Soulmates: Gifted at birth

If you have spent some time with identical twins, you might have noticed that they are quite different. Of course, they have the same smiles and are able to speak one another’s minds. But, like the rest of us, each twin is unique.

However, there is one thing that makes them special. While the rest of us continually weigh our friendships on the scale of commitment in the quest to find that one person who truly loves and understands us, twins are born with that person.

An afternoon with 28-year-old Amina Babirye and Aisha Nakato leaves you both amazed and wistful. It is such a glorious thing to have a soul mate. The two are photographers and videographers with Kawowo Sports Media, a job they have been doing for four years.

“We have always done things together,” Babirye says, adding, “We were in the same schools, same class streams, liked the same games and people.”

They also wore the same clothes although for variety, their parents chose different colours. And as sibling rivalry goes, they had the bitterest fights.

“One day, at Barclay Primary School, Iganga, we fought so badly that our father was called,” Nakato says. “By lunch time, we were holding hands. Used to our fights, our father came two days after he had been summoned.”

Nowadays, they do not fight physically, but when they annoy each other, one of them calls after 30 minutes and they go out to eat chicken.

Pranking the unsuspecting
Babirye, a single mother of one, is more outgoing probably because she is the eldest by five minutes. Nakato, the serious one, is slightly taller and bigger. With two elder sisters and brothers, the twins were born to a teaching couple.

“It is fun playing with people’s minds,” Babirye says, adding, “During a routine pregnancy test at secondary school (Nabisunsa Girls School) we confused the nurse. Nakato’s stream had already been checked so when I climbed the bed, she sent me away saying she had already checked me.”

Relieved to escape the crude test – where the nurse would apply much pressure to one’s stomach – the girl did not correct her. “I walked out but I was intercepted at the door by a teacher. In the end, Nakato had to do the test again with me.”

In Senior One, they met their best friend to date, Amanda Magabo. At Makerere University, they read the same course, Library and Information Science. Besides their official work, the twins run a blog, Twins on the Move, where they document their videography and photography. They also used to do road trips together but now, because of commitments, they travel separately.

“I went to Zimbabwe and told Nakato all about the trip,” Babirye says, adding, “Six months later, she got an assignment in Zambia and decided to visit Zimbabwe. She stayed in the same hotel and met the same people I met. They had to call me to confirm that I had not returned to Zimbabwe.”

Besides sports, they read novels and books on photojournalism together at night. Since they keep each other’s secrets, they know each other’s bank account number, PINs, and social media passwords.

Nakato playfully says when she gets annoyed with her sister, “I change my passwords and lock her out. When she calls to say she cannot access my Twitter account, I give her the new password.”

What they love about each other
Being talkative, Babirye says she engages her sister’s friends, even when she does not know them. “But Nakato is short-tempered. When she meets my friends, she tells them bluntly that she does not know them. I would prefer her to be more patient and try to listen to them.”
Despite that, she praises her sister’s responsibility. “Because she is the last born, she runs errands for everyone in the family. She fixes so much activity in her day and that is something I cannot do.”