Ithungu touched by Singoma’s persistence

Robert and Evacate met in 2007 at Rwenzori High School as Senior One classmates. “I tried making friends with many students but not with boys because I was very shy. One day during the lunchbreak, Robert’s friends asked me to join them at the back of the class where they sat. When I got there, one of them pointed at Robert saying, “This guy is in love with you”. I shyly walked away,” she recalls.

To Evacate, Robert must have been a young committed pursuer because he always followed the group of day scholars which she was part. Until now, she is baffled by his courage. “But what did such a young boy know about love?”

He then changed to another school when they were in Senior Three and they lost physical contact until 2013 during their Senior Six vacation. “He came to the place where I was taking my computer classes to bind documents. I recognised him but I never approached him because he did not see me.”

Robert would hear about Evacate from friends and in 2014, she received a courtesy call from him after getting my contact from her friends. From that time, they continued chatting and later on became friends who also occasionally chatted on Facebook.

On Valentine’s of 2015, he called me confessing his love for me but I took it for a joke. He was too young to be my boyfriend. I never thought I would date him because I had a list of qualities my dream man had to possess. He had to be five years older than me, a doctor, employed, among others.”

In June the same year, they had a 10-minute date after Robert insisted they meet after seven years. Robert was a student at Fort portal School of Clinical Medicine and since I was planning to travel to Kasese for recess we met at the bus park in Fort Portal. He was already waiting, and talked for about 10 minutes before the bus took off. He asked why I could not visit him.

After that meeting, they kept in touch and thereafter Robert frequently asked that they meet again since he was staying in Kasese at that time.

“On the August 16, 2015 when she agreed to meet again, I made my move to her again. Told her how I feel and my plans of marrying her,” he recalls.

Evacate says, “I was impressed but I did not say yes. I told him I was not ready for a relationship despite the fact that I was not dating anyone. The next three days were days of pestering from him until I said yes on August 19.”

She adds that, “My checklist had become useless not because Robert did not meet the core qualities on that list but because my heart told me he was the right man. I remember the day I told my friends at campus that I was not single anymore, the excitement they had was followed  by several questions especially about what job his job was. This did not have matter anymore. I felt so special about him.”

To Robert, it had to be Evacate because she was a very committed woman and very prayerful. He remembers the times when they would go on a date and she would read him one or two scriptures before they started chatting.

She says, “I belonged to the Fascinating Womanhood fellowship at MUK and were told to pray for our husbands even before we met them. It is something that I took on and it really paid off. My husband graduated and got a job in Kabale as a clinical officer in 2017 but he waited for me until I graduated in January 2019 and also got a job in Kabale.”

The Singomas had their introduction in December 2019 and had planned to have their give-away in April and thereafter wed in June but they were affected by the lockdown because they lived in a border district.

He says, “We had to wait until the lockdown was lifted from our district (Kasese) and we thought we would go for a scientific wedding since it was more cost effective but we had many friends that we did not want to live out. Our reception had 140 guests. This is more than scientific.”

The budget

The Singomas spent Shs12m for their wedding and they had saved half of this money while the rest of the contributions were made by their friends whom they contacted on a personal basis. They spent Shs1.2m on photography, Shs1m on  a 12-tier white cake, Sh1m for décor, Shs 2m on food and drinks, Shs 400,000 on the venue which was a hotel hall, Shs 700,000 on salon and make-up, Shs 800,000 on the wedding gown, Shs 200,000 on church fees and Shs 500,000 on the rings.

Best moments

To Robert, the most exciting moment about their wedding day was the time they were exchanging their marriage vows and the way they were welcomed at the reception. There were many people that had come to celebrate them despite the lockdown.

“Our wedding day was a perfect one. I enjoyed every moment but my friends gave a breath-taking speech. I shed tears. I was really touched,” Evacate recalls.

She adds that, “Robert and I have had good and bad times, but we kept going. He brought a new chapter of happiness in my life and made me experience true unconditional love. We grew from strangers to best friends who shared almost everything in our lives. I am grateful for always checking on me despite his busy schedule. I love and respect him so much.”