CELEBRATING MY SPECIAL WOMAN

Truth is this blog was supposed to be out in March and I cannot find the perfect reason to explain why it delayed. But here we are… Better late than never. This is a beautiful long amazing and celebration blog.  Celebrate with me my lovely grandmother every day.

Today, I openly celebrate my very special woman. A lady that has changed the lives of so many generations. She has touched the lives of her children, grandchildren like me and great grandchildren. She has touched the lives of some women in her small village. She is a phenomenal woman. My GRANDMOTHER, CANON DEBORAH MASIGA… I can take a thousand years to tell the stories that she has told and trust me I would still laugh as hard as when I first heard them. I will still shade a tear every time that I tell anyone of the very smalls acts of compassion she shows. I will get shear of fear when I remember if anyone acted less according to the principles of them but yet again, I am very humbled by a motherly heart to forgive and embrace her child, grandchildren and great children. 

My grandmother/Jajja/ Nguhwa is a very staunch born again from Anglican church. Jesus Christ is at the center of her home. She has a beautiful wall hanging in her dining room I have always admired from a very young age. It reads that “God is the unseen guest in my home. The silent listener in every to every conversation” Strong words of faith. I strongly say that this is the greatest gift that she passed on to generations. Her decision to choose Jesus Christ as her Lord and personal savior is the reason that we enjoy the God’s blessings to date. She always says “Mukama mwesigwa” meaning the Lord is faithful. I spent some time with Jajja while she was receiving treatment and I remember her always reciting Psalms 23 whenever she was unwell. I had heard of Psalms 23 a lot. In fact, in one of the fellowships I attended we were instructed to learn it, which I did by cramming. But its until Jajja recited it over and over again that I was moved to tears. Just read it. “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not lack……….”  Grandma walks the talk of Christianity. Am not saying she is perfect. I am simply saying she is a woman that knows that her mighty nor by power but by the Spirit of God (Zechariah 4:6). She defines the quote “Christianity is not a religion, it’s a relationship” This I have learnt from her. Prayer…Prayer... It’s a must in her house that you must pray evening before supper. It’s a tradition. Before she aged so much, she had the vocals of an angel, at prayer time we had to sing a hymn then kneel and pray… trust me Jajja made feel like I was a frog at my very young age when I opened my mouth to sing. Oooh Lord!! I didn’t know the Luganda hymns so you can guess what I was doing when the hymn wasn’t tukundereza. Mind you I can could only sing the chorus of tukundereza. 😅😅 Having been raised by parents and grandparents that had personal relationship with Christ, I learnt about the love of God at an earlier age. When I later in my life made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and savior, it was easier.

Grandma is a woman of strong principles and values. One of them is faithfulness. I have a special admiration for grandma because of her faithfulness in all things. Through her sickness, joy, disappointments and happiness. Her trust in the Lord is the evidence of her faithfulness to God and family. Not so many people are faithful even the smallest things in life. And honestly speaking this is a very big challenge. It’s a discipline some people lack. When a wave of challenges and problems comes after person, all they think is run, seek everywhere and anything to find a solution. As humans we get very desperate. But here is what grandma has taught me. Success, peace and happiness in life comes from being faithful to God. Don’t go around losing your head when you have a Father in Heaven. His word in Psalms 46:10; Be still and know He is God.

Time is money. Everyone that knows grandma must have heard mention this phrase a lot. And when she has anything, she has to do she will move with speed and purpose. I remember the times when she and I went to the garden to harvest groundnuts. So, she would wake up very early, wake me up and then grab her radio. She asked me to carry a basket, basin, hoe and some garden tool (whose name in samia I don’t remember and neither can I remember the English name. But I can draw it haha😂) and follow her. I must tell you I went running after her up to the garden. She has a speed of an athlete... (haha😂😂). Honestly people in these days feel like time is always available. Things can be done whenever. No need to hurry or rush. My grandma believes an activity must be done when its time to do it. An example, evening tea is taken at 5pm to 6pm after that you are not taking tea. I have grown up in this kind of setting and I will say sincerely evening tea at 7pm tastes very terrible… haha. I have over the time learnt that the phrase “time is money” (I know someone is looking at this quote and asking how much is 7am. 😂😂…) Time is the most valuable resource. When you have it, do want you to do within that time to obtain the value you desire at a later date. Time generates its value as your life goes by. Time is well accounted for if you have routine. This is lesson number 5 (am just guessing the number). Grandma has routine. Her timetable is well known. Sometimes I found this very tight because I was young and I felt I needed to have extra time before I could do the activity for that particular time. However, as times has gone by, I appreciate that once you do things at the appropriate time you will have time to think and do extra things to better your life.

If at any one point in time I am asked to describe Integrity, I will gladly pull out a picture of grandma with swag and say “Integrity in summary”. What is wrong is wrong no matter how sweet or comfortable it may look or feel. She will openly tell you when something is right or wrong. No funny business. And we have learnt to have integrity in all that we are entrusted with. I remember on one of the very long holidays I spent with my cousins in the village, she left for about a week for treatment in Kampala. She left the home to a young auntie and bunch of very jumpy, loud and playful young children (by children I mean we were all 13 years and below and imagine…)  Regardless of the stubbornness, noise and playfulness, the mindset “grandma doesn’t allow such behavior” never parted from us. The rules and practices continued even in her absence. This is called super power… leave alone People Power.

A heart full of love. I have never been to grandma’s house and she doesn’t smile when sees her grandchildren and visitors. She will happily prepare a buffer of food for you when you visit. In fact, the night before is simply one to prepare the very best for her visitors. Experts will be invited to make extra good food. As thou (if you are a Ugandan you were this coming from... hahaha😃) that is not enough, she will invite all her friends to come and see you that has honored her so much to pay a visit. Like I said she is open, she doesn’t hide happiness. Her home is never empty. It always full with so many people One could think she is the L.C I chairperson or say a rich government official (MPs know what am talking about here). But it is all because of her a wise counsel and her warm heart. She has earned respect because of the value she has added to many people’s lives. She has received many gifts because of her compassion for others. She has more friends of all ages than I can count because of her cheerful nature. She is a woman of influence because of her noble character.

She loves to spend time with her children and grandchildren. It’s clearly evident in how she starts her very interesting story telling when we visit. This one particular time my cousin was telling a story of some incidences that happened at a wedding and she just added a few comments. Goodness, I survived very nearly choking on my food. Now that I remember the story, my eyes are tearing). Trust me if you cannot handle extreme humor don’t sit near her.

She says “Learn as much as you can in this life, don’t stop learning” It doesn’t hurt to know a lot but ignorance is death. Imagine in a rural area, she chose to uphold good hygiene practices regardless of what everyone thought was too English, not African at all. Latrines in the 1970s? In Busia district? What kind of witch craft is that? Hahaha😂😂. Africans never believed in that. What if a human being falls inside? That meant the end of life… Can you imagine such an ending of life?? But here is grandma who learnt from whites, understood the purpose of latrines and put up one in her homestead. With all the negativity, all she insisted, educating others on their importance. Practices number two: wash hands before eating food and after using a latrine. Do these with clean water. I beg!!! Clean water, one wash for everyone. That wasn’t there in 1970s. By then it was wash hands from the same basin or bucket. Its water after all. Does it look like milk? NO. If you visited my grandparents then and exhibited your behaviors of uncleanliness. I tell you, my friend you will see the light. That behavior was not allowed. How do you even dodge showering when you are staying with grandma?  Are you a bushman?? Hahaha😂😂…  The point here is, learning is to increase your knowledge, change your attitude and improve your practices for greater success and better life. Don’t admire for just. Admire to improve yourself. Admire and act according to your admiration. Formal education is important and key in a person’s life. Grandma always tells her grandchildren “the greatest gift your parents will ever give you is education”. Well we have all learnt to value education and grateful for this gift because it has helped us improve our lives, earn incomes, meet many successful people and traveled many places. Learning never stops.

I cannot end this blog without mentioning this teaching. Giving thanks. A heart that appreciates others, acts of kindness, efforts and situations is a healthy one. Grandma has taught us that everything we have is not because we are better than others but only by the grace of God. So, we must give thanks to God first for everything that we are. Before any thanksgiving occasion or Sunday or Christmas or Easter, she will give you a good lecture about thanksgiving, ask you to prepare your thanksgiving. Trust me with this talk you will give thanks with a cheerful heart. My younger brother can testify to this. Taking all your gifts to the Lord in praise and worship. Thanking other people comes second. It’s a sign of love to appreciate what others do for you.

Now I can end this blog. I honor  and love this lady so much for every sacrifice she has made for her family, for the decision she made to stay true to God and for the exemplary life she lives. She has touched not only her family but the community she lives in. For that I give glory to God.

I quote this from my dad “I take off this day to celebrate women in the communities out there that are doing a lot of work to improve the lives of families, other women and girls. The women who silently take action to lift other women, giving them confidence, providing sanitary pads, teaching them how to save and invest and generally improve the lives of their homesteads.

Photo credit:@dkwere

Time to sign out.

Roby Ekyebeyi.