When not toiling on my usual duties with Global Fast Fit, I do enjoy frequenting the occasional art gallery.

I was invited to attend an exhibition opening called, "Who's Cutting Onions?" by famed Thai cartoonist Tum Ulit. I wasn't exactly familiar with his work at the time, and my initial thought was, "An exhibition by a cartoonist? It's probably not for me. I probably won't bother going."

I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have changed my mind. The experience was nothing short of phenomenal. It was also the most packed I've ever seen an art gallery.

Tum Ulit's exhibition is nothing short of a masterclass in an appeal to the raw human psyche. He has perfected the ability to reach deep into your very being and illicit some form of emotional response, usually sorrow or remorse based on his subject matter (hence the name of the exhibit).

What does this have to do with Global Fast Fit?

The way we've been making social media posts over Global Fast Fit has changed for one month now. Global Fast Fit is being performed and utilized in several different countries around the world, there is no shortage of activity going on in each of those countries. Letting everyone immediately know about what's going on in each nation realtime just isn't realistic. It doesn't allow us to convey any form of coherent message, and it doesn't give us any real identity.

I came up in film production and storytelling by proxy, and this has been someting I've wanted to engage in for quite some time now. There are a plethora of interesting stories that need to be told on Global Fast Fit's end. It's one of the reasons why I pushed hard for the revival of Kenya vs. Uganda.

For those that haven't been following, Kenya vs. Uganda had already happened once in May. A single Ugandan challenger named Julius Sekitoleko was capable of capturing the Global Fast Fit Men's World Record Championship from neighboring Kenya, and was more than capable of defending his title. This led to an outpour of effort from the Kenyan side, both in Global Fast Fit contenders, and also in their media production, In recent posts I've named Julius as arguably one of the greatest champions we've ever had simply because of how unrelenting he was in defending his title and being outspoken about it. This all came to an end when Kenyan Clinton Kavai tied him for first. An internal decision led to us leaving things as they were and the rivalry fizzled out from there. 

For months now, I knew this rivalry absolutely needed to be brought back. But why? What makes this rivalry so special? The rivalry is special because it carries with it that familiar appeal to the raw human psyche. This isn't the same solicitation of remorse and sorrow as Tum Ulit's "Who's Cutting Onions" exhibition (not yet, anyway), but an appeal to pride.

Pride in one's self, pride in one's nation has always been effective in garnering not only participants, but also an audience. It's one of the reasons why people are so invested in the Olympics. They aren't there competing, but they're living through their country's competitiors. It doesn't hurt that Kenyans and Ugandans have a bit of history going back and forth with each other.

Everything being done by Global Fast Fit, whether it be supporting schools, empowering women, building communities has meaning. But if you're here for the sheer competitional aspect of Global Fast Fit, then this will be a story to follow. Especially when so much pride is on the line.

This is the first in a series of blog posts about the Kenya vs Uganda rivalry.