By Edgar R. Batte
When you spend time with Job and Solm Katende, it is hard not to notice their affection towards one another. They hold hands, smile as they speak and seek each other’s opinion even on the simplest of things. Although they have been married for only a year, they have known each other much longer.
An Information Technology (IT) scientist and farmer, Solm describes their meeting as predestined. As a part-time job, she would work at her elder brother’s Internet cafe downtown Kampala, where Job, a freight forwarder, was a regular client. From their interactions, the two became friends.
Falling in love
However, in 2009, Solm developed romantic feelings for Job and at some point, she was convinced he was the one. However, he seemed unsure. On sensing that Job was not as serious as she expected, she left Uganda for South Africa, without notifying him. A week later, after realising Solm’s telephone number was always unavailable, Job started investigations to find out what was happening. He was later told she had travelled out of the country. Solm believed this would be the push he needed to ‘up his game’.
“After realising that I had left the country, he begged me to come home. However, before getting on the plane to return, I had to be sure he was serious about the relationship. Even when he sent me an air ticket, I hesitated until I was convinced about his intentions for me,” she recalls. Click to read more…