An ocean kept them apart, but baseball brought them together.
On Friday afternoon, two men will see each other face to face for the first time in more than a decade after meeting as little league players in Uganda.
Their story began in 2012. Langley’s Connor Kotanko was in the Team Canada squad that went to Africa to right an injustice. Team Canada was supposed to play the Ugandan team at the 2011 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, but just two weeks before the tournament, the Ugandan team had their visas denied.
That didn’t go over well with Team Canada, so Kotanko and the rest of the team flew to Uganda. The two teams met and played a game that Uganda ended up winning.
But the score didn’t matter.
Kotanko struck a deep connection with a player on the opposing team named Kenneth Mugaya. The two have always kept in touch and after battling through some adversity, Mugaya is moving to B.C. and moving in with Kotanko’s family.
“It’s sort of surreal, honestly. It’ll be great to see him again,” said Kotanko. “I think right when I got there, me and him just clicked right away and we stuck to each other.”
“I really admired the kid and how positive he was, regardless of the situation he was in, in life. How ambitious he is as a person is the reason that he got here … he’s worked really hard to get here and done stuff a lot of people can’t. It takes a lot of work to be able to get out of the slums and make it to Canada.”
Mugaya grew up an orphan in poverty. His mother abandoned him shortly after his father died more than a decade before he and Kotanko met.
“A lot of [characteristics] I have that my mom gave me as a person, he just has naturally because he’s a hard-working guy. He puts his head down and gets things done,” explained Kotanko, who remains in Langley and helps operate his father’s tree removal company.
He says Mugaya is trained as a bookkeeper.
“Get him a good job, that’s probably the first thing. My mom’s got a big place and then hopefully get him set up in his own place. I know he’ll be able to make it work here, for sure. He definitely had the odds stacked against him and he figured it out.”
Kotanko says this weekend, his plan is to take Mugaya around and get him familiarized with the region.
“I’ll take him to Fort Langley, take him to do some local stuff, and then maybe over the next few weeks, take him to more major destinations around Vancouver. It’s a good time to bring him here during the playoffs,” added Kotanko.
Kotanko’s mother, Jennifer Mackie, couldn’t hold back her tears when asked about her excitement.
“Seeing Connor [for him] is going to be really special. It will be very, very special for them to be reunited,” explains Mackie.
“It’s been a long time that we’ve wanted to bring him here. He’s a very special boy and you kind of love another child and I’ve watched how he’s had to live, and we’ve done everything we can to support him and protect him.”
Mackie says she helped pay for Mugaya’s education and housing needs in Uganda before he was able to get to Canada. She adds he arrived in the country recently but has been staying at a shelter in Hamilton, Ont. before he makes the trek to B.C.
“He’ll be here, and he’ll have a family. He’ll have us in person, instead of just virtually. I’m really excited [and] emotional,” said Mackie. “Kenneth is so excited. He’s over the moon. He hasn’t stopped messaging me. He’s sending heart [emojis]. We already have his room set up for him.”
Mackie says this journey has been long and overwhelming but stresses that despite any ups and downs, it’s been worth it.
“We’re just happy to have him for family dinners.”