She was there even when he earned Shs 1,000 a day

The Gololas have walked from nothing 17 years ago, to a happy and respected couple in Nsangi Village, Masaka. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI

What you need to know:

Rags to riches. When you hear of true love, you think it is something of the past. But Willy Golola and his wife Cissy have a story to tell after 17 years of living together, unmarried. Theirs is a tale of rags to riches, and the patience of one woman who stood by her man. Gloria Haguma met the couple at their home in Nsangi, Masaka.

How did you meet?
Willy: We met in the village in Mpigi.
Cissy: We were friends at first then we later realised that we had feelings for each other. At the time, I was still staying with my parents.

How old were you when you met?
Willy: I was about 25 years old. My wife was a bit younger but I know women do not like talking about their age, so I will keep that a secret.

How long have you been together?
We have been together for 17 years and we got married officially just recently. We have six children together.

So you have been cohabiting all the while?
Willy: Yes we have. A few months after we met, she asked to move in with me. I was not doing well at the time, but she insisted that all she wanted was to be with me. Six months later, she got pregnant with our first child. I was not sad about her getting pregnant because I loved her.
Cissy: We stayed together, but the conditions were bad. The house had no proper roofing; it was a mud and wattle house. It would leak, and it was very uncomfortable. But I loved my man, and I did not care whether he was poor. All, I cared about was that we were together. We actually had our first two children in that house, before we were able to get enough money to find decent housing.
Willy: I loved her so much and I knew from that moment on, that she was going to be a patient woman. She managed to stay with me through all that. The house had no curtains. All we had was the little mattress we shared. But we survived. Now God has been merciful and rewarded us.

Didn’t you face any pressure to get married?
Cissy: He brought it up, but I always refused. We were not doing well, and a wedding was the last thing I needed. My focus was on us making our life better. I did not see the essence of us splashing money on a grand wedding, when we hardly had enough money to take care of ourselves and the children.

Did you ever feel like walking out of the marriage?
Cissy: There was a time when he got so many problems. I was the one staying at home with the children, and we were so broke. At times, I was hopeless.
But I realised all we had was each other. So I could not leave him. I forgot all about that. I loved him, regardless of his condition. He treated me well, and even though my parents were well-off, I chose to stay with my husband because I loved him.

Did your family ever pressure you to leave?
Cissy: Not at all because my mother had also been through a similar situation so she always told me to be patient. She would chip in once in while, when she could. She was very supportive.

Were you happy?
Cissy: I was very happy. When he got some money, he would get me a little present and that spiced up our marriage.
All that mattered was that my husband loved me, treated me well and I loved him too. My family was actually well off, and I am sure there are people at the time who wondered why I would choose to stay in such conditions when I could simply go back home. But I loved my husband and I did not see a future without him in it.

(Golola brought his wife’s ancestral village of Kafumu, in Mpigi to a standstill when he arrived in a chopper on their introduction ceremony early this year. The wedding was aired on one of the local TV stations).

A chopper on your wedding, huh?
Willy: I wanted something that would excite me and my bride. I thought the chopper would be a good idea, because I had never stepped on a plane and now that I could afford it, I wanted to have it at my ceremony. I went to Entebbe and asked to hire the chopper. I was told to pay within a few days to the event. I paid for it in dollars. It cost me about Shs9.5 million.

Comparing circumstances then and now.
Willy: Above all, I thank God. I have come such a long way, and who knew that I would be able to board a plane! I pray a lot, to thank God for his mercies.

What do you think makes a marriage?
Willy: Patience. There are women who will not even prepare a meal on Christmas Day just because you did not buy her a gomesi. My wife is not that way. She is very loving and focused.
Cissy: As husband and wife, you need to be tolerant with each other. We are not perfect, and we all have our shortcomings. You need to trust one another, and also trust God. If you ask your husband for something, and he does not have it, you wait, until he can manage to get it.

What do you think of marriages today?
Willy: Today people are very materialistic, especially the women. When they see you, they think you were born rich, or you picked money from somewhere. They have no idea what you have been through.
Cissy: They want to find things that are up and running. They admire a lot; some even end up going to the witch doctor, so that they can ruin your marriage so they can take your well-off husband.

Advice to young couples…
Cissy: You need to be patient. Do not turn down a man, simply because he is broke, because you do not know what the future holds. I think the other important tip would be for young people to first get to know someone before you finally decide to settle down with them.

What do you enjoy doing together?
Cissy: We love going to nice places, such as Rose Gardens and just spend time together as a family. If our children are on holiday, we go to Freedom city.

What annoys you about eachother?
Cissy: I do not like it when he comes home late. I like spending time with him, so I hate it when he is away for hours.
Willy: I do not like coming home when my wife is not around. When I get here and she is away, I really feel unhappy.

The rocky beginnings

Willy: When I met my wife back in 1998, I was working in the market. I used to help people take scales off their fish, and I would earn between Shs1,000 and Shs2,000 a day. Later, I realised that many times, the customers would need to get a kaveera (polythene bags) for their fish, so I began purchasing the buvera as well and that increased my day’s earnings to about Shs5,000.
Well, there is no job I have not done. I have dug pit-latrines, made bricks, sold fish on my first bicycle and any other odd job you can think of. I am grateful to God who I believe has managed to bring my family this far. Today, I am into real estate and I own more than 80 pieces of land around this village and the surrounding areas. I also have commercial buildings in Nsangi town and rental houses.
Cissy: In 2002, my husband had saved up enough money, and we were able to buy a piece of land here in Nsangi, and we started on the plans to build our first house. We bought it at Shs800,000.
Since we did not have a budget at the time, my husband decided that he would make the bricks that we could sell to get money to build our house. With this, he got a break from his market work and went to make the bricks.
We entered our house, when the windows were not fitted yet.