just yesterday, 30 May 2009, he helped Chelsea FC win the English FA Cup. I guess the Stamford Bridge fans would have loved to have him there for many more years but he has to go back to complete the business of preparing the Russian team for the 2010 World Cup. The players did express their wishes though but I am told the Dutchman loves to keep his word and the word so far is that he had come to fill in a void only up to the end of the season. He got a good send-off (see ESPN photo gallery). It would have been better if a one Ovrebo had not officiated in the Chelsea-Barca UEFA semi-final game at the Bridge - Guus would most likely be having two big trophies to his name by now: the English FA Cup and the UEFA Champion's League trophies.

My closest and best friend and I have this thing for the Dutch players, Dutch team and Dutch coaches so Guus Hiddink was not new to us when he showed up in the English Premiership. Just like the South Korean fans, we also thought he deserved a huge reward but maybe not with the Presidency of South Korea. We even followed him closely when he took the Australian Soccer team to World Cup 2006. You can already know that I will watch most, if not all, Russia's games in the 2010 World Cup just for one guy, Hiddink.

I am not yet an official soccer coach or tactician but I love Guus Hiddink's tactics - he knows how to identify and neutralise the opponents' point of strength (biggest weapon) while he unleashes his in the right amounts and at the right time. I believe that at least Pep Guardiola and Arsene Wenger can testify to this fact. One football commentator once observed (during the 2006 World Cup games) that most coaches find it very tough to play against a Hiddink-coached side. I thought he read my mind.

Well, he did not get the Presidency to South Korea and of course will not get the Presidency of Russia even if the fans express their wish (as the South Korean ones did) but let credit be given where it is due. Mr. Guss Hiddink deserves accolades.

World Veterinary Day 2009

The World Veterinary Day was instigated in 2000 and has been observed annually on the last Saturday of April. In Uganda, we celebrated it for the first time last year. This year's celebration was much better than last year's.

In Uganda we have decided to dedicate a whole week, dubbed 'The Vet Week', to activities organised in various parts of the country. These activities culminate into the World Vet Day.

Below are highlights of some of the activities we had in The Vet Week:

• Press conference.
  
• Cattle vaccination against CBPP.
  
• Symposium - seminars, demonstrations and discussions.
  
• A school programme.
  
• Mass treatment of animals in a community recovering from the effects of more than 20 years of war.
  
• Ministerial statement on World Veterinary Day.
  
• TV Talk Show on national television.
  
• Grand celebration graced by a government Minister. Participants included local leaders, NGOs, veterinarians, farmers, veterinary students, school children and the public. After the ceremony, the farmers and veterinarians were hosted to lunch by the Uganda Veterinary Association with support from SPRING project, an NGO based in Northern Uganda. Traditional dancers entertained guests at the ceremony grounds.

In order to run all these activities successfully, we had to harness synergies from various veterinary-related stakeholders to whom I am personally grateful.

Watch this space for further details.