Once i met a girl...like any
normal boy and girl we did what boys and girls do...we got to talking. She told
me she wanted to be a teacher. I was amazed, humbled and inspired. She was the
first Ugandan i met who, from S6 Vac, had the ambition of being a teacher. Now
we all know how this is a profession scorned,or at least it was. But here she
was loudly and openly telling us she wanted to be a teacher.
Fast forward several years and i
meet another young lady...and like all young men and women do...we got to
talking. She told me she wanted to build a school back in her home district. At
the time she was studying from Bulaya (Ugandan vernacular term used to refer to countries overseas) , i forget which course, but she was going
to channel all her monies and energies towards building a school. Again i was
amazed, humbled and inspired. These two women sowed the seeds that bred and
season of introspection. they taught me that, yes there is so much wrong with
our country but only we can change it, not buy asking the government but buy
actually doing something about it ourselves.
Fast forward several more years.
I had just left my previous job and had started my photography business. Those
first months meant i had a lot of time to myself. I pondered on my plight and
that of my country. I wondered how i could make a change. There were so many
more before me. Politically minded and social entrepreneurs...they were doing
something but what could i do.
One of those many days, with too
little in my pocket to pay for my fare home i walked down Kampala road. My head
was literally bowed, glued to the pavement. Tired of all the self-pity i
decided to lift my head up high...literally. I looked up, a little too high i
guess, cause i found myself staring at all the shop signs that had hang above
my head all these years but i never noticed. I love graphic design and so the
signs intrigued me a little. "How much you miss when you always look
down" i wondered.
I observed that many do the exact
same thing; we look to our feet as we scurry around this city. I wondered how
much we missed because we do not look up.
The next few weeks were spent
looking up all over the city and noticing the shapes, the textures, the play of
light and so much more.
i started taking pictures with my
phone and later my camera....from this my Instagram Blog was born...a
collection of images that show the other side of this Lovely city that has been
my home all this time. It was my way of seeing my city in a different light.
But something bigger was born in
me those few months. I realized that I can change my city if I change the way
my peers looked at it. If I could just get them to appreciate this country and
city perhaps they would be more willing to fight for it and defend it from
pariahs of bad governance and selfish greed.
More than that perhaps I would
inspire us to do something about our city, to plug the gaps where we see them
and stem the tide of disrepair or despair.
I might not have a lot of money,
but I have my camera and my eyes…perhaps through them you and I can see what an
awesome Gem of a country we have and perhaps live lives that help it thrive and
shine.
Oh and one more thing, I have chosen
to randomly follow and promote all blogs and Facebook pages that build an
authentic Ugandan picture in the hopes that someday we can all meet up, look
back and say we did it.
I want to be like those two ladies a mentioned, sold out to my countries well being that i am willing to stand up and do something with my resources and what little grit i posses. So I am changing my country one image at a time…hopefully.
