My name is Doris Mitti Nakiwala Kimuli. I am a child of God, a contributing member of the universe; I am a woman, a lover of love, a lover of nature, a wife, a mother, a daughter and a sister. I am a lifelong learner and I dedicate my time to constant self-improvement. I am constantly in pursuit of excellence in everything I do and I strive to bring out the best in everyone I meet.
I can’t remember when I started writing but I know that for as long as I have lived, reading and writing were a constant feature in my life. By the age of 13, I knew that someday I’d write a book or books, but I had to start somewhere, so I started journaling. I have kept a journal since I was 13 and I have all these journals to-date.
In my profession as a Communication and Public Relations Specialist, almost all I do is write, something I’ve done for the last 20+ years; from newsletters to press releases, from presidential and ministerial speeches to annual reports and conference reports; from concept notes and grants proposals…name it… I’ve written it. I have had the satisfaction of hearing the President of my country, his Prime Minister and some of his ministers read my speeches verbatim without changing a single thing; of course never knowing who had written the speech!
In 2013, while living in South Sudan, to kill the boredom of long evenings after a work, I started a travel blog; sharing my daily experiences in Juba which was quite volatile at the time. Before long, I was approached by a travel magazine in Uganda that asked to publish some of my blogs in their magazine. I spread the blogs to other destinations I’d been to which made for interesting readings as I mainly captured the weird, unconventional and eventful things that I experienced while in those countries. Unfortunately I don’t know what became of that magazine once COVID-19 hit!
Now about the book, *“He Calls Me Mama”*….. I got married in September 2009 to the man I call my bestfriend. I was 31 and he was 32 at the time. Like most couples, we assumed that child-bearing was the natural progression after one gets married. However, after a few months with no clear signs of pregnancy, we decided to go see a doctor. We were both tested and I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), while my husband was advised to take some supplements to strengthen his ‘swimmers’. We were told that both of us were not in any critical situation and that we would be able to conceive in no time… however that wasn’t to be for the 10 years despite the number of drugs, therapies and treatments that were administered to me.
Meanwhile I was journaling all these emotions, my highs and lows, almost daily. In August 2017, my husband quit drinking and he has remained sober ever since!! I praise the Lord!!
In February 2020, we had our child, Yozefu Gabriel, who is now 4 years old. COVID19 came that year and we were locked up with our brand new bundle of joy. Like Hannah, I had promised God that I would my child back to Him to serve Him. Right now, our son worships and sings gospel songs better than many adults I know, and we are currently raising him God’s way.
That same year, because we were locked up and I needed to study something, I took up a writing class with Jackee Batanda of SuccessPark Africa.
In 2021, I enrolled into the School of Leadership at Worship Harvest Ministries, and one of the requirements to graduate successfully is to publish a book. You can imagine my joy. While everyone was dreading the book-writing journey, I sailed through it because I was ready and prepared.
The reason I wrote “He Calls Me Mama” was because throughout my entire journey, I realised that infertility was a cause of concern for many couples but not many were willing to talk about what they were going through. Men, especially were left at sea because of their inability to freely share their struggles. On the other hand, women could easily talk to some of their friends but it was still such a lonely and isolating journey. Friends shunned you, or ‘omitted’ to let you know about their pregnancies and new babies; the church is completely silent on helping couples dealing with this, there are no fertility counsellors to help you cope, and most of all, the expense and the fact that even insurance companies do not cover fertility treatment in their scope of work were some of the more disheartening issues.
*He Calls Me Mama* is for couples struggling to understand each other; it’s for women finding it hard to submit, and for men who struggle in silence because they think that speaking out lessens them as men; it’s for someone waiting on God for something and thinking that God has forgotten them or forsaken them; it’s for men who feel that their wives are to blame for their childlessness. It is simply a book about marriage and the daily struggles that we have in trying to make our marriages work.
