My Gut Leads, I Follow…
Photo: Elysee Niyigena
4th July 2023
On 2nd May 2022, I landed in Entebbe after a 23 hours trip.
It was my first time in East Africa, and I didn’t know what to expect. I am not one to create expectations when traveling or moving to a distant place. My gut always leads the way and I follow.
The offer to work as a Communications Officer at RSCE came after I had accepted a job with a Brazilian newspaper. My mother was disappointed when she learned of my final decision: I quit the security of home to try out a brand-new experience.
I have lived in different countries, such as Portugal, Spain, France, and Belgium, but none of them have provided me with the experiences Uganda has.
At work, the environment is the friendliest I have ever had. There is no such competition or negative vibes as in previous places I have worked at. Part of it is thanks to the hundreds of jokes narrated by the boss Dejan. I told him I do not understand jokes, even in my native language, but he keeps telling them.
In addition, everyone is keen to help me out.
When I arrived, Julliana texted me throughout the whole weekend to check up on me. Elysee helps me solve IT issues on a daily basis, even the most basic ones, such as turning on the dock station. Mark explains what some UN acronyms stand for and understands whenever I make mistakes.
If you walk through the ESB base (this acronym I learned last week) and see me with a camera on my hand, you can be sure I am doing what I love.
When I was a child, around 11 years old, I saved money from working at my father’s restaurant to buy myself my first camcorder. It had terrible quality, but it served its purpose.
Every day, after school, I would dress up in my mother’s work clothes, and record myself talking to the camera. I would stand up on my home’s balcony, point to the sky to talk about the weather, or to the street to narrate an incident I had just created in my mind.
At the age of 18, I started my bachelor’s in Communications and Journalism and, at 20, I got my first internship at a Brazilian TV broadcaster.
For me, a true journalist is one who is open to listening to people’s stories without judgment. They should be skeptical about what they hear and bear in mind they can harm someone's life by what they share. In short, a true journalist should be driven by change and by making a positive impact on the world.
The decision to work for the United Nations came from a dream of exploring far-off places and getting to know new people and cultures other than mine of birth. I know it is very cliché to say that, but I do consider myself a citizen of the world.
According to the latest data, 54% of the Brazilian population consider themselves black. Brazilians eat cassava, beans, and tons of fruits per day. We play capoeira and listen to music, such as samba and maracatu, created by Afro-descendants to resist the injustices imposed on them during the colonization and post-colonization period.
The world is somehow interconnected. Cultures are somehow interconnected, and so are we. People.
As a journalist, I believe my duty is to point out those similarities among us and contribute to a world where differences are no longer excuses for conflicts.
Some will think I am naïve, others that I am merely a dreamer. I honestly don’t care since it is my gut that is leading the way.
All I do is follow.
