She came to help, he fell in love

Charles Kato and his fiancee Monica Swahn say the sky is the limit in their love. Photo by Edgar R. Batte

What you need to know:

  • Monica Swahn is a professor from the University of Georgia while Charles Kato is a former rugby player and runs Twekembe Slum Project, a self-help project in Makindye.
  • He met Swahn through her community research work that led her to Makindye, writes Edgar R. Batte

When Charles Kato needed help in structuralising work for his Twekembe Slum Project, Monica Swahn offered it. From her research in the neighbourhood he operated, she drew closer by helping him straighten up the running of his project.
The interaction between the two created fertile ground for feelings to grow especially within Kato’s heart, smitten by her beauty, energy and passion.
What he did not know though, was that she had had her share of disappointment in relationships.
Swahn had just gone through a rough divorce that left her emotionally drained. She had made up her mind that love was not something she would consider trying again in a long time.
But like the saying goes, you can never say never. Unaware of her feelings, he kept his eyes on her, planning to let out his caged emotions. As she analysed data from her research in Makindye, he was plotting a way he could let her know of his attraction towards her.

Building a relationship
One day, he asked to take her out. “I took her to the rugby grounds,” he recounts. There, he put up his best side, and she noticed. And away from the work environment, she liked his lighter side.
“He was such a good dancer and humorous. He kept saying things that tickled me into laughter,” Swahn recollects. And as they continued enjoying drinks, the outing relaxed their interaction. From then on, he started freely sending her messages, letting out his feelings for her, in bits, with sweet, endearing words.
“I was in a phase of life where I was healing from a broken heart, after the divorce,” the researcher recounts.
With Kato’s advances, her heart softened and she became reflective. Slowly, her idea that love could never make sense to her again started changing.
While she contemplated, he asked her out again, this time to Bubbles O’Learys, along Acacia Avenue, where the duo had fun as they danced and sipped beer.
She also opened up about her attraction to him. He gained confidence to tell her that he was nursing a big crush on her. Swahn was to fly out the next day. “I wanted her to stay longer. I felt sad seeing her leave,” he recalls.
“I was glad when on my return, he came to pick me up from the airport. He was lively, adventurous and always supportive. I am impulsive and he is always there to advise me,” she recalls.
After a year, Kato took it to the next level.
“In 2016, he proposed to me and we got engaged. I had bought the rings from USA. We had prior talked about the engagement so it was not as magical, of him going on one knee or having photographers around,” Swahn narrates.
The engagement was at Lake Mburo National Park in Mbarara and had preceded a roller-coaster of tourism excursions that saw the lovers journey from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to Queen Elizabeth National Park, Murchison Falls National Park and to Zanzibar.

Meeting family
She also went on to visit his family in Arua.
“He had wanted to keep our relationship a secret. When he told his relatives that we were engaged, everyone was surprised,” he recalls. On his mind is marriage.
“I have met Swahn’s friends and family in Sweden and USA. Somehow, I feel already married,” he adds. They are still talking about the right time and place to get married.
The two stay in an apartment in Muyenga. When in US, they stay in Atlanta where they acquired a home. Swahn’s family has a home in Sweden.
For the time they have related, she says there is a lot she has learnt from Kato.
“I have learnt to be a good listener. I was not a good listener and was forceful. He is supportive and balanced. He brings me peace in a way I did not expect. I feel I am a better person with him,” the professor adds.
“She has taught me that it is good to consult because two heads are better than one. For the time we have been together, I always ask her for advice and the decision I make thereafter, I make and take good decisions. I have never been loved the way Swahn loves me,” an elated Kato adds.
Today, the lovers complement each other in their professional lives. Whereas Swahn carries out research, she supervises a group of volunteers who travel to Uganda to assist her and also carry out thesis work.
Charles is a facilitator during workshops for such research work.
“I did not know I would stay and keep coming back to Uganda for a long time but I have come to love him and love Uganda. It is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The world thinks of Africa as a place of wars, HIV/Aids and famine. I do not want to trivialise those issues but Africa is beautiful. It is the future,” Prof Swahn explains. And in her future is Kato, her fiancé.

  • He said
    “She has taught me that it is good to consult because two heads are better than one. For the time we have been together, I always ask her for advice and the decision I make thereafter, I make and take good decisions. I have never been loved the way Swahn loves me.”
    Charles Kato
  • She said
    “I did not know I would stay and keep coming back to Uganda for a long time but I have come to love him and love Uganda. It is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The world thinks of Africa as a place of wars, HIV/Aids and famine. I do not want to trivialise those issues but Africa is beautiful. It is the future.”
    Monica Swahn