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Fighting Chance

In addition to the natural beauty of wildlife and waters such as the Nile, Uganda also known as the Pearl of Africa is hiding neglected sports talents living under the poorest conditions.

Katanga in Kampala is a slum community where more than 20,000 people live under conditions of extreme poverty and without basic infrastructure such as permanent fresh water supply, brick houses or space to breathe. An almost stagnant main stream flows slowly through the community. It is a source of water for washing or cooking, and often also used as the toilet.

In this maze, a group of ambitious female fighters is trying to reach for a better life. While gathering banana peels to survive, they are passionate about boxing, and they continue their struggle despite the scorn.

The box for a better life, full of dreams and expectations, trying to feed themselves and their families, trying to achieve local and international recognition and appreciation. The Rhino Boxer Club is “this place” in the midst of the slums of Katanga, allowing for brief moments of escape, where fighters forget about their needs, pains, and poverty.

The Club” has been established in 1995 thanks to the passion and the goodwill of a neighbor who donated a 70 m2 plot for the Rhinos to build their basic gym, consisting today of just four falling walls, a nearly open and leaking roof and a mud floor.
It hosts 58 boxers, 4 of them women and another six just young girls. All are in search of a way out of misery, and they work out hard day after day. For many others, however, enrollment fees of UGS 20,000 – equivalent to USD 8 – as well as training fees of UGS 500-1000 per training day are often unachievable…

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