Ritah Kambona
Re/membering our Rooted Selves: Unearthing ancestral ways of being to cultivate collective imagination
For as long as I can remember, nature has always felt like home. I find myself meandering paths, each step a journey deeper into the heart of parks and nature reserves where I live. These paths guide me to the standing ones, to the mighty trees.
I am constantly in awe of how the light filters through the trees, casting patterns of well-defined rays. The rustle of leaves in the breeze fills me with peace. Amidst the mighty trees, I feel a profound sense of belonging.
I have always felt this way. Growing up in Uganda, my childhood was filled with stories and myths told by my grandmother (ziza), my father, my mother and my community. Stories where I journeyed into the depths of myth, where dragons symbolise the strength of community, gods embody the essence of love and legacy, and trees whisper wisdom and lessons on adaptability and reciprocity.
Storytelling
I've come to believe that every story carries a universal teaching accessible to anyone listening.
They offer us a world in which everything is conscious and bound by symbiosis- stories to live by.
That is how Yuniya came to be.
I co-founded Yuniya, a Community Interest Company (CIC) and digital platform. We're devoted to inspiring collaborative imagination and creativity through storytelling at the intersection of culture and well-being.
What began as storytelling to my son Malachi has become a welcoming space for parents, caregivers, children, and anyone to ask questions.
It's a space for them to embark on exciting journeys of exploration as a collective or as individuals and a space to nurture their imagination.
Collective Imagination
As a community activist, dreamer, storyteller, curator, and facilitator, I curate digital and physical spaces for culturally relevant transformative communal experiences.
These sessions delve into diverse topics such as mythology and deep ecology, facilitating participatory storytelling experiences, cultural workshops, and collaborative projects.
This space creates opportunities for individuals to turn to myths and fairytales—not merely as stories but as pathways to healing, empowerment, and collective evolution.
We find ourselves amidst a multitude of crises—from environmental degradation to social injustice. Yet, amid these challenges, It feels like we are simultaneously learning to Imagine beyond the construct.—Imagining how to restore, create, and nurture anew, akin to a period of creation.
This is why I focus on illuminating the magic of our world so that we can fall in love with the world all over again.
