Many a writer will tell you about that time when only a pen and paper will listen to them.
Like most writers, teacher-turned-blogger Prudence Nyamishana has found much more than there is in the proverbial pen and paper. Born in Kabale, near Katuna (Uganda-Rwanda) border, to Thomas Rwomushana and the late Mary Magdalene Twinabagyenzi, Nyamishana is the last born of seven.
From childhood, she exuded confidence; always wanting to be in charge of her life. While her childhood colleagues would rather silently bear with something they did not like, Nyamishana was different. In fact, she once asked her parents to transfer her from the boarding section of St Maria Goretti primary school, Kabale, to a day school.
She says the school was good, but she just couldn’t manage being away from home. Despite her father’s excitement following her promotion to P5, Nyamishana refused to go back to a boarding school.
“I don’t think I will ever put my kids through that, especially for lower primary,” says Nyamishana, who was later taken to Kabale primary school, a day school, from where she completed P7.
For her secondary education, she attended Immaculate Heart secondary school for one year before joining Bishop Kivengere Girls School, Muyebe, where she completed her O-level. The latter school’s “well-stocked” library, of which she was captain, hooked her onto reading.
“I liked reading other books in the library apart from those of literature,” she says.
Having completed her A-level at St Joseph’s Girls School, Nsambya, Nyamishana was admitted to Kyambogo University for a degree in Education, with English and Literature, on government scholarship.
Later, she enrolled for a master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Resolution at Makerere University, but abandoned it with reasons best known to her. Nevertheless, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in a communication and development-related field.
WORK
Unlike many people who spend years jobless after school, Nyamishana got her first job as a teacher of Literature at St Mark School, Namagoma, before her graduation.
“The school director had a lot of faith in me and my students liked me. I was full of energy,”she says.
Nyamishana ended her teaching career after four years, and started counseling girls in Bwaise about domestic violence. For example, she sensitized them about what to do whenever they are faced with harassment related to sexual and other domestic violence.
She was inspired by the youths she had met at the Man Up young leaders’ summit in, Johannesburg. On return to Uganda, she wrote a proposal to the organizers of the summit, and got funded.
Having drained her small grant for the Bwaise project, Nyamishana worked with various organizations, including a one-term teaching stint at the Paris Palais College of St Lawrence. In 2012, her mother’s tragic death in a motor accident along Masaka road was a life-changing experience.
“I told myself it was time to grow up,” says teary Nyamishana. “I was a good teacher, but was a bit lazy, thinking mom would always be there for me.”
Finding solace in a notebook and pen, Nyamishana, who was living with her brother, wrote her grief away – one story at a time. In the same year, she started her blog, Pru’s notebook, which now boasts of over 4,300 followers. She writes about women’s rights, internet governance, social justice and day-to-day issues.
In 2013, Nyamishana became Uganda’s contributor to Global Voices.
“To me, writing is therapy because it helped me go through grief. It has opened massive doors and has taken me places I had never imagined I would go to,” says Nyamishana, who has worked with Watoto church and Forum for Women and Democracy.
With six colleagues, they also write positive stories about Uganda on their blog This is Uganda. She is also a member of Kweta project, a program that blogs about social justice and accountability.
Apart from the writer’s fatigue and having to put up with relatives who think blogging is not a job, Nyamishana has found joy and financial independence from her career.
“I have started earning money from my blog,” she says, encouraging potential bloggers to start as soon as possible.“You don’t know whose life you will impact with your blog.”
pbaike@yahoo.com