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Articles by TMS Ruge

Teddy Ruge is no slouch. He perfected a hard working ethic as a student-athlete competing as a record-breaking decathlete and a sleep deprived Communications Design student at The University of North Texas, where he earned a BFA in Advertising in 1999. He competed on the Amateur Track and Field circuit after college in an effort to earn a spot on the Olympic team representing his home country of Uganda. While an Olympic appearance did not occur, the multi-disciplinary training required to master the decathlon has served well in balancing the many talents required in the Communication Design industry. Off the field, Teddy used the same competitive energies to horn his photography, design and advertising skills working at such notable firms as Kinko’s, Italia Advertising, Quorum International, Euro RSG, and Sally Beauty Company. Armed with a solid portfolio of work, a strong work ethic, and an unwavering determination not to fail, Teddy has built a personal client list that includes The Dallas Cowboys Charities, The Dallas Lighthouse, Winstead Sechrest & Minick P.C., PRT Marketing and Chad Hennings Management among many others. Teddy also extends his personal creative “doodling” talents as a mixed-media painter and as a photographer. He held a two-man show with notable Dallas photographer Stewart Charles Cohen in celebration of African American month and has had his other works exhibited at the African American Museum and at various UNT Galleries. Teddy also holds two long–standing Uganda national records. One in the high jump and the other in the decathlon. Update: After 8 years, the high jump record now belongs to David Okot as of July 8, 2007. Congratulations David! Teddy is also pursuing projects to help improve the socio-economic landscape of Uganda by empowering individuals through social networking as applied to mobile technologies. Uhm, did we mention that he’s also an actor? Seriously, he is. Check out his resumé, er, reel. His body parts have appeared in such fine TV and Screen productions as Night of the White Pants, Date.con, and Inspector Mom among others… as well as various stage productions via his now defunct production company, Mass Hysteria Productions. He even played Bob Crotchett once, can you believe that? Stay tuned for some more uncredited TMS Ruge body part sightings…

All Set for UNAA Conference in Florida
Thursday, 28 Aug, 2008 – 16:35 | No Comment
All Set for UNAA Conference in Florida

We are firmly planted at Atlanta International Airport waiting for the final leg of our journey for the UNAA Conference this weekend in Orlando, Florida, USA. I made sure to bring all necessary gear to …

Diaspora at Work: Project Uvira Opens Library in Eastern DRC
Monday, 25 Aug, 2008 – 12:15 | 2 Comments
Diaspora at Work: Project Uvira Opens Library in Eastern DRC

A boy reads a book in the new Community Learning Centre in UVira
One of these days Project Diaspora will mature into this massive database of African development projects helmed by Africa’s Diaspora. The database will …

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Convention: Uganda North American Association Conference
Tuesday, 12 Aug, 2008 – 16:08 | One Comment
Convention: Uganda North American Association Conference

I don’t know how this one missed our radar, but good thing we found it in time. The Uganda North American Association is hosting it’s 20th annual convention in Orlando, Florida. Congrats on everyone …

Aloe in scandanavia
Wednesday, 30 Jul, 2008 – 11:23 | No Comment
Aloe in scandanavia

There is a healthy aloe vera based products market here in Scandanavia.

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Common Wisdom, common practice…
Monday, 28 Jul, 2008 – 2:16 | No Comment
Common Wisdom, common practice…

Give a man a fish, he eats for a day;
Teach him to fish, he eats for a lifetime;
Commercialize his fishing innovation, his village eats for decades.
- Wulff Capital
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Oh, wait…

Project Aloe update from Masindi, Uganda
Saturday, 26 Jul, 2008 – 11:58 | Comments Off
Project Aloe update from Masindi, Uganda

[ Due to recent server crash at our hosting company, we are reposting this entry due to data loss ]

I don’t think that I have ever been more nervous about this project than when I …

Post-EAIC coverage is coming…
Monday, 30 Jun, 2008 – 16:04 | No Comment
Post-EAIC coverage is coming…

I am back in Kampala now. I have a deluge of information to dig through from the 1st East African Investment Conference. Actually, now that I think about it, I have a lot of posts …

Dis-Organization mars the 1st EAI Conference in Kigali, Rwanda
Thursday, 26 Jun, 2008 – 10:04 | No Comment
Dis-Organization mars the 1st EAI Conference in Kigali, Rwanda

The afternoon sessions here after lunch were for the most part held hostage as the EAC heads of state left hundreds of attendees waiting in vain. It’s just now approaching 6pm here in Kigali and …

President Museveni Upstages EA Heads of State at EAIC
Thursday, 26 Jun, 2008 – 7:54 | No Comment
President Museveni Upstages EA Heads of State at EAIC

President Museveni of Uganda opened the Presidential parade of keynote addresses with a reference to the New Testament. His charismatic delivery of Matthews Chapter 19, verses 16-17, was received with resounding applause and laughter. It …

1st East African Investment Conference Kicks Off Today
Thursday, 26 Jun, 2008 – 2:04 | One Comment
1st East African Investment Conference Kicks Off Today

We arrived from Kampala after an 11-hour bus ride through the famous thousand hills of Rwanda. Rwanda is also known as “the land of a thousand hills.” Actually, I would have to say that this …

[PD] set to attend East African Investment Conference
Sunday, 22 Jun, 2008 – 13:23 | No Comment
[PD] set to attend East African Investment Conference

Project Diaspora is attending the EAC Investment Conference in Kigali this week. I am not sure what to expect from the conference, or Kigali, for that matter. This is my first time to Kigali, and …

Yet another sad day in African Politics
Sunday, 22 Jun, 2008 – 12:48 | No Comment
Yet another sad day in African Politics

This, is what drives us. This, is what motivates us. This, is why we stay up at night. This is another sad day in the history of African politics.
And yet the world stands by… doing …

East African Investment Conference in Kigali, Rwanda
Sunday, 1 Jun, 2008 – 10:45 | 2 Comments
East African Investment Conference in Kigali, Rwanda

The Rwandese Government is set to kick off the first ever East African Investment Conference later this month. According to the official registration site, the conference “is designed to showcase “Leveraging the East African Market …

Help Get the word out on Project Aloe
Monday, 31 Mar, 2008 – 11:26 | No Comment
Help Get the word out on Project Aloe

If you’ve been looking for a way to help get the word out on Project Aloe, here’s an easy-as-pie way to help us. We’ve whipped up a nice little banner ad, complete with the code. …

Proof positive that Obama is Africa’s hope too
Friday, 28 Mar, 2008 – 19:10 | 2 Comments

Ghanian-born lead singer of Soulfege, Derrick Ashong, aka DNA, waxed poetic in support for Obama’s presidential run at a recent rally in Hollywood, CA. DNA was interviewed, ok “ambushed” by an identified reporter only …

Chickens and ‘Toilet Paper’
Saturday, 22 Mar, 2008 – 18:19 | One Comment
Chickens and ‘Toilet Paper’

The BBC Africa web site has posted this week’s image gallery. Featured are a couple of photos I found at once humorous and gut-wrenchingly sad. Humorous because the subject matter clearly illustrated our previous frustrations …

Part 3: Identifying the need
Monday, 17 Mar, 2008 – 23:07 | No Comment
Part 3: Identifying the need

Over the next few weeks, Project Diaspora will be covering the plight of Uganda’s aloe vera farmers who are trying to find international markets for their product. Part 3 of this series looks into what …

Tanzania’s Diaspora investment community gets the red carpet treatment
Sunday, 16 Mar, 2008 – 11:09 | No Comment
Tanzania’s Diaspora investment community gets the red carpet treatment

It’s no secret that here at Project Diaspora, we love the word remittances, especially when it’s used to encourage directed investment vehicles in Africa as opposed to subsistence support. So it was with great pleasure …

Part 2: Open Letter to Hajji Ali Sessanga [Updated]
Sunday, 9 Mar, 2008 – 19:52 | 3 Comments
Part 2: Open Letter to Hajji Ali Sessanga [Updated]

Over the next few weeks, Project Diaspora will be covering the plight of Uganda’s aloe vera farmers who are trying to find international markets for their product. Part 1 of Project Aloe is an overview …

Zimbabwe: Choke the chicken, then cut it’s head off!
Friday, 7 Mar, 2008 – 14:41 | 2 Comments
Zimbabwe: Choke the chicken, then cut it’s head off!

When one is hungry and desires a chicken to eat, it’s logical that one would kill said chicken and eat it. But say one were hungry and possessed half a brain. One would realize that …

Dear Africa…
Monday, 3 Mar, 2008 – 9:02 | 4 Comments
Dear Africa…

Dear Africa,
We hope this letter finds you in good spirits. So many times we’ve meant to write, but the life and times of this distant land keeps us scratching for survival. We see you in …

Yahoo News: Rwanda rebounds post-genocide
Sunday, 2 Mar, 2008 – 21:52 | One Comment
Yahoo News: Rwanda rebounds post-genocide

Shashank Bengali, McClatchy Newspapers, via Yahoo! News
Sat Mar 1, 4:50 PM ET
KIGALI, Rwanda — When President Bush came here last month on his five-nation Africa tour, he paid a solemn visit to the site where …

Uganda’s Failed Aloe Vera Industry, Part 1
Saturday, 1 Mar, 2008 – 14:24 | 4 Comments
Uganda’s Failed Aloe Vera Industry, Part 1

Over the next few weeks, Project Diaspora will be covering the plight of Uganda’s aloe vera farmers who are trying to find international markets for their product. Part 1 of Project Aloe is an overview …

“political witches and political prostitutes” wipe their arses too
Friday, 29 Feb, 2008 – 14:47 | 3 Comments
“political witches and political prostitutes” wipe their arses too

The seemingly indestructible Robert Mugabe is at it again. This time taking the podium to denounce his rivals as, “political witches and political prostitutes“, among other choice names he dished out to his rivals in …

No Chickens in the Matatu!
Saturday, 16 Feb, 2008 – 14:22 | 3 Comments
No Chickens in the Matatu!

I was sitting at the airport in Detroit when I realized that I’ve been doing quite a bit of traveling in the past 12 months. Not a heavy amount to some globetrotter friends I know, …