Sharon Nambakire, the founder of the Mental Health and Mental Illness Awareness Foundation (MHAMIA) and Siya TV Uganda, an online streaming channel, is a mental health advocate and humanitarian who is dedicated to helping the vulnerable and needy populations within Uganda. Shaped by her struggles of socioeconomic hardships, Sharon vowed as a little girl to become a contributing citizen of society. Her story shows us that a pure, good heart will always shine through, and that it will lead us to doors of opportunities no money can.

This is Sharon’s story …

As the youngest child and only daughter among eight siblings, I grew up surrounded by the love of my brothers and hardworking mother. After my parents’ divorce, when I was a little girl, my mother had to fend for us, her children, single-handedly, in the bustling and unforgiving terrain of Makindye, Kampala. Life was hard, and money was little to come by but my mother forged ahead by working as a cook at a nearby primary school, to pay for our school fees and to make ends meet.

During the school holidays, our mother cooked maize that my siblings and I would sell on the streets of Kampala but in spite of all her efforts, the financial woes just deepened, resulting in my mother being forced to send two of my brothers to live with her own mother in Entebbe, a neigbouring city of Kampala.

Seeing the hardships, the sweat and the struggles of my family, was the only life I knew. I did not know of a life beyond the microcosm of my own existence and that of my neighbours. We all went about our lives, living hand to mouth and hustling to earn the basic living standards. Surrounded by this reality, I had no dreams, growing up, but I most certainly aspired to be like my mother; hardworking, loyal and dedicated to the upkeep of her children who were sadly neglected by our own father.

A short while after the divorce of my parents, my father was initially present in our lives. I remember him bringing us stuff, at times, to support us in his own way but he was not very present growing up. As an adult, I harbour no resentment nor hate towards him because I understand how hard life can get although the little girl in me always questions the ‘why’. Be that as it may, our lives continued without him because our mother became our sole focus.

I thought our financial woes were normal until it was time for me to attend primary school. It was here that I realized just how bad our situation was because the schoolchildren would make fun of me. They made fun of my shoes, saying I wore my brother’s shoes and my schoolbag, was basically a plastic, polythene bag. I also got chased away from the school premises, during exams, because my mother defaulted on my school fees. I did not inform my mother of the bullying as I knew how hard she was trying to give us the best she could. Despite all the struggles, I became close to one of the teachers, Madam Christine, when I reported the bullying to her and she helped me with my term fees and provided me with books to read, to improve my English since Luganda is my home language.

Growing into a more socially aware young girl, and entering my secondary schooling years, I always used to admire the other children that had better resources than me but it seemed like such a far-fetched reality for me to have nice stuff. Our financial woes resulted in me skipping a school term and working as a nanny, washing clothes and selling maize, to save up money to return to school but even then, it was not enough. When I reached Senior Four, my mother wanted me to attend a vocational institute but I was determined to finish secondary school by attaining my A-Levels.

Fortunately, the secondary school that I attended, Molly and Paul High School, always received visits from American missionaries and through one of these visits, I met a lady by the name of Kimberly, two years prior, during Senior Two, and we kept in touch since then, via emails, as I did not own a cellphone back then.

When I reached my wit’s end on how to proceed with completing my schooling, despite working for extra money, I decided to explain my situation to Kimberly and she offered to pay my school fees for me. With her help, I managed to finish my A-Levels and am forever indebted to her for her assistance.

Shortly after the completion of secondary schooling and with my passion for talking, I received an opportunity to venture into online broadcasting, on a pioneering channel called Vory Wood TV and was trained on the job. During my first stint, I had a show, called Follow Up, where I interviewed different people in the movie industry, every Friday. Later on, I joined Crown TV Uganda, where we hosted The Expendables, interviewing different people in the music industry and then TMC where we hosted the Deep Dive show, once again focusing on the entertainment industry but I eventually quitted the industry due to the prevalent nature of sexual harassment – of which I refused to be a victim of – and decided to focus full-time in the non-profit sector, while hosting my own online broadcasting show called Siya TV Uganda.

Due to growing up very poor, I developed an affinity for helping those just like me. It was during secondary schooling years, when in Senior Five, that our school grounds shifted from Kibuye, to a village in the MPIGI District. It was here that I saw children coming to school without shoes. I was so touched by their plight that I prayed to God to one day put me in a position where I am able to help others. The decision to follow through on my prayers came after I quit working for others, in the online broadcasting sector, and ventured on my own.

In 2021, I established the Sharon Inspiring Youth Africa (SIYA) Foundation dedicated to the upliftment of the youth. During this period, for three years, my family, friends and I would collect shoes and clothes for school-going children, to give them a sense of dignity when attending schools. We also provided stationery and any other materials, to facilitate their school-going years, and to this day as an organization, we still do these collection drives albeit under a different name,

We rebranded the SIYA Foundation to the Mental Health and Mental Illness Awareness (MHAMIA) Foundation, in 2024, shortly after the suicide of my cousin in April 2023. His death came as a complete shock to our family, which many deemed as a result of witchcraft, which is a common misconception among Ugandans. I have to admit, even I was not clued up on mental health, and its prevalence, until I had to educate myself on it and with this, the MHAMIA Foundation was born.

The purpose of the MHAMIA Foundation is to create mental health awareness and destigmatize misconceptions surrounding mental illness in Uganda. To date, we have had outreach programmes within twenty-two communities, including schools. Through our awareness campaigns, both the youth and older generations have gained insight and understanding on topics relating to the importance of mental health and well-being and the demystification of witchcraft, as its cause. As an organization, and through my online broadcasting show, we hope to reach more people and create a culture of acceptance, non-judgement and compassion towards those suffering from mental health issues and to stress the importance of mental well-being.

By the end of my life, when I look back on all the milestones in my life, I want to be proud of myself for taking the needed steps to help others. I want to help people. I want to listen to them, without judgement. I want to be there, even if its just my presence. I also want to encourage others to be the needed tool of change within their respective societies. You do not need the world to make a difference but the world certainly needs you, to make that difference, to be like the Madam Christine’s and the Kimberley’s that shines their light when it is most needed.

While I may not be a university graduate, although this is a milestone and dream, I will achieve in the foreseeable future, God-Willing, my journey shows that it does not take an education to make a difference. It simply takes a good heart, with pure intentions, to light the candles of others, so they, too, can achieve their dreams.

If you are interested in learning more about Sharon or would like to get in contact with her, please reach out via her website https://mhamia.ahavah-creations.org/, her Facebook page, MHAMIA Foundation, or email her at mhamiafoundation18@gmail.com.