All posts by Patty Huston-Holm

About Patty Huston-Holm

Author, professor, communications consultant in Ohio, USA; and Mukono, Uganda, Africa.

Some of the patients in a queue outside the Out Patient Department register for medical services. The hospital attends to about 400 patients per day.

Medical donations eased burdens for Mukono General Hospital

Faculty of Public Health, Nursing and Midwifery, News, Students, UCU School of Medicine


Some of the patients in a queue outside the Out Patient Department register for medical services. The hospital attends to about 400 patients per day.
Some of the patients in a queue outside the Out Patient Department register for medical services. The hospital attends to about 400 patients per day.

Story and photos by Jimmy Siyasa
Four hundred. That is the number of patients that the medical personnel at Mukono General Hospital in Uganda wake up to each day.

Of the 400, 150 are attended to at the out-patient department and 80 are women receiving antenatal services. Twenty are attended to in the delivery section while 50 go to the hospital to receive family planning services. The hospital handles 6-8 emergency surgeries every day.

That is the life of Mukono General Hospital, a recipient of part of the donations of medical supplies (worth sh520m–$141,488) that UCU Partners coordinated through MedShare, a not-for-profit organisation based in the United States. 

The donations were channeled through Uganda Christian University (UCU), which has a working relationship with the hospital. Among other collaboratives, the hospital offers internship placements for the university’s nursing students.

Some of the boxes containing the donations that the hospital received
Some of the boxes containing the donations that the hospital received

Dr. Robert Kasirye, the director of the hospital, received the donations which were in form of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as face shields, masks and sanitizer.  There also were “mama kits,” a hamper given to a mother to be used during the delivery process. The kits have gloves, surgical blades and gauze, among other items.

These were timely, given that the country’s public health system was strained under the heavy load occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic that aggravated an already overloaded patient situation.

“We could not afford to give out face shields and gloves to all our health workers, every day, to attend to Covid-19 patients,” says Anne Grace Amutos Ssekajja, the pharmacy technician in charge of medical supplies and incoming and outgoing equipment at the hospital.

“So, when we get donors, we are really grateful,” she said. “The donations add to what we already have for healthcare provision.”

She says the quarterly budget that they get from government did not factor in the pandemic, hence the hospital was caught off-guard.

Public health facilities in Uganda, such as Mukono General Hospital, depend heavily on government funds and medical supplies through the National Medical Stores (NMS), a government entity mandated to procure, store and distribute essential medicines and medical supplies to all public health facilities in Uganda.

But the National Medical Stores often says it runs on a thin budget, which affects service delivery.

The Mukono General Hospital administrator, Fred Wandeme, said the quarterly supplies which they get from the National Medical Stores barely lasts them a month. When the stocks run out, the patients go to the hospital to get prescriptions and later buy the drugs at pharmacies.

However, with the donations, patients and health workers are able to access equipment, which oftentimes is not provided for in the government consignments.

Ivan Kabugo and some of his family members have been receiving treatment at the Mukono General Hospital for three years now. He says they are happy about the donations, noting that they will improve the quality of services they get at the facility.

“We are so grateful for donor support towards the hospital. I pray that they may continue to give us medicines, so that we don’t ever have to buy them,” he says. 

Christine Nambuya, another patient, says because of the professionalism exhibited by the staff of the hospital, she will continue receiving treatment at the facility. 

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To support Uganda Christian University 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.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Student leaders from different institutions of learning participate in the dialogue in UCU's Principals Hall.

Ramp up online learning to avoid career stoppage, unemployment, forced marriages

COVID-19, News, Students, UCU Alumni


Student leaders from different institutions of learning participate in the dialogue in UCU's Principals Hall.
Student leaders from different institutions of learning participate in the dialogue in UCU’s Principals Hall.

By Eriah Lule
The Uganda Christian University (UCU) Vice Chancellor has asked government and schools to follow the online learning path that his institution has taken in order to reduce effects of covid-related lockdowns on studies. As of late September 2021, Uganda has had two lockdowns occasioned by a spike in the coronavirus positivity rate in the country. Each lockdown has included the shutting of in-person learning in schools.

UCU Vice Chancellor Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi is urging institutions to consider a rigorous shift towards online distance learning and service delivery so that future lockdowns do not affect operations and learning.

“We have invested in infrastructure of electronic learning and have something to share with other institutions,” he said, adding that such a move will not only keep students from lagging behind because of the pandemic but also enable them to continue studying on their own time.

With Uganda’s second 2021 lockdown in June, many institutions of higher learning, as well as elementary schools remain closed. Only a handful, including UCU, have continued with classes, through electronic means.

Last year, the government shut down schools in March and only opened for in-person learning for final-year learners seven months later. It was not until March this year that schools were opened for in-person learning, only to be closed again three months later.

Mushengyezi emphasized UCU’s commitment to “pioneer in innovation and learning with community outreach.”

He spoke during a recent virtual dialogue to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on academic institutions. The virtual event was held at UCU’s Principals Hall on the main campus in Mukono.

The dialogue, which brought together national and international organizations, was organised by the UCU Alumni Association together with the university’s Student Guild and in partnership with external organizations. The European Union (EU), Uganda’s Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development and ActionAid were among the organisations that participated in the event.

Online dialogues are part of the activities that the UCU alumni association is embarking on as part of its community engagement activities.

One of the panelists in the dialogue, Rose Namayanja, a former Ugandan minister and the current deputy secretary general of the ruling National Resistance Movement party, said many students have dropped out of school as a result of the lockdown. She said the Government was working at developing sustainable digital learning structures for schools in the country.

Rose Namayanja, a former Ugandan minister and the current deputy secretary general of the ruling National Resistance Movement party, speaks during the dialogue session.
Rose Namayanja, a former Ugandan minister and the current deputy secretary general of the ruling National Resistance Movement party, speaks during the dialogue session.

“Many students have resorted to hawking, others have succumbed to forced marriages and teenage pregnancies, due to the lack of digital structures to keep them studying during lockdowns,” Namayanja noted.

The UCU Alumni Association General Secretary, Julius Oboth, urged government to provide soft loans to schools so they can make plans to re-open. He also rooted for tax holidays for all private education institutions, calling on government never to close schools again because such a move “cripples the education sector.”

Ezra Byakutangaza, the president of the student leaders in Uganda, urged government to initiate loan schemes to enable students to purchase learning tools such as laptops, which are needed in online learning. This, Byakutangaza said, would ease the burden on schools that are unable to afford computers for every student.

Elizabeth Ongom, a representative from the European Union in Uganda, said the EU is in the process of drafting projects that will inspire innovative practices for the education sector not only in Uganda, but the whole of Africa.

In order to keep children in school, Naiga Shuburah Kasozi, a representative from Uganda’s Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development, called for concerted efforts from all stakeholders.

“It’s not only the Government, but everyone’s responsibility to keep children in school,” she  said. “So we should de-campaign actions that push our children out of school as the Government is finds a better plan for them to study.’

UCU Guild President Agaba Kenneth Amponda reminded people participating in the dialogue that a conversation about schools without factoring in the other people who benefit from its operation was an incomplete discussion. He argued that by opening schools, security personnel, chefs in catering departments, cleaners, and other people who provide support services in schools will also be able to find employment.

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To support Uganda Christian University 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.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Eng. Rev. Paul Wasswa Ssembiro in his office at UCU

UCU Chaplain: God helped me defeat Covid-19

Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology, COVID-19, News, UCU Alumni


Eng. Rev. Paul Wasswa Ssembiro in his office at UCU
Eng. Rev. Paul Wasswa Ssembiro in his office at UCU

With the negative stigma attached to testing positive for Covid-19 in Uganda, it takes courage to confess publicly that one has contracted the virus. Despite the wrongfully imposed shame, some Ugandans are courageous enough to tell their experience, reminding others with Covid to have hope and encourage all to follow Covid safety guidelines.  The Rev. Eng Paul Wasswa Ssembiro, the Chaplain of Uganda Christian University (UCU), is one such courageous person. Ssembiro contracted Covid in November 2020. He narrates to Eriah Lule his ordeal with the virus and how God helped him overcome it.

By Rev. Eng. Paul Wasswa Ssembiro as told to Eriah Lule
I don’t know how Dr. Geoffrey Mulindwa (UCU’s Director of Medical Services) referred to me, but I am sure I was “Covid-19 Patient 001.” I don’t have a clue of where or when I contracted the virus. But I got it. 

I began to be conscious about some sort of infection when I started feeling general body weakness and pain in the joints. The joint pain was unusual because I used to jog every day, to beat off fatigue. The symptoms were akin to those I got whenever I suffered from malaria. On this Saturday, I discovered that I had developed a dry cough. I was uneasy because I had to lead the church service the following day. So, I sought immediate medical attention at the Allan Galpin Health Center, the university clinic.

Eng. Rev. Paul Wasswa preaches during community worship in Nkoyoyo Hall.
Eng. Rev. Paul Wasswa preaches during community worship in Nkoyoyo Hall.

I had a throbbing headache, which seemed to be localized just slightly above my ears. I took painkillers and even took too many at some point and out of despair. But, to no avail. I must confess that I struggled with denial and self- pity, saying to myself “I can’t be infected.” Soon, I reached out to Dr. Mulindwa, who gave me a referral to Mengo Hospital, an Anglican Church-founded hospital in Kampala. Mengo. It is affiliated with UCU.

When I got to the hospital, I met a doctor whose team noticed my agony. They administered a diclofenac (anti-inflammatory drug) injection that relieved my pain a bit. Several medical tests ensued: Lung scanning, heart-echo tests, blood count tests and finally, a test that I dreaded the most – the Covid-19 PCR test.

I was admitted to the hospital and immediately given intravenous injections for pneumonia, and pain killers. When the Covid results returned, the doctor told me I could not go home. They had confirmed I was positive for coronavirus.  

They told me my lungs were in a crucial state. They sent doctors to counsel me, because the hospital did not have the facility for treatment of Covid-19 patients. My spirits sunk. I was distraught. 

I was referred to Mulago National Referral Hospital. Anxiety caused me to unduly feel stigmatized in the process because I seemed like a problem Mengo was trying to rid itself of as soon as possible. But, thankfully, God gave strength to my wife who stood firmly in faith, for me, that all would be well. 

Eng Rev. Paul Wasswa preaches at a seminar
Eng Rev. Paul Wasswa preaches at a seminar

Before admission at Mulago, I was sprayed with chlorine that soaked my clothes. The experience was irritating and traumatizing. It was an uncomfortable and painful wait of nearly two hours, before I was taken to my admission room. Eagerly awaiting a bath, having spent 24 hours without one, I was alarmed there wasn’t any I could have.

But God granted me divine favor. It was a Friday morning. A nurse walked in to check on patients who had been admitted the previous evening. She was a UCU alumna. She knew me. God used her to get me to a better ward, where I got a private room, with certain privileges such as accessing fruits to make juice and immunity-boosting concoctions from lemon and ginger, among other foods.

I also met a young man, also a patient, but in a better state than I was. He had known me as clergy from the church conventions I attended. “Pastor, you are my responsibility now,” he told me, with a smile. He started bringing me salads and hot water, until the day he was discharged. However, before he left, he asked colleagues at the hospital to take care of my meals and make sure I was comfortable. 

The healing hand of the Lord was with me; my body responded well to medication. Six days after admission, when the Director of Mulago Hospital was moving around the ward, he entered my room. When he saw me, he said: “You are not supposed to be here. There are worse cases than you are. We should be discharging you soon.” 

This was good news, to me, from a person who had a bigger picture of the virus. My fellow patients would later tell me I looked better than when I was admitted into the facility. I began doing mild physical exercises. My breath was improving. Finally, on the December 4, 2020, I was discharged.

While I still battle with side effects, such as high blood pressure, occasionally, I bless the Lord for healing me. Of course, my Christian ministry was disrupted; plans got sabotaged. Matter of fact, the whole chaplaincy office was closed to control the spread of the virus, as well as my leadership responsibilities quelled. But, we still bless God for His faithfulness.

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To support Uganda Christian University 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

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Wasswa with his twin sister, Angella Nakato

UCU student credits God for family’s Covid recovery

COVID-19, Faculty of Engineering, Design & Technology, News, Students


Wasswa with his twin sister, Angella Nakato
Wasswa with his twin sister, Angella Nakato

By Nickie Karitas
On June 10, 2021, when Jim Patrick Wasswa arrived at the northern Uganda district of Yumbe to start his university internship, he had many ushers. In addition to the officials with the Uganda National Roads Authority who brought him to the work experience, Covid-19 was on hand to welcome him.

Being diagnosed with the virus came as a shock to Wasswa. But he had a shock absorber – his mother, who is medical worker with a hand up on health needs. Wasswa quickly made arrangements to return to his home in Kampala, more than 300 miles away.

When he gathered the courage to inform his parents about the new development in his life, he was in for another shock. They, too, had been diagnosed with Covid-19.

“All my life, I had been the strong one holding other people in tough times, but with Covid-19, I felt defeated,” recounts Wasswa, a fourth-year student studying for his Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Uganda Christian University (UCU).

With an internship curtailed, Wasswa found his once joyous home was charged with tension and an awkward silence. For once, he understood the meaning of seeing no light at the end of the tunnel as he saw his life, his family’s and all his dreams crushing.

Wasswa (right) with his mother and siblings
Wasswa (right) with his mother and siblings

Around that time, Uganda had just declared a second lockdown due to an increase in the number of infections and deaths. At the time the government declared the lockdown, the Covid-19 positivity rate in the country was 17%.

As all this was happening, Wasswa sought solace in the Bible, specifically Romans 8:28. “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.” 

That is where he drew the energy to carry on. He regained strength not because he was feeling any better but because his emotional attention was diverted to his parents’ situation. 

At the time, some of his friends were losing their parents to the pandemic, a rude reminder that erased Wasswa’s audacity to assume that everything would be alright. For his case, some of the stop-gap measures he came up with were to try as much as possible not to sleep at night, for fear of not waking up. Sometimes, he succeeded; other times, he crumbled upon the sleep debt that he had.

The memories of the first night his father was rushed to hospital are still fresh in Wasswa’s mind.  

“That was the darkest night of my life,” Wasswa said. “As the car sped off, my thoughts ran to my four-year-old brother. I could see the life of my father, the pillar of the family, going down. I could hardly believe what was going on.”

Social media was another source of misery for Wasswa. Each time he logged in, he met news of people who had succumbed to the pandemic. He shut himself off social media as he worked to recover.

When his twin sister, Angella Nakato, succeeded in convincing him to join her for a daily jogging routine, it marked the turning point in his life. Wasswa says he started feeling much better and more energetic.

Allan Otim, a friend of Wasswa, helped with the psychological aspects of Covid-19. He offered the emotional support that he felt Wasswa needed by constantly keeping in touch with him. 

Wasswa’s other friend and course mate, Cedric Mutayisa, says although many people were succumbing to coronavirus, more were recovering and he believed it was just a matter of time before Wasswa recovered. 

“I often called him to cheer him up,” Cedric said. “Sometimes, all he needed was courage.”

Wasswa, who was never hospitalized, credits the recovery of himself and his parents to God for taking over the battles he surrendered to Him. Wasswa recovered towards the end of June and for his parents, their recovery was a month later. His father’s bout with the virus was most dire, requiring his hospitalization until recovery, while his mother spent two weeks in hospital. 

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To support Uganda Christian University 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.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

John Semakula (center) after receiving the file for his new office from Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) outgoing head of journalism, Dr. Emilly Maractho (left). At right is the Dean of the UCU Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication, Prof. Monica Chibita.

Semakula named new head of UCU’s journalism department

News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication


John Semakula (center) after receiving the file for his new office from Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) outgoing head of journalism, Dr. Emilly Maractho (left). At right is the Dean of the UCU Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication, Prof. Monica Chibita.
John Semakula (center) after receiving the file for his new office from Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) outgoing head of journalism, Dr. Emilly Maractho (left). At right is the Dean of the UCU Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication, Prof. Monica Chibita.

By Joseph Lagen
Veteran journalist John Semakula has been appointed the new head of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Uganda Christian University (UCU). 

Semakula takes on the role within the university’s Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication from Dr. Emily Maractho who is now the Director of the university’s Africa Policy Centre (APC). The APC grooms policy researchers and political thinkers and provides a platform for learning and discussion of modern-day issues.  

Semakula, an award-winning journalist, said of his new appointment: “This new position is a great opportunity for me to use the skills and experience I have built over the last 13 years in journalism practice to serve my alma mater.” 

He noted that he is well aware of the huge responsibility of the new office. One of Semakula’s objectives is to double the number of students within the Department. Currently, 150 new students are admitted to the course every year. 

The second more important objective is about competence and quality. Having quality, competent journalism graduates from UCU, Semakula believes, will help to safeguard the journalism profession.

Semakula’s first relationship with UCU was in 2003, when he joined the institution as a student of Bachelor of Mass Communication. When he completed his course, the university retained him, to work as part of the inaugural team for a community newspaper, The Standard, that the university had established. He served as a writer at the newspaper from 2007 to 2009.

While at UCU both as a student and staff of The Standard, Semakula often contributed articles to Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper because he saw the platform as one which could offer him the opportunity to cut his professional teeth.  

In 2010, Semakula joined Uganda’s leading daily newspaper, the New Vision, to practice journalism at a more competitive level. 

John Semakula (center) and his former colleagues at New Vision - Charles Wendo (left) and Esther Namugoji (right) on the Uganda Christian University main campus in Mukono. Both Wendo and Namugojin are former editors at the newspaper.
John Semakula (center) and his former colleagues at New Vision – Charles Wendo (left) and Esther Namugoji (right) on the Uganda Christian University main campus in Mukono. Both Wendo and Namugoji are former editors at the newspaper.

“At the New Vision, I quickly grew through the ranks, becoming a Senior Writer only two years later,” he said. “This kind of promotion usually takes journalists over 20 years.”

In 2016, Semakula enrolled at UCU to pursue a Master of Journalism and Media Studies.

“I studied the MA program and graduated within the stipulated period of two years,” Semakula recalls. Alongside his graduate studies, Semakula still kept his job at New Vision, and, by this time, he had also started teaching at UCU on a part-time basis. 

Semakula was introduced to teaching by the present dean of the Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication, Prof. Monica Chibita, whom he met at an awards ceremony in 2014. A month after the ceremony, Semakula reached out to her through a phone call, expressing his desire to teach at UCU. 

“Prof. Chibita is good at identifying talent,” Semakula said. “I guess she noticed my ability at the awards ceremony.” 

Upon passing the interview, Semakula started out as a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Mass Communication. He handled course units related to writing news and feature stories. 

“The New Vision had a busy newsroom, but I would always find time on Saturdays and Mondays when I was off duty, to teach at UCU,” Semakula says. He had eight teaching hours every week at UCU, which he would execute in the two days he was off duty. 

“I often planned my teaching materials and marked course works and exams at night.” Semakula says. 

The extra work served to energize Semakula who maintained his productivity and increased his accolades at New Vision.  In 2017, he was winner of the Uganda WASH Media Awards in the Print Investigative Category – an honor he won alongside Ronald Mugabe, another New Vision acclaimed print journalist. In the same year, Semakula was a finalist for the Africa Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) Awards in the Justice, Law and Order category. 

A year earlier, Semakula’s New Vision data investigative piece, Hot districts that will determine winner of the 2016 presidential elections won him the ACME Data National Journalism Award. 

In bestowing the accolade, the judges said of his article: “It (the article) went beyond the numbers to investigate how population distribution could be used to predict the winner of the 2016 presidential election and to trace voting patterns. It was only one of a handful of news reports in 2014 that analysed the census data to understand Uganda’s current political climate and future voting trends.”

In the same year, he was a co-writer for the winning stories in the Business, Finance and Economy and the National News – Print categories for the same awards. 

By the time he put down his pen in preference for the chalk as a full-time occupation, Semakula had won more than seven journalism awards. 

Despite his career achievements, Semakula thinks he still has a mountain to climb. 

“At a personal level, I want to get a PhD in media and communication in the next four years,” he says. For the faculty, he envisions the revival of The Standard newspaper, which was a victim of cost-cutting measures in the university as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Presently, the faculty is creating the university’s epaper, The Standard Digital, a multi-media platform that is a direct response to the changing patterns of consumption of information. 

“At UCU, we equip students with the skills that the market wants. So, through The Standard Digital and UCU’s social media platforms, I will make sure that our graduates get the digital skills needed for the times,” Semakula remarked.

Alongside his teaching career, Semakula also contributes articles to two foreign news-sites – Religion Unplugged in the US and the Sight in Australia. Semakula also is the Communications Coordinator at Uganda Partners – a U.S.-based organisation that raises awareness about UCU.

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To support Uganda Christian University 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.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Lauren Elaine Nagy graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from Messiah College, Pennsylvania, in May 2021. Courtesy photo

Ugandan study experience enriches American nurse

Faculty of Public Health, Nursing and Midwifery, News, Students, UCU Alumni, USP


Lauren Elaine Nagy graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from Messiah College, Pennsylvania, in May 2021. Courtesy photo
Lauren Elaine Nagy graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from Messiah College, Pennsylvania, in May 2021. Courtesy photo

By Jimmy Siyasa
In September 2021, the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, welcomes a new staff member with Ugandan experience. Lauren Elaine Nagy, hired to be a nurse in the Pediatric Inpatient Rehab Unit, was part of the Uganda Studies Program (USP) at Uganda Christian University in 2018. 

Nagy’s employment follows her May 2021 graduation with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the Messiah College in Pennsylvania and certification as a Registered Nurse.  She most recently was a health care provider at a Christian summer camp, Woodcrest Retreat.

Lauren and her family shortly after her graduation. Courtesy photo
Lauren and her family shortly after her graduation. Courtesy photo

Two years before the Covid-19 pandemic, Nagy traveled more than 7,000 miles away from her home as part of the American students who went to UCU for a four-month study abroad program. The trip was under the USP, a two-decades-old program that earlier this year shifted from the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities to under the administrative umbrella of the non-profit, UCU Partners, headquartered in Pennsylvania.

While at UCU, Lauren and other USP colleagues were part of the Global Health Emphasis (GHE). GHE provides an opportunity for students pursuing biomedical and public health-related disciplines to complete global health coursework and international field internship in Uganda. 

Lauren Elaine Nagy. Courtesy photo
Lauren Elaine Nagy. Courtesy photo

The USP affords international students an education within an African context. In addition to studies on the UCU Mukono campus, students get a chance to make trips to different parts of Uganda, visit the Equator and sometimes have a 10-day excursion to Rwanda. Some of the students live in the student dormitories on campus, while others are attached to host families.

For Nagy, nothing about UCU stands out more than the institution’s “commitment to integrating faith into all aspects of education.” She says it “created an atmosphere that pushed me to grow in my faith in more ways than I could have expected.” 

While on homestay, Nagy lived with a Ugandan family about five minutes away from the university campus. Her camaraderie quickly acclimatized her to the Ugandan culture of the family of Robert Kibirango and Esther Nakato. In fact, she takes pride in the name Nakiryowa (Luganda word for a type of tree) that the family bestowed on her. 

She has fond memories of the days she was involved in domestic work that included a unique way of peeling bananas. Clearly, the trip to Uganda gave her another family in addition to her biological one in Pennsylvania. Nagy is the daughter of Daniel Alan Nagy and Karen Lynn Nagy. 

“We spent time wandering through fields, exploring plants and anthills, feeding the new calf, picking fresh beans from the garden, and cooking dinner together. It was a beautifully simple time with my family,” she recalls, saying she has continued to keep in touch with the family of Kibirango.

Nagy highly recommends that American university students consider the UCU experience.  

“As many people as possible should experience the transformational growth that I did,” Nagy, who attended Chippewa High School in Doylestown, said.

She lauds UCU for the fusion of faith and books in the grooming of nurses because it enables them to dispense care, compassion and comfort. The culture of faith at UCU seemed to rhyme with Nagy’s sole goal in life – living in the center of God’s will for my life and glorifying Him to the fullest.

“It makes me happy to know that such an excellent school as UCU is producing hard-working, highly capable, Christian health care providers to send out into the communities and serve people as the hands and feet of Christ,” she says.  

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To support Uganda Christian University 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.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Denis Kutesa (behind) sharing a light moment with his classmates during their internship at Mukono General hospital. Courtesy photo.

From taking lives to saving them: One nurse’s story

Faculty of Public Health, Nursing and Midwifery, News, Students, UCU Alumni


Denis Kutesa (behind) sharing a light moment with his classmates during their internship at Mukono General hospital. Courtesy photo.
Denis Kutesa (behind) sharing a light moment with his classmates during their internship at Mukono General hospital. Courtesy photo.

By Eriah Lule
The life of Uganda Christian University (UCU) graduate Denis Kutesa is punctuated by a job where he was forced to take two lives to one where he is saving them. He’s most recently a nurse but formerly a security guard.

His is a tale of losing and regaining hope. His school cycle took a seven-year break because of finances.  Kutesa’s father, Simon Nsubuga, who had been meeting his tuition requirements, suddenly lost his job when Kutesa had just completed his A’level. The year was 2009.

For the next seven years, Kutesa went through a storm. He survived the downpour by working as a guard, a primary school teacher – anything and everything to survive.  Some of the odd jobs he did were a stark contrast for someone who not long before had attended some of Uganda’s elite schools. 

Kutesa, who has freshly completed a Bachelor of Nursing Science course at UCU, studied at St. Mary’s College, Kisubi for O’level and Kibuli Secondary School for A’level. For his primary education, Kutesa attended Nkumba Primary School. All four schools are in central Uganda.

When his father lost his job and was no longer able to meet the tuition requirements of his children, Kutesa left home to seek a livelihood elsewhere. He reasoned that it was not wise for him to stay home, to compete for the little resources that his father and mother – Florence Nakalema – came across. Kutesa relocated to Kampala, where he was employed as a security guard. 

“Although the payment was low, I was determined to work and establish myself,’’ he said. 

Denis Kutesa inside one of the wards at Mukono General Hospital during his internship. Courtesy photo
Denis Kutesa inside one of the wards at Mukono General Hospital during his internship. Courtesy photo

In order to start earning sh150,000 (about $40), Kutesa had to endure training sessions under extremely harsh conditions. Worse yet, during that period, they were entitled to only one meal a day. Kutesa endured the training with good performance. He was relocated from Kampala to Masaka, a district in central Uganda. In Masaka, Kutesa mostly guarded banks.

Around the Christmas season of 2014, he was moved from the bank to guard a depot of the soft drink manufacturer – Coca-Cola. During the Christmas festivities, the demand for soda usually goes up and many of the areas are undersupplied. Thieves know this fact and, on the eve of the 2014 Christmas Day, they attacked the depot that Kutesa was guarding. In the battle with five thieves, he was forced to shoot, leaving two dead. Three others fled on a bodaboda.

That incident traumatized Kutesa to the point that his work place had to relocate him to another station in a neighboring district. There, his monthly salary increased to sh200,000 (about $56). However, due to tough working conditions and trauma from taking lives, Kutesa did not last at his new station, later switching to teaching in a primary school although he did not have the official credentials.

In 2016, Kutesa reunited with his father whom he had not seen ever since he left home in 2009. The financial situation at home had changed for the better. Nsubuga beseeched Kutesa to return to school – and that he was ready to meet the tuition requirements. 

After consultations, Kutesa found himself applying for a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at UCU. He wanted to be in a career that gave people better lives instead of taking them. While out of school for seven years, that did not reflect in the performance of Kutesa. There is no UCU semester where his GPA was below 4.0 of 5.0. 

He says pursuing his course at UCU made it easy for him to get internship placements since the institution is highly respected. Now that he has completed an internship, Kutesa hopes to pursue a post-graduate course so he can specialize in nursing education or midwifery.

As he heads to the hospital wards as his new work station, Kutesa is fully aware that he needs to be strong enough to tolerate anything and soft enough to understand every patient he will work on. 

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To support Uganda Christian University 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

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Sonia Aturinda stands at the entrance of the Mukono General Hospital Maternity Department at the end of her morning shift.

Faith helps nursing intern work in time of Covid

COVID-19, Faculty of Public Health, Nursing and Midwifery, News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Medicine


Sonia at Mukono General Hospital
Sonia at Mukono General Hospital

Story and Photos by Jimmy Siyasa
It was a hot Tuesday afternoon. But the energy with which the medical workers carried out their duties made one think the afternoon heat was only in the mind. 

“Right now, we are from the post-natal ward and from administering the 2 p.m. medicine to new mothers in the ward,” says one of the medical practitioners. She also had been assisting midwives as they helped mothers deliver. 

This is the routine of Sonia Aturinda, a third-year student pursuing a Bachelor of Nursing Science, at Uganda Christian University (UCU). She is at the Mukono General Hospital, where she is on a three-month internship.

Sonia sanitizes her hands after attending to a patient inside the post-natal ward at Mukono General Hospital.
Sonia sanitizes her hands after attending to a patient inside the post-natal ward at Mukono General Hospital.

As an intern in the post-natal ward at the hospital, Aturinda is charged with offering maternal and neo-natal care services – mostly administration of medicine to new mothers.  

However, because of her excellent performance, her responsibilities have expanded to sometimes offering umbilical cord care, counsel to new mothers, providing family planning advice and, occasionally, assisting midwives in executing deliveries.

Aturinda said she is on internship at the hospital with 23 other colleagues of hers in the same class.

Every morning, Aturinda walks from her hostel, located about 500 metres (about 1/3 mile) from the hospital and only returns after about seven hours. Sometimes, she works on Saturdays, too. 

For Aturinda, her service, though unpaid, is more than just a mere mandatory three-month internship ritual that she must fulfil to merit a university degree. She is living her passion. And she tries her best to be the nurse she would want as a patient. 

“I have passion for the medical field, especially being directly engaged with patients during their lowest and most vulnerable moment, so that I am able to support them through their recovery,” she says, adding: “I like the counseling session, especially when I am comforting and encouraging the patients.”

Sonia Aturinda stands at the entrance of the Mukono General Hospital Maternity Department at the end of her morning shift.
Sonia Aturinda stands at the entrance of the Mukono General Hospital Maternity Department at the end of her morning shift.

In May, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the WHO annual assembly that many medical workers became infected with Covid-19 during 18 months of work to save “countless lives and fought for others who, despite their best efforts have slipped away.” 

So, looking at the statistics of health workers who have succumbed to Covid-19, does being in the wards bother Aturinda?

“Of course, it does, but I just need to have faith and be strong, while maintaining the Standard Operating Procedures that have been put in place for us to keep safe,” she says, noting that patients must be attended to. 

While there was debate on whether or not nursing students should continue with their internships, especially during a time when the second wave of the Covid-19 had peaked and the number of deaths increased, the UCU administration decided that students whose internships were in progress by the time of lockdown could safely carry on. 

The university reasoned that termination of the training would prove counterproductive, especially for finalists. 

Upon reaching a consensus with students, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, issued a memo, giving the greenlight to the internship. 

The head of the Nursing and Midwifery Department, Mrs. Elizabeth Nagudi Situma, believes their deployment is a blessing in disguise because they are adding to the national taskforce, given the shortage of health workers in the country. She said working during the peak of the pandemic offers the students a rare opportunity to learn the management of highly infectious diseases.

However, Nagudi and the Vice Chancellor say the students are always reminded to observe safety protocols. 

Aturinda says the main challenge they face is insufficiency or delayed delivery of the Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs). This includes gloves, which makes attending to HIV-positive mothers delivering or at the post-natal unit a challenge. 

Aturinda is looking forward to her graduation in 2022, after which she intends to pursue a post-graduate diploma in gynecology, to buttress her love for the field of maternal child care and reproductive health – her childhood dream.

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To support Uganda Christian University 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.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

The Rev. Jessica Hughes, lecturer and online learning leader

Rev. Jessica holds torch for UCU online learning

Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology, News, Students, UCU Alumni


The Rev. Jessica Hughes, lecturer and online learning leader
The Rev. Jessica Hughes, lecturer and online learning leader

By Joseph Lagen
Behind her glasses, the Rev. Jessica Hughes’ eyes carry a glint to escort her warm, inviting smile. She is a missionary serving at Uganda Christian University (UCU), Mukono, under the Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders (SAMS) – an organisation based in the USA state of Pennsylvania.

The Rev. Hughes was recently appointed the head of the university’s Online Distance Learning (ODL) department – more commonly known to its students as eLearning and via one of its preferred teaching platforms, Moodle. The cleric inherited the role under unfortunate circumstances, after the covid-related death of Dorothy Mukasa, the former head of UCU’s eLearning department.

“It is an honour to serve in this capacity,” Hughes says. “I was a member of the committee that launched ODL in 2020.” She added that it is a pleasure for her to continue implementing and expanding virtual learning in her expanded leadership role.

The expansion and shift were timely. When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, education institutions were closed in March 2020. It was only seven months later that the schools were allowed to open for physical learning, but only for final-year students. In March 2021, the rest of the learners were allowed physically back in school. However, three months later, a Covid-19 second wave led to increase in the number of infections and deaths, leading to another shutdown of in-person classes at education institutions.

Thanks to the ODL department, UCU was one of the few Ugandan schools where learning quickly shifted online.

The woman of the cloth is a UCU alum. Being a former student and current lecturer in the University’s Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology gives Rev. Hughes an ideal vantage point for her new task.

“From 2009 to 2011, I studied at Uganda Christian University, where I received my Master of Divinity,” she says.

This was the second graduate degree of the Virginia-USA-born missionary. In 2005, she earned her first Master’s degree in Human Performance Systems at the Marymount University based in Arlington, Virginia.

Hughes’ undergraduate degree in psychology came from the George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia in 1992. She also possesses a 1993 certificate as a legal assistant from the George Washington University in the neighbouring Washington, D.C. area.

Her academic pursuits continue. Hughes is a candidate for a doctorate degree. “I enrolled in a PhD programme at the University of South Africa in 2014.” She is currently awaiting the results of her dissertation.

With all this training, one wonders how Hughes chose the missionary path, let alone being a clergywoman. She, too, had her reservations.

“I never wanted to go to Africa,” Hughes reveals in her eponymous blog.

“In fact, in my high school discipleship group of 12, 11 wanted to go to Africa as missionaries,” Hughes says, noting that she preferred to pray for them as they came to Africa.

“I now think that God was just tapping His watch (and probably chuckling), telling me to wait and see.”

The “about” page on the jessicahughes blog succinctly narrates her journey into study and service within Uganda – particularly UCU.

“My bishop, the Rt. Rev. John Guernsey, had suggested that I study abroad for my M.Div., and then suggested Uganda, since my home church (All Saints Anglican in Woodbridge, Virginia) had come under the Church of Uganda when we left the Episcopal Church.” Hughes says Guernsey then casually suggested that she remain and minister there after graduation.

Hughes has ministered from the pulpit of the Thornycroft Chapel at UCU.  On weekdays, you are sure to find her either lecturing theology students or responding to queries of students or staff members using the online learning platforms.

Learning online comes with its challenges – and those are before the challenges specific to a developing country like Uganda are considered. UCU has a mission to be a centre of excellence in the heart of Africa. Yet, in her online spaces and world over, Africa is faced with a threat to excellence in education – degree mills. 

Degree mills are fraudulent institutions that pedal “accelerated” degrees, some from legitimate schools. They promise certification within absurdly short periods. Because of degree mills, some people walk with both undergraduate and graduate degree transcripts attained within under a week. The growth of the Internet has helped to spread the scourge of degree mills. How does the ODL department plan to nip this in the bud with regard to UCU?

“One of the things I am grateful for is that UCU does take education seriously,” the reverend says, noting that the deans and faculties work hard to ensure that the curricula are up-to-date and that the lecturers follow the curricula.

“Within eLearning, we are working with the faculties to ensure that they are posting their materials well: Posting recorded lectures, current readings and creating opportunities for community engagement.”

She says they do not want the platform to become a content dump, but rather a place full of learning resources and collaboration. 

Hughes’ strategy for the near future is to “solidify UCU networks and hardware,” which she and her team are already working on.

“I want us to overhaul our understanding of pedagogy (teaching methods),” she said. “We need to move from a teacher-based instruction model to a learner-based one. This will change how we approach online and blended education.”

With such a daunting task, it is an asset that Hughes has made Uganda her home. And she has no plans of returning to the U.S. permanently. 

“I am happy serving at UCU, and I will remain, as long as the Lord and the community will have me,” notes Hughes. She says her mission in life is to teach and disciple those who teach and disciple.

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To support Uganda Christian University 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. 

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

The Rangers at the Source of River Nile in Jinja, Uganda. Courtesy photo.

American couple relocates to Uganda to share career experiences with UCU

Faculty of Public Health, Nursing and Midwifery, News, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Business, UCU School of Law


The Rangers at the Source of River Nile in Jinja, Uganda. Courtesy photo.
The Rangers at the Source of River Nile in Jinja, Uganda. Courtesy photo.

By Jimmy Siyasa and Lule Eriah
While growing up, the idea of Christian ministry on the ground in Africa did not cross the minds of Americans Richard Ranger and his wife, Catherine. But, as adults and later in life, two main incidents made the couple start pondering such a mission that now has them living on the Uganda Christian University (UCU) campus in Mukono.

First, it was a 2017 call by a friend, Prof. Brian Dennison, who, like the Rangers, also is a former Society of Anglicans Missionaries and Senders (SAMS) missionary and, like Richard, a Law lecturer at UCU. Dennison, then moved back to the United States with his family, reminded the couple that their love for the university as Washington, D.C., hosts for Ugandans had been noticed and that many students spoke highly of them.

The Rangers gave a thought to Dennison’s suggestion that they might consider doing more. They also consulted with Mark Bartels, the Executive Director of UCU Partners. After this consultation and prayer, they were still not yet persuaded.

The second thing to happen was an invitation extended to them by a UCU alumnus, friend and lecturer – Arnold Agaba – to serve at the institution. That, along with more prayer, sealed the deal.

The house where the Rangers reside at Tech Park in UCU. Courtesy photo.
The house where the Rangers reside at Tech Park in UCU. Courtesy photo.

“We came to UCU in particular, when Agaba Arnold offered us a specific role in the Faculty of Law,” says Catherine Ranger, who, like her husband, has a law degree. “It was a huge affirmation of our call.”

Soon, it was time to prepare for travel. This should have been easy because during Richard’s 43-year career, he worked at three different organizations, meaning the family had to relocate whenever he got a new employer.

This time around, though, there were added challenges. Richard Ranger had a brief bout with cancer.  They had to be Covid vaccinated. And the Rangers were travelling to a country, Uganda, that was in a lockdown because of a pandemic surge. 

“All the challenges, such as the Covid lockdown, Richard’s cancer, raising money for the support that came after making our decision and committing to coming, were viewed as bumps on the road, not demands to turn aside,” Catherine Ranger says.

Indeed, on their journey, more bumps emerged. For instance, the Rangers missed their flights at some point. However, whenever that happened, they had people who God used to come to their rescue. For instance, when they missed their flight from Dulles twice, they were hosted by a friend while their travel agent re-ticketed them at a subsidized rate.

When they landed in Uganda on June 20, 2021, their U.S. friends had made the necessary travel arrangement for them from Entebbe to Mukono. Together with their dog, Trooper, the Rangers were ushered into a duplex unit, at a section of the university called Tech Park.

Richard says that it is the prayers, encouragement, mentorship and financial support of friends that have sustained them.

A week into their stay at UCU, Richard, 69, and Catherine, 64, celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary. Their intention is to celebrate five of more such anniversaries in Uganda.

The benevolence of Richard and Catherine towards UCU is new on the ground but not new overall. In 2004, their friend, Dr. Mary Seagull from the United States Aid for International Development (USAID), persuaded the mission community at All Saints Church Chevy Chase in Washington, D.C., to give scholarships to nursing students at UCU. The Rangers were part of this church and they participated in the charity.

Five years later, through the Uganda Partners, they supported UCU students who were to compete in the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competitions in the US. The Jessup moot court competition is the oldest and largest in the world, attracting participants from close to 700 law schools in more than 90 countries.

“We had one free room and a sofa set and accepted to house three of the students from the team,” Catherine said.

The following year, they housed another team that had travelled for the moot court competitions, for two weeks.

Currently, Catherine serves as an administrator at the John Sentamu Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, an affiliate of the UCU Faculty of Law. Richard, on the other hand, shares his more than two-decade experience in the oil and gas industry with students and staff in both Law and the UCU School of Business. Richard will assist as a lecturer and advisor to students in the graduate programs in oil and gas, and energy in the Faculty of Law as well as some teaching/consulting role with the School of Business.

He also hopes to tap the knowledge of his professional colleagues back at home in the U.S. via online distance lectures so they can supplement his contribution.

In his work with the students, Richard envisages helping them to integrate questions relating to the economic development of the oil resource, the conservation of the surrounding environment, and the concerns and interests of stakeholders whom the project may affect, to be able to make informed recommendations to her clients or her management.

The beating that many education institutions have gotten from the Covid-19 pandemic has led to the adoption of virtual, as well as blended learning. Richard believes there is a contribution he can make on that front, too. Prior to his retirement, his last employer, the American Petroleum Institute, begun to increase its use of remote teleconferencing – skills Richard has carried into his retirement activities.

“Since my retirement, I have been actively participating in remote teleconferencing by Zoom, Skype, and Microsoft Teams for attendance at professional symposia, a project working group comprised of fellow graduates of my undergraduate alma mater, Dartmouth College,” he says. 

He believes that virtual communication is a necessary and useful tool in learning across the distances of Uganda and the world.

For the next five years, the couple targets to contribute what they have learned and experienced in their different careers and in the 43 years of marriage and service to God. The couple also hopes to assist UCU’s law and business programs to educate Christian professionals hoping they buttress their careers with the university’s five values of Christ-centeredness, diligence, integrity, servanthood and stewardship.

For the time they will be at UCU, the couple says they will rely on prayer and financial support from generous friends, donors and churches back in the U.S. They do not see giving up on the mission as an option.

Both Catherine and Ricard graduated from law school, but have never practiced law. Catherine graduated from the University of Colorado in 1983. Richard graduated from the University of Denver in 1977. The couple has one adult child, Owen Ranger. 

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To support Uganda Christian University 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.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Rev. Dr. John Kitayimbwa, Deputy Vice Chancellor - Academic Affairs

DVC of Academic Affairs responds to tough questions: E-learning, cost, career preparation and more

News


Rev. Dr. John Kitayimbwa, Deputy Vice Chancellor - Academic Affairs
Rev. Dr. John Kitayimbwa, Deputy Vice Chancellor – Academic Affairs

Uganda Christian University (UCU) continuing students have started their Advent Semester (August-December). The current term that started August 20, 2021, is being conducted virtually like the previous one, the Trinity Semester (May-August). The Advent is the Semester UCU admits the largest number of first-year students. Veteran journalist John Semakula, recently named head of UCU’s journalism department, talked to the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. John Kitayimbwa about the preparations for first-year students joining the University. A condensed version of this conversation is reflected here.

Why should parents bring their children to UCU during this period of the lockdown?
UCU is the number one university in this country when it comes to online learning. Since the Covid-19 pandemic hit us, a lot of institutions in Uganda have been struggling to get online, evaluate students and do exams, but UCU’s story of teaching and learning online is not a new one. Since 2014, we began preparing a virtual education infrastructure. Beyond the lecturers, our infrastructure has more than seven people specifically dedicated and committed to eLearning. As we speak today, a lot of universities have done what they call online teaching and that is why things like zoom and big blue button are common words in this learning arena.  But online teaching is a bit different from online learning. It’s not enough to recreate the physical classroom online and get teachers talking to students online. That will not translate into learning. Online learning is more student than teacher centered. It’s more activity-based than what the teacher has said or not said. It demands more of the learner. It also demands more of the teacher in terms of preparation and getting the learning activities ready. To this end, UCU is still the number one university in doing this within Uganda. We have trained our students and lecturers, and we are ahead of the rest. So, the parent can rest assured that if they are to send their children to UCU, they will continue learning. UCU is one of the very few universities in Uganda that are up to date during Covid-19.

How are you helping first-year students fit into the University’s eLearning system?
We have a policy at UCU where each entering student is required to have a laptop, what we call a laptop policy. It doesn’t matter if that laptop is new or old but at least somebody should have a laptop. We are therefore enforcing the laptop policy so that these students can learn. But also we have thought about connectivity. Students are having challenges with the connectivity because it’s very expensive and so as a university, we have partnered with the Research and Education Network Uganda (RENU) to make sure that at least all our eLearning resources are zero rated on the MTN network, meaning that if you have an MTN line, you can access all our resources free of charge. They are not free because the University is paying for the access but they are free in that aspect for our students and staff.  RENU has worked hard to ensure that they roll out the internet in certain hotspots around Kampala, Wakiso, Entebbe and Mukono where our students who live around those areas can connect to the University web internet and make use of the available resources without incurring a cost. 

How would a first-year student who has no IT knowledge access the virtual classes?
It’s very true that the students coming to us have not used eLearning platforms before and so in September as we are recruiting, we are going to have a very elaborate process of introducing online learning to our first-year students. We shall have about two weeks of very serious orientation. Already, we have opened up some of our course offerings for potential students so that they can come and get used to the system even before the semester starts.  For example, we have opened up our learning and study skills course unit, basic computing offering, Understanding World Views; students everywhere in this country can get access to those materials and try out what it means to do the new normal at UCU. We have also established a fulltime call center that is going to be responsive to the learners’ challenges. Real-time responses will be given to the new learners on issues pertaining the eLearning platform. 

How about students who live in areas without access to the internet?
According to the Data that we have from National Information Technology Authority (NITA), Uganda, the government through development partners have been rolling out what we call the 3G network and if you look at the NITA website, it shows you that the coverage of the 3G network, what they call the last mile, is almost 90%. This means that in most parts of the country at least there is some kind of network coverage. At the same time, this challenge is not peculiar to UCU. All the universities in Uganda are affected by the internet coverage and should strive to see how they can reach each and every student in the hard-to-reach areas. This is not a problem to solve today or tomorrow but one of the challenges we must address.  Maybe we need to repackage the learning websites so that when a student goes to a place where there is internet, they can download the content and be able to read the learning material when they leave. 

How do you ensure quality for online studies?
Online learning is new in Uganda but it’s not new world over. Some people have been doing online learning even before the pandemic hit us. But Covid-19 has brought this closer to Uganda and that is why I told you that in UCU we started thinking about online learning in 2014 and so there are quality assurance frameworks that work within the context of online learning. Fortunately, these frameworks are much better than those of the physical learning. For example, I can see which student has logged into the system when and for how long. I can even investigate the kind of content the students have been exposed to. So, these resources on online learning materials are auditable that you can audit the attendance by both students and staff but also because the emphasis is on the learner and what the learner can do in terms of activities. The evaluation changes because whereas you could wait to give two tests in the semester, now because this is activity based learning, you need to evaluate this learner almost daily which means on a weekly basis you have a good understanding of how students have been able to learn on such a platform. 

The National Council for Higher Education has raised some concerns about the quality of online exams. What is your reaction?
The quality of online examination is also the understanding of why a university exists and what kind of training the University has to give to its students. When you think about what possibly you can examine during a sit-in exam, you will find out that most of the skills that you can examine within a three-hour exam are skills of remembering, a bit of application but they are not very high-end exams. If you wanted to measure the high-end skills especially in the process of learning, you would have to do that as a project-based exam or a take-home exam, and these are the skills that the market is asking for. The market is requiring of us to produce learners who can be able to go to an environment and understand what is needed in that environment, consult with seniors, if possible, to get more information in order to solve the problems they have at hand and then be able to generate a solution. This is what the UCU online exams are introducing to the students. But there are also technologies for the online sit-in exams, where we can monitor you at your home as you do your examination paper.

And when are first-year students reporting for the Advent semester?
They are reporting on September 24 but we shall use the week between September 19-24 to introduce them to online pedagogies.  The orientation will be the last two weeks of the month.

When is the University administering pre-entry exams?
We received the Senior six final examination results in late August and we are already opening up a two-week application period. The pre-entry exams for both law and medicine will be conducted the week of September 6th and applicants are already flooding our online application portals. 

Why do you set pre-entry exams for some courses and not all?
Ideally, we would be setting pre-entry exams for everyone but for now we are looking at law, medicine, theology, nursing and public health. At UCU we are interested in offering a complete education for a complete person and in order to yield this kind of product, there are other ingredients that possibly the Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB) might not be measuring but we are interested in. We pride ourselves in training a doctor who is not simply a doctor who can treat somebody but one who can offer complete medical care and so the inputs into that doctor are very important and that is why we conduct pre-entry exams to test the applicants’ values and capabilities before admitting them. 

What does it take a student applying for a course to join the University?
We have options where they can go to our website and access the online application form there that will also have details where they can reach someone in the admission office in case they want to be guided through the process. Our online application system is also working well in all the areas but if you are not good at using technology, you just have to send us an email and we shall reach out to you for help.    

But isn’t UCU very expensive?
That is a very interesting allegation and I have been studying it. It’s not true–I was recently looking at the tuition fees charged at UCU compared to that charged in most public universities and they are comparable. What we have done as a Christian University is that we give you a full understanding of what else you will pay. For example, we have what we call other fees, which other universities do not declare on the face of these application forms. I think this is what has caused a bit of confusion for UCU. UCU being a private University, the amount of money charged vis-à-vis the value for money is very competetive and worth applauding. 

And what does it mean to run a university during the lockdown?
This is one of the hardest things to do because of two main reasons: One is that most of the regulations that are made in this country are made with a public university in mind so that leaves an administrator in a private university struggling to catchup always.  It would be very helpful for government and law makers to always remember that there are two kinds of institutions in the country, the public and then the private. For these two, the set up is quite different and what they need to succeed is also different. The second one is that you need to meet the expenses within the university 100% because you do not have any other help external to the university revenue to do that and therefore you have had to find a way of continuing business amidst a lockdown because if you fail to continue, it means that you are not going to earn so you can’t maintain the staff, facilities and everything else. It’s in fact that push that has helped universities such as ours to be more innovative during this time because at this point, it’s survival for the fittest.  But Covid-19 is helping us to re-engineer ourselves looking at everything we do as a university to ensure that we are doing them in the best way that we should. 

How are your former students fairing on the job market?
They are the best graduates that you will have in this job market. If you looked at the legal vocation, for example, UCU is changing the story of the legal profession in this country. If you look at the communication graduates, they are all over. I have even started seeing some adverts where the employers are saying that only UCU graduates should apply. We are even calling upon more employers to take that example.

Uganda Christian University (UCU) Vice Chancellor, Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi

The first 365 days: How successful was it for the new UCU Vice Chancellor?

News


Uganda Christian University (UCU) Vice Chancellor, Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi
Uganda Christian University (UCU) Vice Chancellor, Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi

By Patty Huston-Holm and Frank Obonyo

VC Mushengyezi
VC Mushengyezi

Uganda Christian University (UCU) Vice Chancellor Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi marked his one-year anniversary by listing achievements with a hint of what is yet to come. Despite walking into the leadership role in the middle of a pandemic, much positive occurred in this first 365 days.

He discussed these key accomplishments in a 36-minute video released Sept. 2 by UCU’s Communications and Marketing Department.  A condensed list is below. 

UCU One-Year Achievements (Sept. 1, 2020 – Sept. 1, 2021)

  1. UCU e-campus transformation
  2. National Council for Education permission for online learning and assessment 
  3. Achievement throughout all key academic areas
  4. Recruitment assistance for Medicine, Law, Dentistry programs through online pre-entry tests
  5. Two virtual graduations (December 2020 and, pending, October 2021)
  6. ICT infrastructure online learning advancement with support by UCU Partners 
  7. Kampala campus property acquisition, allowing avoidance of rent 
  8. Service (security, food, etc.) outsourcing to private entities, saving internal costs
  9. (Anglican) Church of Uganda strengthened relationship, including clergy training 
  10. Return of most staff with implementation of a performance-based system with motivation and reward incentives, including retirement benefits and Uganda Revenue Authority debt clearance
  11. USA supplier donation of equipment for School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, Allan Galpin as well as for hospital partners  
  12. Academic program restructuring to eliminate those not viable with start of work to blend duplications
  13. Reorganization of administrative units, including HR
  14. Follow up to presidential pledges, including support of Guild, solar lights and Bishop Tucker Road upgrades 
  15. Donation of clock tower by Prof. Stephen Noll, UCU’s first vice chancellor
  16. Improved partnerships that include funds and collaboration for Journalism and Media PhD training and internships; School of Business birding tourism and an incubation center; agriculture grain projects; theology e-learning equipment and training; research within the School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies; and privately funded student scholarships; among others. 

Reflecting further on his life, the 52-year-old Vice Chancellor credited three main inspirations as drivers for his work.  These are: 1) upbringing in a large, poor family with strong appreciation for education; 2) his wife, Patience, who has “walked the journey of faith” with him for 23 years; and 3) faith in God and salvation. 

When asked about what might be next at the start of his second year at the helm, Mushengyezi talked about even stronger partnering with the Church of Uganda, ongoing improvements with the Mukono campus infrastructure (one-stop center with all student services under one roof), improved branding (i.e. signage) and more research innovation. 

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” the Vice Chancellor said, quoting Ephesians 3:20. “God uses people like us. By faith, the best is yet to come.”

Veronica Rachel Nakkonde with one of her friends at Mulago Hospital. Courtesy Photo

UCU alumna Nakkonde: Helps the sick ‘even when heavy laden’

Faculty of Public Health, Nursing and Midwifery, News, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Medicine


Veronica Rachel Nakkonde with one of her friends at Mulago Hospital. Courtesy Photo
Veronica Rachel Nakkonde with one of her friends at Mulago Hospital. Courtesy Photo

By Eriah Lule
The love for her profession more often than not makes this 25-year-old nurse forget her shift has ended, and, therefore, she should head home. Her name is Veronica Rachael Nakkonde and her level of devotion is just like founder of modern nursing Florence Nightingale would put it “as hard a preparation, as any painter’s work.”

Many of the patients Nakkonde meets, she may never see again. But that does not affect the way she treats them – like kin. 

Veronica at work at one of the AAR branches. Photo by Eriah Lule
Veronica at work at one of the AAR branches. Photo by Eriah Lule

“I am humbled to have Veronica on our team. She does everything wholeheartedly,” Dr. Isaac Kintu, Nakkonde’s supervisor at the Africa Air Rescue (ARR), a health service provider, said. “No wonder all our clinics want to feel her services.”

Nakkonde, a 2019 graduate of Uganda Christian University (UCU) with a Bachelor of Nursing Science, has a reputation of remarkable management and treatment of patients. This gets her on rotational duty at the various branches of AAR in Kampala, Uganda – something that does not happen with all her nurse colleagues. 

“I can’t guarantee you which clinic I’m based because I am always transferred almost every day, to where there is bigger demand,” Nakkonde, who says she joined the profession because she desired to care for the sick and burdened people, explains. 

“It is good for her because she gets exposure, moving from one clinic to the other,” Kintu notes.

So, how does Nakkonde manage to carry the heavy load on a daily basis? “I love my profession and that is why, even though sometimes I feel heavy-laden, I just pull myself back to deliver,” she says. 

Nakkonde believes that if the UCU School of Medicine continues with the way it delivers knowledge, it will keep churning out health workers who observe ethical standards with high Christian values and professionalism – virtues she says the university imparts on its students, for them to have an edge on the job market. 

Alice Bakunda, a nursing lecturer at the UCU School of Medicine, explains what takes place during the training: “We prepare our students for the field,” she said. “That’s why we take them to different hospitals to attain exposure and experience, which helps them tackle different issues and to be able to multi-task.’’ 

Veronica with her parents on UCU graduation day. Courtesy Photo
Veronica with her parents on UCU graduation day. Courtesy Photo

Upon graduation with summa cum laude status from UCU, Nakkonde had her internship at the Mulago National Referral Hospital. From Mulago, she joined AAR. 

Nakkonde Background
She is the second-last born of the seven children of Joseph and Justine Kkonde who live at Seeta in Mukono district, central Uganda. 

Nakkonde attended primary school at Seeta Boarding Primary School and Stella Maris Boarding School. She later joined Trinity College Nabbingo for secondary school.

“From childhood, my parents kept encouraging me to pursue sciences,” she said. “And, I also had the passion for them.”

No wonder, in 2015, when Nakkonde applied at UCU to pursue a course, her option was Bachelor of Nursing Science. She does not regret the decision.  

Like it is the case with many other students, Nakkonde did not survive the perils of financial challenges, despite studying on a scholarship from a Church-founded organization, Caritas. At some point, she says the sponsors pulled out, so she had to resort to her parents to provide the additionally needed finances. 

As a nurse, Nakkonde says she encounters many challenges, such as keeping calm while dealing with rude clients and a low salary. 

“Sometimes, we feel our payment does not match the work load, because we find it difficult to cover most of our living expenses,” she said.”

Nakkonde intends to enroll for a Master of Nursing Science at the UCU School of Medicine. She is certain that a master’s degree will increase her chances for promotion at the work place and enable her to serve even more. 

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To support Uganda Christian University 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.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Apollo Amanya at work

Passion to save lives drives UCU nursing alumnus

Faculty of Public Health, Nursing and Midwifery, News, Students


Apollo Amanya at work
Apollo Amanya at work

By Yasiri J. Kasango
They work late. They stay awake much of the night. They are witnesses to tragedies in people’s health. Despite all the challenges that medical practitioners face, Apollo Amanya had set his eyes on being one. All he wanted was to bring back good health to those who lacked it.

As a result, in 2011, when Uganda Christian University (UCU) admitted students for the course of Bachelor of Nursing Science, Amanya was among them. His determination to pursue the course was so strong that not even challenges of meeting the tuition demands could faze it.

At the time, students paid sh1.4 million (about $400) in tuition for the course and another sh550,000 (about $155) as “other fees” per semester. As such, the 31-year-old says he struggled to complete the four-year course. And it seems he was not the only student facing financial challenges. Many of his colleagues dropped out of the course over the four years.

Since Amanya’s parents were peasants, he did not expect much from them. He, therefore, took matters into his own hands, and started searching for scholarships. In his second year, he applied for one – the Muljibhai Madhvani Foundation Scholarships. However, he was not as lucky. He missed the offer. But Amanya is not one who can easily lose hope. In his third year, he applied for the scholarship again. This time, he was among the recipients.

After graduating in 2015, Amanya went back home to his parents – Godfrey Bahemurwa and Medius Biretsire – residents of Mitooma district in western Uganda. For one year he was in Mitooma, helping his parents with farm work before he got his first job. Bahemurwa has since passed away.

Amanya’s first job was as a nursing officer at Nakasero Hospital in Kampala. After a year at Nakasero, he left for UMC Victoria Hospital, also in Kampala. At Victoria, Amanya worked as an Intensive Care Unit nursing officer for four years. After five years as a medical practitioner, Amanya switched to academia. 

Apollo Amanya
Apollo Amanya

However, due to the love to practice medicine, it did not take Amanya long before returning to applying his health care skills. In fact, the same year – 2020 – when he left UMC Victoria University, was the same year he joined the national army, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, as the acting principal nursing officer at the Senior Officers’ Diagnostics Centre. The facility, located in Mbuya, a Kampala suburb, treats soldiers from the rank of Major and above, plus their families.

“The principal nursing officer acts as the head of the nurses and the role includes coming up with working schedules for the them,” Amanya says, noting that the position is a busy one, requiring someone to work for extra hours on some days. 

Many civilians are apprehensive to work in a community as reclusive as that of soldiers. Was that not the case with Amanya? He says his case was not any different. However, with time, he discovered that it was “amazing working at the center and that the soldiers are friendly.” 

Amanya says the empathy that he applies in his current work is a virtue he learned while pursuing the Bachelor of Nursing Science course at UCU. He says he loved studying at UCU because the university teaches nurses to be empathetic to patients. 

“The curriculum of nursing at UCU has also got foundation course units, such as Understanding Christian Ethics, which shape the world views of students,” he said. 

The Christian World View course unit emphasises how students relate and handle their clients from a Christian perspective.

Amanya is married to Aisha Atwemerireho and the couple has a son, age two. Being a busy man at his workstation, he said, has not stopped his dream of becoming a consultant in nursing. 

To buttress his qualification for consultancy, in 2019, Amanya enrolled for a Master of Nursing Science degree at UCU. He says he was inspired by some of his lecturer-colleagues at the Kampala International University who possessed the same qualification. 

The two-year course is modular in nature, with each year having three modules and each module lasting five weeks. Students pay sh1.5 million (about $425) per module, in tuition fees. He also has to part with an additional sh751,000 (about $212) for other fees. 

Despite being enthusiastic about nursing, Amanya expressed his pain about the working conditions of nurses in Uganda. He says they are “paid peanuts” and are sometimes not given adequate protective gear at work, exposing them to infections from the patients they treat. 

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To support Uganda Christian University 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.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Uwimbabazi graduated from UCU in 2020 with a Bachelor’s of Nursing Science. She specializes in sexual and reproductive health. Courtesy photo.

Partners-sponsored student Uwimbabazi on why studying at UCU was a dream come true

Faculty of Public Health, Nursing and Midwifery, News, Students


Uwimbabazi graduated from UCU in 2020 with a Bachelor’s of Nursing Science. She specializes in sexual and reproductive health. Courtesy photo.
Uwimbabazi graduated from UCU in 2020 with a Bachelor’s of Nursing Science. She specializes in sexual and reproductive health. Courtesy photo.

By Jimmy Siyasa
In 2019, Uganda Partners profiled Uwimbabazi Sarah, who was a recipient of a scholarship for her Bachelor of Nursing Science course at the Uganda Christian University (UCU). In the profile, when asked how she would use her degree, Uwimbabazi said: “I will go back to my hospital and deliver holistic nursing care to the people within and outside the hospital, with interest in maternal and child health for the betterment of our community and nation.”

Two years later, Uwimbabazi manages the Uganda Sexual Health and Public Education (USHAPE) project in Uganda. USHAPE is a family planning program owned by the Margaret Pyke Trust, a UK project. Uwimbabazi got the job in 2020. She also is currently undergoing her mandatory internship at the Bwindi Community Hospital in Kanungu, western Uganda.

Her work at USHAPE includes coordinating a team of health workers with whom she conducts community outreaches to sensitize people about family planning and sexual health. She says because she has a soft spot for mothers, they open up to her during consultations. 

Uwimbabazi’s introduction to the field of medicine dates back to when she was in secondary school. She befriended an American couple, Scott and Carol Kellermann, who were Christian missionaries and medics, giving her an opportunity to appreciate what they were doing. The Kellermanns founded the Bwindi Community Hospital in 2003.

In 2009, as a nurse at Bwindi Community Hospital, a mother took her a sick child who seemed to be suffering from a respiratory blockage. 

“At first, I feared, because I thought the child would die,” she narrated. 

Overwhelmed by the fear that had overcome the mother, Uwimbabazi laid her hands over the child, and prayed fervently. She then sucked out the mucus-like substance that had blocked the baby’s respiratory system. In no time, the child’s condition stabilized. 

“I felt so grateful to God,” Uwimbabazi, age 34, said.  “That was my best moment as a nurse. I forgot about the cold, sleepless night that evening.” 

Studying at UCU was a dream come true for Uwimbabazi. At some point, before 2017, she had given up the hope of enrolling for university education. She met the academic requirements to be admitted. In fact, she was even admitted, but did not have the financial muscle to pay tuition. At the time, she held a Diploma in Nursing that she had attained in 2012 at the Kinkizi School of Comprehensive Nursing.

“I had always wanted to pursue a course at UCU. It offers a unique experience which sets one apart,” she said. “They offer foundational course units, such as writing and study skills, which give us an upper hand at the work place.”

Uwimbabazi, her husband, Robert and their children during family time. Courtesy photo.
Uwimbabazi, her husband, Robert and their children during family time. Courtesy photo.

Her husband, Robert Kamugisha, also an alumnus of UCU, was partly the stimulant for her inclination to UCU. She recounted how he never ceased to sing praises of the institution. (See Partners’ link  to his story in 2019.)

“He talked about how the institution impacted his life. All I wanted was to have the same experience. Indeed, I had the best time when I joined,” the mother of three children said. 

In 2017, the miracle that Uwimbabazi had been praying for happened. An acquaintance, Sarah, from Israel, offered to sponsor her, through the UCU Partners organization. “That was one of the best moments in my life. I could not believe it, when I saw the email from Sarah, telling me to prepare for school…”

Uwimbabazi graduated from UCU in February 2020. While in her last year at UCU, she was worried about having to study for an extra year. 

However, to her surprise, she says her lecturers were considerate and supportive. Uwimbabazi delivered her baby four days prior to exams. She would later display courage by writing all her exam papers. But it did not come that easy. 

“There were days when I got off the seat, knelt or sat on the ground to write my exam papers. The pain was too much yet I was determined to complete my course,” she recalls. 

Despite the challenges, Uwimbabazi shocked everyone by scoring a 4.6 GPA of 5.0 that semester.  She hopes to enroll for a Master of Nursing Science course at UCU in 2022. 

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To support Uganda Christian University 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. 

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Shalom Okeke, a UCU law school alumnus, was on July 29, 2021, called to the bar of Nigeria. Courtesy photo.

UCU alumnus called to the Nigerian bar

COVID-19, News, Students, UCU School of Law


Shalom Okeke, a UCU law school alumnus, was on July 29, 2021, called to the bar of Nigeria. Courtesy photo.
Shalom Okeke, a UCU law school alumnus, was on July 29, 2021, called to the bar of Nigeria. Courtesy photo.

By Jimmy Siyasa
Faced with the career paths of music and law, which one would you take to deliver you to glory? 

That is the question Shalom Okeke encountered years ago. He couldn’t choose, so he walked both. Today, Okeke is an accomplished music minister and a barrister.

Okeke achieved part of his childhood dream when he was called to the Nigerian bar on July 29, 2021, at a ceremony in Abuja, Nigeria. The development means the Uganda Christian University (UCU) alumnus will now be able to represent a party in a Nigerian court. 

The news of Okeke’s being called to the largest bar in Africa quickly reached Uganda, with his former dean at the UCU Faculty of Law, Dr. Roselyn Karugonjo Segawa, tweeting: “When one of your best students is called to the bar! Congratulations Shalom Okeke!” 

It is no surprise that Segawa, now the chairperson of the Leadership Code Tribunal in Uganda, still remembers Okeke. Her former student was the second best in the Bachelor of Laws class that graduated in 2019. 

In 2013, upon completing high school at St. Christopher’s Junior Seminary in Onitsha, Nigeria, Okeke and his parents got busy scouting for law schools out of Nigeria, but within Africa. “My parent and I chose UCU, because I wanted to study under an environment where I would not just be built intellectually, but also grow in faith,” Okeke says. 

Okeke (second-right) poses with his father, Rt. Rev. Henry Okeke (second-left) and mother, Mrs. Julie Okeke (First- right) and his sister, on his graduation day, at UCU main in 2019. Courtesy photo.
Okeke (second-right) poses with his father, Rt. Rev. Henry Okeke (second-left) and mother, Mrs. Julie Okeke (First- right) and his sister, on his graduation day, at UCU main in 2019. Courtesy photo.

When the family had decided on UCU, he enrolled at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka in Nigeria for a Diploma in Law course, as he awaited his visa and admission into UCU. Everything went according to plan. Okeke, therefore, had to drop out of the Diploma in Law course at Nnamdi Azikiwe after just half a year of studies. 

“Some of my colleagues (at the time) who didn’t know what was happening thought I had dropped out because the course was too tough,” he says during an interview from Nigeria. In 2014, Okeke set off to Uganda, to pursue his dream course in a country he had never been.

Activities at the Nkoyoyo Hall at UCU were the mainstay of Okeke’s spiritual development and feeding his passion for music. His skills and busy schedules had fashioned him into being one of the revered keyboardists in the university.

Asked how he struck a healthy balance between commitment to music and to the law course, in typical Christian modesty, Okeke attributes it all to God. He believes God guided him through tested strategies for academic achievers, such as relentless revision, knowing one’s best revision time and “learning to love all course units and the respective lecturers.”

Not all was smooth, though. He faced serious challenges as an international student while pursuing his course at UCU.  Three obstacles were the language barrier, unfamiliar food and lack of exposure to Ugandan history.

“Constitutional history needed me to, not just know the native names and cases, but also know Ugandan history. And that is something I had no clue about,” he says.

To aid his academic progress, Okeke began to commit to memorizing some of the cases with Ugandan names. Sometimes, and incorporating his music talent, he says, he often “silently” sang some of the Ugandan names as he headed to the exam room. 

Being a pastor’s child, Okeke got exposed to music and music instruments quite early; he lived within the church’s vicinity. And this granted him almost unlimited access. As a teenager, Okeke also pursued a certificate course in music. 

It is no wonder that besides playing the keyboard meticulously, Okeke also plays a couple of wind instruments, too. He is also an instrumentalist to the congregation shepherded by his father, the Rt. Rev. Henry Okeke, the Bishop of Ideato, one of the Dioceses under the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion. 

He is currently serving his country in the Nigeria Youth Service Corps (NYSC), a government program, whose aim is to involve Nigerian graduates in nation building and development.  The ultimate tune is yet to come.

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To support Uganda Christian University 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.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Poles without flags

UCU Mukono buildings breathe hope for returned use

Pictorial


Story and photos by Nickie Karitas
The Covid-19 pandemic has attempted to squeeze life out of many institutions in Uganda. Some have soldiered on and are still surviving. Others are either on financial life support or have been declared dead. 

Poles without flags
Poles without flags

Uganda Christian University (UCU) is among those still surviving despite visible differences on the main campus in Mukono. The colorful columns of flagpoles and the once melodious fountain at the main entrance now stand skeletal with a withered beauty of an era long gone. The environment appears to have accepted a state of silence, with footpaths encrusted with a leafy surrounding absence of conversation and book-laden men and women.

Fountain devoid of water
Fountain devoid of water

Canteens once bubbling with students consuming chips, peas, rice and juices are shacks deserted and collapsing wearily.  The jumping red-tail monkeys and twittering birds of many species are the most prevalent residents of the Student Guild Park and the many Freedom Squares. The centerpiece Hamu Mukasa library stands composed and quietly devoid of people and laptops as if it has chosen solitude that its signage asks of students once sitting side-by-side inside. 

Hamu Mukasa Library’s empty entrance
Hamu Mukasa Library’s empty entrance

All these are a stark contrast with what the university was, pre-Covid.

The pandemic’s busiest areas, perhaps, are the library’s e-learning lab and University Information Systems rooms as they stretch bandwidth to its limit and hum after hours to support staff and students more engaged in virtual learning that the country’s curfew and other virus guidelines permit. 

“The university used to be busy all the time, but things have now changed,” Nancy Ayikoru, a security guard at the main gate, says, noting that with the current online studies, she is not sure the situation will ever go back to where it was before Covid-19. 

Jim Patrick Wasswa, an engineering student, says he has never been a fan of online learning, but he now has to adapt.  

“It is sad that I cannot sit with my colleagues in a lecture room,” Wasswa says. “It is sadder that I may not turn up for the graduation with my parents and march on that red carpet.”

In normal times, the Nkoyoyo Hall, named after a late archbishop, hosts lunch hour services – the UCU Community Worship – every Tuesday and Thursday. The prayer sessions would be punctuated with clapping, singing and beats off musical instruments. Supplanted with online services, the hall in the summer of 2021 is as silent as a grave. 

Now-silent Nkoyoyo Hall
Now-silent Nkoyoyo Hall

Also in normal times, motorcycles and cars can be seen dropping off students at the university. Upon entering any of the university gates, the norm of presenting student identification cards and having bags checked by the security was never abandoned. But all that has changed. 

Despite the changes, the university retained skeletal staff to steer it as they worked on site during the most recent lockdown. 

“I am grateful to the management of UCU for its response to the situation,” Eliab Ikyiriza, a foundation studies lecturer, says. “The students’ education did not come to a standstill. Neither have they had to wait until the end of the lockdown to carry on with their studies.” 

Ikyiriza adds that he has observed a steady improvement in the learners’ attitude and willingness to use the various online platforms for learning and doing assignments. 

“UCU is headed for the best,” UCU Communication and Marketing Manager, Frank Obonyo, reaffirms. Speaking from his office near the Bishop Tucker building, he adds, “It is true that the lockdown has taken a toll on the university performance, but the best has been done to ensure that students’ careers are not cut short despite the pandemic. Examinations took place and students will also report for studies in the next intake.”

Bishop Tucker building
Bishop Tucker building

As UCU waits for the situation to normalize, the university’s buildings continue to stand, breathing hope. Hope that their entrances will crowd again, one day. 

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To support Uganda Christian University 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.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Amponda Kenneth Agaba (2nd left), with Herbert Mukuru (3rd left) visits parents and the administrators of Good Samaritan Primary School.

UCU Guild President lightens burdens of needy

COVID-19, News, Students, UCU School of Law


Amponda Kenneth Agaba (2nd left), with Herbert Mukuru (3rd left) visits parents and the administrators of Good Samaritan Primary School.
Amponda Kenneth Agaba (2nd left), with Herbert Mukuru (3rd left) visits parents and the administrators of Good Samaritan Primary School.

Story and photos by Eriah Lule
Amponda Kenneth Agaba believes that to rise, one must lift others. True to his belief, he has participated in many charity causes, while effortlessly also rising to positions of leadership at the institutions he has attended. 

One of those recent leadership positions is that of Guild President of Uganda Christian University (UCU). And his most recent charitable cause is the founding of a not-for-profit organization, the Amponda Foundation, a vehicle to boost others.

Agaba packs relief items headed for a donation at the Good Samaritan School.
Agaba packs relief items headed for a donation at the Good Samaritan School.

In 2016, when Agaba joined A’level at Gombe Secondary School in central Uganda, he successfully contested for the position of Scripture Union leader at the school. As a leader, he thought of a signature activity that would leave an indelible mark. At the time, there were brilliant, needy students who could not afford the fees at the school.

Agaba and his colleagues rolled up their sleeves and began a fundraising campaign among students and other members of the school community to help these disadvantaged students. On many occasions, they contributed money to the school’s financial aid purse. From this purse, the school got money to meet the tuition fees of the students in need.

At one point, they collected up to sh700,000 (about $200) from students, for this cause. And that was not all. Agaba also often rallied his fellow students to donate items, such as soap, which they would take to patients at the nearby Gombe Hospital. 

Now a fourth-year student of Bachelor of Laws at UCU, and through the Amponda Foundation, Agaba has been pivotal in the lives of students living in distress during the two lockdowns that Uganda has had due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Uganda had a three-month lockdown from March to June in 2020 and for 42 days, from June to July this year.

“We came to the rescue of students, mostly those who were in hostels,” he said, adding that they provided food to students in hostels at Kyambogo University, as well as at UCU. In addition to the food items, Agaba said they gave out money to help students with other survival needs. 

The university students have not been the only beneficiaries of Amponda Foundation. Good Samaritan Primary School, a school in Mukono for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), is one of the most recent beneficiaries of the foundation’s goodwill. The foundation teamed up with the UCU Guild government, students and well-wishers from the Mukono community and mobilized resources, such as scholastic materials, sanitary pads and foodstuffs to help children at the school.

The foundation also donated $225 toward the building of a PWD-accessible shopping center in Mukono. 

While dishing out donations during the Covid-19 lockdown, Agaba’s charity is a victim of

Agaba interacts with disabled pupil at Good Samaritan Primary School.
Agaba interacts with disabled pupil at Good Samaritan Primary School.

the pandemic. He says the closure of education institutions has been a barrier to securing more funds. He cannot collect enough supplies from the university community to donate to the vulnerable.

There are high chances Agaba’s foundation would not be existing had he not met a UCU alumnus, Herbert Mukuru, who also runs a similar charity – Upendo Mikono.

“When I became the Guild President, I met Mukuru, who showed me his projects with PWDs, something which opened my eyes,” Agaba says.

Agaba first met Mukuru at the latter’s restaurant. The next time he met Mukuru, he was in their class, soliciting donations, which they could take to PWDs. 

“When he saw me coming to their class to collect items, he also picked interest,” Mukuru said. “Agaba is an ambitious and optimistic man and I believe that with such an attitude, his foundation will help many people in need.”

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To support Uganda Christian University 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.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Dr. Eria Nsubuga, Photo by Stuart Williams

UCU’s new head of art promises to make industry more visible

Faculty, News, UCU School of Education


Dr. Eria Nsubuga, Photo by Stuart Williams
Dr. Eria Nsubuga, Photo by Stuart Williams

By Eriah Lule
Dr. Eria Nsubuga has always known that being an artist is more than setting pencil to paper, or brush to canvas. He also knows that a new artist uses art to learn and an accomplished one uses art to teach. 

Now, an accomplished artist, he is not only teaching art, but leading artists. Nsubuga is the new head of the Department of the Visual Art and Design under the Faculty of Engineering, Design and Technology at Uganda Christian University (UCU).

The 42-year-old has been rewarded with a leadership position with a challenge. 

Nsubuga stands next to a collage painting at an exhibition in 2013. Courtesy photo
Nsubuga stands next to a collage painting at an exhibition in 2013. Courtesy photo

“Ugandan art is something that isn’t given enough visibility,” he said. “That’s why Africa is represented by western and South Africans yet the entire continent is a habitat for art.”

Nsubuga already has ideas up his sleeves on how to start injecting visibility into Ugandan art. 

He hopes to influence grants and donations for the department, a development he thinks will open doors for some of his students to further their studies within the field of art. He argues that art in Africa, unlike other disciplines, is not taken as seriously as a scholarly endeavor worthy of major investment in the form of scholarships and grants. Nsubuga says the scholarship he got for his PhD was a partial one.  

He holds a practice-based doctorate from the Winchester School of Art, at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.

Five years ago, from 2011 to 2016, Nsubuga was an ordinary staff of the department he now heads. In 2017, he got the partial scholarship to pursue the PhD course. He completed the doctorate study early this year. Upon his return, UCU found no reward fitter than a promotion.

Nsubuga has practiced art for more than two decades. He has exhibited both as a solo artist and as part of a group since 2002. His works have been exhibited in Germany, the UK, the Netherlands (2003), Greece (2004), Japan (2004), USA (2005), Kenya (2003), Tanzania (2005), New York, U.S. (2017) and in South Africa (2018), among others. 

His works have also been published in various prominent journals and magazines, including the African Arts journal in 2017 and the 104th Transition magazine (Harvard University) of 2011, among others. 

“Using the exposure I got from different art workshops and exhibitions around the world, I am sure the department is going to build a bridge between the class and the broader field of art,” Nsubuga, a father of two, says.  

He intends to enroll soon for a post-doctoral fellowship at the Rhodes University in South Africa. 

He has practiced art professionally ever since his undergraduate student days at the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial Fine Art, Makerere University, from 1998 to 2001. Nsubuga was ranked one of the best performing students at undergraduate level, with a CGPA of 4.56 out of 5. He also pursued his master’s in sculptures at Makerere, graduating in 2007. 

Nsubuga previously worked with the Rainbow Art Club in 2008 and Naggenda International Academy of Art and Design (NIAAD) in 2009, before switching to academia in 2011.

He is the sixth of eight siblings, born to Samuel and Margaret Sserwanjja of Entebbe, in the central Uganda. All Nsubuga’s siblings were artists, though some decided to venture into other fields. 

Nsubugs attended Lake View School for his primary school and King’s College, Budo for his secondary school. 

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To support Uganda Christian University 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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Adiaka Matthew Ekonekatwaar with colleagues at UCU

UCU theology student journeys from Islam to Christianity

News, Students, UCU Alumni


Adiaka Matthew Ekonekatwaar with colleagues at UCU
Adiaka Matthew Ekonekatwaar with colleagues at UCU

By Joseph Lagen
Adiaka Matthew Ekonekatwaar, a Uganda Christian University (UCU) post-graduate student, is a naturally defiant man. He will defy the status quo if he believes his heart is elsewhere.

At the age of 10 years, Adiaka felt he had had enough of the Islam faith. Without consent from his mother, he started attending Christian praise and worship sessions at a nearby church. Adiaka often took advantage of the time when his mother was away at evening prayers at a mosque in their community. And he often made sure to return before she did. 

Music attracted him to the church, but conviction kept him in the faith. Two years later, the 12-year-old was christened Matthew and confirmed a Christian in the Anglican Church. Adiaka, who had been given the name Yahaya at birth, did not meet much resistance from his mother, Esther Lorimo, as he switched faiths. 

Ordinand Adiaka in front of the Bishop Tucker Building in UCU
Ordinand Adiaka in front of the Bishop Tucker Building in UCU

Lorimo had changed from Christianity to Islam when she got married to Adiaka’s father, Abdi Zirabamuzaale, who was a famous traditional healer in the region. He died when Adiaka was still a toddler, leaving behind nine children.

To show commitment, Adiaka stayed true to his faith, even when he was far from home. While in secondary school at Busoga College Mwiri in eastern Uganda, Adiaka joined the Scripture Union, a club that uses the Bible to inspire people to know more about God. It was at the Scripture Union where he accepted Christ, at 14 years. 

And his talent in public speech came in handy during evangelism, as well as taking up positions of leadership. Adiaka served as the deputy head of students at Mwiri and as the head of students at central Uganda’s Naalya Senior Secondary School, where he studied A’level. 

Even when Naalya was a predominantly Catholic school, Adiaka and a few Anglican friends often met and prayed regularly. All students in Naalya were expected to attend only Catholic prayers, but, sometimes, Adiaka and his Anglican friends defied. Even if it usually got them into trouble, they still prayed and evangelised in the dormitories. 

In May 2019, Adiaka again shocked his family with his defiance. He turned down an offer for an interview for a government job as the District Inspector of Schools, in preference for a Master of Arts in Theology course at UCU. The District Inspector of Schools is charged with ensuring compliance of education standards by all schools in the district. 

The master’s program, which Adiaka is expected to complete this year, culminates into his ordination as a Reverend – what the 30-year-old has always desired in his life.

The interview whose invitation Adiaka turned down was for a position in Nabilatuk, his home district in northeastern Uganda. 

“My elder brothers and relatives pleaded with me to attend the interview,” Adiaka recalls, saying they even fuelled a car and sent it over 210 miles away, to pick him at UCU, where he had already begun studies for his master’s course. 

Adiaka and Joy on their wedding day
Adiaka and Joy on their wedding day

When he declined to travel for the interview, preferring to pursue his course, his family members cut off ties with him for the next year. 

Adiaka graduated as a professional teacher at Makerere University in 2017. Even if he declined to sit an interview for a job in his home district, Adiaka says he has his affection for his home district. 

“In 2018, I left teaching in schools in Kampala, in preference for a Catholic seminary back home,” Adiaka, the husband of Joy Lomokol, said. The couple has a daughter, named Hallelujah Ajokis. 

“It was while teaching at the seminary that my home church, St. Luke’s Nabilatuk, suggested that I succeed the retiring reverend – they were even willing to contribute to my theology studies, that is how I knew they were serious.”

And that is how Adiaka got sponsorship for his master’s course from his home diocese, as well as the UCU Faculty of Theology. 

He is presently serving at St. Luke’s Nabilatuk as an ordinand. Upon graduation at UCU, Adiaka is expected step in to fill the shoes of one of the five ministers who is scheduled to retire in two years. 

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To support Uganda Christian University 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.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook