Kitara Region and Cultural Events at Kitara Foundation

Our Operation Area- Kitara Region: Kitara area lies across the Equator right in the heart of East Africa. The history of Kitara dates as far back as 1889 when Uganda was still a British protectorate and this region was nicknamed ‘the Switzerland of Africa’ because of the hilly nature and its unique vegetation and weather.

Kitara lies entirely between the two arms of the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. To the far west it borders Zaire (former Belgian Congo). This border concedes with the western Rift Valley occupied from north to south by Lakes Albert, Edward, George and Kivu. On this border with Zaire exist also, the Rwenzori mountain ranges, the highest point of which (Mt Margarita) is 5,119 meters high. Further south west between Lake Edward and lake Kivu, there is the volcanic Muhabura range protruding from the rift Valley between 3,500 meters and 4,000 meters high.

On the other side Kitara borders Tanzania (former German East Africa). Boundary adjustments in 1910 between the British, the Belgians and the Germans fixed the southern limit of Uganda by including in Uganda, Kigezi which was formerly part of Belgian Congo and Bufumbira, formerly part of Germany East Africa. Kigezi was formerly part of Rwanda which together with Burundi and Tanganyika, formed German East Africa.

Generally, Kitara is a land of plateaus though in some areas there are hills which are 200 to 500 meters high. In most places, the hills are heavily eroded. In the extreme west, the ancient tabular areas still remain.

The Equator crosses Kitara region and the climate is equatorial but moderated by the altitude. In the region two dry seasons occur in the year. The highest temperatures occur on the Lake Albert flats while the lowest temperatures occur on the glaciated zone of Mt Rwenzori.

In the higher regions, the vegetation groups itself in levels such that the thick vegetation forest with under growth of liana appears at the bottom on the lower slopes.  Mountain forest extends to about 3,200 meters and above this; there are bamboo groves and air pine prairie.

Kitara Foundation Annual Events

We have also Identified Annual Tourism Development and Promotional Campaigns though which we rally the entire region into tourism development actions;

1. Keep it Green by Planting your Age

Keep it green by Planting your Age campaign is aimed at preserving and healing the environment for the good healing of humans in return. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), non-communicable diseases kill about 41 million people annually. This accounts for 71% of all deaths globally. Among these are lifestyle diseases that can largely be prevented through proper nutrition and fitness. Natural landscape, fresh vegetables and fruits are all key drivers of healthy bodies and minds. Trees play a key role in all these drivers. They provide fruits and underpin natural landscapes. Through agroforestry, they also protect the soil that nurtures vegetables and other crops.

Therefore, every time you grow a tree, you are investing not just in planetary health, but also human health. During the Keep It Green and Keep Black campaign, we encourage volunteers and every one of us to invest in your health by planting trees. Let’s grow trees and harvest health! As black Africans our health, our black skin can only remain stronger and protective to our lives when it is kept under natural balanced weather. Once we invest in healing the environment we will have a healing environment for our lives.  We heal the environment by keeping it green, in return the environment heals us by keeping us black.

Our concept of tree planting is named ‘’Plant your age’’ Campaign; The Plant Your Age campaign seeks to enhance and unify tree growing across the region. There are already numerous tree planting campaigns championed by different players and entities, but they are often time-bound and splintered, which makes it hard to track progress, survival and flourish of planted trees. Plant Your Age doesn’t seek to replace or outshine any of these tree planting ventures. Rather, it seeks to enhance and unify tree growing at individual, corporate and national levels.

Our enhancement is based on the concept of planting and growing trees that correspond to your age each year, whether that age is biological, product or anniversary related, for instance, during the anniversary of a given corporate’s founding, all staff members can plant trees corresponding to the corporate age in question or number of products they handle. When trees are planted, they are in essence ‘born’ and must be nurtured to full maturity. This is a critical component of the ‘Plant your Age’ campaign.

‘Plant your Age’ campaign provides an opportunity for national and county governments, corporates and individuals to inject innovation into tree growing by ensuring long-term flourish of these trees. It grants a platform for governments to expand the forest cover of gazzetted national forests by investing national resources into consistent tree planting exercises within these forests. In the same vein, ‘Plant your Age’ campaign unlocks multiple opportunities for Corporate Social Investment that will expand not just forests and woodlands, but also trees and better relationships. In addition, this campaign extends a hand of partnership to individuals who are part of a bigger movement that lends long-term significance to their individual tree growing efforts.

How old are you? Now imagine every year you have lived represents a chance to restore hope, inspire a new generation, replenish health and make the world a better place for all. When you plant a tree, you give life to the living and make it worthwhile for you, your family and future generations.

“The Plant your Age Initiative advocates for citizens and visitors to endeavor to plant trees equivalent to their ages and ensure that they grow, where applicable grow to your age.” This serves as an awareness creation opportunity for the populace to prepare to plant and grow trees equivalent to their relevant ages during every rainy season.

2. Kitara Annual Tourism Talent Show (KATTS): Will feature young entrepreneurs running small tourism enterprises in the region.’ The show targets both the educated or skilled and the unskilled, with the goal of equipping them with the requisite tourism business skills to successfully run their businesses.

It is a campaign to search for entrepreneurship talent in tourism among youths in the Kitara Region. This campaign is designed to identify and promote fresh tourism talents in the region.

This show will give a platform to young tourism entrepreneurs in the region by recognizing and rewarding the participants that excel in the competition.

This initiative seeks to support the youth with tourism business-related-skills to enable them efficiently operate tourism businesses in this tourism region.

The show’s main goal is to inspire and stimulate the tourism entrepreneurship acumen among the youth as one of the ways to alleviate the high youth unemployment rate prevalent in the region and increase tourism potentials of the region.

3. Kitara Annual Tourism Appreciation Day (KATAD): A day to recognize, appreciate and cement our partnerships in the Tourism Development Industry (both in the business and service arena). We do not often get time to reach to our partners, service providers, clients and suppliers to tell them how important they are to us in our businesses. Even writing a letter is as difficult as calling on phone or sending a text.

On this day, we meet one another to tell each other how important and valuable we are to one another, and to pledge our commitment to supporting each other on our next journey in the tourism development industry.

This annual event will attract stakeholders and partners in tourism development at National, regional and local levels both in business and service fields.

4. Kitara Annual Cultural Festival (KACF): Several cultural fairs and festivals have been run on National, Regional and local levels, but none has been meant to recognize and appreciate the unique historical features of Kitara Region as a cultural section on the globe. The Kitara Cultural Festival will be running each year under the theme “Appreciating who we are; celebrating Cultural Diversity”; The festival is an opportunity to showcase the different cultures that make the Kitara region so diverse and unique on this continent and in Uganda in particular.

“The fair will establish a platform where the different groups of Banyakitara can celebrate, appreciate and explore a diversity of cultures alongside their own.”

The event is inspired by key roles culture plays in the development of nations that it cannot be ignored. “Culture is a strong part of people’s lives. It influences our values, hopes and world view.”

At the Kitara Cultural Festival, the young generation will be given special focus through the school cultural quiz competitions. Schools both Primary and Secondary are invited to offer an opportunity to the young generation to learn about different cultures and be inspired.

The events come a few years after the Ministry of Tourism signed a memorandum of understanding with the Province of Hainan from China. They (Province of Hainan) want to bring tourists to Uganda and to many of them culture is the key attraction.”

We recognize the relevance of art and culture in social and economic development as well as individual human development. We envision a vibrant art and culture sector that is professional, creative and viable and contributes to social and economic development in Kitara region. Fair Missions is therefore dedicated to contribute to making Kitara region a significant hub for art and culture in Uganda and led by its values of respect, shared leadership, transparency, accountability, learning, and collaboration.

Kitara has different cultures than the rest of the regions of Uganda.  In the rest of the country we read information, we read stories, books, in Uganda there are books, there is written information but there is something else in Kitara, we sit under the ancient tree and around the ancient fire place as the story-teller uses words to weave a tapestry in one’s mind with his or her words, we have art and cultural dance and music.

Children love to hear the adults speak and sing, they relate to them, relate to the characters in their tales, and love the gentle rhythm of the songs and the words that allow children to see the possibilities in life.

5. Kitara Annual Tourism Exhibition Day (KATED): The Kitara Tourism Exhibition is viewed as Uganda’s tourism signature event that brings together tourism stakeholders to one ideal meeting place to meet and network with exhibitors, buyers, investors and suppliers of services in the tourism sector from all over the country.

Even if we live in the age of social networks where it seems that human relationships are now entirely managed via the Internet, we should never underestimate the importance of human relations when talking about tourism industry

How can a tour operator, a tour entrepreneur or a blogger get in touch and meet potential partners and find new opportunities to collaborate? Participating in one of the Tourism Exhibitions.

It’s important to personally get to know other people working in the same industry or, in one world: networking. The reason is simple: it is easier to establish a good relationship of trust when talking face to face. After changing my way of contacting people, I saw the first positive results. So if you also want to find collaborations in the tourism industry, you need to go where they are.

Kitara Tourism Exhibition is an event entirely dedicated to actors of experiential tourism in areas such as tourism: culture, food, wine, sports, parks, community, volunteers and nature, etc.

Kitara Annual Tourism Exhibition will be the largest travel and hospitality conference for travel and hospitality actors in the region. This is where brands and tourism bureaus have the best chances to find the right partners to work with.