Life Lately from Kenya and Bits of Other Places

Dear beloved reader,

I haven’t been here in a while. It appears the previous piece of writing took a lot out of me, but did it, or am I just making excuses? I’ve felt the urge to write for a couple of days now and procrastinated until I got this out of me recently. So here we are. (The featured photo was taken in Ghana–Accra)

Sights of Tigoni

This posting will mostly be a “life lately” kind of thing.

Mid last week, I took about an hour’s break from work and wandered outside the house. You’ll never guess where I ended up, somewhere in the middle of a vast tea plantation. Fields stretched out in every direction, lonely houses in the distance (which I figured belong to the plantation owners), and a group of small informal settlements that I reckon house the plantation workers.

The greenery, laid out like a soft mat, was so aesthetic, so peaceful. I looked at the trees scattered across the plantation and wondered: what stories would they tell if they could talk?

I thought about how I ended up in this place, in Tigoni, so ethereal, a place I had never even heard of until a few months ago. Isn’t life one big ride? To think that in my backyard there is a tea plantation, with trees and greenery lining the roads… you can’t help but be thankful to exist in this piece of heaven.

How did I end up in Tigoni? That’s a story for another day. But what I can say, especially to younger people is: munywane. In my mother tongue, it means “make friends.” Make friends. I can’t emphasise this enough.

I remember when I first got here, about a month ago, taking in my surroundings for the first time. It was early morning, and I ran up a dirt road called Birthday Road, so hilly. I attempted to run but was quickly humbled into walking, wheezing as I caught my breath while plodding on.

Eventually, I reached an opening that led to a forest walk. Just a few metres past the entrance was a small clearing with a sitting area. I sat there. It was a bit chilly, but I had a long-sleeved top on. I listened to the birds sing, the trees sway in the wind, and though I felt a bit unsettled at yet another life transition, I also felt a calmness, like this place was good for my nervous system.

I spent some good minutes on this bench

Not so long ago, I was in the UK, where every moment feels like it’s go, go, go. When you take a pause, it almost feels wrong, like, why are you not busy? I was often battling a sense of guilt for not filling every waking second with activity. Should I have a second job? A third? That world is fast and demanding.

But I had started to find ways to manage it, taking long walks, skipping the bus, walking to the store and back. That helped.

So now here I am, in Kenya, in Tigoni, in a place I never imagined I’d be, wandering through tea estates, sitting outside to sunbathe, and just being. Taking each day as it comes.

In all this, I like that I am saying yes to the universe and keeping an open mind to what the world has to offer me. I’m looking at life with a sense of wonder, noticing the good things, and being thankful for them.

The other weekend, I was in Nairobi with friends, staying at an apartment with a rooftop that offers a 360-degree view of the city. Some evenings, I’d go up there and just stare, listening to the sounds of the city: moving cars, streetlights humming, tall skyscrapers, people walking… a whole life unfolding.

Nairobi by night

And I’d think, this is lovely. I get to experience this.

It took me back to my first trip to Nairobi in 2017. I was with a friend, also called Brenda. We went for drinks at the Ibis Styles rooftop in Westlands. It had been recommended as a cool spot with incredible views, and it truly was a magical evening for us.

I’m excited about all the magic that is still to happen, simply because I am open to it.

Do I know what the future holds? Not entirely. And sometimes, that is scary. But life has pleasantly surprised me enough times for me to trust that what is to come will be good, perhaps even greater.

Apart from getting back into a running routine, I’m also working on my gym routine. I may have even signed up for the Tusker Lite Rwenzori Marathon 👀 Be ready to get sick of me when I start training…

And for my next piece, I want to explore how relationships evolve for couples who have predominantly lived in Africa and then move abroad, with the UK as a case study. My friends and I talk about this a lot, how a faster, more demanding environment can reshape relationship dynamics, either straining or strengthening a partnership in ways it otherwise wouldn’t.

Lastly, I recently created an Instagram page for my author journey, where I’ll be sharing more about my children’s books and the process behind them. Feel free to follow along and keep up with the journey. I’d love to have you there- Author page.

Returning to where it all began

I recently visited my very first primary school, a government school, and it felt frozen in time. The structures looked exactly as they did over 20 years ago. It’s neat, surrounded by greenery, the buildings sparse! Nothing had changed. I expected more, though I’m not sure why, because I was also surprised that I was surprised things were still the same.

This is one of five blocks at my first primary school. As it was a school holiday, I missed the chance to look inside the library.

Like many children born to teachers, where my parents taught, and the transfers that followed, dictated where I went to school. I don’t quite remember how I officially started school, only that my mother began taking me with her as soon as I could walk.

I remember many early mornings walking behind her, my small hand gripping my breaktime snack pack as we made our way to school together. Later, I changed schools twice more and eventually finished primary seven at another school where my father was the head teacher.

My parents are firm believers in quality education. They wanted the best for me and the best school in our region was Bweranyangi Girls Secondary School. That’s where I had to be, and where I completed my high school education.

High school was deeply formative for me. It was the first place where I truly encountered diversity, students from different parts of the country, different languages, different income levels and different life experiences. In contrast, my primary school years were spent in day schools where most pupils came from nearby villages, so there was little diversity.

Secondary school was terrifying and exciting in equal measure. It shaped how I saw the world and It remains one of my memorable and important learning experiences.

Falling in love with reading

I had developed an interest in reading early on, but my love for books truly blossomed in high school. With access to a large school library and books students brought from home, reading became an adventure. As a voracious reader, I found myself constantly transported to different places, learning, imagining and my world expanding.

I attribute who I am today to many things, but my education sits at the core. It has opened doors and taken me to places I otherwise wouldn’t have gone. This may sound obvious, but I say it for emphasis.

A responsibility

When I pursued my Master’s degree far from home in the UK at Nottingham Trent University, I became aware of how fortunate I was. There was a great deal of hard work and sacrifice that made it possible, and with that opportunity came a growing sense of responsibility. I wanted to do something meaningful with what I was being given.

Not just to myself or my immediate family, but to my community.

I was studying international development, and beyond the jobs I might get, I kept asking myself how this knowledge would translate back home. How would my community benefit from what I was learning and experiencing in this whole new culture and world? It was a lot to think about, and a lot to learn.

Why literacy matters

For me, the answer was literacy. I had volunteered with a charity organisation called EduSpots, which works with communities to establish community libraries in rural Ghana, also known as Spots. That experience opened me up to countless possibilities and helped me imagine what I could do in my own village.

This was alongside the constant inspiration around me, libraries everywhere, and all that they offered. While in Nottingham, I lived on St Ann’s Well Road and often visited St Ann’s Valley Library. There was always a sense of joy whenever I entered, no academic pressure, just a space that existed purely for my own reading pleasure.

Reading inspires dreams. It unlocks thinking. It offers perspectives we might never otherwise encounter. For children who are impressionable and curious, reading provides representation and expands ambition.

It’s the little boy or girl reading about a doctor who comes from a village like theirs. Or a nurse saving lives. Or an adventurer exploring far-off places. They read these stories and think, maybe I could be this person too.

Even in the face of challenges, that seed, planted by a story, can carry them far.

A library, one shelf/book at a time

One way I felt I could contribute to the development of my village was by establishing a village library. At first, I thought about buildings, logistics, and all that it would take. It felt overwhelming and far off.

Then one morning while on a run, an idea came to me: I could start with a shelf. A few books, temporarily housed at my parents’ home and grow it from there.

Small beginnings

The village library in operation.

I also realised it wasn’t enough to rely solely on foreign readers. I could contribute to this body of literature myself. That’s where the idea of writing children’s books was born.

In a couple of months, three new children’s books will be on the market, available in Uganda and globally online, thanks to TFK Luminary. You’ll notice that the stories are centred on village life. That’s because they are inspired by my own childhood, growing up in a village, by the rhythms of everyday life, the simplicity, and the quiet lessons learned outside the classroom. In many ways, these stories are me inviting you into my earlier life, into the places and moments that shaped who I became, and into the kind of childhood where stories were not just read, but lived.

In a few months, these three books will be out, and I can’t wait for you to share them with your children, nieces, nephews, and little readers in your life.

Expanding the dream

I’ll ensure that the three primary schools I attended receive copies of my books. And where resources allow, I would love to contribute further to stocking their libraries with books children need.

This is what I can do, as an individual, to give back to the places that gave me my first learning memories.

The bigger dream? A community library in my village equipped with computers, so children are not only book-smart but also digitally literate.

And when people ask the question, “If you won the lottery, what would you do?” I have so much clarity on this now: I would build a couple of well-stocked libraries, for my village, for my former primary schools and then some.

However, this dream doesn’t have to wait for a lottery win. By buying my books, you’ll be contributing a brick toward building the village library in Kyemengo. You can buy them for your children, your friends’ children, or relatives, or donate them to your former primary schools. There are so many possibilities.

I’ll be sharing more soon on how best you can access and support this work.

A letter to my younger self

As I publish my first three children’s books, I think of my four-year-old self, seated on a mat in a dusty classroom, surrounded by other children. Playful, curious, eager to learn. Looking at my teachers as though they hung the moon.

The break-time bell rings in the distance, and we all squeeze through the door to play in the compound. Such happy memories.

If I could speak to her now, I would say: You are capable of so much. Keep dreaming. Keep reading. And when you grow, take others along with you.

To a year of freedom and 2025 Reflections

In late October 2025, a friend will invite you to spend Christmas with her and her family. You will hesitate. Part of you will want to pass up the opportunity because it feels unconventional.

But it’s important that you say yes. Because this will become one of the most memorable Christmases you’ve ever had. Your first English Christmas of this kind. You will be so glad you went.

You’ll share in family traditions, trade stories of Christmas past, talk about dreams and aspirations, take walks on the beach, and have several runs in a neighbourhood that slowly starts to feel familiar. All of this will expand your world in ways you couldn’t have imagined. Through it all, you’ll be reminded to say yes to opportunities even when you don’t see the full picture.

Poole

You walked a lot in December 2025. More than usual. You’re not usually one for leisurely walks, but this time you were also keen on getting your step count up. You chose to walk to run errands instead of taking the bus, and because of that, you had some really good walks, the kind that leave space for thinking.

Nothing about your life has been conventional. You know this and should always remember it. Yet, for some reason, you still catch yourself wondering about the conventional paths, what could have been, what could be, and all of that.

In the days leading up to Christmas, you’re on one of those errand walks. It’s chilly, so you’re huddled into your jacket. Your AirPods are in, but nothing is playing. To your right, cars rush by. You are seeing everything around you in colour.

On the far side of the road, you notice one of the best Christmas-decorated houses in the neighbourhood. You’ve passed it a couple of evenings before and even stopped to marvel at it. But today, it looks like just another ordinary house in a long row of houses.

Still, you feel this quiet joy. You want to skip and hop like a child, but you contain yourself and keep walking. Then it hits you. The feeling is freedom, a deep sense of it. The kind that makes you want to throw your hands in the air and scream, “I’m free. I am free.”

Not freedom in the physical sense, but freedom of self. Freedom of the mind. Letting go of what could have been, what should be, and all the imagined alternatives.

A memory comes to mind. You’re catching up with a friend, and she mentions grappling with the feeling of being behind in life. When the life progression you envisioned doesn’t match what is. You can relate.

But who created these life milestones anyway? You wonder. For a long time, you never questioned them. You lived as if you were meant to follow them. Anyone who veered off “the path” seemed like an anomaly.

And yet, here you are, living right in the middle of those stories. Your milestones and experiences look nothing like what you once envisioned. Strangely, this doesn’t make you unhappy. Most of the time, it feels exciting. Still, there are moments when that small voice appears and asks, “But what about that thing?”

You look around and see parts of other people’s lives and think they have things you don’t. But when you look at the full picture, you realise there’s also so much you have that others wish they did. It’s not easy to have it all. In a perfect world, maybe we could, but the world isn’t perfect, and neither are we.

You realise this is how life keeps us in a loop of aspiration, always wanting and yearning for what we don’t have. That will likely always be constant. But you know better than to let it consume you or stop you from living and enjoying what is, however unconventional it may be.

So you let be. And you let life.

A win for 2025 is getting more comfortable around dogs. You spent the most time you ever have with a dog (over the Xmas period) her name is Sketch. You don’t dislike dogs, you just never knew them. Having grown up without pets, the only dogs you ever saw were stray dogs.

As you look ahead to 2026, you want to continue choosing freedom, knowing fully well that this will require conscious effort. You want to free yourself, free your mind, and let that freedom seep into all other areas of your life.

So your word for 2026 is freedom.

To end on a high note, you dear reader will be the first to know. I’m publishing three children’s books this year, and I’m incredibly excited about it. I’ll be sharing more soon, so please watch this space.

I wish you a wonderful 2026!

A weekend adventure in Belfast

Going to Belfast wasn’t on my travel radar. You know how you usually have a list of places you want to visit? Belfast wasn’t on mine, which is exactly why it ended up being such a pleasant surprise. I needed to visit Belfast.

I had an unexpected day off work on a Friday, which meant a long weekend, and I was itching to escape my lovely town of Stevenage for a change. That’s how Belfast entered the chat as a recommendation from a colleague.

I took an early morning flight from Luton and was in Belfast in just over an hour. I was greeted by the rain and Irish coldness, but I was still amazed at how quick and easy domestic flights are. No immigration queues, no probes, just smooth travel. I first got a taste of this freedom on a recent US trip but had yet to experience the same in the UK really.

From the airport, I took the bus to the town centre. It took just over an hour, making a few stops along the way. I found a cozy unoccupied corner in a Starbucks and settled in, planning to write on my book. But instead, I wrote a blog, which some of you may have read.

Now, let me confess something: I can be chaotic. I was staying for three nights but had only booked two and hadn’t yet arranged accommodation for Friday night. It was messy and an expensive lesson learned. I am working on being a better planner. Luckily, my BnB host for the night was wonderful, giving me a true taste of Irish hospitality.

Corner seat at Starbucks

A rainy morning in Belfast

Before sleeping, I booked my Titanic Museum ticket for 9:10am Saturday. I figured, go early, get it done, and see what else I could do. I almost booked an afternoon trip to the Giant’s Causeway for Sunday. I opted for a half-day tour, there’s a full-day option at almost the same price, but I wasn’t keen on being out all day.

Saturday: Titanic Belfast

I took a bus from my accommodation to the town centre, then the Glider (a tram-like shuttle) to the museum. Morning hours meant I was one of the few visitors, so I roamed the exhibitions at my own pace which was lovely.

Here is what I didn’t know- that the Titanic was built in Belfast. The storytelling in the museum is incredible: the history, the funders, the builders, the materials, the music, the exhibits, it all makes the ship come alive.

I also got on a cable car that takes you around different parts of the shipyard, which was surreal. I visited the Nomadic too, a smaller French boat involved with the Titanic, where all the original tools and instruments are preserved. It was so good.

After the museum, I ended up in Cathedral Quarters, one of the must-visit spots in Belfast. Pubs, muraled buildings, lively streets, you could feel the city buzzing, whether people were huddled against the cold or laughing with friends. What struck me most were the subtle messages on the walls. They may sound cliché, but in that moment, they felt powerful and timely.

I walked via Ulster University and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a beautiful church where I spent a few quiet minutes and felt my heart settle. I had lunch at a Korean restaurant inspired by K-dramas I have been watching..hehe. I sat on a high stool by the window. And then came the beer-on-wheels parade, there was one with a shirtless guy leading a cart in the freezing cold.

By late afternoon, darkness was falling, and I retired after a long, heart-filling day. After a warm shower, I collapsed like a log. There was a nice park nearby, so I woke up Sunday for a 5km run, a win.

Sunday: Giant’s Causeway a UNESCO World Heritage Site

After packing and checking into my next accommodation, I joined a 1pm bus tour. The Irish countryside is breath taking, even under gray, overcast skies. The driver, doubling as a guide, entertained us with fun facts and historical stories along the way.

At the Giant’s Causeway, I was awestruck by the perfectly stacked stones, the might of the waves, and the sea of visitors, all of us seeking the same adventure (read more about it here). Despite the cold, there was warmth in our shared wonder, a reminder that we’re strangers yet alike in many ways. I hiked back to the bus via a different route, soaking in every view and exhausting myself.

Look at us..lol

The long winding road around the Causeway

The next day, I had to work as well as travel back. Even with a light schedule, those three nights in Belfast gave me exactly what I needed, a travel fix and a grounding for my inner chaos.

Tips

• Budget travel: Traveling in pairs can save you money, most hotel rooms are priced for two, and splitting other fares helps too. But also, don’t abandon your travel plans because you have no travel buddy, solo travel can be cathartic.
• Titanic Museum: Book a morning ticket (9am) to avoid crowds. Explore the maritime trail outside the museum.
• Giant’s Causeway: Book tickets in advance; half-day tours are perfect if you don’t want to be out all day.
• Dark Hedges: If you’re a Game of Thrones fan, make sure your tour includes the Dark Hedges, where part of the series was filmed, it’s on the same route.

Can you read the inscription? After climbing so many stairs and then imagining someone carrying sheep, I just couldn’t picture it.

Titanic Belfast

On Memory, Money, and Life

Some memories return quietly, reshaped by time and experiences, finding new meaning in unexpected places, like a cold morning by Belfast Harbour.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how certain memories resurface at unexpected moments, how small things from the past suddenly take on new meaning.  One such memory resurfaced on a cold morning as I walked along the Belfast Harbour from the Titanic Museum. I sat on a bench, pulled out my phone to jot it down before the thought drifted away. Funny enough, the memory is attached to a hotel chain, Ibis Styles.

You might wonder why a hotel.

In one of my previous work roles, I also doubled as a travel coordinator, handling flight bookings, visas, hotel reservations, and all things logistics for my team. I used to book trips to places I’d only ever heard of names that sounded so far away from my world.

One time, my supervisor (non-Ugandan) was travelling to Geneva for a conference and asked me to find accommodation nearby the event venue. She recommended that I check for Ibis Styles, I did and making the booking was so straightforward. I think it stuck with me because I looked up to her, she was doing the kind of things I hoped I’d do someday when I grew up.

In 2017, while still on that job, my friend and I travelled to Kenya, and I was so excited to spot an Ibis Styles in Westlands, Nairobi. Of course, I dragged her there. We went up to the rooftop bar for drinks and watched the city light up at night. It felt like a small dream come true.

Later, when I moved to the UK, I noticed these hotels everywhere. I still remember spotting one in Nottingham for the first time, it felt oddly personal, like a quiet nod to how far I’d come. To me, Ibis Styles represented adventure, possibility, and a world I once only booked for others.

As someone who only started travelling in adulthood, it’s no small thing. I didn’t grow up in a travel culture. Back then, “travel” meant school trips or visiting relatives. But as I’ve grown, I’ve learned that the world is so much bigger than my village, I mean look at me now..hehehe.

I’ve been fortunate to do work that allows me to travel, first as a journalist, and now in the development space. Over time, I’ve stayed in all sorts of hotels: the budget, the quirky, and lately, some more comfortable ones.

When my friends travelled for my graduation in Nottingham in 2023 and were looking for budget accommodation, I booked them a room at the Ibis in Nottingham city centre. The hotel is not luxury, but it’s clean, functional, and decent. So, when I recently planned my trip to Belfast and saw Ibis Styles pop up again, I booked it without hesitation.

So here I am, seated on a desk in my room, in one of those hotels that, without my realising, became a quiet symbol of my dreams coming full circle. It’s not luxurious, but it feels validating somehow, a reminder that growth isn’t always loud or grand. Sometimes, it’s found in the ordinary things that once felt out of reach.

Another thought that’s been lingering during this trip is about money.

I’ve always had a complicated relationship with money, something I’m still learning to harmonise. In my first few years after university, I barely saved a thing. To be fair, I wasn’t earning much, and I had no clue how to manage money. But I was young and carefree, and somehow, I survived.

Later, I learned how to save and got better at it. Then came graduate school. I poured every bit of savings (and some debt) into it. It remains my biggest investment to date, and one I’m deeply proud of but it also left me at zero, living pay check to pay check.

That experience humbled me. It also scared me. Living abroad, I often worried about what would happen if I had an urgent need for a decent amount of money. I survived that too and I am happy that that’s behind me.

So, while on this trip, I caught myself thinking: Should I have saved this money instead?

Titanic Museum

Giant’s Causeway

Giant’s Causeway

Maybe. But I also realised that these experiences, the travel, the reflection, the joy of discovery, are their own kind of investment. I want to be the kind of person who can both save and spend wisely, who plans for the future without robbing the present of joy.

I don’t want to measure every expense in “bags of cement” (Ugandans will you know what I am saying). Not now.

We’re all driven by different motivations shaped by our journeys. Some find fulfilment in saving every amount; others, in experiences like seeing the world. Neither is wrong. Whatever you choose, save, spend, or somewhere in between, just make sure it makes you happy and proud.

Here’s to finding meaning in the little things and allowing ordinary moments to remind us how far we’ve come.

A rainy morning in Northern Ireland

It’s a rainy Friday morning and I am seated at a Starbucks in Belfast. I’m looking through the glass wall, people going about their business. Some with umbrellas, others without. Everyone in jackets, heads bent, just going on. Doesn’t look like the rain has interrupted anyone.

I’m just an observer who got into town this morning. A guy in black shorts and a yellow jacket just ran by and I can’t help but admire the commitment to showing up. What’s bad weather, or rain, when you have commitments to make, right? I have to respect that. That’s not me though; I’d probably have called it off or lied to myself that I’d go after the rain.

Looking outside, I can’t help wondering about the stories each of these people passing carry. Some are students, tourists like me, others probably heading to work, meeting friends, or just out for a walk or something.

Instead of doing what I initially set out to do, revise my manuscript, I’m writing this blog instead. A form of procrastination that’s all too familiar. It’s this layer of entanglement I’m not sure how to unweave myself from. I probe myself: is it fear, laziness, self-sabotage, or something else I can’t quite summon the vocabulary for?

The saying couldn’t be truer: wherever you go, there you are. I may have romanticised myself sitting in a coffee shop in this new town, typing away and filling pages with rewrites of this wonderful story I’m making. But am I doing that? I’m not. Instead, I’m thinking about the fact that I’m not working on this draft. It’s open in front of me; I read a line and think, well, you weren’t thinking when you wrote that sentence, redo the whole thing. Then slowly, I leave the page and move to my browser, because why write when I can redo my Belfast itinerary all over again?

I’m a bit envious of people who can hyperfocus all the time. I can do it too, but it doesn’t come naturally to me. When I try to force it, everything feels like squeezing water out of a rock, frustrating and painstakingly slow.

It’s still raining. Unlike the people walking through it, I don’t have anywhere pressing to be, so I won’t be rained on. Time passes. Still not writing. The rain stops, and I’m contemplating leaving the coffee shop. I’ll write later, I tell myself.

Two young boys catch my attention through the glass wall; they’re being cheeky, and that makes me laugh. I know it’s time to go. I look up my accommodation on the map—a 23-minute walk. I could hop on a bus, but I might as well walk. I’m not rushing anywhere.

I also remember I’m a bit sleep-deprived; had to wake up at 4am for the trip, so I make a mental note to take a nap later. And just like that, I exit Starbucks and start walking.

There’s nothing spectacular about the surroundings as I walk to the accommodation, not at first anyway. Wait, I can see a hill in the distance and think, you could hike that, you should hike that, but then just as quickly, nah, probably not. I walk on.

It’s a long walk, and by the time I arrive, I’m sweating. It’s all good. Let’s see what this town has to offer.

My Second Half Marathon Story

Last Sunday (19^th Oct, 2025), I collected my second half marathon medal, the Stevenage Half Marathon yaaay! Another one! 
I sprinted across the finish line with energy I didn’t even know I had left, cheered on by the few remaining spectators and volunteers. It was over at last. Things always seem impossible until they’re done, and this second attempt truly embodied that.

I can be a bit erratic sometimes, and signing up for this race was one of those moments. I’d been planning to run the same half marathon as last year, scheduled for 2nd November. I’d started training, loosely, but hadn’t paid yet. Maybe part of me was secretly hoping for an excuse to not do it.

Then, on a random evening in a chat with someone, I found myself looking up the local half marathon. I signed up for it and then realised it was only a week away. What had I done? It was non-refundable, so that was that. I was in.

The game plan 

I’m no long-distance runner, but I’m proud of the fitness I’ve built from my usual short runs of 3 to 5 km, a few times a week. Occasionally, I’ve stretched to 7 or 10 km, but it’s always been a struggle and my aerobic fitness is it not optimal yet. So, could I really do this?

Excitement and nerves ahead of the race.

Race day came. I laced up, dropped my bag, and pinned on my bib. Compared to previous races, this one was smaller, fewer runners and it had only one distance, usually it would be 10k and a half marathon. Now that I think of it, was it a run club competition because there were several run clubs represented, everyone looking so fit and athletic. Cue the little voice in my head whispering, you’re definitely going to be last. I quickly silenced it, so what if I was, no one was going to beat me.

A special shoutout to Black Girls Can Run Stevenage, a few came to see me off, and the virtual support was just so encouraging.

My strategy was simple: go slow, finish the race.

The race 

The course started on an incline (and hills don’t like me, or maybe it’s the other way around). Within minutes, I was questioning why I was running, but I pushed that thought away. The weather was perfect, sunny and chilled, just right for running.

I ran 6 km straight without stopping, a first for me, and found my people at the back. We silently found a rhythm and kept moving. Around the 8th or 9th kilometre, the fast runners were already looping back toward the finish line while I was still on my first lap. Everyone in their place. My goal was to beat my previous half marathon time: 3 hours and 5 minutes. This time, I wanted to do it under 3.

The mind games

By the time I hit 10 km, I was done. Every underpass and road corner looked like the perfect place to quit. But quitting? But I’d come this far, and I wasn’t about to back down.

I slowed, mixing in short and long walks, but kept going. Around km 18, my left foot started aching. I tuned my mind out and just kept going.

Race volunteer, keep going you’re smashing it! Me, I am I or I am I being smashed..lol. You have to laugh at yourself.

At 12 miles, I thought, aha, I’m close! but that last mile felt like the longest of my life. I walked, jogged, limped… and when I saw the clock reading 2:57 as I crossed the finish line, I was elated. I’d done it.

Screenshot

I collected my medal, a banana, and a race T-shirt, then hobbled the short walk to get my bag. My feet hurt, but my heart was so full. Felling like yeah girl, you did that!

I got a new half marathon PB and the confidence that if I train better, I can run better.

Lessons and what’s next

This race showed me I’m capable of more, maybe even a full marathon someday. And I need to stop obsessing about not being last. Finishing is winning.

Every kilometre I stayed on that path, every minute of those nearly three hours, was pure grit and endurance, and I’m celebrating that. The body is lazy, but the mind, wildly powerful.

Next up: more long runs before the year ends and a 10 km race at the winter Stevenage marathon. I’m aiming for personal best and another shiny medal.

I was chatting with a friend last night, and of course, running came up (because are you really a runner if you’re not always recruiting?). It’s a cult, and I love it here.

So… will you start running? Or are you already one of us?

With some fabulous cheerleaders

Screenshot

A Whirlwind US Trip- Three Cities, Countless Memories.

Welcome to what I call my first big adult trip, a solo, multi-city journey to the US. I had only been there once before, on a group trip, so this was very different.

I usually get travel anxiety, or call it nerves, the night before very highly anticipated journeys. This goes back to my undergrad days when I’d have to take a 4 a.m. bus from my small town in Mitooma to get to Kampala by midday, before hopping on another taxi to Mukono (Uganda Christian University).

Over the years, I’ve noticed it never really left me. My head usually goes into overdrive: what if I oversleep? what if I miss the bus/ flight? Luckily, I woke up just in time, got ready, and was out of the house a little after 6 a.m. for my 9 a.m. flight.

Free seats are the real upgrade, for now:)

My Uber driver was a kind, chatty gentleman from the neighborhood, the roads weren’t too busy, and soon I was at Heathrow, ready for my flight. Check-in was easy, boarding was seamless, and lucky for me, the flight wasn’t full. Meaning… I had three seats to myself. Window seat, middle seat, aisle seat, all mine. That was glorious! I napped, watched movies, sipped some wine, the food was great too, revised my novel, then napped again. For a six-hour flight, it felt longer than that.

At Boston Logan International Airport, I collected my checked bag and noticed it had some scratches (this becomes important later). I re-checked it for my domestic connection. There was a three-hour weather delay, and when it was time to go, they announced that the flight was overbooked. I was so ready to be done traveling, and honestly, if I hadn’t already come so far, I might have taken the $600 compensation they were offering to be bumped to the next flight. (Yes, that’s a thing, and apparently a pretty common one.) A woman behind me had already bumped her flight twice and was even considering taking the next one, but it looked like other people had already grabbed the spots. Still, making $600/or $1,200 to wait at the airport isn’t too shabby.

Richmond

Just a couple of runners along the banks of the James River.

I eventually made it to Richmond, my first stop on this multi-city trip. I was fine, but my suitcase wasn’t: one wheel had ripped off. The damage had escalated from from a dent and scratches to full damage. That was annoying but the reunion that followed made me forget all that. I hadn’t seen this friend in over seven years, and it was great to catch up in person.

In the less than 48 hours we had together, we managed to do quite a bit: some local exploring, a run along the James River, an unforgettable exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Frida Kahlo’s life), a visit to Maymont Park, and shopping for a new suitcase (still waiting on that airline refund).

From left: Nigel and me at the University of Richmond, and some of the prints from the Frida exhibition.

I also had an incredible opportunity to sit in on one of his classes. I had joked when he earned his PhD and started teaching last year that I wished I could sit in on one of his classes. A year later, there I was, learning about social determinants of health. Since I work in global health, the class was enlightening to me but also a surreal experience that it happened. Coupled with a campus tour of the stunning University of Richmond, it made for a wonderful visit.

Salida, Colorado

Hiking in the Rockies, done!

To get there, I flew through Charlotte to Denver. A less than 30-minute transition gave me some anxiety, but I made it. From Denver airport, I hopped on a train, then waited a couple of hours for the one bus to Salida. My friend, bless her! Between her last-minute wedding preparations, was also sending me detailed guidelines, and reassuring me because I was a little panicked that I’d miss the bus or something.

The bus ride was one of the most scenic journeys I’ve ever been on. The mountains, the meandering roads, boulders and streams. The views were the kind that make you fill your phone storage with photos. I had to force myself to stop taking photos. By the time we reached Salida, I tired but also in awe. It’s a quaint little town tucked in between the Rockies. After alighting from the bus, an elderly man at the bus office helped me call a taxi, and the driver turned up… with her dog called Lucy.  She’s stared at me for a little bit and then ignored me afterwards.

I stayed at a cozy family-run motel that had an endless supply of snacks. The next morning, I ventured into the mountains. The views up on the mountains were otherworldly. Somewhere, I got caught in a hailstorm, wind, ice, the whole works. For a place that’s usually dry, the skies opened up with somuch intensity.

 I spotted the cloud of rain in the distance, convinced I’d be gone before it reached me. But nature has a way of humbling you, you can’t predict it, much less outrun it. Within seconds, the downpour was on me, drenching me. A very wet and soggy welcome it was.

The sunshine after the storm, complete with a whole new rain-made hairstyle.

Picture me in the middle of the Rockies alone thinking: Okay nature, do your thing, but please don’t take me out before the wedding. I have come from so far.  It was scary, but the storm quickly passed, the sun came back, and I made it down safely with a few tears shed in the rain.

Then came the reunion with the bride, Bailey. From traversing Uganda together (read about the iconic Mt. Sabinyo hike..hehe), to hanging out in London, and finally being in Colorado for her wedding, this was such a pinch-me moment.

And friends… my first American wedding did not disappoint. Bailey and her husband, Michael, put so much thought and heart into both the little and big things, from fun activities to keep us engaged before and between the wedding festivities, to a map of Salida showing us where to find everything. It all felt so intentional and thoughtful.

Onto the functions, from the rehearsal dinner filled with heart-melting speeches, to donkeys serving drinks at a cocktail reception (yes, donkeys), to a double rainbow stretching across the sky after the wedding nuptials, it was straight out of a rom com. We ate, drunk, laughed and danced until our legs hurt. If this was my introduction to American weddings, the bar is now so high.

A few special moments from the wedding, both the beautiful nuptials and the cocktail reception.

Boston

This was the work portion of my trip, so exploration vibes were low here. I stayed at a cool hotel downtown, just a short walk from both the office and Boston Common. Between work commitments, I managed to squeeze in a run along the Charles River, a stroll through the gardens, and the highlight, watched a Red Sox game with colleagues.

The top carousel photo: my friend Moses and I at Harvard. The middle one, with some students who asked to jump into our picture and me in front of the library at Harvard. And the bottom: a view from the Boston Public Garden.

I also met up with an old undergrad friend who gave me a mini tour of Harvard. Yes, I went to Harvard! I also had a chance to go around and see the city by night, it’s stunning, and the traffic had eased. Boston has mad traffic jam. So even though I feel like I barely scratched the surface of what I could have done in Boston, I had a good time

Boston 2025 with Hana before I had to leave.

London 2024

And just before leaving, I met one last friend, another sweet reunion. This marked the close of my whirl wind of an American adventure. Writing this, I realized that since leaving Uganda for the UK, almost all my friendships have become long-distance. But I call them “long-distance, high impact” friendships. Maybe one day the distance will close, maybe not, but for now, we savour what we have.

This trip was another reminder about how great people can expand your world. This trip was a dream for me, being able to travel and celebrate my friend’s wedding to her life partner, reconnect with friends I hadn’t seen in years, and finally meet some colleagues in person for the first time.

My first US trip in 2018 changed my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined. This one reminded me to keep dreaming, to stay open, and to trust that life has a beautiful way of unfolding.

Boston Public Garden.

My luggage got elevated with a perfect little keepsake from the wedding.

Being “needy” and why l’m finally okay with it

Am I needy? Funny that I say this because I don’t even like people who are needy. For context, I mean neediness in the sense of wanting reassurance that people care about you, not the other kind of neediness. A while ago, I was talking to a guy, and in one of our initial chats, this came up. I like freedom and independence, and I like to offer the same to others, both romantically and platonically. I’d be stressed if someone wanted to know everything I was doing by the hour, and because of how that makes me feel, I’d never put anyone else through it. It seemed like it would be a point of contention, but it was too soon to tell.

I like communication, but just enough so it’s not excessive. Back to the guy, tell me how I went from let’s not over do it to being needy. Am I a walking contradiction? Maybe. I was barely catching on with the excessive communication but then it doubled down to the bare minimum. That’s not good, there’s a happy medium in between and that to me is the sweet spot. So, when the bar drops below the bare minimum, then it’s just not it. That talking stage didn’t turn into anything because of too many misalignments.

I morph between three attachment styles, secure, anxious and avoidant. As a friend, I’d say I’m low maintenance. I don’t need regular phone calls, but a check-in every once in a while, is enough. I also know that at this stage in my life and my peers, most things need to be scheduled. So, we pencil in those calls. I’ll send long voice notes, aka podcasts as I call them randomly. I’ll return calls if I can’t pick them up right away, and I’ll respond to messages. There’s no pressure, but I like to know my friends are there and will respond when I reach out.

If something’s urgent, I’ll indicate so. If they call, I’ll be there. Now, as we are long life learners or our selves and the world around us, learning more about how I attach to people has made me question my “neediness.” Sometimes I almost want my friends to swear never to leave me or stop being friends with me. Crazy, right?

A few weeks ago, read an essay by one of my favourite creators, Cece Xie, where she talked about holding a friendship ceremony with her friends and her vision for their future together. As much as I find that a bit much, I could also see where she’s coming from. I’ve had romantic relationships end. I’ve been heartbroken. But nothing has rocked me as hard as a friendship breakup. I got a lump in my throat just typing those last two words. So, can you blame me for never wanting to experience that again?

The older I get, the more I value great friendships. As the only girl and firstborn daughter, I’d always craved the feeling of having big sisters. Even more so in high school, when those with older siblings would get visits from them. Now I have friends who feel like family, both older and younger sisters I wish I had. They’ve filled that gap, and I cherish it deeply.

I was reflecting on this after a conversation with a guy recently who said he has no close friends. He told me his older sister is his best friend and all he needs. He also said friends can be intrusive. I agree to an extent, but I think if you have healthy boundaries, intrusion isn’t an issue.

I found myself judging him for having a different view of friendships, but in hindsight, I don’t know his life well enough to say he’s wrong. Friendships to me are a strength I value. I want my partner to have friends. I want our friends to meet and our social circles to expand. I’ve seen this happen even more since living abroad. Some of my closest friendships have been through referrals: “I know someone who lives near you, here’s their number, you should meet up.” Sometimes we’ve hit it off instantly, and for that, I’m grateful.

I just finished reading an incredible novel, The Women by Kristin Hannah. It was such a riveting read that took me on a rollercoaster of emotions, and one of its major themes is friendship. Following the story of Frances and her girlfriends was so affirming and a reminder of why great friendships matter.

Friendships have carried me, sometimes knowingly, sometimes unknowingly. They’ve saved me from loneliness abroad, hyped me up when I’m feeling low, reassured me when I’m doubting myself, helped me find clarity in confusion, or simply just been there. I can’t talk to my parents about everything.

So, I turn to my friends, not to burden them, but because they can relate, and my uncomfortable feelings will have a soft landing. I am who I am because of my village of friends. And if you’re one of them reading this, I love you. I typed out this draft on a train journey from Leeds where I’d been to see a friend I hadn’t seen in a while.

All this to say, I’m needy in my own way, and that’s not a bad thing. So, here’s to being needy. We need each other.

When day merges into night

I had a bit of an aha moment at my local Tesco the other night. It was around 9:30 p.m. I’d left the gym in the town centre and decided to hop off the bus one stop early to get some water. (I failed to get used to the taste of British tap water. It has this weird aftertaste that’s hard to ignore.)

I picked up two 5-litre bottles, and as I walked toward the self-checkout, it hit me: by the time I got home, had a shower, and got into bed, it would already be close to 11 p.m. And just like that, another day, gone.

I’m not saying I had some deep, profound realisation, but it did make me notice something. In my previous life, I used to go into the office every other day. That routine, the getting up, leaving the house, and coming back, gave my day structure. There was a clear line between “day” and “night.”

Captured this from a video I recorded on my walk home, just before 10 p.m.

Now, I work from home. And I love it, don’t get me wrong. It has its perks. But it also means that some days I don’t leave the house at all… and that’s on me. Or if I do, it’s much later. Like yesterday, I didn’t leave until after 7 p.m. I had to really push myself to go for 30 minutes of exercise and resist the urge to let my feet carry me straight back to bed.

We’d had some rain , which helped cool down the heat because it’s been getting out of hand lately. But still, when I don’t go outside early in the day, it feels like time just… blends. The day quietly slips into night without a clear break. And I’m realising: I don’t think I like that.

There’s something about splitting the day. Even something as simple as stepping out for a walk or run signals that “the day has started officially.” This has me thinking, I need a morning habit to kick off my day. Running at a fixed time hasn’t worked for me, so maybe it needs to be something else. Because otherwise, the day just morphs… and suddenly, it’s bedtime.

I also feel like, because it’s summer, I should be outside more… hehe. But here I am, trying to balance the home body who loves being indoors, with the part of me that craves connection, people-energy, movement, fresh air. This summer, I had big plans to be out more and honestly, I’m falling short of my own expectations.

I just don’t want to get to October and wonder, “Where did the time go? Was I indoors the entire time?”

So I’m putting this out there and also asking: for those of you who work remotely, how do you keep your days from just blending into nights? I’d love to hear real stories, tips, routines….anything. Sure, I’ll Google it (you know I will), but there’s something about hearing it straight from people who get it.

Or if, like me, your days are blending into nights and you’d like to change that, we can support each other.

Help me stop this season from slipping by.

10K in Hyde Park Done!

London greeted me with a chilly breeze as I alighted the bus and cloudy skies when I got onto the street, typical London vibes! It was a comfortable, sleep filled journey. I arrived towards at 7 am having left Nottingham at 3:50am. The maps showed it was a 20-minute walk to Hyde Park. I zipped up my jacket for the warmup ahead of the 10km run.

Within 10 minutes, the sun peeked through, and it started warming up, I felt it on the inside as well and knew it would be a good day. Finding the park was surprisingly easy and at that early hour cyclists, horse riders, and fellow walkers were already enjoying the vast green space. People here really like to be outside.

As captured in the Rose Garden in Hyde Park

The park’s size was a tad intimidating at first. Completing 10 kilometres, which meant four laps around the park, seemed daunting. But self-pep talks reminding myself of the training and excitement for the event reminded me I could do it.

Being early for the 9 am event gave me time to familiarize myself with the surroundings. The event volunteers were friendly, and I even had the pleasure of chatting with the influencer who promoted the event. She was lovely and encouraging! I picked some goodies, including water in cute reusable bottles and snacks from her stand which I enjoyed before grabbing a coffee from a nearby cafe to jumpstart my system.

The Run

The event began with a 15-minute warm-up session, followed by a lesson on pacing dynamics, something new for me. As a large group, we had varying running abilities. They called out for runners who could complete 5 kilometres in 15 minutes, this is still mind-blowing to me! Here I was encountering these super-speedy runners in real life, and we were all about to tackle the same course! (Haha!)

Part of the running course.

Pre-race goodies, water and protein rich snacks

Different pace groups were announced for both the 5km and 10km runs. I joined the group aiming to finish the 10km in 55 minutes. It was ambitious, but that’s why I was there, to push myself.

The first lap was a breeze. By the second lap, however, I questioned whether I could complete the entire 10km. I trod on, incorporating some walking intervals, and glancing back occasionally to ensure I wasn’t last person.

On the final stretch near the lake, I decided to walk when an older lady who came behind me encouraged me to keep going. I crossed the finish line to the cheers of the MC and a shout-out for my “bright hair” (thanks for standing out, Brenda). I finished the race in 1 hour, 10 minutes, and 58 seconds with an average pace of 6:49 km/s. I couldn’t have been prouder!

The face of a finisher..lol

Post-Run Recap

The joy of crossing the finish line is indescribable. In those moments of accomplishment, you wonder why you ever doubted yourself. This feeling is precisely why runners keep signing up for more races. The aches and second-guessing during the run, when the finish line seems miles away, all melt away.

 Someone approached me inviting me to join a running club, but it was a bit outside my travel comfort zone for now. So, I will stick to local runs for the time being. However, I have the running bug and plan to sign up for another 10km RunThrough event in a month or two, with a half-marathon as my ultimate goal before the year ends.

After collecting my medal, I freshened up and changed my upper body clothing. Sitting on a park bench felt amazing after such an intense workout. I could have stayed there all day! But then I remembered, I was in London! And what do people do in London, many things, but mostly walking. I decided to wonder about, and that quest led me to finding an eatery in Piccadilly. I had never been over ground before but have passed under it via the London underground. As I write this, I can hear the train announcements on the Piccadilly line (this is the Piccadilly line to Heathrow, alight here for the British Museum, the next station is……….).

Pictures from my London underground adventures

Back to the walk, it was a tiring but fun and could have been better with company but the lack of it will not stop this girl. Tiring because I was walking on feet that already had loads of mileage under them, fun because of the new sights, sounds and the experience of being in a place for the first time. Below are a few sights from my walk.

Gearing Up For My 10KM Race

 I am gearing up for my 10km race on Saturday, and I’m feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness because I do not know anyone at this event. This morning(Thursday), I had that an experience where the extroverted you signs you up for something social, and the introverted emerges questioning, “Are you sure about this?” Then, my brain imagined worst-case scenarios like sleeping through my alarm and missing the bus on race day. These thoughts lasted for a few seconds and I banished them.

Not so long after that I got an email from the race organisers which was pleasantly detailed and that got me excited all-over again.

Source of images: RunThrough

Now, I’m debating two goals: chasing a personal best (PB) time or simply enjoying the run and its social aspects.

Below is a 10km Training Plan Generated by AI with some notes on how I did. Now, isn’t it cool that we have information available to us for all sorts of things? Let us embrace the learning and live smarter whenever possible

Here it goes:

• This plan assumes you have a base running experience and can comfortably run at least 5 km. (I DO)
• Listen to your body and adjust distances or intensity as needed (I will keep this in mind).

Key running terms (I did not these as well, so happy to grow my running vocabulary)

• E – Easy Run: Conversational pace, focus on recovery.
• T – Tempo Run: Sustained effort slightly faster than your goal race pace.
• H – Hills: Run on a hilly course or incorporate inclines into your run.
• R – Rest: Take a complete break from running or do some light activity like yoga or walking.

The Plan:

• Monday: Rest (R) – Allow your body to recover from any previous activities (I did an Easy run instead).
• Tuesday: Easy Run (E) – 4-5 km at a comfortable pace. Focus on stretching afterwards. (I rested)
• Wednesday: Tempo Run (T) – 3 km with the first kilometer at an easy pace, followed by 2 km at a tempo pace which is slightly faster than your goal 10 km race pace. End with a 1 km cool-down at an easy pace. (Continued to rest..lol)
• Thursday: Rest (R) – Allow your body to recover from the tempo run. (more rest)
• Friday: Easy Run (E) or Short Hills (H) – 3 km easy run OR 2-3 km incorporating short hills (sprints uphill followed by recovery jogs downhill).(I am determined to do this one so the whole plan is not a waste of AI’s efforts)
• Saturday (Race Day): 10 km Race!

A small humble brag is that last Saturday I ran over 13kms, so 10kms should be a breeze, I believe! Stay tuned for a post race recap! Until then, I hope that you get moving and celebrate joy of movement.

Hyde Park running and chasing the London Marathon dream

I registered to participate in a 10 km run towards the end of May in London after seeing a post about it on Instagram. I was influenced and if I’m honest, I was an easy target for two reasons.

Firstly, the location of the run- Hyde Park, yay! Since I first saw the park from a bus while leaving the city last year, I have have wanted to run there. At this stage of my running adventures, I often find myself eyeing stretches of road, meandering paths, or random spots, wondering what it would be like to run through them. People who run will understand. Hyde Park gave me that sentiment at first sighting, so it was just a matter of timing.

Secondly, one of my plans/wishes at the start of the year was to participate in running races, but until end of April, I was not bothered about it. Imagine! When I stumbled upon this event, I thought, “This is it. Don’t let half the year pass without doing something.” While I’m not new to running, I began taking it more seriously towards the end of last year. I detailed my journey into running in a lengthy post. By taking running seriously, I mean I was keen to learn about proper running techniques, the importance of suitable gear like shoes (I have numerous pairs on my wish list 😊), running longer distances, preventing injuries, and much more. To date, the farthest distance I’ve covered is slightly over 15 km, in mid-April. I continue striving to extend my limits because my new goal is to run a marathon in the near future.

In more news: I registered to potentially run 2025 London Marathon. Not only is it an iconic event, but there’s an electrifying global feeling that surrounds it, with people from all corners of the world coming together. I am a sucker for a good story, and the personal stories of the participants and their motivations for taking part always gets me. But it’s not just about the stories; in my relatively short journey with running, I have experienced first hand the joys it brings. Let me tell you, though, running isn’t a walk in the park..hehee. Like most physically tasking activities, it’s tough, and I will dare say it does not necessarily get easier. However, the body embraces it, it builds stamina to withstand the exertion and amidst that, you find many moments of joy.

Running is something I’ve committed to recently, and while I’m not yet the runner I envision myself to be, I’m proud of how far I’ve come. When I started a couple of years ago, my running was irregular. Last year, when I picked it up again, I couldn’t even go 10 minutes without feeling like my heart would leap out of my chest, or my legs would give way from under me. I was lighter then, but today, a little bit heavier, I can cover kilometres without stopping to catch my breath, which is a lot of progress. During my runs, I’ve had those “aha” moments where I start sprinting or jumping up and down like a child because I how good it feels to be able to run.

Now, about the London Marathon, given the slim chances of being selected in the ballot draw (I’ve never been lucky with draws), that’s probably why I entered because what are the odds. But now that I’ve set an intention, I’m hoping they will pick me. Pick me, pick me! If I get selected (fingers crossed for the results in July), you won’t hear the end of it from me, I promise! I have considered other marathons, like the Tusker Lite Rwenzori Marathon, sadly, I am unable to make it this year but it is on my to do list now.

As I wrap this up, I fondly recall memories of past organized runs like the MTN runs, Kabaka Run, and Rotary Cancer Run. Back then, I knew so little about running; I participated for the vibes, and vibes I got. But now, I not only crave the excitement of group running but so much more.

 I’m excited for my upcoming run, with the challenge of completing the 10kms in under an hour. If you have some tips for me as I prepare for this run, please indulge me.

The Journey of Self Through My Neighborhood

Dear Reader,

How did the first day of May treat you? Was it exciting, promising, energizing, eventful, cheerful, oh just meehhh—pick any synonym that feels appropriate. As for me, I’d say mine was quite eventful, and I’ll share why in subsequent writings. It’s 11:10 PM as I start to type this and I was determined not to let the day pass while stifling my thoughts. Also, I am better writer at night:). Speaking of a new month, I genuinely hope April treated you kindly. Let me share a highlight reel of part of how my April went.

Imagine this: you move to a new neighborhood in the same city. It wasn’t in your plan, but circumstances led you there, and you settled in despite some lingering doubts. However, you soon discover things to love about your new surroundings. The neighborhood is close to the River Trent, just a short 10-minute walk away. Surprisingly, you find yourself drawn to being near water, you wonder, when did you start liking being near water. Watching the river’s has a calming effect on you and you love it. It hits you that you have discovered one more thing that you like. Perhaps, being in this particular neighborhood was no accident; and as a someone always looking for meanings of things and connections, the story you tell yourself is, “you were meant to be and live in this place”.

Another fascinating aspect of the neighborhood is the Meadows, a local library that dates back to a century. While its exterior may show its age, the interior boasts modern facilities. Your love for libraries stems from childhood, where stories indulged your imagination. The sight of banners around the library calling for its saving piques your curiosity. You wonder what threat looms over this iconic feature in this neighbourhood—is it the corporate greed seen in movies? Is it going to be torn down to set up commercial structures such as housing, a hotel, or a mall?

You want to know the story behind the banners, so you make plans to visit the library, yet weeks pass before you finally step inside. When you visit on one Monday evening, you learnt its a quaint space, with a children’s reading corner bustling with activity, a computer area and a couple of book shelves. You spend a short time there, about an hour because you went late and it closes at 6PM. The general sentiment you have is that the library caters more for children and younger people or maybe it’s a misjudgement. But since you’re going back to establish why its under threat, you will know more soon.

So, my friend, that’s just a glimpse of my April and my new neighborhood. And before I sign off, who here fancies a movie plot centered around “saving a community library”? I’ve watched one too many Hallmark movies, and I’ve brewed up quite a compelling story already. If you’re curious, let me know in the comments—I’m itching to share it! Stay tuned for more April highlights, and if you haven’t already, subscribe to the blog!

Here’s to a fruitful May ahead! Mine is shaping up to be quite exciting, and I’m ready for every moment of it.

A tribute to My Mother, Sister, and Grandmother- Finding comfort in the memories

This post delves into a topic that differs from the usual, touching on grief and the loss of loved ones.

Earlier today (Wednesday afternoon), while walking to the Public library, thoughts of three key women I have lost in my life crossed my mind: my mum, my young sister, and my grandmother. It was a random moment- I looked up, listening to a music mix, and Taylor Swift’s “Is It Over” was playing. I have no particular attachment to this song and couldn’t pinpoint what triggered the thoughts. While these occurrences aren’t frequent, there are times when I think of one of the three, often not all three at once or feel their presence around me. I find comfort in the belief that they watch over me.

They passed away in the order I listed them—my mother when I was very young, my sister in 2010 (I can vividly recall the exact moment I received that tragic call), and my grandmother in 2018. For those unaware of my origin story, my grandmother played a significant role in raising me and my younger sister during our formative years. She was special to me, even if she often “bothered me” about getting married and getting her great grandchildren! Well, Kuku (as I used to call her) I am not married yet….lol. My stepmother, who is amazing later came into my life, but my grandmother was a day one and I cherished her tall tales and the laughter we shared. As for my mother, my memories of her are fragmented, but my sister I could write a whole book as were were close in age.

Of the three, I still carry the weight of grief for my sister. Writing this post has made me realize how much unresolved grief I still hold. Perhaps these thoughts are as a sign to find a way to address this grief because, despite my efforts to keep it buried and separate from my daily experiences, I wonder if it unconsciously bleeds into my life.

It’s a heavy topic, but I needed to get it off my chest. I miss all three dearly, but I find comfort in believing that they are happy wherever they are and that they continue to watch over me. This post is dedicated to them. If you, like me, experience moments of such thoughts, I hope you’re doing okay.

This isn’t the type of post I typically share, but I felt compelled to. Wishing you all a wonderful start to March!

Much love,

Brenda

Examining Self-Belief in Humanity’s Goodness and Kindness

What is your reaction when something unexpectedly positive occurs, when you receive kindness from an anticipated source, or when someone randomly pays you a compliment? Can you recall such scenarios and think on how you internally respond before expressing gratitude and engaging in any further pleasantries?

I began thinking about this aspect of myself early last year. Have you ever experienced that moment when you recognize a pattern within yourself and wonder when and how it started? Past experiences revealed that I felt immensely surprised if not shocked, whenever an unexpected gesture of kindness was extended to me. I experienced this again recently which is why I am writing about it. I was having a conversation with a friend about an anticipated challenge, and they were like ohh, do not worry about that, here is a solution. My immediate internal response was Huh!!! oh my God Oh my God!  As if in disbelief like such a thing could happen then followed the normal composed “appropriate” reaction.

Prior to this aha moment, particularly with friends, I would often respond with phrases like “I don’t deserve you/this.” While this expression is often used casually, you can see how when you reflect on it, it’s problematic. Phrases like this, adopted from conversations with others, sometimes, or movies, and other sources, can reflect deeper sentiments beneath the surface of our interactions.

During this self-examination, I questioned why my default reaction was to be shocked or surprised when good things happened unexpectedly or when kindness was extended to me. Was it due to a lack of belief in people’s inherent goodness, a conditioned acceptance of the bare minimum, a sense of unworthiness or perhaps trust issues? Endless questions and I have wondered whether I might be overthinking, or I don’t know…All I know is that it pressed me and now I am writing about it. I am yet to get to the bottom of this but while on my way there, the immediate solution since then has been to affirm myself. Though I’m still navigating these thoughts, my immediate response has been to affirm myself. Since this revelation, I’ve consciously removed phrases that imply that I am not deserving from my conversations, both with myself and others. Instead, I consistently remind myself that I am deserving of all things good, kind, and favourable wherever I go.

This mindset has become my default until proven otherwise. If the unexpected occurs, it is now considered the abnormality, contrary to my former beliefs.

Do you ever have such self revelations? As I grow and get to understand myself better, I aim to always be in tune with myself so that when such revelations occur, I am able to accord them the attention they deserve. For my next post, I will be writing about my most recent trip to London where I set out to do touristy things, or an older trip where I watched a candlelit concert -Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at St. Martin In The Fields. Watch out for it at the end of the month.

Navigating Loneliness as an International Student: My 4 Coping Strategies

Being lonely while living abroad is often discussed, but I believed I was immune to it. The notion of being on my own for extended periods didn’t frighten me. I however took for granted that, while I could be alone and be content back home, I also thrived in social settings. Not to mention, the accessibility of friends being just a drive, walk, or boda boda(motorbike) ride away if I needed one-on-one human interaction.  For context, I have never been away from home (Uganda) for more than two weeks in my many years and while I am lucky to have stayed connected with friends virtually, the power of face-to-face interactions is never to be underestimated.

Throughout the many months of school from September 2022 to September 2023, I was doing well. I was comfortable with the very few friends and acquaintances I made, thinking I was plenty occupied.

I never experienced homesickness, and I believed I had survived the loneliness blues I had heard about. Come the first week of September 2023, on the 9th, I submitted my dissertation, and I was elated. That meant I didn’t have to go to the library or school anymore. However, because I had been so engrossed in the intensity of the dissertation, I failed to notice that some of the structures I had grown accustomed to, which kept me occupied, were now gone. Like knowing I had lectures and study sessions on given days of the week, and then spending the weekend reading, hanging out with the few friends, watching movies, or just doing nothing and repeating this routine. With that chapter completed, I realized I had more time and craved more human connection. I experienced bouts of loneliness, and though these were more like fleeting experiences when they happened, I felt them deeply. I felt lost, often confused, and untethered. It hit me that one thing I unintentionally neglected in the past year was making friends. I am typically social, and though I identify as an introverted extrovert, I ordinarily did not struggle to make friends in the past. But here I was, realizing that as phases end, people disperse, and that’s when I recognized how limited and unintentional the networks I created were. I felt like I had let myself down, as I had intended to “put myself out there” initially. We make plans but life happens! One other thing that has been reinforced through this experience is how expectations and realities can be so different. You can only anticipate and prepare yourself to a certain extent but envisioning and living reality is different in both good and bad ways.

What did I do to address these feelings of loneliness?

I had to introspect to understand how I found myself in this situation, and that was a tough process.

• Firstly, I realized that I am not unique; being human, I was susceptible to such occurrences. Experiencing situations that remind us of our humanity is truly humbling.
• Secondly, I realized that one of the limiting things that capped my social wings was fear. This was the biggest issue. I had many fears that gripped me, and though I subconsciously pushed them to the back of my head and wore a smile most times, they influenced how I showed up in places and the efforts I put into being seen and sharing myself with others. This acknowledgment of self was a significant step in my awareness and helped me identify internal and external tools and resources to address these fears and return to my normal self. I know mentioning this without delving into what these fears are leaves questions, but that will be for another post. I am also sharing this because now that I know what I have to confront, it feels like it has loosened its grip on me. I may have projected a brave face, but I gave fear an inkling, and it made itself comfortable and took hold.
• Thirdly, building a local community is essential. Being in school naturally creates a sense of community due to organized interactions, but in the absence of this structured environment, the work of building and nurturing friendships becomes crucial. I am prepared to do the work. Whilst I had some prior understanding of these things, I am grateful for the real-time experience and the lessons learned.
• Lastly, If you’ve been following me for a while, you’re aware of my love for sunsets and sunrises. They never fail to uplift any mood. All I have to do is look up to the skies.

I will have to share an update later in the year because as of now, I am working on being free from all fear and spreading my social wings. I already made a head start with reconnecting with a friend from high school recently, as well as making and nurturing new connections. I know it gets better from here. As I conclude, I wonder if anyone reading this has been through the same or is currently experiencing it. What was it like for you? Indulge me in the comments, please.

Have you thought about things that you feel have been limiting you from enjoying where you are to the fullest? If yes, what are you going to do about it? If not, do you want to think about it?

 I wish you a beautiful February and leave you with these beautiful images I captured recently.

How I got into running

Hello, Friend,

This selfie is from today’s run-21/1/2024

I trust this message finds you well. Lately, my blogs have been rather scarce, and I find myself wondering, how have you been? How’s 2024 treating you? Are you feeling ready for the year, or are you easing into it day by day? Whatever your response to any of this, I hope you are doing well. I’m doing well too and leaning towards easing into the year, taking it one day at a time, and reflecting on things. Typically, I would share these reflections through my writing, but I’ve been holding out on you. Let’s change that today with this story time about running.

Over the past few days, I’ve been reflecting on how I got into running, and my memory took me back to 2018. This is likely when I first went out for a jog. I was living in Mutungo Binna and would run, with occasional breaks, maybe too many breaks on the stretch towards Butabiika Hospital and Gems Cambridge School. I do not recall ever running that stretch in one go without stopping multiple times despite it being relatively flat. On more energetic days, I would run up Mutungo Hill, go around it, and return home. This irregular running helped activate my body. That was the only form of exercise I ever did, and my motivation for running was to lose weight. I first became body-conscious and wanted to lose weight in 2012. Uh-oh, that was a long time ago, and at the time, exercising was not on my radar, but somehow, I found myself trying Chinese slimming teas, maybe through the internet. So, I took the teas, and all I recall was how they would induce diarrhoea and having to go to the toilet several times. They never worked. Surprisingly, I was a lot smaller then and have added on weight as the years have progressed. Oh, the irony of it all. I think back to those memories and wonder what I was on about.

Anyway, back to my running journey and taking it back to primary school. I remember participating in school athletic competitions. These were competitions that happened during the second term. We would have regular classes, but then in the timetable, they would carve out some time to go and race against each other. Imagine a school of over 500 pupils on a field. They would batch us in classes, girls alone, and then boys, and set us on the starting point for different variations of runs. Those who were naturally athletic would lead the pack as the rest of us tailed in the back while the rest dropped off. Being that this was a competitive situation, you couldn’t help applying all your might to run as fast as you could only to realize that in about a minute, you would have to stop lest your heart did. I do not recall any briefings ever happening about running better or how to go the distance. What I recall vividly is that kids who hailed from mountainous and hilly areas always won the races and went on to represent the school in inter-school competitions. They had practice walking their local terrain that kept them ready…hahaha.

I also recall playing volleyball for the school team until I finished primary school, but when I went to high school, I abandoned it. I was in an all-girls school where being sporty or doing “what was referenced as unnecessary running” was categorized as being undignified and unladylike. This went as far as being told that you would rather be rained on walking as opposed to sprinting and losing your dignity if it started raining and you were far from buildings where you could seek shelter. These were things that we were told in our initial days as young girls in high school trying to fit in with our new environment; these things stuck so whenever there were opportunities to engage in sports, I was never bothered. So, for 6 years of high school, I was never engaged in any sports, and while at University, I did a couple of runs on the school grounds, but clearly, that didn’t stick.

I have been thinking about this history because while on this journey of trying to be a runner albeit with inconsistency, I decided to try and reconcile the past and present to better forge a way forward. Since I started jogging in 2018, I have been on and off and never consistently jogged with a proper schedule. I chose this form of exercise because it is accessible and low maintenance as well as less costly depending on how you look at it. So, in 2022, I was jogging again inconsistently but going nonetheless, then when I came to the UK, I completely stopped because of the weather. I was trying to acclimatize to so many things that jogging wasn’t aforethought. Instead, I signed up for the gym, and it was great, but I also was not consistent with it.

I must also say that I certainly have a lot more information about weight loss, being healthy, fit, and feeling good in one’s skin. So, my motivation for exercising has since changed. While I still want to lose weight, most importantly, I want to be healthier, feel strong, and prevent myself from getting preventable illnesses like non-communicable diseases. The common thread in all this is a lack of consistency but also a lack of proper knowledge of exercise or my evolving self. I like to think I know better now. Around August, I started running again, and one thing I love about living in England is the parks and the designated sidewalks that make running in most places, including the city centres, accessible. It’s a runner’s paradise.

A few shots from my recent runs

I’m saying this in comparison to my experiences of running In Uganda. I was staying in Lungujja and would leave my house and while there were many routes I could take, my most-used route was going via the former Vice President’s house (Ssekandi). I liked the hill for how it would challenge me and would feel incredible when I got to the top, not forgetting the sunsets and sunrises I could spot from there. Now, picture running on that road with its potholes and competing for space with boda bodas (motorbikes) and errant drivers. There was a morning when some car almost ran me over; the driver was racing up that hill and driving like a maniac. That shook me. Coming from this to having proper sidewalks, a variety of parks accessible to me to run through has been exciting. When I started running again in August last year, I wondered why I had not started sooner. These days I am more conscientious to know how I feel while running, my thoughts through the process, taking in my surroundings and being highly appreciative of the ability to move the way I do. I have also listened to tons of music and podcasts. This morning I was listening to weekly motivation by Ben Lionel Scott. It is so dope. There is something about having someone in your ear reminding you why you need to keep going. My choice of what to listen to differs every time and whatever I listen to whether music or a podcast, its like the lyrics of songs/ words being shared sink in deeper. Here is one of my favourite songs- Tuliyambale Engule ( translates to “we shall wear crowns”).

Starting from the beat, to hearing various artists sing different verses and then the message is cool.

One other thing I cannot fail to mention is how there is never a shortage of motivation because there seems to always be people running at different times of day, in different places. I often look on and I’m at loss of words in wonder! Since August, I have averaged at least 2 runs/deliberate walks a week and though the start was hard, I can say it is easier now. In the first week of September last year, I ran for 5 consecutive days straight. That week I was due to submit my dissertation and there was a way those morning runs however short or long anchored me and made me feel like I would do the writing I needed to get done that day. Since August last year leading up to today has been the most consistent, I have run since I started in 2018 and I am incredibly proud of it. I might also be consuming a lot of running content on social media which gives me extra motivation. Now I want a collection of running shoes, a watch, and all of it…. I am all the way an influenced runner hahaha. This year, I want to adopt a hybrid exercise routine where I do gym as well as running. I want to be better at running and right now, the major goal is to be consistent with it first, then I will sign up to do a half marathon later in the year. I also intend to find and join a running group to keep for extra moral support. I have been mostly a solo runner throughout all these experiences since 2018, and while solo runs are great, I have also had some tests of running in groups and know how it pushes you to do more.

I ran 6 km solo this morning using a new route, and it was great. I got to explore more of my neighbourhood and of course, being outdoors. I love the outdoors as much as I love being indoors, so I want to aim to balance them out as opposed to being indoors more. This was such a long story time, but I hope you enjoyed it as well as been triggered to think about your exercising and health aspirations for 2024. Until the next blog, stay cheerful!

April in Moments! Welcoming the Miracles of May..

Yesterday (30^th April 2023), I had a long enjoyable bus ride of over an hour. I was travelling from Sherwood back to Nottingham city centre. My regular bus rides are usually shorter, under 30 minutes.

Typical of Sundays, there weren’t many private cars on the road or as many buses, and neither were people. The streets were empty, and an occasional car would pass and with a bit of sun outside, there were sightings of people having lazy breakfast on their patios. I enjoyed being on that bus, watching out at the flowery trees, the fields in the distance, and the houses. I soaked it all in and felt my mind quiet down as I took in my surroundings. I day dreamed a little but I also remember thinking that that’s how I want May to be be. To look outside more with intention of seeing beauty. To look outside of windows of a moving car, buildings and day dream as opposed to having my head buried in my phone or other distracting things that make me forget about the beauty of life and how miraculous it is to be alive, healthy and with dreams.

With that, I will share a few moments from April

1st picture: It is not an anomaly to see people run after a bus. I found it strange at first but not anymore as I have run after buses a couple of times already. I dashed out of the house only to see the bus coming down the slope and with a bit of a distance to the bus stop, I kind of knew it would leave me. As it approached, I contemplated running or resigning to wait for the next one. I attempted to run but gave up and I think the driver noticed. As the bus passed me, he signalled questioning if I was headed into the city, I nodded. While he couldn’t stop for me to board before the stage, he slowed down so I ran well knowing I would catch it and I did. I entered with the driver apologizing saying he couldn’t stop. He did not have to slow down or even care that I was trying to chase the bus, but his kind gesture incredibly touched me and kind of turned around my day. I felt like I was seeing everything that day in colour.

2nd Picture: The second picture is one of the school buildings. I have sat on that spot many times but not paid attention to anything but this day, I looked out the window. For a moment I stared and I watched cars pass by, I remembered the very first day I sat in that spot. Then everything was a marvel because it was new. Months later, having walked that street I was seeing from the window countless times, and seating in that spot, I stopped paying attention to any of it because it became ordinary. I stopped feeling grateful that being in that spot was special.

1st Pic: If you have been on this blog for a while then you know of my love for sunrises and sunsets. I noticed this beautifully lit sky about a week ago just before I entered a grocery store and my evening was made.

2nd pic: Love me some Java House Coffee. Someone from home brought me this to me and my mornings, day times and evenings are better because of it. And yes, I can drink coffee and not struggle to find sleep..aheemm.

Ist Pic: Titchfield Park in Mansfield. It is a small but beautiful park with a stream running through and some exercise equipment spread out. What a wonderful concept to have in the community and ensure people are active when they go out.

2nd Pic: Took this around after 9 pm while walking to a friend’s house in the neighbourhood for drinks, conversation, and unwinding. It was a Friday and that get evening was something I did not know I needed. It was pleasant.

These moments remind me that it is not enough to live life but to thrive in it and that happens not just in the big moments but even in the smallest and seemingly mundane ones. What were your moments of April??

And with that I sign off this post with the below profound quote for me but also hoping that it sparks something for you too reader. With that, hello May, welcome!

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

― Albert Einstein

Lessons from 2022

Lessons from 2022

New year New me! Scratch than. New year, still the same person navigating adulthood.

I can comfortably say that I don’t make New year’s resolutions anymore because they became a string of mostly disappointments or it could be that I was doing them wrong, I will never know. There were even a couple of years when I went for new year’s eve overnights at Namboole stadium and put my resolutions in an “envelope”. One of my best friends had sworn by it saying she had a 100% success rate every year with everything she included on her list, (you know yourself…lol). Maybe her link to God was stronger than mine. This is not me making a mockery of new year’s overnights nights but I can joke about this today because I have learnt over time that there are no templates for doing life. We each find our unique ways of doing and pursuing our dreams. My not making resolutions does not mean I don’t plan for the year, I write down aspirations and dreams leaving room for magic to happen. Still sounds like resolutions but it could be the rephrasing that’s making all the difference for me.

As the year ended, I also found myself wondering if I from about 5 years ago envisioned that this is where I would be now. And friends this is not the life I had planned and when I think of it, I had not planned this far. With the many years I have now has come wisdom, and I have short and long term plans for my life, thank heavens. In my early 20s fresh out of the university with my undergraduate degree, finally working a full-time job at a prestigious media house I thought I had achieved enough. I was content with myself and was drifting through life without any outstanding plans. Like earlier mentioned, I had never been a meticulous planner with any future grand ideas. I was letting life take its course. However, this changed after I turned 25, went into the late 20s and over. I started wondering about life in general and then my own and wondering if there was more to it than I was experiencing. That is when the unraveling started. I left my job then in the newsroom for another opportunity I was lucky to get and that has set me on the exciting journey I am on today. I have learnt a lot along the way and since I started this blog I always endeavour to share my lessons from the previous year so here are my three lessons from 2022;

Timing is everything

I have had enough experiences now to tell why some things did not happen when I wished, prayed, and was dying for them to happen. It was because I was not ready for them and wouldn’t have appreciated them or made the best of how they presented had they come before their time. When things arrive at the correct timing, you have the resources and capacity; that even when ill-prepared, you will have the wisdom to receive and handle them accordingly. This learning is derived from experiences with relationships, jobs, finances, and all other aspects of my life. This lesson directly links to the 2nd lesson which is;

Appreciating the processes of life

We all have unique experiences in life and how we got from one place to another. Some people have it easier; for others, well, they must get from A to B, C, D …… (include the entire alphabet) through blood, sweat, and tears figuratively and literally. There have been tears and anxieties in some of my experiences, but I have come out on top and that’s why I can write this blog post. What I just described is what I define, as “processes of life” and they can be challenging while undergoing them at times, I have now learnt their importance. Back in 2019, the end of it was particularly difficult because of a heartbreak. It was painful. I wanted to sleep and wake up when I was healed from all of it, but this never happened. My healing came during the pandemic in 2020, imagine! This is just one example of life’s experiences you cannot will, pray or wish yourself out of. You have to go through it. I did not know this then and have since had to navigate other life challenges and triumph over them but I hadn’t learnt the lesson. I learnt it in 2022 and now as I go through 2023, I will not be seeking the easy way out of situations but instead to have the resilience to under go the experiences and the heart to pick the lessons I’m meant to learn. I have learned that every step counts of the journey (process) and when I achieve what I set out to get, I have earned it, when I arrive at the destination I set out to get to, I have the right to be there. In all this, to appreciate the process as much as the outcome and while this is easy to say than to do, it’s important to remember.

Being deserving of people’s kindness

This one came by surprise that it took me putting together patterns for it to properly register. This year and all my life, of course, I have had people show me kindness in both big and small ways, but this year was different almost as if I saw it in a new light. This must have come with growth, but I felt that I appreciated it better this time around. I had incidences where friends did things for me, and my initial reaction would be shock and surprise almost as if I was not deserving of what was being given or done for me. With this realization, I started probing and I still am on the origin of these feelings. I am mostly independent to a fault, and this is not to say that I do not need people or help because I do, always. But I mostly struggle to ask for personal help (outside of the work environment) and will ask when I am pressed against the wall. So, when someone offered something out of their own will or when I asked for something and it was granted, I would be surprised. Cue internal monologue “Oh my God, you would do this for me, really, are you serious…” I know I am certainly deserving all good things and all and I have made it a point to keep reminding myself of this. This year, I will have to keep digging until I get to the root cause of this, but most importantly, to pay it forward. I wonder if there are other people like me. Could I be having underlying trust issues, hmm, I’ll keep digging. If you have an idea about this tendency or know more about the psychology of this, I would love to hear about your experiences.

2022, what a year you have been, a great year! 2023, I am ready for you and believe you will equally be full of wonders. I wish you a bountiful new year.

What are your lessons from the previous year?

The featured image source: istockphotos

What I have been up to -Nottingham Chronicles

Dear friends, it has been a while since I have been here. How are you and where has December gone? Almost every day of the past few weeks I thought about writing this blog post and yet couldn’t bring myself to do it but here we are. So much has happened since the last post but I’ll try to keep it brief, but before you get into it, here are some random shots taken around Nottingham.

Restarting my fitness journey

This is about the “I have lost count of times” attempt to get into a fitness routine but here is to believing that this is the time I will get into a routine. I gave myself the grace to use reasons such as I didn’t know my way around well to jog comfortably, I am food exploring (my favourite reason), the weather wasn’t favourable ( its cold), etc. But after two two months plus, these started sounding like exactly what they are, “excuses”. I looked up gyms nearest to me and found a suitable one and I signed up online. I was not prepared for how massive the gym is when I first visited. Together with one of the instructors that run it, we walked around, and I was in awe of how busy, equipped and I will repeat how massive it is. It is a big winding floor with equipment of all manners and a smaller upper floor. I was dressed to work out, but I felt very unprepared and overwhelmed by the space and the level of activity around me. It was during the gym’s peak hours, around 5:30 pm and there were lots of people. The next day I went back and paced outside the entrance for some minutes contemplating whether to go in or to go home and start the next day. I eventually went in, ran on the treadmill, rode an exercise bike, and was proud of the effort. I have since gone a couple of times with each of these requiring a lot of self-motivation and working to overcome the feeling of being out of my depth. Picture this, a big gym floor with many people all seeming to know what they are doing and more like they live in the gym. And me, well-being me…(hehe). An instructor costs extra money so it means walking in knowing your workouts and self-instructing. On the bright side, despite everyone always seeming busy and grinding, when requested to help or asked how to use a particular machine, they are polite and happy to show you how. As much as I have not gone as routinely as I would wish, I am pinning this as a work in progress hoping to do better in 2023.

The quest to get a temporary job

Hmmm, where do I start with this? I have learnt that the UK is indeed a place of opportunities. As a developed economy, the levels of consumption for different products and services are so high which means that there are lots of industries to absorb all sorts of workers both skilled and semi-skilled. Getting temporary work is easy and but also not as easy as has been my experience. This is a contradiction I know but I won’t delve into in this post. International students are limited to working only 20 hours a week during term time, which means that any jobs one gets must be flexible to this. This can have its shortcomings and I was getting frustrated but not anymore. I am waiting it out as I continue to actively look for something suitable. I have also taken time to learn from the mistakes and taken into consideration what I ought to have done differently initially. Stay tuned for an update.

Abit of School Life

The Assessments (This is the mode of grading not exams): I cannot say I thought these would be easy, but I also did not think they would be challenging (What did I think I signed up for..hehe). Coupled with getting acquainted with a different style of instruction in class and writing (academic writing) has been an interesting learning adventure. The beauty of adult education and choosing what you study is that there is interest in the subject and a lot of it is contextualised by lived experiences which make learning enjoyable.

I also joined the school’s Writing, Reading, and Pleasure (WRAP) a community that held space for me to further my creative writing. I had an exciting collaboration on a project that you can check out here. The 2023 program looks, equally exciting and I am looking forward to seeing what it unveils. With that said, I am so glad to have ended the term. It went by so fast. 

The complexities of making friends

One thing that is not talked about enough is how complex it is to make friends in a new place where you don’t have any connections or pre-established structures to facilitate the process. I am referring to friends outside of the classroom. I had a preconceived notion of how this would be, but the reality has been different. However, I have met some great people and also made a couple of friends and because of them, I did not struggle especially in the initial days when I was like a gazelle in a new territory. There are stories of how lonely it can get in such places, and I can certainly see how this can manifest in many ways. One other thing that has also helped is the fact that I have low key have honed the skill of enjoying my own company. This is an underrated essential skill.

 There are so many other things and encounters not detailed in this update that in many ways are enrichening my experience and for all this, I would not trade this journey for anything else. 

Dear friends, now that you’re all caught up a bit with what has been happening, what have you been up to since I was last here? I would love to hear from you.

Nottingham Forest Recreation Ground

Leaving a job without another in the picture; the why did you leave probe!

You have likely been on the receiving end of this question or have posed the same to someone. I have recently been asked the same severally following my departure from ChildFund. Is it because jobs/employment is a form of identity? (this is a revolving thought to be explored in another post). The answer somewhat became “obvious” eventually as the days went by but it was not it in its entirety at least. Recently, I came across an interview of Trevor Noah on the Tonight Show that encapsulated my thoughts in response to that question (why did you leave) in a way I hadn’t been able to articulate. 

“Why not? People always ask this question as if you have told them bad news or like you did something terrible. In the past 2 years, everyone went through a period of looking at their lives while navigating COVID-19. The world changed and experienced collective grief, if you didn’t look at your life and think about what you would like to do differently then you haven’t experienced what we all have. I don’t take anything for granted anymore, I don’t believe life is a given or that things will come to me. I think it’s better to leave when people can still wonder why you had to leave, leave when you’re still loved because the opposite of this reaction is never pleasant. “This was part of Trevor Noah’s response when Jimmy Fallon asked why he was leaving The Daily Show.

While he spoke from his perspective, I could relate to his words on many levels. The staggering clarity leading up to making the decision to take a formal work hiatus that then led to thee “question” came to me in July 2021. We were undergoing another lockdown following the surge in COVID-19 cases in June of 2021 and deaths so rampant, we were scared of message alerts because they seemed to only carry death announcements.

Watching all this play out, the uncertainty of life and a longing for normalcy made me think I could sit still in my house for my safety, keep my head down, ride the wave and stay alive only to continue business as usual. The alternative was to make some radical changes and the urgency of this was so profound. By this, I mean exploring some dreams I thought were too big that they seemed unattainable or that they were many obstacles to overcome that I felt discouraged to even try. I had been searching and applying for scholarships for the longest time and luck wasn’t on my side. It was emotionally draining to get rejection after another year in and year out, so I thought why not explore self-funding? But could I really??? I laughed out loud at myself for conceiving the thought, WHY, because where would I get the ridiculous tuition amount required hmmm? But a seed had been sowed. In one of the Toastmasters meetings I attended, someone (shout out to you Andrew) gave a speech titled “where there is a will there is a way” and he kept repeating it through out his speech. While this is not a new mantra and something I have heard over and over again, this time around it had a different effect. This speech came after the July moment of clarity and hearing the universe was telling me something regarding my situation. 2022 came with its new but same-old rejections but I was determined that the rejections would not be the end of my story in that regard. What followed was “quite” the journey, a series of events and story on its own but it was a true translation of “where there is a will there is a way.” I feel a bit emotional writing this but I am grateful because here I am, writing this story.

So, when I tendered my resignation, a lot of my colleagues were shocked. Their reaction did not come as a surprise, and I think I would have felt the same way if the shoe was on the other foot. It was more of the case of one day you’re making plans for upcoming and future events, and activities with someone, and the next you hear is that they are leaving. It was rushed but I couldn’t have communicated my intentions until I was certain. Had I had the bandwidth to serve the months’ notice, it would have given my colleagues ample time to process my departure and come to terms with it instead of the shock of learning the news and that I had to leave immediately. I certainly wish things could have been different but we don’t always get what we want. I had been thriving in my work , made good relationships with my colleagues, met and connected with some incredible people, and had a chance to travel to parts of Uganda I otherwise would not have. Believe me, this was an answered prayer.

These pictures were taken in Busia, Jinja and Gulu districts in that order

Travel had made the list of things I prayed for in a job while on the hunt back in 2019. I had mandatory upcountry work travel almost every quarter with occasional sporadic occurrences where I had to go more times in a quarter. What often amused me was how people assumed I was always upcountry, you know yourselves. I liked the flexibility of leaving the city once in a while to work with communities in the countryside because being on the desk could get boring at times but also being upcountry could equally be exhausting in a way. However, all these dynamics kept the experience interesting. This is in no way a picture of work perfection as I don’t believe that is realistic but it’s to say, it was enjoyable work. Then why leave it, recall what you read at the top.

Most people will argue that when you have a good thing going, why disrupt it? Why not, in reference to jobs anyways! Take the example of someone who quits their job; to start a business, to pursue a passion project, or go on an adventure, it’s the same thing. All this stems from a deep point of conviction and a great deal of faith. I continuously have to remind myself of the power of our faith and how it is often taken for granted. A perfect example is how we sleep at night with plans for tomorrow because we expect to wake up the next day. So the same faith we put in tomorrow can be commensurate with what we put in our decisions. The message with this story, that is up to you.

And that’s it for now friends and HAPPY NEW MONTH! Before I sign off, I just want to say how excited I am about this one because it’s my birth month, yaaay:) A shout-out to all the November babies.

Sunsets, sunrises of Nottingham & more

What’s the one thing that you see and you feel reassured, you feel at ease when you have been feeling uneasy for one reason or another, or that when you see it calmness transcends over. Mine will not come as a surprise to those of you that have been following this blog for a while. It’s the sunset and sunrise. I have caught it a couple of times in this new environment I am getting accustomed to.

Sunsets of Nottingham

Sunrises of Nottingham

It may not be as colourful, not the yellowish or golden skies as I always captured from my bedroom window, or while on an evening or morning run or as I went to work in the morning or while leaving in the evening. My spot for capturing it was usually over the Lubaga hospital junction, it would light up the entire morning skies like it was paid to do it. In the evenings it was usually around Sir. Apollo Kagwa P/S right next to Mengo Market-I’d always wish for the traffic to slow down when I spotted it so I could savour the sight and take a picture if I could.

Sunsets & Sunrises of Uganda

Anyways, I digress but pardon me, I am obsessed with Sunsets and sunrises and I will take them in whichever form I get them, so even the white and shinny blinding ones will do. Such sights I take as messages from my creator.

Friends, I am now going into the 3rd week of living in Nottingham, I am settling in pretty well but I can’t say it’s not been without some hurdles. Nothing crazy save for the process of adapting to a whole lot of newness ranging from culture, the pace of life, the environment, the weather, and all. I have got lost a couple of times but good enough, people are kind to stop when asked and offer directions if asked so that helps and I am also noticing the town of Nottingham is not so large. I believe I will know all its corners within no time.

It could also be that my google maps reading skills need work because just the other day I walked up and down streets trying to locate some bank only to realize it was around the corner of a road I have used severally. There were also a couple of others within the vicinity and I felt silly after locating them while on the verge of getting frustrated with myself. When I was done with the banks, I sat down in Market square-it’s this big open space where people sit, and walk through and there is a tram stop and bus stop nearby. It overlooks Nottingham City council. It’s also a hangout spot for birds and once in a while, you’ll spot someone feeding them. So I sat down to take a minute and breathe. Ultimately I was being a little too harsh with myself, as I should know these things take time. As I type this, a little box sits right next to me, and in it are farewell messages my former colleagues at ChildFund wrote to me, (they said the sweetest things, gosh I miss them) and in them, I am reminded that I have got this and will adapt. See a few below.

Sometimes it’s reassurance you need from others, those that have seen you at your best to remind you of what you are and are capable of. I look at it like someone holding out a mirror to your face and having you look at yourself from another perspective than the one usually naysaying in the head. So anyways, sitting in Market Square I breathed, and watched people walk by, someone seated behind me had a blue tooth speaker blasting but I can’t recall what was playing. That day went by and I was okay.

The birds of Market Square

New friends, old ones

I came into this city not knowing any soul save for some virtual connections from back home but once I stepped here I was on my own. I have so far made a couple of friends who have made settling in a lot easier than it would have been having I been doing it all on my own. It’s the small things like showing me stores to get everyday essential purchases, introducing me to local beers (Stella and Fosters), sharing a bottle of wine while trading stories, and taking me to the Goose Fair among many other things. And of course shout out to virtual connections, that have been on the phone with me, sharing experiences to lessen the shocks of navigating many unknowns.

sights of of the city

Navigating my way to my first class

Having secured a monthly bus pass and asking about where I could get a bus to take me to the university, for my Wednesday classes starting at 1 pm, I was in town by 10 am. In the previous blog, I mentioned that the course I am doing is taught at a different campus. So, I sat by the bus stop and waited for bus number 4 and 1 but I wasn’t seeing any. For close to 30 minutes’ buses to different areas came and went but my bus wasn’t coming. I walked down to the bus transport office to ask about it and while they answered my questions, it didn’t look like I would get the bus I wanted that went straight to the campus. I was advised to take another that stopped in Clifton town. I took it and by the time I got off, it was raining. Maps indicated that the campus was a walkable distance away but in all honesty, how was I going to walk to I going to a place I had never been in the rain? After many failing attempts, I got an Uber that took me. Friends, that’s how I made it to my first class just a few minutes before it began. I have since learnt other stops to get the right bus to take me to school so that’s sorted.

Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Campus. With some classmates in the first shots.

The noisy neighbour 

It must have been like the 3rd day in my house, I woke up feeling energetic and decided to exercise for a bit. I found a 15 minutes’ video on YouTube and started jumping around in my bedroom. I heard some bangs from the room below mine but never made anything of them. I was zoned into my routine and when I got done, I decided to take out the trash as I cooled down. You people, I found an unhappy neighbor wondering what I was doing early morning disrupting his business with my jumping, so I was that neighbour. Since then, I haven’t exercised again…. excuses. I think I will have to find another spot in the house where it won’t be as disruptive.

I end with the lighter updates but in all this, I am reminded that if it gets/feels a little chaotic that I need to look up, I could spot a sunset or sunrise. From the vastness of the blue skies, the trees with their coloured leaves going yellow while shedding a few, the hustle and bustle of people walking, the birds minding their business in Market Square, the impatience with self, the making of new friends or the lack thereof, the complexity that comes with being exposed to new concepts and different outlooks on life, I seek for the constants, such as the sun setting or rising and what it symbolizes to me. It is stillness, it’s a reassurance that someone is watching over me and saying it’s well my child, its well even when it may not seem so. And when in doubt, get out of my head, be still and listen for clarity is always around the corner.  

So I ask again, what’s your thing?  

My first weekend in Nottingham-UK

I got off the National Express bus at Broadmarsh Bus station, to the wide, lit, wet and empty streets of Nottingham. Clutching the handles of my two suitcases, a heavy backpack on my bag, and one more handbag, I stood to take in my surroundings. The tall buildings stared back at me, the air felt moist and devoid of any scents. I knew my hotel was across from my University (Nottingham Trent) but I wasn’t sure how I would get there. I kept calm, dragged my suitcases, and walked into the bus station. It was after 3 am, and there was no activity, no cars, buses, or trains in sight but a couple of people sat on the floor, and others walked about. Late travelers like me.  You see, I had not planned my travel to arrive in Nottingham at such an hour, it was due to circumstances beyond my control.

While back at home I had booked an 8 pm bus taking about 4 hours from London to Nottingham knowing I would make it to my destination around midnight. But friends, my connecting flight was delayed by over an hour in Amsterdam…..

On my long solo journey, I’d made a friend so the wait hadn’t been as lonely. Shout out to you Hamida!

…and we arrived at Heathrow a few minutes before 8 pm. I ran through the airport to the security check but, there was a long line. Good enough, it was moving steadily and I got checked a few minutes past 8 pm. Somehow I still thought I would make it….hehehe. I dashed to the baggage carousel and I found my bags fast. You should have seen me and the speed with which I was moving …pheew. But through that large airport, it didn’t seem like I was moving fast enough and the suitcases were a bit hard to drag through the slanting parts toward the exit. I asked someone where I could get the bus, I was told to get on a lift to level 1. There were many people waiting for the lift, so I thought, why not take the stairs. I hauled my bags and entered some lift but it didn’t lead to the said floor. I asked for directions again, got in the lift again, got off and realized I was in the wrong lift, got onto another and this eventually led me to the bus area. But the bus had gone, obviously! But lucky for me, there was one more bus heading to Nottingham at 11:30 pm. I had to be on that one.  And lo and behold, I managed to book a seat on it hence the 3:00 am shenanigans.

So back to the bus station, a security officer passed by me and told a lady that was sleeping on the floor to get off. I used the chance to ask him how I could get a cab to take me to my hotel. I had no internet access and wasn’t so sure how to get an Uber or Taxify. The Officer was kind to point to me where I would likely get a taxi, I walked out of the bus station to the opposite side of the road. A couple of taxis came around but they’d been called and were looking for particular people. I was stranded and contemplated going back to the station to sit until the day broke.  There were what I guessed as students in groups walking and I later learnt from the driver I finally got that the city has a vibrant nightlife. I had finally got a random cab and the driver agreed to a cash payment. He was chatty and had a friendly tone but so have all the drivers I have had the pleasure of riding with during my stay so far. He asked me where I was from and why I was in Nottingham and we had small talk as we drove through the empty but lit streets of the City Centre. Occasionally I’d spot a person and before I knew it, we were at the hotel. That’s how I managed to make it hotel after 3:30 am. I hadn’t been at the bus station long but the uncertainty of being in a new place and not being sure of where to go, being late in the night made minutes seem longer.  The hotel staff received me well and I checked into my room, which was spacious. After over 16 hours of travel, I could rest and had the best sleep until I was woken up by the ringing phone. It was around 6:30 am and my parents were checking to see if I had reached safely. I went back to bed after that call.

This is the largest latte i’d ever had. I didn’t anticipate the mug to be this huge when I ordered a large size for my brunch:)

Saturday 1^st Oct 2022.

A bit of a back story, I’d been given a UK Simcard (Lebara) back in Kampala but I forgot to activate it during the long wait for a bus to Nottingham from London. I activated it on Saturday morning and walaaa, I was online. When I checked out of the hotel I had to find where to stay for the weekend as I waited to get to my student housing on Monday. A former colleague connected me to another former colleague of ours currently living in the UK but in another city. She was super helpful because indeed two heads are better than one and between us combing the internet, we managed to find me an affordable Airbnb. The hotels/ Airbnb’s that were closer or within the city were rather pricy or fully booked due some ongoing popular event that was happening (Goose Fair). I walked around the city, and being the weekend, the university’s official business was closed. I ensured to stay on the same side of the street so I could find my way back to the hotel where I had left my bags. I marveled at my new surroundings in wonder. The organized clean streets, and people walking so fast and I wondered how long it would take me to navigate the same with ease.

Goldsmith Street, Nottingham

In the evening I got a taxi to take me to the Airbnb about 40-30 minutes from the city centre in an area called Mansfield. On the journey, I enjoyed gorgeous views of vast greenery with a large forest cover and I also saw some horses plus my driver was amiable. He left after I had been checked into the house. My room was on the top floor with a scenic view of the neighborhood and the night was restful.

The view from my bedroom window

Sunday 2^nd Oct 2022

I woke up, made myself a cup of tea, I watched movies, and read a novel. By 3 pm I was tired of being in the house if not curious about my surroundings. I messaged my host inquiring about nearby places I could get food and he didn’t respond immediately so I left, and went on an adventure trusting google maps to find my way around. Typical of me. I was in an estate so I decided to walk in the opposite direction from where I had come from. It was a dead end, just around about, so I walked back to the route from the city centre. I got to a junction and decided to stay on one side of the road walking as I kept checking online for the nearest eateries. Friends, there was no sign of a town close by but I kept walking and thought if this leads nowhere, I would have exercised a bit. It was a lonely road with forest cover on either side save for the fast-moving cars. I only met I think two people on that walk, a lady walking a dog and some young man on a bike.  I stayed on the main road because then I would turn back to the way I came. After about 30 minutes of walking, I saw an eatery, Pub, and Grill. I went in, was given a table and I ate a nice meal.

My meal

And ohh, my Airbnb host got back to me and I told him I had gone on walk and where I was, and he was kind enough to come and pick me up. I was well-fed, got back to the house, watched more movies, and called it a Sunday. And friends, that’s how my first weekend in the UK went, it easy on me. The next morning, I called a taxi that brought me back to the City Centre to my current residence. It’s less than a 10-minute bus ride to the City center and about 25- 30 minutes walk to my University’s City campus. My course is taught at a campus in a different town and I had quite the adventure trying to get there for my first class. That’s a story for another blog…

I have diaries for the days that followed including starting my classes which are pretty great.  But by far, Nottingham has been kind to me and it’s been because of all the wonderful people, virtual and in-person that have been placed on my path to make this journey less daunting. I forgot one thing, the weather…woooo! It’s cold and has been living in Jumpers, which I am yet to get used to.

Until the next update stay well and welcome to my UK adventures….

Visiting an apple farm in Bunyonyi

When you see apples in a supermarket, neighborhood kiosk, or with street vendors, do ever wonder where they come from? Do you ever imagine an apple tree, how it looks like or what a garden full of apples is like? I bet most of you don’t and the same here I don’t, never did until about 2 years ago.

I had gone into a social media rabbit hole, you know-how go to check something on one platform say Facebook, and 2-3 hours later you are darting between that, Twitter, Instagram, and the whole lot. You know what I mean, but this article is not about social media. This article is about apples and an apple farm. So, back to the social media bender, I came across a post on Twitter about an Apple Farm in Kabale, I took a screenshot out of curiosity. Many moons later, I was checking my phone and going through the screenshots and there it was trying not to expire from the gallery like most things. I saved the number and made a mental note to visit it sometime. That sometime was 8th April 2022!

When I called the number, I had saved it as Apple Farm Stay Kabale and a lady picked it up. I introduced myself and my purpose for the call. She seemed a bit surprised, and she asked me if I was a researcher or with a student group. I told her I wasn’t any of those save for a curious local wishing to see where apples come from. And you’ll never guess what, it happened that the time I decided I would visit, was the harvesting season. Just my luck! Dear reader, I am not sure about my lucky streak, never won anything in any draws, or competitions (in my adult life..lol) and it wasn’t for a lack of trying. This was fantastic and I knew it was the sign that I had to go. Caroline whom I, unfortunately, didn’t have a chance to meet connected me to her husband Peter who was the designated guide. Peter was an amazing guide and well I haven’t met anyone so passionate about farming lately. By the end of the tour about 2 hours later, I was impressed, challenged, and in awe.

We started the tour at a chicken house and at first, I didn’t get the connection between apples and chicken. The chicken was being fed, and as we exited the chicken house, Peter showed us a soil mound which he mentioned was chicken droppings. He mentioned they use it as manure for the apples. I thought oh, okay, and off we went, walked a small distance, and branched off to a narrow climbing path that ushered us into the apple garden.

Chicken droppings/manure

The chicken house in the background

First impressions

It wasn’t at all what I expected but at the same time, I realized that in my built-up anticipation, the thought of how the trees would look had not registered. I had mixed feelings upon seeing the trees. They are rather short and carry many branches, some of them at least, their leaves are different. I have nothing to compare them with, I thought of lemon and orange tree leaves but no, they don’t look like that. The first trees I saw didn’t have as many leaves too but as we walked up the garden, there were leafier trees and they had apples on them. Peter explained that the first trees I saw hadn’t done well that season hence the withering look. 

These trees didn’t do well for the season but below there are the thriving trees

As expected of the terrain in the area, the farm is on a slope, and we had to up as went about the garden. It was a surreal experience to be there in the middle of an apple garden and see the fruit trees everywhere I turned. I remember thinking wow, you are here, and this is pretty cool!

Fun facts about apples and their farming as learnt on the farm

Did you know that there are over 7000 apple varieties in existence around the world? However, on Peter’s farm, they grow only three types. Dorsett Golden, Anna and Winter Banana apples.

Winter Banana

Anna

Dorsett Golden

Apples grow best in temperate climates reason why most of the apples we have on the local market are imported from areas that experience that type of climate. Growing them in our kind of climate is sort of an uphill task but doable as the likes of Peter have managed to hack their way around it and have a thriving farm.

He said they have two seasons in a year that are targeted according to the weather patterns. The process involves a complete pruning of each of the trees to “induce “flowering. They manually remove every single leaf from each of the trees leaving them bare. The trick is that without leaves, the trees “assume” winter has fallen. Around this period, they develop buds that develop into flowers, and slowly by slowly the leaves start growing again. It’s the flowers that later turn into apples. When I visited, it was the first harvest season of the year and when they complete the season, they will have trees rest before they prune in August when the weather is relatively dry. Around September the trees will start flowering and it takes about 3 months for them to mature for harvest

While the matured apples have a reddish shade, Peter intimated that the species he grows are green apples and the reddening is a result of them being directly hit by the sunlight. I saw this as the apples that were hidden under more leaves were all green.

Picking apples is a delicate process. You have to pick the apple from its tail on the tree and carefully drop it in the basket

Taking care of apple trees

Before I delve into what Peter shared, I will share my sentiments about the information he so passionately shared.

Meet Peter, farmer extraordinaire

For one to get the most from their apple trees a lot of care has to be exercised. It’s literally like taking care of a human where you ensure every step of growth is closely monitored, ensuring that the trees are well fed in this case with fertilizer, enough water, and regular spraying to wane off the diseases and pests. It turns out apple trees are highly susceptible to crop diseases. I felt that Peter could distinguish each apple tree from the thousands of trees growing on the six acres of land that they cover. This was from the way he aptly described the attributes of almost every tree, and I was in awe.  It was the full immersion and understanding of his garden, how he talked about it and described different processes of how the garden is run, cared for and I was blown away. I thought, this is how you farm. Not half-heartedly, not from afar, and certainly not from the phone (we know some phone farmers…). He reminded me of my father who is retired and now into full-time farming. It’s just beautiful to see and feel the warmth emanated from a person as they talk about something. Peter exuded all this. No wonder he scooped the second runner-up place in the Vision Group’s best farmer competition in 2020.

Lastly, just like with life ventures, sometimes even with all the care and doing a lot of things right for the trees, some of them disappoint. For instance, a tree will be pruned and doesn’t flower or delay flowering while the rest bloom.

He says to get the most of each of the trees, you cannot half invest in taking care of them. That means checking them regularly for instance around the fruiting season to ensure each has fruits it can carry for its size. If a tree is carrying more than its weight, some of the fruits are removed. Also, from the monitoring, we ensure that the apples that are not maturing well are removed to give rooms for others to grow well. Peter’s farm is over 15 years having ventured out in 2016.

The challenges

Apple trees are highly susceptible to disease which requires regular spraying with insecticides. We also have to do a lot of pest control and at times we have to get rid of some of the plants and replace them. We also have to deal with the birds that pick at the apples. We have also experienced seasons where the harvest has been very poor and during such times, there have been thoughts of giving up on the farm. But somehow, we keep going and here we are.

Highlights

High-yielding trees can produce over 50 kilograms of apples in a season. With each kilogram costing UGX 4000, that can be over Ugx 200,000 gained from each tree. He sells the apples locally within Kabale town. On average, he invests around 9-10 million UGX in the season. This caters to paying the workers, irrigation, purchase of fertilizer, and insecticides among other expenses.

When the apples are harvested, they are sorted. The well-sized apples are sold while the smaller sizes are used to make wine. I had the chance to taste wine made out of apples and while I am not a wine connoisseur when compared to other locally made wines I have tasted, it was good. It was on promotion at the time I visited, and I got a 1 and a half-liter bottle at UGX 20000. This likely has changed or not but you can reach out to Peter on 0392548462 for more details.

Dreams for the farm

I dream of a time when I can consistently earn more than half or double the investment, I inject into the farm every season. I also look at a time when we have sufficient information and proven research about apple farming to make it a lot easier. I think this would also get more people into apple farming. As much as there is some information available, it’s not as well-tailored to the Ugandan setting, so you find we have to figure out most things are we go along. For instance, you have to experience a terrible season where the harvest is poor that the next season you have to restrategize and work out how to do better in the next season.

I also wish to have more people visit the farm and take part in activities such as apple picking. He intimated that he was expecting a guest that had booked to pick apples from 10 trees.

Inspiration

Peter said that in his early years, one of his neighbors kept about 5 apple trees. “They yielded well and I used to buy apples from him each for around 500ugx and at the time this was pricey.  In those 5 trees, he earned a livelihood for the longest time, and it sparked my desire to venture into apple farming. I also visited an apple farm in Korea and I remember holding a good-looking apple in my hand with it attached to the tree and I knew I had to venture into it. Apples are a perennial crop that if well maintained can for the longest period be a continuous source of income.” he said.

Ecosystem on the farm

Peter said he purposed to have a chicken farm in order to have a steady supply of manure for the apple farm and that reduces the amount of artificial fertilizer he has to use. His farm is not so far from L. Bunyonyi so the water that irrigates the farm is pumped from the lake. He also keeps some turkeys that are released upon the completion of harvesting. They wander in the garden and eat the weeds. This helps with weed control during the off seasons.

Lessons 

1. If you’re not ready to put in the time and be present on a farm, think twice about growing apples.
2. Growing apples is not a get-rich-quick scheme as it’s not the type of crop that can yield in a short period but long-term it pays well if one does it right.
3. I am not sure I see farming in my future, but should I venture into it at some point, I want to be as passionate as Peter is about farming. But in the meantime, I am roping my father into apple farming. I am excited about this, and I will endeavor to keep you updated about this.

But can you tell how excited I was!

If this article piques your curiosity and you want to go check out the apple farm, call Peter on 0392548462 for more details. They also have accommodation, and you can stay on the farm while touring the rest of what L. Bunyonyi and its Islands have to offer. I will share more about the Island and its activities in the next blog post.

March Musings

A Cock doing its thing.
Image source: poultryfeedformulation.com

Yesterday morning (6^th March) around 5 am, I lay on my bed trying to reconjure sleep. You know that moment when you return from the bathroom and sleep is not in a hurry to return. My mind wandered off but not for long, I was interrupted by the sound of a cock crowing in the neighborhood.  Signs that I cannot escape the village if I wanted to, kidding. But if you grew up in a village you know that cock crowing during such hours is the same as an alarm clock going off.

The cock crowed the first time, second time, and on the third time, my eyes flew open. Was this cock sending a message, was it a sign, or something?  I am rather superstitious, so you catch my drift. I started probing what this crowing could mean with sleep still being elusive. Many things came to mind, and one of them was this draft blog post that was meant to go out at the start of the month. Was the cock calling me out on it?? Then there are all the other drafts I have of unfinished writing, I am the queen of drafts at this point but thankfully, this one has made it out. So, the cock crowed again for the fourth time, fifth time and then I stopped counting but the sign and message had been delivered loud and clear.

I also couldn’t help thinking about everything else that is in draft format. Draft thoughts and ideas; the ones we never act on for one reason or another, draft conversations; the ones we want to have/ wish to have but remain in our heads, draft projects et all. For most of these, the reason for the lack of following through has not been circumstances out of our control but fear, laziness, self-sabotage behavior, and perfectionism. Perfectionism is not a bad trait except when it’s getting in the way of finishing what you set out to do. So, this week commences the process of getting drafts completed. I challenge you to do the same.

These are my thoughts for March so far but before ending this short blog post, here are a few thoughts from February, the month of love!

In there was love found and love lost.  It’s weird how things in life balance themselves out. The latter was a pain point that threw me in the dumps a moment or two, I whined about it but also found peace through it. One day, I will likely tell that story.

Talking of balance, I also found myself wondering about the future. To this, my thoughts were about the chase for a better and shimmery future but how about today and now which is what is humanly assured. It’s a tough balance that I aspire to achieve every other day.

Back to March, which also happens to be the last month of the first quarter of the year! I am not saying this to put pressure on anyone but just to say that if you track your progress by months and time covered in the year, it’s a good time to check in with yourself. For me, the resolve is to deal with the draft situation.

What’s your March resolve?

The mangroves of Zanzibar

Picture this, walking on a suspended wood board in a forest, the air very fresh, devoid of any scent, the birds chirping high in the trees, the sun streaming through the branches to light the way. Your surroundings on either side are trees seemingly suspended by coal-black stems running into the ground with soil so dark, it shimmers. Between the stems running to the ground are scattered small mound-like sculptures. Stay with this image as I try to tell you about my surreal experience walking through the mangrove trees of Jozani Forest in Zanzibar.

According to our tour guide, mangroves make the largest composition of the tree coverage in Jozani forest located on the island of Zanzibar. The Island that arched a place in my heart since 2019 when I first visited has more to offer than its famous blue waters and white sand beaches not forgetting the historic Stone Town. Located on the South-Eastern part of the island, it takes under an hour to drive from Stone town to get to the forest by special hire vehicle and could take longer if you use the “dala dala” (public transport).  A ticket for the nature walks costs 25,000 TZ shs (about 39,000 ugx) for foreigners and is paid at the entrance. A few meters walk leads to the reception area where you present your ticket and are assigned a guide. It was raining that morning which cooled down the raging heat of the island. The first part of the forest was serene with the very knowledgeable guide elaborately describing the different tree species by name and history. It is so amazing how one person can store all that information, more like a tree encyclopedia. Together with other tourists, we trod on behind him, awing and oooing at the beauty of the nature that surrounded us. It never gets old, at least for me. Allow me to digress a bit… If you have done the Mabira forest walk- refer to the blog post I did (via Kampala Jinja Highway) or Kalinzu Forest walk/chimpanzee tracking (located in Bushenyi) or any other forest walks you know the feeling. If Kalinzu forest sounds foreign to you and you’re Ugandan, it shouldn’t be. It’s a rain forest located in the Bushenyi district off the Bushenyi Kasese highway just before reaching Queen Elizabeth. It’s one of the hidden gems and under reported touristy places with a lot to offer has a lot to offer. (Couldn’t help myself, its in my home district😊).

Back to Jozani forest, like all tropical rain forests on the African continent, it’s blessed with a variety of animal species the most common and easy to spot being monkeys. We saw a number of these, tribes, and tribes of monkeys. At one spot, we encountered a natural swinging rope. Me being me, I attempted to swing on it unsuccessfully, but it was strong and hung all the way up in a tall tree. The rope was a broken climbing plant that awaited us to enjoy and spice up our nature walk.

Entry into the forest

We exited the forest onto the main road that comes from stone town headed to the beaches on the Eastern part of the Island. Getting out seemed a bit premature and as if the walk had just started and ended abruptly. Thankfully, we learned the walk wasn’t over. The last and most exciting part of the forest walk is on the other side of the road quite a distance from the reception area. We had to ride there for about 15 to 20 minutes’ drive. We disembarked from the cars and onto a pathway through shrubs and a few minutes ushered us to one of the most scenic views I have ever seen. Insert the image I described at the start of this blog. We had reached the “more interesting” mangrove trees.

I hadn’t intended to write this story but reading a recent blog by one of my favorite bloggers Bikozulu I believe was a sign to share my experience of the mangroves. In my mother tongue, we have a saying “abagyenda bareba” translating to “those who travel see things,”. The scene that was before us brought this saying to mind. 

According to the guide, the coal-black stems attached to the trees and running into the soil were exposed roots. The mangroves in that particular area are located about 4-3 kilometers from the ocean. During the high tides, mostly in the evenings and at night, the water moves from the ocean and covers the part of the trees washing away the soil. During the low tides when the water returns to the ocean and the once covered roots are left exposed hence the scene that was before us. I was however dying to know what the mound sculpture-like things in the soil were. These we were told were breathing roots for a particular type of mangroves.

The mangroves have different species and to my recollection, black, red, and white mangroves with differentiating traits that the guide laboured to explain. However, if you ask me, they all looked the same almost.

Some of the seeds one of the species of mangroves are shaped like spears, which when they fall from the tree straight (vertically) into the ground, they germinate into new trees whereas if they fall on the side (horizontally) nothing comes of them.

Spear like shaped seed

The boardwalk is a long and winding stretch that takes you a bit further into the forest to give you ample time to take in the surroundings but when we came to the end of it, I didn’t know that I had had enough of it. You know it’s a good thing when you don’t want it to end, such was my experience walking through the mangrove trees of Jozani forest. 

While I have tried to explain this experience as best I could, I highly recommend visiting it if you have plans to visit the island sometime. 

Fun Facts about Mangroves

• Mangroves are the only species of trees in the world that can tolerate salt water.
• Mangroves have a great capacity to take carbon out of the atmosphere. A patch of mangroves could absorb as much as 10 times the carbon of a similarly sized patch of terrestrial forest, mitigating the effects of sea-level rise.
• Mangroves buffer against rising sea levels and storms and help keep the coastline in place, protecting properties and infrastructure.
• Mangroves can live for up to 100 years and therefore record the effects of changing environmental conditions in their structure and composition.  Source: hlw.org.au

This experience is part of my 2021 end-of-year adventures/misadventures. Epic stories to tell but will share others another time. Also, a big shout out to Suleiman the super Zanzibari driver, guide, and photographer, look him up if you’re ever in the Paje beach area.

Until next time Zanzibar, you’re always a treat.  

Two lessons I learnt in 2021

“This will be my Year.” This is a cliche right??? However, many of us use it to affirm ourselves as we set intentions for the new year et all. I’m happy to use it too. Whether this materializes into “the year” is a whole other issue. I had never truly conceptualized this line very well though I often used it until about 2 years ago. Before, I always fell into the drawback of overanalyzing everything that had gone awry in the year and off the set plan to qualify it as “not my year,” with renewed hope of better in the next. However, ever since I started dwelling on the successes and wins rather than the redirections, every year since then has been my year and this (2022) will equally be and I’m excited about it. I hope you’re too and start believing that every year is your year in one way or another.

So, 2021 was full of many blessings and opportunities because I tuned my mind to acknowledge them, big or small. And as they say, it is easier to spot a red car when you are thinking of one than if you’re completely oblivious about it so I stayed alert for the blessings and can count them one by one. Some moments come to mind, that I frown upon but then I think, well, that happened but I’m still here, head still held high. I can also recall the situations when I thought hard and probed the universe and God for the lesson that he was trying to teach me and, at the moment, I didn’t get answers but thankfully I eventually got clarity and for that I am grateful.

With that said, I have two big takeaways from 2021 going into this year

1.     To stop worrying too much. 

It’s pointless to fret about things you have no control over but that is truly one of those things easier to say than do. One thing that I became more aware of about myself is the need to have a certain level of control over situations. This means carefully planning out things and all but in situations that involve multiple people, it’s only yourself that you have complete control over. If, like me, you have such character traits, you understand the level of anxiety and stress (all self-imposed mostly) that comes from something/someone disorganizing your plans. Completely throws you off balance.

While I have multiple examples, I will use two

·       Service providers can humble you. This goes from promising everything and leaving you in your office smiling, having ticked one thing off the to-do list only for them to stop picking your phone calls after missing deadlines. The audacity! One afternoon towards the December Holidays, after going through it with a couple of them, I sat in my chair, leaned back, and wondered why I was stressing about the issue. Hypothetically, I couldn’t go to say Nkrumah Road and hover over someone or hang around a place for something to be worked on faster. The only way was to calm down and be patient. After all, no one was dying, and my bright hair wasn’t on fire because a delivery hadn’t happened. I felt my heart rest and my day progressed normally. This was my aha moment.

A worry free face

·       This year I undertook an exciting leadership role in Toastmasters as a Vice President of Education (VPE) for Kampala Executives Toastmasters Club. In my over three years as a member of the volunteer organization, I have served in other roles ie Vice President Public Relations. But you see this was rather easy being that it’s directly in line with my work as a Communications Specialist. A lot of this work was a piece of cake however as a VPE as the title suggests, one of the responsibilities is to ensure the development of members and to see to it that they are actively pursuing the education goals they set for themselves and giving a little nudge for those that may need it. And believe me, the nudging in such an environment where programs are self-paced and learning is voluntary is instrumental because I have been nudged severally, and because of that my journey has been more progressive.

However, being a volunteer organization and most of the programs i.e. meetings running outside the normal schedules of work and life in general, it means that other life events understandably take precedence. This means that club events often will take a hit if, say, a member sends regrets at the last minute that they cannot perform a role in a meeting. And to the mind of “a little control freak here”, the whole world would fall apart in my head. It took the guidance, pep talks, incredible mobilization, and crisis management of fellow leaders in Toastmasters to calm the storms within me and that enabled our club to run seamless meetings in the first half of the calendar year. Once again, these experiences taught me what it means to lean on others, ask for help, two heads are better than one, and that anxiety or not, the show must go on. I am a better leader and human today because of this lesson.

2.     Friendships are voluntary

As I thought long and hard to find a theme for a “winning speech” in a Toastmasters speech contest held in December 2021, the aspect of friendships came to mind. Being the end of the year, I found myself reflecting on all my connections and friendships through the years. The friendships that grew stronger, the new and surprising connections, and those that waned. A bit of research on the internet gave me more insight and clarity on the nature of friendships and helped put a lot into perspective. An article by Julie Beck published in 2015 by The Atlantic intimated that in the hierarchy of relationships, friendships are at the bottom. “Romantic partners, parents, children—all these come first.” It says.

“Friendships are unique relationships because, unlike family relationships, we choose to enter into them. And unlike other voluntary bonds, such as marriages and romantic relationships, they lack a formal structure. You wouldn’t go months without speaking with or seeing your significant other (hopefully), but you might go that long without contacting a friend. We aren’t obligated to our friends the way we are to our romantic partners, our jobs, and our families. We’ll be sad to go but go we will. This is one of the inherent tensions of friendships, which Rawlins calls “the freedom to be independent and the freedom to be dependent. The voluntary nature of friendship makes it subject to life’s whims in a way other relationships aren’t.” The article explains.

You can read the full piece here. I hope you find this as informative and insightful as I did. With all this, we individually have a different take on friendships and the parameters in which we define them. For me, I strongly believe it takes two to tango, and where there are indicators of energies not being reciprocated, I am out of there. With this, I am continuously learning how to actively nurture the connections I have with people around me but also be respectful of other people’s spaces if they decide to create them.

Above all, 2021 came with new connections that made life more interesting! As I conclude this, I just want to say to both the old and new friends, I treasure you, and let’s take 2022 with a bang!

With all the above reflections, I continue to be a student of life who is open to all the lessons and opportunities that life has to offer. I am here for all of it!

Excited about “My year” 2022😀

What were some of your big lessons from 2021?? Talk to me in the comment section

I wish you a year filled with abundance.

Happy 2022!

Hiking Mt. Oce in Moyo

You spot it from afar standing tall and majestic as you approach the Laropi ferry crossing on the River Nile. At 1,563 metres above sea level, Mt. Oce towers over the R. Nile in a seemingly endless stretch from both sides of the river. You can say it’s one of those “not so well-known” Mountains at least to my recollection of social studies and O’level Geography. I came to learn of this mountain early this year (2021) when Mountain Slayers of Uganda released the annual hiking calendar. It didn’t catch my attention until in May when I traveled for a work trip to Moyo and as soon as we got out of the car awaiting the ferry, I spotted the mountain and was told it was called Oce. Right there and then I knew, I had to make that hike. It had been scheduled for mid-July, but we all know what happened around that time, a new Covid19 wave was wreaking havoc. But this is to say, the anticipation and excitement to climb Mt. Oce had been building for a long time.

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The sun sets differently in Moyo. Took this picture while crossing by ferry

After crossing by ferry, it took us slightly over an hour to get to the campsite. It was after dark, but the wonderful locals had waited and welcomed us cheerfully with singing and dancing. We pitched tents under the star-lit sky after which we were served with a warm meal that restored energies depleted by a lengthy drive from Kampala. Sleep was calling and I couldn’t wait to curl up in my tent.

Granted, I dosed off so fast but was awakened by the rain at 3 am. In the dead of the night, the sound of the rain and wind howling outside was very loud. And it brought with it a twist and tales that deserve an independent story. Major shout out to my tentmate!

However, the rain was a blessing in disguise because Moyo is normally hot around this time of the year, but it cooled the air and made the temperatures suitable for walking the next morning. 

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Imagine waking up to this view. Having arrived at night, we couldn’t see much but waking up to these views was a pleasant surprise

The hiking trail

If I have learned anything from the few past hiking experiences is to pace myself because trying to keep up with fast hikers has meant that I start struggling quite early into the hike. So, I fell into step with a group of slow and steady walking from the go. Started with paths through the tall grass that opened up into families with warm locals that waved and responded to our greetings. We came up to a stream of water that required taking off shoes to cross over, some people dared to walk through with them but that meant carrying the weight of soaked shoes for a distance before they dried out.

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We passed by a beautiful goat shade, and I was low-key jealous. With a fence on the outside, a grass thatched shade with the animals chilling, it was a beautiful sight. The sun was slowly coming out, sweat glands were being activated but luckily this was the point when we started ascending into a forested and rocky part of the trail. The trees provided a handy cover. As much as there was an ascent, it wasn’t very steep which made for a leisurely walk but as we walked on, covering a lot more ground, the terrain interchanging from relatively flat to slightly steep required the body to acclimatize. Slowly but steadily, we walked on, and some parts had incredible views where we could spot the R. Nile from a distance. In times of weariness, we sang songs, took breaks, looked around us instead of just ahead of us and the greenery gave us more energy to walk on. The moments when you take a break while sitting under a tree, a clear mind, birds chirping, a cool breeze hitting your face, are heavenly and that is why I keep going back. One of the hikers said she makes most of her biggest life decisions on mountains and I could see why. 

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The trail to the top was long and winding and we got lost a couple of times. This doesn’t feel great especially when you are counting the minutes, hours to get to the summit, and then you hear someone say, “the path to the summit is the other way,” Turning back to the right path we could see parts of the grass bent meaning that people had passed through but we were not hearing any sign of human life ahead meaning the summit was not close.

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Just thriving in the savannah, because we were born for this..hehe. 1st Pic: Meley and then yours truly

We came out of the shrubs eventually to a wider road and started climbing with the guide saying the summit was close. But you know not to believe these guys, close could be an hour or two of walking. This was the very exhausting part for me, my body was feeling beat but I had to convince myself I could make it, plus the encouragement from the small group was good, so we walked on. We met several groups from the summit, and they kept saying it is just around the corner, hehe. That corner hmmm, it tested my whole being. And you will never imagine, right at the point where we could see the summit (a huge rock), a group came out of another route close by. The realization that there was a shortcut, but we’d taken the longer route felt like a pinch but thankfully, we’d made it! And as promised the view at the top was incredible. Standing on a rock overlooking the vast savannah and the winding R. Nile from a distance was very rewarding.

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View of the R. Nile from the summit of Mt. Oce

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Just some sweaty summit smiles

Some people often ask, who in their right mind pays money to go and walk, climb a mountain, and to be honest, I have asked myself the same question during those moments when I feel beat, legs are tired and the only thing I can muster is the next step forward. I don’t have to explain but I want to. During these moments it’s when you fully appreciate what your body and mind are capable of and life in general with its perfect imperfections. It’s often in the extremities that a lot is revealed because nothing extraordinary happens in comfort and the mundane. 

At the end of the hike, the lovely locals had staged a show at a local primary school which was also the pickup point for returning to camp but most of us were too tired to enjoy it. They also had some cool handmade crafts for sale. One other highlight for me was the stars in the sky at night, it was so pretty. We were also a sizable group and it felt like where we pitched tents formed small villages and my “village mates” were pretty awesome. And to the Chief Slayers and the entire Mountain Slayers of Uganda Community for finding and exposing us to these hidden gems like Mt. Oce, long live.

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This dog and a couple of others were some of my highlights at the summit, seeing them equally knackered was hilarious. Tales have been told how they saved some people from getting lost leading them all the way to summit. Cheers to our dog besties that delivered on the assignment.

Cool views of the R. Nile on the trail

The dark-brown puppy

The car lights shone on the little dark-brown puppy staggering out of seemingly nowhere and into the road last evening. It was hard to tell where it had appeared from. There is a banana plantation and a bit of a shrub that surround the road on both sides. I spotted the puppy and stopped and so did the coaster that was coming from the opposite direction. We had reached a spot on the road in my neighborhood where only one car can pass at a time.

Image source: warrenphotographic.co.uk

Confused and dazzled by the car lights mingling with the setting darkness, the little puppy wandered around, from the front of the car, went under to the side of the wheels, and back to the front. I looked up from the window to the driver of the coaster signaling me wondering what was happening. He had spotted it too, hence parking his car. A cue of cars was forming behind me but surprisingly, no one hooted impatiently as would be the case normally. I told him what I was witnessing under and in front of his car. Had he moved an inch, chances were high that he would have crushed the puppy.

The coaster driver disembarked to the ground, he pulled out his phone from his trouser pocket and started looking under the car for the puppy.

I passed and went home but as I left that spot, lots of thoughts flooded my head. Thoughts like where had that pup left its mother, was the mother looking for it, could I have rescued it and took it home with me but also realized how impulsive that would have been. I don’t know anything about taking care of dogs let alone a puppy. Never in my whole life have I lived with dogs. I thought, maybe I could hack it, and find all sorts of resources on the internet about being a dog mum. I thought of turning back but what was going to if I did, I wasn’t sure so I went on home, holding to hope and belief that the little puppy found its mother or that the mother found it.

Many hours later, the image of the little puppy keeps popping in and out of my head, I wonder if the universe is trying to tell me something?

I am curious about people like me who have no experience with dogs but only love them from a distance, what made you come around to getting and keeping a dog? Maybe there is a dog somewhere in my future….

A prayer for August

Dear August, may you be kind to us.

You’re already off to a great start as seen by the illuminating sunrise this morning.

May our paths be brightly lit that any form of darkness is intimidated to even come close.

May our intentions bring our dreams to fruition

May our ideas fall on fertile ground so that they can sprout into healthy gardens that will yield a bountiful harvest.

May we be joyful and grateful, because we are here and blessed to witness the start of yet another new month.

May you bless us, our families, and our friends with good health.

And AUGUST, we’ll equally treasure you for in your newness we’ll flourish.

Amen

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August will be lit!

What are your midyear reflections?

This reflection takes me down memory lane. I recently wrote a piece about youth skilling and mentorship that was published by the New Vision. Coincidentally, on the eve of its publishing, I received a screenshot from one of my mentors of the initial message I sent them when I requested mentorship. Reading my words in the LinkedIn message, full of intention and laden with hope tugged at my heart. I was looking back to the place I was in at the time and the courage it took to write that message. This was in 2014 and 6 years later a lot has of good has happened. I have got more mentors, changed jobs multiple times, and immensely grown professionally. In addition to this, a lot of adulting has happened, I have made some great choices but there have also been the not-so-great ones, but such is life. It’s not a straight line and I believe no truer words were said than these.

If you are wondering why I’m taking you down memory lane, this blog was inspired by that message from 2014. I was such a dreamer, go-getter and part of me thinks I had lost a bit of that mojo. This is where I pause and ask, what was 2014 like for you, does anything stand out from that year??

Back to the present, we are in the middle of the year and at a time where some people look at what they set to do at the start of the year with smiles as they tick off most things and for others, it’s a wonder with thoughts of where has the year gone! “It’s only yesterday that we were celebrating new year’s,” they say but then reality hits that we are indeed 7 months into the year. A year that we thought would be different from 2020 but alas, here we are again in a lockdown. Is Covid19 having the last laugh? This is a mystery that is still unraveling.

If you’re in the category of “but it was just January, where did the months go” let us not panic, we still have several months to make the most of. At the start of this current lockdown, social media had the chatter of “what will do during this lockdown to stay productive,” and I thought the pressure is on again but also remembered that I’m running my race. So no, I didn’t set any audacious goals for the lockdown, I have done what I can and I’m okay with it. Kudos to those who set audacious goals and have made something for themselves. But in all this something better happened for me, the re-awakening dreamer in me again.
It must be the motivational and insightful material I have stumbled upon that have challenged me in a way that I hadn’t felt challenged recently. And this was it for me. I should add, I’m not writing this blog from a place where I thought I would be writing it. I’m lying on my couch, the same place I have been most of the day working. This merging of home and office is a bit hazy sometimes. But I’m not mad about it. I’m more accepting of the fact that we make plans, but the universe sometimes has something entirely different in mind.

As I end this blog, I’m curious about your reflections on ending the first half of 2021. Share your thoughts in the comments

Stay safe everyone. Cheers!

The featured image is by Yury Zap

“It takes a village to raise a child.”

A random incident that happened recently during a morning jog brought back some” interesting” teenage memories. You will know why I refer to them as interesting in a bit. Now to the incident. Those who have read my blogs in the past might recall my fascination with sunrises and sunsets. On this eventful morning, luck was on my side as I spotted the disappearing sunrise over a storeyed building. I stopped and climbed on a mound next to the road to have a better view and take a picture. It was in that stillness that I heard someone broadcasting over a megaphone from a distance. 

The message caught my attention. The broadcaster was talking about people who are taking advantage of children sexually especially girls during this period of an extended stay at home. “Most of you have children, both boys, and girls but I will focus on girls today, the shameless men that are waylaying them by roadsides or luring them to have sex in exchange for small gifts, imagine that was happening to your daughter,” he said.

This message was profound because working in the children’s/youth space especially the vulnerable ones, I have a better understanding of challenges affecting them especially in the current environment of COVID19. Violence against children/youth in all forms is at its highest and this is where sexual abuse falls. This raises questions, where have we gone wrong as a society, is today’s parenting efficient, are children being sheltered enough, do they have information that will help them make better decisions about their lives and so many questions.

As a teenager, I had no idea of what the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” meant but I do as an adult and reflecting on several incidents that happened during those curious teen years, it was because of that “village”/ community that I am the person you know today and able to share such stories with you.

The teenage love affair

Image source: dreamstime.com

I grew up in a small village/town in western Uganda where everyone knew each other. People knew which child belonged to which family and all that (they still do). This was very problematic for a teenager with raging hormones, a curiosity to explore, and a desire for freedom. I was in a single-sex secondary school and whenever we went home for the holidays, I thought that would be time for me to be free and create memories that we would trade amongst ourselves when school resumed. But how do you make memories with helicopter parents and in a small town where everyone seemed to mind everyone’s businesses but their own. What do I mean by this? If between walking from home in the trading centre to the village where the farms and gardens are, I met someone and stopped to chat, somehow that news would get home before I did, and the reporting was always biased to if this person happened to be a boy. Because of the fear of how my parents would react, interactions with the opposite sex were minimal until…….

Enter Boy X! X was a handsome young man, a few classes ahead of me and he went to Ntare School, I was in Bweranyangi Girls. There was a pairing of boys and girl schools and Ntare was our match so to find out that X went to that school, I thought we were a match paired in school heaven. A few brief meetings happened, and this was usually on the route between my home and the village, letters were exchanged, and life was beautiful until one of the letters was discovered by my parents. Until then, I had been denying the reports my parents had been receiving about being spotted with boy X. I was given stern warnings to stay away from him. “That boy is a bad influence for you, he smokes, sometimes he is in the bar with us (another problem of small towns, everyone converges in the same place).” My dad had said. I didn’t care for the warnings and maybe his bad-boy behaviour was also part of his charm for the innocent and naïve me. Things came to a head one evening when my parents left me at our shop on one end of the town on their way to visit some friends and I had told them, I was closing and going home (on another end of the town). I closed the shop, went home, and after having dinner with my siblings we decided to hang on the verandah. X happened to pass by, and I went to chat a little and we had walked a few metres away from home when my parents returned, and they spotted me. I saw the car pass by and quickly ran back home to find my dad boiling with anger. They thought I had been hanging with X since the time they left the shop (for over 3 hours), and I received an earful of warnings and a hot slap that I remember to date. Somehow that teenage affair fizzled out and I feared boys for a long time because I didn’t want to land in trouble with my parents. Unfortunately, X‘s life didn’t turn out great, he dropped out of school among other things I don’t wish on anyone. I cannot help wondering how my life would have turned out had that affair not ended if “my village” hadn’t been keen on watching out for me.

Raising of Children/teenagers Today

Times have since changed, the concept of a “village” raising a child is out of date because today’s parents/caregivers are busier than ever, often leaving home in the wee hours of the morning and returning late in the night. In villages, this concept of being each other’s children’s keepers may still exist to an extent but it’s more alien in urban centers by nature of the setup, usually gated houses and people barely knowing their neighbors. What doesn’t this mean then? What’s the fate of the Ugandan/child or teenager? In my upbringing instilling fear seemed to do the trick but I do not think that’s the way to do things. Teenage love and relationships can thrive but only if the parties involved have enough information about life to navigate the affair without putting any one’s future in jeopardy. Plus, today, communication is a lot easier, and children/teenagers can afford to be sneakier and get away with a lot. Different parents/caregivers have varied parenting mechanisms, but I think the approach of having conversations with children from the time they can comprehend issues is the better approach. It’s important that children have enough information, that you make them your friends so that when things get confusing, they can always approach you and be assured of a safe space to talk through things and make better decisions for their lives.

In these confusing times of Covid19, being at home indefinitely has completely disrupted the lives and emotions of children and youths making them highly vulnerable. This means that they are highly susceptible to fall victim to people out to take advantage of them as they grapple with trying to make sense of everything happening around them. The perverts in the communities are many and some may even present as family members which complicate things further for children.

This piece is not to cause despair but to hopefully make us think about the aforementioned. It’s never too late to adopt practices such as being keepers of our neighbours’ children/youth whenever possible while at the same time ensuring that our own have a safe environment at home to thrive despite the challenging times.  

Feel free to add your thoughts to this, and if any teenage memories come to mind, I would love to hear/read them.

Stay safe!

How to overcome barriers to success

Lynda Nabayinda Were is a Customer Care Service Director at Airtel Uganda, co-founder of Ascenify Uganda Ltd (a Personal Development and Performance Management consultancy firm), Director Shiloh Wines, a mother to 3 girls, a wife, a Toastmaster, a Rotarian and has most recently added “published author” to her growing list of accomplishments.

Lynda loves gardening, travelling, reading books and novels and socializing. Her least favorite chore is cooking and says it requires several small activities to complete one task.

Lynda joined the coveted group of Authors with her debut book titled: Break Through Success- Overcome Every Limitation. The book which she refers to as the labour of love and features the renown Matt Morris among other authors.

Lynda in the picture and below is an excerpt from her book

“Sophie was right!

I was juggling everything and going about my life achieving small time successes here and there. To the outsider, I was flying high. On the inside, the successes were minimal, I was starting to crash.” an excerpt from the book.

I caught up with Lynda to chat about her book and get the behind the scenes to getting this book published.

Tell us about your book.

In the book, I share the story of my struggles with trying to stay productive, feeling accomplished while taking on a lot. I chose to write about productivity because I believe that like myself, there are many people that have a hard time juggling life and everything that comes with it. In the book I share five things I stopped doing, new habits I picked up that caused a great shift and put me on a path to living a more balanced life and I titled my story “the power of choices”.  The book also carries a collection of other people’s stories and they are personalities with different dreams, it features their ambitions, their struggles and how they eventually broke through it to achieve success. The contents of this books are all personal accounts, and my hope is that as people read the book, that there is a story they resonate with that can help them to introspect and be able to overcome whatever barrier is in the way of achieving their goals.

This being your first book, where did you get the idea to do it and what informed your writing this genre of book.

Productivity and the power of choices is a pregnant topic but also something most people grapple with. The struggle to do it all, for instance being a super mother and wife, present friend, and sister, among other things while excelling at work or in business is an uphill task.  From trying to juggle too much, you find yourself dropping the ball on somethings which may be very important. I had such a moment and it’s what inspired this book.  My mentors often told me about the choices we make, how we spend our time and who we spend it with and the essence of time being the biggest resource. I figured that if I could manage my time better, I would start seeing major positive changes in my life and these are the snippets detailed in the book.  Also, an ardent reader, somewhere on this reading journey I have been inspired and knew I would write a book one day. I just did not know it would be in 2020 but an opportunity to co-author with Matt Morris happened and it was too good, I had to do it. He is one of my mentors for my online business.

What authors do you like to read? What book or books have had a strong influence on you or your writing?

I don’t segregate books, I read romance, self-help, motivation books, name it.  My moods usually determine the kind of book to read. When I am highly stressed, I read romances because they are dreamy and uplifting. While on leave/vacations I read detectives and thrillers. The motivational/self-help books fall into my everyday hourly reading.  The books I have recently read and recommend include: The secret by Rhonda Byrne, The GO-GIVER by Bob Burg, The Bell is Ringing by Martin Aliker, Sizzle by Julie Garwood and Claiming the Highlander by Kinley MacGregor.

What was your writing schedule like? Were you writing notes in a book or typing on a computer?

 I had a steady routine mapped out for the writing but it was also based off the deadline given by the publisher. I devoted about one hour per day usually after 9pm to the late hours of the night. I did all the writing on a computer.

What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?

I had to think and reflect on so many of my experiences to arrive on this topic.  The editors had suggested personal stories and that came with great introspection plus I knew it had to be something worthy of sharing with people. While several experiences came to mind, I zeroed down on productivity. I did this writing also for myself to keep me accountable to the new habits I picked up and to check myself often to see that I am still on track. At the back of mind, I kept thinking, I needed to write something I would read.

Writing and publishing is a vulnerable venture. You put out your thoughts, story out for the world to judge. How do you deal with bad or good reviews?

I have done a lot of personal development over the years and I am cognizant that while some people will resonate with my story, others may not connect with it. There is the issue of tastes and preferences and I respect that. However, being a new author, I still have a lot to learn so both the good and negative feedback is good learning for the next writing projects.  Nonetheless, I am so proud that my story is out there now.

Who was your greatest support system as you worked on this book and how did they support you?

My sister Susan was my biggest supporter and reviewer of ideas, text editor and everything that came to mind.  She was patient with me and was supportive all the way. There was also another friend who read the story before I sent it to the editors in the US. I was also amazed by the editors I worked with at Success Publishing . They were especially reassuring when moments of self-doubt crept in. It also helped that the writing instructions were very elaborate and clear from the start which helped a great deal with structuring the content.

Do you believe in writer’s block?

I do. In fact, there is another book I started before this one but it’s still in the works. I have been working on it for 2 years now but its currently being edited. I did not struggle much with this one because it was a personal story not a work of fiction.

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

Just one. It is a collection of stories of people from different walks of life that were impacted positively by the good deeds of one woman. I am hoping to be done with it by end of 2021.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Get started, have an accountability person, and get a writing coach especially if you are clueless about writing. Join a writing club and learn from people’s experiences. Writing a book and completing it is a daunting task and requires self-drive more than anything. Actually, there is saying I learnt of as I worked on this book that out of 100% people who dream of publishing a book, only 1% get to follow through with it. I was equally motivated by not wanting to be part of the number that stays with the idea and never gets something out. Have a target and give yourself a timeline of when you should have the draft out.

Any last thoughts for our readers?

I was amazed by the pool of local talent available in publishing. This was after I dug deep, asked question because when I started writing I struggled and did not know where to get help.  Once I started to look, I learnt of organized writing retreats, coaches, editors available and a whole load of books by Uganda authors. However, a lot more publicity needs to be done by the industry because there are many people that can use these services, some do not even know they need them but once they become aware of the availability, it could change the writing and publishing landscape in Uganda.  

I also think writing is not promoted enough for the young generation and there are not many forums recognizing local young talented writers. We could do more short story writing competitions for different age groups to make young people embrace and explore their talents at a young age.

Where can people find and purchase your book?

My book can be found in Aristoc and can also be bought off Amazon via link.

Hiking Rwampara hills

It was dubbed an easy hike! Easy sounds good to the ears and doesn’t stretch of the imagination beyond a leisurely walk and unchallenging climbing. But was it really an easy hike, read on and be the judge.

We left the campsite at Rwekishokye Country Club in Mbarara by a bus that dropped us off at Katukuru church of Uganda near the foothills. We were met with a group of local tour guides dressed in orange reflector jackets.

Introductions were made, and one of the elderly tour guides shared a brief history of the tallest hill we meant to summit that day, Kyempara. He mentioned that it derived its name from the wild Impalas that inhabited the hill many years ago. The story that followed was even more fascinating, for me at least. The hills were also known to have been grounds for demigods or Bachwezi as they are commonly referred to. He intimated that back in the day, they would see big fires spreading across the hills in the night, however, the next day, the grass would still be green as though nothing happened. Anyone who has grown up in Ankole has likely heard similar tales about Bachwezi in addition to studying about them in primary school Social Studies.

We started walking and quickly fell into easy steps on a pathway through a banana plantation which ushered us into the main road. We moved on a relatively flat road, a spring in my step, and a silent cheer from banana plants urging us forward. It was also nice that I could speak the local language, so we exchanged greetings; orire ota, orire gye to mean did you sleep well? This gave me a homey feeling. Before long, we got off the road and onto a path that was also the start of our ascent on the first hill. This is where the natural selection between amateurs and the experienced hikers starts happening.

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Ascending on the first hill

You could almost see the top of the hill and despite being steep, looked rather short but lo and behold! Climbing it was an extreme sport that required putting one foot forward, steadying it before dragging the next one. The hike dubbed easy was not being easy after all and by the time I got to the top of that hill, I was drenched in sweat. From the top , we could see endless hills from near and far looking very majestic. We went over large rocks, through stone quarries, trees, under and over barbed wire in farms, and more banana plantations.

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The Second hill

This led to the ascent on the second and steeper hill. We made it to the top leading to a relatively flat walking stretch that led through a banana plantation and opened into a garden of Irish potatoes mixed with ground nuts. We then crossed through several farms that led to a garden of beans, jumped over barbed wire, and ended up into another banana plantation. It almost felt like we were walking in circles, but we trotted on through it, and below it lay a clearing where we had our first big rest. It was also snacking time, catching several breaths, and taking pictures as we waited for the group that was behind to catch up. The next leg of the hike was ushered in by a tale with a point of interest being a black stone.

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Waiting to go over a fence

The mystery of the black stone

A few years ago, a young man woke up to his usual routine of stone quarrying, but little did he know that his entire life would be altered. He walked up the hill near his home, spotted this black stone, and decided he would work with that one that day. I bet the tempting devil in the stone was calling out to him. He started cracking it with his tools and apparently, an elderly lady came by and told him to leave that particular stone alone. He had responded that he was a big man and could crack any stones he wanted. While he worked, he spotted a small black snake that he tried to kill but it had disappeared before his eyes only to realize later that the said snake had entered his body into his stomach. He was taken to a hospital that presented a medical mystery to the doctors. They couldn’t fathom how a snake could live inside of a human being, but they could see it. No amount of food would be enough for him because he was eating not just for himself but also for the creature that had taken over his body. I imagine some of you might call this a tall tale but there is video evidence because this story was covered by Bukedde TV. How this young man ended you’ll learn as you read on.

This wild tale was relayed to us by one of the guides as he pointed to a small tree in a distance as the resting place of the “famous stone,”.

Trekking to the black stone

We descended the hill, walked through banana plantations, trees, crossed a mini bridge onto a dirt road where we walked a small distance before we got off and onto a feeder road.

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We hiked through a rocky hill and amidst a mass of rocks lay the famous “black stone”.  Wondering how it looks and if it has some mischievous look to it or something unique to it, it doesn’t. It was not even black. It’s as ordinary as the thousands of rocks that surround it, but I wouldn’t dare touch it.

The Famous stone!

We took in the sights of the valleys below us and the hills in a distance. By the time we descended back to the main road, many people were knackered and decided to call it. They were done hiking and time check, a few minutes after 2 pm. Distance traveled, not more than 12 kilometers.

View of the valley from the hill that has the black stone

I need someone to explain to me how distance works when it comes to mountains and hills because it doesn’t make sense. You’ll hike a distance that will almost leave your legs in shreds only to realise that it was barely a kilometer but oh hey, the views from the top are always so rewarding.

We had a bit of rest of close to an hour and lunch before few of us embarked on the hills again. The guides were reassuring saying the next phase of the hike was going to be mostly a flat ground. And while it wasn’t a steep climb, it was far from being an easy one. Slowly into farms, we walked, gardens, skipped over fences, through trees, went around the winding hills. I lost track of how many hills we had been over and couldn’t help wondering about the missed chance of returning to camp earlier. The guide pointed out to a hill further ahead indicating that was our destination but there was no straight way to it. Laden with exhaustion, I heard the person behind me say that peer pressure had influenced him to do the second leg of the hike and for me, it was the fear of missing out. Such musings of tired heads and legs, very hilarious.  Despite our varying motivations for pressing on, there we were, struggling but walking on. My motivation was the music that the person I was following was playing and for as long as I could hear the beats from a distance, I felt that was a sign of life left in me and I could walk on.

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While this place looks relatively flat, it was no walk in the park

We eventually arrived in a trading centre where we took a few minutes to rest, and we were off again to another steep climb. That was the last leg, and it was brutal on the body that was already beat. The music had since stopped because the blue tooth speaker had retired with its battery’s dead.  The song that started playing in my head was “are we there yet!” We were not. The sun shined so brightly, but I wished for rain to cool my overheating body down. We went through a plantation and guess what, when we emerged from it, the endpoint was in sight. We had arrived at Itaba.

We learnt that that spot was sacred ground because it used to be home to Bachwezi. We also saw different historical artifacts as we listened to tales of Bachwezi, how they communicated with human beings, their power of healing, and a lot more. If you want to know more, you’ll have to do some hiking in Rwampara.

Remember the man with the snake in his stomach from earlier in the story, he moved around with it for days until they brought him to Itaba. Here a traditional healer managed to rid him of the snake, and it crawled away. Don’t ask me where to, I didn’t ask.

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Photo with the amazing tour guides

About the locals

Due to the nature of the hilly terrain, there are few roads that vehicles can use. Most places are accessed through walking on feeder roads. The locals practice farming of various food crops majorly bananas, in some areas they grow grapes and carry out stone quarrying.

The walk down from Itaba was very empowering having learned more history about my culture than any school ever taught me. This whole hike reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend a while back about veering off the paths of touristy places to get into communities and areas that are not often popularized for visiting. Such places surprise you just like Rwampara did with its welcoming locals, its rich history, and of course the beauty of its scenery.

Credit goes to Mountain Slayers of Uganda for digging out these hidden gems of places around the country, organizing hikes, and enabling people like me to experience the wonders of the pearl of Africa. Should you want to hike one of these days, check Mountain slayers Uganda website to find out when the next hike will be.

That evening, the skies were lit with stars, and it was a sight to see. I felt it was a reward in way because I had looked out for them in vain the the previous night, but here they were showing off. Mountains and hills challenge us and remind us of our mortality, but they also reaffirm our resilience and bravery to live life.

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Recapping my recent field trip

He handed her a five-liter jerrycan cut in half, she stretched out her hand and received it, a deep shy smile wedging itself on her face. I know none of you witnessed this scene but believe me when I tell you that it was a “love moment” like we see in the movies. Except this was not in a fancy restaurant, office, or anywhere you would imagine. It was in a swampy area seemingly in the middle of nowhere. From a distance, I could see women and young girls digging through the swampy mash in search of catfish. Children had gathered around to see the camera’s that followed Irene’s (not real names) family to document some of the activities that happen in their daily life. I craned my neck to peep into the jerrycan that Irene had received from her husband and was met with a sight piled catfish wiggling tails. Back to the “moment” that had flashed before my eyes, it was brief and seemingly insignificant to everyone else but in that moment, that exchange was very significant.

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From left, Irene(not real names) her eldest daughter and her husband digging for catfish. This is an activity that is done by both men and women in this community- Kidetok, Serere district

The conversations we had had with Irene while at her home before leaving for the swamp, her description of a typical day , what the husband did and how he supports her and the family , all this came to life in that one moment. It was a gesture that symbolized a lot. No words were said in the exchange but it was how the gesture of provision was received. In my interpretation, Irene was saying, I see you and appreciate your efforts. And for the 3- 4 hours we spent with that family, following them around as they went about their activities, I could feel the love and mutual respect this couple had for each other and their three children.

This is despite the challenges and vulnerability this family experiences. Their eldest daughter a six-year-old has never been to school because the family cannot afford Ugx 10,000 that is required per term. They plough their small piece of land growing cassava and potatoes that is just enough for the family to have at least a meal per day. They provide casual labour such as weeding rice gardens to earn some money. They wish their circumstances can change for the better and they harbor dreams. Irene hopes that her children can get an education, get jobs, earn money and raise the family’s standards of living.

This is just a snippet of experiences and stories of everything we captured . We met with several families each one with unique energy and challenges, but one thing was synonymous; it was the warmth with which we were received, the stories, and the smiles of children that make this kind of work special.

It is these experiences that made the early mornings and waking up to be on the road at 6 am to work with the morning light while taking pictures worth it. I was on this assignment with my field-based colleagues from Partners for Children Worldwide and Mbale Area Federation of Communities; Emma, Peter and Aisu.  We worked with a talented photographer, shout out to you Boas, you can check out his work here. And to learn more about what this content we were documenting would be used for check out the ChildFund website.

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Getting the right shots.. Boas in action.

You guys, I picked up a few phrases in the Teso language and it was so cool. Yoga means “Hello” and Eyalama noi means “thank you“. Talk of great ice breakers when meeting families, these two phrases and a couple more served me really well.

For instance, when we visited this family that had an orchard of oranges. The trees laden with ripe fruit made for a great shade as we conducted interviews.  And as you can imagine I had a taste of those oranges and my goodness, those were some of the sweetest and freshest oranges I ever ate. From the tree to my mouth. I was singing Eyalama noi noi noi.

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These oranges are as tasty as they look

There was a family that had this grandmother who was so excited to welcome us into her home, her joy was infectious. I recall her greeting me, and I responded, and she went on until I exhausted the few Teso words I had picked up, but she was a good sport about it and let me be when I kept answering noi noi noi. She reminded me of my late grandmother. Grandmothers are the best.

From Soroti to Sironko where we visited families in hilly areas of Simu community, passing through rice fields in Budaka, and catching beautiful sunsets in Mbale, what can I say, it was all wonderful. Most of you might know of my love for sun sets and sunrises (its almost an obsession) so those were a special treat. We even spotted a small waterfall in Simu, but it was far off from where we were to check it out but next time I am in the area, I am going all the way to Siipi falls in Kapchworwa. That is the waterfall I am hoping to see soon. Hope you enjoyed this recap but for now the only travel I am doing while working remotely is around my house and though mostly stationery its all part of this long, exciting journey and I am on for the long ride.

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Share is these Sunrises and sunsets. Ist pic is a sun setting in Serere, sun rising in Soroti, sun setting over Mbale town and lastly, sunrise over River Simu in Sironko district.

Until next time, Eyalama noi!

Go boldly in the direction of your dreams

Time check: Its 9:54 pm and I am writing my first blog post of February 2021. This post was inspired by a movie I watched this Morning (Sunday 7^th). The main character, Vanessa is a writer for a magazine and her only chance at getting a promotion hangs on getting the better story for their next issue and outshining all her competition. She got a scoop but required a level of boldness to pursue it. The movie titled “Just My type” is of romance genre and if this is your cup of tea, check it out.  Apart from the “feel good story” what caught my attention was the mantra Vanessa had on her notebook cover “Go boldly in the direction of your dreams, live a life you imagine by Henry David Thoreau.” This quote also informs the storyline of the movie.

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The quote jogged my memory to a discussion I had a with a friend on Saturday afternoon. She is trying to start a business with another friend and between that and her normal job it feels like she is being pulled in a thousand directions. She was being plagued by thoughts of she is probably not giving the business enough, and a strong urge to quit the whole thing kept nagging at her. Knowing how passionate she is about that business, its prospects and how it would change her life, I could not help citing for her all the motivational quotes I have come across about not quitting especially when things seem difficult.

So dear friend, this blog post is for you as much as it is for me being that I have had such moments and for anyone else feeling the same way. As the mantra “Go boldly in the direction of your dreams, live a life you imagine” echoed over and over in my head and flashed before my eyes as I watched the movie, I was also having mental flashes of all the times I have been timid instead of being bold. Because sadly, timid people/people who are not bold live life as is not as they imagine it. When I think of being bold right now, I think of overcoming my mind when its telling me, I can do something tomorrow when I can get it done today. But this is me, what does being bold mean for you right now and what will do about it this week??

It also helps to get reminders like the mantra aforementioned which helps us get back on track when we are falling off or taking unnecessary long rests. Hopefully, this time we stay on and get to the finish line where we actually live the life we imagine because we have done the work to get us there.

I am also comforted by the fact that we are in February, so in away we still starting off 2021 so we can restart the clock today and do better at motivating ourselves to keep going, to silence the negative voices prompting us to quit and to have the end goal in mind always which is the life we imagine! So here is to pursuing it and living it boldly.

When you bet on yourself, you win big

“Always bet on yourself” said Dr. Erika James the Dean of Wharton Business School during an interview on Good Morning America when asked for the single piece of advice she would give young people. This was during her initial days in office as the first woman and first African American to lead the Wharton School in its history.

I am making a reference to this interview because the person whose story we are delving into is a story of betting on oneself. I first met Stella in early 2018 on a bus to Nairobi for a class that we were going to take together and today I call her a dear friend.

This 27-year-old is a ball of energy, she is smart (physically and intellectually) wears a smile as her best outfit and is ready to conquer the world one step at a time. Stella works with Hill & Knowlton Strategies a global communication agency as a PR Account Executive. She has experience working with global and local brands such as Emirates, Coca-Cola, Viacom Inc, Wefarm, Catholic Relief Service, dfcu Bank, Uganda Red Cross Society, and the Presidential Initiative Skilling the girl Child- a project under the Special Presidential Advisor.

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  Meet Stella

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Who is Stella Athieno?

I am a fun-loving Christian and a communications maven. I like nature and the outdoors but at the same time I am a homebody, and you will find me huddled with a book or movie at home. I lean towards romantic literature for leisurely reading. I love music and can’t help but groove when the music possesses my body. I love being around positive people. I am a sucker for spontaneity – I don’t like planning too much of my life because it steals all the fun.

What is your spirit animal?

An eagle. I love that eagles are unafraid; they fly so high and are very powerful. I am an eagle flapping my wings, flying and positive that I will reach greater heights beyond my imaginations.

Tell us about your family?

I come from a closely knit family of three, me being the last born. Surprisingly, I don’t come off as such: People always tell me that I do not have last born traits. To an extent this is true because I had to mature so fast and started fending for myself at an early age.  I come from a loving humble home in Busia. I grew up watching both my parents run the family restaurant of which they have since retired from. The restaurant and farming on the side was our main source of income.

High School life

Throughout high school, I went to one school, Great Aubrey Memorial College. During my time there, I excelled and was able to secure partial scholarships that enabled me complete school. This helped reduce the school fees load on my parents.

I still recall, after my O’level. I had hoped to change schools. I wanted to experience a new environment away from home but alas. Fate didn’t allow it, so I ended up in the same school. Don’t get me wrong, of course I loved it at Aubrey, it’s just that as young person, sometimes you yearn for the unknown.

I had hoped to go to Rock High school but that would cause a financial strain at home. I remember at one point my dad suggesting I join a teachers College. I was disappointed, but I also knew that he was trying to make the best out my circumstances. I have nothing against teachers, but I dreamt of being a lawyer or journalist and nothing else. My mother on the other hand supported my joining A’ level and said she would support me with whatever decision I made. As an ambitious girl, I was so adamant on joining A’ level because it was my ticket to the University.

Despite being awarded partial scholarships at the school. I still struggled with meeting the remaining half of the school fees sometimes. I started rearing hens, pigs, and planting vegetables that I would sell, sometimes to my parents for their restaurant to raise the fees balance and money for buying scholastic materials.  I was always optimistic and not even these challenges affected my performance, or the way I related with my friends in school and the teachers. I had great relationships with the teachers and especially the Headmistress at the time, Madam Grace. She was so good to me and she went out of her way to support me. At times she was the visitor I received on visitation days when my parents never made it.

At the end of senior six, I did not fill in the university entry forms because my faith waivered. I did not think it was necessary because from the situation at home, with my brother at the university at the time there was no more money for my tuition. Interestingly, when the results came out at the start of 2013, I was one of the best in my school with 18 points but because I had not filled in university forms, I was not eligible for government scholarship. 

Leaving home

At 19 years of age, I left home to find work because I knew I was not doing a direct entry to university. As soon as senior six vacation started, I was pestering my brother who was at university at the time to bring me to Kampala so that I could find a job. He finally yielded and connected me to his friend who also came from our village to host me while I tried to find a job. The day I arrived; I was mesmerized by kaleidoscope of city lights. Traffic was at its peak and I wondered where all these cars where going to.

It wasn’t my first time in the city, but it was my first time alone. The city was very busy, and the noise was deafening compared to what I was accustomed to. Tightly holding to my bag and a strong resolve, I was very determined to find my way around It and most importantly get job.

The next day first thing in the morning after settling in with my brother’s friend, I was out for the day walking the streets of Kampala looking for jobs. My typical day involved walking around town and knocking on doors to see who was hiring. I tried finding a casual job at factories, but the people would be so many, I gave up on those.

First job

I got a casual job at National housing flats in Bugolobi. I was helping with sandpapering the walls and cleaning the houses after construction. It made my hands very rough but at the same time, the working conditions were becoming less favorable by the day, so I quit after 2 weeks.  I came across a painter who was working on new houses in Naguru, and he gave me an opportunity to clean the houses after he finished painting. This helped with the cash flow for a while.

One random evening, I found a job advert poster pinned on an electric pole, I reached out on the contact numbers and they asked me to go for interviews at Centenary Park

I went for interviews and the job was for waitressing at the Shangri-la Hotel branch at centenary park. I got the job, and the pay was better.  I started renting on my own in Naguru, saved some of the earnings, shared with my siblings and sent some to my parents. After 8 months on the job, I was frustrated and not because of the job but the stress of knowing that despite being eligible to join university, I hadn’t been able to. My future seemed bleak.  I resigned from the job.

As I sat in my rental, I realized I had two options, to go back to work so I could afford rent or return home to Busia. However, before I could make the hasty decision, I got a temporary job selling Coke products at UMA showground during a trade show.  At the end of the two weeks, I got some good money that sustained me for a while but then I realized I needed a full-time job. I called my former manager at Shangri-la Hotel about rehiring me and they gave me an opportunity at the main branch in Nakasero.

That was a turning point in my life because from then on life started getting better. The year 2014 was off to a great start and I would get weekly paycheck, but It was not enough. I still carried a longing to further my education, but the work shifts at the hotel were not flexible enough. I worked for 6 months and in the seventh month I left Shangri-la for Kampala Club through the connections I had made.

Before I started working, I explained my circumstances to the hotel manager, and we agreed that I would work night shifts so I could be able to study during day.

At the time, my mother had heard that Kampala International University was advertising scholarships and she asked me to apply.  Fortunately, I got a partial scholarship from the university and had to pay the rest which ranged from UGX 800,000 to – 1M per semester. In August 2014, I joined the KIU to study a bachelor’s degree in journalism and Communication.

Life at the university

At the start of the semester, I was commuting between Naguru to university, then Kampala Club at night and back to my place. The commute between the three places was tedious so I took up the offer to stay in the staff quarters offered at Kampala Club. It was easier to move between Kansanga and Kampala Club and at the same time I was saving some money.

 In second year, I started renting in Kansanga with a roommate. I was also the class representative so I would coordinate with the lecturers when they were coming to teach and plan my schedule with work accordingly. I was always in discussions while at university and I guess my classmates never understood why but I knew that daytime was my only time to read. Once I left the university gates, I wouldn’t have any other minute to read. I was working six days and took rest on Sunday.

Kampala Club was a great employer and they supported me however they could. Sometimes I would get salary advance to pay tuition and they also provided an option to get a bank loan and the hotel would pay it back off the salary. I survived mostly on tips from customers because there are months when the salary would not be enough everything, so the daily tips helped a lot.

From my experience, tipping waiters and waitresses is a grand gesture. That tip however small or big can mean a lot to someone. If you able to part with something after a great service do it.

I must also confess that during this time, I kind of lost my way from God because I didn’t not understand why I had to struggle so much. So, I stopped going to church.

While in in second year at University I connected with Ambrose Kibuuka a council member of KIU. He had also authored a book, After University, what Next. His book challenged me, and he said that he saw a deep hunger in me of wanting to make it in life. He introduced me to the Head of Public Relations of the University, Alex. I started volunteering with PR department as the Assignment Editor for the campus magazine and PR Associate.  This opportunity opened me up to the vast possibilities of what I could do with my journalism degree.

I used to gather content for the campus magazine, “Giraffe” and this gave me access to campus events and meetings.

Highlight of working with Giraffe

I did several stories for the Giraffe but one of the most significant ones I did was the first interview I had with the Director of Research at the time Professor George William Nasinyama. It was a bit surreal knowing that I had the audience of one of the most important people at the university. It was a very empowering experience.

 I was also the president of the Mass Communication department at KIU which gave me exposure.  I must say, when I started working for the PR department, I was curious and looking for other avenues to learn so I sought out Public Relations Association of Uganda (PRAU PRAU and it’s also through this association that I learnt of Professional Public Relations Diploma offered by the Chattered Institute of PR UK. Though my work at the university was purely voluntary work, I learnt so much in terms of writing, I got mentorship in Public Relations and a certain level of exposure that boosted my confidence. 

When I graduated in 2017, I knew I needed a better and full-time paying job to support my dreams like pursuit of the PR diploma which was a costly undertaking. I still maintained my job at Kampala Club, so I started saving up. At the start of 2018, an uncle gave me a top up to my savings which I used to make the initial payment for the CIPR course that I undertook in Nairobi.

Making bold moves

I always dreamed of working with the Uganda Red Cross, so I reached out to the Secretary General via twitter expressing my interest in working with them. He gave me the contact of the Communications Coordinator, Irene and luckily, she agreed to meet with me.

When we met, I shared with her what I could potentially do for them with my experience working under the KIU PR department and the knowledge I had gathered from CIPR classes.

I was recruited on a three-month contract as the Donor Reporting and Knowledge Management Officer in June 2018. This involved preparing and organizing reports from the field. This was my day job and at night I did my shifts at Kampala Club.

I knew nothing would come easy, so I was committed to doing all the work since I my biggest support system. To date I am the biggest investment I have ever made.

At the end of the three months stint, Red Cross extended my contract but around the same time I had also received two other fulltime job offers. I took the offer from Hill & Knowlton a Public Relations Agency and that’s where I have been to date.  

What’s your typical workday like?

Since March 2020 we have been working remotely. At 9:30 am every day, we have a team meeting to discuss client’s priorities and deliverables for the day.  My primary accounts are Emirates, dfcu Bank, Viacom, and Coca Cola Beverages Africa but I also support with other clients’ needs that the agency manages.  A little back story about Coca Cola, during the two weeks I worked with them at a trade show in 2013, I silently wished I would work with them and here we are today, the universe listened and brought Coca Cola to me. It’s incredible.

Back to my day, the meeting lasts an hour after which I take meetings with clients, do briefs with them, updates on what we are working on etc. My work involves a lot of writing, research for clients, stakeholder management, event planning, making pitches and developing plans for all sorts of things. I take breaks in between, rest up and work stops at 5pm. However, my days are never the same because of the diversity of my client’s needs and industries so everyday there is something new and exciting to be done.

Advice to anyone who wants to work in a PR Agency.

• If you don’t love writing don’t go to an agency, there is lot of content development.
• Be a strategic thinker, good at networking and maintaining relationships.
• Be honest and keep your word, do not make promises you can’t keep because it can do so much damage.
• Do not work with a client you don’t believe in because you need to be motivated by the work you do and believe in it.
• You should be able to stand your ground and assert yourself where necessary.
• One should be quick on their feet and mind, should be able put in long hours when necessary and should be able to handle pressure.  It also important to prioritize your mental health while working in an agency or it can take its toll and break you.

Overall, Agency work is exciting, and you get to enjoy and experience some cool things depending on the clients you handle. By the mere fact that one gets to handle a diverse set of clients, you get different perspectives on life and you pick knowledge from each of clients you work with which makes one an all-round communicator. Agency opens you up to so much and it’s a great learning ground and with that experience you can work anywhere. We get lots of trainings and for my case, working for an agency that is global, we get lots of trainings and my networks have grown immensely.  

What does it take to be a good communications professional?

You need to be a good listener, writer, be great at expressing yourself clearly and well, read a lot. Do not restrict yourself to literature related to your work but all sort of things that challenge your thinking and outlook on life.

Be good at networking because PR is about relationships, use your brain, be teachable, and surround yourself with good mentors.

Life lessons

Apart from God, I am the second most important person and when you learn that it empowers you. When you learn to choose yourself, prioritize yourself and invest in yourself you’ll reap the benefits. I also think, it’s not enough to want the good things in life, but to always question yourself if you are doing things that improve you as person. This ranges from the kind of people you surround yourself with, your networks; spiritually, intellectually, and socially.

Dealing with self-doubt

I feel that we all deal with this in one way or another. For me I have had to focus on improving myself through education, learning more skills and reading more. Levelling up gives me confidence and diminishes the voice of self-doubt.

Importance of friendships

 My life wouldn’t be the same if someone didn’t pause to listen to me and invest in me with their time and resources. I believe in surrounding myself with people who are better than me, people who challenge me and people I can learn from.  I allow myself to be humble and to be natured. Your character can either break or build you. My experiences have taught me that you can have everything but if your character is flawed, people will not take to you. Kindness, generosity are important, the universe pays back in the same currency. I believe in living for more than myself.

Biggest take way from 2020

Holding all things constant, I grew so much in 2020. I had time to connect with God and myself. I got many consultancy gigs because of referrals from people. This also showed me that people see the potential in me, and I cannot wait to see what 2021 has in store.

Plans for the next five years

I see myself heading communications for a multinational organization/company and settled with a family. I will also be done my MBA that I am starting this year, will hopefully have some good investments and my consultancy will have grown.

I believe owning and telling one’s story is one of the most empowering experiences. With that said, I plan to do more profiles this year. If you have a story/ experience, and you care to share (must be personal), send me an email to brendacommaconsult@gmail.com. Let’s have a chat.

Bye Bye 2020, Hello 2021!

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The sunset pictures are but a small depiction of the things that put a smile on my face (like in the last pic) in my neighborhood.

At the beginning of 2020, I moved to a new neighborhood in Kampala (Rubaga division), a place that was so removed from places I was familiar with. I only knew it as an area I passed on my way out of Kampala going to the western part of the country. I was very anxious about the move thinking of: if my new landlord would be as nice as the previous one, if I would make friends in the new neighborhood, whether I would find a good place to jog whenever I was up to it, how I would have to cross through town to attend the regular meetings of a program I am part of, and several other things.

Fast forward to March 2020 when the world came to a standstill because of COVID19, I had plenty of time to get accustomed to my neighborhood, to get a jogging trail, hospitals like Mengo and Rubaga are within a walking distance from my home, that my neighbors were great, discovering a nice little bakery that makes the best bread, doughnuts, and pastries in Mengo opposite the hospital (Kadosh), that my workplace is a less than 10 minutes ride by motorbike and under 20 minutes in a car with no traffic. So, what was I fretting about? All my big worries at the start of the year seemed trivial because I was looking at my new neighborhood in a whole new dimension.

It is this same outlook that I carried forward to get me through the lockdown. Talk of adapting to working from home, attending meetings and events online from home, making new friends from the virtual engagements, solidifying friendships online, attending international meetings, this virtual life is quite something. I attended meetings in London, several in Kenya, and another in New York all in 2020. Yes, the realities of 2020.

In the same year, I had my very first camping trip courtesy of Mountain Slayers of Uganda an incredible experience with amazing people.

All the above is not to say that 2020 did not come without challenges, like everyone else, I had my fair share of them. And for everyone whose 2020 was marred by a lot of pain, loss, and all sorts of challenges, I am sending you virtual hugs but also congratulating you on overcoming. We are here in 2021 a sign of triumph over the challenges of the previous year, to build back up, to continue reinventing ourselves and adapting to whatever life throws at us because we are in it to win it. That is what I always tell myself.

I read a statement on a post by @thetravelingchels on IG that I found very profound : “All the problems of 2020 did not/may not have disappeared at the stroke of midnight going into 1st January 2021 (mine did not). But here is to hoping that we all find ways to see more moments of light in 2021 or better yet find ways to create them”.

This is all I hope for you dear reader and friend and as I end this post, I will leave below three things to think about, I will be thinking about the same!

1. Be brave, seek clarity so you do not move blindly, and be okay with asking for help.
2. Invest in yourself, grow, and get you to the next level. Let us dream when we are awake and chase our dreams relentlessly
3. Live life to the fullest. Humble reminder, we each have one life to live.

Happy New Year 2021!

The sunsets and sunrises of 2020

This was taken in Jinja early this year. Spot the Jinja bridge that goes the R. Nile

Time check, 6:40 am, date: 1^st December and I am peering through the door curtains looking over the trees and houses in the neighborhood and there it was. The glistening clouds lased with the disappearing golden sunrise. I live for these views. I cannot pinpoint the exact moment when I picked interest in sunrises and sunsets. It’s a mystery even to me. I just know that lately, when I am lucky to see it, I relish in that moment and if it were possible and I would stick in that place and watch it disappear over the horizon.

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1st picture was taken in Jinja over the railway tracks, second picture taken in my neighborhood here in Kampala, third picture taken as on my morning jog and the fourth it was taken in the evening still in my neighborhood. I have passed that tree countless times but I only noticed when it was illuminated by the sun.

But this is not how time works, its fleeting but I find the utmost joy in those few seconds when I stare up in the sky and marvel at the beauty of the sun. It always feels like an awakening reminder that I am alive, that life is colorful, bright, and golden just like the sun. I caught it disappearing this morning but still glad I got something, and I will take that as I welcome December, the last month of Tweny Tweny. We are finally here, and this year is going to be over, Huh!! I know I am excited, how about you?

My wish for you is to have a beautiful December that is sunny, colorful, and golden just like the sunsets or sunrises captured in pictures below. HAPPY NEW MONTH!

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1st picture taken in Jinja, 2nd picture was taken from my Village in Mitooma, 3rd picture was taken from my verandah here in Kampala (somewhere in Rubaga Division), the last three pictures were also taken in my neighborhood

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1st picture was taken in early morning Mitooma, second picture was taken in the evening on arrival to Bukasa Island on L. Victoria, 3rd picture was taken in Kitgum and the last picture was taken here in my neighborhood in Kampala.

Down memory lane, my CIPR journey

There is never a right time like now! I have been meaning to share something about my journey to obtaining the Chattered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) UK professional diploma since I graduated back in Mid 2019 but here, we go.

The things we enjoyed before COVID19 happed! This was during graduation last year in July at Makini College

I recall that bright and early morning in January 2018 aboard a Modern Coast Bus in Namayimba Bus Park ready for the day’s journey to Nairobi for classes the next day on a Saturday. Around that time, there was some tension between Kenya and Uganda and overnight buses were under a ban. The morning of our departure was chilly but I swelled up the anxiety, nerves, and excitement in anticipation of what was to come and what studying this course meant for my life. This was also going to be my second trip to Nairobi, and I was beyond elated. That city had made quite an impression on me during my first visit in 2017. Back to the journey, I recall one of my classmates, Tabitha chasing the bus all the way to somewhere past Mukono town from Kampala on a boda boda (motor bike). We still joke about it but that in itself was a testament to the determination and zeal we had for getting that coveted CIPR qualification. Thankfully, the overnight travel ban was lifted and monthly over night buses to and from Nairobi became our life for the 10 months we studied the course. We made it, all seven of us, the inaugural physical CIPR class of Uganda, and oh boy, it was a thrilling ride.

This was taken after our first class in January 2018 (From right, Paul, Moses, Tabitha, myself, Mwalimu Ann, Stella, Phoinah and Eddie )

Let me tell you a little about my tutors.

There was the energetic and bubbly course lead also commonly referred to as Mwalimu Ann, the easygoing Taiti, the calm Diana, the collected Dr. Marube, the jolly Ruth, and the storyteller Dr. Kamau. All these wonderful, knowledgeable, and highly experienced individuals brought a unique learning experience to each class. This is not forgetting the warm and welcoming Anne Karimi who supported us with the course logistics and ensured we were comfortable during classes.

The course assignments weighed heavily on us, buried us in research, and ohh the pressure of submission deadlines, I don’t know why I never did my assignments way in advance. But hey, we managed to turn them in eventually and we all passed. Most importantly, the classes were so much fun, experiential, and practical. We discussed PR campaigns in Uganda, learned a bit about the PR landscape in Kenya, discussed prominent global PR crises and campaigns and all this didn’t come with the usual pressure of learning as we know it from the early years of our education. The classes presented as long conversations with friends lased with an educational touch. We developed a better appreciation of the communications function, we learnt from each other’s work experiences and we grew not only in knowledge but our lenses through how we view life magnified. And, we explored and enjoyed the hustle full Nairobi but the tales of Nairobi outside of the classes need an independent article.

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In the 1st Picture: We attended a graduation of a Kenya CIPR class. Second picture, it was the graduation after party that gave us a snippet into the Nairobi night life

What has CIPR done for me?

I will tell you through a short story. The other day I had to work on a thought leadership article (commonly referred to as opinion articles) for the newspapers for one of my bosses at work and when I shared it for review, it didn’t come back marred in red with tracked changes and suggestions of edits. It had been sent back accompanied by a glowing compliment of how articulate it was and how it had captured the issues that were meant to be communicated eloquently. I had an aha moment and was hit with a sense of nostalgia back to when I wrote the first Thought Leadership Assignment for CIPR in early 2018. Never mind that I am a journalist by training with some years in the newsroom under my belt, but this was a different kind of writing and it not only enhanced my reasoning, it also deeply stretched my thought levels. It’s not just my writing and research skills that have improved, it’s the way I think, plan and execute my work day to day tasks with confidence and I credit CIPR for that.

I enjoy my work very much today because I see the impact of the communication outputs I have worked on with the support of my technical colleagues. The tasks are challenging sometimes but I am always comforted by the fact that I have a support group in form of former classmates that l call on and they will help by offering an alternative view of approaching a challenge and boom I will have a solution on my hands. It will be Stella saying but remember when Mwalimu Ann said ABCD, or Eddie saying but did you first stop to consider XYZ or Paul sending me a link to a relevant article to get more information and saying I’ll be here if you need any more support, I can go on and on.

In summary, CIPR opened me up to a world of endless possibilities, it sparked my curiosity of learning and above all, I am an empowered, and knowledgeable communications practitioner on a journey to greatness.

I will leave you with a few pictures of post class explorations

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Stella and I being touristy! This was right outside the Kenyan Museum. We had a fantastic time going around that humongous and history filled place.

Hiking on Bukasa Island

How well do I know my country? I find myself pondering on this every time I visit some place new on this motherland. This was the same question I was faced with over the independence weekend, fresh off the boat onto Bukasa Island. We arrived to a bright evening with the sun disappearing over the tiny houses near the landing site which is under Banabatya village. Forgotten was the fact that we had been on a boat for close to five hours and I was tired to the bone. This mood was gone with the waves as I stared at that sun set, the small and medium wooden boats docked on the shore, the egrets lining up from a distance as if saying “Tusanyuse okubalaba”. Such a welcome treat! The locals were there to help as we got off the boat stepped into the water and onto the dry land and carrying of our bags to the camping ground on top of a hill.

Banabatya village. The tiny white like dots around the boats and the shore are egrets

The camping ground had the most spectacular view. It over saw scattered small islands on the lake, an endless mass of water and land beyond. This being my second camping trip, I tried to recall the process of putting up a tent from the last trip, it came vaguely and a few things were put right u realized I needed help and help I got. Third time will be the charm and I promise to tell you about it.

Bags finally off the back, tent up, I was ready to chill.  The chief slayer had seen to it that there was tea to warm our bellies as we waited for dinner. It was special tea, I call it special because of what it was accompanied with, fruit! Watermelon and my favorite a pineapple but what a combination. Well, no one said they were to be taken together but I felt it was implied.  

Small talk, some good banter, and unwinding ensued as we drowned our week’s blues in the tea as it washed down our throats. Dinner followed and a bit of campfire sitting before I retired.

It was such a windy night and at some point, I felt as if the wind was attempting to lift and blow off the tent unsuccessfully. I had an uncomfortable sleep, tossed, and turned, and after 5 am decided to give up on sleeping altogether and worked on my Tall Tale speech for Toastmasters, thanks to the inspiration sparked by the eventful night.

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  This was after arrival on the camping ground. That view was insanely beautiful

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  This was a few minutes later after as sun went down

We had breakfast at the break of dawn after which we congregated for the hiking brief.  Our guides were introduced to us, a mix of middle-aged men and some young boys.

The hike/walk started by us going down a slope on a narrow footpath that had us staring in the face of the L. Victoria leading to the main road that went around the island. The highlight of the hike was winding down on Misindi beach and there would be a waterfall halfway through the journey. These two features I later gathered would be good motivation to keep me walking even when things got challenging.  

The road is well-graded and draped by trees on either side. Everything around us was so green and bursting with life. At this point,we were already broken into clusters based on walking paces and intentions on the road.  People go hiking for various reasons, for example mission on the hike was first,  not to give into temptation of taking a car of boda boda half way through the hike and to avoid that I would not rush at the start and tire so fast (from past experiences), secondly it was to settle with my thoughts and think through a few things that had been pressing on my heart and on my head, thirdly, to enjoy nature in its rawness, let my feet carry me as far as they could whilst enjoying the company of my pace makers.

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  The descent from camp at the start of the hike.
  (Pictures by Paul Lumala)

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For a second there, the above was forgotten as I tried to walk with the group that was leading the way to which I noticed my head was only focused on trying to keep up with everyone’s pace. I was panting within minutes of walking and the beauty on the sides of the road was going unnoticed. I had to catch myself and remember why I had really gone on that hike. I will pause this train of thought and tell you how I almost didn’t make the trip!

Here is what happened

Mountain Slayers of Uganda (MSU) released the trip details but being a guest, I had to wait a bit as they give members a priority. The day booking opened to guests seemed like every other person just like me was “on your marks ready, set, pay up”. All very eager and curious about Bukasa. By the time I tried to pay up, I was told the trip was full. After which it was intimated that I would be put on a “waiting list”.  Does this term seem familiar? To refresh your memories, you might recall the dreaded waiting lists of high school when your first choice school waitlisted you as they waited for their first choice students either not show up or something like that which would then create slots. It’s a dreaded place to be but thankfully for your girl, the universe willed it that I get off and bring you the tales of Bukasa. On that note, major shout to the chief hiker and all planners behind the scenes who made this happen.

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  Made it!

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  The endless waters of L. Victoria

Back to the hike

When I slowed down, I fell into step with another group somewhere in the middle and it then became a leisurely walk. I could even hear my thoughts which is exactly what I wanted. The route was mostly a winding flat stretch with one significant hilly area a few meters past what we were told was the member of parliament’s house. With the island very sparsely populated, the few houses you meet along the way, you remember, and this one had stuck out. It looked newly constructed with maroon framed glasses in the windows and the door.  

The thing I have noticed with seemingly flat roads/paths is that they lie. They seem easy to walk because your steps are consistent, there is no ascending or descending but you’ll realize that walking from where you are to a tree you see from a distance will take forever. You walk but it almost feels like you’re in the same place but of course, this changes many minutes later when you get to that feature you’d mapped out. You’ll talk, get talked out, fall into silence, down bottles of water because your body demands that from too much sweating, you watch your surroundings, nod at the locals, wave back at children on their verandahs looking curiously at these strangers in their land and occasionally catch sight of a structure that stands out like the wooden house dressed in all blue paint and then you walk some more. There will be hikers from the back that’ll pass you because you are starting to get weary and your body is not taking kindly to the heat of the sun, one of them will have a blue tooth speaker blasting to a tune that will tune your mind and carry you the next few minutes until the sound disappears if they are walking faster.

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 However, one thing stands out through all this hiking experience. It is the indescribable way everyone seems to maintain high spirits, and all-around positive energy that’s contagious that you will want to keep going despite the weariness.

We eventually got off the main road to a footpath in pursuit of the famous waterfall. We walked past a passion fruit garden, a garden of sugar canes, the tiredness had set in which made going down slopes an extreme sport. The lighter moment her was someone who was following pointing out to some wild lavender. I plucked a branch and kept teasing my nose with the scent which was a good distraction from the fact that the slope leading to the waterfall was never ending. We could see the lake so close but there was no sound of a waterfall and someone ahead mentioned that we could be lost in passing but who knew that to be true? I was had full trust in the guide plus you don’t want to entertain the thought of being lost and potentially increasing the distance you have to walk lest it became true. Keeping positive right! Guess what, we were indeed lost!  

Walking back up the hill was a literal uphill task in every sense and when we got to the top, we realized we had only missed the right way to the fountain by a whisker. There had been a crossroad and we had taken the wrong turn. The group that had made it to the falls without getting lost mentioned that it was a must-see. The decision was made easy by curiosity because how could I miss seeing the waterfall with my naked eyes after coming from so far…. Kampala..hehe.  That decided, we went down another steep slope, and there it was, Nanziri waterfall in her full water regalia falling off the rocks like a choreographed dance. It was pretty to watch and worth the slope.

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Meet Nanziri, the waterfall

Walking back up that steep hill was challenging but we made it out of there and the walking cluster had become leaner, we were three. We figured we didn’t have to wait for people we’d left at the water fall or those that passed us headed down as we ascended.  The route was confusing and at one point we didn’t know if we were on the right path back to the main road. We asked some children if a group of walkers had passed them and they confirmed it to be true, but we weren’t confident we were on the right path until we came by the passion fruit garden. That was familiar and reassuring.

Getting lost again

We got to the main road only to realize that there was no group of people ahead of us to follow as direction. Our consolation was knowing our next and final destination was a beach. Surely the locals knew that and could guide us easily. This turned out to be an interesting exercise because our assumption wasn’t very accurate, not many people knew where “the beach” was. The first family we asked at, we found a young girl of about 14 years who said she didn’t know about any beach which was unsettling to hear. The adventure was getting more adventurous because we were lost again. Did I mention that the cellphone network on the island is sketchy, for instance with my MTN line, my phone was as good as on airplane mode. We couldn’t do google maps or make phone calls, talk about complete technology unplugging, this was it. We had to trust that someone in one of the families we were passing by knew the way to the beach. The next family we went to ask for directions had someone older, a lady who said we’re on the right path. I should mention that this right path was the same road we’d used from camp but had gone ahead to the waterfall, passing by the branch off leading to the beach. I didn’t know this, but the apparent question lingering was, where was that turn? That was until a hiker passed on a bike and waved. Phewwwks, a familiar face but they had disappeared in a distance and we hadn’t seen where to because it was still far ahead.

That bike came back shortly, and we stopped him to ask for directions. Turns out we had inched closer to the turn off the main road and he pointed out that we would pass some shops, make a turn somewhere and the beach would be close. We found the shops thankfully, stopped to ask further for directions and we were well on our way, passed some rice gardens that ushered us into a large savannah. There was another cross path and we were torn on which one to take. There was no living soul in sight, but those two paths and we had to choose, we were lost again with no sense of direction! This seemed to be the overarching thing on this hike, getting lost but even this didn’t dampen our spirits. My two partners on this unchartered path were a good sport and were cracking jokes about the whole thing. We took one of the paths that seemed to lead to the woods but that couldn’t be it, it was leading into thickets.  We listened to any human sounds but all we heard were sounds of birds chirping.

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  Rice garden

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  Say hello, to the “lost but having fun with it crew”

We called out loud, whistled but all the sound disappeared right before our mouths. We retraced our footsteps back to where the two paths began and took the second route through which we spotted a house in a distance. On our way to the house to ask for directions, we met a little boy named Adam. He was about 5-6 years old.  Adam did not know of any beaches and certainly had never been there probably for his own safety. Adam wasn’t much help with directions to the beach but he claimed to have seen a group of people pass through that path below their home and I know in all our hearts, we were hoping that it was indeed true.

We walked that path, patting away the shrubs that leaned too close until we got to a clearing full of stones.

The joy of realizing you’re finally on the right path

It was so scenic but right here was another crossroad and we didn’t know which path to follow until another younger boy, slightly older than Adam came by. We asked about the beach and turns out that’s where he was headed so we followed along and there we were eventually. The lake before us, those who were lucky to stay on course cooling down in the lake while others lay on the white sand letting their bodies and feet cool off.

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That was such a gratifying moment, because despite the detours, asking for directions way too many times, we’d finally made it. The beach didn’t disappoint, it lived up to the hype with this white sand on the brink of being completely swallowed away by the rising water levels. As the brightly lit blue sky imposed its reflection on the water to give it a near ocean blue look, I forgot for a second that was I was in my motherland, Uganda and this beauty that surrounded me was home.

Lunch arrived in style via a boat that would also later serve as transport back to the island until a seed of walking back was planted. I wiggled my feet to feel if they still had some stamina to do some more walking if they were fully spent. One, two, more people got up and started crossing the water area to get back on the other side to walk back. I looked at their backs as they disappeared into the overgrown shrubs we had come through and something in me stirred. Why not try this walk back, my feet would have to agree to carry me because my mind was made up and if I changed my mind somewhere along, I would consider taking a bike.

I got up and one of the hikers I had done the last leg with came along, the guide I later learnt was Jordan a high school kid helped me cross through the water, we crossed and were on my way. I had forgotten about the small slopes we came through that we now had to climb. This was really testing. The thought and resolve was to put one foot forward and then the next and you know what, we managed to get back to the campsite on foot and we even got there before those who took the boat. The total distance we covered to and back was close to 25 KMs and I have never been so proud of myself. I have a confession! I was secretly harboring some guilt over the fact that on the previous and first hike with MSU, (Albert hike) I had given in to the temptation of hitching a ride halfway through the journey. For me, this was a moment of redemption and I did it.

This picture right is symbolic of the triumphant journey I had and seeing our hosts’ house peeking realizing that I had made it back on foot all the way was everything

Back to camp and the hike behind us, felicitations followed. Dinner was nourishing, there was cake for dessert and then some more pork dessert hours later. A whole roasted pig and that was artistically presented, it looked too pretty to eat but that thought only lasted a second as we dug into it and danced away the night.

Need I say more?

While traveling to Bukasa on that long water ride I asked one of the MSU members what their most memorable hike has been and he said that it was hard to tell and you know why, because no hike is the same. Each hike presents its own unique experiences that make it different from the last one and at only my second hike in, I can attest to this. This to me is the reason you’ll be seeking out when the next hike will be once the bug has bitten you. In all honesty, these experiences are not to be told but to be lived.

Internet photo

A few reflections:

You know how I mentioned earlier in the story how the hike starts in a large group setting off at once but gets clustered along the way. While all these clusters will all reach the endpoint of the hike eventually, it will be at different times.  There are the fast walkers that will do the hike in the shortest amount of time, there are those that will arrive many hours later, some will stop along the way to pick some lavender, smell it, some will take long rests midway and some will get lost but eventually find their way to the destination. This is a true representation of how life is, think about it, we all on this journey of life but walking at different paces. We found help and directions through strangers and unlikely people like Adam, we got weary, but we pressed on because giving up was not an option and we had fun with it. I like this saying,” life is serious but also not to be taken too seriously, none of us is getting out of this alive.

Lastly, it’s the kindness of strangers willing to embrace you and make you feel less awkward in a group of people you don’t know, those that will stop offer directions so you stay on course goes to show that in life, help might come from the most unlikely people. This is not forgetting that you need people to keep you going, to motivate you when your strength to walk/live seems to be drained, and to make you laugh when you’re down in the dumps. I can keep going and going on how experiences on hikes or this particular hike translate into everyday life. Should you wish to join the next hike, check for details on Mountain Slayers Website. PS, trip costs don’t necessitate breaking the bank!

A few fun facts about Bukasa Island

• Bukasa is the second-largest island to Bugala of the 84 islands that make up the Ssesse Islands.
• Aside from fishing as a major economic activity, the locals also grow food crops such as matooke, rice, sweet potatoes, cassava among other foods.
• They are locals are warm friendly people. They made us feel welcome into their space by way of how they were helpful with lots of things.
• It’s secluded, beautiful and presents as a virgin area full of possibilities

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First time horse riding!

What comes to mind when you think of horses? I think of movies and a particular movie sticks out because I just re-watched it recently, A million Ways to Die in the West. It’s hilarious. This also goes to say that most of what I know about horses, I have read or watched on television, but all this changed recently.

I have always been curious about what these beautiful, magnificent, war heroes in some cases (as portrayed in movies) are like in real life.  Are they gentle, do they hear the human language, can they feel our emotions, what are they about?

My curiosity was put to rest with a recent visit to Flametree stables. It was such as a surreal experience! In my many years on earth, this was my first time to see a horse with my naked eyes and oh boy I wasn’t ready. First off, they are way bigger than I expected, they are so fit and beautiful. I think I want to own a horse. Dreammms, dreams!

On that delightful Thursday afternoon, we rode out of Kampala to the outskirts of Gayaza and then Kayunga road for my first horse riding experience. It was one of those things when the universe picks up on your wishes and works through people to grant them. The first-time horse riding crossed my mind was a few years ago, I came across a flyer at a hotel in Jinja and thought I ought to try it out. The thought was overtaken by “life” until it resurfaced during the COVID19 lockdown.  I was browsing through Facebook when I saw a post about Flametree stables. What was more exciting was the fact that it was close to Kampala. I recall sending a screenshot to one my friends telling her that when the lockdown was lifted, we ought to go horse riding.

Again, it became another thought at the back of the head because “life” was happening and not just life but life with Covid19. In other words, I doubt we were going to make that trip soon until the universe intervened through another friend and there, I was going horse riding.  

Flametree stables is tucked away in Gayaza several kilometres from Kampala. It takes about less than an hour to reach without traffic. When you reach Kijabijo trading Centre you branch off onto a dirt road leading to where the stable is located. It gives off farm vibes as you are approaching, with tall trees, a well-manicured road that ushers you into a field like setting.  

The place is so green with trees and shrubs that allows one a communion with nature. When we disembarked from the car, I could see some horses with their mouths peeping out of the stables. Seeing the horses a few metres from me, I developed a feeling of fear mixed with excitement because here I was going to interface with these creatures.

Meet Monty, the fine horse that gave me a ride. Isn’t she beautiful?

We found one of the riding instructors, Moses feeding the horses after which gave me a tour of the stables. We went horse by horse and each horse has a unique name. I saw over 20 horses, but I just recall two names. One is for the horse I rode on, Monty and the other horse which I also noticed was the largest and his name is Foxy. Foxy is black, gigantic and towering even from his stable. However, Foxy was not going to be my ride of the day. The horse you ride is selected based off your body weight and that’s how I ended up with Monty, a fairly sized horse.

I watched Monty walk towards me gracefully being led by Moses to the slightly raised designated place to help one get onto the horse easily. Let me tell you something, I was scared of him. But I would not let the fear paralyze me from having an experience of a lifetime plus Moses assured me that it was very safe. Annnd I saw some kids near by watching and I was low key embarrassed that I was scared of a horse. I put my big girl pants on, and I mounted that horse “Monty”. However, before we could move, Moses took me through how I was supposed to seat on the horse. Chest in front, back straight and not to lean towards the horse’s head.  He then handed me the part of the reigns but stayed with one to lead the way. First, we went through a cleared-out area which I also learnt is used for picnics and to hold larger groups of riders. The route leads through another gate that ushers you to paths through scattered trees with some under growth. With Moses still leading the way, we went through this very cool place. The entire experience was unbelievably exciting. I had to keep reminding myself that it was real plus I have pictures to remind me how real the experience was.   We stopped midway when Moses urged me to take all the reigns and guide the horse with clear instructions on how to. Still scared, I held the reigns and nudged Monty on as I had been instructed. It was the best feeling ever having to guide Monty through the chartered path and Moses slightly ahead of us to direct the way. I was now more comfortable on the horse and I felt like the trees were smiling me and saying, you got this, so I rode on blissfully. My introductory lesson finally ended with me guiding Monty back to the starting point where I had mounted from. My head was in the clouds with experience and I left feeling like I ought to go back soon and will again before this year ends.

I can also add horse riding as one of the fun activities I enjoy. Most of these activities out there you never know how you truly feel about them until you try them. I find it exciting to try things and either cancel them for good or decide to devote a bit more time to them because you like them.

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Costs involved
• An Introductory Ride around our grounds lasting 30 minutes costs between ugx 45,000 and 55,000, depending on whether it’s a week or weekend day.
• Twenty minutes riding around the land and then 20 minutes in the sand arena is UGX 50,000 to 60,000 depending on what day of their week it is.
• Alternatively, you can go for ‘trail rides’ outside of Flametree for 1 hour to 1 and a half hours costing between 90,000 to 180,000 depending on how long you ride for.
Clothes to wear for horse riding:
Jeans, leggings, boots and trainers are the best clothing if you don’t have specific riding clothes.

All riding must be booked in advance since they have to prepare the horses in advance.
For bookings: WhatsApp 0757 700699

The Featured image is from BBC earth by @chrisratsiz

The mint and a mysterious neighbor

I have been carrying around a little bit of anger. Anger for someone I don’t know. I don’t know whether they are a she or he, I just know they are my neighbor. A neighbor I have likely never spoken to and if we have met in the compound or had any exchanges in the past it’s been a nod sort of in acknowledgement of each other, so I still don’t know them. This mysterious neighbor uprooted and threw away my plant (mint) and its place planted an onion. An onion people, of all things.  One onion!

Look at it, its a struggling onion..

Call me petty or whatever but let me try to put things into perspective for you. We have a flower garden in our compound, its big and contains lots of flowers and plants and in between the flowers are spaces where you could plant something if you wanted like I did the mint. Not wanting this mint to be lonely and isolated in a pot on my verandah, I figured why not plant it amongst its folk, in an already existing garden so that it could flourish well with its peers. Compete evenly with other plants for sunlight, the rain and other soil nutrients. I had this plant’s best interests at heart, but little did I know I was putting it in harms way, grave danger. If only I had foreseen this. If Only!

Our flower garden in the compound with good spacing

And so, friends, I went ahead and planted that mint  in the flower garden with the help of the house caretaker who I further requested to watch over it and in turn I would reward his level of effort.  We selected a good space that gave it ample room to grow out and spread itself however it wanted.

Fresh leaves of mint. Internet photo

Now, with all the existing free spaces in between the plants why that specific spot where my mint was planted for the onion? This is the disturbing question I have been pondering over the past week and some days when I have returned from work, entered the gate and the thought of my mint that vanished like a thief in the night hits me a fresh.

Since I planted it a few weeks back, every two-three days a week I would pick two to three leaves that I would add into my juice to give it a bit of flavor. Mint does that.  The caretaker would often make jokes that I wasn’t giving it space grow and flourish because I was picking it’s leaves every day… hehe. Nonetheless it was growing steadily especially with the rains lately. The weather was being very kind.

That mint was a sentimental plant to me. After is it five or so months or the 1000 days of the lockdown, I went to check on a friend I hadn’t visited since February. It was great visit where we caught up on so much, she’d also had a baby, a beautiful baby girl who kept smiling with her toothless grin. She was the cutest. It was an awesome visit and at the end of it, my friend who keeps a small vegetable garden with various useful herbs like mint, got some from her garden and packed for me. Somehow the mint had come up in conversation and while we had moved on to other things, she’d surprised me as I bid my farewell with well packaged mint to go and plant for myself. I didn’t even know she was growing it. She went  ahead to tell me how best to plant it and one of the options I had was to plant it in a pot and keep it safe on my verandah, surely my mysterious neighbor would have been too shamed to bring her/his onion into my pot and on my verandah. My mint would still be safe! This thoughtful gift from my friend would still be alive and today I would have picked a leaf or two to add to my juice.

Imagine my shock when I found the mint had disappeared and no one knew who had done the atrocious act. Even the caretaker didn’t know and to date is yet to know the owner of the onion.

So many things ran through my mind in that moment. The first was to uproot the onion and throw it away just like he/she had the mint, and that would have been the fastest way to flush out the culprit. I figured they would come to look for me and this would identify them, and we would have it out whatever time of the day it was. Sweet revenge right…hihi. Secondly was to stand at the gate one morning and interrogate everyone, one by one as they exited for work to establish the owner of the onion because that was thee person I was looking for. 

I didn’t do any of the above. Instead I asked the caretaker to do some investigation and find out the owner of the onion because I’m still interested in having a word with them. I am curious to know what their motivation was for uprooting and throwing away the mint. Why that particular spot of all places in the garden, were they led to that spot by the spirit, did they sleepwalk in the night and end up in the garden to plant an onion hence they likely wouldn’t remember doing it? Or did they mistake the mint for a weed that could be got rid of? So many questions, zero answers because look, I travelled away from home all of last week for work and came back only to find that the investigation had yielded no results. And to think I had been excited about finding the mint thriving and with more leaves since it was going to have a whole week of not being picked at.

As of today, the owner of the onion is still a mystery. So, they get to get away with this unneighborly act. Can we be our neighbors keepers and specifically look out each other’s plants. Do not uproot and throw away plants you didn’t plant! And with this rant, I forgive this mysterious neighbor, but I’m left with the task of replanting the mint. Having tested the pleasures of walking out of my house and harvesting fresh mint to add to my juice, there is definitely no going back. May we all be neighbors we wish to have.

The juice in this glass is tasty. It’s comprised on a pineapple, carrot and passion fruits but something is missing. One leaf or two of mint would have given this juice more character.

Have a lovely September friends.

Building business with friends

Are you and your friends in business together, do you have a side hustle together that can potentially save you on a rainy day or you can explain? Personally, I can explain… but this will come out more of an excuse than a reason, so my friends, where are you?

A few Sundays ago as I sat between two young gentlemen in their late twenties, Arthur Nabaasa and Philbert Kasirye, I found myself challenged with the afore mentioned question running through my mind and I will tell you why as this story unfolds? The two met in Ntare school fresh from primary school in 2005. They bonded over their love for football and desire to be of useful service in life. Today, the two and a couple of other guys (Bob Tumwine Muhanguzi and Oscar Nahamya) run a thriving moving business, named Freeman Movers.  The business clocked the three-year mark in May 2020.

There is a saying that friends don’t always make the best business partners but Arthur, Philibert and two other partners are defying the odds.

Arthur says people whether originally friends or just business acquaintances can have conflicts, it’s the way relationships work. Some thrive others collapse.  But who is better suited to do business with, people you don’t know well or friends you have known and share interests, beliefs and goals, he pauses a rhetoric question?  

Enough of the chit chat, let’s get into the meat of this interview.

1st picture: Philbert and Arthur ready for a high school dance with MaryHill High School in 2008. In second picture, Arthur today.

What inspired the starting of Freeman Movers?

Arthur: After completing my Law degree from Uganda Christian University Mukono in 2016, I went back home to my father’s house. That is an uncomfortable place to be for any young man especially as I sought and thought of how to be my own man in this big world. I needed the stability that being home provided as I figured out my next steps, but I also knew better than being comfortable on my father’s couch.

I needed to move into my own place but there was a challenge of the actual moving and getting the few things I had accumulated at university into my rental house. The more I thought about it, the more I knew I did not want to do it myself. Moving is rather tedious and truth be told, I was lazy but also spending a day packing up my things in boxes, getting to the rental and unpacking all over again was just not my cup of tea. I found myself wishing there was someone who could help me move without me lifting a finger.

This was a big mental struggle and while in this whole process I figured there were several other people like me. People who wanted to shift but were struggling with the entire process. I engaged a few friends to hear what their experiences had been, and we shared the same struggles. Having someone help you shift, is one less thing to worry about as you start life in a different place, a whole new neighborhood. There is usually a lot to stress about it such as  leaving a familiar environment that you have known for long, getting new neighbors, leaving behind your favorite local grocery shop and having to find another, for those with children finding a new school for them nearby, it is a lot to think about.

It hit me right there and then that there was indeed a gap in provision of moving services, and this was something that most people needed even when they didn’t realize that they did. The discussion to start this business first came up while in a casual chat with Oscar. We were working at a maize mill in Mukono. This was later shared with our other friends, Philbert and Bob.

The more we discussed the idea, the more it made sense and we decided why not start a moving business.

Philbert: We were young energetic men, straight out of university, the “ideal” jobs not in the picture but trying to survive, nonetheless. At the same time, the four of us had always been entrepreneurial even through our university days. I was working with my father’s clearing and forwarding company, Arthur was working on a farm and our other friends were also engaged in other small businesses. We had a bit of an idea of how businesses operate so the moving business idea seemed like something we could do well if the four of us fully devoted our time and energy to it. We had different skill sets which came in handy in getting the different components of the business together.  The four of us doing a business together was long-term coming.

Movers on duty wheeling packed items to a truck for loading

Why the name Freeman movers?

Arthur: We sat down and were looking for a description that could best represent who the four of us are. We are free young men, energetic, focused, committed, passionate and ready to conquer the world. That is how the name Freeman movers came about, a fitting description of who we are. We like to serve others especially our clients and we are growing slowly but steadily, one client at a time.

Take us through starting of the business. What was it like?

Arthur: We had to do extensive research and the internet was very resourceful. This involved watching countless videos about how to pack different items in a house or an office, handling delicate items, loading a truck and organizing spaces after moving. This in addition to identifying the tools we needed such as trucks, boxes and other items used in packing. Not forgetting the research on the moving business in Uganda. It is a budding business so there weren’t many companies at the time but for those that were already established, we labored to find out how they were working so that we could learn from them while also thinking of ways to do things differently but efficiently.

Our first client was a friend: It was a low budget job, small family of four living in a two bed roomed house and they were shifting houses within Kampala. It took us two days to get the job done.

Philbert: Because it was our first time, we were being extra cautious and learning on the job, so we took longer doing everything. In the end, it was a job well done and the client was happy, and they told as many people as they could about our company. That is how we started.  With experience comes speed and being flawless on the job so today a few years later, it takes about 6-7 hours to move and resettle someone if its within Kampala.

Philbert (right) with Nshera teammates in Freeman Movers branded jerseys 

Coming up with resources

Philbert: The four of us pooled our savings together and that’s what we used to buy boxes, drills, spanners, hammers, boxes in various sizes, moving blankets and pallet trolleys, mattress covers and other wrapping materials. One of us had a truck so that was transport sorted and we were the labour/handymen to do the moving. We did not not have to invest a lot of money at the start and we were lucky to source most of the tools we needed sourced. We also banked on each other different strengths and expertise. For instance, Arthur and another colleague of ours are lawyers, so they did the processes of getting the business registers and incorporated. We incorporated the company in 2017. I am a statistician, so I was supporting with the money side of things, business projections, the money we needed at the start and all that.

Business Operations

Arthur: At the start, the four of us with the support of friends ran the entire business and were involved all the way including packing up of houses. But as the business has expanded over these past few years, we have grown to a team of about 20. It is comprised of mainly university students from Kyambogo, Makerere, and Kampala International University plus high school students in vacation. We choose campus students because they are young, energetic and it’s an opportunity earn supplementary income while at the same time gaining work experience and exposure.

Philbert: We are careful with recruitment because of how sensitive moving is and the fact our clients entrust us with their property. Our staff equally have to be trustworthy and of high integrity. We usually take recommendations from friends after which we do thorough background checks on them.

We train them on safety, health, customer care, packing up of property, loading and unloading of items and organization of houses or offices. The training lasts one to two months plus refresher trainings afterwards.

What are the key skills required in this business?

Arthur: Good communication skills: This ranges from engaging clients from the onset, answering their questions and being able to earn their trust.

Philbert: Good discipline is key: Just like any other business, we also encounter all sorts of clients in our line of work. The ability to exercise self-control and be levelheaded when interacting with clients is important. Trust is the cornerstone of the moving business. Due to the nature of some people’s jobs, they will leave behind the keys to their houses and go to work. Our job is to pack up their old house, shift to the new house, unpack and organize the house so that by the time the client returns, their house is the order. We always ensure to deliver on this.

That’s why we invest a lot in training movers because these are the people going into houses to get this work done.

What are the challenges you have encountered in the business?

Arthur: Being a young industry in Uganda, moving services have not been fully embraced yet. People are used to moving by themselves or with the support of friends/family so they will not actively seek out services of movers

Philbert: As a service that’s slowly being picked up, normally people don’t prioritize the user of movers and plan for it in advance. From our experience, it likely comes as a last-minute thought so you will find one has not budgeted for such a service but then they realize they need it. So, we get clients who want to be moved on very short notice or with a budget that cannot support the magnitude of the work to be done.

There are clients who will call and they want to relocate immediately, that very day. This is nearly impossible especially if its already past midday.  Usually we have to scout the place, assess the property to be moved so we can plan for the job. This includes organizing packing boxes determining the size of the truck to use. This information also helps us in costing the job. Normally we need advance notice of one day to plan for the job well.

What are you doing to overcome the challenges?

Philbert: We are doing a lot of marketing and branding through various media platforms to put the word out. There is a big knowledge gap about moving services.  People still look at it as something foreign, but it’s not., we all like convenience and that’s what movers provide. Our goal is to dispel any misinformation about using moving services and for people to consider this as an essential service.

Arthur: Ensuring that we offer the best quality moving services. We have also been deliberate and intentional from the start that for whichever job we do, big or small, we go above and beyond the client expectations. Because of this, we had so many referrals and that has also been the key in growth of our business.

We also endeavor to keep ourselves updated in our work through refresher trainings and learning from the challenges we encounter on the different jobs.

Nothing sells a service/product like a satisfied client and that’s what Freeman Movers has capitalized on to expand their work.

Today, Freeman movers have moved over 500 clients including offices. They also provide storage services for those who need their property kept for one reason or another.

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            Typical moving day with Freeman Movers

What has been the key to the steady growth of your business?

Joint answers: Referrals have been instrumental in growing the business. The clients we have served in the past have been our greatest marketers.

I (Brenda) also discovered Freeman movers through a friend. I recall asking him, Is this a thing in Uganda? He had quickly gone on to share his experience of how they had moved him. I gave them the keys to my old house and went to play football and went back to my new house later to sleep. Everything was in order, the TV was on the wall, I was happy with what they had done with my space, he had shared. I was fascinated by that because I have only ever seen movers in the movies. I honestly didn’t think this was a thing here in Uganda but here was someone telling me they had used them and that it was affordable. I was not moving houses at the time but not long after that, I was having a conversation with another friend who was going to move, and she was dreading the process. I told her about Freeman movers. She worked with them and was raving about how they had done so much for her. She was moving into a newly constructed house that had not been fully completed. When the movers got to the house, they found her sweeping and cleaning the rooms and they asked to help her. She hadn’t paid for that extra service, but they offered to help and after cleaning, they unloaded the truck, moved in her property, organized it under her guidance and left her in clean and comfortable house. Guess what, months later I was moving to a different part of town after changing jobs. They came to my house and did their thing. I liked how swift they were in packing up the items and how they organized my new place. I was very impressed. I remember having very sound sleep in my new house that night because I did not have to worry about waking up to unpack and organize my new place. I could have enlisted friends to help me move which is what I have done in the past but often you find, you’ll settle into the house in phases and it will take like a month or more to fully unpack everything. This is not forgetting the things that break or get lost in the mix of things. Plus, shifting is tedious and after my experience, I am a total sellout and will always be happy to outsource the service to the professional’s. If you haven’t, you may need to explore using these services when you are moving houses next time.

Friends: We are blessed to have an incredible group of friends that have backed us up, believed in us and trusted us to move them when they were shifting. Through this we were able to learn and solidify our skills, to gain the experience we needed to get us started in this business.

Our friendship:  Philbert and Arthur intimate that their friendship dynamic has played a big role leading up to the wins they have had today. We have known each other for a long time now so we know each other’s weaknesses and strength. This deep understanding of each other helps us in communicating with each other, resolving our differences when we disagree and remaining focused on the goal which is ensuring that our business continues to grow from strength to strength.

We made several losses at the start because of inexperience, lack of mentorship and lack of proper planning.  There were also several moments of doubt on whether the business would survive but here we are having learnt from all the setbacks and challenges.

Okey, a side from the business, who are you gentlemen, what are you about?

Philbert: I am a friendly guy and can be described as a people person. I like meeting new people, I am a go-getter, a great listener and often I like to listen before I can speak. I also like doing business a trait I picked from my father. He encouraged me to work for his clearing and forwarding company from when I was young, and I learnt a lot from him. I like watching soccer, Man U oyee! and playing it too. I play for Ntare league Team Nshera.  I also like travelling with friends and enjoying life general. Once in in a while you will also get me immersed in a book. I like adventure and war stories and I am in a relationship.

Arthur: I am a hands-on guy and I like being busy doing and fixing stuff.  So, often you’ll find me with my sleeves up. I like figuring out how things are done and getting them done. You can call me a fixer. I am outgoing, love being around friends and I am also a big soccer fan and ardent supporter of a local team, Maroons FC. I also play for Ntare league, Team Nshera! I like learning new things. I am more of a visual learner, so videos and pictures do the trick and I am in relationship.

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We dem boys: a glimpse of the life of CEOs when they are off duty..

Did you always know you wanted to be self-employed?

Arthur: I was keen on doing business from when I was young because I knew even at that age that that’s where the money was. While in senior two, while having a chat with one of my uncles, I told him I dreamt of starting a business and making money. He had asked how I intended to start a business with no money. You need money as start up capital to start a business, he had said. That conversation stuck with me and as I grew up, I always wondered “How do I get money without having to be employed first”. As I grew up, I have realized that friends and networks are the greatest resources and capital one needs to start a business. Money is important but networks are invaluable when it comes to business.

Philbert: When I finished campus, I was doing internship and I thought I would stay on in with the the company and be fully employed. However, that didn’t work out as I had anticipated so I was headed for the streets. When this opportunity presented itself, it was the golden egg I needed.

What are some of the biggest lessons you have learnt?  

Arthur: I have a big appreciation of the importance of relationships and networks. We have been able to learn, grown and thrive in this business because of relationships and networks.

Philbert:  Clients usually appear in varying moods and you have to learn how to read people and the situation in order to handle it professionally.  So, my people skills both on a personal and business level have grown a notch higher.

Freeman Mover’s business growth is a true representation of the mantra of your network is your net worth.

What kind of advice do you have for young people who desire to start businesses?

Arthur: Adopt a learning mindset.  Seek out knowledge from experienced people in business, ask questions and if there is a chance to work under someone, take it. Be an understudy because most of the things we do in business we don’t learn from school. We learn by doing. So be independent minded, be courageous

Philbert: It’s important to study and understand the circumstances around you first before venturing into business. Identify a gap/need that you can meet. Plan and map out your idea, start and work like school dropout.  There is a mindset that young people have such as: how can I abandon my degree and a chance to work in an office setting to do manual labour as most businesses require. Such a mindset cannot make you prosper. It is very liberating when you do your own thing and you see it working out.

What has been the highlight of the business so far?

Joint answer: In 2017, we moved a client from Kampala to Mombasa. We were still fresh in the business, but we were trusted to do the job. That was a very empowering experience for us.

How has COVID19 affected your business?

We were not able to do any jobs during the total COVID19 lockdown. Some of the bookings we had registered early in the year were cancelled because businesses were affected, people’s plans changed. However, since the lockdown was eased people having been reaching out for moving services.  People’s mindset about moving services is slowing changing, they are warming up to it and this is working in our favor.

What does the future of Freeman Movers look like?

1. We hope to be business leaders in the moving industry satisfying and attending to as many clients as possible.
2. We provide storage services but on a small scale, but we hope to expand this bit of the business to be bigger, to have branches in various part of kampala and around the country.
3. For our regional operations, we are partners with Dolex movers in Nairobi and our dream is to spread out and open branches in other countries in the region and on the continent.

You can reach out to Freeman Movers using contact information below