Author: Jane Nannono

I am a mother of three, a medical doctor by profession, who has always been fascinated by the written word. I am a published author- my first fiction novel was published in March 2012 and is entitled ' The Last Lifeline'. I self -published my second fiction novel entitled ' And The Lights Came On' . I am currently writing my third fiction novel and intend to launch it soon. I also write short stories: two of them - Buried Alive in the Hot Kalahari Sand, Move Back to Move Forward were published among the 54 short stories in the first Anthology of the Africa Book Club, Volume 1 of December 2014. It is entitled: The Bundle of Joy.

YOU WIN SOME AND LOSE SOME

                         

Caption: My high school netball team, waiting to take on another school’s team on home ground in the late 60s.

I have always been keen to watch the Wimbledon tennis championships, especially the semi-finals and finals for both male and female competitors.

On Saturday , 12th July 2025, I sat glued to the TV watching the 57 minute final  match between  the  23 year old Amanda Anisimova of USA and 24 year old Iga Swiatek of Poland. Both of them were playing for the first time in  the final of a Grand Slam at Wimbledon.  The fans remained quiet and still as they watched Swiatek outperform  Anisimova who was expected to win. But then that is the beauty of  a competitive game , you cannot know the actual winner until the game has ended. Each player has to keep offering her best and play fairly to be a deserving winner.

Swiatek offered her best  and won while Anisimova after the match admitted having  been slow in movement  and frozen for some moments due to the pressure put on her by Swiatek.

There is always life after the game. Anisimova has to do  a rebuilding job to come back on top.

 “I never lose; I either win or learn.’’-  Nelson Mandela.

What has always defined  a fighter is how well he/she rises after falling.

Then by sheer chance on the 22nd July 2025, I stumbled on the 13th edition of the Women’s Africa Cup  of Nations  semi-finals at the Olympic stadium, in  Rabat,  Morocco. Eventual tournament winners Nigeria were playing against South Africa and Nigeria won  2 to 1. 

These two games took me back to my childhood and I reflected on the timeless lessons I had learned as a member of my high school relay team and long jumper, lessons that I could never have been taught in any class, and I greatly appreciate how they have guided me through my life’s journey.

Whether playing on your own or as a team , you enter the competition to win but at the back of your mind you know very well that losing is the other side of the same coin. You have to seize  the opportunity to be a deserving winner. You can come from behind and win ; the game is never over until the final whistle is blown.

In the tennis singles you are playing  on your own but in the football team you are an integral part of the  team and the success of the team depends on how well each member performs her/ his part.

Singles

  1. Preparations: practice makes perfect. The more you play, the better you become. 

Mentally- The game starts in your mind by planning and strategizing on how to achieve your goals. You anticipate your opponent’s moves.

When you are on the field or court , your mind should be at work

Focus on the whole process, not the outcome only. What you focus on grows.

Self motivation by positive self-talk to encourage yourself goes a long way.

Handling success and failure

Harness the lessons you learn from failure –  You cannot blame anyone for your loss. Learn from your mistakes and use the lessons and experiences to improve your personal best.

 As time goes by, you have to listen to your body to decide when to call it a day. Two of the greatest tennis players of all time left us still applauding. Martina Navratilova who turned professional aged 18 in 1977 stopped playing singles in 1994 but continued with mixed doubles till she was almost aged 50 in 2006.

Serena Williams turned professional aged 14 in 1995, played her last game aged 40 in 2022 with 23 grand slams under her belt. 

In 2023, Anisimova chose to take an eight month break from the demanding tennis schedule due to mental health challenges.

 She came back when she felt that she had regained her mental strength. 

                Team games require all that is demanded of you when playing as an individual plus factoring in         and accommodating and tolerating the weakness and strengths of the members of your team.

Teamwork – Synergy:  Each member should give her\his best towards each moment of the game to amplify the final outcome.

Discipline- success demands dedication, consistent effort, adherence to the training schedule and game plans.

Resilience and perseverance help everyone to overcome challenges and to be able to bounce back from losses; something that  will  carry them through life.

Communication skills- verbal or just by body language to communicate quickly. It demands listening and good eye contact. 

Responsibility and accountability – each player is responsible for her/his behaviour on and off the field including keeping in top shape . 

              Leadership- good leadership guides and motivates the team mates.

Time management- has to be learned over time to enable all players to balance training, games and personal life.

Humility- keeps you open –minded to keep learning from others and your own experiences.

       “ The only true wisdom is  in knowing  you know nothing.’’ – Socrates.

                 Sports builds character and should be integrated into school activities.

I know for sure that a good balance of losing and winning in games and in life in general, keeps you on your toes; never to take things for granted. You learn to persevere, eventually becoming resilient enough to adapt to changing circumstances.

                 How the psychologists interpret  the Win some, Lose some mantra:

  • They tell us that in sports and in the journey of life, winning and losing some is a natural cycle of success.

It is not possible to win all the time- both losing and winning are equally important as one grows into the best player.

  • They advise us not to allow ourselves to be defined by the loss or failure nor take winning for granted.
  • They remind us that winning keeps pressure on you to stay at the top.

Be humble in victory and graceful in defeat – Circumstances keep changing : Today’s winner may be tomorrow’s loser.

Being humble in victory prevents arrogance and energizes one to learn from success. Grace in defeat promotes resilience and healthy coping mechanisms. You accept defeat other than deny it, opening yourself up to learn from your mistakes and bounce back from setbacks.

  • They emphasize to us that in the grand scheme of things: life,  setbacks are inevitable and should always be accepted.

We learn more from our failures than in victory. Take time to reflect on why you lost and use it in planning how to play better in future. You can always bounce back from challenges. 

 In today’s world of sponsorship and social media, it is important that each player is equipped with guidelines of handling pressure- the training and competitions by themselves exert a lot of pressure on the players but the fans and followers can overwhelm the players .

If you have learned how to handle winning and losing, sometimes you find yourself comfortable with the loss- you were fully prepared for the game, were focused to be fully present and gave it your all. It only happens when you have developed the mental toughness to be the best.

Parents and teachers should consistently teach children and prepare them on how to deal with both. This will help them navigate through today’s highly competitive world. At all levels in life, you can experience either but what matters most is how you deal with each one. Life will always go on whether you win or lose. At the same time remember that shallow victories leave a hollow echo.

Question:

 Is there a time in your life when you found it terribly difficult to accept loss or defeat?

How did you pick yourself up from this situation?

THE SPECTRUM OF GIVING



The first fruits of the first rains this season.

The rains revive the plants and the plants keep giving to us cheerfully.
I do not remember any occasion when my mother came to our place empty-handed or my late father
ever forgot to send me a cheque or a small token on my birthday. My mother has always had green
fingers and my father loved sharing what he had because he believed that life was richer if shared with
others.
Balanced generosity was one of their badges of honour- they gave us because they felt it was the right
thing to do and because they wanted to. That was them. Today at 93, my mother still asks us to give a
glass of water and something to eat to anyone who calls on her : be it her doctor, village Catholic priest,
praying group or grandchildren. They have all learned to be comfortable with her offers and take them
gladly.
I grew up in a community where the village collectively raised the children, buried their own, looked
after their needy and celebrated their successes together. These glued the community together.
However, things have changed over the years leaving families to shoulder most of these responsibilities.
I have noticed changes in the patterns of giving to one another: giving to gain a favour, to get something
in return and the politicians giving to have control or manipulate the ordinary citizens. Those giving to
make a difference to people’s lives are in the minority!
As a senior citizen, I have suffered many demands on my time, efforts, knowledge and experience and
my money too. This is mainly due to the fact that currently, the basic essential services like health care
and education have huge gaps in them. Many times I have found myself losing myself in giving to others.
I was forced to stop and think deeply about the demands being made on me and design my own
solutions to preserve my sense of self.
It drove me to read thoroughly and try to understand the psychology of giving.
I felt I should share the gems I picked from this wide reading with you.
Generally, the different forms of generosity are driven by different motives.
MEANINESS/STINGINESS
No doubt this is the opposite side of giving but it is considered as one extreme on the spectrum of
GIVING. I know for sure that givers cannot quench the thirst of every person around them but at the
same time , there are people who are reluctant to spend money on others even on themselves or basic
necessities in life in order to hoard money or other possessions. The psychologists tell us this behaviour
is born out of emotional insecurity. They live with the fear of not being able to meet their needs in
future so they cling to everything they have: money or possessions.
Some of them have lived through trauma or emotional deprivation early on. Over time, they develop
unhealthy coping mechanisms to protect themselves. Hoarding gives them control and is their way of
protecting themselves against emotional distress.

As they are constantly consumed by the fear of running out of resources they become emotionally
withdrawn and detached from others. A number of them go on to develop anxiety disorders, depression
or obsessive compulsive disorders.
They need help to break this cycle of hoarding by gradually changing their mind set from obsessive
preservation of resources to sharing and investing in oneself and others.
Their management starts from identifying the underlying root cause of stinginess.
They are then taken through a process of learning to practice generosity with time, energy and
emotions. Life is richer if shared with others.
Genuine giving is itself born out positive traits like empathy, kindness and helpfulness.

Ripe plantain tastes better when shared

  1. ENDLESS GIVING – excessive generosity that prioritises the needs of others over your own to avoid
    conflict or rejection.
    It is rooted in poor self-esteem- in a desire to please others or to seek validation.
    It has a tendency to trap the giver into a cycle of giving beyond her/his means and can easily cause
    emotional, mental and physical burnout- exhaustion.
    Your endless generosity can turn the willing takers into dependants on your generosity and gradually
    drains you.
    In some cases, recipients tend to abuse the givers generosity and become exploiters.
    Over time the giver loses energy, time, empathy to give meaningfully to those who genuinely need
    her/his generosity.
    Psychologists and Counsellors manage these kind of givers by:
     helping them to understand the healthy approach of building self-worth and to shed off fears of
    disappointing others.
     Teaching them to consider themselves first – never to empty their emotional bank account
     To give out of choice rather than compulsion. To keep at it until they learn the habit. It
    demands a lot of patience, practice and learning on their part. In the long run, it brings
    refreshing balance to their lives.

The rural African woman has been conditioned by society to give to the family and community without
considering herself. I have seen them give until they have nothing left to give to themselves and others.
Families and communities have the duty to rescue them from this forced preoccupation of giving,
nurturing and pleasing others at their expense, by teaching them their value as individuals.

  1. BALLANCED GIVING: The capacity to give out of a conscious choice not out of obligation. You balance
    your own needs with the needs of others. Thankfully, this is where most people fall on the spectrum of
    giving.

You give because you feel that it is the right thing to do. You use your intuition to comprehend the
requests for help and choose how to respond to each one. It is learned over time and one should work
on it to sustain it. You become a better version of yourself with practice.
MOTIVE- a healthy approach to giving: true giving from the heart. Giving from a deep well of love,
concern and care without maiming yourself or the recipient. You have clear boundaries and you stick to
them for your own good without feeling guilty about it. You respect your intuition.
You know that it is fine to say:
 I am not in a position to help
 I need time to consider it
 I can only go this far with your request for now.
 This is the last time I am helping out so rise up and help yourself
 I know you can do this for yourself so go ahead and have it completed.
Communicate your limits clearly and live by them.
Naturally, these lines are sometimes blurred in our lives and we allow ourselves some flexibility
depending on the situation and the person you are trying to help. But one should be reminded that
choosing one’s response based on your intuition is very liberating.

SOME QUOTES AND PROVERBS ABOUT GIVING.

You don’t have to be an angel, just be someone who can give.”- Patti Labelle

Ekisa ekitagaana kizala obulimba- Luganda proverb
Literally meaning : if you keep promising things without limits, you become a liar.
Ekisa kitta n’enge etta
Too much kindness /generosity can cause more harm than good
Entasiima ebula agiwa
An ungrateful person will in the long run out of givers.
If you eat alone, you will die alone. Kikuyu Proverb
If a husband is stingy, it is likely that his father is stingy.- Kikuyu Proverb
If you have some savings you will not go hungry- Kukuyu Proverb.
Okuddiza guba mwoyo- Luganda proverb.
You do not have to be rich to give, it all comes from the heart.

“ You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly
give.’’- Kahlil Gibran
“When you give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.’’- Maya Angelou
“Giving opens the way for receiving.’’- Florence Scovel Shina

2 Corinthian 9:7 “You should each give ,then, as you have decided, not with regret or out of a sense
of duty; for God loves the one who gives gladly.’’

Everyone has something to give- time, attention, a listening ear, care, affection, support, a simple smile
or material possessions.
“Everyone wants to be something or someone but no one can just be.’’- Unknown

QUESTION:
Has this post helped you learn about yourself as a giver?

WHEN THE RAINS WREAK HAVOC 

Part 2

Yes, Kampala was  initially planned for not more than 500,0000 inhabitants but available data shows that during the day Kampala’s population is estimated at more than three million people!  The development in infrastructure, drainage channels, protection of wetlands and increase in tree cover has not matched its growth. The planning of the suburbs is no exception.

As the flash floods have become a perennial problem, there is a pressing  demand for specific planning, preparedness and quick responses to the impact of the problem.

I have just been to my home village in Mityana, 70 kilometres West of Kampala.

The extreme heat of February dried up many maize fields.

Currently, the frequent rains mean impassable roads and have laid waste to some of the crops.

By simple observation, while growing up our fields used to have trees as  boundary trees  or hedges. Trees like Calliandra( Kaliisambuzi), Grevillea Robusta, Albizzia( Mugavu).

 In the banana and coffee gardens there were always Mituba trees (used for making bark cloth) and others to provide shade and to support climbers like yams and passion fruit. Mituba trees also provided fodder for the goats.

Others included mangoes and Mivule(African teak)trees. They served as windbreaks- reducing the speed of strong winds and minimizing the soil erosion and crop damage. When pruned, the wood was used for cooking or building simple structures on the farm.

Some of them had medicinal purposes and others improved soil fertility by the bacteria in their roots fixing nitrogen for the crops.

Most fields I pass by are in the open, all trees cleared; rendering the land and crops vulnerable to floods and strong winds.

Farmers should be encouraged to plant indigenous windbreaks like Mugavu, Kaliisambuzi, Mukoge                as hedges or boundary trees.

I can recall visiting my sisters in South England in October 1987. On the night of 15-16 October, we were woken up by howling winds followed by heavy rains, power went off and we feared for our lives. There had been no warning of this severe weather event.

Early the next morning, peeking through the kitchen window we could see  huge trees uprooted all around us.

When power was restored, we learned that South England had suffered the worst storm since 1703 and the damage was estimated to be a billion pounds!  It took several weeks to clear the fallen trees. 15 million trees were destroyed, a number of them were a hundred years old and 18 people had died.

The UK MET office had missed the storm and at the same time, there was no way of warning the people about the severe storm.

After the storm , 500 million trees were planted and this time , trees with broad- based leaves were preferred to the pines and other conifers that made up the majority of those destroyed.

Among the lessons learned was the setting up of a National Severe Weather Warning Service to improve the quality of weather forecasts and to improve preparedness and response to the likely impact. Technology has also improved the quality of the forecasts.

Uganda and all countries have to devise locally appropriate strategies to reduce the main human activities that increase global warming and involve the people at the grass roots in campaigns for tree planting and adopting clean energy.

My geography teacher’s   voice still echoes: The higher you go, the colder it gets- for every 1000m climb, the temperature drops by 6.5 degrees Celsius.

Kigezi region 490 Kilometres South West of Kampala of altitude 1200-2000 metres above the sea level, has been the coldest region of Uganda. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park between 2,227-4,127 metres   above sea level has average temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius during the day while night time temperatures can drop to around 9 degrees Celsius!

In the 60s and 70s Kigezi region had an average temperature of 15-18 degrees Celsius. Currently it’s getting warmer due to deforestation and population pressure.

Kampala city at an altitude of about 1190 metres above sea level has an average daytime temperature 26-28 Celsius  and 16 degrees in the evening. During the February heat wave, temperatures  as high as 34 degrees Celsius were recorded in Kampala by the Uganda National Meteorology Authority.

In the 60s and 70s, Kampala’s daytime temperatures ranged from 21- 23 degrees Celsius.

 For now, due to global warming, the rains are wreaking havoc in both the cities and villages and the ordinary people are the worst impacted. More collective efforts and actions are demanded from everyone, everywhere to protect, save and preserve the environment.

“ The truth is : the natural world is changing. And we are totally dependent on that world. It provides our food, water and air. It is the most precious thing we have and we need to defend it.’’ – Sir. David Attenborough (world environmentalist and climate activist)

QUESTION:

How are you participating actively in stopping the polluting of the environment in your community?

A clean, safe environment starts with you and I.

WHEN THE RAINS  WREAK HAVOC 

Part 1

The two and half decades that I worked in Botswana, a country three times my country Uganda and 70 percent of its territory is the Kalahari Desert, I learned to treasure water, use it sparingly and to recycle it.  Even up to today I keep a permanent bucket in my kitchen to collect clean water used for washing vegetables or rinsing utensils for watering plants and trees in the kitchen garden and compound.

In a desert, water is life- part of food security, increases productivity in agriculture, energy and industry.

I quickly picked the 3Rs of the best practices of sustaining our environment namely: REDUCE, REUSE

and RECYCLE.

I arrived in Botswana during the severe drought of 1990-1995. I never saw a drop of rain until six months later! Very weird for a person born and raised at the Equator.

On my return to Uganda, I have come to realise that there have been a lot of changes in the weather patterns and the day to today minimum and maximum temperatures. The rainy seasons are no longer as predictable as they used to be while I was growing up in the 60s and 70s. The two rainy seasons in the Central region used to be March to May and then September to November. Now Uganda experiences short, heavy rains and harsh droughts especially in the Eastern and North –Eastern Uganda.

 These changes demand for reliable water management, opening up irrigation schemes to ensure food security and productivity, effective and efficient use of water for energy and industry.

The climatic changes are mainly due to a scientifically proven concept of Global warming- the warming up of the earth’s surface through the greenhouse effect by increased levels of Carbon dioxide gas and other greenhouse gases like Methane and Nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. The gases trap the sun’s heat causing warming and this in itself results in climate change.

Available information shows that as early as 1896, Swedish scientist: Svante Arrhenius, first predicted how the increasing Carbon dioxide gas levels in the atmosphere were substantially altering the surface temperatures through the greenhouse effect. 

In 1938, Guy Callendar had concluded that the increase of Carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere had continued to cause global warming.

1988 was recorded as the hottest year on record with widespread drought and wildfires in the USA. The changes were mainly due to global warming.

The increase in the greenhouse gases was due to human activities namely:

  • Burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, gas for energy-responsible for 90 percent of Carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere.
  • Deforestation 
  •  Industrial emissions
  • Increased agriculture and livestock farming 
  • Waste and landfills.
  • Use of industrial chemicals.

Generally, 20 percent of global warming is a result of deforestation.

Most of us could remember what we were taught in a biology class: how green plants made the sugar that they need for energy and building other essential molecules by the chemical process known as PHOTOSYNTHESIS. During this process, green plants, algae and some types of bacteria trap the sunlight energy and use it with water and Carbon dioxide gas to form carbohydrates(sugars)  and release Oxygen, vital for the survival of life, as a by-product.

In this process, the plants remove the Carbon dioxide from the air while the Oxygen forms the ozone layer which protects living organisms from high –energy ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.

As the world’s population increases, more land is cleared of trees to create space for building houses, factories, commercial agriculture and as fuel for cooking and heating.

In Uganda, trees are cut down mainly for agricultural expansion and to use as firewood and charcoal-the main source of energy for most ordinary people. Forest reserves have been encroached upon.

As forest land is being converted for economic purposes, not many trees are being planted so this has led to fast accumulation of Carbon dioxide gas in the air leading to fast global warming.

https://www.climate.gov  claims that the earth’s temperature has risen by  an average of 0.06 degrees Celsius /0.11F per decade since 1850.

The main effects of climate change:

The increase in temperatures are causing ice sheets and glaciers to melt especially at the poles and has resulted in the rise of sea levels, floods and displacement of communities and the disruption of ecosystems.

Even the snow and glaciers on the Rwenzori Mountains known as the Mountains of the Moon at 5,109 metres and close to the Equator in Western Uganda, are progressively shrinking. Lake Victoria levels tend to be increasing more so during the short but heavier rainy periods.

I grew up in a green Kampala city, built on the traditional seven hills but now, when I walk in the city, I can easily count the trees standing! The oldest tree (70 years+) could be the Mvule tree at Namungoona opposite the Main Greek Orthodox Church along Hoima Road. 

 The seven hills have expanded to 22+ hills all covered by residential houses, hardly any green area.  

Deforestation and warm temperatures cause extreme weather patterns/events: flash floods and severe drought. Since the 1990s, Kampala has suffered flash floods which seem to be getting heavier over the years.

On the 26th March 2025, just after the searing heat of February, it took only two hours of relentless rain to flood the city and surrounding areas. The roads became impassable; the drainage channels were blocked. Movement had to be minimised for safety and by the end of day, seven people were reported dead and a lot of damage had been caused on property and businesses.

Other areas like Lugazi (about 46 kilometres east of Kampala) suffered floods too.

The rainy season has just begun. We all fear what could happen next as far as preparedness and response are concerned.

END OF PART 1

To be continued…….

QUESTION: 

How are you participating actively in stopping the polluting of the environment in your community?

A clean, safe environment starts with you and I.

In honour of the multitasking African woman

The month of March is seared in my memory as the Women’s month worldwide. It triggers specific memories about the struggles that Ugandan women have gone through and continue to endure to be recognised and rewarded as full members of a patriarchal society. Surely , we have come a long way since 1984- the time we celebrated the International Women ‘s day for the first time in Uganda.

This year’s celebrations were held at Butemba College in Kyankwazi District, South Buganda. My nonagenarian mother sat glued to the television to watch the celebrations as she has done for the last ten years or so.

To recognise our accomplishments as mothers of the nation; juggling family, caregiving and work , I felt it necessary to post an article on this blog.

The most ideal one I could come up with was the one I wrote in March 2020 because it still holds true in light of the reality on the ground but I had to scroll through Uganda’s fact sheet of 2024 at the UN Women website to catch up with the times.

One item that caught my eye was the fact that in 2024, 33.9 % of the seats in the current Parliament of Uganda are held by women. Worth cheering for when compared to the one and only pioneer , Mrs. Florence Alice Lubega in the 1962 Parliament. That is until I checked the available data from our neighbours in Rwanda and Kenya.

Of the 80 members in the lower House in Rwanda, 49 are females translating to 61 percent of the total with 30% attributed to affirmative action for women.

In Kenya, there are 96 females across the two chambers of 416 members, translating to 23 % of the total still without affirmative action.

Uganda ‘s affirmative action to get more women in Parliament started in 1989: the women in each district to be represented by one female from the area. It is ongoing.

According to the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association, out of the 557 members in the current parliament, 189 are females translating in 33.9%. Of these 146 are District Women representatives and 13 are elected constituency members. A lot remains to be done by the women themselves and the men and women of Uganda together to increase the women numbers.

“We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.”- Malala Yousafzai

MY UNSUNG HEROINE

MY UNSUNG HEROINE

The month of March is seared in my memory as the Women’s month worldwide. It triggers specific memories about the struggles that Ugandan women have gone through and continue to endure to be recognised and rewarded as full members of a patriarchal society. Surely , we have come a long way since 1984- the time we celebrated the International Women ‘s day for the first time in Uganda.

This year’s celebrations were held at Butemba College in Kyankwazi District, South Buganda. My nonagenarian mother sat glued to the television to watch the celebrations as she has done for the last ten years or so.

To recognise our accomplishments as mothers of the nation; juggling family, caregiving and work , I felt it necessary to post an article on this blog.

The most ideal one I could come up with was the one I wrote in March 2020 because it still holds true in light of the reality on the ground but I had to scroll through Uganda’s fact sheet of 2024 at the UN women data website to catch up with the times.

One item that caught my eye was the fact that in 2024, 33.9 % of the seats in the current Parliament of Uganda are held by women. Worth cheering for when compared to the one and only pioneer , Mrs. Florence Alice Lubega in the 1962 Parliament. That is until I checked the available data from our neighbours in Rwanda and Kenya.

Of the 80 members in the lower House in Rwanda, 49 are females translating to 61 percent of the total with 30% attributed to the 2003 affirmative action for women.

In Kenya, there are 96 females across the two chambers of 416 members, translating to 23 % of the total without affirmative action.

Uganda ‘s affirmative action to get more women in Parliament started in 1989: the women in each district to be represented by one female from the area. It is ongoing.

According to the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association, out of the 557 members in the current parliament, 189 are females translating in 33.9%. Of these 146 are District Women representatives and 13 are elected constituency members. A lot remains to be done by the women themselves and the men and women of Uganda together to increase the women numbers.

“We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.”- Malala Yousafzai

Senegal has had a 50/50 law of parity since 2010.

MY UNSUNG HEROINE

THE LOYAL FOLLOWER

The oldest bookshop in Uganda located at Ebenezer House Plot 4 Colvile Street Kampala, Uganda.

There is one place that always makes me feel like a kid in a candy store; very excited, overwhelmed by choice and difficult to stop myself from looking around in fascination.
Amazingly, I still remember vividly when I first had that experience. I could have been six years old as my father held my right hand as we entered a huge place filled with books. Books of all sizes and colour. He knew exactly where we needed to go: The Children’s Books Corner. At one big table, there were many hardback books of the Ladybird Books series. Majority were blue in colour.
“ Look through and choose at least ten that we can buy for our home library,’’ he had offered me with a glint in his eyes.
My eyes had widened in surprise and wonder as Christmas had come early that year!
He had waited for me patiently as he looked through other bigger books at the next shelf.
As I flicked through the Ladybird books , I noticed that the faces of all the characters were white and the stories talked about Peter and Jane and their parents. I was overwhelmed by the choice and yet I managed to pick at least 12 of them. My father gladly paid for them all and an assistant carried them for us to the car, parked opposite the Central Police station. My siblings and I became regular customers of that book store. Visits to it were like a special treat for us. The home library expanded to include many other Children’s books.
As we grew older we came to know that the huge place was called the Uganda Bookshop
and our curiosity led us to find out much more about it. It was Uganda’s biggest bookstore, sold Bibles, Childrens’ books and many others and also supplied textbooks and scholastic materials to all schools in Uganda. It had regional branches across the country.
It had been started by a Church Missionary official by the name Mackay, the same Mackay of Mackay Martyrs church in Natete, the oldest church in Uganda. It started in Namirembe as a printery for the Anglican church ; printing Christian materials to ease the spread of Christianity in Uganda. By 1927, it had expanded to sell books and Bibles and had become the business arm of the church. Over time it became the main supplier of textbooks and scholastic materials to all schools in Uganda. This dominance was broken during 60s by the government of Milton Obote when it opened up the Uganda school supplies agency.
Uganda Bookshop limped on and during Amin’s time it diversified into selling and exporting Ugandan hand crafts as far as Italy. It has changed locations several times but I still remember that its Post office Box number was 145 for decades. Like Mary’s little lamb, my siblings and I followed it wherever it moved merely to buy books to read and be entertained.


As a teenager, I was a talented sports person and four of my other siblings.
I could run as fast as a hare so for many years I was a member of the school’s relay team,
220 yards race and long jump. For some years, our relay team dominated the national school championships held in the city’s national stadium every July. The winning was exhilarating but the Uganda Bookshop vouchers that the top 3 in each race were presented with, were the cherries on the cake. They ranged from 25 and 10 Ugandan shillings and with each one, you could buy several story books or a text book from the Bookshop. This fanned my culture of reading books for years. Little wonder that I am now writing fiction novels and short stories of my own!
I hardly think twice when buying a masterpiece novel or the autobiography of icons
like the late Nelson Mandela and fellow Ugandans like Rhoda Kalema and the late Joyce
Mpanga.


Then between 1962 and 2003 something incredibly exciting happened on the literary
scene: a collection of works by African writers; 359 books, was introduced on the literary scene by Heinemann Educational Books company of United Kingdom.
We started reading African stories written by Africans, stories we could easily relate to. African Literature at its best. First among these was Chinua Achebe’s THINGS FALL APART, which became a set book at
the O-level Cambridge school certificate exam.
In East Africa , first among these series was Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s WEEP NOT CHILD and Okot p’Bitek’s Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol . They were Colour-coded: Blue for nonfiction, Orange for fiction and green for poetry and drama. The series sowed the seeds for more emerging African writers.
Thankfully, my father never spared any money as we expanded our home library with these new gems.

As regular customers, we came to know some of the long-time assistants at the bookshop as friends
and the long-time serving manager, late Martin Luther Galiwango. Closing my eyes , I can see the big white, windowless van with the Uganda Bookshop emblem: an open book, parked outside the store.
Books opened my mind and imagination at a tender age and turned me into a global citizen long before the invention of the Internet followed by the World Wide Web.
The Internet opened up another option of Electronic books and Audio Books . I read them but still I prefer to touch and smell the Hard book as I turn over the pages.
By 1977, the old faithful bookshop had moved to its current corner: Ebenezer House Plot 4 Colvile Street
right in the Kampala city centre. It was rescued from a huge debt that almost put it under the auctioneer’s hammer, by the business mind-set of the late Archbishop Livingstone Nkoyoyo.
It has continued to run as the business arm of the Anglican church and has contributed towards the building of the Church house located in the city centre.


I last visited it in 1990 after the death of my father; this time round I was aggressively looking for the manuscript of my father’s autobiography in all printeries around Kampala. Since he was a member of the Anglican Church , Uganda Bookshop was the best place to start. Mr. Moses Mulwana, the long serving member of the bookshop was more than willing to help. After all, he had known my father well.
To our disappointment, it was not among the manuscripts which had gathered dust in the printery by then located in the basement. To this day the manuscript has never been found and yet my father had put a lot of energy and efforts to write and have it completed.
Thereafter, I went away in search of greener pastures for almost two and half decades and transferred my loyalty born out of the love of books, sowed in me by my late father and nurtured by my old school, to Bookstores in Botswana like Exclusive Books.
Having a zillion things to sort out after being away for long, combined with a radically changed Uganda and a city crowded with people, structures, cars and motorcycles, I had not yet touched base with one of my favourite pastime visiting places.


I was drawn to Uganda Bookshop in December 2024 after the launch of my father’s book: CRISIS IN BUGANDA 1953-55 the 2024 edition. The first edition was published in London in 1978.
Ugandan readers wanted to access it in a central place and no other place fitted that description than Uganda Bookshop.
I had no trouble locating the bookstore: same old location, almost the only old structure among the new high-rise buildings.
As I climbed up the ten red steps leading inside, I felt that I was returning to the old and familiar.
There were three young ladies; looking alike because of the braided hair and beige T-shirts and black skirts they were wearing.
I greeted them and asked them for directions to the manager’s office whose location I still remembered.
The place looked so small; could be due to the many shelves and tables of books. Two young tourists were browsing through the books as I made my way to the manager’s office through a narrow corridor.
In about forty minutes, I walked away with an agreement to supply my father’s book to the store and left five copies with the lady. Being me, I spent almost an hour browsing through the books. I was extremely thrilled to see many Christian books, short stories, fiction and nonfiction novels and biographies written by Ugandans-Ugandans telling their unique stories in their own voice to the world.

Curiosity led me to the back of the building and I was happy to note that the whole plot was intact apart from a few temporary small secretarial services , stationery booths and florists shops.
“ How did this prime plot survive being sold off or being newly developed?’’ I wondered out loud.

By late evening I had found out how it had survived. Ebenezer House is one of the few buildings in the city centre considered to be of historical significance and worth to be preserved by the city’s physical planning unit. It has to be maintained and kept looking historically accurate.


The church of Uganda continues to run the traditional bookshop but the bookshop has to be innovative to adapt and evolve to survive in the Digital era. It will have to go beyond book sales and evolve into a community space offering events, host events, book launches, workshops and authors book signings.
As for the loyal followers like me, the onus is on
us to write books and sell them in this bookshop as well as working with it to go out in schools to encourage the students to develop the reading culture early on in life.

“There is no substitute for books in the life of a child.’’- May Ellen Chase
“The greatest gift is a passion for reading.’’- Elizabeth Hardwick

QUESTION:

Are you among those who were enabled to develop the culture of reading books early on in childhood?
Are you passing on this beneficial culture to your children and other members of the community?

ORGANISING YOUR LIFE

A well-tended garden courtesy of AI

The beginning of each new year demands that each one of us pauses and reflects over the past one –

pick lessons from the failures and successes and apply them to inform the present and plan for the new year. The essence is planning to use your time effectively and efficiently for your personal and professional progress. This creates reasonable order and stability in your life amid the turbulence of the age.

It demands discipline to practice effective time management.

One has to consistently learn to prioritise what matters most to you in life, to prevent the URGENT from swallowing it up.

“ It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.’’- John Wooden

Life Coach Michel Hyatt reminds us consistently that there are some high value tasks which support your key goals and if done right and on time, they will have a multiplier effect on your key goals.

From his experience, he advises the following:

 You identify 3-4 most important tasks of each day

  • The tasks should be clear, specific, and actionable
  • Stay focused on these tasks by using time blocks, dedicate time to a single task or a group of related tasks. 
  • Eliminate distractions like emails, social media texts while working.
  • Say “ NO’’ as a complete sentence to avoid anything that does not align with your goals.

Do it right every day and it adds up to weeks, months and before you know it, you have completed a full year!

“ Seasons change, and so do we.’’- B.K Borison

As each one of us adds another year to her/his life, we have to be mindful of the seasons of our lives relative to the seasons of our local environment.

The seasons in nature constantly remind us that things are changing. Each season gives you ideas to honour your intuitive nature.

The psychologists tell us that our emotions follow a similar cycle to that of the seasons of nature.

We should bask fully in the positive emotions like joy, happiness, hope and inspiration. These positive emotions create a protective buffering effect against the difficult times that we face later in life.

SUMMER- can be compared to being immersed in pleasurable experiences like walking in the wild , harvesting crops , dancing under a starry sky and other fun-loving activities. They add up to build a strong resilient armour within you.

AUTUMN- summer is long gone but you can still appreciate the beauty of the changing seasons and be transformed in a positive way.

WINTER- comparable to the difficult times that we go through in life. They fill us with fear, despair and worry. Our hope lies in knowing that they do not last forever.

 Time passes and seasons will come and go.

SPRING- the harshest winter is usually followed by a riotous spring. You recover from the hardships of the difficult winter. Rise from the ashes –stress, trauma and shock, you have experienced. Most times one comes out stronger and resilient.

“A tree with strong roots laughs at storms.’’- Malay Proverb

As the years go by, you learn to look for the beauty and lesson in every season you experience.

You gradually learn the importance of order in life.

Order could be defined as a state of space where a system exhibits clarity, certainty or stability. It is a tool one needs to accomplish anything tangible in life.

 Order starts by recognising the priorities in your life and using available skills to do the things in the proper order.

Having order requires discipline and organisation in what you do and starts from within.

The psychologists believe that that an organised peaceful external life reflects one’s inner life while a disorganised external life reflects the chaos within.

Growing up in an organised environment of routine and cleanliness, children grow up to desire order as they mature. They tend to be responsible and dependable and prefer to live in orderly and organised surroundings.

 Children who grow up in a chaotic environment tend to have poor cognitive ability and poor language ability, tend to be less responsible, have less stimulation and develop problem behaviours.

Order in childhood has lasting effects on personality and behaviour.

Order creates the following effects:

  • It helps you get into a routine that reduces stress or feeling of chaos.
  • Boosts your self-confidence
  • Makes you more focused and productive and can save you money.
  • It enhances creativity
  • It improves your work-life balance.
  • Order improves your mental and physical well-being and helps you to feel more in control.

Some psychologists believe that there are seven key areas of one’s life that need to be organised and to flow in harmony so as to achieve life’s balance: a balance between work and personal pursuits.

1. Mental- intellectual growth and mental health

2. Spiritual – connecting with inner beliefs, values and sense of purpose.

3.Physical- the health state of your body.

4. Financial- income, savings and financial planning.

5. Personal-  you as an individual: your passions, interests and activities that bring you delight and pleasure

6. Family- your anchor that holds you through life’s storms and gives you a sense of belonging.

7.Career- work, achievements, professional growth and development.

To live a fulfilling and harmonious life, you have to balance work and personal life effectively. To most of us this work-life balance demands that we dance this delicate balance every day of our working life.

“ Life is like riding a bicycle . To keep your balance , you must keep moving.’’- Albert Einstein

From time to time, re-evaluate your PRIORITIES to set meaningful goals and intentionally improve areas that are lagging behind.

I vividly recall one time when I tried to play ‘ super woman’ ; taking on a post graduate course in Obstetrics and Gynaecology while at the same time starting a family. I nearly suffered burnout. I only saved myself by re-evaluating my priorities  at that moment in time. It worked wonders for me.

One other experience has been my return home after being away for almost 26 years.

Having grown up in an organised family, gone to a Church-founded school and later joined a profession which thrives on organisation, order and diligence ,many times I find myself almost losing my sense of control  due to the chaos around me. Both my creativity and productivity tend to be hampered and my energy drained in doing simple things like moving from point A to B!

There are times that I am like a derailed train!

What has kept me going is that there are still a few individuals who are still holding on to their core values of honesty, integrity, selfless service to their communities and just being decent human beings.

It is moments like this that make me appreciate the importance of order in life.

“When Liberty destroys order, the hunger for order will destroy liberty.’’- Will Durant

“ For every minute spent organising, an hour is earned.’’- Anonymous

QUESTION:

At this moment in time, does each year added to your life make you more organised or disorganised?

How can you improve on this?