HOPE AFTER MISFORTUNE

in #story5 years ago

In spite of the fact that she is visually impaired, Rita Kivumbi is a visual artist. She is the founder/ Art Director of Magezi Arts Exhibition Center (MAEC), a registered NGO, located on plot 1085 along Wills Road- Namirembe Hill, next to Namirembe Cathedral. She is directly involved in the day today running of the establishment which has nine year experience in collecting art, organizing and carrying out art exhibitions and workshops, conducting community outreach programs and internship training.
She uses a special touch called “Tack-Tile method,” a physical touch, when painting. All her paintings are in tack-tile form. She does painting, textile designing, jewelry making and mixed media. She is also a national hero after President Yoweri Museveni gave her a medal in 2016 for empowering and inspiring youth in Uganda. Writes RUTH NAKANDI.

She was born in 1st May, 1980 at Nsambya Hospital to the late James Muyingo and Jane Muyingo. She is the last born out of five children, and married to Godfrey Kivumbi. They are blessed with three children, two girls and a boy.

Educational background.
She went to Nakivubo Blue Primary school where she sat her primary leaving after which she joined Uganda Martyrs-Namugongo for her O levels and in 1998 went to Uganda Martyrs High School-Rubaga for her A-levels. In 1999, she joined Makerere University to pursue a bachelor’s degree in development studies.
In spite of the fact that she had an honours degree, she did not get a job. Upon completion of her degree in 2003, she volunteered at the Habitat For Humanity as a secretary of Alumni club. She also volunteered at the American Insurance group in the sales department.

Luck knocks at her door, first job/ qualifies as an artist
During the time of volunteering at Habitat, Makerere University Art gallery advertised a job and she applied and was offered a job first as a gallery supervisor and later in 2004 she was elevated to the gallery art administrator. She used her skills of project management she had gained when working as a volunteer.
Her job at Makerere University gallery required her to do art and she took advantage of that and got two certificates, one in art and design and the other one in organizing art exhibitions. The process took her one and half years.

Doing a master’s degree/ losing her sight.
While working at Makerere, in 2007, she applied for a master’s degree in ethics and public management. When she finished her master’s degree a misfortune beset her, she lost her sight!
Before losing her sight, she was carrying on with her day to day work including training interns. Her last exhibition was held on 1st November 2008. It was so successful that it covered different universities. After the exhibition which had taken weeks, she got a casual headache. 13thNovember was the climax of her dizziness. She also got paralyzed in her left side and her eyes pooped out. Doctors could not diagnose the problem, they thought it was trachoma.
Kivumbi says she used not to fall sick as she was growing up. She was a healthy child. She was admitted in the hospital from November for almost a year. By February 2009, her sight had completely gone! She was barely 28 years old.

Naturally, she was traumatized after losing her sight. She started learning how to cope living with her new disability. By the grace of God, Kivumbi says she regained her strength. From hospital she went home. Before Kivumbi was beset with the sight loss misfortune, she was engaged to----Kivumbi. The good thing was that her long time fiancé never abandoned her. He proposed to marry her and she accepted.

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Losing her university job
Kivumbi had to lose her job since she had lost her sight. They paid her for one and half years after witch she became bankrupt. However some of the students she used to orient at the university followed her at home when she was grappling with her visual impairment. She told them different art skills and some of them prospered and even opened their own art galleries.
A church offers Kivumbi space to sell her art work.

As she was listening to a radio, she heard a pastor preaching and she decided to approach him for counseling. At that time she was so much obsessed with self-pity. The pastor counseled her for some time and after learning that she was good at art works and jewelry, he offered her space and tables at his church on Sundays to sell her art products and jewelry. That kind of support was well deserved and it stopped Kivumbi from dwelling in misery.

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It was here (at the church) that Kivumbi re-launched Magezi Art exhibition. Her first exhibition was a grand women’s exhibition on March, 2015. When organizing the re-launch, she got a lot of financial support from friends and family members. She sunk in about 500,000 to buy fryers and other overheads like transport costs and at the end she had a profit of 1.3m. She ploughed it back into the business to buy art materials, jewelry and transportation.

Starting workshops.
As a way of increasing on her income, in 2015 Kivumbi started workshops at the same church premises. She put up posters around Makerere University calling upon students who wanted to learn art skills. She trained them in jewelry making, bag making, -----. She would charge between 100,000 to 150,000 depending on what a student was offering.
In the same year, she started community art workshops and one of the places she went to was Nakaseke where he trained elderly women to make textile designs. By the end of the same year, she had organized three successful art exhibitions, three art workshops and three communities out reaches. Unfortunately, she didn’t get any profits from those ventures in spite of the fact that she sunk in over 800,000.

Hawking her products.
Things became so tough for Kivumbi that she started vending her art works, walking to hostels and restaurants with her gallery. Sometimes he would get nothing at the end of the day otherwise on a good day she would get about 80,000 profits a day.
Launching the Art magazine.

In 2016, Kivumbi launched the Art Mirror Magazine titled, “Seeing beyond her blindness.” It was launched at Namirembe Guest House and Stella Mutoni family helped her lot to launch it. The Uganda Bible Society donated sh 700,000 to continue with the magazine, some friends gave her 100 dollars and others made subscriptions of over 500,000.
On 14th February, 2016, she launched another art mirror magazine-Celebrating love through visual art. This launch was at Fang Fung Restaurant. She reinvested 700,000 for the launch and she got a profit of 400,000. In July 2016, she made another art exhibition and a banquet exhibition and she got sales of over 1m. and a profit of 500,000.

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What MAEC offers
Kivumbi’s artworks are always based on a story, which she will narrate even if the work itself is not yet finished. Apart from training individuals and groups of students, the centre is at the forefront in conducting community outreach programs where they impart life skills and encourage the youth to exercise art as a tool for poverty eradication.
MAEC is at the forefront in showcasing a variety of historical and contemporary artworks by both emerging and prominent visual arts. With more than nine years’ experience and a team of dedicated artists, they have been able to organize successful art exhibitions and fashion shows, conducted outreach programs, and arranged internships training sessions for students and individuals.

Through this effort, Kiivumbi has been recognized by the ministry of Gender, Labour and social development as one of the women who have excelled at empowering women and inspiring the youth in Uganda. This was at the Women’s Day Celebrations, March 8th 2016 at kololo grounds where she was given a medal by President Yoweri Museveni.

CHALLENGES
Capital and cash inflows remain a huge challenge. She markets her products and upcoming events using her WhatsApp number (+256 752598792) and Facebook page (mageziart). Funding still remains a hefty task, for instance, when the Magezi Arts team is invited to exhibit, she finds it challenging getting interpreters and aids allowances. Using public transport too, is out of the question because she has to hire a private vehicle so she ends up spending a lot of the profit on transport costs.

Her other challenge is the lack of supporting technology to enhance communication and to be self-sufficient .She dropped out of braille lessons because she could not afford transport anymore and other materials like braille note, braille sense and a laptop. With ordinary equipment, she usually depends on other people to manage her email, WhatApp and Facebook updates.
Sometimes she carries out community outreach programmes where she teaches life skills to the youth and women groups and encourages them to exercise art as a tool for poverty eradication and economic empowerment, but she, at times, finds it hard to impart these skills because of limited resources and lack of facilitation. In the end many people miss out on the opportunity especially the disabled.

What makes you tick?
All my work reflects my faith in God’s aptitude; my stories contain a certain type of “moral,” which I also specify at the end. This teaches people to have trust in God. I am also so passionate about art; I cannot imagine how my life would be without art.

Achievements.
My greatest achievement was when I got a master’s degree in ethics and public management in 2007. With more than 8 years’ experience and a team of dedicated artists and crafters, I have been able to organize successful art exhibitions and fashion shows, conducted community outreach programs, and arranged internship classes for art students and individuals. We also stock unique art works and art materials that are used to produce special art pieces in Uganda today. Also all my children have learnt artist skill. Amazing Grace my daughter who is also my pair of eyes has leant art skills, she also makes nice jewelry. Have been connected to the international world. Have got both international and local friends.

Advice
It is good to have a big vision where you want to be. Tough times never last but tough people do. If you do not sell today, you will sell in the future. Persistence and patience is always paramount. People should always be hard working and very creative. They should not sit back waiting for office jobs. People should always press on amidst hardships. That is how they will succeed in life.

Future plans
I want to get a visual art center. I want to promote arts in Uganda by promoting also the visual impaired artists. I want to see every one today in Uganda having art skill.

What others say
Mukiibi Brian Anthony- Gallery supervisor.

Kivumbi bases all her work on a story which is already in her head. The act of painting is just the same as that of telling –the brush lines like the words out of which the story emerges. She tackles the conversation with great patience. Her pieces do not illustrate the stories, but rather reformulate them through deferent media like jewelry, paintings, mosaic, textile design etc. She is also God fearing. She is a good person to work with.
Jackson Mokoto- Friend
She is an amazing lady, God fearing, good encourager and so supportive.
Rose Mugerwa- Her mentor and guide
She gives an appeal that facilitation is so expensive, transporting and day to day mobility. We need someone to support financially.
ENDS
WhatsApp number (+256 752598792) and Facebook page (mageziart).

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