EkiraboKyampaire

So, this morning, since my housemate is on leave, I had to use 'public means' to work. It had been a while. Anyhow, I  thought I would take a taxi to my not-so-far away office. I mean, Naalya to Kamwokya...just a gunshot away, right? Hmmm...never to be. The traffic was murder. I had forgotten that today was day one of  the school term. The taxis were available but they were parked in a jam...not moving an inch. There were no two ways about it, I had to jump on an 'open roof' :-)... For Clarity: No, my boda boda chap was not half this cute/ muscled/ edible :-) Now, it must be noted that the Ntinda road is at stage three of construction...yeah, the 'loose- soily' stage...and we all know how hot/dry Kampala is these days. Like I was saying to a friend, our city's weather seems to be competing with Dar es Salam's...things are hectic, I tell you. Well, best not to digress... The boda, boda chap was, for some reason, convinced that I needed to ...

This is my 28 th year of life. I have decided that every month until the 3 rd of September 2012, I will reflect on my life on the month’s 28 th day. I am posting this on the 29 th because I forgot. I mixed the days up abit. Anyhow, this month, I discovered that I have a pretty functional heart. I discovered also that my tear glands can have a mind of their own; that contrary to my erstwhile held belief, crying does make me feel a wee bit better if I just let the tears flow and not feign ‘African woman’ strength. I also concretized what I want from my love life. I made peace with my oft branded ‘high standards’ and decided that he that seeks the position of my significant other will have to fit in or fit out. Consequently, I acknowledged that I want the ‘dream’… marriage, babies, picket fence, e.t.c…just not now…not in the next two years at least. I committed to a year of self discovery. I committed to learning how to drive eight years after dad passed. I decided that I...

In January 1986, I was two years and five months old so I may not be in a position to make high horse comments where the debate of ‘Uganda-before & after’ is concerned. Nonetheless, you know what they say about opinions…everyone’s got one, so, I will go ahead and express mine. Every time I have spoken with those who were adults at the time, there has been mention of words such as, ‘hope’, ‘relief’, and ‘promise’ and as I have grown older, I have begun to understand where their excitement was coming from. I mean, when you consider the ‘Amin years’ and the Obote II years, things were very messed up on many levels. The arrival of the revolutionaries had to be exciting. The famous/infamous ‘fundamental change’ speech had to be thrilling.   And, so, the fundamental change began…a plan to kick AIDS and all stigma related to it out of Uganda was rolled out (probably because in truth, most of the NRM beloved army men were infected), an ad-hoc parliament a.k.a. NRC was set up to le...

Dear All (and sundry) :-), It's been three weeks since I last had this feeling in my belly...the feeling of excitement...the sparkle...I am in a good mood this morning. I am beginning to feel like myself again. Thank God. Last night an old friend and I spoke for 45 or so minutes. We discovered that her story and mine were identical. We had been taken to hell by the goon and we had made it back. We are the ones that got away. The ones that were blessed to get out before the building burned down. We acknowledged that bad things do happen to good people and even the best of us can be fooled/ tricked but as that line in the song says; 'fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me...' We had some good laughs. We shrieked God's name in thanks for 'delivering' us and we agreed to meet regularly...literally be a loose 'support group' to each other in order to ensure that the 'fool me twice' scenario does not ever come to pass in both o...

1) A resume: a profile of jobs you can fit into  2) A savings account: This should amount to 10% of your personal income.  3) A good (well paying, fulfilling) job: that’s what people do when they grow up, work!!  4) At least one good friend: arguably the hardest thing to come by  5) A dream: not the one you have when asleep, the one you have that makes you not want to sleep J  6) A belief that you can achieve whatever you set your heart to: founded on the awareness of your potential  7) A big heart: being charitable doesn’t end at giving materially; it also includes receiving others’ crap  8) A realization that one woman/man is enough: if you have two, you’ll still want one more  9) A sense of pride: pride here is talking about a ‘good feeling’ about your heritage  10) A sense of responsibility: responsibility simply means being accountable for your actions  11) A good hair stylist: the importance of appearance cann...

So, I had this well laid plan, I would go about my business all day Sunday and then work all night to make sure I beat some bu deadlines... I am awake, but I have no unction...no desire to work...yet, I am awake...so, what do I do?... I blog... I just said to a friend during a phone call, that I am focusing on work because at least with it I am still 'in control'. I can predict, forecast...in other parts of my life, not so... So, let me work...perhaps if I dropped dead tomorrow, my epitaph would read; 'Here lies Lynn, the worker female (read bee) :-)

Dear Sir, You don’t know me, so, maybe that is why you treat me like I am a child, like my brain is soft, like ‘what does she know’… You, clearly, do not know me. Perhaps it is that you have dealt with fickle, weak women for so long that your default settings are such that you relate with me like I am ‘just a woman’… Perhaps it is because you do not actually love me so you are not committed to understanding my psyche…Perhaps it is simply that you are bad mannered and have no notion of how to treat people right…Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps. It’s funny. With the others, I was unhappy that we never seemed to talk about things of ‘substance’ and I was compelled to be content with happy-go-lucky subjects. With you, I am unhappy because even when I seem to be given ‘liberty’ to talk about anything, my opinions are received with such- what is the word?- dismissal? disdain?- that as a result I am no longer too enthusiastic to really express myself the next time. “We have to first...

Happy New Year to all and sundry. For the first time in a couple of years, I feel like I have started a new year with purpose; notwithstanding the fact that this 'purpose' was wrought of disappointment and heartache. Whenever it has been said that, 'it has to get worse before it gets better', I have not quite understood considering that I have rarely been ill in my short life and besides, by a carefully crafted system of cautious existence, I have 'protected' myself from the 'pitfalls' that oft come with loving another human being with careless abandon. Today, I am committed to a year of self discovery, a journey to the centre of Kyampaire to painstakingly separate the wheat from the chaff where my habits, characteristics, beliefs and attitudes are concerned. There is a part of me that thinks I may have been reflecting off me characteristics/ opinions of some other people who I hold in high esteem. Well, it is time for me to figure out on which sid...