Tony Blair Oweknimungu is a brilliant 15 year old boy. He is neat and organized always making sure his clothes are clean. He has three siblings and they live with their father and mother in Naguru Godown, in Kampala, a dwelling place for very low income earners. They live in a single roomed house where they all have to cram when it’s bed time. He goes to Kololo Secondary School and is now in S.2. He loves school and wants to become a doctor. His parents are very low income earners who struggle to maintain the family. His father is a carpenter who works as a casual labourer at construction sites while his mother sells “anyoya”, a local snack made from beans and maize, popular with low income earners from northern and eastern Uganda. Combined, they both barely make $3 a day. Life is tough for them and keeping Tony and his siblings in school is difficult because his parents struggle with their school tuition fees. His sister has had to drop out of school because his parents cannot afford it. Many times Tony goes hungry in school because food is given to only those who have paid their school fees on time. Even when they have paid, getting food in his school is a struggle because the food is not enough so the children literally fight for it and many like Tony often miss out. At home, Tony is troubled by fights between his parents who are always quarrelling. The burden of maintaining the family is mostly met by his mother because his father gets hired occasionally and also struggles with alcoholism which fuels their fights. Tony often wishes he would be somewhere else and not have to witness the troubles at home. Tennis gives him the chance, even if temporarily, to get out of that environment for some time.

Tony loves to play tennis and he is clearly good at it. He learnt how to play tennis during the COVID lockdowns which rendered many people quite idle. He is a good kid, but the stress-filled COVID environment at home almost turned him into a troublesome child. He began to cause trouble in the neighborhood, fighting kids to grab whatever they had, especially food. During that time, he was introduced to tennis by Coach Edward, who knew the family well. He saw teaching Tony tennis as a way keeping him busy and out of trouble. Tony fell in love with tennis and his progress was so impressive that soon he started to compete in tournaments, some of which he won. He made the country’s boys 12 & Under and 14 & Under teams, playing with great success and getting many trophies. He loves tennis and believes it will transform his life by helping him through his education. He feels like the COLTA program has helped him gain a clear focus on what he wants for his life, it has showed him that there are opportunities out there that can make him live a better life.