I felt my sister's labour pains

TWINS

Have you ever experienced labour pains simply because your sibling is in the hospital? Martha Nakato, a housewife in Gayaza and Bendict Ivon Babirye, an assistant manager at Potting Shed Company, Garugga, have such a profound connection that they feel each other's pain.

"One time, we went to the hospital and Nakato was in labour," Babirye narrates, "She had a Caesarean section.  At that time, I remember feeling an intense pain in my belly. When the operation was done, the pain disappeared."

The pain they experience does not only stop in the labour ward, but all the time when either of them is hurt or feeling unwell, the other has to know.

Babirye says she is the strong one since she can try to bear it, but Nakato is very emotional:  it is always panic and great fear if her sister is having a bad moment.

To keep their relationship going, the fraternal twins communicate often.

"The longest time we have not spoken to each other is two days. But we make sure we talk to each other almost every day," says Babirye.

Raised in Jinja in a family of nine (currently four are deceased), Joyce Nabukenya Nnalongo and Peter Ntale Ssalongo gave the fraternal twins a normal life.

"There was no preferential treatment at home simply because we were twins. If we were caught in any wrong doing, we were punished just like the others," Babirye attests.

Babirye says that the only special thing they had at home as twins was dressing in similar clothes.

The twins also went to the same schools up to O-Level, which strengthened their bond.

At school, no one would dare come between them.  "Although we had friends, we never had best friends because we had each other," says Babirye.

Even to date, the twins still do most of the things together just like at school.

"We are married, but we almost move together everywhere. If the programme is not convenient for either of us, we postpone it," she says.

Babirye says people find it hard to believe that she is a twin because Nakato does not resemble her.

Nakato is lighter and fatter than Babirye.

What makes being a twin interesting and fun for Babirye is when she is with her twin, she feels extremely happy.

She says there is no one who understands and empathises with her like Nakato does. 

Furthermore, Babirye is also happy when people are amazed at how grown they have become.

"People are proud of us and ask how our parents did it," she says.

During the lockdown, Babirye reveals that it affected them badly since they could not visit each other. However, speaking on phone helped them out, but it was not the same as meeting physically