Ever felt like someone was stripping you? As you stand there, you are not sure who is judging you or cheering you on. Writing facts about myself is not necessarily a cup of tea for me but a challenge is a challenge, and once in, there is no turning back. So here is what Day 2 of the #UGBlogMonth looks like for me.
1. I am a middle child
What is that thing they say about middle children? Yes I am a middle child and an only girl too. Many who saw me grow, feel like I was favored the most although I believe otherwise. I was beaten the most. (Yes! the African way) but I cannot argue that I was not loved dearly. So there is something interesting about being a middle child and most importantly an only girl and I would not trade that position for any other.
2. One of my favorite things to do is minister through songs.
Thanks to my elder brother, I was introduced to active participation in church at a time which is arguably the most critical in any growing adult’s life. (Beginning of campus which is a taste of ‘freedom’.) To this day, more than often you will find me in church spaces or church related activities if I am not at my day’s job. In particular I belong to the worship team of Christ the King prayer group and the Blessed Women of Faith worship Team. There is something that happens to one’s soul when they sing out and I do not know how best to explain it but, whenever we sing at mass or weddings and I see how the congregation breaks out in praise, my heart is full. Even when the singing preparations require almost all evenings of my week days, I get the zeal to go and sing to the Lord. “A heart that sings prays twice”
3. One thing I know I do well is leadership
One thing I have come to appreciate is that I am called to leadership. Somehow I will find myself organising an event or activity, time and again. Sometimes I am unaware how I got myself there and by the time I snap to ‘consciousness’, I am far in to back out. The unrest I get when I see something in which I know I can serve, and I am not, the feeling is not worth it, so I gladly go and serve. Now I have embarked on sharpening these leadership skills further and I am currently a leadership student at Harvest Institute, Class 2020
4. I cannot live without my phone
To be honest, if I said I was aware I could live without my phone, I would be lying. Thanks to this self awareness challenge. I usually give the excuse that it is because of my work and it is dependent on my phone especially for communication. One day I forgot my phone home and only realised when I was about a kilometre away from my work place. If I told you I made the journey back to pick it, you would not believe me. I am now trying to work on a detachment process for this. It is not healthy at all.
5. If I wasn’t what I am today I would be a photographer
Growing up my father had a camera and always took pictures of me each time he dropped or picked me up from pre-school, so you would always find me with a swarm of children. When I graduated to primary school, this stopped however as a family, we remained with the tradition of taking pictures every Sunday. We had our special corner in the church compound and the camera man always knew what to do. It is right there that I developed the love for photography to this day. So given any opportunity I love to be in-front of the lens or behind it.
6. Something I’d love to get rich by doing full time is to do with children and or the differently able-d persons.
My career (nutritionist) deals a lot with young children as well as persons that are differently able-d and working with such persons melts my heart. Last year my friend and I got the opportunity to celebrate our birthdays with children in a differently able-d home in Kakiri. It was such a memorable experience for me to see these sweet souls break into smiles. I share my experience in this article. https://medium.com/@evyshirley/differently-able-d-92594d73ea1a
If I could do anything to better the living of these groups of people, I would die a happy girl.
7. The people who have influenced my life the most are my mother and elder brother
I grew up in a very small family of just two brothers and I with our mother. Our dad was away for the better part of our life so I was influenced by my mother and elder brother. When I grew older, still in the ‘protective wings’ of my elder brother, he introduced me to Christ the King Catholic church community, and those too were added to the list of influencers in my life.
8. I would love to meet Pope Francis
Pope Francis is the current leader of the Roman Catholic church in the whole world. He amazes me with his simplicity in his way of life and the way he approaches it. I always imagine what kind of conversation we would have if I had the opportunity to have a chat with him. I would want to just sit there and listen the whole time.
9. My Perfect day starts with mass and end with a hearty meal
Beginning my day with mass has been one of the best ‘ingredients’ of my routine in the recent past. The day I do not begin with mass is a dead one. My love for food and good company is the perfect way to end a day in my world. So get me very good company (family and or friends) and a very tasty meal and you will have closed my day perfectly.
10. If I could live anywhere in the world it would be right here
Surprisingly I am one of the very few people I guess who has never fancied living anywhere else other than my mother land, Uganda. I would love to go visit all sorts of places, but never in my wildest dreams would I want to live there for good. I have come to appreciate that despite the many challenges we face as a country, no place beats it for me as home.
11. One thing on my bucket list is bungee jumping
I have a very deep fear for heights yet the one thing on my bucket list is bungee jumping. And more interesting I would love to do this with my significant other, the couple bungee jump. I always imagine the rush of adrenalin intertwined as we hold onto each other like our life ends there. So my significant one, brace your self darling!!!
12. An accomplishment I’m particularly proud of is creating a nutrition website
For the longest time after my bachelor’s degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics which is 4 years ago, has been to leave a mark in this nutrition space, however tiny this would be. Funny how I thought this was going to be obvious. 4 years down the road, it is now that this reality is slowly trying to take shape and my biggest accomplishment thus far has been to create my own nutrition website on which I get to share nutrition related information to the world out there.
13. One very memorable year is 2016
2016 is such a memorable year for me because it was the time when I graduated and also got my first work assignment in Karamoja, an experience that has been the worst so far in my work life. I did not even finish 3 months at this job but the effects of this experience haunt me to this day. I lost 6kgs in that short time. That is a story for another day I guess.
14. My favorite comfort food is porridge
Weird as it may sound, porridge is my comfort food. It does not matter what kind of porridge it is; whether it has milk or not, cold or hot, it just has to be porridge. I remember one day while seated in my mother’s shop, I was drinking from my famous porridge mug and a client mistook me for a lactating mother on seeing the size of the mug. Any time is tea porridge time.
15. I’d like to be remembered for an impact lived life
Beyonce Knowles has a famous song titled “I was Here” and somewhere in that song there is a verse that goes like this,
I want to leave my footprints on the sand of time
Know there was something that, something that I left behind
When I leave this world, I’ll leave no regrets
Leave something to remember, so they won’t forget
I want to be remembered for a contribution I made that impacted people out there and that is why I am focusing my efforts on changing the face of nutrition in this country among pregnant women and children as well as persons that are differently able-d. I want to leave my footprints on the sand of time.
16. If I could keep any animal as a pet I would choose a dog
When I was in my senior 3, I visited a friend at their family home. They were known in our village to have the toughest dogs but since it was day time I figured the dogs were caged and the apparent threat was non existent. As I walked into the gate, I saw one of the dogs lying but my fears were quickly soothed by the fact that their mother was right there in the compound removing clothes from the hang line. Hardly had I made a step than the dog charged at me leaving me with a deep wound in my thigh. That made me hate dogs until I rented a place where the landlord thought it wise for us to have dogs for security, so I had only two choices. Either to love the dogs or leave the place and I chose the former. Now, me and dogs are inseparable.
17. One thing I am afraid of is swimming.
I am clearly hydrophobic for the greater part. Me and water seem to have a parallel relationship so indulging in this sport is close to me signing a death sentence. In addition to having hydrophobia, I am very uncomfortable displaying my body for the people around the swimming pool. I am not confident enough to flaunt my ‘bikini’ body. But I can attempt to swing my legs in the water.
18. The most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me is……
Way back in my senior 6, we were in our biology practical class and the teacher was explaining something very contentious. Everyone was quiet and you could hear a pin fall on the ground. This is the time my stomach decided to grumble so loudly and it did not matter what I did to muffle the sound, it went on for a good sixty seconds. The whole class including the teacher bust into deafening laughter and that was the end of our class that day. To this day that memory traumatises me.
19. Most painful experience I have had so far is losing my bestfriend
In May last year I lost my best friend to a very fatal accident in California. This experience changed my entire view of life to this day. It defined the phrase “Life is short” for me. The world made a very painful momentary pause that time and it is an experience I briefly shared in this piece. https://medium.com/@evyshirley/what-is-life-966d1ed17a73
Can a pen write down that for which many a time there are no words? This is how I can describe this part of my life.
20. If I had one dying wish it would be for my mother
I have been brought up by my mother almost single handedly and I have seen our humble beginnings to where we are now. The sacrifices she has had to make, for not only myself but all 3 of us and many others that have passed through her care are crystal clear. If my dying wish was not to her then I do not know to whom it would go to.
