Khalid Al Ameri – an Emirati YouTuber – visited Uganda with his family to attend the wedding of their beloved Ugandan maid Sarah Nasanga, who worked for the family for six years before leaving in December 2020.
Al Ameri initially posted a YouTube video bidding Nasanga a heartfelt farewell and surprising her with additional pay to thank her for her years of hard work. He also promised to pay for her wedding and to attend the ceremony:
“Sarah has been part of our family for six years and she is now returning to her home country to get married and start a family of her own. So we decided to give her a couple of surprises before she leaves”.
Al Ameri stayed true to his promise and recently travelled to Uganda where they received a warm welcome from the people of Uganda at Entebbe Airport. The Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) and Great Lakes Safaris provided Al Ameri and his family a free tour around Uganda’s popular tourist destinations such as Bwindi Impenetrable Park and Ndere Cultural Centre before his visit to Nasanga and her family.
Nasanga thanked the Al Ameri family for the heartfelt gesture after her wedding on April 9:
“I’m super excited. I’m so grateful to Al Ameri and his family. They have shown me love, care since the time I joined the family. He and his wife have treated me like their own family and have made my wedding such an honorable event. May God bless them”.
Moreover, Clare Mugabi – UTB Marketing Officer – said that the popular social media influencer’s visit to Uganda will also uplift the country’s tourism, which has suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic:
“Before Covid, we received at least 5,000 visitors annually with expenditure of a minimum of USD 3,000 almost every day so they have a high propensity to spend on tourism, their market has about 83% in terms of population expatriates with only about 10% of nationals. We want to further consolidate our presence in the UAE market. UAE is one of the countries we are targeting for tourism arrivals. The further improved connectivity is an added advantage, it takes about 4 hours from Uganda to Dubai, around June Uganda airlines will also be inaugurated to fly to UAE increasing convenience. He will help us use his brand and following to further tell the Uganda story in its natural form”.