Spouses should not badmouth each other - Manuela

Upclose. Manuela Pacutho Mulondo is the CEO of The Cradle, a child care and lactation centre. She is an author, a wife and mother of two. Phionah Nassanga finds out about her firsts.

First thing you do in the morning…
I wake up at 4am and workout using YouTube videos for 30 minutes or an hour.

My first job…
I was in Senior One and I worked with my mother at one of her telephone booths. I earned Shs5, 000. My first job out of home was in 2008 I was an accounts manager at People Performing Group, a human resource consultancy firm. I was paid on commission basis.

Your biggest accomplishment is...
So far, The Cradle and authoring my first book have gained me international recognition.

What was your first car?
It was a blue Toyota Corsa which cost Shs4.5m. I bought it after closing a big deal with one of our clients at People’s Performance Group in 2008.

What is your most memorable moment?
This is quite hard because I have so many. For instance when I saw our home for the first time, when my husband and I got married, when I had my first child and the scholarships I won in school.

The first book you read...
Hardy boys by Franklin W. Dixon when I was in Primary Two. My daddy was a scholar and reading was an important part of his parenting style.

What inspired you to write?
In 2019, I attended the Harvest Institute , a leadership institute and one of the assignments I was asked to do was to write a book. First, I thought of writing about my mother’s life and experience, but then I got a conviction of what had happened in the Mandela Washington Fellowship that I had attended in 2007.

During this fellowship I met and interacted with young children that were innovative and with reasons for everything they did. There was a big difference when I compared them to mine and those that I take care of at The Cradle. So, I felt the need to share and tell fellow parents about how best we can listen to our children and how this can help us to mould our children.

Your experience as a first time mother…
I think I was over prepared. I did a lot of research and went to mothers that I admired. By the time I gave birth someone had already taught me how to bathe a baby.

Worst experience...
Seeing my parents divorce. Life was not the same again, my siblings and I stayed with our mother and all we had to share was a single room. However, my lessons from it was, no matter what the problem is, spouses should never speak ill of each other especially to their children. Even after their break up, my parents allowed us to experience them as individuals.

Your first date…
I was in Senior One and my elder sister Amanda Onapito took me to some place in Wandegeya. I remember her saying the reason she took me on a date was because she did not want men to exploit me through such.

Your first crush was…
A boy that acted in Colby’s clubhouse. I do not remember his name yet we used to ‘get married’ every day.

What do you hate the most?
Any one who attacks my integrity and family. Sometimes my integrity can pass, but not my mother, siblings, husband and children. I will come out as lioness and will not let it go.

First foreign country you visited…
Kenya.

When and what is memorable about it?
In 2007, we had a trip by bus and we paid Shs50,000. I met my husband on that trip. We had gone for a two-week ministry and it is there that I learnt to live as a lady not a tomboy. I realised the girls I had travelled with had carried bed sheets, soap, extra clothes, towels, perfumes and handbags. Yet I had not carried any of those, all I had were three pairs of jeans and three T-shirts.

Life lesson...
Every moment of my life is the first and last. Nothing like that will ever happen again on that particular day and time. That is why I am intentional about every moment.