What you need to know:
On the last day of the term, Bridget and her friend were stuck at school because they had not been picked. Realising this, Dickens offered to pay for two boda bodas to take them to the old taxi park and then transport for the journey home. This act of kindness endeared her to him.
By the poolside in Mombasa, Kenya, they held hands and laughed. In this moment, nobody else existed. After 17 years together, a holiday at Neptune Hotel had reignited the spark between Dickens Samula and Bridget Kalungi. On their last night at the South Mombasa beach facility, management had surprised them with a romantic dinner.
The elated couple could not stop smiling, glad to have emerged winners of the Uganda Airlines writing competition.
Meeting
Dickens met Bridget in 2005 while she was in Senior Four. On the last day of the term, it was getting late and her parents were nowhere to be seen. Because she was with one of his friends, Dickens decided to help not only his friend but Bridget as well. He ordered two boda bodas to transport them to the old taxi park from where Kalungi would board a taxi to her parents’ home in Buziga, Kampala. From then on, he purposed to learn more about her. He was smitten by her beauty. She was also open to knowing more about the friendly stranger as well as his intentions.
“In the past, my relationships were all about sex. However, Bridget taught me that love was beyond this. I learnt to communicate better by working together and sharing knowledge. We also found a strong connection in knowing that we wanted the same things,” he explains.
In 2008, Bridget was a member of the Watoto Youth Choir which used to meet in Downtown Kampala for practice and from here, they would go on dates. For him, it was the risks she took while they dated.
“Bridget would sneak me into her parent’s home and I would do the same. This was risky, but it kept us going and it is something I can never forget,” says Dickens. Click to read more…
