The heart-wrenching Netflix series "From Scratch" - Based on a true story.

 If you haven't watched Netflix's series "From Scratch" premiered on October 21st 2022, please prepare a couple of tissues before you do or wait for when you're truly sad and in need of somewhere to release your anger, haha, but that's how emotional it is. 

From Scratch 

The 8-episode series starring Zoe Saldana as Amy, and Eugenio Mastrandrea as Lino, is a romantic story about an American lady, Amy, who goes to Italy to pursue her Art studies and ends up falling in love with a Sicilian Chef, Lino. 

When her stay in Italy comes to an end, Lino chooses to follow her to America where he dreams of opening up his own restaurant. 

Soon everyone is wrapped in their love story and not even the disapproval of Lino's dad can stop them from starting their family. They have a glamorous wedding and just as when their lives start taking shape with Lino finally opening his restaurant, he is diagnosed with cancer and everything gets back to scratch! 

I don't even know why the series wasn't named From Scratch to Scratch because what is all this! 

Every episode has you on the edge of what terrible thing could come along. 

Just when Lino finally connects with the dad, the dad dies! 

At some point, you wonder if all of it was just scripted but Netflix's From Scratch is actually based on a true story from Tembi Locke's book, From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, And Finding Home. 

From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, And Finding Home, cover

I can't begin to fathom how much pain one can take in one lifetime! 

It is said that even after Tembi produced the series with her sister Attika Locke, she still hasn't got to watch it because writing the book alone left her wounds fresh from losing her husband.

Locke's husband, Rosario "Saro" Gullo died in 2012 and she published her book on April 19 2019 which inspired the making of the series, From Scratch. 

Tembi Locke and her late husband Rosario

My thoughts about the series.  

• Am still traumatized, more like crying from watching it but did it really have to be this sad??
• Tembi is definitely a strong woman because after going through all this and still blessing the world with this great work is next-level strength, hand down. 
• If they dare produce the next season, we will be rivals because l can't take any more crying. 
• Though some small details were missing like where Lino's sister was all through his sickness (and not just at the end), l will just take what l can get. 

Me as me, l will not give it a whole 5 stars but a 4.5 because l terribly hate sad stories be it true or fictional. My life is already a sad story to start watching more sad stories for fun. 

But well, the production and presentation was on point, and if Zoe doesn't win an Emmy, l will be so mad. 

The series is definitely worth watching but like l said, be emotionally, mentally, and teary-ready, haha and l didn't give away many spoilers!

Are women really incapable of protecting themselves?

 So my house was recently broken into for the second time in a period of a month.  The first time it happened l wasn't shaken, in actual sense l blamed myself because l had adamantly refused to buy a stronger padlock. 

Talk about living in Kampala!

I mean, l was (still is) staying in a seemingly safe neighbourhood and if you have house hunted in Kampala you well know that a house inside a gate (kikomela) is a top priority that you will even pay extra on rent because it is in a gate. 

So since l was in a gate and already paying extra, l didn't want to pay more extra on padlocks and here l was staring at my only tiny padlock that had been opened and thrown in the dustbin for me to find!

My neighbour had called me when l was on my way coming back home after being away for like 3 days and you know that line of "are you shifting, l see your door open" she hit me with it. 

The only thing that occupied my mind from that time of the call was what padlocks could l get. 

I remember passing by capital shoppers in Ntinda and asking about a certain padlock for this lady to tell me that l wouldn't be able to use it. 

Fast forward to three weeks later with my three padlock babies, on a really gloomy morning (and no the birds weren't chirping, haha) l found my door just slightly open while l was coming from the bathroom to pee. 

This was around 6:40 am and l had to travel that day so l wanted to completely finish my sleep. You know when you walk to the bathroom with your eyes half closed so you don't lose momentum of your sleep? That was me. 

It clearly was one of the most refreshing night's sleep l have ever had but at that moment, l felt chills run through my body. I must say that's the most scared l have ever been all my life! Not being robbed but having a stranger prance over me at my weakest moment, in my sleep. 

What was running through my mind was what if he wanted to stab me, what could have stopped him (at this point am sure it's a him), what if he forced himself on me. 

The only things they had taken were my 2 weeks old phone and a 10k note which was supposed to be for my transport. 

I still had my old phone so the immediate person l called was my mum, like always, because she was supposed to top up for me on my 10k for transport and now she had to look for the full amount. God bless that woman. 

The next person l called was a friend and the first thing he said when l told him l had been robbed again was "you need a full-time man to protect you". 

So to him, l was robbed because l didn't have a man in my house. I am a damsel in distress that can't live by itself. 

Would the man have chased away the thief or he would have heard my really annoying alarm padlock since "men have better hearing senses"? 

When did we get to the point that women can not happily live on their own!

So now the goal of every woman has to be finding a man to protect her?

Please teach your daughters to invest in padlocks and not in men since safe places are close to a mystery. 

The first picture this girl took on my phone when we decided it was the one l wanted

How l became a programmer without a computer

By instinct, when you hear the word "programmer" the first thing that comes to your mind is a computer, and not just a mediocre computer but literally a workstation, with many wires running under the table or somewhere. 

Now imagine if someone told you they are a programmer but don't own a computer!

You would be sceptical, wouldn't you? 

Like where do they even programme? Are they even in their right mind? 

Well, a while ago, l was attending an event called She-STEM at The American Centre and one of the topics that were discussed was The Digital Divide in the run to improve the uptake of STEM courses and careers by women. 

Digital Divide refers to the gap between people who have ready access to computers and the internet and those who do not have that access. 

If you did not grow up in Kampala, l know the term now makes a lot of sense to you. 

Growing up, power was a myth, later on internet! But we saw it all through, here l am, the first computer engineer in the clan, well on paper.

My love for tech could have stemmed from the fact that it wasn't available while growing up (in my mind). For as long as l can remember, l wanted to do anything and everything around tech, from software to computer engineering. 

Keep in mind that l had never seen a laptop but l was fortunate enough to go to a school that had a computer laboratory and that was like my first love. 

While everyone rushed to the computer lab to talk to their friends and family on Facebook, l would be practising Microsoft tools because let's face it, in my family no one even had a smartphone to access Facebook. 

Fast forward to university and l had been admitted on computer engineering, and it gets better, on government scholarship! 

It was like Christmas at home. The fact that we wouldn't afford university to begin with, and here l was, being handed my dream course with full tuition!! 

Four years and a world pandemic later, l was "crowned" a computer engineer on March 19th 2021. 

I will not lie that it was the happiest day of my life because, for starters, l graduated on TV, and l had not even washed my face! Plus, the field wasn't something l was very much looking forward to. 

So let's just say, l was glad that journey was over. 

Oh, this is where l need to add that by this time, l didn't own a computer. I had had some along the way but you know how it goes. 

Now l had to look for a career in the fields well known to a computer engineer, ie, programmer, hardware specialist, Networking, Cyber security, and so on. 

I had lied to myself that l preferred the programming route but the pandemic had opened my eyes that l was indeed lying to myself. 

Before l knew it, l was enrolled in a software development boot camp at Refactory, thanks to a friend who paid for me that 1 million tuition. At this rate, if l don't say that God is alive, l would be lying. 

This is an intensive programming course for 3 months and l was going to do it without a computer and homeless (that's a story for another day). 

Did l think about quitting? Everyday! 

Did l think about the connections it could get me? Everyday!

I had given up on being a programmer but l was required to do all the programming work for me to graduate from this program, so l programmed or something like that. 

So how can we enforce STEM with the prevailing Digital Divide?

When l say this is from personal experience, l think it will be a suitable use of the phrase. 

• Know exactly what you want and don't lose focus.

We have already established that l have always known l wanted to be around tech and l made sure everything l did was bringing me closer to that goal. 

I knew what subjects l needed to focus on to get a tech-related course at university. It may not go that far for you but make sure that your goals are crystal clear. 

• Network, network, network. 

The power of networking can never be stressed enough. Aim at making friends in the fields you want to see yourself in. They will know what you're talking about, you will know where to go when you need help and they will make the whole journey fun and worthwhile. 

When l was homeless, it was a friend who took me in! I can't begin to count the number of times l was asked how l knew her. 

Your family may not understand what you're working towards and may not even be receptive to your ideas but if you have two or three people that understand what you're doing, that's enough. 

Move out of that village, you will not make enough money to extend electricity, well not for now but you don't have to always be home for holidays! 

Plan with a couple of your friends (who are working towards the same goal) and find a place to stay together in town, closer to a cafe where you have access to a computer. 

I know it's a long shot but it's definitely better than buying a 1 million solar panel for your home in the village. 

• Be a go-getter. 

Keep your eyes and ears open for any opportunities. You would be surprised how many free study opportunities are out there but because you're always like, am not a Facebook person, l don't use social media, those things are for rich people, you will never get them. 

Browse through the internet every single day, sign up for newsletters, join communities whether physical or online. 

One thing you should always have is data, l only load voice bundles when l want to talk to my mum in the village but internet is like a basic need for me. 

I don't see the digital divide disappearing soon and yet we have to keep moving, so it's definitely upon you to fight for what you want. 

I still don't have a computer up to now but has it stopped me from going after what l want? 

Ohh am not a programmer, that ship sailed but well l think you get the idea. 

Address by Eng. Elizabeth 😊

Uganda: Women Innovation in Education

I caught up with Community Women Enterprise Network CWEN, a non-profit organization that brings together women in entrepreneurship, and their women are doing wonders in the Education sector! 

From creating dress-up games to encourage self-expression, phonics systems, and games that make learning maths fun (we all know fun and maths can't appear in the same sentence), these women are changing the education narrative!

We saw what the pandemic did to our education sector, with Uganda hitting the longest time of schools being closed for almost two years. These innovations are some of the reasons children still remembered how to read by the time schools finally got opened again.

 

Here are a few of the many women that are killing it in the Education sector;

Sarayah Namirembe is a storyteller, educator, and bestselling author of Ugandan folktales which include; the Hare and Ogre, the Hare and Hyena, and the Hare and the Lion to mention but a few. 

Her writing career started in 2016. While her dream was to write and inspire primary going children to read, she recognized a reading skills gap in the education sector which challenged her to engage in teacher training and workshops. 

Together with her team, she has reached over 30 schools and trained over 400 teachers in Kampala Wakiso and Mukono to pass on reading skills to young learners. She looks forward to learning and growing with other young women in the education sector. 

Check out her work here 

Saraya Namirembe 

Emily Banya is the co-founder of Utalii Creative, a company that promotes tourism using souvenirs starting with customized jigsaw puzzles, fridge magnets and playing cards (matatu) as a tool to highlight facts about Africa and in so doing tackling mental health.  

1n 2019, Banya, encountered mental health challenges that helped her discover how the brain works. She bought a jigsaw puzzle for its usefulness in engaging the brain to solve problems and realized none of the puzzles she saw in the shop reflected Africa. This was the beginning of her innovation. 

From puzzles to customized playing cards and the development of product lines, Utalii creative now collaborates with businesses and individuals using souvenirs and media. The use of souvenirs like jigsaw puzzles has proved to be a tool that can be leveraged for educational, promotional and mental health awareness purposes. 

These innovations have yielded a growing collaboration between the National Zoo (UWEC) and Utalii Creative to promote conservation efforts in the country with an emphasis to find a viable use for recycled plastic in the manufacturing of locally produced souvenirs.

This has created advancements in the entrepreneurship world while tackling issues that are rather not prioritized but are very important in the education sector worldwide.

Emily Banya

Agatha Kisakye Kabugo is a home school teacher who runs a homeschool support group and the Teen Mentorship Programme. 

Her innovation prioritizes an individualized approach to mentoring teenagers. She recognized a gap in mentoring children. Children are usually mentored in a crowd and they still don’t know. This puts the out of touch with themselves and struggle with vices like low esteem, negative comparison to peers, and unnecessary competition, to mention but a few. 

She encounters challenges in marketing her business but has currently mentored 30 children in 9 months. The future of her innovation she believes, will bring on board and train a team of child mentors and take mentorship to schools.

Agatha Kisakye Kabugo

Judith Peace Adongo Epuchu is a teacher who has training in early childhood psychology and has developed a Phonics system (the sounding of the letters of the alphabet) for Uganda. 

She has carried out several reading projects, volunteered in schools to run reading clubs, personally invested in libraries and carried out reading tents in various schools and organizations. 

Her innovation is a phonics system that she wishes to see enrolled in teacher training colleges, schools, and for in-service teachers to use to equip children with a foundation for them to thrive and excel. The program has been implemented among parents who homeschool their children and in communities where she does literacy. 

She founded an organization called  Serane Parenting where she supports communities in literacy. They handle reading clubs in the schools in these communities. 

She finds challenges in funding, and publicity for her Phonics system,  and peoples’ mindset toward this innovation. She hopes to see fully running, well-stocked community libraries in each community.

Judith Peace Adongo Epuchu

Estella Kabagaya, also known as Mama Children is a mentor and children’s caregiver who uses play to learn in her daycare programs for children of 0-6 years. 

Her business, mama children’s village has been running for 10 years now and the last 5 have been in Wandegeya market until 2022.  She intends to set up a green play area, where she uses nature to teach young ones, knowing the psychology behind the development of young children. 

Her innovation also involves mental games, art programs and library sessions. She finds it key for her business and whoever works with her to have knowledge about child psychology because then, that is how children’s needs and development can be met. 

Mama children considers herself an entrepreneur and continues to work with more women in her developments.

Estella Kabagaya

Melissa Mugisa is a graphic designer and illustrator behind Doli Kids Krafts, a local brand for hand crafted dress up games for girls. 

Her business, Doli Kids Crafts deals in paper doll dress up games fully illustrated and handcrafted by her. The game comes with Nambi, your paper doll, and a set of 30 clothing items plus hairstyles to mix and match according to the prompt. 

The idea is to teach little girls to explore and express themselves through fashion. 

She started it as a passion project while attempting to make a paper doll gift for her niece which encouraged her to develop a real product. 

The lesson she aims to teach is self-expression. The game comes with trivia about different themes depending on the prompt, for example, a safari includes facts about the big five wildlife animals in Uganda. 

Much as she is an illustrator, she considers herself an entrepreneur and continues to learn about marketing and branding and how to incorporate the business side of things. 

She faces challenges like finding a platform to advertise to larger audiences with the competition on social media, and without a shop to sell her products. She is dependent on market days that come up once a month. 

Her goal is to expand Doli beyond just a dress up game into more toys for kids with the vision of making learning fun, and building self-confidence even if it begins with learning something as small as their fashion sense.

Melissa Mugisa

Bwiiza Christine is a visual artist who uses drawing and painting skills to create more than just Art. She uses her skills to carry out Art workshops based on psychology whose facts aid her in understanding the needs of the age groups she tackles in order to deliver accordingly.

She has been an active artist since 2019 and taught WASH (water sanitation & hygiene) workshops through Art by developing drawing and colouring sessions through encouraging active thinking and allowing children to be themselves. 

Besides painting and illustration, she develops educational toys, illustrated colouring books, murals, paintings and more.

Bwiiza Christine

Basemera Stella Maris Mugume is a transformational math educator, creative learning methods researcher and CEO of Creative Learning Africa. 

After her last school practice in 2015, she recognized a gap in Math teaching and learning. Tr. Basemera then began her career as a freelance math tutor, and in 2017 registered her business, Creative Learning Africa.

She has since tutored, carried out teacher training, and published logical reasoning books namely; Fun Maths Activities, Math Practice Games, and Miss Math Comic book.

Her innovation develops approaches to learning math, from kindergarten to senior six. Tr. Basemera develops formulas for learning and understanding math in different classes through the use of games, art, music and all creative means available, making math fun for learners. 

She created interactive WhatsApp classrooms to enable learning amidst the COVID-19 crisis, and still uses it today. From Uganda to the United Kingdom, 500 students have benefited from her math tutoring services. 

She is currently working on Creative Totos, an online learning site in partnership with Young Treps. She continues to hire women in her business and looks forward to distributing learning materials in communities, especially the less advantaged ones.

Basemera Stella Maris Mugume

Lillian Nakiwala Nyakana is the founder of Tusome Children’s Reading Club located in Kito Magere Gayaza Road. 

Growing up, she adopted a reading culture from her mother's encouragement. She started her social enterprise in 2016 to promote a reading culture among children in her community. 

Since its inception, Tusome Children’s Reading club, has had 40 children accessing reading services, from her garage turned library at her home, this number was constant till 2019 when the global pandemic forced shutdowns. 

Her social enterprise has employed two teachers and currently works with 15 children from nursery class to primary six and this number is only growing. This works through the availability of books, space, and reading curators. 

Her challenges are lack of reading materials, space and salaries for the women she employs in her business. Lillian intends to grow Tusome Children’s Reading Club into a children’s library, collaborating with organizations that share the same goals and encouraging reading for young people going through school.

Lillian Nakiwala Nyakana

To support these women in any way, reach out to CWEN for more information. 

Thank you in advance. 

Taylor Swift receives an honorary doctorate from NYU: Did she deserve it?

 Her majesty, the Grammy queen of music herself Taylor Swift or as you would now call her, Dr Tay, received an honorary doctorate degree in Fine Arts over the weekend from New York University where she gave a commencement speech for the class of 2022 graduation.

Taylor Swift giving her commencement speech at NYU

This, however, was not well received by everyone. Like always, everyone has opinions. 

I came across a couple of comments along the line,

 "That was just handed to her"

"She already has the achievements, the doctorate wasn't necessary"

"How about it was handed to someone who really worked for it" 

" So when are we starting to hand out billions to scholars to break through life after school"

Well, for starters, what is an honorary degree? 

According to numerous websites and academic knowledge, an honorary degree is an award given by institutions to high achieving members of the community, whether alumni of the institution or the ones that have attained an equivalent level of education from different institutions or even ones that have not had formal education! 

The essence of an honorary degree is to recognize the contribution one has added to the institution and the community at large,  nationally and internationally. 

An honorary degree is currently the highest academic award in the United States of America. 

The awarding institution together with its Board of Trustees makes the decision on who gets the degree and in which field of study. 

Well now that we know that the honorary is typically supposed to be handed out, are there requirements one must fulfil before they are handed the degree? 

And the answer, my friend, is yes! You have to have exuded a certain level of achievements which should be extraordinary and long-lasting to get awarded an honorary degree, it is not about the money and the fame.  

How honorary degree recipients are selected. 

• Having contributed significantly to the cultural, social and scientific development of the state and the world for a relatively long period of time. 
• Someone whose achievements emulate the university's values and serve as a guiding direction for the current students to follow. 
• Having a reputation that goes far and beyond the walls of the institution awarding the degree. 
• Having achievements that contribute to scholarly research, arts, public service, teaching and so on. 

Clearly, Taylor emulates most of the mentioned guidelines to be worthy to receive an honorary degree, right? 

How has Taylor's music work and achievements contributed to society? 

Looking back on her career over the last two decades, it is with admiration that we lived in the same lifetime with Taylor Swift! Too much? haha

But all her music is about empowerment and dealing with hard day-to-day situations, and people will tell you that at their worst, it's a song by Taylor that gave them the energy to keep holding on. And this is not only in her hometown but across the globe!

With over 300 awards in various fields, it's safe to say that her reputation proceeds her. 

People will run to point out the fact that she didn't even attend college but will ignore the fact that she completed her high school while running around the world on tours at 16! 

The amount of hard work, commitment and self-organisation skills she had at 16 many of our modern-day scholars lack. 

We have seen her re-record her albums just because someone wanted to own her work, an initiative she started to speak up for musicians who were not profiting from their work and yet the managers and recording labels were amassing millions. 

In 2014, she pulled down all her music from Spotify in protest to get the artists compensated well for their talent and work. 

How does she relate with current honorary degree holders? 

In case you didn't know, Kanye West himself is a proud owner of an honorary degree! A college dropout! He received his honorary from The School of the Art Institute, Chicago for his transformative, genre-defying work. We have all heard his music and l think you understood what genre-defying implies in this sense. 

Kanye West receiving his honorary degree

Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross was awarded an honorary doctorate from her previous university, Brown University in 2020. 

We can not begin to count the number of honorary degrees Barack Obama has because we shall sleep here, haha. 

So, in my opinion, do l think Taylor Swift deserved the doctorate? The answer is pretty much obvious!

What comes to m mind when all these scholars are awarded these degrees and everyone is happy for them is that we have created a norm that musicians are not significant in our society. 

That they are just rappers babbling uncoordinated words or crying over lost love. What we forget is that these people are self-organised, do damage control on their reputation daily, and are forced to adapt to any living and public situation. 

But they are truly brilliant and their work is life-changing!

In all regard, congrats Dr Tay! (Yeah, l know she won't see it)

Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u Review

 Singer and songwriter the mighty Olivia Rodrigo together with Disney made a film documentary behind the making of Olivia's sour album and we are here for it!

The film which is over an hour was out on 25th March 2022 and like every livi fan, we rushed to watch it, okay l didn't rush as such but l knew l would finally get to it. 

If you don't know any song on the sour album, then l don't know which era you're living in. 

I know most of us were introduced to Olivia from driver's license. The minute l heard the song, l immediately fell in love. Actually, a friend told me to react to it on youtube (watch video) and after making the video, l crawled into a rabbit hole of Olivia's singing clips mostly from the High School the Musical musical, l don't even know the show. 

At just 17, she was the most played artist in the world!! The entire world! Imagine what you would feel in such a situation! Pressure, everyone looking at you, whether your next work will flop. 

This is why l love this film so much. It is realistic, and not just for a worldwide celebrity but we can so much relate to it in our daily lives. 

When you produce really great work at work and all of a sudden you're the boss's favourite. Even when the boss is not that nice, you will definitely be the first to absorb the hit, suddenly the people in the corner office no longer see eye-to-eye with you.

Don't get me started on content creation when one of your posts/videos goes viral and suddenly you have to gravitate towards that topic for life lest you want to lose your traction... 

Well, driving home 2 u implicitly unveils that not all that glitters is gold! Celebrities are human, they at times worry about who likes them and who doesn't. They scroll through Instagram feeds comparing. The least we can be is being kind. 

What l liked about the film.

I love so much about this film but the first things that come to my mind will have to be;

• The scenery in which it was shot. 

Yes, most of those places are where she was inspired to write the songs but the set-up, the capturing, the aesthetics! It definitely did it for me. The forest performance was my best, the gas station, the beach...arrghh it even gives me tingles just thinking back to it.

My favourite performance

• The authenticity

Most of the scenes were recordings from making the album, l want to say from ideation to design (currently swimming in UX content) but the process of making a song. Those moments an idea hits you and you pull up your phone to record it before it fades away. 

It really put meaning to "documentary", we were being carried along the behind-the-scenes something most documentaries don't possess. 

• It was all about her

You might think this is actually a bad thing because she has friends, family, that helped her in the process of making her songs but hold your horses, let me settle the ambiguity. It's her album-making documentary, she shouldn't be overshadowed in her own movie! 

Might also show proof that not every teenager has a massive of friends. 

The fact that the previous performances were not let to outshine the behind the scenes performances was also a plus for me. 

• The originality of the songs. 

Some of the songs were presented as they appeared on the first recording before they were refined and this brings me back to the authenticity. The fact that she showed us her demo work is not a small thing. 

• Love is not about age. 

If you know the back story of the album then you should know that she wrote almost every song from personal feelings and emotions. 

I hate it when people go like "you're just 17, you don't even know what love is" after your first heartbreak. Sour makes you believe that emotions are totally mutually exclusive with age. No matter how old or young you are, once you truly and openly give your heart to someone or something, then you will be knee-deep when the feelings are not reciprocated. 

Channelling your emotions into making something creative can be a good thing. 

What l did not like about the film.

Well, well, well, l didn't say everything was roses, yes there are some minor parts about the film that didn't settle well with me. It's not entitlement, like "the film wasn't made for you" it's just me being me.

•  Some of the songs were not fully performed. It made me wonder they were not key or less relevant but who am l to assume! 

• We didn't see the interviewer at any one point. 

You know how a documentary is well put if at least we see who asks the questions while the other one answers? Yeah, l never got to see that. All the time Olivia would be like answering questions we don't even know where they were coming from. 

It could be what the person wanted and we are fine with it but l personally, it didn't rub me well. 

Thoughts.

Anyways, sour film is a great one if you want to have a performance experience of the album. Every performance slaps! If you a fan then this is a good one for you. If you love to see young talent, then it is a great one for you too. 

I always tell people that in the next 5-10 years, the creative industry will be populated with the babies we have literally raised! 

Look at Olivia Rodrigo, look at Jenna Ortega, and l can not wait to see a shift in all this. 

This also indicates that we are slowly or rather rapidly ageing, facepalm! 

International Women's Day, what does it feel like to be a woman for just a day?

 Celebrating International Women's Day 2022 got me thinking, what's really the essence of the day? Why is it celebrated? Why do we need to celebrate women? What is it like to be a woman even if it's just for a day? 

For history matters, International Women's Day was officially marked in 1911 but wasn't celebrated till 1975. Why did it take us so long to put up the celebration even when we already had it marked off the calendar? I don't know either. 

Anyways, we are not here for the history but to get a feel of womanhood. 

The other day, a certain man l was talking to was fronting the statement of "what a woman can do, a man can do twice better". From my knowledge, it should be the other way round but l wasn't ready to argue at the moment. Had no emotional energy to go into the depth of what womanhood feels. 

PMS - Premenstraul Syndrome. 

This is commonly defined as the changes, emotional, mental, behavioural a woman experiences according to her menstrual cycle. It is normally noticed during ovulation and on the days leading to the period. 

When the "womanhood" topic comes up in the presence of the other gender, the first thing that comes to their mind is the PMS. 

I think l don't have to repeat phrases like; 

• Are you in your "those" days? 
• That's how women are like when in pz (they will even write it like that)
• Are you in your special days, you know those days? 

Something women definitely don't want to hear on their period is you trying to find a better fitting word to phrase it. 

Just a mere change of emotion even when one is hungry or don't want to engage in small talk, then it's PMS. 

Before you come to conclusions about a woman's mood, first understand how the menstrual cycle looks like and gauge your feelings after then. 

So, how well can you explain the menstrual cycle to a non-primary six (middle school) student but rather a grown man? 

Explanation of the menstrual cycle to a layman. 

Forget about what you learned at school, this is a small depiction of what a menstrual cycle feels like. 

The first day of a woman's period is considered the first day of their cycle, but let's start from what leads to that, ovulation. 

Ovulation occurs about two weeks after the period. It's not just a matter of the uterus releasing an ovary (not scientifically) but imagine having a kidney failure, or that pain you feel around your kidney area when you run after a long time of not running. 

That's the kind of pain a woman feels for about 5 days of pre and post ovulation. That pain is coupled with cramps, a fever, headaches, dizziness. 

Now imagine going through all that and a co-worker is calling you out how you don't want to engage in a conversation about why the printer doesn't have paper even when you both know there is paper in the store!

Okay, so now we have battled ovulation, also don't forget that for some women it comes with heavy vaginal discharge and you have to wear small versions of pads or what they call panty liners for all that time like as though you're on your period. 

Right when you finally have the energy to move out, pre-period cramps kick in. 

Talk about constant stomach aches, headaches, insatiable back pain, joint pain, weakness, butt cramps (feeling like someone is shoving a stick up your butt), lack of appetite, cravings. 

We might take a whole day describing cramps.

This is doubled when your period starts. Picture all this pain as you're constantly bleeding. Nasty, right? 

On top of that mental picture, add having diarrhoea. Phew! Now keep that picture for 5 days or so, day and night. 

Tell me why a woman  wouldn't experience an emotional change. 

So, the week of the period is done and you have to worry about spotting (mild blood stains when you thought your period is done). 

After like 3 more days you get comfortable to wear your white leggings again, after 3 weeks. Just when you think life can be good again, then boom! ovulation starts again and we are back to square one!

In a nutshell, a woman only gets like 5 days of rest from her "womanly duties".

We haven't talked about how this can positively or negatively affect the sex drive,  your general routine activities, and all that. This will literally became a fundamental routine of a woman until menopause. 

Everyone says we should be used to the pain by now since it is routine and constant, but has anyone ever told you to get used to malaria just because you stay in a place that is infested with mosquitoes? 

Yeah, l don't think you can ever get used to this even if you wholeheartedly wanted to. 

The next time you throw PMS at a woman just because she looks grumpy, take a second to think about what she might be experiencing. 

Maybe some other time we shall talk about pregnancy and giving birth, possibly when we are stronger and more tolerant. 

Oh, the topic was women's day but like always, rules are meant to be broken. 

I hope you showed appreciation to the women in your life on this day, and to the women, you are strong, you are magical you are phenomenal, continue carrying the entire world on your shoulders even when it shows no appreciation. 

Happy women's day!

Compulsory Health Insurance in Uganda: Will it really work amidst all this corruption?

 If you are Ugandan and haven't heard about the National Health Insurance Scheme or simply put, the compulsory health insurance, l wouldn't blame you. Who still follows this country's shenanigans? 

But well, our "great" country don't ask me why the sarcasm, we all know it, is tabling the NHIS to be passed and this will have every Ugandan receiving medical services for free! That sounds really great, doesn't it? 

Also, don't forget that this will be accessed in all sectors be it the private sector or the government. 

You will have a right to walk into Case Clinic and they will be on the floor to cater to all your needs!

Envision that. Really feels magical. It will put an end to the cries you make when you just buy painkillers from the store for your recurring headache because you don't have the money to go for a body checkup, been there. 

You might be now asking "how much will we have to pay for this royal treatment," we all know our country is not that generous.

Don't get me started on our country's corruption. Was doing a paper about corruption in Uganda and my oh my, l think l will forever be traumatized!

How the National Health Insurance Scheme works/will work.

Every citizen will have to contribute to their insurance plan, hence the name "compulsory insurance".

Whether you are 90 years old, or 2 years, as long you receive medical services in Uganda, you will have an account where you deposit your share for the insurance. 

• Formal workers or what we call taxpayers will contribute 4% of their salary and their employers will add 1% for them. That makes it a total of 5% contributed by the taxpayers. 
• Non-formal workers the nekolela jaange will have to pay an annual amount of shs100,000. 

While the amount structure is not yet critically laid out, the Minister of Health says all categories will be accommodated. The bodabodas will have their slated amount, the elderly will have their own to pay, the peasants will also have their share. 

It is also stated that the covered services will be just the basic medical services, nothing fancy like a heart transplant or what. 

Now that we have established how much it will cost us, how will this money be collected?

That, my friend, is an issue the people fronting the bill haven't even figured out because they know how corrupt they are!

Read more about the bill on our news website, l hope you're subscribed.

Prime Minister Robina Nabbanja during the first tabling of the bill

Personal opinion about the Insurance Scheme. 

Personally, l commend the country for even getting the guts to borrow a leaf from our neighboring countries who are said to have adopted the scheme. I really do not know how it works for them though. 

As a Ugandan citizen who has evidenced the poor health services the low-income earners are subjected to, this would be a huge step up for the country. 

But will this money really be collected and not eaten by the collectors?

That is one of my biggest worries, to be honest. 

Considering it's a small amount, sums can easily be neglected and the taxpayers will again have to carry the burden of the entire country on their shoulders. 

Don't get me wrong, l love my country but it is what it is. 

I also feel like this should be in the vision 2040 or even 50. The amount of time Uganda gets to round up its citizens is quite underestimated. 

We all saw the covid-19 relief food, masks, and what-not. Where l was staying by then, l didn't see anyone get even a mask! Oh and we were in Uganda, to be clear. 

You telling me you will send village Insurance collectors to get 100,000 from peasants could take 5 years on its own. Then let's move on to printing insurance cards after collecting the money, let's say we are now in a fintech Uganda and that will take us just 2 years. 

As we speak we are already in 2029. Also, don't forget that some people have never even got National IDs so let's add in an allowance of like 2 years. 

It's 2031 and we are still figuring out how to compensate the insurance payers who died. Then boom! Election campaigns and massacres put a halt to the program. 

I could be overthinking it maybe.

If you invited me to the advisory committee now, my advice would be for us to first enforce compulsory insurance for all employees. Be it government or private employees. 

As long as the company is registered, let it pay health insurance for its employees. This is the best method we can collect that money and with time self employers will have to pay for their insurance and we move on to the elderly. 

Let's not bite what we can't chew. The leaders themselves know this will be hard to achieve but they still go in head-on. 

Once we establish what we can and can't achieve, then we will be able to talk about compulsory health insurance. 

For the time being, let's keep flying our officials abroad for "failed" treatment as our government hospitals continue operating under trees. 

For God and My Country. 

This is me after waiting for over 5hrs just to talk to the doctor

The Tinder Swindler: Is it possible to still believe in dating apps after watching the Netflix's Documentary?

 If you have watched Netflix's viral documentary based on a true story, The Tinder Swindler l believe you have had a moment of reflection on whether you can still believe in dating apps or not. 

You're not alone, been there too. You could have even deleted your tinder profile already.

 As someone who has used tinder a lot, l really didn't find much success with other dating apps or platforms so l can't speak much for them, watching this Netflix documentary made me have a whirlwind of thoughts of what could really go wrong trusting someone l met online. 

If you haven't watched the film, long story short is, an online con artist portrays himself as a billionaire from a rich family that deals in diamonds and lavishes the women he meets on tinder with fancy trips, private jet lifestyles, gains their trust and promises them a future then uses that trust to swindle money from them. 

For starters, l have nothing on the women that were swindled, the world is a pretty messed up place and good people are always being taken advantage of. It's opening up to someone, giving them trust, them showing you their vulnerability and you end up trusting them, that's literally what life is. 

The fact that most of these women were people that were independent and had some savings, makes me believe he particularly targeted them. 

One of the women called herself a "tinder expert" because she had been on tinder for quite a while and she had no idea that a sweet, loving, charming, and somehow really successful young man could be a con artist. 

Being scammed through love is not being gullible and neither is it only to the people you meet online. You can meet a well-to-do man at a work conference get to know him for months as he lays the plan to scam you. 

But will all this stop you from trusting people? Will you completely give up on finding love because you were scammed by someone you loved with your whole heart? Is it really possible to still be able to swipe right on tinder profiles after such an incident? 

Well, how can we move on and still be cautious? 

Some of the women that were swindled 

Dating, whether online or physically will always be hard. It is up to you to realize which are the red flags and when to pump the breaks. 

Googling up the person and finding questionable articles may not be enough. Through my own understanding, this swindler had a whole bunch of a crew set up, so he could possibly have had a plan for if the ladies asked to meet his family. 

Phew! It's so hard, finding someone to give your heart to may not come on a silver platter.

Do not ignore the signs, it is okay to question your every move. 

Take a step back when the people you have just met are asking for ridiculous demands from you. Although deciding what demands are ridiculous could be stifled by the amount of love we have for the people. 

Just because you understand that the other person is capable of paying you back does not mean you have to take out loans for them. I know it's hard especially if you love and trust the person and feel like you have to be there for them. 

Money will always save you from or land you in difficult situations, not to say that you shouldn't be able to help the people you love, but don't bend over backwards to the point where you literally break your back for them. 

Here are some of my own (non-tested) tips l use to stay cautious with people l meet online. 

Google search them, that's the very first thing l do in case there isn't an Instagram page linked on the online profile. Follow through anything with their name on it, be it a LinkedIn profile, Facebook page, a blog article, hell even a university registration number!

It is quite hard for people in my country though, because someone can even not have anything listed on them online. But these small findings you can get from google can come in handy, you can find out where the person works possibly, some of his friends. 

There's this guy l used to know, hadn't met him online but our conversations were not solid l then found out from his registration number l found on google what he had studied and what job he was doing in my town, FBI agent right here. 

Contribute to the bills when you meet up, this is something many females will object to, but even paying just for your transport to an agreed place will give you some power and not a sense of being indebted to the person. 

I have specifically not met someone that has offered me a lavish private jet treatment, lol, but l believe my instincts would not let me accept such an offer. What if say we got stuck and we were asked to contribute, l wouldn't afford to. That's definitely a sign for me to pump the breaks.  

Don't make hasty decisions, don't drop everything else because someone you have just met has asked you to go live with them in a different state. Make decisions that you can handle in case the other person bailed out. If you have decided to suddenly move in with him, can you still make the rent if he disappears on you? 

Asking yourself such questions even if it's in regards to a smaller decision will always help you pump the breaks on your love spree. 

With all that said, please go ahead and keep looking for love, you can not lie to yourself that you will give up on the search because as humans, we are tailored to love and be loved. 

One of the women in the documentary said she was even already back on tinder! 

Look for love because good men and good women are still out there. 

Let me even go and renew my tinder profile. 

The difference between Personality and Character

 Many times when someone mentions character and personality in one sentence, we tend to do a double-check within our minds, well maybe just me. But the two words have incessantly been used interchangeably that we even no longer care which is which. 

In my personal development class the other day, we discussed the two terms and it is shocking, okay not a lot, how different they are. 

So, what differentiates character from personality? 

I scavenged the internet for a definition of character and Macmillan dictionary defines it as "Qualities making up someone's personality". Now leaves you wondering what personality, which is made up of the character is, right?

To better understand or differentiate the two, use the analogy of a tree. The stem and the leaves (what we see above the ground) is the personality and the roots (what we even don't think about) is the character. 

Character vs personality tree analogy

The personality of a person is depicted by their visible features. The first noticeable, visible attributes you point out about someone you have just met. The old sneakers they are wearing, when they talk your ear off even when you are not on a name basis yet, their non-stop smiling...

These then lead you to make conclusions about their character, the roots that we can't dig up the ground to see. You conclude that because they talk too much then the person is talkative, a character, them wearing old sneakers maybe they are into vintage fashion. It is what we see, personality, that reveals to us what we don't see, character. 

Although, the two go hand in hand, you can not have poor roots and expect to have healthy leaves. Your root system should be strong enough to support your stem system, personality. Many times we focus a lot on our personality and forget what truly matters because, without deep roots, your personality won't stand the winds. 

Someone said that character is like pregnancy, you can hide it but not for long, it will always come to light. 

Ooh, by the way, we are discussing Stephen R. Covey's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" in my class, you should definitely check it out if you haven't. 

How to Thrive in Tech.

 

The Technology (Tech) Field is one that has tremendously grown in the past decades following numerous technologies and tech start-ups. with the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen an extensive shift in the tech field and how it has influenced most operations in other different fields. The need to thrive in this field and not just be mediocre or lose your mind is highly necessitated. 

In our class orientation today, did l mention am a student at Refactory? Okay, not necessary, we were elated to hear from Ronald K Sebuhinja, Chief Technical Officer at Yo Uganda, and as someone who has been in the tech field for a while now, his presentation was mind-boggling!

So how can you ace your way through this tech field? 

Have a passion for the field. 

Not just passion for coding but passion for the ever-changing technologies. Take it upon yourself to find out what the latest tech invention is, what programming language is selling like hot cakes. The tech field and late nights go hand in hand and if your passion can't see you through the late nights, you might never succeed. 

Acquire Knowledge. 

Learn as much as you can, don't fall back on that one programming language you were first introduced to. Learn how to achieve the same tasks in a different language. Have it on a virtual machine so you don't dismantle your perfect setup. 

Familiarize yourself with the whole pipeline of production, from the idealization, planning, development to deployment. The tech field is constantly changing don't limit yourself to just coding but be flexible and move with the changes. 

Identify what you're good at. 

Scale down what you like and what you are actually good at and strengthen the area you're already excelling at. If you are strong at back-end development, explore more in that. Forcing yourself in a field you are not genuinely good at could end up stalling your overall development progress. 

Practice, practice, practice. 

You will never know what is missing in your code if you don't write it down. Practice as often as you can, code a complete website and deploy it on any of the free hosting platforms. Share your work on platforms like GitHub and get feedback. Write documentation for your programs, make it look like a real gig, and do it to the "customer's" satisfaction. 

While you're at the practice, check out other services in the field and see how they run, could you manipulate a certain platform that you just came across?  Practice both as a tech user as well as a tech developer. 

Network. 

Most of the opportunities will always come easily through the networks you have cultivated. Get out of your introverted programmer mode and join tech communities, locally and internationally. Interact with your idols in the tech field, attend tech seminars or in the modern-day, webinars. These will even introduce you to new tech findings that you would have never known about or maybe have taken longer to know about. 

Take care of your health. 

Having established that the tech field and late nights go hand in hand, very many developers have traded their health, sleep, relationships for perfect code. Take breaks before your body demands them, move upcountry for 5 days without your computer, love and accept to be loved, get married, raise a dog with someone you love. Generally have a life outside your code and computers. 

Consistently be on the lookout for opportunities. 

Programming opportunities are literally available in everything, whatever field. It could be the commerce sector, there's now the association with tech, which is e-commerce. Look out for what you can transform to technology, and that is almost everything. Seek remote freelance opportunities, when you are sure of what you can provide. This will, in turn, keep you growing in the tech field.

May the force of tech be with you as you thrive in this field.

What every girl should experience in their 20s before marriage.

 The other day, l came across a tweet that beguiled me on a one Twitter account @DonCorleANN. It said, "Because l don't want girls giving up their careers and lives for men. Please share what you think girls in their early 20s should experience even before they consider marriage." 

I am one person who advocates for woman emancipation, well on the low, and not tying your life to the needs of a man. Going through the replies was an awakening, like this gospel needed to be preached! And if you are a common Twitter user, you know that aside from the banter, the Twitter community really has a way of dishing out all the helpful and life-saving stuff. 

Okayy let me relay some of the stuff here;

"Date yourself: Get to know what you like/dislike, what recharges/drains you, buy yourself books/games/flowers or anything you like, level up your skills. Remember marriage is an optional quest altogether it does not affect the main progress."  _I can not emphasize how crucial dating yourself is! Once you appreciate and enjoy your own company, you will find it very easy to enjoy someone else's company too. Many times we rely on men to get us the things that make us happy, but have you ever tried getting those things yourself and realized how refreshing it can be? 

Lately, l have fallen into the habit of buying myself alcohol, something l didn't think l would ever do but l must say it has been one of the things that changed my perspective about enjoying a drink at the comfort of your home without the thought that maybe your owe the guy the bought the beer sex. 

"Learn who you are and unlearn your conditioning. Choose friends who are not man-obsessed. Experience being single without the suffocating desire to commit and that way you learn to date for the pleasure of the company and not because you want to be in a relationship."  _Have you ever had a group of friends that were all in happy relationships and bluntly made you feel like you have failed at life for not finding a man? Ditch them, get new ones. If you ever feel like you really have to be in a relationship to be happy,  you are not dating for the right reasons. 

"Learn to give yourself an orgasm. Be able to teach that to someone else. Don't accept that the goal for sex with a man is when a man has an orgasm."  _I think this is my favorite! Very many women have made their brains believe that once a man climaxes, that's it, that's all! Heyy you are entitled to the pleasure too, it's supposed to be a two-way street. And for you to come to this realization you must have figured out what works for you, what gets you off and be able to convey your wants and desires to the other person. 

"Being financially stable. When you are able to support yourself, you no longer fantasize about being "saved" by rich guys."  _I always tell people that why am not in a relationship is because I'm not financially ready for one. Many actually laugh at me saying that if the man has the money why do you have to stress yourself. There is a fulfillment that comes with financial freedom. Once you can give yourself the things you wish a man could give you, you are not even blinded when it comes to loving someone. Money most times masquerade as love, the small and cheap things you glorified someone for, turn out insignificant when you can give them to yourself. 

"Don't make career and life decisions based on a hypothetical husband arriving. Live based on the context that you're in, cross that bridge later and find a man who will help you cross the bridges in life rather than be the obstacle you need to get around." _If you ever find yourself in a situation where you have to choose between a career path and a boyfriend, don't even think twice. How do you even allow yourself to get to that point? Worst of all is when the boyfriend is even not sure that you are the one.

"Have your own life before becoming someone else's wife. Have your own home where you choose your own furniture and make your own rules. Have your own friends. Have your own long-term dreams. Just be your own whole person who has a full life."   _There are girls who move right from their parent's house to their husband's or boyfriend that later turns into a husband. How will you know how to live on your own? If anything happened to our husband, God forbid, would you move back to your parents' house again? Learning to live on your own and having your own friends and support system is one thing everyone should experience before they commit to a lifetime partner. That is how housewives fall into depression when their husbands get back to work because their husband is their entire life! They have no personal goals, passions, other friends. 

Ask yourself, would my life still be full if l never get to find a man? If the answer is no, then start on the self-discovery journey already. A man should be just the icing to the cake, the cake being your life. You should be able to get that beach house you want to live in with your husband and 3 kids even if the husband and the kids never come. 

But we will not neglect the fact that love is a beautiful thing and you deserve that beautiful thing too. 

Literal peace out!