KaberaWrites

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What the "grown-ups" should have told us!

Marriage has been a universally acknowledged phenomenon that unites two people in love; and I must add that if all factors are kept constant, marriage is a beautiful thing. Unfortunately, the definition of marriage has been tampered with over the years by archaic and misogynistic perceptions that have been passed down generations. One must recognize the fact that the meaning of marriage varies according to sex; in other words, girls and boys right from childhood are taught to see marriage differently. Since time immemorial, society has had it inculcated into the minds of all females that they can take all the paths that they want to as long as they keep in mind that they are bound to get married. We live in a patriarchy where people are taught that women can be all they want as long as it doesn’t draw too much attention towards them because God forbid a woman is more successful than a man. People want women to live within a box they have created for them. Any woman that chooses t

THIS VACCINE OF YOURS....

At the beginning of this whole pandemic; and I mean the Covid-19 pandemic, I was under the impression that perhaps the world was coming to an end. This was the only logical explanation for the tragedy that the year 2020 had brought along with it. It had never occurred to me that anything could be worse than a global health crisis. A few days ago, I grasped that there’re much worse pandemics that have been going on in the world for many years. Recently, a viral video shed light on one pandemic that has been terrorizing “black” people and other people of varying ethnic backgrounds all over the world for centuries; racism. George Floyd has become a household name for all the wrong reasons; he was a black man murdered by a white police officer all in the name of carrying out an “arrest”; and yes, it is vital that I note the color of both the oppressor’s and the victim’s skin color. Many have described racism as a new pandemic of its own but I do beg to differ because there is nothing new

FIGHTING CRIME ONE STORY AT A TIME

Justice comes in many forms, sometimes it can be a court hearing, a well deserved arrest of a criminal or merely your story being heard and written by a struggling freelance writer. Growing up in a world where justice is too expensive and unattainable by the minority groups, I realize that it’s my mandate as a young writer to offer it in its cheapest and most pure form; poetic justice. What every victim longs for in the tiresome and pathetic strife for justice is to simply be heard by someone. Oppressive crime takes many forms but my pen, notebook, and ears have of recent got a particular inkling for domestic violence. In my world of literature and diction, I have assumed the position of a lawyer and the story I am about to tell to you; the jury, is my client’s. NOWHERE TO RUN Car rides on late Sunday nights in Kampala were once a beautiful experience we shared as family. Now, the good old days are long gone. One unforgettable Sunday night the atmosphere was tense and ever

SILENCE WILL NOT HELP YOU HEAL!!

I AM I am Kabera – the one. I’m eighteen and I weigh 60 kilos/ 132.7 lbs. I never wear shirts without sleeves because I don’t like how flabby my arms are and when I go shopping I buy clothes three sizes larger because it makes me feel smaller. Being comfortable with my body image is a concept I have been trying to decipher for nearly half my life and as much as I’d like to blame my insecurities on society, I’ve come to realize that human reasoning faculties were never supposed to be relied on in the first place. I am Kabera Amahoro – the one who brings peace. It’s come to my attention that we seldom talk about mental health here in Uganda. I won’t claim to come from an extremely cultural background but strength is a huge part of African culture. This strength has nothing to do with what we have personally endured but rather the trials and tribulations of the thousands of great women and men that lived before us. In the eye of grand tragedies like decades of war, slavery and fam

A Match of Wits, or is it?

ASK YOUR GIRLFRIEND THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF COVID-19 GLOBALLY AND LISTEN TO WHAT YOU ARE DATING. It’s a normal not so normal Sunday afternoon in quarantine and I’m scrolling through status updates of my friends and family when I come across the most amusing meme I have read so far; it says, ‘Ask your girlfriend the economic impact of Covid-19 and listen to what you are dating.’ Seldom; very seldom, does one find such a high level of skillfully applied satire and social criticism on social media these days however intended or unintended it may be. It is important to note that not everything is as it seems. Though the statement; I assume, was initially intended to mock the intelligence of the girlfriends in question, its authors have subconsciously questioned quite deeply the intention of human relationships in the world that we live in today. By simple logical deduction, this statement seems to imply that intelligence surpasses beauty in the world of love and courtship today. Does

WHAT WE DON'T SEE

ELIYA The apartments I live in are maintained by an old man who we refer to as 'Mzee' to mean 'elder'. No one knows his real name or where he comes from. What we do know is that Mzee comes very early in the morning to weed the compound, sweep the dried leaves and occasionally trim the grass. Mzee has a young son of about five years named Elias but the locals around call him 'Eliya'. Eliya's mother is a mad woman named Rita who lives under the staircase and talks to herself all day. The gossips say Mzee bewitched her. This trio is no stranger to poverty and the harsh word economy that has no time to think about them. During the few years I have lived here, I have grown fond of Eliya. Eliya having been raised in a in very different family is by all means a different child. Eliya wears a tattered red t-shirt under his dirty orange jumper and a pair of greenish-brown shorts. Sometimes he has shoes on and other times he doesn't. Eliya plays with t