Friends hold onto hope as search for Lubaga hospital publicist continues

Kampala

“Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul... The sky, not the grave, is our goal,” that was Joan Twizere Uwimana’s last Facebook post on Saturday before she headed to Jinja District for a weekend.

That line is from a Christian song, It is well with my soul, written by hymnist Horatio Spafford. It is Joan’s favourite Christian song.

On Sunday, Uwimana with friends headed to Itanda Falls in Jinja. The sight is great, the waters white and on a good quiet day, the roar is heard more than a kilometre away from it and the mist hugs you as you descend down to its feet. But what was meant to be a day of fun turned dark at 2:20pm, as Joan, as she is known among friends, fell into the fast moving waters. She is yet to be found.

“We are keeping our fingers crossed. We are praying for the best. She must be somewhere we are yet to see,” Ms Phionah Katushabe, a friend she was with at the falls, said yesterday. “Joan was generous and kind. She was one of the most free-spirited people I know. I will forever have the memory of her smiling at the sight falls. I hope she is in a better place.”

Uwimana and Katusabe had gone to Jinja to accompany a guest from the United States. They had been requested by their friend, who stays in the US, to give company to the visitor. “When my colleague from here (US) wanted to go to tour Jinja, Joan and Fifi (Phiona) first came to mind as the best of my friends to ask if they are available,” Ms Rehema Namukose, a friend to the two, said in a text from the US. “It was because I know Joan loves life and fun. I am holding on to this hope that she fights for her life even through the rapids,” she adds.

When they got to Jinja, Joan and Phionah picked up a friend to take them around the town. When they got to the falls and started posing for photos, the friend they picked from Jinja fell into the water and held onto a rock with one hand and Joan’s camera in the other. “She rushed to try and pull out the guy from the water but she was over whelmed and fell in,” Phionah said. “She held onto the guy’s pants but a huge wave came and washed her off and she went down the river.”

Uwimana’s cousin only identified as Gish in a phone interview said the search is still on and the family is hoping to get her alive. “We are still waiting. The guys (local divers) are still down the river doing the search we are waiting,” he said.

Friends know her as a happy, emotionally strong and fun loving person with a strong emotional
“My only prayer and hope right now is that the gracious Lord brings you back to us. We still need your beautiful face complete with your amazing smile. Praying for a miracle,” Ms Ingrid Nantege, her friend at NTV, said.

“Twijo as we fondly called her, is the most honest and reliable person I know. If she says I am coming to help out then she will even if everyone else disappoints you,” Ms Lydia Mubangizi, one of her close friends, said.

“We all know her for honesty and openness. If she does not like something, she well tell you there and then rather than holding a grudge. I still remember her running and up and down during my baby’s birthday celebration.”

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