Our love was born at the airport

Mar 16, 2007

HANIFAH Nandugga met James Dummer in the arrival lounge of Entebbe Airport in September last year. Nandugga was working at Imperial Group of Hotels as the guest relations officer.

By Pidson Kareire

HANIFAH Nandugga met James Dummer in the arrival lounge of Entebbe Airport in September last year. Nandugga was working at Imperial Group of Hotels as the guest relations officer.

Dummer, a Briton, had flown in from Nairobi to check on a project he was doing in Rakai district. Due to their busy schedules, the two did not talk, but exchanged phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

That meeting later resulted into a hot romance that culminated into Nandugga introducing Dummer to her parents in Namungoona, Kampala on March 3, 2007. This was in spite of the fact that Dummer is Christian and Nandugga is a Muslim.

Because alcohol is prohibited among Muslims, only soft drinks were served at the function and Dummer’s entourage did not take any alcoholic gift.

Dummer, who has been coming to Uganda since 1998 for tourism, believes Ugandan women are the most sincere in the world.

Throughout the function, Dummer looked dazed, but amused. He and some of his entourage, who were not Baganda, had to adopt a new clan — the cow clan.

His entourage also carried many gifts, which included a cow and two goats.

They managed to keep the battle of wits and traditional jokes flowing between the representatives of both sides, through an interpreter.

And Dummer did just fine. His tunic fit him fine, he ate the coffee beans and knelt down to greet his in-laws. His colleagues said they enjoyed the traditional food, particularly the chicken luwombo.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});