"I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands," said Maya Angelou. "You need to be able to throw something back." Amina Lukaaya is certainly qualified to give this pitch. The Ugandan women's national champion has thrown plenty back, using her talent for table tennis to promote education in her native Uganda. Somewhat by accident, Lukaaya started playing table tennis at 13. "I escorted a friend who played table tennis because I used to play tennis," she recalls. "That was when I held the bat for the first time. I was 13 years old and still in secondary school. I discovered that table tennis is a beautiful game." Her talent for this beautiful game led to a scholarship to Kyambogo University, where Lukaaya studied statistics and economics. She managed to complete her degree while leading the Ugandan national table tennis team and raising a family. After finishing school, Lukaaya put her degree to work. Entering the world of business, was highly trained in the use of the metaphorical catcher's mitts. It was not long, however, before she found a way to throw something back to her community. In 2017, Lukaaya founded "Mimi's Tables," a table tennis program with the explicit aim of promoting access to education for disadvantaged children in Naguru, Kampala, where she grew up. "Mimi’s Tables gives children the opportunity to develop their talent in sport as a tool to break the chains of poverty and crime," explains Lukaaya. "I intend to use this project as a give-back to the community I grew up in. If a child is able to have a dream to be better than they have seen in their homes and communities, then I would be immensely proud of them; this is what I bring to them. A chance to dream." Already making a difference at a grassroots level, Mimi’s Tables has greatly expanded its beneficial reach through support from Nike, local schools and volunteers, as well as fellow philanthropic table tennis non-profit, Ping Sans Frontières. While everyone is welcome at Mimi’s Tables, Lukaaya is sometimes greeted with incredulity in her old Naguru neighborhood. Some cannot believe that a local girl grew up to be the national champion. "They sometimes doubt me whenever I tell them I grew up in the community and I am now playing for the national team, they were amazed," says the local legend Lukaaya. "I made them realize that they can achieve their dreams in life with hard work and integrity." As Oprah Winfrey said, "To move forward, you have to give back." More than just giving back, Amina Lukaaya is throwing back with both hands, and enlisting ever more helping hands to pitch in.

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