How an anonymous gift helped Nambuya complete school

By Christine Mirembe 

Ann Nambuya had almost given up on university education. After completing A’level, she was forced to sit home for two years because the family could not afford her tuition. During this time, she looked on helplessly as the admission she had secured to Uganda Christian University (UCU) almost turned into a useless document.

And things just got worse.

Ann Nambuya hopes to become an auditor

The Covid-19 pandemic was not any kinder. Her mother, Christine Buhule Wamakote, the family’s only bread winner, lost her job due to institutional downsizing following the pandemic. Buhule was employed as support staff at UCU. 

Although the income from the job was not enough for her to fully support her family, Buhule knew the situation would get worse after her job loss. As a UCU staff member, she had been enrolled in the university’s workers’ insurance program, which covered her children as well. Another benefit that Buhule had was the policy of the university extending half bursary to children of employees who were pursuing studies in the institution. In fact, Nambuya’s twin sister, Babirye, was already benefiting from this arrangement as a first-year student of Bachelor of Laws. All this was now gone.

To manage the expectation from her children, Buhule had to tell them the truth – that the job was gone and she was not sure of what the future portended for the family. With this news, Nambuya concentrated more on her job, knowing that it was the only thing she could hold on to. She was a shopkeeper in their neighborhood in Nabuti trading center, Mukono district. She also did not abandon her faith, but only increased the intensity of her prayers.

Despite the challenges, Buhule, too, did not give up on hope. She gathered courage and went to UCU to inquire about the fate of her children. On one of those days, Buhule was approached by the Director of Students’ Affairs (DOSA) at the time, Bridget Mugasira, during community worship. Mugasira asked Buhule if she had a child who was yet to join university. What followed was what Nambuya herself describes as nothing short of divine intervention.  

Two days later, Nambuya and her mother met Mugasira, who handed them receipts for fully paid tuition. A lady, whose identity remains anonymous, stepped in to sponsor Nambuya’s three-year course – Bachelor of Business Administration. Nambuya has since completed the course and currently works as a data entrant at Shunuu General Services, a Kampala-based company that supplies, installs and maintains air conditioners and provides ICT, power, and LAN/WAN network solution.

At UCU, Nambuya only got to communicate with her sponsor after Dorothy Tushemereirwe, the university’s fundraising consultant, connected the two. Despite this connection, the benefactor maintained a distance while consistently supporting Nambuya’s education until she earned her Bachelor of Business Administration in July of last year. 

Babirye is currently working with  a non-governmental organization called CEHURD as she waits to join the Law Development Center, to pursue a Diploma in Legal Practice.

Born and raised in Mukono, central Uganda, Nambuya describes her early childhood as ordinary, until 2007 when life took an unexpected turn. Her father, Francis Wamakote, was diagnosed with severe malaria and passed away a week after hospitalization. At the time, Nambuya was eight years old, transitioning from Primary Three to Four. Previously, Nambuya would accompany her father over the weekends to visit her sister, who was in the boarding section of Our Lady Junior School, Mukono. 

“When he died, I did not fully process it until I was taken to join Babirye in boarding school; it was then that the weight of the loss sunk in because he no longer came to visit us,” Nambuya recalls. 

After losing her husband, Buhule had to immediately turn to pig farming, to supplement her pay from UCU. What started with two piglets gradually became a major source of income. “The pigs grew and reproduced, and she would sell some of them to pay school fees and buy us necessities,” said Nambuya. 

She recalls her mother emphasizing to her children the importance of education. As a born-again Christian, she always pointed her children to God as their ultimate father, emphasizing Isaiah 54:13: “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.”

Nambuya attended Pride College School, Mpigi for O’level and Forest Hill College for A’level. Both schools are in central Uganda. “At school, I was barely noticeable because of my quiet nature, but I took education seriously because my mother always emphasized it as a priority.”

Nambuya’s decision to study business was influenced by her own growing interest in the subject once she was exposed to it in school. Today, she speaks with certainty about her future, stating that she is not just hoping to become an accountant but an auditor. 

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To support UCU programs, students, activities and services, go to  www.ugandapartners.org  and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at  m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

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