Prossy Akello’s Literary Conversation on Arts and Culture in Uganda.

Proscovia Akello is the Author of ‘I STARTED A BUSINESS,YOU TOO CAN’

Akello Prossy is an established Writer who has found contentment with what she does. She is ready to share her inspiration with the world when Joy Feelings finds her. . She has the bold eye every writer needs to have. She tells Joy Feelings about her Journey in the Arts and cultural sector in Uganda.

Prossy: As a writer I draw inspiration from people. Not a single person in particular but a whole load of people I meet in everyday life.

Prossy: When I get into conversation with someone , I discover they have gone through stuff and overcome .Some boardering on the horrific.I think things seem not to be shifting for me and i talk to someone and am like mine is just a walk in the park.

Prossy: So I get fired up and want to know how this incidence shapes this person individually and society at large.

Prossy: And I like to share it in my books and also in the conversations I have with others.

Prossy: Usually we think that famous people are the over comers and who we need to look up to but I can tell you everybody and anybody is an inspiration if only we listen to their stories. Everybody has a story to tell. It all boils down to what we glean from them and how much we are willing to learn and apply to our own situations.

Prossy: Just the other day I watched as KCCA officers raided a street and the street sellers all scampered in disarray. But no sooner had their van gone with some women arrested than the sellers were back. I asked one of them if they were not afraid. She said she came to sell and will not leave till her goods were all sold. That KCCA was a small scratch in her life. That is perseverance.

Prossy: My life as a writer is akin to those of the street sellers in Kampala. Run when danger lurks and return more energized to do what I got to do.

Prossy: Danger is about the unclear and often informal support I use. From for example publishers, book sellers or promoters. We operate in a verbal kind of agreement to get things done. If the party your dealing with falters your done for yet you must get that story out.
So you do, regardless of the odds.

Prossy: I think the arts is a calling and what better way to shape society than through it.iam not the politician who makes laws or the policy maker yet every generation has its own problems.We must solve the problems of our generation in the small way we can.

Prossy: Surely messages concerning government policy implementation are penned by commissioned writers and dramatist and musicians… name it. Case in point …look at political campaigns or more recently the census.

Prossy: As an industry the arts is growing .Truly there are those making a living solely from it.And opinions and culture are shaped by arts more than policy.Hearts and minds are easier won in this fora than in any other.

Prossy: My greatest inspiration stems from the everyday dramas of life.I quote..the world is a stage and we are all actors in it.

Prossy: It is incumbent for one to find their niche and play accordingly.

Prossy: My career as an artist is a mixed one. When am working on a project , I tend to withdraw into myself and pretty much my mind is fixed on this project and life just swirls about .And am just watching by like a painter looking at his canvas. It is lonely there. No body understands why I stay up all night sometimes just staring into space or typing and typing nonstop. Even food seems a nuisance.Or sometimes sitting with the others and i burst out laughing and yet am not speaking to any one.or reading book after book and on the Internet all the time.

Prossy: Then suddenly am back to living and very interested in other people’s lives. And I don’t want to look at a single word or the computer. I just want to be out and about.

Prossy: And they ask me where all the words I’ve typed came from. I don’t know myself from which granary words come.

Prossy: Art for them is but a pass time and not the deep passions and seriousness I handle it with.
Prossy: When am done with a project for a whole they buzz about it then it dies down.They would rather I spent my time looking for money.

Prossy: (Marriage status) No am not married.

Prossy: (Family support)They have financed the promotion of one of the books: My family members do buy my works incidentally and have funded me in some areas. It is only in the creation of these works that they keep aloof.

Prossy: In my opinion I think Alex Mukulu has made a landmark in the Arts in Uganda. In his hey days in the eighties and nineties he wrote and produced his own plays and music. He was authentic in his productions and his message though revolutionary remains relevant today. He also hustled but chose his own direction in and for expression and that to me remains what an artist should emulate. Considering he self financed his productions and treated them as a business. Indeed gate collections for his shows were sufficient to see him through. Others have come in as well but at the advent of technology doors were thrown open for any budding talent. The Arts is for the one who wants to take it. He was not afraid of sanctions or of being gagged. He said it boldly?

Prossy: Government seems to hold a huge stake here. There is a department of culture under labour ministry that is aligned to promote the same. However government concentrates on performing arts .Efforts have been made to preserve some cultural sites and revamp kingdoms but their activities are limited to ceremonial occasions. It would be better for government to go multi faceted and full blast and invest in our culture. First of all we have over 53 ethnic groups each with their unique ways of life. Rather than look at this as tourist attractions they should be considered as platforms of development and pride. We all know Paris as a cultural center. We should have something like that encompass the rich foods .norms, customs. Tradition including books and not focus on dances alone.

Prossy: Am reliably informed about the culture fund under the Ministry of labor, this will go a long way in helping artists but it’s accessibility us another story.

Prossy: Look at the Masaai of Kenya. That is what I call richness in culture. Masaai land is clearly demarcated and that’s what we need.

Prossy: I have a strong financial background and these people in the stories perturbed me. For one they are honest. In today’s world where achievement is adored cutting corners is the order if the day. The selection of their businesses was solely based on their integrity.

Prossy: Am an avid reader of success literature and I’ve always wanted to impact masses socially and economically. So when I got into conversation with these people I got carried away by their honesty. I believe SME will get developing countries into another level citing Asian economies.

Prossy: When you read these stories you realise that they went through a lot but never lost sight of their goal.

Prossy: But again truth is stranger than fiction. Usually like for many writers I draw from real life to write fiction.

Prossy: Another thing is that the success books in the market are mostly from developed countries whose systems are not like ours. Theirs are formal economies and strong stock exchange .Ours are very informal and contracts are based on goodwill on the parties involved. I wanted a book that captured the uniqueness of our economy and at the same time highlight the human actions and reactions to lack, to determination. Amidst taboos biasness and dishonesty.Akin to peddling a boat on Lake Victoria rather than sailing downstream in a motor boat.
Prossy: I wanted to speak plainly and evoke the desire for the reader to take charge of their destiny without saying Government etuyambe. Using real stories as examples.

Prossy: What advice do I give fellow artists? Logistical support is usually the challenge but as is laid out in the real stories in my books they should see that no amount of challenge is unchallenged by sheer determination and will and sense of direction and focus.

Prossy: The road is only as long as you choose it to be. Meaning they should keep on keeping on. As artists they should not fear to express what they feel for it is a gift and not everybody is gifted this way.Infact they do a disservice to themselves and to society at large if they do not put good these unique gifts in whichever genre they fall.

Prossy: So I get fired up and want to know how this incidence shapes this person individually and society at large.

Prossy: And I like to share it in my books and also in the conversations I have with others.

Prossy: Just the other day I watched as KCCA officers raided a street and the street sellers all scampered in disarray. But no sooner had their van gone with some women arrested than the sellers were back. I asked one of them if they were not afraid. She said she came to sell and will not leave till her goods were all sold.That KCCA was a small scratch in her life. That is perseverance

Prossy: My life as a writer is akin to those of the street sellers in Kampala. Run when danger lurks and return more energised to do what I got to do.

Prossy: Danger is about the unclear and often informal support I use.eg publishers, book sellers or promoters.we operate in a verbal kind of agreement to get things done.If the party your dealing with falters your done for yet you must get that story out. So you do , regardless of the odds.

Prossy: I think the arts is a calling and what better way to shape society than through it.iam not the politician who makes laws or the policy maker yet every generation has its own problems. We must solve the problems of our generation in the small way we can.

Prossy: As an industry the arts is growing .Truly there are those making a living solely from it. And opinions and culture are shaped by arts more than policy. Hearts and minds are easier won in this fora than in any other.

Prossy: My greatest inspiration stems from the everyday dramas of life .I quote..the world is a stage and we are all actors in it.

Prossy: It is incumbent for one to find their niche and play accordingly.

Prossy: My career as an artist is a mixed one. When am working on a project , I tend to withdraw into myself and pretty much my mind is fixed on this project and life just swirls about .And am just watching by like a painter looking at his canvas. It is lonely there. Nobody understands why I stay up all night sometimes just staring into space or typing and typing nonstop. Even food seems a nuisance. Or sometimes sitting with the others and i burst out laughing and yet am not speaking to anyone. Or reading book after book and on the Internet all the time.