My Sister

My sister,
I remember you. I remember when you were so little;
You were so little, you were so young.
You were that little bundle of innocence,
So pleasant to everyone.
You laughed when a snake crawled around your legs.
You chased after bees and grabbed at wasps.
You imitated peacocks and barked back at dogs.
When daddy playfully threw you in the air, you knew he would catch you.
When you stole some sugar from the kitchen, you cheekily waited for mummy to discipline you.
You were not afraid to get dirty; you knew mummy would clean you.
You were not afraid if the neighbors’ kids laughed at you, you knew we loved you.
When we asked you to sing, you were not afraid to dance too.
You brothers and sisters were your best friends. Your family was your world.
Your world was happy.

You are not so happy anymore. Maybe a bit wiser or so.
I remember the first time the teacher at school caned you.
I remember the third time daddy forgot to pick you from school.
I remember when UTV stopped showing your favorite cartoon.
And the time you got your class report and you were number sixty-two out of eighty pupils.
Remember when you wanted to go to didi’s world? You learnt then that the family was poor.
Remember when you learned to read newspapers? You always rushed to the entertainment news.
But then one time you read that lovely Whitney Houston was hooked to drugs, yet mummy had said drugs were not good. Do you remember how you were so disappointed and confused?
Remember how you found out where babies come from? When mummy realized what the shamba boy was trying to do to you?
We sat all night, the whole family, and talked to you.
I remember in the end you thought sex was so uncouth. You never again wanted to hear the words ‘I love you’.
You hated men and began to think lesbianism was good.

Remember when aunt Namaganda came to visit.
She made you kneel down to serve all your brothers the food you had cooked.
They ate to their fill till there was no good piece of chicken left for you.
“It’s ok,” aunt said; “you’re a woman.”
Then she made you serve your lazy brothers drinks on your semi-empty stomach.
Remember how you blamed God for making you a woman?
How you lost much self-esteem when your brothers laughed at you because the onions were burnt?
Remember the satisfaction you felt when mummy told the boys to wash the dishes that night?
It was never enough to quench the anger that burned inside.

I remember Sylvia Tamale became your role model.
And you admired Winnie Byanyima because she did not change her name to Besigye.
You despised Kazibwe because she was only second to the man-president.
You vowed to be more independent than any of them.

I remember how you worked hard to beat your brothers’ records and excelled at your A’Levels.
You made it to university but then your orphaned best friend became a prostitute.
You saw how she commanded all kinds of men and you thought her lifestyle was so powerful.
And you also thought she was getting all the special love and attention in the world…
You are the university’s president now and now a V.I.P., but you are still a girl…

Now life is taking a toll on you.
I know that kind of look that you wear on your face every day.
You are still growing up; you’re learning more, to your misery.
You have realized that your parents are not perfect.
You have seen that after light there is always darkness.
Famous people get divorced and happy ones can still become drug addicts.
The world is not as God meant it to be.
Martin Luther died and so will Oprah Winfrey.
You’re wondering if the idea of a Living God is just a fallacy.
After all this time, you have never even discovered your destiny.
Life is a mystery.
And it is not very happy.
And you have it all, but all you want is to know you’ve been good.
You want to be true.
If only you knew the truth.
Bow my head my sister, and let me pray for you.

Dear God, I honour and worship You.
I thank You because out of everything Your Word is true.
Please let my sister taste and see that You are good!!
Transform her by the renewing of her mind.
You said that all who believe in Jesus shall not die but have eternal life.
How hard it is for the world to believe such a simple truth!
Separate her; cause her to believe in He who was sent by You.(John 6:44)
She may be feeling filthy, dirty from all she has believed and let herself do,
But let her know that she is and has always been Your prize jewel.
The blood of Christ washes everything anew.
Cleanse her too.
Let Your forgiveness wash over her through and through.
May she understand how deep and how high and how long and how wide Your love for her is. (Eph 3:17-21)
Let Your love, be soil for her roots.
May she shine with the light of Your Glory. (2 Cor 4:6)
Say to her heart, “LET THERE BE LIGHT” and then the darkness will disappear.
Let her be secure in You.
And then she will laugh at bees again and bark back at dogs.
And then You will be her perfect daddy who will throw her playfully in the air and catch her before she falls.
Jesus, You raised Lazarus from the dead, and ordered that he be unbound.
Jesus, as my sister is re-born, deliver her from all that bondage.
You said that Your very Words are Spirit and Life(
Say to her as you did to that woman in…,
Say to her, “woman, thou art loosed”.
Thou art loosed,
My sister.