If you had told me a decade ago that I’d become a voice of creative influence in Uganda—while raising two sons, surviving the chaos of post production, and working on studying human rights law in Japan—I probably would’ve laughed, spilled tea on your shoes, and gone back to sketching dramatic storyboards with an empty stomach and a full heart.

My name is Nicole Priscilla Lawino, though some know me as Lawino, The Goddess, or “that girl who’s always filming something deep.” I wear many hats—filmmaker, musician, fashion designer, mental health advocate, and social worker—but what ties it all together is a deep, almost spiritual commitment to telling African stories with emotional truth and intellectual bite.

My journey began in the slums of Namuwongo, not with a camera, but with a clipboard and a heart full of social work theories. I saw the world in raw form—mothers fighting addiction, children raised by trauma, and entire communities surviving on resilience. That front line exposure to human suffering sparked my need to create The Glass Cage, a film that juxtaposes a child’s crib with prison bars to show how cycles of abuse are born in silence and confinement. I didn’t set out to make art. I set out to scream—beautifully.

Later, in Hebrews 13:5, I aimed my lens at the grotesque hypocrisy of fake pastors—somewhere between satire and spiritual exorcism. The film wasn’t just a clap back at corrupted faith; it was my way of healing from the mental strain I experienced while working under immense pressure, juggling survival, sanity, and expectations. That’s when I knew I had to speak up about mental health too—not as a trending hashtag but as lived reality. For creatives, especially women, especially mothers, especially me—the mind is our medium. And it’s fragile.

Now, through my production company, Haus of Alkebulan, I’m creating space for bold, intellectual African cinema that blends culture, history, and healing. My upcoming projects explore Luo migration from Nubia, colonial reclamation, and even fast fashion’s impact on African land-fills. I want our people to see themselves in high-definition—sacred, scarred, stylish. I don’t have a blueprint, only a burning purpose. Every grant I apply for, every song I record, every eco-fashion piece I design, is stitched with the same thread: art must serve.

Some days I feel like a hot mess with vision. Other days, I see the seeds I’ve planted growing into something generational. Becoming a voice of influence wasn’t the plan. Becoming a vessel for untold truths—that’s always been the calling.

And if I can do it while raising future kings, crying over rough edits, and dreaming of a glass house on the Nile? You can too. Just bring your broken pieces. We’ll make art.

Written by: Nicole Priscilla Lawino

My social media handle is “The Goddess Lawino” on Tiktok, Spotify, X/ twitter, Vimeo and Instagram

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The post “From Cradle Bars to Camera Lenses: How I Accidentally Became a Voice of Creative Influence in Uganda”~By Nicole appeared first on Sheevolves.world.

Dear relentless love,
Look at what you made me do; I’m a pretty unfiltered fool for you. Through the epic ups and downs, through the tides that came with the deathly storms that rose high above the clouds, through the countless moments that got broad smiles converted from vivid frowns, I was made from you; I was made for you; I was made to maneuver through you and to watch you rise me high up and above. I am worthy of unconditional love.

So, in the unshaken quietness of my own proclaimed sanity, of peaceful stillness and courageous fearlessness, I exist, carried by the messy rampage of mixed thoughts and emotions that have surged through me from the dawn of time—never could I resist. In unison with my decreed healing soul and my repairing heart, I surrendered, and I found my new and precious release. I am deserving of boundless peace.

Now riches follow me wherever I go and in whatever I do, like a clingy peasant after a renowned queen, being seen for her royal highness, her radiance of beastly extravagance and glowing serenity. My divine wealth purges through my heart and my soul and the palms of my delicate hands—no debt and no amends, just pure and valuable virtues of substance. I am in alignment with an infinite flow of abundance.

Sometimes, I stop, I pause, and I force my mind to recall the ample number of ailments that I’ve surpassed in this lifetime. Then, through the unpopular paradox of surrender—yet the most priceless principle to remember—I’ve quantum leapt into an opposite reality of excellent health during the eleventh hour, a gracious memory so prime. And I sang a melodious song of endless praise and thanksgiving one night, consumed by this unfamiliar but magical wave of gratitude that I’m alive and I’m singing. I rise into overall well-being.

So there you have it—that I, the most tremendous goddess you have ever seen, racing tirelessly towards her desires, ever so keen, dreams fulfilled, passions finally unconcealed. Towards my scarred yet anchored chest, there I lean. I, this gorgeous creature distinctively created by God, smothered with poise and an erotic aura to die for, utterly sophisticated with a luring presence that’s unceasingly seductive. I am beautiful, powerful, and creative.

By Erica Molefi

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