Friends helped me build

My name is Pastor Wilson Bugembe. I am a born-again Christian, gospel artiste and lead pastor at Light the World Church in Nansana.

The first time I conceived the idea of building a house was when my landlord in Kamwokya came to the house I was renting and gave me an ultimatum of one day to leave his house. I was living with many children and this somehow made him uncomfortable.

I had no immediate place to go to so I pleaded with him. He was a strict man and a bit nosy because there are times when he would even come to my house and ask why the utensils were not washed or in order.

I did not leave because I had nowhere to go but he kept coming back to ask me to leave his house. One day, I asked one of my friends, Nsaba Buturo, to help me talk to him to let me stay in the house.
He accepted for a while but then he started chasing me again. But by that time, I was also looking for a new place to rent. When I got a house in Rubaga, I shifted immediately.

My new landlord kept telling me that all those who stayed at his rentals all ended up leaving, not to rent elsewhere but to enter their own houses. This challenged and motivated me to start thinking about how I would eventually start constructing my own house.

GETTING INFORMATION
I started asking about building a house. I would ask my friends who had already built houses how they went about the whole process and experience of building their houses and how much they spent on them.

Most of them would tell me that it did not matter how much one had, the important bit was for me to make up my mind to start on the construction. They would tell me not to calculate.
At that time, I had 25 children to take care of and I could not imagine where I would get money split between caring for them and saving a little to actualise my dream of building a house.

BUYING LAND
One day, a friend of mine invited me to go with him to Kiwatule where he had identified a piece of land; it was approximately 70ft by 100ft. When I saw the place, I was not impressed. It was bushy and there were a number of thefts and chaos that was reported around the area. I was not ready to risk my life. Besides, I did not have the money to buy the land, anyway. But after, my friend convinced me and I agreed to buy the land. The first instalment I paid was Shs10m. I paid the another instalment which amounted to about Shs50m. The person I bought the land from was understanding and allowed me to start building as I paid up in instalments.

BUILDING
I spoke to a friend who was into construction to help me start on the journey. I had an architect friend too, who offered to draw the plan free of charge. I had Shs1m in cash.
I used this money to buy 100 bags of cement but the builders kept cheating me because they realised I was naïve. I came back after four days and the bags of cement were nowhere to be seen yet there was no serious work done.

I felt disappointed but my friends kept encouraging me. Fact is, it is friends that largely helped me build the house. Some would give me a bag of cement while others offered paint or other construction materials. I am glad to have friends from different religious backgrounds.

One of the friends that was very generous to me was Titus Talemwa. He runs a hardware shop and he offered to roof my house. Another gentleman called Simon (Sekankya) from Hardware World used to give me construction materials on credit. At some point, I owed him quite a lot of money but he was patient with me. I owed another friend money for materials I had taken worth Shs25m. I had paid Shs18m but taken sometime without paying the balance because I honestly didn’t have money. One morning, I woke up and the police were at my door waiting to arrest me. I explained to them that I had paid part of the money but I did not have money at the time.

I asked him to give me a little more time so that I could look for money and pay him. I had so many loans at the time. God was merciful and I managed to pay up, slowly, and also regained the friendships. During the construction process, I incorporated a few of my ideas because I am an artist by passion. But when it came to costs, I did not calculate the money because at some point, the money I was spending demoralised me, so I gave up on keeping records.

FINISHING
The finishing part was very expensive. I was not keen on how much I spent on it but the money was a lot. I decided to take the lessons from the whole experience of building and one of the biggest ones was that friends are very important.

I learnt that having the right friends is good, for example CTM, the suppliers of tiles, gave me tiles to complete my house. If it wasn’t for friends, I would probably have not completed the house. My earnings as an artiste could not fetch me much. There is no concert I have done and earned Shs20m. A lot of the money goes into paying service providers.

The other thing is that it is important to make a lot of sacrifices when you are building. There are times I could not comfortably sit and enjoy chicken. I realised such money would help me buy bricks or sand. Building helped me to start valuing money. Overall, building is a fulfilling experience and I have since fallen in love with it. It has made me feel like a real man.

Initially, I wanted to just buy an already built house but after going through the experience, I no longer think buying a house is an option I would consider again. I have completed my first house and I feel addicted to building.

I had a passion for cars but building killed that desire. I would rather sit at home and enjoy watching football which will not cost me but keep me happy. Don’t start out on the construction journey with an aim of putting up a structure that is better than your friend’s. Don’t look at Bobi wine’s house that you see in the papers or Bugembe’s and say you want that exact house. Home is home, regardless of what it looks like.

Lessons
Use the little you have. You do not need the full amount to start building a house. As long as you have land, you can use Shs100,000 to start constriction.

Forego luxuries. At times you have to sell off some of your valuables to build your dream house. You can live in a house even when it is still under construction.

Do not be a copycat. Don’t start out on the construction journey with an aim of putting up a structure that is better than your friend’s. Always aim at achieving something within your means.