COVID-19: lockdown was our blessing in disguise

TWINS

Agnes Babirye and Angella Nakato say they grew up in their parents' loving arms. Despite their early life of ease, they still remember the times their parents struggled when it was exceedingly difficult for them to make ends meet.

"Our parents, Deogratious and Hanifah Sssenkungu were struggling financially by the time we were born, however through their combined efforts they were able to pull through. Our father bought a car that he at times used to take us to school," Babirye reminisces.

While growing up, they were small but quite mischievous. During their early years in school, they did something childishly foolish which won them the chastening of their mother.

"At the age of about four, while we were going to school one day, we bought candy jolly rancher chews and took lots of it until our mouths were blood red and our uniforms were soiled.

We decided to return home and deceive our mother that we had been involved in a minor accident. At first she was alarmed, but when she tried to administer First Aid, she discovered it was a trick," recalls Babirye with glee.

You cannot tell them apart when you listen to them speaking.

Over the years, they have grown and are now are pursuing degrees at the Makerere University Business School (MUBS) and will soon be celebrating their 20^th birthday on 4^th October.

While growing up, their parents, particularly their mother, who they describe as an enterprising woman, taught them timeless principles for success in life.

"Our mother mentored us in many things; the most visible one was having a sense of responsibility, training on money matters and how to be enterprising in life.

"The world belongs to people who can work and earn through honest means,'" the twins say.

Sssenkungu, who has cherished farming all her life, used to drag them to farm with her. Perhaps, at the time while growing up it seemed unfair but that's exactly what they needed to keep them going through the prolonged COVID-19 Lockdown.

Lockdown was a blessing

When the president banned all schools and tertiary institution of learning, and eventually declared a total lockdown, it was in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

It set in motion a new frantic wave and the twins weren't immune either. They felt detached from the outer world and strangely developed feverish condition that kept them in bed most of the time.

Their parents devised means of keeping them engaged in resourceful activities. Since farming activities were still allowed to operate through the country, the twins did small farming projects, which they supplemented with other income generating activities.

Of all the things the twins learnt from the lockdown, they treasure the basic principles of enterprising skills, which form the core of their subjects at the university.

"My university lessons as a student of Catering and Hotel Management came to life in the lockdown. For instance, I learnt how to bake cakes and also make candy ice cream with my twin sister," says Babirye.

It was these skills that they had learnt during the prolonged lockdown that earned them a part-time job at Royal Candy, an ice cream hub near Nkumba University.

 "We first got introduced to the idea of making charcoal briquettes and a managing poultry business at home. Most importantly, we got engaged in prayers at the family altar and everyone was allowed to preach for a week, something that fortified our spirituality," adds Nakato.

The benefits of the lockdown were not only restricted on honing their life skills, but also the prolonged lockdown gave them the chance to connect to each other.

"We felt that we had drifted apart from each other, perhaps because of the demands of schoolwork and the new friends that came into our lives. But with the lockdown, we were there for each other and so many things were rekindled in us," Babirye notes.