Establishment Outside Uganda
'The first 15-20 years after 1972 were difficult and challenging years for most AsiansfromUganda wherever they settled – the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Australia.
There was no time or suitable occasion to stop and look back or to consider the future. All of a sudden the 25th anniversary of the expulsion appeared on the horizon in 1997! Unlike previous anniversaries, something clicked and people did stop to take stock and look at what they had achieved. There was surprise and delight and an emotional mist descended on many former evacuees who 25 years previously had restarted their lives with little or nothing and all the challenges that accompany life in a new country.
In the UK, AsiansfromUganda were amazed to find that a small group of 27,000 people had not only managed to rise from their poor beginnings but had also succeeded in contributing to the nation as a whole. No sector of British life had gone untouched. Significant contributions had been made to politics, finance, business, the arts, sport and even the upper echelons of the police force. It was a very emotional moment. Thousands attended the 25th anniversary commemorative events.
The next 15 years, bringing us to the 40th anniversary of the expulsion in 2012, have seen a second generation, those born in the UK, make continued contributions to British life. The big change however is that it is no longer news! Today it is not surprising at all to hear that one of the inner team of Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown was a young lady from Jinja or that one of the Vice Chairmen of the Conservative Party hails from Kakira, Uganda. A recent nomination to the House of Lords came to the UK as a teenager in 1972. It is no longer considered remarkable that AsiansfromUganda who helped rejuvenate the economy of the City of Leicester have now become part of what is termed 'the five billion pound economic corridor between London and the Midlands of the UK'. In fact it was not even publicized that one of the biggest corporate battles to take over a large chain of grocery stores was quarterbacked by a young Cambridge-educated corporate banker whose parents were evacuated from Kampala in 1972! It is no longer news, it is now simply the next chapter of history.
There was no time or suitable occasion to stop and look back or to consider the future. All of a sudden the 25th anniversary of the expulsion appeared on the horizon in 1997! Unlike previous anniversaries, something clicked and people did stop to take stock and look at what they had achieved. There was surprise and delight and an emotional mist descended on many former evacuees who 25 years previously had restarted their lives with little or nothing and all the challenges that accompany life in a new country.
In the UK, AsiansfromUganda were amazed to find that a small group of 27,000 people had not only managed to rise from their poor beginnings but had also succeeded in contributing to the nation as a whole. No sector of British life had gone untouched. Significant contributions had been made to politics, finance, business, the arts, sport and even the upper echelons of the police force. It was a very emotional moment. Thousands attended the 25th anniversary commemorative events.
The next 15 years, bringing us to the 40th anniversary of the expulsion in 2012, have seen a second generation, those born in the UK, make continued contributions to British life. The big change however is that it is no longer news! Today it is not surprising at all to hear that one of the inner team of Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown was a young lady from Jinja or that one of the Vice Chairmen of the Conservative Party hails from Kakira, Uganda. A recent nomination to the House of Lords came to the UK as a teenager in 1972. It is no longer considered remarkable that AsiansfromUganda who helped rejuvenate the economy of the City of Leicester have now become part of what is termed 'the five billion pound economic corridor between London and the Midlands of the UK'. In fact it was not even publicized that one of the biggest corporate battles to take over a large chain of grocery stores was quarterbacked by a young Cambridge-educated corporate banker whose parents were evacuated from Kampala in 1972! It is no longer news, it is now simply the next chapter of history.
Copyright 2012 Asians from Uganda, all rights reserved.
