Henry began his career with Adrift by carrying rafts to and from the river after being introduced to Adrift by a friend. He learnt to swim in the sandy ponds near his village and it is for this reason, he believes, he was selected to train as a safety kayaker. He paddles each rapid ahead of the rafts and his primary job is to collect swimmers from the rafts at the base of the large rapids, to comfort them and help them back to their rafts.

‘I love working with Adrift’ largely because he gets to meet so many interesting and different people from all walks of life. He is especially interested in the teambuilding programmes where he can meet Ugandans from the city. They have very different jobs and responsibilities to his own. Adrift has taught him First Aid and CPR as part of his training and introduced him to competing in triathlons, which he now really enjoys.

Henry’s Aunt introduced him to his 19-year old wife with whom he now has a young daughter. His wife cost him ‘dowry and bride price which included a cow’ but he thoroughly enjoys his marriage and spends much of his free time teaching his young daughter to walk and bottle feeding her. When he is not with his family, he enjoys playing football and supporting Arsenal.

One of Henry’s worst experiences was swimming from his kayak in the ‘G-spot’ while learning to paddle. He rates this alongside the sad news surrounding construction of the Bujagali dam. However, he now realizes that while the Bujagali Dam will drown some of the rapids on the river forever, it will not be the end of whitewater rafting. He is very excited about Adrift’s plans to re-locate to Kalagala and to establish that area as the centre for tourism on the Nile.

One of the high points of Henry’s life was to be able to buy a plot of land for his family near Bujagali Falls and to be able to afford his introduction ceremony and his wife. He hopes to open a small kiosk for his wife to sell airtime cards and ‘bogoyas’ (sweet bananas) so she may be able to earn a living for herself.