31 July, Pan-African Women’s Day, was extraordinary. The Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation aunched their latest poetry anthology ‘Feeling,’ the poetry anthology that celebrates iconic Ugandan women, published by the Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation.
The guests at the launch of the ‘Feeling’ poetry anthology.
Photo by Painters Media
Hosted at the British Council Uganda offices, a signficant number of the women honorees celebrated in the anthology walked into the room with grace and dignity. Women like Dr. Lydia Mungherera, who also ahred her testimony of surviving death by AIDS in 1997, now an advocate of HIV/AIDS awareness for over 3 decades.
Beverley with Alice Karugaba, founder of Nina Interiors leading furniture house in Uganda ansd on the right, Brenda Nnanjii and Beverly Anena of CTPH, reprsenting Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka
In attendance were Ambassador Bernadette Olowo-Freers, Uganda’s first female Ambassador to the Vatican, Dr. Grace Mafigiri-Kalimugogo, the first female physician from Kigezi Southwestern Uganda. Academics and authors like Prof. Susan Kiguli, Rev. Sister Prof. Dominic Dipio, Margaret Sekaggya the mother of Human rights in Uganda, Kaya Kagimu, renowned theatre practitioner, Tayo Shonubi an outstanding performer, Dr. Bridget Ssamula (PhD), the head of the Engineering Council of South Africa, Betty Mugoya, one of East Africa’s leading landscapers and many more.
The poetry performances by the contributing poets and guests were mind-blowing. From Kagayi Ngobi, Nakintu Pamela, George Gumikiriza, Liza Sekaggya, Zoey the Storyteller, George Kiwanuka and Michelle Ivy Alwedo.
In addition were testimonials and below, Dr. Lydia Mpanga-Sebuyira shares about her mother’s legac, Hon. Joyce Mpanga, a woman of many firsts in Uganda.
Dr. Lydia Mpanga-Sebuyira
Tumusuute Nanaazibwa, poet
Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva, Babishai Poetry Director expressed gratitude to each poet, to the sponsors and to the women honorees for their noteable strides that have shaped the world.
She also asked the audience to remember Hon. Lay Canon Rhoda Kalema , mother of Uganda’s Parliament and amongst the women icons, who at the time was in hospital. She passed away soon after.
The poets who contributed to the anthology ‘Feeling.’
Millicent Mugabi, Country Director of British Council Uganda, hailed the Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation for their efforts towards shaping poetry and raising the arts in Uganda and beyond.
Millicent Mugabi Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva
This was the poem written in the ‘Feeling,’ poetry anthology, to honour
Hon. Canon Rhoda Kalema
(May she rest in peace)
Hon. Lay Canon Rhoda Kalema
Every black and white photo is regal
The ones that came before the burden of selfies
Where hair was parted with a line in the middle
And the afros sprouted on the great deeds of those decades
Black and white photos remind us of those
Who were able to outlive internal and external dangers.
They remind us of how colour was a luxury,
And living was a necessity
The people in those black and white photos
That wore loafers and sometimes white gloves
Whose families posed with the protectors at the back
And the guardians in the front
Those people in the black and white photos
Were the inventors of socialising without media.
They met for tea wearing floral dresses and bowling hats
Talking about their unfiltered victories over polished silverware.
Hon. Rhoda Kalema created a passage for the oppressed
Where all women under misogyny and hurt
Found safety as they tunneled their way using their own light
They left cake crumbs and clues for those behind them.
The Mother of Uganda’s Parliament invented the first reality show
It was a black and white show where women and girls became.
It was a film where the real life heroes started trending
Uganda’s first hashtags were hashtag#RhodaKalema hashtag#RealLifeHero
Without any artificial lighting or eyelashes,
She waded through and drenched herself in the forbidden waters
Threw a lifeline for the thousands of Ugandans on the other side
Who had no thought of how to make it viral
They created their first black and white film
A reality show from a real life hero
Every black and white photo is regal
They are unfiltered images of great deeds.
Poem by Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva
Photos by Painters Media