Nam Kiwanuka’s journey of resilience: From a refugee camp to a passionate journalist
Credit to Author: Lisa Evans| Date: Fri, 24 May 2024 13:08:48 +0000
Nam Kiwanuka’s journey from a refugee camp in Kenya to hard-hitting journalist is a testament to resilience and transformation. Her childhood trauma fueled her passion for amplifying the voices of those who are too often overlooked and silenced. With empathy and passion, Kiwanuka advocates for greater understanding in our world.
Kiwanuka grew up in Uganda as one of four children raised by a single father. Around the age of seven, her family fled her home country, traveling on foot from Kampala (the capital of Uganda) to a refugee camp in Kenya, sleeping on the jungle floor at night. Kiwanuka doesn’t know how long it took her family to make it to the Kenya border. “That whole time is a blur,” she says. Years later, when she calculated the distance she realized it would have been akin to walking from Toronto to Chicago. One clear memory that sticks out to Kiwanuka was when the family approached the camp. “My sister said ‘I see a giant chicken’. We all thought it was real and when we got closer it was a rock. We were delirious I guess,” she laughs.
While in the refugee camp, the family’s story caught the attention of Sidney Tebbutt, a woman from London, Ontario whose church was doing outreach work with refugees. “After hearing our story, she felt compelled to help our family,” says Kiwanuka. Tebbutt had never seen any pictures of the family or spoken to them, but offered to sponsor the family. When they finally landed at Pearson airport, Tubbutt was there waiting to greet them.
Tubbett’s kindness and generous nature had a momentous impact on Kiwanuka’s life. “She became my grandmother. I called her granny,” she says softly. Tubbett wanted the family to experience everything Canada had to offer. “She would take us apple picking, strawberry picking, to Pioneer Village to see how maple syrup was made, to powwows because she wanted us to understand the indigenous history of Canada,” says Kiwanuka. Every Sunday, Tubbett cooked Sunday lunch for the family and invited them to watch old movies.
Life as a newcomer to Canada was difficult, especially for Kiwanuka’s father who was dealing with some demons from the war in Uganda. A mechanic by trade, he opened an auto mechanic shop in London, but the mental and emotional struggles he faced caused strain on their father-daughter relationship. “He kicked me out of the home when I was 16,” says Kiwanuka.
Back then, London was a homogenous town and many kids in Kiwanuka’s class had never even seen a black person, let alone one who had lived in poverty. One day Kiwanuka was excited to go to school in a new outfit she’d received from the church clothing drive. “I thought this outfit was so cute and I wore it to school and the kids were laughing all day. Then the teacher pulled me aside and said why did you wear pajamas to school?” recalls Kiwanuka, chuckling as recounts the memory. “I said, what? You have different clothes to sleep?”
Kiwanuka’s journey into journalism was inspired by her high school English teacher. Her first big break came when she landed an internship at MuchMusic and was hired as a Video Jockey in 1999. She later became the co-host of The Agenda with Steve Paikin and is now the host of The Thread, a current affairs series on TVO that explores the issues affecting Ontarians the most; from housing affordability to hospital wait times and mental health concerns.
For Kiwanuka, journalism is more than a career—it’s a platform for social impact and justice. Coming from Uganda, where speaking out could mean risking one’s life, she recognizes the power and responsibility of storytelling. “(In Uganda) you don’t hold power accountable, you end up dead,” she says.
Through The Thread, Kiwanuka aims to bridge gaps in understanding by allowing those behind the stories to be heard and inspire viewers to engage with complex issues on a deeper level. “It’s a public service,” she says. “(I) have those opportunities to tell those stories, to ask these questions (and to) do it in service of other people who don’t have those opportunities; that’s a privilege,” she says.
Her journey reminds us that no matter where we come from, we all have stories to tell.
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