#robert katende

Films watched in 2019: Queen of Katwe (2016) Dir. Mira Nair 

Starring Lupita Nyong’o, David Oyelowo, and introducing Madina Nalwanga!

Queen of Katwe (2016)

Directed by Mira Nair

Another super inspirational story I just found on CNN. I'll summarize it for you. :)

Phiona Mutesi is a 16-year-old girl who is making a whole new life for herself by playing chess. She grew up in a Ugandan slum with barely any food and had to walk miles to get clean water. In comes Robert Katende. Katende is a missionary and civil war refugee in Uganda who started a chess program where he gave a bowl of porridge to any child that wanted to learn the game. That is where it all began.

The craziest part of this story to me is that Mutesi didn't even realize her life in Uganda was different than anyone else's. 

"I thought the life I was living, that everyone was living that life," the teenager told CNN, describing her childhood in Katwe, a slum in the Ugandan capital of Kampala.

How amazing that she was able to see more of the world after learning a game that is not normally considered all that "cool." She is an inspiration to everyone and she shows us that we have the ability to be successful in whatever we decide to do. She ended up earning a grant and was able to go back to school where she is now learning to read and write. She has dreams of being a doctor one day.