Monday

YESU Magazine (Ongo)

"By the grace of GOD, I will serve the LORD... When I invoke the name of JESUS, every demon has to flee..." - CARMAN (This song made me accept JESUS into my heart; knew about HIM as a Man crucified by Romans but only until Ascension after Resurrection and had to learn more about Apostle Paul's Gospel plus rearrange my mind)

"HE gives beauty for ashes, strength for fear, gladness for mourning, peace for despair..." - CRYSTAL LEWIS

"Holy, holy... There is none like YOU... Hallowed be YOUR name..." - RON KENOLY

"Lift me up, when am falling... I need YOU to hold me, and keep me from drowning again..." - JARS OF CLAY

"GOD painted better than Michaelangelo... Pablo Picasso... everyone..." - THREE CROSSES

"GOD of wonders beyond our Galaxy, YOU are holy, holy... Hallelujah to the LORD of Heaven and Earth..." - THIRD DAY

"It is YOU, we adore... Praises are for only YOU..." - NEWSBOYS

"I can still see the LIGHT at the end of the tunnel shine, through the dark times..." - P.O.D. (Payable On Death)

"Worthy is YOUR Name, JESUS! YOU deserve the praise... Be exalted now in the heavens, as YOUR glory fills this place... YOU're the Name above all names..." - ELEVATION WORSHIP

"Now forgiven, we're at peace with GOD... Glorious, YOU're able to save us, oh, oh oh oh... None compares to YOU..." - THE COLLECTIVE UG

"JESUS love is, all over me..." - BENJAMIN GATE

"(I)tis so sweet to trust in JESUS..." - LOUISE M. R. STEAD/ JIMMY SWAGGART/ DON MOEN/ ALAN JACKSON/ CADET SISTERS, etc

"Panadolu mivuri a'di-i ya? (YESU-i ya) [Lugbara Translate: Who is your Panadol? (It's JESUS)]..." - GOSPEL ARMOUR

"YESU ni mi omve [JESUS is calling you]..." - J. LIVES

"Save my soul, Lord! Mponye ebizibu by'ensi [Translated from Luganda: So that I survive the difficulties of life].../ LORD, pliz don't stop... Str8 2 de Church... I've neva seen anotha GOD lyk YOU. Coz ooooh! YO love iz so true! And no matter wat pain mi going thru, I can count on U... I'm blessed, heh..." - KATALINA MEZU

"Ayina ekitibwa, oyo YESU, mu ensi eno... Oyo asonyiwa abononyi [HE has honour, HIM JESUS, in this world... HE forgives sinners].../ Oyo YESU yanyamba... Nansumulula [That JESUS helped me... HE unlocked me]..." - FIONA MUKASA

"Ebindemye, YESU agolola [Translated from Luganda: Things I cannot do, JESUS irons out]... JESUS, Breath of Life..." - ZABULI ("Mwana Wamulodi")

"Number One.../ YESU, beera nange; YESU, tondekangawo [JESUS, stay with me; JESUS, don't leave me]..." - JUDITH BABIRYE

"Gwe KATONDA, manyi ne obuyinza... magezi ne obulamu [YOU are GOD, power and authority... wisdom and life]..." - PALLASO

"Abenzi, mujje mu Churchi... Nebolaba bajja mu Churchi, baali nga gwe, YESU yabanaza [Adulterors, come to Church... Even those you see coming to Church, they were like you, JESUS washed them]... YOU took my sins away; YOU washed me with YOUR blood..." - PASTOR WILSON BUGEMBE

"YOU are Jireh, YOU are enough... And I will be content in every circumstance... Thank YOU, JESUS..." - JUSTIN BIEBER & CHANDLER MOORE (at Churchome)

"JESUS is for everybody..." - DA TRUTH

"When HE says that HE loves me, I feel it... I'm positive..." - ERICA CAMPBELL

"Voices in my head be telling me to come to Church; saying the LORD is the only Way to stop the hurt..." - R. KELLY ("I Wish")

"What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of JESUS..." - DEITRICK HADDON

"I don't really care if they label me a JESUSfreak; there is no disguising the truth..." - DC TALK

"There is no mountain YOU cannot move... YOU are mighty-o, GOD of the Universe.../ JESUS, is at the door..." - NATHANIEL BASSEY

"There is something about YOU, JESUS, that we find in no other place... We proclaim YOU are LORD of lords..." - IRENE NTALE
 
"There is power in the name of JESUS, to break every chain..." - JESUS CULTURE 

"Dream after dream, YOU are, speaking to me... Here at YOUR feet, I can, see the Unseen... I run to the throneroom. And I fall on my face with angels and saints and all I can say is: Holy, holy, holy are YOU, GOD.../ JESUS, I love YOU..." - KIM WALKER-SMITH

"Even when the fight is lost, I'll praise YOU. Even when it hurts like Hell, I'll praise YOU. Even when it makes no sense to sing, louder then I'll sing YOUR praise... And I will sing until the miracle comes, yeah, eh eh, eh eh..." - TAYA SMITH

"Oneway, JESUS; YOU're the only one that I should live for. YOU are the Way, the Truth and the Life..." - HILLSONG CHURCH
 
"JESUS is the answer for the world today, above HIM there's no other; JESUS is the Way..." - ANDRAE CROUCH

"There is nothing YOU cannot do; JEHOVAH overdo. So now come everybody, thank JESUS for me..." - CHIDINMA EKILE

"GOD showed me the Way, now the Devil can't break me down.../ JESUS is KING... Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess..." - KANYE WEST

Church
TV
A Ray of Sunshine: Dance and sing with all your heart and might to honour the LORD. Play harps, lyres, drums, rattles and cymbals; Worship GOD!

[EDITOR: There are basically two types of songs: Prosperity music v WORSHIP. Television channels with so much more spiritual music include Lighthouse TV, TBN, JESUS Christ TV, Top TV, Channel 44, Iqra, Islam Channel, Joy TV, Salt TV, Faith, Trace Gospel, etc]


Saturday

Suicide Notes UG

JESUS was betrayed for 30 silver coins by a disciple who later hanged himself... 
You cannot get everything you want, but Double Happy-iness is wanting everything you get (which is Contentment). At the Y-Corner (Junction), either you go left or go right! Every pain has its healing remedy, no problem lasts forever and ever. This post is dedicated to everyone going through very tough and anxious times (including those who never asked me for help to deal with their mental health problems). It's about cultivating mental numbness in this cold, harsh and cruel world; some things won't go your way but wait for those that do, even if just 55 or 67 percent. Suicide is self-murder; Jonah was suicidal. Meanwhile, the great Prophet Elijah also wanted to die, but went to Heaven alive. The Earth is big enough for all of us to share to our fill. This Earth is 33 percent bitter; live with it not suffer. Life is hard, but GOD is harder. Everybody has problems; sidestepping them mentally is your own personal choice.


According to World Health Organisation (WHO), 10 out of 100 Ugandans commits suicide every year. That is quite high though I do not trust some surveys. For every death, there are more than 20 failed attempts. Globally, suicide is the 2nd Leading Cause of death among young people after Diseases; data translates into 1 death every 40 seconds. There have been very many suicides reported in the media since I was born but the one that hit me hardest was Chester Bennington (Linkin Park lead singer) in 2017; he was like a posterman for the fight against pain during my A-Level (2001-2) and Campus (2003-6). Another was a 30 year old hardcore Lionel Messi fan in Kerala, India who couldn't carry on with life after watching the GOAT lose 3-0 to eventual runner-up Croatia in Game 2 during the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 that followed a shocking 1-1 draw with Iceland and put Argentina on the brink of a very early exit. His suicide note read, "I have nothing left to see, am going deep into deaths." Dinu Alex could have stayed to witness the splendour in the 3rd game against Nigeria (Yes it is!) plus Copa America and the record-extending 7th Ballon d'Or in 2021; Messi's 4-0 exit during the 2019 UEFA Champions League 2nd leg semifinals against later winners Liverpool after a 3-0 Camp Nou victory almost broke my heart but I accepted the demise that brought him tears; at least he got the Goal of the Season Award plus 6th BDO then. Messi always performs wonders after a World Cup year ever since I started following him feverishly in 2009. On the calendar, 10th September is World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) though the entire fortnight is significant for coping while 10th October is World Mental Health Day.

Tears wash away the pain in the heart; meanwhile cheers plus rain wash away the tears but the sun dries them. Suicide is a ticket to the Suicide Valley in Hell where the punishment is eternal suicide; you keep killing yourself. Even though I don't know where GOD sent them in the afterlife, Samson (The Strongest Man of All-Time), King Saul (Chosen by GOD) and Judas Iscariot (Disciple of JESUS who was HIS accountant) committed some form of suicide in the Hebrew Bible, but it is not a virtue. Saul's armour-bearer fell upon his own sword after seeing his master had killed himself in 1st Samuel 31:4-5, Ahithophel hanged himself in 2nd Samuel 17:23 because his counsel was not followed while Zimri burnt the king's house over himself and died after the city was taken in 1st Kings 16:18. Job went through pain and suffering but did not follow his wife's advice of cursing GOD in order to die. His problems were caused by the Devil who wanted to test Job's faith but failed. Your problems are your wooden cross, carry it until Resurrection!

DANGER TALK (Armageddon of the Brain, National Suicide Monitoring, Depression & Emergency Uganda): The first suicide note in human history was written in Egypt around 2040 BC (Before Christ). I wonder when the first suicide note in Uganda was written, but decided to track why some of my countrymates want to die; others killed themselves. Maybe we can help each other stay alive in this earthly prison trap. Suicide is a song whispered by the Angel of Death; either you sing along or worship GOD instead, LORD have mercy!

The very first accomplished suicide I can remember quite well in my life (Had seen attempted suicide in the late 80s on Wilson Road, Jinja) was an Itesot smoker and drunkard on Spire Road (also in Jinja during the early 90s) named Ochorodo; he locks up his room and poisons himself. A back window has to be broken to reach his corpse at dusk. He would send me to buy for him cigarettes but I would refuse because I wanted him to stop smoking; my first Kampala friend's father in Bukoto smoked daily and died of lung cancer. His uncle also smoked and would throw blunts in the compound which we picked to resmoke. I found cigarettes quite sour...

A lovey-dovey rastaman drowns himself at the Source of the Nile where (like Aquaman) he used to rescue people who had fallen in the water after his girlfriend elopes with a Whiteman. I used to watch them walking together on Jinja streets; they looked very complementary like Bob Marley and Lauryn Hill (Turn your lights down low)! The dreadlocked guy usually held a guitar and the chick wore sexy designer fashions. I wished them happiness together but things fell apart. Some rumours said he went back to where he came from in the water. This story is similar to the song "Nyambura" by Radio & Weasel...

A Kyebando Kisalosalo neighbour's wife drowns herself in a Green Valley Kamwokya river; corpse discovered early morning...

A Kyebando guest house proprietor kills himself...

Politician's son shoots himself with his father's pistol...

Boy jumps from the top of Mabirizi Plaza to the Umeme Railings on Kampala Road. He wrote that his decision was because his family did not pay attention to him...

Kisalosalo girl kills herself after breaking up with her boyfriend, the news appeared in The New Vision on 1st April with her photo. Who cracks Fool's Day jokes about suicide? It must have happened...

2006: Asha Chekwel hangs herself in a Mariny Parish (Kasere Subcounty, Kapchorwa) church after her in-laws block her from meeting her love Alex Chemwonges...

2012: Liz Waluga, a 2nd Year student of Social Work and Social Administration at Uganda Christian University - Mbale Campus pours paraffin on herself and burns to death after a disagreement with her boyfriend Musa from Islamic University In Uganda (IUIU) who wanted a relationship break in order to concentrate on studies...

2014: One of my Nicest Friends and Hostelmates at Macos named Philip hangs himself in his muzigo rental because of accumulated debts. The story is broadcast on Bukedde TV's Agataliiko Nfuufu news bulletin...

Annet Ashaba, 26, from Ssembabule District, jumps from the 14th floor at Workers House (October 2014) after finding out that a relative had fleeced her of money she sent from Dubai where she had been doing kyeyo...

George William Obina, the 58 year old Chairperson of Koch Goma Subcounty Land Committee hangs himself. The preceding year, elders performed a ceremony to exorcise evil spirits after six people (including four women) committed suicide in one week. In a suicide note found on his body, Obina complains of an unhappy marriage...

Deus Kabisire, 25, jumps off the last floor of Mabirizi Complex. He leaves behind a note showing that he was in love with a woman who was not interested in him even after spending money on her (December 2014)...

2015: Bodaman from Mbarara but working in Kasese hangs himself on an avocado tree after betting 500,000 UgX (171 US Dollars) that Arsenal would beat Monaco at the Emirates Stadium following a 1-0 win in France; I watched that entire UEFA Champions League knockout game and knew Deus Ruhinda's pain. I've never really felt suicidal after Arsenal losses even though in 2009 I felt my heart melt to liquid during a different 1-3 UCL home loss but that was the reason I became a Lionel Messi diehard and what a glorious ride it became; simply Messi-merising! Football taught me that even if you train very well, prepare extremely good tactics or have a lot of talent, you can still lose by even just one goal in the last minute. I have followed football since the late 80s and the only match that brought tears to my eyes was when Leeds United beat Arsenal 1-0 at Elland Road in Y2K with a goal from Olivier Dacourt because it brought back memories of the failed title defence the preceding season at the same venue. I was 14 years old when tears formed; every Arsenal victory over the Whites after that match has always been sweet...

2016: Moses Wamala dives into speeding train in Mukono after his fiancée tells him to wait for sex after marriage. His neighbour Amos Kabonge and church fellowship pastor point at the same reason. Wamala at first alleged that his lover was seeing another man, but she denied it. No one suspected that Wamala would end his life...

My beloved cousin hangs himself in Mvara (Arua); he wanted to go for further studies and was not satisfied with his income flow. A Mukiga friend of mine attending a wedding in Arua as the Best Man on the burial day joked that I would commit suicide next simply because he heard that I used to flirt with one of his tribemates whose family he knew about. I could not join him for his friend's happy day, neither did I celebrate when Uganda qualified for AFCON 2017 after 39 years of failure because I was mourning my cousin. There was a wooden video shack near his bereaved father's home and when Farouk Miya scored the all important goal, I heard the jubilation but didn't celebrate. Depression is a choice; that is why I avoid suicidal thoughts through Mindshifting (Full control of my own Omi [Mind]). Some of the Suicide Notes people write as reasons for ending their lives can be sorted out with Time and utilising your 3rd Eye just above and between your two outside eyes (where your mind, body and soul meet to jump waking reality plus find unlimited but hidden inner wisdom). All of us go through Pain (Abuse, Curses, Difficulties, Disappointments, Failure, Frustration, Grief, Insults, Intimidation, Losses, Love-gone bad, Misfortune, Mistakes, Poverty, Rejection, Shame, Sickness, Stress, Struggles, etc); some people just absorb the shocks, cope and move on faster. Others cling to their pain instead of renewing their minds. After discovering in 2001 that the first girl I ever loved like myself had been dead for some time, I searched for another who used to care about me until the lady told me I will be perfect without her (as my wife). She used to be so kind to me that it felt like she had three hearts. That was the 2nd wallcrack in my heart; her J. Lo-licious half-sister consoled me but she also had other dudes on her case. So I chased after a new babe for 16 months on campus until growing apart brought me some type of heartwreck (I probably died in 2005 like The Wolverine from a heart-weakening problem) which I mended by befriending the supercalm Mukiga in question plus re-adoring a preteen I fancied since A-Level holidays. It's all about mental jumps. I cannot kill myself just because one skirt rejected me; there are billions and billions of others on the entire Debit Earth. Women lie, men lie; but keep smiling! Narcotic drugs (like the Devil's purple pellets) nor marijuana smoking (maybe marijuana tea) nor alcoholism are not even solutions, dust yourself up and try again! If you have a problem, then just look up (oneway) to Heaven. Betty Mpologoma advises: Londa e namba yo [Pick your number]...

2018: A South Sudanese-Kakwa namesake (Edward John Lukudu) doing IT at Bugema University (Arua) hangs himself on Tuesday 17th April at 4pm with an electric cable thrown up the timber of his hostelroom's roof after his laptop and bag are stolen. It could have been me the following Wednesday morning when I discovered this suicide after a dreamvision; two days later my Favourite Football Manager Arsene Wenger announced his decision to leave the Emirates at the end of the season. It felt like suicide forced by his haters (plastic fans); wish the Invincible One returns to Ashburton Grove in any other capacity...

Boy hangs himself on a football goalpost after getting a loan of 2 Million UgX to bail out the girl he loves only for her to reject him...

A neighbour's brother in Anyafio (Arua) hangs himself on a mango tree; a week later his daughter also tries to hang herself saying a voice told her to do it...

2019: Reagan Opito, a Senior 3 student of Aboke High School in Kole District locks up and hangs himself in a hut after allegedly being "disappointed in love". His suicide note indicates that his "long time girlfriend" who was in Senior 2 in the same school terminated their two-year relationship. It was through telephone that she said she would not marry him; he had contributed to her tuition...

26 year old Pharmacist Richard Olaja commits suicide on 20th June in Jinja after being exposed in a BBC Africa Eye documentary in conjunction with Uganda's NBS TV about "Stealing From The Sick"; he sold Government drugs illicitly...

MUBS graduate Arthur Basalirwa commits suicide after posting suicide notes on social media (Facebook and WhatsApp): Go ahead and call me a coward and say am not strong, because am not like you...

Fred Burondwa (UCU First Year Law student) goes missing after writing a suicide note: It’s been 23 years on earth and I think it was great we had to meet, you made every single day in my life worth. I have decided that I don’t need to stick around in a world I don’t want to be a part of anymore. I will never forget the gut-wrenching moment we have shared. I am unsure how I can cope more in the same situation. I surely have to leave. I rather die than walk in shame. It is good to give people the peace and life they want. I hope the people that never wanted me around enjoy it. If I ever wronged you, which I know I didn’t, I am sorry. In a few after you receive this, I will be gone and you will never see me ever again. Not even my body. I think that’s what they wanted. Don’t be worried because surely the sun will come up early morning. The world will surely go on. To my friends, I am sorry for letting you down, never forget that in whatever we do ‘we are ever the best’, be it and our flames should never burn out...

Ashraf Nsubuga (4th Year student at Makerere University) commits suicide in his room (September) because of debts...

2020: Aloysius Khatondi, 54 year old teacher at Bubungi Primary School (Bududa) is found hanging on a tree behind his home. He was facing difficulties in the family ranging from accumulated debts, feeding and looking after the family after lockdown...

Ronald Emuria alias Boyi commits suicide in Malaba citing economic hardship. His wife abandoned him because he was no longer earning from the taxi business after public transport was suspended. He was discovered dangling in the middle of his house after using a rope to hang himself...

2021: Vin Karungi, 18, drinks poison in Ntoroko District after being beaten by her cattle-keeping father who had confiscated her recently-acquired smartphone...


The beautiful Natasha Byenjeru (Law student) commits suicide on 6th June after failing a retake three times. She had joined Makerere University in 2015 and did not want to ashame her parents. Tasha was also addicted to drugs according to her close friends...

Teenager hangs herself in Hoima on a jackfruit tree after harsh comments from many people for performing poorly during the 2020 PLE exams. Daphine (Na)kimuli obtained Aggregate 28 in the four subjects. Personally, I got 4 on 4 in 1996 PLE but never despised anybody who got 36 (worst possibility) because school does not end in P7. In her suicide note, she described how she was feeling unloved, describing how her parents, siblings plus other relatives scolded her over her PLE performance; she took her own life to get rid of that discomfort. Daphine mentioned several people including Madam Jesca whom she described as her "Best Enemy". She advised her fellow children and relatives never to commit suicide and encouraged them to live happily, "See you when you die also but don't kill yourself also!" She was tired. The school headteacher at Bwikya PS Mr. Francis Bagonza described her as a quiet, well disciplined pupil (July 2021)...

2022: Emmanuel Okello, 18, a Senior 4 student of Makerere College School hangs himself in the compound after locking his father Moses Opio inside the house on 10th January while his siblings are taken to school. The deceased had expressed his disinterest in returning to Macos. His father had even got him a position at St. Kizito SS Namugongo, but he wasn't happy about the choice. I studied at Macos (My 2nd Choice after Ordinary Level at SMACK) and despite being rebuked by a few schoolmates plus whipped at sunrise for leaving the hostel late, there was nothing else that made life undesirable there; it was a very fun place: Friends, Main Hall Concerts (or Productions), Library, MAPA Festivals, sneaking out to watch Arsenal games, UEFA Champions League nights in the hostel studyroom, Weekend flicks, Sunday service plus lunch, appreciating beautiful campus Women passing through our school side, etc...

Sainai?, wife of Joseph Ajwal hangs herself on 28th March due to mental illness after 17 years in marriage. She gives away her bank details to her sister, hugs and kisses their three children for 15 while her husband revs up his car to take them to school. Then the 37 year old unusually waves goodbye at Joseph for three minutes; he reads gratitude on her lips. At midday, Joseph receives phonecalls in his office alerting him about a problem at home...

Policeman attached to Field Force Unit (after working for the Armoury) at Arua Central Police Station parks car around Sunday 24th April 2022 and hangs himself; leaves no suicide note. Martin Aluma, who was Andrew Felix Kaweesi's bodyguard before the former Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP)'s 17th March 2017 assassination gives the keys to his motor vehicle to a woman he is staying with at Ayiko Cell, Ayivu Division in Arua City at 8pm saying he is going on a journey. His body is found hanging on a tree in Mission Cell, Komite Ward, Ayivu West Division, Arua City at 6am...

Rogers Atuhaire, a private guard with SGA Security Company shoots himself dead at Mukwasi Building along Buganda Road in Kampala around 9am in May 2022...

Bright Namusoke, 20, a Senior 6 student at Kitebi Senior Secondary School hangs herself with a rope at about 4pm on Wednesday 6th July 2022 in Ngobe Zone, Bunamwaya Division, Ssabagabo Municipality, Wakiso District. Relatives tell Police how Namusoke returned from school and informed them that a teacher abused her and she was very angry; they don't take it seriously but later find her hanging in one of the rooms in their house...

Monica Karungi (aka Mona Kizza on Facebook, born in Isingiro), 24, falls from the window of a high-rise building in Dubai (about 7-9 storeys) apparently after finding out that the man she used to send her kyeyo money to back in UG used it to marry a different woman. The waitress used to earn 2 Million UgX per month. Other people speculate that work-related ish [BS issues] caused her to commit suicide. Her last note can be seen on Facebook though her brother Jackson Akwandanaho intimates that his younger sister was pushed (as in murdered) following misunderstandings with four friends who stayed with her. She was planning to shift after Eid Day. Karungi's face-down fall is so chillingly horrific that she breaks every bone in her body. May GOD be merciful...

Arafat Kasule, only 11 years old and in P4, hangs himself on a mango tree at St. Luke Catholic Church Kyanja, about 250 metres from Kabira UMEA Primary School where he reported at 8am on 14th September 2022 but didn't attend classes...

Private bodyguard Wilson Sabiti kills himself using his gun after shooting his boss Rtd. Col. Charles (Patrick Okello) Engola, the Ugandan State Minister for Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations in May 2023. Witnesses say the soldier fired bullets in the air while yelling that he had not been paid (about 4 Million UGX) for a long time despite having worked for the minister. Senior Presidential Advisor on Media Joseph Tamale Mirundi narrates, "The bodyguard saw the minister receiving money after making deals at Labour Day celebrations and was sure that at least he was going to get some money to solve his problems." Sources divulge how the minister directed that 140,000 UGX be given to Sabiti through his mobile money account but he gave them another person's phone number because he had a debt on his line. The next morning, Sabiti demanded for more money...

Mariana Lokwii, 28, mother of seven children in Loteerei Village, Longaroe Subcounty, Kotido District commits suicide over starvation due to prevalent drought and biting hunger in the region (August 2022)...

Denis Tukei found hanging in dormitory by students returning from lunch. He was a Senior 6 student of Bukoyo Secondary School (Iganga) who betted part of his school fees (November 2022)...

Muwonge Ssalongo found hanging in a cell in Tororo Police Station. He was a suspect arrested in Kampala over shooting at security personnel at Kapeeka Town Council in Nakaseke District...

Isa Tibinuma who sold off his 20 by 45 feet land on 16th December 2022 for 800,000 UGX poisons himself after losing all of it in a World Cup bet...

2023: During the DNA craze that gripped Uganda, a man discovers that two of his three "children" are not his yet he invested a lot of money in them; he jumps off a building...

Nelson Drici, 42 year old resident of Adjumani locks himself inside his hut at 3:45pm and sets it ablaze on Martyrs Day...


2024: Ugandan TikTok sensation Basher Williams (Master Of Tears) takes her own life following a tumultuous period of misunderstandings with her boyfriend...

Brilliant 39 year old digital marketer John Babirukamu jumps to his death from Tagore Living Apartments in Kamwokya at the end of May. He was unhappy and depressed...

Emmanuel Ekisa, a 27 year old Police Constable (PC) attached to Iyolwa Police Post shoots himself dead (during April) and leaves a suicide note...

Bright A-Level girl Hawa Nantongo hangs on a tree in Kisaasi during June 2024 after her mother forces her to study a Sciences combination. Relatives said she had wounds on her back plus her school Wampewo Ntakke Secondary School had three guards (How could she have escaped?) and was probably killed...

Guard shoots himself dead after losing motorcycle he was paid to protect...

Jordan Opileni, a "jolly" St. Philip's Church Sunday School teacher, about 26 years old commits suicide at White House Guesthouse in Ediofe (West of Arua City). He leaves behind a widow, orphan and SN...


NAYE OFA KI [TE MI DRA A'DUSI]?

Suffer Patiently or Quietly (I learnt that mantra from Sniper School): Take the dark nights and sunny days, salt and sugar, sweet juice and sour medicine, droughts and feasts, success and failure, wins and losses, admission and retrenchment, kisses and insults, highs and lows! Life is a depressingly monotonous routine: Wake up, work, study, travel, eat, visit toilet, solve problems, sleep; then repeat. The earlier you accept your predicament, the smoother you go through the motions for 120 years waiting for GOD to cut your silver cord (Ecclesiastes 12:6). Unreceived Prayer answers can be depressing too like Prince of Persia and Greece (Daniel 10) but GOD remains LORD; remember how HE made meat fly to the complaining Israelites! Better calm down. A Nigerian proverb says: If you put all your problems in one basket and take to the market, then you will discover that there are people with bigger baskets than yours. You fill a kobi [Lugbara winnowing basket] and discover there are actually people with issues that fill up a big ogea [harvesting basket]. You plant crops and animals eat the newly germinated shoots while another farmer's harvest is robbed before he can enjoy it. Rats eat your property; villagers mock you; lovers switch up on you; employers do not hire you; the list is endless. Depression is not an achievement; you snap-out of it quickly before it overrides your hope for a better future. Everyone goes through Ish [Shit, Dung]. Barcelona FC midfielder Pep Guardiola, the Best Passer of the Ball in the 90s taught me: When you lose, improve!

When life makes you feel at the bottom like a shoe, just keep walking; Footsubishi, Walkswagen (Walk Swag On), Gumbootini, Legsus, Daihatshoe, Toeyota, Shoebaru, etc! Depression is merely prolonged sadness; it's when you experience a brain attack (brain pain, according to suicide-survivor Kevin Hines) full of insidious lies and half-truths week after week. According to Psychology Today: Unlike being unhappy, depression is a very intense feeling of deep sadness and despair that can last for days, weeks or even months. One Sunday morning, my father returned from Church, found me sweeping at the entrance and told me with distress in his voice that by living quietly, I lose the opportunity to become important in society; maybe I let him down with my silent lifestyle because am not visibly active in public places (nor very wealthy) but that convo almost deflated me. I had heard similar words from two girls near Kanyanya before but they meant nothing back then. My father was so emotional about my low-key status that I felt like my spirit was about to leave my body but used a 7-second window to sit down on a skyblue plastic stool and stay calm instead of collapsing. Making too much noise is not really my nature; I try to do it through Art or online instead. Baba unrelentingly repeated something similar on Monday 15th March 2021 calling me "unsocial" and I felt about 83 minutes of pitchblack gloom within my soul until I got a very uplifting surprise message at 23:23 (just before I slept) from my ex-hearthrob whom I grew apart with in February 2005 (which was heartwreck for me) though we reconciled later. It was as if GOD whispered to her to check on me; her timely message healed me even though I solve my problems through Dreamvisions: I try to exist silently like a plotter because the mind is the command centre of everything that concerns you. Life is wild, I have to be very prudent! When I used to move out a lot (I would leave before sunrise and return after sunset), I was castigated for not staying home. It oppressed my mind too much that I started working from home instead and only go out when inevitable. My mother told me I have no money and always stressed that am jobless. Every sunrise is a fresh beginning: No matter how dark the night, the lonely Sun always rises (to shine brightly) again without complaining. Cheers to new days, resets and restarts! Whenever people shame my skinniness, I feel absolutely nothing - zilch, nara; my bodysize is the frame GOD gave me and am proud of it because I do not have to worry about weight loss exercises like obese people. I fast food every week to detox my body and also for spiritual reasons. I know am not perfect, so there is nothing anyone can say that can make me hate my life; I already know my downside. A Senior 5 classmate in my new school Macos (where I had been sold by SMACK despite getting 15 points which was within the promised 17 point cutoff mark threshold) kept calling me "daft, stupid, fake and boring (with cassava-stem legs)", but instead of believing him nor feeling shredded, I fought back mentally and almost killed him with physical punches. All he wanted was for me to amuse him about "Women, Arsenal and Computers"; how absurd! Simon (the fisherman or the other of Cyrene who carried the cross for YESU) says: Shut the fuck up! I will cut off your ear or break your nose. He did not even intimidate me; I had seen scarier boys in Kisubi (murderers, bullies, homosexuals, thieves, witches, etc) but the Devil was probably using him to try and steal my peace. We all get bored (I do too), but it is primitive to blame others for your boredom; sneak into class with a radio scanner, Walkman or something else like a magazine or novel. I told him in his face that I was "going to bury" him if he did not stop belittling me and he eased up. He would check my grade results to confirm if he had done better than me but find out he was actually dafter than me in academics; I always scored more points. Having knowledge about many earthly things does not mean I can tease other people about their ignorance (Tebagala kumanya [Translated from Luganda: They do not want to know]); noone owns knowledge nor correct answers, not even Bill Gates - his role model. I forgave the prick to save my own soul from damnation. The only knowledge we need is that JESUS died on a cross for our sins. If no employer hires you for a job, it's probably the LORD giving you Time to become an entrepreneur; use your talents, if not five, then at least two or one! Throughout boarding school, I bedwetted (and even a girl I fancied in primary school knew it), but it did not make me hate my existence. The harder I prayed not to bedwet, the more I peed in my sleep on some nights as if some water spirit was blocking my prayers and mocking me. The only efficient remedy I got was to put a waterproof Macintosh sheet on my mattress; I would recommend a mattress protector to anyone (including toddlers) with bedwetting problems. My beloved cousin rebuked me as "lousy" in 2010 and it felt like a belly stab but I forgave her tongue, then a South Sudanese chick in the US who wanted me to teach her Luganda language also labelled me a "useless man" via Facebook all because of money matters (Had told her bridewealth in the Bible starts at 50 Shekels which is 14 US Dollars) and I lost interest in chatting with her: Being dead broke is the root of all evil. I do not worship money; my trust is in GOD who feeds sparrows and clothes flowers, so moolah ain't a thing. Money is not even more valuable than family nor friends; it's just a number. Wait when digital currency becomes the norm, mere digits on screens depressing us for no reason. Money comes and goes, eat it like Pakistani rice: I use the little money in my life like other tools eg pliers, but the Almighty is LORD of the entire universe. Worship GOD, not Mammon money!

Organisations like Uganda Police Force (UPF) Emergency (999 or 112), Uganda Foundation for Suicide Prevention (UFSP), Mental Health Uganda (Call MHU on 0800-212121 for counselling), etc can help depression sufferers deal with suicide ideation. If Depression is a monster, then what do we do to a monster? We stretch its mouth so that it cannot bite like Samson wrestled with a lion, stone it and cut off its head with GOD's help like David versus Goliath or throw it in the fire like the viper snake that attached itself to Paul's hand; it's all mental.

Despite the pain, rejection, negative criticism, failures, complexes, family problems, etc, there is a way out...

Treatments for depression include: Medications (Antidepressants); Psychotherapy (Cognitive behavioural therapy, Interpersonal therapy); Lifestyle; etc...

Uganda's National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 0800 200 400 (Toll free)...

Butabika Mental Hospital is free...

Befrienders.org (charity registered in England and Wales) links suicidal people to members willing to listen to their problems and offer support 24/7. For Ugandans, the closest help centre out of over 90 globally is in Kenya...

Depression Sanctuary...

Be yourself...

No pressure...

Please stay...

Do not kill yourself...

Suicide is a ticket to Hell...

I refuse to cry...

Tolerate the pain...

Do not sob...

Stay alive...

We came to Earth with nothing and will depart with nothing, not even a shoelace...

Sometimes you win, other times you lose...

Pray, pray, pray; repeat...

If you are depressed, then take a deep rest...

Take a walk in the open air outside the four walls tormenting your mind...

Chai-3...

Tour Heaven...

BigAMBO [Words]...

Don't break when you're broken (Michael Jordan)...

The Red Dragon hates everybody...

Stress free...

Keep your head up...

Fear no bully; they only wear masks you can take off by facing off with them without timidity...

Suicide is when your own mind attacks you...

Life is about longsuffering (120 years of pain mixed with pleasure)...

Depression is not a monster like jabberwock; depression is a choice...

Depression is hunger in the mind; feed your mind with healthy words that nourish...

You overcome depression through prayer and mindshifting...

After misery, find happiness...

GOD is great, am not...

When society calls you zero, it doesn't make them Number 1; JESUS is Number 1...

Pray to GOD, the Father through JESUS! HE can solve any problem; they are all too small for HIM: Our FATHER who art in Heaven... Give us today our daily food and forgive us our sins... Deliver us from Evil...

Amen!