Hello friends,
Welcome to Happy-ness!
One of the joys of putting together Ibua Journal Issues is watching how random pieces, received through the open call process, come together as the Issue theme emerges. There is a wonder as we trace commonalities in them, reminders of the similarities to our existence across this vast continent. This issue was no different. As we read through the submissions, we were continually struck by the yearning for “happiness” or Happy-Ness as we preferred to call it, inspired by the 2006 movie, The Pursuit of Happyness, starring Will Smith. The stories in the media and across social media platforms amplified the yearning we saw.
Yet despite recognising this common thread in the submissions before us, there was resistance to approving Happy-ness as our Cover theme. With reports of coups, war threats, violence, human rights violations, apprehension about elections, food and fuel shortages, riots and strikes, lack of jobs and increased international labour migrations happening across the continent, happiness felt frivolous falling short of the gravity of these. our conditions living on the continent. Who cared for “happiness in the face of these?” Could it protect us from the madness of men? But, despite the flippant remarks by a senator aghast at the siege on their capitol or of the reporters attempting to make sense of the Russia-Ukraine war, Africans do not deserve war, disease, premature deaths, or poor governance any more than the next human, much less the continued pillaging of our natural and human resources and the adverse effects of these on our wellbeing.
Later, I’d realise that my reluctance was triggered too by the internal self-check sparked by conversations about happiness. To read the submissions and trace the quest for happiness within them was one thing. To talk about it with the team and hear their thoughts was another. But to turn the mirror round, and ask, Am I Happy? was a whole other thing. Responding with a yes or no or maybe was not as scary as assessing the whys, why not, and what next for responses that were short of an emphatic (confident) Yes, I am happy. Often my response was quickly cut off by another question, “what does happiness mean?” And just as quickly was the assertion, “I should be focusing on Joy and not happiness ─a fleeting emotion!” But could I arrive at Joy, the stable state amid a constant onslaught on my happiness, however fleeting the emotion? Could one exist without the other? Was happiness a totality of state of being or on a continuum? Could I be happy in the face of prevailing fears for my security given the rise in armed robberies in the city or the persisting impunity of government representatives faced with corruption cases or of our national security given the late-night tweets about invasions or the negative ripple effects for our economy following reports we are a money-laundering destination? Could I say I was happy without jinxing it?
Leaning into happiness our conversations expanded to “Well-being,” which according to the agreed basics of its definition as shared by the CDC, is … (includes) the presence of positive emotions and moods (e.g., contentment, happiness), the absence of negative emotions (e.g., depression, anxiety), satisfaction with life, fulfilment and positive functioning. Well-being encompasses our physical, mental, and social spheres and is both subjective and observable with the measures for subjective well-being centred on happiness and life satisfaction.
Are you happy?
According to the New Vision, 35 of 100 Ugandans are dealing with a mental health illness. Reports also show we are recording an increase in the number of substance abuse cases and suicides. While these latest statistics are alarming, they are not surprising. We find ourselves strained, overwhelmed, and harmed by the unrelenting pressures of modern living, ever-rising costs of living with no matching increment in per capita incomes, prevailing socio-political tensions, rising insecurity, lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and much more. We are conditioned to continuously navigate negative emotions from these like a sense of futility, hopelessness, fear, anxiety, anger, and sadness, while we struggle to maintain positive emotions such as happiness, joy, and contentment. Cast against onslaughts to them, seemingly trapped in places that diminish our existence, we clutch at the fleetingness of these and find our mental wellness and overall well-being compromised.
As questions about our subjective and national well-being persisted they seemed rather poignant given that we were coming up to the 60-year mark of Uganda regaining her independence. Well-being and happiness are crucial at individual and national levels and should therefore have bearing on national policy as proposed by the 2012 United Nations (UN) High-level meeting, Wellbeing and Happiness: Defining a New Economic paradigm. Macroeconomic factors don’t fully capture the conditions of life let alone the impact of this on the well-being and, therefore, the production of individuals. And mental health, defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community, is a basic human right.
We are not without agency to frame and reframe what this constitutes for us and how we arrive at it individually and collectively. While the parameters that frame our response to the question, Are you happy might vary, thus creating a seeming inconsistency in ascertaining what happiness means in a wider community, the question is no doubt imperative. More so at the personal level. And, as Chris Gardner, author of the bestselling memoir The Pursuit of Happyness, reminds us during an interview, the “Y” in our Happy-ness Issue is a prompt to each one of us, to find our happiness, to nurture it, and to support the ventures that promote this in our communities.
We encourage you to reach out to the number below if you or someone known to you requires of counselling or mental health care and support.
Toll-Free Line: 0800 21 21 21
The Happy-Ness Issue is a collection of narrative essays, short stories (Fiction), and poetry. We open with the essay How the Fringe is Taking over Uganda’s Publishing Industry by Deus Kansiime. In this Deus shares a quick look at the emerging voices in Uganda’s Publishing industry and the factors compelling their formation. With him, we are excited to see more publishing opportunities availed to continent-based writers.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on the livelihoods of many across the world with many in the creative arts sector affected. In Kuonyesha Art Fund: Charting future paths for the Creative Arts, Ednah Namugere shares the successes of Kuonyesha Art Fund working with artists in the project areas of Kampala, Karamoja, and Gulu during this time.
While Live productions are fun to watch they take a lot to put together. In Weaving together a live performance Namugula Joanne provides a behind-the-scenes look at the preparations to show Killing Time to a live audience in June 2022. Killing Time is a satirical play on the struggles of two young men to make a life for themselves.
Wrapping up the essay section is In Pursuit of Happiness as Africa Rises in which I contrast the well-being of “Africa’s children” to the narrative of Africa Rising. A narrative used to justify increased foreign direct investments across the continent.
In the Story section, we are treated to stories of longing, hope, and loss. In Swing mymama, Thabi Moeketsi writes of the migration wave the continent experienced in the 80s/90s and the effect on those left. Wacha Angewech in A Special Ingredient provides a satirical look at the narratives that propel us to ignore our internal warning signals as we watch her protagonist press into her dreams, determined to arrive at these no matter the contradictions that surround them. Finally, How I Lost My Gorilla In Kampala, by Kevin Mukama is a humorous take on how easily we get entangled in affairs, not ours, only to lose what is ours.
While in the poems we find love, loneliness, and the struggles of self against social expectations.
We hope you will enjoy this read and wish you all happiness and well-being in your chosen paths.
For those interested in contributing to Ibua Journal, we receive open submissions of short stories and poems year-long through our submissions portal.
Happy Independence day Uganda!
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