EkiraboKyampaire

I have been thinking about starting a series of posts profiling my family of friends , for a while... Do not be fooled by the contents of the glass :) Well, this Friday, I begin the series with a lovely woman named Regina . Her name is of Latin origin. It means, Queen. A meaning that befits this woman I have known since 1997 but have only closely interacted with since 2003. I always knew vegetarians were the paranoid ones of the human species :) She is a strict vegetarian. Her smile could light up a room. She is one of the most brilliant women I know. PLE, UCE, UACE?...that stuff was piece of cake for her :) Everyone is her friend. I do not know anyone who can referred to as her enemy. She is ethical...honours her ideals. She is focused. No dwelling in the past for her, an occasional visit to events gone by to perhaps analyze why it happened and then, let's bury it. Smily Regina :) She is a teetotaler. She is single and ready to mingle :) (heads up t

My friend Douglas posted the above picture on his FACEBOOK wall almost six months ago and it got me thinking; hence this post.  Correction, boys, they are not lies , it is code :) So, in this post, in pro bono mode  once again, I am going to engage in decoding for my male friends :)... 1. I'M FINE- this means, 'you better pay attention!'...'I want you to pay attention!' The wisest response when you hear these words is to take her aside or if she on phone to pause and pointedly say, 'I know you are not fine, so please, talk to me, is there anything I can do to help?'...There are times, though, when she is indeed, fine...if you have been around her long enough, you will know when it is alright to move on or when it is time to apply above advice :) 2. I'M NOT JEALOUS- you better believe she is! :)...If she wasn't she would not use the word. She would likely not have to say anything to the event that had you asking if she was jealous or not

Let me tell you about the first wedding reception I have attended this year. I had snobbed all receptions because I simply could no longer deal with the long and drawn out operations that these events are in Kampala. This one, had many sentiments attached to it and even though I almost missed it because I had made plans to go out of town on the wedding's weekend, God orchestrated things so that I did not have to travel. Gilbert and Rachelle invited us to Victoria Hall in Munyonyo. Gilbert is a childhood friend, cousin even, I grew up on lake view drive a few paces away from his home. I remember he tried to teach me how to ride a bicycle and failed. I was lazy back then :)...a couple of tumbles off the bike and I was done trying :)... Anyway, he went off to Canada after his turbulent high school years and has been o'er there since. I know Rachelle from church, All Saints Cathedral...I always thought she was one of the nicer gals.  Now, these two seriously wonderful

Yesterday, Ghana laid to rest former president, Dr.Atta Mills who they fondly referred to as Father of the nation. Many miles away, in Iraq, in keeping with Islamic custom, a young man named Haidar was laid to rest too.  The ever smiling Dr. Mills Dr. Mills, I never met; but heard from various sources that he was an honourable man, that I would have liked him if I met him. In any case, the state of the country he had led for four years was testament to his able leadership. Haidar Issa Haidar, on the other hand, I met and interacted with albeit briefly. He was one of the participants in the just concluded GIMPA summer school on governance of oi, gas and mining resources. He was cheerful, soft spoken, smoking hot, gentlemanly, passionate about the state of his homeland and the future of his people and humourous- in fact, on the last day of training, he took pictures of the participants and added funny captions to them leaving us all rolling in laughter. This morning

Two days ago, I got back to Kampala from a two weeks long training in Accra, Ghana. I have never had the privilege of interacting with that many awesome people in one place. This fact has me missing GIMPA (Ghana Institute of Management & Public Administration) like one would miss their home. From left: Lucy, Me, Rumbi & Susan I miss Lucy & Susan with whom I got up to some mild mischief :)...the three of us were so joined to the hip that the rest of the participants were calling us, 'The Three Musketeers' or 'Charlie's Angels' :) I miss Rumbi. She is such an inspiring woman. Young, strong, ambitious and blessed with a heart of compassion for people. Me, Mustapha, Samuel I miss Mustapha who, despite his age and experience is such a down-to-earth, humourous man. He is such a great dancer too! :) I miss Samuel, who was silent for most of the time but when he began to talk, cracked some rib-breaking jokes. The legendary Max shoulder :)