Reigning Miss Uganda North America for 2017/18, Queen Yvonne Kushemererwa has described her recently completed visit to Uganda as “a door into the incredibly diverse and beautiful nature of Uganda”.
She went ahead to say that the tour connected her to Uganda with a level of consciousness she had never felt before.
Yvonne Kushemererwa finished her ‘Cares Tour of Uganda’ last week on Thursday after traversing major tourist attractions in Western Uganda and Jinja.
The tour, dubbed ‘Tourism, Culture, Charity’ included visits to Tooro Kingdom, Kabarole’s crater lakes, Kibale Forest, Queen Elizabeth National Park and Jinja Town.
Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) facilitated transport for the queen and her crew to visit these places in Uganda while all the tour activities were coordinated by Kibira Safaris and Travel and the Kingdom of Tooro.
Kushemererwa stayed at some of the Fort Portal area’s most famous hotels, including Crater Safari Lodge and Kyaninga Royal Cottages.
The most notable stay experiences included the boat ride on the crater lakes at Crater Safari Lodge – one of Africa’s most renown eco-lodges, a tree planting exercise at Kyaninga Royal Cottages, and lunch at Kyaninga Lodge.
In an interview with UTB after the excursion, the beauty queen said; “My tour has been a door into the incredibly diverse and beautiful nature of Uganda. I’ve never felt so consciously connected to the land as I was during my tour”.
“I am also glad that I got to use my skills as a community support worker during our charity runs,” she added.
Aside the tours, the beauty queen carried out various charity activities in Fort Portal where she delivered 4 specialized wheelchairs from the Ugandan community in North America to Kyaninga Child Development Center.
She also visited visited Pelletier Teenage Mothers’ Foundation, in Nansana near Kampala where she delivered food and bursary from the Miss Uganda North America program.
In Jinja town, she participated in a book reading and delivered over 50 books from the program to Alpha Junior Academy, a school that is supported by Ellah Foundation Uganda.
“We want to promote a culture of reading because knowledge is power,” said program President Tibba Murungi Kabugu.
On the significance of this year’s Cares Tour, Mrs. Kabugu said; “We intend to have the Cares Tour every year. There is a lot to do, with each year’s charities depending on the queen’s passions. We are very proud of Yvonne for the way she has carried out her duties and wish her continued success.”
During the remainder of her reign – which ends in August 2018, Kushemererwa plans to continue working to promote Uganda’s tourism industry through her initiative ‘Come with me to Uganda’.
She also plans to open a group home to support persons with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses.
