Hum's Biography



I am Humphrey Nabimanya. I am 23 years old and study at Makerere University community psychology.
In the first years of my life, from birth till 13 years I grew up in the hands of my sister. By then she had just lost her first husband due to HIV. My mother died before when I was nine month old due to cancer, but so up sad that I don’t know how beautiful she was. My elder sister who is currently still my mother and although being HIV positive, she took up the challenge to look after me, though she thought she had no future with me because she would die soon.
In 1993, at my 5th year , I got a stepfather. My sister met a man who had the same status and they decided to live together. At that time they took a difficult step to disclose their status to the public and they started sensitizing people about HIV/ AIDS.
I was also strongly affected by the status of my caregivers. I was also discriminated like them by my peers and their parents because where I used to live they thought the first husband of my sister who died due to HIV was my father. I thought I was HIV positive, however much my mother (sister) would tell me I am not. I stigmatized myself. At the age of 9 I demanded for an HIV testing like many people were doing and she used to talk about testing all the time with my elder brothers and sisters and talking about sex all the time.
Funny enough, preparing for my puberty stage when i was 12 years , I thought making friendship was through having sex and the time I told my elder brothers and sisters how many friends I have made through sex, they got so much scared and they never even opened up to teach me about sex. I was so curious to know about sex and my status.
After knowing my status at my 13th year, I got the courage to talk about HIV/AIDS and sex with my friends who used to discriminate me. I felt so much comfortable and that’s how I could revenge on them. In primary I was even suspended from school due to my talks about sex and carrying posters with condom messages that I used to steal from my Guardian father’s office.
When I was 13 years old, my sister left for the UK because she wanted to start up a new life and be able to make money to look after me and my brothers but later separated away from my Guardian father after them having two children who were HIV negative. My guardian dad wouldn’t stay with me any longer. So I became a village boy who used to do donkey work in order to get pocket money for myself. I realized what the real world entailed; I did all sorts of work. I even went back to zero as far as capacity building is concerned.
In 2004 I was 15 years old. I joined secondary education in Kiira College Butiki. My first year at the school I joined as many clubs of my interest until I landed on the World Start With Me program, WSWM, the sexuality education program of Rutgers WPF and School Net Uganda. It had all I was interested in: SEXUALITY and HIV/AIDS. I was so much active in that by the end of the year I was able to lead others in this program. I was identified as a peer educator and I started attending WSWM training of teachers and peer educators.
I spent most of my high school times visiting schools and communities for sharing my testimonies and experiences with the WSWM program. It became my life bible. My interaction with so many young people has made me understand their needs and learn more from them.
Through that I saw myself contributing to the development of our nation and being on the front. So many young people approached me with different questions. They saw me as a perfect human being and I didn’t have any solution. It really inspired me to work a little harder, so that I came up with a TV show being a peer educator who can reach out to many young people.
Since 2007, since my 17th year up to now , I host a Youth Talk Show on NBS that addresses positive messages to young people, teachers, stake holders and parents on issues of sexuality, entrepreneurship and life skills. This TV show has grown and it now has the highest viewership in Uganda and in the diaspora due to its uniqueness in the society.

In 2010 I started up an organization known as Reach a Hand Uganda, which I thought it would give birth to many young people who have the same heart of contributing to the Ugandan society in providing knowledge and skills to the young people through their experience and self-actualization. The strongest weapon I got after attending the WSWM review workshop in Holland in 2010 and the Sexuality under 18 Conference, I knew was using celebrities and famous known people as advocates of sexuality; it would be the best medium of passing knowledge and skills to the young people and that’s how s Reach A Hand Uganda was born, with the help of Rutgers WPF, especially Jo Reinders and Sanderijn van der Doef; they have given RAHU technical advice that has led to its stabilization up to now.
To this I have managed to scoop several awards including last year the Young Achievers Award in the Film and Television Category which recognized the role I have played in the society as a young person in making young people understand themselves through getting information about their sexuality and live their life in their full potentials, enjoying their sexuality. My dream today is to expand my Reach a Hand Uganda project to a sustainable project on healthy emotional, physical, social and intellectual growth and development of young people. I have been working in different projects in Uganda with young people on issues concerning sexuality, character development and growth. I have observed that self esteem, autonomy, integration skills, inter personal relations and emotional challenges are some of the most crucial issues that have to be addressed at an early stage if children are to be mentored holistically.
My dream today is to expand my Reach a Hand Uganda project to a sustainable project on healthy emotional, physical, social and intellectual growth and development of young people. I have been working in different projects in Uganda with young people on issues concerning sexuality, character development and growth. I have observed that self esteem, autonomy, integration skills, inter personal relations and emotional challenges are some of the most crucial issues that have to be addressed at an early stage if children are to be mentored holistically.
People like Jo Reinders from Rutgers WPF, my mother who is my sister, my friends, Reach A Hand Uganda members, NBS TV staff members, Rutgers WPF staff members, teachers and the WSWM alumni have been behind my success and they have inspired me a lot.
Today I have been recognized and attended International Conferences since 2009, have been giving paper presentations and taking actions in different countries including Indonesia, the Netherlands, Kenya, Rwanda, et cetera
Now I will be attending the International AIDS Conference in July in Washington DC. I will be presenting the Reach a Hand Model of working with celebrities, on how it had been effective in addressing issues about HIV and AIDS and how it can be adapted by other countries

I have a passion for youth development programs because I believe we are the drivers of our nation. If we don’t do it, no one will do it for us!
DESIGNED By Willsjojo Incorp