All posts by Patty Huston-Holm

About Patty Huston-Holm

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

Dr. Senyonyi calls for “avoiding mediocrity” to transform Uganda’s education system

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Dr. John Senyonyi  is pinned with the Makerere University badge by Mrs. Lorna Magara, while Dr. David Onen, Prof. Umar Kakumba and Prof. Fred Masaazi look on.

By Douglas Olum

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) notes that more than a billion children globally go to school everyday to receive education. But the quality of that education is in question.

According to UNICEF, “access to education of poor quality is tantamount to no access at all” and “the quality of education children receive is critical to genuine learning and human development.”

Uganda is among countries that live with the reality of questionable education quality. A 2013 report published by the Zimbabwe Journal of Education Research described the challenges to the quality of education in Uganda as with“sociological, economic and philosophical dimensions.” The researchers recommend an overhaul of the entire education system in both pedagogical and non-pedagogical areas.

Among leaders weighing in on education inferiority is Uganda Christian University Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi.  He addressed the issue as part of his November 14, 2019, speech at the Second Annual Prof. William Senteza Kajubi memorial lecture, held at Makerere University. Using the theme, “Fostering the quality of education in Uganda,” the event was in memory of a former two-time Vice Chancellor at the host university.

In his address as the keynote speaker, Dr. Senyonyi said that Uganda has been bedeviled and crippled politically and economically by the educated class “whose education is cerebral and constricted.”

He said it is unfortunate that quality education in Uganda has been reduced to obtaining high grades in the promotional exams.

“For years, there has been an outcry about the examination-centered approach to education in Uganda,” he said. “Examinations are necessary for assessment of the learner. Unfortunately, current trends have made examinations, promotion to the next education level and appearing in newspapers the purpose for education, rather than a means for evaluating a learner’s understanding.”

He continued: ”I confess right from the beginning that I view quality holistically. It is more than impartation of skills to do a job or research abilities. Genuine quality education should change the whole person, as a person, and his or her entire outlook and output.”

However, he said he has heard outcries from employers, government, secondary schools, universities and other institutions of higher learning that graduates are unusable.  They need to be retrained to fit the work they train for, and there is a scarcity of skilled personnel that can serve the strategic direction envisaged for national development. Among problems are that students may get high grades in Primary Leaving Examinations but are unable to keep their good grades, and that students can neither “express themselves nor spell correctly.”

Dr. Senyonyi said that quality education “must not be viewed as a dead end, but as a dynamic target achieved through responsiveness to the changing needs, facilities at both the national and international environment.” He further elaborated on he need for quality to be clearly defined and made responsive to the broad spectrum, spanning nursery (pre-school), primary, secondary, high school and higher education.

“In Uganda today we are so satisfied with mediocrity in our education, music and even the dressing, and that is very unfortunate,” Dr. Senyonyi said.

He also said that while standards are admittedly lacking across the various education levels and institutions, there are needs for adjustment in the following areas: 1) keener look on the quality of pre-primary education; 2) regulation of training institutions for instructors; 3) development of instructional materials for use at pre-primary level; 4) matching theoretical training with practicals; and 5)intentionally establishing of entrepreneurial incubation centres.

Changes he proposed include these:

  • according practicums and fieldwork their right places;
  • genuine accreditation and licensing procedures;
  • effective monitoring and evaluation of institutions of higher learning by regulatory bodies like the National Council for Higher Education; and
  • provision for research outputs and proper funding for institutions of higher learning.

Dr. David Onen, a senior lecturer at Makerere University who was the main discussant, said some of the challenges facing Uganda’s education system were a result of failure by the Government to implement some earlier recommendations contained in a report written in 1989 under the leadership of the late Prof. Kajubi and widely known as “The Kajubi Report.”

For instance, he said the Government introduced teaching children in the lower classes using their mother tongues, yet the national examinations are conducted in English. That was something not included in the Kajubi report. He wondered out loud where the spirit of corruption that has eaten through Uganda’s systems come from when students are not taught at the same levels in schools.

Makerere University First Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs, Dr. Umar Kakumba, who represented the university’s Vice Chancellor, said the theme of the lecture came at the right time when institutions world over are grappling with the issue of quality.

He said while Uganda has seen an increased accessibility and expansion of institutions of higher learning, there has emerged “an increasing challenge of ensuring the quality of education.”

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For more of these stories and experiences by and about Uganda Christian University (UCU) students and graduates, visit https://www.ugandapartners.org.

If you would like to support UCU, contact Mark Bartels, Executive Director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or go to https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/

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UCU School of Medicine (SoM) students Joana Bideri, Ronnie Mwesigwa and Peter Kabuye talk with Dr. Arabat Kasangaki, dental surgeon and lecturer at UCU’s SoM at the Mengo Hospital, Kampala, Uganda.

Uganda Dentistry looking glass: ‘Mouth is mirror to body’

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UCU School of Medicine (SoM) students Joana Bideri, Ronnie Mwesigwa and Peter Kabuye talk with Dr. Arabat Kasangaki, dental surgeon and lecturer at UCU’s SoM at the Mengo Hospital, Kampala, Uganda.
UCU School of Medicine (SoM) students Joana Bideri, Ronnie Mwesigwa and Peter Kabuye talk with Dr. Arabat Kasangaki, dental surgeon and lecturer at the UCU School of Medicine at the Mengo Hospital, Kampala, Uganda.

By Patty Huston-Holm

Bad breath could indicate a digestive problem. A burning tongue might be sign of anaemia. Bleeding gums point to possible vitamin deficiencies. A yellow gum lining may mean liver or kidney issues.

Dr. Arabat Kasangaki with the Uganda Christian University School of Medicine dentistry program
Dr. Arabat Kasangaki with the Uganda Christian University School of Medicine dentistry program

Sitting in his small office within a building of the Mengo Hospital/Uganda Christian University (UCU) School of Medicine, Dr. Arabat Kasangaki patiently ticked off the “swelling, sores, discoloration” aspects of understanding the bigger picture of a dentist’s job.

“The mouth is a mirror to the body,” he said. “Mostly, you hear the word ‘cavity,’ which is considered one of the biggest problems worldwide, but the best dentists know and provide much more.”

Just moments before and in the sunshine within the Kampala, Uganda, medical complex, the 59-year-old dentist and teacher extolled the virtues of chemistry related to dentistry to one of his students. 

“If you don’t understand much of the basic sciences, you won’t be a good dentist and risk being a mechanic who sees the tooth as a patient instead of the whole human being,” Kasangaki asserted in response to the student’s push back on that course. “You must learn and understand the sciences and their applications.”

At the same time, dentists need to be dentists.  In Uganda, many dentists, particularly in rural areas, step out of their role to do general medical practitioner tasks, but those medical practices are malpractices. The job of a dentist is “confined to the mouth, face and neck” and to alert patients and their doctors to symptoms of problems in other parts of the body based on what is observed in their region of operation, he said.

The status of health care, including dentistry, is bleak in developing countries like Uganda. Sub-Saharan Africa, which includes Uganda, has 12% of the world’s population but only 3.5% of the world’s healthcare workforce. According to Kasangaki, there is less than one dentist for every 140,000 of Uganda’s some 40 million people.

“In the United States, there is a high saturation of dentists and the population there has a high awareness of the value of oral health,” he said. “Here in Uganda, people aren’t aware of the importance of good dental practices.  When they do come, they are often at the emergency stage and are afraid.”

The dentistry deficiencies of his country – something he sees firsthand – drive Kasangaki to not only teach well the next generation of dentists but to develop a dentistry building to house clinics and labs as part of a strategic plan for a UCU SoM Dental School. In August, he submitted an approximately $3 million dental school infrastructural plan to UCU’s planning department as well as to the American architect who has designed many of the UCU buildings.

“We need simulators for the pre-clinical training of students and dental lab equipment plus other technology in a student-dedicated dental clinic,” he said. “We need to be able to attract, retain and train the best.”

Makerere University, which has had a dentistry program for nearly three decades and where Kasangaki, who doubles as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon and pedodontist, has taught, is the biggest competitor.  The program there is good, but the Christian aspect of UCU makes it better with emphasis on “the compassionate worker.”

Despite his busy schedule of teaching, practicing and developing a quality dental program at UCU, Dr. Kasangaki is keenly aware that his work and his mission are directed by God and that his accomplishments are to His glory. A name badge on his desk is from a Monday men’s group Bible study that he seldom misses.

At one point in life, he wanted to be a pastor. At another point, he thought he would be an engineer or a medical doctor. Despite his humble upbringing as one of 10 children in his family living the Kyegegwa western Uganda region, he had international education and practical experience opportunities. He has studied, taught and practiced in the Soviet Union, China and South Africa, acquiring English, Swahili, Russian and Chinese languages along the way.  He came to realize that a life for Christ takes many forms.

Among his most memorable service in dentistry was a man who arrived with a deformed face – “sort of like he had two heads” – and who “had been written off.”  Dr. Kasangaki was able to do surgery to fix the jaw and repair the deformity. The dentist attributes God for his abilities and the teachings of Jesus for his compassion to help.

In August of 2019, the UCU School of Medicine accepted its second round of new students. The total admitted is 120 with approximately 15% being dentistry students. The number seems small, but Dr. Kasangaki sees it as a place to start in a quality way.

“A Christian university is the best place for that growth to happen,” he said.

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To support the Uganda Christian University School of Medicine or other programs, 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.

Caleb Ndishakiye Niringiyimana, director of Glow-Lit and a UCU graduate, gives a literacy lesson to children in Uganda.

UCU alumnus launches volunteer effort to improve Uganda’s literacy

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Caleb Ndishakiye Niringiyimana, director of Glow-Lit and a UCU graduate, gives a literacy lesson to children in Uganda.
Caleb Ndishakiye Niringiyimana, director of Glow-Lit and a UCU graduate, gives a literacy lesson to children in Uganda.

By Caleb Ndishakiye Niringiyimana
Your passion could be the only tool you’ve got to positively change the world around you.

That’s the short answer to what’s behind the non-profit I started. As a book lover and a Uganda Christian University (UCU) alumnus from the Department of Literature, Education and Arts faculty, I am the founder and director of Glow-Lit Ltd (Glow-Literature Limited) under the theme of an “Africa that reads.”

Glow-Lit grew from a conviction that a strong reading culture among Africans is the least-trodden avenue to solving the many socio-economic bottlenecks we face.

Glow-Lit is a non-profit organization with a mission to cultivate a culture of reading

Despite the nearly 20% poverty rate (not a nice statistic) in Uganda, our education, hygiene and sanitation, and access to services are appalling. With about 100 registered public libraries and only about 50 of them fully operative, about 71% of people above age 10 able to read, and about 90% of the ones reading doing it for grades in school, it is easy to see the co-relation between the state of social amenities and self-empowerment through reading.

A book has power, in part, because it is written with emotions, convictions and/or facts from the author. Therefore, an innate light can be found within the pages of a book, and when people read the book, they are impacted in two ways: First, sharing the light from the book; and second, being charged (lit or enlightened) to do something with the knowledge–which is the symptom of self-empowerment, and transforms the conditions of life, even at a community level. Hence the name, Glow-Lit (do something for yourself and your community with the light you have).

At Glow-lit, we believe that book lovers are the best agents to make more book lovers and world changers. Therefore, we gather book lovers and take them to schools and communities where people are gathered. The locations are school buildings, community libraries, corporate companies, homes, and coffee/tea shops. We pair people who love to read with individuals wanting to improve their reading. We read and grow together at a schedule convenient for each community/entity that hosts us. The standards of skill and passion enable growth into a mentor, who is assigned new entrants in our reading track and the cycle continues. Therefore, you can glow when lit, and growing your love for books can light you.

We also ensure there is accessibility to books. The majority of African families and schools cannot afford a book, and government funding priority is given to academic pamphlets instead of books. We work with entities that donate books, and we identify the need, which is predominantly private primary schools, some public primary schools, private secondary schools and of course communities where residents almost have nothing to rely on for reading once they are not in school.

Our focus is on developing the reading culture among our children and youth, especially in the formative years. This is because the values learned as a young child have a greater possibility of lasting and being lived with ease compared to ones taught in later years of development. This though does not eliminate adults who have the need and will to jump on the literacy train.

We also acknowledge the wanting state of scholarship on African literary works. We envision an online platform where professors and researchers avail their analysis of African literary works to other scholars in order for us to “Take African literature to the world.” We would love to have students of African literature hear from those who went ahead of them about these works, and we as Glow-Lit are ready to be the medium.

We operate only in Ugandan schools and communities with hope to serve Africa entirely, someday. More than reading, we mentor youth and facilitate character formation using books. That is why we read both fiction and nonfiction alternatingly. Fiction is aimed chiefly to reading for entertainment; yet still the message, characterization and the style help refine our youths. Nonfiction, which is usually youth livelihood, leadership and many relevant subjects, are organized in a workshop setting with facilitators. Testimonies from students keep us moving. We work so closely with school reading clubs focusing them to intentional reading. Once we come in, we make reading so fashionable that these clubs grow tremendously, bringing new book lovers, almost doubling the initial numbers in less than a year’s operation. Registering such impact is a huge milestone and signal to how much more can be achieved.

Our program, “The Home Book Drive,” (our most loved program) which runs during school holidays, focuses on engaging children in reading from their homes. We reduce their TV time by taking books and inviting children from the neighborhood to join in reading, playing and snacking.

Our team of 24 is comprised of professional and student volunteers, 100% driven by the passion to give.

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Glo-Lit needs book donations and reading volunteers. To learn more, go to www.glow-lit.org.

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For more of these stories and experiences by and about Uganda Christian University (UCU) students and graduates, visit https://www.ugandapartners.org. If you would like to support UCU, contact Mark Bartels, Executive Director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or go to https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/Also follow and like our Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages.

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Dr. Mangalwadi (left) and Dr. Magara (right) pose with their gifts at the closure of the event.jpg

Secular universities pose risks to good parenting in 21st century

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Dr. Mangalwadi (left) and Dr. Magara (right) pose with their gifts at the closure of the event
Dr. Mangalwadi (left) and Dr. Magara (right) pose with their gifts at the closure of the event.

By Douglas Olum

It was noon on a brightly sunny Wednesday, just a few minutes before 1 O’clock when I and more than 60 other people made our way into the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala, Uganda. Most of the people I travelled with in the 67-seater, Uganda Christian University (UCU) owned bus were university staff. One group had already entered the hotel premises and another group comprised of students were following us in a rented bus.People were trickling in as we made our way into the Flower Room.

We were there for the annual Public Lecture organised by UCU and the African Policy Centre (APC). The Flower Room, located on the 5th floor of the multi-storied building,was already more than half full with people from other universities, institutions and organizations. The 2019 topic was “Parenting at risk: Raising children in the 21st century.”

Dr. Mangalwadi emphasises a point during his presentation
Dr. Mangalwadi emphasises a point during his presentation

Soon,Dr. Vishal Mangalwadi, the guest lecturer, walks in, dressed in a long,Indian-styled, orange, collarless, long-sleeved shirt. Welcomed by the UCU Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi and Deputy Vice Chancellor, Mr. David Mugawe, he settled upfront where the seats for the Guest Speaker, Discussant, Guest of Honour, the university chancellor and Church of Uganda Archbishop, and the Vice Chancellor were set. The rest of the members soon joined them before the lecture, slated for a 2 p.m. start.

Dr. Mangalwadi, a native of India known as a social reformer and Christian philosopher, addressed a crowd of over 1,000.  He first took the crowd through the understanding of the word “father.” To him, a father is not just a man who makes a woman pregnant. But one who actively participates in guiding and raising his child – like God who guided Abraham to make a great nation.

Noting that a nation cannot be great without the knowledge of the father, Dr. Mangalwadi said it was unfortunate that in today’s world, the best universities around the globe do not know the father, and they teach their students with skills that are not backed by God’s knowledge and wisdom.

“Universities are the greatest risk to parenting in this century because they are the source of darkness,” he said. “The universities are not teaching their students important values like love. They make it easier for one to love their neighbor’s wife than their own because the neighbor’s wife will not ask them to mop the house or take care of the child. Loving one’s wife, not a neighbor’s wife, is what universities should teach but that is what most of them are not teaching and that is a great risk to parenting.”

Dr. Mangalwadi said the institution of marriage and the family is being destroyed. He, therefore, encouraged Uganda Christian University to stand up against the “forces of darkness” and cultivate Christian values in its students in order to reverse the trend.

He also said the university has a great role to play to changing the practice in Uganda where women are treated like machines.

“America is the only country in the world that has understood the concept of the family best,” Dr. Mangalwadi said. “In other countries, like Uganda, a woman is a slave in her own house because she cannot cause her husband to do anything. She is the one who cooks the food, tenders the children and does everything in the house while the husband is seated. The woman should not be doing the work that the wheelbarrow should be doing. It is dehumanizing to make a woman do what machines can do.”

He encouraged parents not to lean on their own knowledge while raising their children but involve the Church because their “own intellect is not good enough for proper parenting.”

Dr. Ronah Magara, the Makerere University chairperson of the university council, who was the Guest of Honour at the event, said children pick more of their lifestyles from observing what their parents do.She said while all parents may have good intentions to raise their children into valuable people, parenting is a deliberate, planned process that needs to be rethought because “good intentions are not good enough.”

Dr. Magara said when parents fail to guide their children, the television and other improper sources take over the parenting role, thereby spoiling the children.

Rev. Prof. Edison Kalengyo, who was the discussant, said while universities in Uganda think that children join them while they are already spoiled, many of them get spoiled from the instructions due to lack of guidance.

He, however, blamed promotion of children’s rights without responsibility and absenteeism among additional risks to parenting in this century.

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To support UCU students, programs and facilities, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, atm.t.bartels@ugandapartners.orgor at UCU Partners, P.O. Box 114, Sewickley, Pa. 15143.

Also, follow us on Facebook or Instagram.

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‘My life is a footprint of God’

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Namangale (third right) heads for her degree

By Douglas Olum

“My life was surrounded by death, death and death. Sometimes we read about faith in the Bible and doubt it, but for me, I have seen and experienced it.”

Such were some of the reflections of 27-year-old Jane Najale Namangale as she was recognized as the overall best performer at the 4th part of the 20th Uganda Christian University graduation ceremony on October 25, 2019. She scored a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.82 out of 5.00.  She was among 32 first class graduands out of a total of 1,200 who marched on the red carpet that Friday.

While she was being celebrated, Namangale did not have a parent or relative who accompanied her to witness her victory. In her cheering section was a friend, Kelly Rompel, an American Missionary based in Uganda. The reason for lack of blood relatives was that death took almost everyone around her.

One of six children, Namangale never saw her father because she was born months after his death. Her mother, Mary Auma, died six months after her birth. Left in the hands of her aged grandmother, the baby Namangale could not receive the adequate care needed. A local, missionary founded childcare organization, Good Shepherd, took her and one brother. Three sisters and another brother, fathered by a different man, were taken by that man.

At Good Shepherd, Namangale and many other children received food, medication, health care, clothing, education, among other needs. She also got spiritual nourishment at the center.

However, she was dropped from the organization’s care after she finished her secondary (Ordinary Level) education because of policy issues. But an American missionary family, took her on because she had no home to go to. The family of Michael Templeton took her through high school to acquire the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education.

But when the Templeton’s left Uganda, Namangale and some of her friends started selling fruits in the Eastern Uganda, Jinja town, for survival. For about three years, she was in this trade before she got a cleaning job with Cherish Uganda, another childcare organization. She worked with the organization for four years.

It was from Cherish Uganda that the grown up Namangale interacted with disadvantaged children, most of who had mental health problems, and developed the desire to practice social work. She wanted to return to school and pursue a degree in social work but her earning was too little to take her to a university.

“I shared my feelings, prayed about it and also asked my friends to join me in the prayer,” Namangale said. “Mine was nothing but pure faith.”

A few months later, one of her brothers from her step dad offered to pay for her studies at the university. Namangale was admitted to the UCU Social Work and Social Administration program. But during her first semester at the university, her brother, Walter Wanjala, who was an architect, got involved in a fatal motor vehicle accident that claimed his life. It was especially heartbreaking as this was her closest relative.

“At that point, I got so angry with God,” Namangale said. “I felt like any other person could have gone but not him because he was the full package of both a brother and parent. I even doubted God and kept asking: Why, why, why? But that was the time I saw God’s hands.”

An American friend to her former guardian, Templeton, came to her rescue. He had been trying to get in touch with her and help her for quite some time. Immediately, he took care of her tuition and all academic related needs.

“I gave education my best because I knew this was the only chance I have,” Namangale said. “If I delayed to graduate, there was going to be no other source of money to see me through school.”

As she graduated, three of her five siblings have all died. The other two returned to their roots somewhere in Kenya.

Despite obstacles and a void of family, Namangale sees her life as “a footprint of God” – one that will enable her to positively impact children with disabilities by establishing a care center for them and to help older students as a university lecturer. She believes that God has a purpose for which he allowed her to go through all the hardships.

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To support UCU students, programs and facilities, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at mtbartels@gmail.com or at UCU Partners, P.O. Box 114, Sewickley, Pa. 15143.

Also, follow up on Facebook or Instagram.

Mainstream journalism fight in social media world

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Alex Taremwa shares information during a September 2019 presentation at the United States International University-Africa, based in Nairobi.

By Alex Taremwa

It’s Friday morning at Matooke Republic, a largely digital-only Ugandan newspaper that I edit. The metrics are not tallying up, and we have already lost clients due to the nosedive of our readers from over 150,000 daily to under 30,000.

Under normal circumstances, editors in legacy media – that is, those practicing traditional journalism – do not concern themselves with revenue issues. They focus on the words and let the sales and marketing team make money.  But the digital disruption shook up several trees in newsrooms.

Here I was on a Friday morning explaining to my bosses how the plunge in our audience reach was not because we did not have good content but because Facebook, a giant technology company in California, had chosen to limit the reach of posts from businesses, brands and traditional media houses.

(How do UCU students get news? Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zZJc95-daY&feature=youtu.be)

The results were instant. Not just at Matooke Republic. Even big international cable news companies felt the pinch. Jennifer Grygiel, Assistant Professor of Communications (Social Media) and Magazine, News and Digital Journalism, at Syracuse University in New York published a paper that said that media publishers as small as Matooke Republic lost more half their reach when the changes took place at the turn of 2018.

In her research, Grygiel found that one effect of the change was to reduce the number of interactions Facebook users had with credible journalism outlets.  In the United States, the focus has been on politics with Facebook algorithms noted in the midst of the last American election in 2016 and then with use of Facebook personal profile information for political advertising by the British consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in his statement  about the changes in January 2018, noted that his vision of Facebook was interaction between friends and family. He said the algorithm change was made because the social media space had been clogged by updates from the media, businesses and brands, cutting down on the human interaction.

Chart demonstrating Facebook reach dive

Data from CrowdTangle, a social media monitoring company, shows that Facebook traffic dropped noticeably at such credible media sources as CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, The New York Times and The Washington Post after the Facebook company updated its algorithms to favor friends and family in June 2016. Long story short, by August of that year – seven months after Zuckerberg’s announcement – the News Feed algorithm change had resulted in a drop in engagement for Business Pages. For some, the drop was as much as 50%.

Back to the Matooke Republic meeting, some of the smartest men in the room – me inclusive – sat in the corner office in September of 2018 and began to brainstorm how to beat this algorithm change. Our stories have been trending the whole month since Ugandan politician and musician, Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine), dodged a bullet a few weeks earlier in Arua where he had been campaigning for a colleague.

Some of our stories had hit over 1,000 shares on Facebook alone. The platform was a key distribution point of our content, followed by Twitter and WhatsApp. But then we were reaching ZERO people all of a sudden. We had to think, and think fast.

Here are three things we did to survive and thrive in the social media game, particularly with regard to Facebook:

More photos and video
After careful observation of our platforms, we noticed that the Facebook algorithm was targeting stories with links to the Web site but did not mind photos and video. The two formats of content travelled almost as fast as before but stories shared directly from the web to our pages did not receive much attention. That is how we adopted video as form of content distribution. The video editor, Asiimwe Vincent Smoky, suddenly became the busiest man in the room and the cornerstone of our turnaround. The pages began gaining traction and the renaissance started.

Sharing stories on personal timelines
Another observation we made was that although the algorithm limited the access of stories shared from our website to the page, the stories reached a better number of people when shared from personal profiles of individuals. We quickly encouraged our team to start sharing their stories and those of their colleagues on their timelines, the groups they are in and forums of public discourse.

We used 40 Facebook groups as a testing ground and got exceptional results.

Game changer Bitly
The other trick was to study the competition and see how they were sharing their content. We noticed that both the New Vision, Daily Monitor and a few other Ugandan online platforms were using Bitly – a website that shortens other website links. Turned out that if a link is shortened using this website, the “smart” algorithm could not flag it; therefore, people were more easily led to the website.

From my research, I have found several new techniques such as native video, live video, Facebook, Instagram stories and Snapchat stories, embedded video.

So here’s the bottom line regarding social media, namely Facebook. With over 2.5 billion active monthly users, Facebook will remain at the heart of content creation and distribution for news media. It is how traditional, journalistic media use such platforms that will determine whether we win or lose in the game that Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, Netflix are winning.

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Alex Taremwa, a Uganda Christian University graduate with a degree in journalism and mass communications, is studying digital journalism at Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications in Kenya.  He shared this information during a September 2019 presentation at the United States International University – Africa based in Nairobi. He also participates in industry-led discussions about the place of social media in newsrooms and the effects on journalism credibility.

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For more of these stories and experiences by and about Uganda Christian University (UCU) students and graduates, visit https://www.ugandapartners.org. If you would like to support UCU, contact Mark Bartels, Executive Director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or go to https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/

Also follow and like our Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages.

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Uganda agriculture leader strives to help low-income farmers

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Ugandan woman pulling cocoa bean pod from tree

By Michael Holm

Robert Galusanja Kibirango built his career from the ground up — as a farmer.

Growing up on his family’s farm, young Robert would get up early each morning before school to help his father with the chores. It was his father’s influence that enabled Robert to develop a sustained interest in farming.

It was an interest that later turned into his passion that he learned to leverage to earn enough money to pay for his education. This went from Bishop Secondary in Mukono to a Bachelors in Procurement and Logistics Management at Uganda Christian University (UCU), through completion his Masters in Business Administration (also from UCU) with a dissertation on corporate governance.

It also was during his time at UCU that he learned about servant leadership — which has become an integral part of his leadership philosophy.

Today, as Board of Directors chairperson of Uganda’s National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS), Kibirango is still a farmer, with two sites — one in Mukono District and one in nearby Buyikwe District — where he keeps 3,000 laying hens, raises goats and cows and grows bananas, cassava and maize. It was his interest in farming and his passion for helping members of his agricultural community learn best practices that inspired him to take them to successful farms far and wide so they could visit, listen and ask questions. He also found other ways to provide training, even when it meant loading 12 farmers into his pickup truck for a five-hour drive to Masaka or conducting trainings in his own home.

His work did not go unnoticed. Residents became more open about expressing their needs. Once, Kibirango visited a woman who told him she needed a heifer. Another farmer proudly presented him with five liters of fresh milk in appreciation for his help.

The farmers Kibirango befriended all those years chose him as Mukono Subcounty Farmer Forum Chair, where he used his leadership skills to further promote agricultural best practices and subsequently lead the effort for the entire Mukono District. When NAADS was formed, Mr. Kibirango, as the leader of a large farmer’s group, was one of nine chosen from 347 candidates for a position on the fledgling Board of Directors. Later, when the board chair resigned, Kibirango was appointed chair, a position he has held for over four years.

Robert Galusanja Kibirango, chair, Uganda National Agricultural Advisory Services

Small-scale farming in Uganda often means resource scarcity, poor soil and arduous labor — in a word, hardship. Yields are not optimized and small-scale farmers too often receive low prices for their commodities. For Kibirango, that status quo is unacceptable.

NAADS, founded in 2001 by Uganda’s national government, works to change that by dedicating itself to helping these farmers throughout Uganda. One asset to this  assistance is a partnership  with Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), a collaborative effort started by President Yoweri Museveni and designed to improve standards of living for Ugandans — especially rural ones. OWC, with its many partners, seeks to raise living standards and improve on economic equity for those living below poverty thresholds by improving agricultural policies and practices, increasing productivity, modernizing technologies in local economies, upgrading rural infrastructure and stimulating economic development in local communities.

For example, this past July, the NAADS Monitoring & Evaluation Team conducted a field study to compare NAADS tissue cultures with local materials at a large-scale plantation in Kiryandongo District. The team demonstrated that banana plantlets, which are free of disease at planting, could be maintained through proper crop management.

By providing information and resources that farmers need, NAADS continues to work to improve agricultural performance in Uganda — from one percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009 to 3.6 percent today. The help that NAADS includes seed and other materials for planting maize (corn), beans, tea, mangoes, pineapples and apples. The organization also works to improve communication among stakeholders, facilitate organizational development among farmer and community groups and to provide vital educational resources about agricultural best practices.

In addition to 800,000 hoes, NAADS recently procured 280 tractors from India with plans to begin distribution of the first 100 tractors through local farmer and community groups when they are ready and once operational guidelines are finalized. Currently, the average cost to till one acre is 100,000 Ugandan schillings (UGX), or about $27. Through advances in mechanization, Kibirango hopes to improve efficiencies and reduce labor costs, which in turn will boost the standard of living for many farmers and literally improve their lots.

NAADS also is working with Operation Wealth Creation to build processing and production capacity for Uganda. Kibirango believes that building this capacity will enable the country to improve employment and infrastructure outlooks and work to capture a vital part of the supply chain for its agricultural commodities. Uganda’s cocoa crop, for example, is exported in raw form for processing in other countries. For NAADS, cocoa is a priority commodity. During the 2018/19 fiscal year, NAADS distributed 3,910,986 cocoa seedlings. Kibirango sees no reason why Uganda cannot own this means of production.

There is much work to be done. Sugar cane sometimes threatens wetlands, forests are compromised for hidden grazing ,and shifting rainy seasons are adding hardship for subsistence farmers. Land use, crop rotation, proper fertilization, irrigation, processing, mechanization and solar dryers are all part of NAADS’ plan for adding value to Ugandan agriculture. Although it is not a regulatory agency, NAADS provides policy guidance and encouragement to ensure that best practices are maintained so that Ugandan farmers will be able to sow smart and reap in abundance.

“Poverty is in the minds of people,” insists Kibirango, who long ago asked himself what he could do to help and then leveraged his servant leadership skills to the cause. “Within me,” Kibirango says, “I’ve always liked to see people happy. When you make people happy, you’re happy.”

Kibirango tells his constituents that “being a farmer is not a curse.” He still loves to visit farmers throughout Uganda and personally conducts some of the on-site reviews five or six times every year. He asks them about their hopes and their ambitions. Kibirango knows he can relate to these farmers on their own level and they respond with friendship and trust.

And why wouldn’t they? He is one of them.

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To support UCU students, programs, equipment and facilities, 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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Late archbishop nephew accentuates UCU Sunday at St. Stephens Nsambya

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By Anitah Mahoro
The House of Bishops from the Church of Uganda birthed the last Sunday of September as “UCU Sunday” three years ago to recognize Uganda Christian University (UCU) and its contribution to education and morality.

I was honored to journey and celebrate the event at St Stephen’s Nsambya, an Anglican Church in the heart of Nsambya Barracks in Kampala. Prior to my journey, Walter Apunyo, ordinand of the church diligently gave me directions. In the early hours of dawn, I set off from the southeastern Butabika area of Uganda’s capital city. As is common to Sunday mornings and unlike other mornings of the week in Kampala, the road was clear and streets deserted.

I arrived at the church at a quarter past 8 o’clock.  As I left the car, a cool breeze engulfed me almost as simultaneously as the sounds from children around the church. Careful not to trample on them, I made my way to the church entrance and found it filled to its 700-seat capacity. Walter greeted me warmly and informed me that I was just in time for the second of five services in five different mother tongue languages of the day. This service was in English.

As Walter and I spoke, we made our way to a corner office where I was introduced to the church Vicar, Reverend James Luwum. Enthusiastic in nature, Rev. Luwum is the nephew to the late Janani Luwum who was the second African archbishop of the Church of Uganda;  he held office between the years 1974 to 1977. The Late Janani Luwum is an instrumental figure in the modern African church due to his sacrifice, activism and relentless faith. He is celebrated with a landmark in his honour and a respected holiday that falls on the 16th of February every year.

Once seated in the church, I observed the ceiling, high and triangular, was covered in silver iron sheets and supported by wooden planks. Following a Prayer of Purity, the choir sang a hymn.

Through a prayer, Walter referenced the Bible making it known that, “If we say we have no sin, we make him (Christ) a liar.” These words seem neglected in an age where we are quick to make ourselves the victims of the cruelties around us without assuming our lion’s share in kind. After this brief message, he asked us to greet our neighbours and welcome them to the service. I turned to my right and embraced a gentleman who embodied the idiom, “Full of the joys of spring.”

Walter informed the congregation that he is currently enrolled at UCU as a Master’s student pursuing a degree in Divinity. Auma Prisca, another ordinand, came to the pedestal and started the third part of the segment with a song, “Bamuyita yesu,” translated in English to mean “they call him Lord.”

The Vicar, Reverend Luwum, delivered the sermon. He started his message with the proclamation of thanksgiving. He expressed appreciation for the contributions made by the congregation through tithes and offerings and went on to talk about UCU, its partners and its hearty support to the community. The Reverend’s voice rang loud as he recounted testimonies from parents who were pleasantly surprised with the behaviour and grades of the children they had sent to UCU. One father, he recounted, had sold 47 heads of cattle in order to educate his child and was overwhelmed with tears when he saw his son leading community hour praise and worship at UCU.

Reverend Luwum concluded his doctrine by urging the congregation to always remember the Lord, support the University and align themselves with part of UCU’s philosophy of “A complete education for a Godly legacy.”

After sharing breakfast with Walter and Church leaders, I remembered a scripture from the Book of Philippians 4:6-7 that was delivered by Grace Aneno Mary, an ordinand at the Church. The words re-echoed, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” This verse aligned itself with the message in a hymn that was sung by Reverend Ester, Assistant Vicar in the Church. The message of the hymn is “We are Christians.” From this, we learn that in all things – good, bad, worldly or unworldly – we have a refuge as followers of Christ.

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To support Uganda Christian University’s UCU Sunday, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at mtbartels@gmail.com.

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Uganda Christian University education opens doors

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Mahoro Anitah Mugisha – UCU graduate with multiple career choices

By Patty Huston-Holm
For Mahoro Anitah Mugisha, Uganda Christian University (UCU) was a launching pad for her career experiences at the Uganda Communications Commission, Uganda National Roads Authority, Rwanda Development Board and Sino Africa Medicines and Health and to try her hand at selling on-line products. It also opened the door for her to study in China.

“It’s a Christian environment, and I’m a born-again Christian,” she said. “But the reputation and networking with other students and people associated with UCU make it so much more.”

While eating a meal of mushroom-covered chicken, mashed potatoes and rice at Kampala’s Mediterraneo restaurant, Mugisha talked about what led her to study towards her bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication and the UCU quality education and reputation and something that she didn’t expect – openness to other cultures and ideas.

After obtaining her undergraduate degree in 2016, she worked and volunteered and then applied to get a post-graduate degree at a university in China. In July of 2019, she received a master’s degree in business administration from the University of International Business and Economics and Economics, Beijing China.

“Having a degree in one specialty shouldn’t lock you in,” she said. “You can use that knowledge and skills in so many areas.”

So it was that the little girl who once dreamed of doing voices for animated films and then to be a veterinarian found herself in mass communications with skills to transfer and use in multiple places. Event planning, public speaking and technology file management are just a few.

“UCU helped me become serious while providing me the opportunity to network and explore,” said Mugisha, who at age 26 in September was working at Visit Uganda Tours and Travel LTD.

Exposure to like-minded and different students at UCU and in China has opened her world views, stimulated her desire to know people of different cultures and given her confidence to step outside the norm. Her best friend in China was from Afghanistan. She watches the news about the China-Hong Kong protests with a more informed understanding. She has a pet rabbit and kitten in a country where people are known for fear and dislike of pets.

“Society doesn’t generally push you to explore various dimensions of your personality,” she said. “A university education does. I’m not sure what I will do next but I know that I’ll keep growing.”

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To support Uganda Christian University students, programs and facilities, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at mtbartels@gmail.com.
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Fort Portal Christians step up to give on UCU Sunday

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Child gives on UCU Sunday in Ft. Portal, Uganda

By Doreen Kajeru

Ghanaian diplomat and Nobel Peace Recipient Kofi Annan once said; “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress in every society, in every family.”

The Church of Uganda, through its child, Uganda Christian University (UCU), has embarked on a mission to provide a complete education for a complete person – an all-round education that will compliment someone’s life in society.  Since its inception in 1997, UCU has sent out cultured and trained reverends, engineers, academics and journalists, among others.

Being a church-founded and private university, the institution does not receive support funds from the government; instead, the government demands taxes from the institution. With branches in Kampala, Arua, Mbale, Kabale and other constituent colleges, much support is needed to foster the university’s mission of equipping students for productive, holistic lives of Christian faith and service.

It was in this light that three years ago the House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda introduced UCU Sunday which is marked by all Anglican churches every last Sunday of September. The funds collected on this day across go to the university to support its operations.

Church Official auctions off donated watermelon for support on UCU Sunday

In western Uganda, St. John’s Cathedral located at the peak of Fort Portal town, opens its doors to worshippers at 6:30 a.m. The church seats about 300 people every service. On September 29, 2019, it was the annual UCU Sunday. Many were happy that they had the opportunity to support an institution birthed by their Church. They gave of their money and even fruits like watermelon.

Florence Nyakato was among those who said she is pleased to give to God. For the UCU Sunday, Nyakato, a mother, said she was more than privileged to be part of those supporting UCU. She said the university is great capital to the advancement of the nation.

Reverend Isaac Kaguma, a theology graduate of Balya Constituent College, UCU, said UCU Sunday was a good idea because the church owns the institution and should therefore uphold it proudly. He beseeched the rest of the churches to join in supporting the excellent education that UCU gives.

UCU’s representative to the church, Rev. Dr. Medard Rugyendo, the principal of Bishop Barham University College, Kabale (UCU), thanked the church for the continued effort invested in sustaining the university.

“We are a private university and we need your backing. As a contribution, you have marketed, given and prayed for us. Thank you for this effort and continue doing so because this university is for our church and province,” Rugyendo said.

As he took the church through the journey of his salvation in 1976, to the attainment of his doctorate, Rugyendo encouraged the congregation to always consider education so that they are better able to serve God.

The Bishop of the diocese of Ruwenzori, Rt. Rev. Reuben Kisembo, said the UCU Sunday has been owned in the diocese. He said in support of the day, circulars were sent out to all the Anglican churches for their contribution to the work that UCU is doing in the country.

“The church is happy to support UCU’s mission. I know the people gave and we await the collection. We shall always support this cause for the advancement of the nation,” he said.

The Sunday service also was dedicated to children. Little Kitinisa, who cautioned the church to live their lives with Jesus as the center, delivered much of the sermon message. “Let us love and seek Jesus. It is only then that we shall live peacefully,” Kitinisa said, amidst ululations from the congregation.

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For Americans and others outside of Uganda wishing to contribute on behalf of UCU Sunday, go to https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/ and indicate “UCU Sunday” in the special instructions/comment box that is part of the on-line form, or send a check in the mail (Uganda Partners, P.O. Box 114, Sewickley, Pa. 15143) payable to UCU Partners with instructions for the UCU Sunday designation.

Flour, eggs, bananas part of UCU Sunday support at Gulu Church

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UCU Master of Divinity student, Caroline Aber, accepts a tray of eggs as a donation during UCU Sunday at Christ Church

By Douglas Olum

In the heart of Gulu town, about 360 kilometers (224 miles) north of Uganda’s Capital, Kampala, stands Christ Church, an Anglican Church under Christ Church Parish in Gulu Municipality. Every Sunday, the quadrangular-shaped, brick-and-mortar-walled, flappy-winged and over 2,000-seater, blue and cream painted Church runs three services. With the first starting as early as 6:30 a.m., the services are conducted in Acholi (the dominant language in the area), English and Acholi again, respectively.

Some food items given to the Church in Gulu with Rev. Canon William Matuwa Ezekiah, at right

Key among the activities during the services, is a collection to support the clergy. Christians donate foods, household materials as well as cash to support the priests and their families.

But on Sunday, September 29, this northern Uganda Church joined other churches across the country for the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Sunday, Christ Church sacrificed its session for collecting funds and materials for supporting their clergy to be used for collection of funds to support the university. In addition to money, among the gifts were ripe bananas, bar soap, powder soap, sugar, maize flour, rubber floor dryer, hard brush and trays of eggs.

The UCU Sunday is an annual day declared by the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Uganda in 2017 to raise awareness about the university among Christians in all Anglican Churches in Uganda and collect funds to support its operations and training of clergy.

Unlike in other churches where the collections are not immediately disclosed to the congregation, Christ Church announced its collections for the UCU Sunday before the end of each service with a total after the third service.

About 1.1 million Ugandan shillings ($300) were collected through the three services, with the first service raising 510,000 UGX, the second raising 405,100 UGX, and the third 178,700 UGX.

Rev. Godfrey Loum, the Deacon of Christ Church, said it is important that Christians support UCU because some of the funds are used to train clergymen and women like him and his colleagues.

While preaching during the services, Rev. Canon William Matuwa Ezekiah, told the Christians that while there are many universities in the country, UCU desires to train and equip students with integrity and other values that enable them positively impact both on their communities and the country.

One example of UCU graduate honesty provided to the Gulu church congregation involved a West Nile region organization that was corrupted through money-skimming by 15 graduates of other universities. When these 15 were replaced by UCU alumni, the organization regained strength and thrived.  The main message delivered was: In an economically poor country suffocating from greed and corruption like Uganda, integrity and servanthood that form part of the UCU core values are key to development.

This year’s UCU Sunday services were conducted under the theme: Higher education for a Godly legacy.

David Mukiibi, the head of Ushery at Christ Church, said as a Christian, he feels proud to support the university because he knows that his money will be going towards the continuity of the Church. Mukiibi however, encouraged the university to put the collection to good use and also give accountability for that use to the contributors.

“UCU Sunday is a very good idea that will receive even more support from Christians if the university accounts for how our collections are used,” he said. “They also need to write a letter of appreciation to the Christians, not the church administration, when they receive the money. That will motivate people to give more.”

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For Americans and others outside of Uganda wishing to contribute for UCU Sunday, go to

https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/ and indicate “UCU Sunday” in the special instructions/comment box that is part of the on-line form, or send a check in the mail (Uganda Partners, P.O. Box 114, Sewickley, Pa. 15143) payable to UCU Partners with instructions for the UCU Sunday designation.

UCU legal aid clinic hope: Darkness to light

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Attendees listen to professional counsel during the legal aid clinic at All Saints Cathedral, Nakasero.

By Constantine Odongo

Kafumbe Kiiza is a taxi driver in Kampala, Uganda. Although his dream was to earn a living off of cars, he never saw himself as a driver. His first love was repairing cars.

As such, six years ago, he enrolled into an institute in Kampala to pursue a course in motor vehicle mechanics. Kiiza had a steady flow of income to pay tuition for his course. The now 30-year-old was a salesman at a shop in the city suburb of Nsambya, opposite the St. Francis Hospital gate and about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the city centre. His widowed mother, Petrolina Nakalema, and one of Kiiza’s brothers operated adjacent shops – all on land owned by and supporting the family of 12.

Solomon Byamukama, left, a fourth-year law student at UCU, is interviewed by a reporter from The Standard newspaper.

Darkness
One Monday morning in 2014, Kiiza and his family woke up to a rude shock. Five shops, including the ones where Kiiza, his brother and his mother worked, were razed and the plot of land fenced off with iron sheets.

They were alarmed and questioned who  might do this when they still had 23 three years on the lease. Never did it ever cross their minds that some other people also claimed ownership of the same plot of land. When they sought answers from authorities, Kiiza says the family was informed that a neighbouring school was responsible for fencing off the land.

In the process of seeking justice, Kiiza’s family changed lawyers three times, due mostly to high legal costs.

Light
Such is one case brought to light during a legal aid clinic conducted by Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) law fraternity on Saturday, September 21, 2019, at All Saints Cathedral, Nakasero. Kiiza did not plan to attend the clinic. In fact, he did not even intend to be at All Saints Cathedral that Saturday.

Kiiza was going about his usual duties of driving a commuter taxi that day.  He received a call to transport people to and from a wedding at the cathedral. While waiting on his passengers for the return trip, he roamed the cathedral. He wandered pass UCU’s tear drop banners into a white tent for the free legal aid clinic conducted by UCU.

“It’s the first time I’ve heard ‘pro bono’,” Kiiza said of the term that means legal work without cost.

Lazaka Tibakuno, a development assistant at UCU, said the team that day was comprised of five lecturers (with four practicing lawyers) in the university’s faculty of law, 15 law students and representatives from the university’s law society. The clinic was timed to promote the Sept. 29, 2019, “UCU Sunday.”   The third annual UCU Sunday is set aside by the House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda, marked on the last Sunday of September every year.  The purpose is to support UCU as the Anglican Church joins in solidarity to support her provincial university in prayer, to increase awareness of UCU value and accountability and offer UCU financial support.

Tibakuno says the university asked faculties to submit proposals about a corporate social responsibility event. From the submissions, he says, the law faculty’s legal aid clinic proposal was found to be the most cost-effective while also touching a core of community need. Two clinics were held on September 21 in Nakasero and on September 22 at St. Philip & Andrew’s Cathedral, Mukono.

Last year’s collection was $52,000, which was earmarked for two projects – 90% towards equipping the laboratories of the UCU School of Medicine and the remainder for scholarships for the clergy and their children under the Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology. Tibakuno says the collections this year will benefit the same purposes.

Solomon Byamukama, a fourth-year law student at the university who has participated in several legal aid clinics before, said Saturday’s event had topics similar to other he has attended with questions involving custody of children and maintenance of the state of a deceased; land matters; the dos and don’ts in writing and executing wills; and issues pertaining to domestic violence.

While most at the clinic were seeking advice on the regular, expected issues like Kiiza’s land dispute, a security officer at a checkpoint asked for help for a brother wrongfully imprisoned on a murder charge.

“Someone had convinced us that we could bribe the prisons staff with some money, so they can release my brother,” he said. “However, I have been advised that we should instead look for ways of supporting the defense team so that they can better represent my brother in court, and, if possible, also secure bail for him.”

For Kiiza, he came, consulted, and left the clinic tent feeling optimistic about a nearly six-year-old land case.  As his wedding passengers entered his taxi, he held a piece of paper with contacts of people and organizations that the lawyers advised could be of help to his family, and for free.

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Individuals can be part of the UCU Sunday by contributing towards the special collection in all Anglican churches in Uganda on September 29. Money also can be deposited in Uganda on the UCU Sunday collection account number 16300370000131, in PostBank Uganda or deposited as mobile money on 0772770852.  For Americans and others wishing to contribute, go to https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/ and indicate “UCU Sunday” in the special instructions/comment box or send a check in the mail payable to UCU Partners with instructions for the UCU Sunday designation and to Uganda Partners, P.O. Box 114, Sewickley, Pa. 15143.

Uganda female first at All Saints Cathedral: ‘God’s Calling’

Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology, News, , , ,


Rev. Rebecca Nyegenye (second from left) is surrounded by UCU faculty women at a sendoff to her new position with All Saints Cathedral.

NOTE: Earlier this year, the All Saints’ Cathedral, Kampala, installed the Very Rev. Canon Dr. Rebecca Nyegenye as its provost, making her the first woman to occupy the office in Uganda. Before assuming the office, she served as a chaplain at Uganda Christian University (UCU) for nearly 20 years. The UCU student newspaper, The Standard, recently published an interview by one of its reporters, Benezeri Wanjala Chibita. This interview, shared with UCU Partners, is edited and condensed.

What role do you think God has put you in this position to play?
Some of the reasons are yet to be unveiled. There is a job description. (These include) serving as chief administrator of the cathedral, chief financial controller, being in charge of the ministries and the priests. But there is this uniqueness of a role that God himself knows. So I’m still praying and asking God for clear direction of what He wants. But as for now, my desire is that, as a Church in the city, how can we position ourselves to do mission? That’s the cry of my heart. To make sure that the cathedral thrives in being a missionary church so that we can reach out to the ends of the city, and eventually the country with the gospel.

How did your father (a priest) influence your desire to dedicate your life to Christ?
My father was consistent, the same today and tomorrow, in his lifestyle. He also was a peacemaker. He loved God with all his heart. God was his consultant. He was a loving father, loving us equally. I wanted to be like him. He died two years ago but when I look around (at other people), I don’t see any comparison with daddy.

The Very Rev. Canon Dr. Rebecca Nyegenye

What are some of your fondest childhood memories?
We grew up around the church because of daddy and we would run around, cleaning the church and beating the drums on Christmas. We also did business, carrying sugarcane from down in the river, selling pancakes and groundnuts at school. I didn’t even calculate profits. The needs weren’t so great.  If you have a blanket, you don’t even think of a bedsheet.

What point did you decide you’d be a priest?
I initially wanted to be a priest. It wasn’t an afterthought. Others discouraged me saying I can’t be a lady that’s a priest. I decided at nine, I told my dad, and he prayed for me. He had his fears but, it was God’s calling on my life. I’ve never regretted it.

At what point did you go to school to train to become a priest?
I went after Secondary 4. My father didn’t have money so he educated all seven of us up to S4. He promised each of us a basic education, and he delivered. My two followers and I weren’t able to go to high school immediately, but eventually we went. I went to Bishop Usher Wilson, Buwalasi, in Mbale. Most Bishops went there. It’s now been merged with UCU Mbale Campus.

You now have a PhD. Who inspired you to venture into higher academics?
Dr. Olivia Banja. She’s the director of teaching and learning at UCU. We met at a clergy meeting for women, at Makerere. The second time, we were at UCU, and I was serving at Busia Parish. She said that I should go for further studies. I left the parish, and she guided me through the steps I needed to get into theological education. I joined UCU. I got a diploma. After that, I realized I could do better. So, I started a Bachelor of Divinity program. From then on I was encouraged to go further by Bishop Eliphaz Maari, Canon Lusaniya Kasamba, and Dr. Edward Kalengyo. At UCU, I worked under Dr. John Senyonyi (now the Vice Chancellor),and he persuaded me to do a full masters degree. Ofcourse, I can’t forget Prof. Stephen Noll, the former vice-chancellor of UCU. He wrote and gave me recommendations for scholarships, and I was able to get them.

How did you get the masters scholarship?
God has been faithful. There was a scholarship named after Bishop Stanway at Trinity School for Ministry. Prof. Noll worked through all the paperwork. I went to the USA and studied for one year, and then I returned to UCU where I wrote my dissertation and graduated. UCU gave me a partial scholarship for my PhD. I received another partial scholarship from World Council of Churches. So for both my Masters and PhD,I didn’t struggle financially. I graduated with my masters in 2006 and started on my doctoral degree in 2009.

What do you miss about UCU?
I miss my life with students. It was so interesting. I had really gotten used to my motherly role. Seeing students walk in, walking the talk with the students. Then seeing them graduate with a changed character and moral stability. But also, being there for 18 years, UCU had become my family. I also miss the women fellowships.

What is the biggest setback that you encountered in your life?
I would mention two. One is someone I worked with when I had just entered ministry. My life was really tested. I didn’t know you could work with someone that would make life so difficult. You know there are times when someone…will frustrate you, even make allegations in public. I didn’t know that could happen in the church. What helped me get through it was to remember that I wasn’t called by man but by God. I eventually decided to release and forgive him. But that was after some time of prayer and telling God that I want to let this out of my heart. And indeed I did, I have no grudge. When we meet today, we greet.

How did you escape from this situation?
Actually when it was so tense, God gave me a breakthrough by opening a door for me to go and study. I learnt that when you are faithful to God, He will always provide a way of escape. He will not leave the situation to burn you for long. Then, I was sick from July 2014 to January 2015; I was at UCU. I was very sick. I knew one thing: If I am going to live, the Lord will heal me. If I die, I’ll be with God in eternity. So that kept me going. Every day I was alive was God’s grace. I was so weak and in so much pain. The UCU community prayed, but it seemed like God wasn’t answering fast enough. At the right moment, God healed me.

You said that you were ready to join God in eternity, if it was His will?
Certainly, I couldn’t talk about the sort of death. But my husband being a medical person, trusted that one day my pain would pass. He (took) time off from his work and moved with me to every doctor he thought would help me. He paid for me to go to Nairobi hospital where I was for two weeks, and he was by my side. The Hospital did everything they could. They put me on medication for diabetes and hypertension, because they thought that’s what I had. When God healed me, I was healed completely. There were times when the whole family was in tears because they didn’t know what to do or what the future held.

How did your faith sustain you?
My faith never wavered because I was in it. There was no way I could run from it. I was on medication. I looked to God. I spent time and prayed. I didn’t want to miss both. I didn’t want to miss life here, and also in heaven, which is eternal. I kept my hopes high. Sometimes I was overwhelmed by pain. I’d ask God why He isn’t healing me. But in all, He was gracious.

Did those seven months change your outlook on life?
I learnt to trust God more. I stopped taking things for granted. My zeal to serve the Lord increased. I lost all the fear I had. I cannot be easily threatened right now. I used to trust and put hope in people. But after getting through that it was a retreat for me to think about God in a fresh way. Right now when I preach, I preach like tomorrow I’m going. My level of ministry went higher. I’m now more focused, more committed to God and more prayerful.

How did people disappointment you during this trying time?
There are people that I got to know better for who they are. There are those I had to be careful about after. It was a learning experience for me and there is something that God wanted to teach me. And there is a level God wanted me to rise to. Actually, shortly after that, I became a Canon. There are things that God takes you through for a reason.

What are your most important values?
First: Faithfulness to God. Secondly, I love people. Thirdly: Passion for the gospel.

What advice would you give young women who want to go into ministry?
Getting into ministry is a calling. If someone is genuinely sure that God is speaking to them, they should join. Someone coming to this ministry should not think about the high position. They should focus on serving the Lord. That, to me, is very pertinent. When I joined ministry, I started out in the rural areas. I never thought I’d work in town. I never prayed for an office. But I have waited on the Lord and I have served Him faithfully, that one I testify. And whenever I feel I’m going astray, I run back to the Lord. He is my only refuge. And even if you told me to compromise this position today, I’d be glad to walk out. Be willing to serve the Lord anywhere.

What will you remember about outgoing Archbishop Stanley Ntagali?
(I learned) from the Archbishop that when you work together in church, you are teammates. And I always tell people, that much as he is leaving, we must remain a team. As the head of the team and as a team player, he has been able to understand people’s gifting and seasons. He acts when he is supposed to, of course with God’s guidance. He’s been close to us as individuals. He has been a father and a parent.

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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 mtbartels@gmail.com.

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Reaching out to alleviate Uganda corn dust breathing problems

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A Mukono maize factory worker, covered in white dust, sorts through ears of corn.(UCU Partners photo)

By Patty Huston-Holm

Beyond clothing and electronic shops, banks and markets and across from a Kaptura Road taxi park – just a 15-minute walk or 3-minute boda ride from the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Mukono main gate – men and women are manufacturing maize products.  White dust from harvesting, drying, handling, processing and storing grain fills the air, covering worker hands and faces and entering their lungs.  Often, the simple act of breathing is a struggle.

These Mukono milling employees are among one billion people worldwide with respiratory conditions.  According to the World Health Organization (February 2019), diseases such as asthma, bronchitis and pulmonary hypertension are more common in low-income countries like Uganda. When people need money for basic necessities and to keep a factory afloat, they focus less on health awareness and workplace precautions – to the detriment of their personal well-being. The dust they inhale contains bacteria, fungal spores, insects and insect debris and pesticide residue.

Annet Musinguzi, assistant commissioner of human resources in the Uganda Office of the Prime Minister, demonstrates a health and safety procedure with a Uganda Christian University student during a Mukono community outreach project.

UCU’s Business and Administration programs, namely staff and students in human resources studies, embraced the issue in the first of annual planned community outreaches in June of 2019.  In addition to outreach to choose and research the issue, a day of local maize-flour, heath and safety activities were conducted to take UCU student learning and faculty teaching deeper into the surrounding community.

“We saw people working in the community mills and not protecting themselves,” said David Kibuuka, a Business and Administration lecturer who coordinated the effort. “They weren’t covering their noses and didn’t know why they should.”

The UCU Business and Administration faculty members, in collaboration with local, municipal and district council and national officials, determined they wanted to do a better job with sharing university knowledge for improvement of the community around them and to reinforce Christian principles of servanthood. The milling engagement is one example of how the department should better “penetrate our potential,” Kibuuka said.

What took place in June of 2019 was this:

Relevance – That nearly every Ugandan household uses maize flour made this focus particularly relevant. A USAID report in April 2018 estimated that 92 percent of Ugandan families consume maize four with a per person consumption of 22 kg (48.5 pounds) of maize per year.  A doughy posho, which comes from a maize flour product, is an inexpensive and frequent food, especially in schools.

Collaboration – Municipal and district council and national officials were part of the planning and reinforced the country’s regulations as well as concern for worker health and safety. These included Mukono Mayor George Fred Kagimu; Andrew Senyonga, chair of Mukono District Council; Annet Musinguzi, assistant commissioner of human resources in the Office of the Prime Minister of Uganda; and Douglas Nkonge, Principal Inspector General for Safety and Health Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

Engagement – Nearly 300 UCU students and staff, officials and factory employees participated in skits and conversation about life-altering impacts of pulmonary conditions and solutions for improved heath in the mills.

“We covered laws, risks and remedies,” said Kibuuka, who assembled a 20-page report with happenings, recommendations and photos. “It was the first of what we are calling our larger outreach.”

He noted that the Business and Administration faculty has been engaged in “entrepreneurship fairs” for the past few years. These involve student development of products and services in such areas as cleaning products, jam, beauty products and paper bags.

“This outreach went deeper to embrace a community problem and being part of the solution,” he said. “In addition to reaching out to our local residents, our students benefit from seeing how theory is put into practice in a humanitarian way.”

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To support Uganda Christian University programs, students and other services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at mtbartels@gmail.com.

Germans Tabea Hofmann and Stephanie Guenter with some women of Dunamai Church in Mukono, Uganda (UCU Partners Photo)

‘Without Jesus, I would not be here’

Students, , , , ,


Germans Tabea Hofmann and Stephanie Guenter with some women of Dunamai Church in Mukono, Uganda (UCU Partners Photo)
Germans Tabea Hofmann and Stephanie Guenter with some women of Dunamai Church in Mukono, Uganda (UCU Partners Photo)

By Patty Huston-Holm

“Going to bed hungry is an experience I’ve never had.”

Tabea Hofmann finished a soggy banana and folded the blackened peal on the circular table just outside the Uganda Christian University (UCU) student cafeteria. Inside, at 1:30 p.m. on a Sunday, and amidst the hum of voices blended with sound from a single, large-screen TV, was the usual meal of rice and beans, with an optional banana.

Tabea Hofmann(UCU Partners Photo)
Tabea Hofmann(UCU Partners Photo)

Tabea, 21, from Germany and less than a week into her one semester of UCU studies, reflected on the food, her career path, her faith, her life in Uganda and in her home country 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) away and about the message from a three-hour church service off campus that September 1, 2019, morning. Reminders that God does not abandon His people – even when they are weary from lack of food – came from the New Testament chapters of Corinthians, Romans, Matthew, Ephesians and James.

“God has predestined that you overcome everything,” said Pastor Stephen Wanyama of Dunamai (meaning “to be able” with Greek origin) Church in Mukono. “God loves you so much that when you go through pain, He is right there with you.”

Tabea was among 60 people and one of two German youth who heard the sermon from the pastor and a Luganda mother-tongue language interpreter. Tabea and Stefanie Guenter worshiped from plastic chairs arranged on a dirt floor inside a small, sheet-metal building.  Children ran and twirled joyously around the room. Local villager laundry flapped outside two small openings, while bare-footed residents walked or rode bicycles beyond the single entry opening.

“The main message is that when things don’t go well, you don’t have to understand all of it,” Tabea said. “You just need to know that God is there working for your good.”

Lack of popularity in high school, losing two grandparents within three months, eating unfamiliar food and missing a fiancé back home are small concerns compared to those of the people Tabea has met in East Africa. She reflected on the “gap year” experience with the Maasai ethnic group in Arusha, Tanzania.  She had just turned 18 and was mentoring a mostly female population in a children’s home.

“The girls had a hard past,” she recalled. “Some had been hit with sticks by teachers. Some were early married. I’m not sure what men did to them. Yet, they were smiling.”

Helping people has been Tabea’s passion from an early age in her home city of Linkenheim, Germany.  While she has worked with various populations, including a Bible study internship in a men’s prison, she has especially gravitated to nurturing children and girls. One 12-year-old girl she last saw when leaving Tanzania in July of 2017 is still in her heart.

“She was mentally disabled,” she said. “She was often disappointed in herself. I spent a lot of time with her to turn that around.”

Education and interactions in Tanzania and Uganda are informing her career that is a combination of theology and social work. Tabea, who also has musical skills (piano, violin, guitar), sees her Christian faith as inseparable from anything else in her life. She’s especially driven by verses 38 and 39 in Romans 8 that she associates with her Lutheran church confirmation class when she was age 14.

“The message is that nothing can separate us from God,” Tabea remarked, recalling one professor who said that while education is important, “in the cup of knowledge, when you reach the bottom (of what you can know), there is God.”

She is concerned that her generation, especially in Europe, doesn’t see Christianity as “cool.”  In a fast-paced culture where “time is money,” fewer young people go to church.

“Jesus gives us rules, and most my age don’t like rules,” she said. “One thing I like about here is the slower pace and the stronger faith.”

Bare feet on dirt that is sometimes frequented by chickens and other animals can result in jiggers, according to Akena Luck, a leader of the congregation at the church on that September morning. He asked the 50 people there for shilling donations that could someday put cement over the church’s dirt floor. To Tabea, who had never heard the word “jiggers,” the danger of the insect that can emerge from the ground and burrow in the skin was explained. At the same time, Tabea recalled a Tanzania wedding custom of having goat meat as the “wedding cake.”  Immersing in African culture, she said, is fascinating and rewarding.

Changing her German diet from salads, meat and potatoes to rice and beans is part of the lesson that “it’s most important to feel full and not hungry” in a country where the government doesn’t feed its people.

“We have poor people in Europe,” she said. “But if they need food, the government provides it.”

Where the young woman’s future life and career will take her is uncertain. But what is certain, she says, is that “without Jesus, I would not be here.”

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In addition to Tabea Hofmann and Stefanie Guenter, the other German students studying at Uganda Christian University through mid-December and through a partnership with Internationale Hochschule Liebenzellare:  Chris Buehner, Hanna Koelz, Joel Müller and Johannes Keisers.

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To support Uganda Christian University, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at mtbartels@gmail.com.

Rev. Amos Kirmera and his wife, Florence, receive prayers from UCU’s vice chancellor and priests during an Aug. 25 church service on the Mukono, Uganda. The family has been chosen to serve a minimum of two years in Massachusetts. (UCU Partners photo)

Uganda Christian University Assistant Chaplain Goes into American mission field

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


Rev. Amos Kirmera and his wife, Florence, receive prayers from UCU’s vice chancellor and priests during an Aug. 25 church service in the Mukono, Uganda. The family has been chosen to serve a minimum of two years in Massachusetts. (UCU Partners photo)
Rev. Amos Kirmera and his wife, Florence, receive prayers from UCU’s vice chancellor and priests during an Aug. 25 church service on the Mukono, Uganda. The family has been chosen to serve a minimum of two years in Massachusetts. (UCU Partners photo)

By Patty Huston-Holm

Rev. Amos Kimera is aware of how alcohol, technology, materialism and peer pressure get in the way of a life fully committed to Christ. He’s seen that in his 36 years of growing up and working in Uganda. He also knows such temptations are greater in developed countries.

In early September, when moving with his family to the United States, Rev. Amos hopes to play a small role in turning that around. The Uganda Christian University (UCU) assistant chaplain has accepted an offer to study at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and to be a pastor at a Ugandan church in the Boston, MA area.

On a Monday afternoon and after fighting traffic in Uganda’s capital city of Kampala and helping eight students from Germany settle in for a semester on the UCU Mukono campus, he reflected on the decision that was three years in the making. In addition to offers on the American side, he had the blessings of Archbishop of Uganda the Most Rt. Rev. Stanley Ntagali and UCU Vice Chancellor Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi.

Mostly, however, the New Testament Matthew Chapter 9 stories of Jesus’ healing drive Rev. Amos.  He recalled a visit to Boston and one youth healing opportunity that was missed.

“An 18-year-old from Uganda had everything going for him with offers for college and more,” Rev. Amos recalled. “Yet, he felt pressure and felt not good enough.  He committed suicide.”

UCU Vice Chancellor Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, right, sends off a member of the UCU chaplaincy. The family was scheduled to leave Uganda on Sept. 3. (UCU Partners photo)
UCU Vice Chancellor Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, right, sends off a member of the UCU chaplaincy. The family was scheduled to leave Uganda on Sept. 3. (UCU Partners photo)

In partnership with his wife, Florence, Rev. Amos has not just counseled youth about their self worth and positive lifestyle changes, but has walked alongside of them. Sometimes, it is listening, laughing, watching a movie –not judging while demonstrating a lifestyle devoid of alcohol and other destructive behavior.  Often, God is not mentioned at all.

“My wife is the biggest supporter of my ministry,” he said. “We have had young people at our house, telling us they are a ‘waste.’ My wife tells them that others may define them that way, but that is not who they are.”

While working on a master’s degree in urban ministry leadership and serving at St. Peter’s Anglican Church of Uganda in Massachusetts, Rev. Amos anticipates his work will be with youth ages 2 to 20.  Florence will volunteer at the church while focusing on the care of their two children, Makaila Mwebaza Nakalema (5 years) and Moriah Mirembe Kisakye Nassuna (11 months). With husband and wife from the central Ugandan region – she from Mukono and he from Mityana and Luweero – they plan to reinforce the Luganda language and tribal customs at home while introducing their children to a new culture in the United States.

In previous visits to Germany (where he forged a relationship between UCU and an international university), the United Kingdom, South Africa, Indonesia, Norway, Poland, Italy, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and the USA, Rev. Amos has become keenly aware how wealth pulls people away from the Christian faith.

“When you have everything, you don’t need God,” he said.  “My fridge is full, I have a car. Life is fast. Where is God, and why do I need Him?”

The unintended consequence of modern technology, particularly for youth, is the distraction from a faith-based walk. Rev. Amos’ strategy is not to fight modern media, but to join them. With his first degree from UCU in mass communications and a post-graduate degree in divinity, he is seeking solutions on how “robots” can make the church stronger.

“Church leaders need to learn how to use these tools so we’re not left behind,” he said. “Children are struggling between modern ways and the Truth. We need to be smart to overcome world views and remind youth that God is in control.”

Leaving UCU is bittersweet for the assistant chaplain. He will miss the students.  Likewise, Amos and Florence will miss their family members who live in Uganda. Florence’s mom has been a constant babysitter. And a Boston winter with bitter-cold snow and driving a car on a different side of the road will be among cultural adjustments.

But Rev. Amos thinks about Matthew 9:38 and Jesus’ message to his disciples about the plentiful harvest with few workers; he knows he is being sent into that harvest field.

“God is sending me into this mission as He always has,” he said.

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To support UCU students, staff, programs and facilities, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at mtbartels@gmail.com.

UCU represented at 11th Pan-African Literacy Conference

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A conference keynote speaker, Dr. Wendy Saul, left, poses with Uganda Christian University staff members (left to right) Mary Owor, Deborah Mugawe and Patty Huston-Holm (a conference breakout session presenter).

By Patty Huston-Holm

More than 500 teachers, librarians, NGO leaders and policy makers from throughout the continent of Africa but also from North America convened for the 11th Pan-African Literacy for All conference August 20-22 in Kampala, Uganda. Several staff, students and alumni from Uganda Christian University (UCU) were among participants.

The overriding theme for 80 conference keynote and breakout sessions was how literacy is a bridge to equity for all countries.  Most presentations focused on the country of Uganda with sub-themes that included research, strategies and advocacy for mother tongue languages, gender balance, responsible use of technology, work originality, financial support, teaching in the context of the real world and service for handicapped students.

UCU writing and study skills tutor Mary Owor, left, participates in a conference session.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Uganda has an adult literacy rate of 70 percent, compared to the 95 percent United States literacy rate. The Uganda male literacy rate is 79 percent compared to 62 percent for females.

The single biggest discussion centered around how early emphasis on original language positively impacts literacy levels. The late Professor William Senteza Kajubi in 1987 authored a report that in 1992 became an adopted “White Paper” for reforming Uganda education, including the teaching of mother tongue languages for some of the seven primary grades before the six secondary/high school grades. While Uganda has 65 indigenous communities with 44 languages, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has endorsed grouping those into 12 “combined” local languages.

UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) in 2016 recommended that mother tongue language be reinforced over English for at least primary grades 1 through 3. This was based, in part, on Uganda National Examinations Board results showing high primary school performance in mathematics that is taught in the mother tongue compared to low performance for reading and writing where English is used.

Despite research and government documentation that reinforces the value of early focus on local language and expert opinion that a person only learns to read and write once in a lifetime, conference participants argued that implementation is not taking place, particularly in private schools. Some conference delegates pointed out that teachers who contend they are focusing on mother tongue only teach it “15 minutes a day.” Others pointed to a lack of local language books to support Ugandan government guidelines. And still others commented that parents and some other stakeholders want English emphasis for the status of it.

NGOs in particular were reminded to provide assistance for the context of the community to be served vs. implementation of a program that works in developed countries.

English books that exist in Uganda often contain language and pictures depicting girls in subservient roles to boys.  Other education gender equity balance issues are related to support of girl menstrual challenges, early marriage and unequal sharing of home chores that lessen girl time for studies and, therefore, improved literacy. The Kajubi report went so far as to suggest that because of such issues, girls who make it to the university level should get an extra 1.5 points to assure enrollment there. The Ugandan government adopted this proposal as well as the report’s reinforcement of technical/workplace skills in education.

“Literacy doesn’t just mean reading and writing,” said Deborah Mugawe, UCU daycare administrator. “It’s so much more. It’s empowering.”

In addition to leaving the conference with information to apply to her work, she realized that “the problems I face, I’m not alone.” She is thinking about how to get more people to sit and read with a child than to simply donate books. And she is even more convinced of the need to reinforce literacy at an early age.

Mary Owor, a UCU PhD candidate and Foundation Studies tutor, was most interested in the mother tongue information because it informs her teaching of undergraduate student writing and study skills.

“I realize most of our students struggle with writing because they started with English too soon,” she said. “I know now that I need to give the students more practical work…and I know I should write my own local language books for children.”

The conference, held every two years, will be in Zambia in 2021 with an exact date and location to be determined.

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To support UCU students, staff, programs and facilities, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at mtbartels@gmail.com.

Agriculture students combat ‘silent hunger’ in rural Kumi

Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Students, , , , ,


Nelson Mandela attends to a farmer’s pig in Olupet village, Kumi District
Nelson Mandela attends to a farmer’s pig in Olupet village, Kumi District

By Douglas Olum

Kumi is a district in Eastern Uganda. On average, it takes six hours by road to get there from the capital, Kampala. Like most parts of the country, Kumi is agro-based, but farming is largely done for survival only. Often farmers suffer from famine as pests and diseases destroy their crops. Sometimes, long droughts burn down the crops. The ultimate tragedy is starvation and death, including among children.

Odeke is a farmer in Olupet Village in Kumi Sub-County. While he was considered a commercial farmer in the village, Odeke said for a long time he was losing his crops to pests and diseases because he lacked the knowledge to control them.

Students from Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) department of Agricultural and Biological Sciences have been in Kumi District since May 2019 on an internship program targeted at contributing to innovations for sustainable rural development in Uganda. A team of six students was dispatched to three sub-counties, with a pair taking each sub-county under the program.

(L-R) Newton Kucel, Nelson Mandela and a farmer assess the crop quality as they harvest vegetables from a garden

Olupet Village received Newton Kucel and Nelson Mandela, both of whom are third-year Bachelor of Agricultural Science and Entrepreneurship students. The pair that has spent at least three months in the community carried out needs assessment, held farm clinics where they helped and trained farmers to identify different pests and diseases, taught preventive and control measures, and also established demonstration farms from which they taught the farmers commercial vegetables production, piggery, poultry farming and record keeping.

Mandela said that at the time they went to the village, they discovered that the farmers were suffering despite investing so much effort in their farms. He said crops were dying in the gardens out of treatable causes and even the little that the farmers could harvest would not help much because the farmers lacked ideas on how to market their products. And because of that, they designed measures to address those specific challenges.

Odeke said the students’ measures have helped them to manage and control various pests and diseases, improve their crop yields by making and using organic manure, cut their costs of production and also see new opportunities in poultry and piggery. He said they also learned to study the eating patterns of various pests, when to spray their crops and what quantity of pesticides to use. These were areas in which the farmers had no prior knowledge.

“To be sincere, these students have helped not only our group but the entire community,” Odeke said. “People have been calling me and flocking to my home from as far as five kilometers (3 miles away) to attend the farm clinics.”

The local farmers credit UCU for helping them.

“I am really so thankful to the students, their lecturers and the university for thinking about us,” Odeke said. “I feel indebted that you people are offering us a very important service for free yet we should have paid you. I am going to use the knowledge you have given us to teach my children and other farmers.”

At the time of this visit, the farmers were already harvesting sorghum and cow peas. The students were helping them to manage the post-harvest processes to control possible waste. They also were connecting with markets outside the region to establish competent prices for various products in order to save the farmers from exploitation by middle men.

Odeke said they were able to get a good yield of the two crops due to the encouragement of the students.  They are integrating sorghum with cow peas to control pod-suckers, a kind of pest that had bothered them and caused them so much loss in terms of yield for a very long time.

Ms. Ruth Buteme, a lecturer at the department who also doubled as the coordinator and students’ supervisor under the program, said the testimonies were quite encouraging and showed the need to carry more of such extension services to more villages and also other parts of the country.

“I am happy that the students were able to solve some problems here,” she said. “The world needs problem solvers. We are hoping that we can continue bringing more students here and also take them elsewhere in order to help our country develop. Uganda has to develop. And there is no way we are going to realize the desired development without involving the common man in the villages.”

In line with UCU’s vision to become a Centre of Excellence in the heart of Africa, Buteme said the department targets to become a Centre of Excellence in vegetable research to help combat silent hunger in Uganda.

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To support UCU students, programs and facilities, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at mtbartels@gmail.com.

The Rev. Emmanuel Mukeshimana, right, with a widow he has helped.

Piggery project gives boost to aging widow in Bugujju, Uganda

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The Rev. Emmanuel Mukeshimana, right, with a widow he has helped.
The Rev. Emmanuel Mukeshimana, right, with a widow he has helped.

By Rev. Emmanuel Mukeshimana

In the early days of 2016,a Mass Communication student at Uganda Christian University (UCU) identified a family that needed urgent help. He was staying at a Hostel located in Bugujju, Mukono where the widow identified as Jane and her family lived.

As unemployed student, he had nothing much to offer but small things like sugar, a blanket, bedsheets and some of his clothing.

During his time of service as a volunteer in the Communications and Marketing Department at UCU, he worked with Patty Huston-Holm, a passionate lady from the USA working for Uganda Christian University Partners.

Patty introduced Lhwanzu to me, the Rev. Emmanuel Mukeshimana, a lecturer, UCU graduate and pastor in the UCU chaplaincy office. I am also the head of Square Ministries, a nonprofit with a vision of reaching out to the needy with the love of Christ in East Africa.

In a nutshell, Lhwanzu shared the widow’s story to me and immediately, the two visited the widow and found out more challenges she was going through as an aging, poverty-stricken woman trying to raise her children and grandchildren amidst conflicts within the family.

The starving widow was married to a husband who died of HIV/AIDS in 2005.

“I spent so much money when my husband was sick; his first wife did not put any effort; it was me responsible,” the widow narrated.“I am so lucky I did not get HIV. What could I have done with this disease with this kind of poverty?”

The widow is staying with her four children and three grandsons.

The first born ended her studies after senior 4 (10th grade) with no hopes of getting more fees for further education. The family could not even afford to take her for a short course. She later conceived,and currently she has three children.The second born is a young brilliant girl who completed senior 6 (12th grade) and got stuck. She is working in a restaurant as a waitress to get a coin for a day.

The last two are still in school. “I can’t explain how I can get over 1.5 million shillings for both of them every term,” she said as she wiped off tears off her cheeks.

Before the husband’s death, he wrote a will that could benefit this widow of taking 60% of his property and the first wife taking only 40%. But she received nothing from this because of family wrangles.

Square Ministries came in to give a hand. The organisation is starting to implement her dream with a piggery project that will help her get some income to support her family.

“I am so thankful to God that I found hope in Square Ministries,” the widow confessed.

The widow stays in a very old house that leaks whenever it rains.

“We wake up in the night whenever it rains because sometimes the water fills up the children’s room,” she said.

“We can’t sleep whenever it rains at night due to tension,” one of the children said.

The women looked so much stressed after mentioning this.

What can you do to this kind of situation? The story will continue in the years to come as God uses his people to help a widow such as this.  Square Ministries has helped her to build a pigsty and gave her an expecting sow hoping that very soon she will begin to have support for herself and others.

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To support UCU students, programs and facilities, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at mtbartels@gmail.com.

UCU takes health awareness to Mukono market

Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology, Students


A Bachelor of Divinity and Theology student (holding wheelbarrow) offloads a sack of waste at the collection point while his colleague (in grey shirt) directs him. On his right, a vendor puts chopped fish in the frying oil while other vendors go about their businesses – Uganda Partners’ photo

By Douglas Olum

The Kame Valley Market, also known as Kikko, is the main market in Mukono District. It is located northeast of the Uganda Christian University (UCU) main campus, and it is where most university staff and non-resident students go to buy fresh foods like vegetables, fruits, cassava, potatoes, fish and many others.

The market sits in a valley, with an open drainage line carrying both rain and waste water from restaurants passing through its midst, to join a nearby swamp.With a population of more than 2,500 traders, most of the businesses are under make-shift structures and umbrellas due to limited structures.

Students carry the collected wastes to the collection point,while Dr. Zac Muddu (in green t-shirt) interacts with one of the vendors

Because of its setting and large population, the market chokes in filth as the traders do not have any designated area to throw their wastes. Many times, they fill them in sacks and hide them under their stalls. Others even spread them along the tiny walk paths, thereby attracting a swarm of flies to feast on the decaying matter,yet they even have cooked food vendors among them. They buy and have their meals from the stalls. This kind of practice exposes the entire population to the risk of acquiring hygiene related diseases like cholera.

On Wednesday July 23, the UCU Health and Safety Committee mobilized students and staff to carry out an outreach at this market as part of their activities for the Health Awareness Week that ran from Sunday July 21 to Friday July 26.

The students and staff swept the market, sensitized the traders about a wide range of diseases, filled potholes that were holding stagnant water around the market,and also collected wastes and piled them at an accessible point for final collection.

Racheal Nakamya, the UCU Allan Galpin Health Centre Administrator, who coordinated the activity said they decided to extend the health awareness to the market in line with the UCU core value of servanthood.

“We need to reach out and support the community around us as a way of giving back to them,” Nakamya said.

Geoffrey Serunjogi, the chairperson of the Market Vendors Association said the activity was a great relief to them because the market had already choked in filth for more than a week following the breaking down of the Municipal Truck that usually carries the wastes.

Serunjogi said even when the truck was there, many times the market is not properly cleaned because there are only three cleaners employed to serve the entire market.

Zainah Nakibilango, the area councilor for Mukono Central Division, said she was impressed to see the students stoop that low to touch the dirt in the market with their hands because she believed university students were members of the upper class in society who do not do such dirty works.

Violet Baluka, a vendor in the market appreciated the students and staff over the level of discipline and spirit of hard work exhibited.

“They have done a more thorough cleaning than what the people employed to do the same job do and yet they remained very polite, unlike the cleaners who normally arrogantly bark at us and yet still do shoddy work. I am so grateful, and I pray that God should bless them,” Baluka said.

Health Awareness is an activity that is carried out in UCU once every semester. During the Health Awareness Week,health experts from the university’s Allan Galpin Health Centre usually sensitize the university community about various health issues and best practices. This semester’s week ran under the theme: Am I doing enough to live healthy? Apart from the outreach, other activities carried out include: cervical cancer screening, blood donation, aerobic activities, HIV testing and counselling, and Hepatitis B testing and vaccination. The services are mostly offered free of charge or at subsidized price for all students and staff.

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