Following the screening of Queen of Katwe, Robert Katende, the founder and coach of the Sports Outreach Ministry (SOM) Chess Academy and Mentoring Centre on which the movie is based, says the club has attracted more slum children who want to learn the board game.

Katende found that chess was much like their everyday lives; the game teaches them to strategise and plan ahead, and instils discipline and patience.

Katende opened the centre in Uganda in 2004, when he noticed that children were watching football matches from the sidelines. He started with five children and now has more than 300 who gather daily across five slums in Kampala. 

They also have Bible study, mentoring and a meal at the centre, in addition to playing chess with more than 40 peer coaches.

“The film brought us popularity, and the number of children has increased because they now believe there is hope in the academy,” Katende said.

He uses chess to nurture and mentor vulnerable children living on the streets and in slums, and other sports to encourage, inspire and better their lives.

“All of us can play chess. People think that it is a game for the smart ones. You can learn to play chess even at the age of 80,” he added.

The centre also teaches strategic thinking and planning that can be used in everyday life.

“I am driven by the urge to do what I can to help the young ones to break out of the vicious circle of poverty in the Katwe slum. The children are there because of circumstances beyond their control,” Katende said.

“The vulnerability of some children in Katwe is a result of negligence by their parents. I have approached some parents who are neglecting their children, and even had some arrested and cautioned by the police. It is very sad to turn away children who approach our academy for assistance. Besides, we do not have enough space at the academy. The most vulnerable are the girls in their teens — at that age, they are expected to get married,” he added.  

The academy also nurtures and empowers former criminals by teaching them hands-on skills in computers and handcrafts as a means for them to abandon the criminal life and become leaders in future.

“Nothing is more rewarding than when someone tells you that you have positively changed their life,” Katende said.

He and his wife Sarah live in Kampala with their three daughters, Mercy, Hope and Queen. Katende is an engineer by profession, specialising in civil engineering and ICT. He was born in the Nakulabye slum in Kampala, but worked his way out and went to university.

Street child Phiona Mutesi (whose life the film Queen of Katwe was based on) has become the first Woman Candidate Master in Uganda.
“I am glad that Phiona is successful,” Sarah said.

Katende also conducts chess programmes in other slums of Kampala as well as in Gulu district in northern Uganda. The chess programme has spread internationally to Nairobi and El Salvador. It includes programmes for handicapped students in Nairobi and inner-cities in the US. The programme has more than 1,400 participants.

Queen of Katwe is based on the true story of Phiona (played by Madina Nalwanga) from the streets of Katwe, whose world changes when she is introduced to the game of chess.

As a result of the support she receives from her family, community and chess coach Katende (played by David Oyelowo), she pursues her dream of becoming a national and an international chess champion.

The film, released towards the end of last year, stars Golden Globe nominee Oyelowo and Oscar winner and Tony Award nominee Lupita Nyong’o, and is directed by Mira Nair.  

“Robert is not a saint,” said Nair, “But he is completely morally-centred and unbelievably generous. He always thinks beyond himself.”

“One thing that really surprised me was how heart warming the story is, and how these people manage to be so full of joy in spite of such difficult lives,” Oyelowo said.

“As a Nigerian, I’m frustrated by how little we see of the real face of Africa in Western movies, how we’re always confronted with the dark side — dictators, genocide, disease — when I know this continent is filled with tremendous stories of hope, triumph, love and joy,” he added.

Oyelowo acknowledges how fortunate he was to have Katende on set every day. He was always peppering him with questions, studying his movements or listening to his speech patterns.

“Most times when you’re working with a true story the only access to the person you’re portraying is found from reading books or watching footage,” said Oyelowo, “But with this film, I was surrounded by all the research I needed.”