Rashida Namulondo uses poetry to heal grief

From childhood, Rashida Namulondo knew that she wanted to be an artiste having started writing at about 10 years. In school, she was the to-go-to person if one wanted catchy birthday messages or letters to the opposite sex. On finishing high school in 2007, she went on to do Food Science and Human Nutrition at Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU).

“I did it because my dad and I had an understanding that I would do any science course of my choice and later, after school, do my theatre,” she smiles.

Starting out
While at university, Namulondo and a few others started the drama club. They performed skits for occasions such as during school campaigns and among others. It was here that her directing skills improved because she wrote, directed and produced plays, on several topics on a larger scale.

After graduation in 2012, she worked as a nutritionist at Mukesh Madhvani Children’s Hospital, commonly known as Jinja Children’s Hospital, Nalufenya and later at the Nutrition unit at Mbale Regional referral hospital.
Namulondo attended poetry nights: Open Mic Uganda and Kwivuga poetry session, and just like every other poet, she read some of her poetry.
“It was here that the idea of being a poet was conceived,” she shares.

That is because she was finally interfacing with people who had a similar mind set like hers. One of such people was Beverly Nambozo, who on hearing Namulondo read her work interested her in the Beverly Nambozo poetry award, now called Babishai Niwe poetry award.

“That was in 2013, and I am thankful that I won the award that year with my poem; Time,” a jolly Namulondo intimates.

That was also the last year that the award was open to only Ugandan women as it now draws people from all over Africa.

Striking out
The award came with a ticket to travel for the Storymoja Hay festival in Nairobi where she got a chance to sit on several panels and attend various workshops.

Namulondo was inspired to start performing her poetry with music,
“I write poetry with a distinctive rhythm in my head, and I wanted to present my poems with that rhythm.”

In 2014, she presented her first poetry performance with a band during the Kaz Kasozi 7 Project. “My debut poetry performance; ‘#layers’ performed in August 2014 at National Theatre CICP. It was about the unseen battles that people with inherited diseases endure, their challenges with exclusion and it unveils the blow that their self-esteem suffers on a daily basis,” she explains.

With an audience of 150 in a 100-seater venue, for a first time performance, Namulondo believes that the show was a success and it introduced her as a performing poet.

Owing to this performance, Namulondo was invited to the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations
(UNAOC-EF) summer school to share her work and the role of theatre art in healing and inclusion for eight days.

Loss and recovery
However, she returned to the sad news of her mother’s sudden passing.
“She was my number one fan, my first audience and was very supportive,” Namulondo intimates with unmistaken grief. For the next ten months, she was depressed and ‘evacuated’ the stage except for journaling her emotions and reading other people’s stories. In May 2015, Namulondo bounced back, joining two friends; a musician and poet to form Afroman Spice.

“I felt ready for group performances. our debut; Afroman spice show was in July, 2015 at the National Theatre. It was well received,” she relates. Out of the experience from her time in grieving, Namulondo founded a not-for-profit organisation: The Sophie Muwanika Institute of Art for change, in memory of her mother.

“During those ten months, I drowned in sadness due to loss I thought was behind me and yet I did not know where to go for help,” she narrates. Namulondo wondered how many people out there were in a similar position and that compelled her to do something to help. During that time, she also discovered that society was not kind enough to allow one to grieve and judges brutally if for some reason one’s grieving got them to do things that were deemed wrong. Yet Namulondo had come to learn that if we never allowed these emotions to get out, the inner wounds would lead one into heinous acts such as murder or suicide.

“Everyone needs room to heal and I was creating one,” she states.
The institute started off offering alternative therapy sessions in schools such as Trinity College, Nabbingo, Kitante Hill Secondary School and among others.

During one of these outreaches, they also got the attention of several platforms such as Cultural Avenue, Young Peace Builders West Africa by UNAOC and Uganda Muslim Youth Development forum.

“We share what writing and theatre can do in peace building, healing, rehabilitation as well as intercultural and interfaith dialogues,” Namulondo mentions.

In a bid to equip and empower the children and youth, the institute also runs poetry, theatre and public speaking classes. The institute believes that children and young people should be empowered to articulate and document their life experiences because a shared experience gives room for learning and growth and creates room for other experiences.

Journaling also helps one to let go, learn from their failures and celebrate their achievements.

Owing to her work, Namulondo was recognised as a Laureate Global Fellow in 2016 and became a One Young World peace ambassador in 2017.

Inspired to act
One of the poets that inspired Namulondo was Neal Hall whose poetry talked about race and America’s continued state of slavery.

“Neal wrote from the heart: white people will always perceive us as niggas first and foremost; an excerpt from First and foremost. From then on, I started writing about things that I was afraid to write about as well as things that are dear to me,” she shares. The learning also included appreciating the different styles of poetry.