Category Archives: COVID-19

The Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, seated, with his wife, Ruth, and children and grandchildren in 2017

Legacy – Senyonyi discusses lessons learned, offers advice for successor

COVID-19, Faculty, , , , , , , , ,


The Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, seated, with his wife, Ruth, and children and grandchildren in 2017
The Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, seated, with his wife, Ruth, and children and grandchildren in 2017

At the end of August 2020, the Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi says farewell to 19 years of service at Uganda Christian University (UCU), having come first in 2001 as a chaplain. He has been vice chancellor since 2010. He retires in the midst of COVID-related, government orders of education shutdowns. In this last segment of a two-part series, UCU Vice Chancellor Senyonyi gives his thoughts on various aspects of his leadership and the university. John Semakula, a UCU graduate and lecturer, conducted this interview on July 6.  

What key lessons have you learned as the Vice-Chancellor?
There is one fallacy. When we need someone to manage a university, academic qualification lends more weight than other requirements. To the best of my knowledge, if you are to manage a university, academic qualifications are necessary, but I would not even put them as number one.  On the contrary, leadership qualities like listening, knowing that you are serving people, setting aside your own selfishness, being available and strategic thinking are more important. I also have learned that when it comes to managing people, it becomes more complex than even managing things like financial or building resources. The relationship with people is what is very critical because it is what will give you the respect and confidence to serve. If the people you lead don’t have respect in you, it doesn’t matter what you do.

Former UCU Vice Chancellor, Dr. Stephen Noll, right, and John Senyonyi, left, with Henry Luke Orombi, former Archbishop of the Church of Uganda
Former UCU Vice Chancellor, Dr. Stephen Noll, right, and John Senyonyi, left, with Henry Luke Orombi, former Archbishop of the Church of Uganda

Any lessons on financing for a private University?
There is one mistake that many managers of academic institutions make –  that is to think that you must always look outside yourself to get the resources you need to manage an institution. What happens quite often is if it is a public institution, it looks to government to finance its activities. If it’s a private institution, at this present time, many don’t even know what to do at all. But you have got to be creative. It’s a wrong model to always turn to government for money that it does not usually have. My argument has always been that government should give us the right environment to operate in terms of taxation, or if we are talking about land to allow us to observe the law of ownership. Unless that is done, it becomes impossible for the institution to own land in a meaningful way. Many people have also come to me to benchmark thinking that UCU relies heavily on foreign funding. However, for the last 10 years, I can stand here and testify that I have received no foreign support for any capital development. None whatsoever, they have supported scholarships for students and things like that, but definitely no windfall of money that has put up a classroom building or worked on the roads and so forth. So this business of thinking that an outsider will finance what you need to do, I think for me, has been a very big lesson.

What has been the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the infrastructure at UCU?   When buildings are not in use, they fall into disrepair, and that is what brings me pain and anxiety. I start wondering how much the University will invest to repair them when eventually it reopens, especially if it takes very long to get them back to tenantable condition.

Has government promised to finance private universities in the lockdown?
What I have heard government say is not about providing grants, but loans. Once you talk of a loan, the first thing that someone will always have to think about is how to access it in a responsible way according to your cash-flows, both present and projected. We can’t take a loan at this time when we are even rescheduling the loans we had.  If it was a grant, I would have been at the door of the government knocking so that I can support my staff. Government did indeed ask us how much we need to survive per month, which I sent them. We sent them our monthly bill that has payroll and utilities, above shb1.7bn (roughly $460,000), but I am not very sure that they are going to do anything more. I would be very happy if they can. I wrote a letter to His Excellency the President and to the Minister of Education (also the first lady),asking for support for private universities. Right now government is supporting public universities by paying salaries of staff and all that, but who is taking care of our staff? So the ball is pretty much in the hands of government to ensure that there is some support that comes to us as private institutions.

Why did UCU suspend staff contracts during the COVID-19 lockdown?
The suspension is like putting on hold any obligations or liabilities that the University would have had toward those staff members, and it was to help save resources so that the University remains afloat even minimally. The suspension is saying that for the time being, you are a staff member, but we have no obligation and liabilities with respect to your benefits. I have to admit that probably, for all my 10 years as Vice-Chancellor or even for the 20 years I have been at the University, it was the most painful thing to do to look at all your staff and say we are not going to hold responsibility for paying your salary, well knowing it’s their livelihood.

Will the staff be paid the salary arrears in future?
To promise that we shall pay the salary in arrears later is to make the assumption that for this period we shall be getting revenue that accrues to that time. Only public institutions can operate that way.

What piece of advice do you have for the incoming Vice-Chancellor?
Fortunately, we are already doing some orientation sessions with him and they are going very well. To me I think that has been very helpful. We are exposing him to the full breadth of what I have been involved with. But I would say that first and foremost, he is coming from outside so it’s much better and foremost to be a listener. Implementation is not normally the best thing to start immediately. Leadership is like trying to place interlocking bricks.  Before I place it, I need to know what fits where. Listening is critical to achieve that and will give him an opportunity to also understand the systems that are in place. He will of course be free to change according to his vision, but when you change before you have listened, it appears like you want to rub away what others have done. The problem with that is that you think you are changing what your predecessor has done, but you are also rubbing away all those people that are connected with it and may still be on staff. You are telling them that what they were doing is useless and that it was not the best way of doing it.

Any spiritual advice for your successor on how to handle staff and spirituality?
The best people that will help him to settle down are within the University – not without. They are the ones he is going to live and work with. Other people may advise, but ultimately he needs to make sure that he connects with the staff rather than trying to create a relationship gap with them. What he does with staff members also becomes important with students. On the spiritual side, he is a Christian, which is very excellent. It will be very important for him who is not an ordained person not to relinquish his role as the spiritual leader in the University. That role may be carried out differently because he is not going to stand and lead services, he may not even be a preacher. He may not do the same thing that I have been doing, but his spiritual leadership is important to ensure that whatever has been in place in terms of spiritual leadership continues.

What advice do you have for the new Chancellor?
I think the job of the new chancellor is easier. First and foremost, I think giving opportunities for the Vice-Chancellor and his leadership team to meet with him on a regular basis. One of the things we did here to ensure that we meet him quite often almost every semester was simply to create pastoral visits for the Chancellor. He comes and interacts with different people. There may also be time when the Vice-Chancellor may need to have a one on one or an opportunity away from here. Secondary for the Chancellor, one of the most critical things is to keep in mind that UCU is the Provincial University. Therefore, as Archbishop, he has the responsibility to ensure that the Provincial nature of this University is protected before the eyes of the Church. That means that all the bishops have a stake in the University. Unlike other Anglican founded Universities, when it comes to UCU, all the dioceses under the Province must see their responsibility and the chancellor is key in ensuring that they understand this such that they don’t look at the University like any other.

What has been your biggest challenge as the Vice-Chancellor in the last 10 years
Inevitably, everything goes back to meager resources because if you wanted to get very good staff members and to furnish classrooms, you need the resources. When I talk about infrastructure, it still goes back to resources. Essentially what you are looking at is a University that depends almost entirely, more than 90 percent on student tuition. When you are in that kind of situation, you have got to put more weight on students to pay up. But if they don’t pay up, they won’t get the services. So it’s the issue of resources that has been my biggest headache. I sleep and wake up thinking about resources.

What is management doing to overcome the burden of inadequate resources?
We have tried various ways to think of how we can harness some resources from the University particularly using our land from Ntawo, but then the problem is that squatters have put down their foot. They don’t want to compensate not even entering a relationship with the University that owns that land. That means that the University that owns this prime land, which we could have used to build an endowment can’t. So the issue of resources stands out as the one challenge that any Vice-Chancellor needs to come too and resolve.

What is the biggest challenge awaiting the new Vice-Chancellor?
It’s still the same, inadequate resources. Some people quite often think that research money will bridge the financial gap. Research money will come and may be used to purchase some equipment, put up a building, but people are not going to give you money to run the University. Inevitably the biggest challenge that I think the new Vice-Chancellor will face is to ensure that there are resources that do not come from abroad that depend on any external factors other than the fact that the University has its own resources.

What advice do you have for the staff members you are leaving behind?
Welcome the incoming Vice-Chancellor warmly because as much as his own handling of staff is important for that relationship to advance the mission of the University, it’s also true that unless staff members are open to welcome him, it also becomes problematic. Secondary, my experience in a University like this is that unless you feel a sense of calling to do this work, I am afraid it becomes very difficult for one to get the job satisfaction. It’s very easy to come here and do your work more or less for what you are going to get at the end of the month. That is important because people should get their pay, but if that is all that attracts you to UCU, you will not get the satisfaction. Staff members should take pride in a few years down the road to be able to look back and say I contributed to that University that there is a brick I put there.

How have you avoided the temptation to mismanage University finances?
There is no position I have assumed because I am going to earn. Earning? Yes, I do, but I do whatever job as a vocation. This is my third station because I started from Makerere University. Then God called me and I spent another 13 years in an evangelical organization. I didn’t come here until I was convinced that God was calling me to serve. I knew he was calling me to be the University chaplain. Later, it was quite a bit of convincing to come out of the chaplaincy to be the deputy Vice-Chancellor. Eventually God just said; you will go whether you like it or not. When the Vice-Chancellor’s slot was falling vacant, ideally I was refusing to apply.  I remember asking the then Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Stephen Noll whether I had to apply. He was encouraging. I still said no, and eventually it was my youngest son who convinced me by asking me a very serious theological question. He said: “If you don’t apply, how will you know that God is choosing you to serve in that capacity?”  So that is when I applied, but it was like saying I don’t care if I don’t get it. When I am serving, I see money or resources and power as what God has equipped me with to serve others. Proverbs 22:1 says a good name is to be treasured more than riches. But for many people, when they get a job, it’s getting rich that becomes the most important. For me according to that verse, the most important thing is to have a good name. I want to be able to go through this University with an untarnished name.

Any piece of advice for the students as you leave?
I think I have grieved more for the students than anything. The reason I grieve for the students is very simple; I went to the University of Nairobi a year before they had had a lockdown of the University for five months. The University of Nairobi used to be closed quite a bit. So when I look at these students I feel that what those others at the University of Nairobi went through. At least for them they had government supporting them. But this lockdown has created a situation where the students have suffered a setback by months and it may even be by years in terms of their career development. Secondary what will happen when they go out? Will the job market still be the same? That itself may set them back for years because the job market is going to struggle to get back to its rails. I feel for them.

The interviewer, John Semakula, is a graduate of Master of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies of Uganda Christian University (UCU). Currently, he works as the supervisor of The Standard newspaper and lecturer of journalism and Communication at UCU. John worked as a Senior Writer with the New Vision newspaper for eight years.

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

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The Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, departing vice chancellor, shares thoughts with journalist John Semakula (Photo by Samuel Tatambuka)

Legacy – VC Senyonyi thoughts on education backlash of pandemic

COVID-19, Faculty, , , , , , , ,


The Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, departing vice chancellor, shares thoughts with journalist John Semakula (Photo by Samuel Tatambuka)
The Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, departing vice chancellor, shares thoughts with journalist John Semakula (Photo by Samuel Tatambuka)

At the end of August 2020, the Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi says farewell to 19 years of service at Uganda Christian University (UCU), having come first in 2001 as a chaplain. He has been vice chancellor since 2010. He retires in the midst of COVID-related, government orders of education shutdowns. In this two-part series, UCU Vice Chancellor Senyonyi gives his thoughts on the pandemic and other aspects of his leadership and the university. This July 6 interview was conducted by John Semakula, a UCU graduate and lecturer.

What has been the impact of closing the University due to the Coronavirus pandemic?The most obvious is finances of the University. Since the University largely draws its livelihood from student tuition, when students do not pay, the University is incapacitated. Moreover, the loss of revenue is equal to the period of closure. Therefore, if the University reopens next year, it also means that revenue lost probably will be for almost a year. That is over Sh50b (roughly $13.5 million American). In this case, the impact will be felt long after the reopening of the University. But then this affects many other aspects. The first and most painful is the Human Resource because it brings in many dimensions, as it should for any human being. Staff members cannot be paid. They suffer anxiety about the next meal, which could lead to distress and breakdown. Others consider abandoning University employment and look for where else to turn for gainful work. One can only imagine how all these affect the familial relations and other social interactions since in losing their monthly salaries; they are also likely to lose their self-esteem. People who think less of themselves than what God made them to be usually reflect that into the eyes of others. This is immediately followed by the impact on our students. In joining University, the students have the expectation of a straight and determinate period of study ending in completion and readiness for gainful work. This has been interrupted.

How can students be helped to continue studying amidst COVID-19?
COVID-19 has highlighted the need to run affairs differently. One evident positive impact is the enhanced exigency of online learning. As a University, we already had an e-Learning Lab that enables us to tap into online resources worldwide. We have been training staff members in e-Learning, and we have had a policy on entering students coming with laptops for many years. Unfortunately, many have until now considered these as luxuries. The present pandemic with its resultant restrictions has woken everyone up to see that if they do not shape up to this new normal, they will shape out of higher education in particular. Staff members are compelled to urgently train and apply the new technologies to remain relevant. The future has no room for ICT illiteracy.

What’s the fate of students who were supposed to study between May and August?Inevitably, there is going to be a rescheduling of the Academic Year to accommodate them – every delay implicitly reschedules our Calendar. First, we need to lead our Easter (January to April) Semester students to complete their examinations. The University remains committed to helping all students complete their requisite studies. This means that, depending on what is allowed, Trinity Semester (May-August) students may be brought back cautiously or complete their studies remotely. But we are also cognizant of the Advent (September-December) Semester students and the same applies to them.

UCU Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi (Photo by Samuel Tatambuka)
UCU Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi (Photo by Samuel Tatambuka)

How do the students who did not sit for their exams in April fit into your plan?
Of course they need to sit for the examinations before progressing to their next Semester or graduating. The mode of examining will depend on how National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) handles the new normal situation; UCU is able to administer either the Take-Home examinations or the face to face, although the latter now appears to recede in probability with each passing month of the lockdown.

And international students who didn’t return home due to the lockdown?
We continue to take care of them but of course they are idle. The Ministry of Education and Sports asked for their details, which we gave them. We did receive some help consisting of some food and body care items, but it is obvious that three months later, they cannot be living on those right now. So, the University has for long shouldered them single handedly. I cannot say how long we may be able to support them with food and board given that we do not have any revenue inflows at this time. The solution will be when foreign travel restrictions are lifted, and they are able to return to their nations. Moreover, some of these are students who were progressing to either the Trinity (May) or the Advent (September) Semester. I may conjecture that if they are caught up with time and need to restart in their scheduled subsequent Semester, they may not go back but continue with their studies.

Have you learned any lessons from the closure of the University due to COVID-19?
No one living has ever seen such a global pandemic that results in restrictions as severe as we have witnessed in the COVID-19 environment. Most pandemics or epidemics are restricted geographically. Although UCU has had an Emergency Response Policy for years, it never anticipated a global pandemic. Furthermore, in the past we have used the term global village to refer to non-pandemic influences. Now, we have to ask how to live in the new global village in light of such life threatening pandemics. At this time, I may have more questions than answers for I am not sure we have learned the “last” lesson yet.

  1. Will higher education still be relevant?
  2. Can our University remain viable?
  3. Are our e-Learning systems – staff, students and equipment – robust enough?
  4. How can we ensure business continuity if something as severe as COVID-19 happens in the future?
  5. How can education remain uninterrupted when all decision making is removed from our hands?
  6. How can we make online learning amenable to UCU’s holistic education?

The answer to all these questions, and probably more, will be a matter for serious discussion for any institution that wishes to live above such disruptions.

Which projects haven’t you accomplished because of the coronavirus pandemic?
There are doubtless many of these that I would have wanted to see completed, but I will mention just a few. About three years ago, I considered that my mission with UCU would be satisfactory if I accomplished four projects:

Ntawo Land: Securing this property is key to the financial health of UCU because if exploited it has the potential to generate revenue to alleviate UCU’s deficits. The continued forceful occupation of our land without any tangible benefit is a setback to UCU.

UCU Roads: I also thought it good to work toward the UCU roads. I was hoping that by the end of my contract that all roads would be covered. But alas, the costs had skyrocketed within less than three years to unmanageable levels.

E-Learning: At least the University now has an e-Learning Lab. The prohibitive challenge that has thankfully been highlighted by the present lockdown and may now be overcome more easily is staff and student training and use of online services more. For years, we have labored to get students and staff to own ICT gadgets and to learn their use with casual attention. COVID-19 has made online learning mandatory. I pray that when the University reopens, staff and students will be the main drivers for these modern resources. I also wanted UCU to have a Management Information System (MIS) that would essentially digitize all operations of the University, especially for our customers, the students. This is well on the way and most of it should have been completed but for the COVID-19 lockdown.

What is the cost of running a closed University during the lockdown?
The biggest cost is intangible; it is the staff and students whose life and livelihood has been disrupted irretrievably. We cannot tell a staff member or a student that this lost time will be redeemed. Neither can we estimate the personal cost each has suffered. I know we have many heartaches out there, and I hate looking in the eyes of these dear people without a solution to their present hardships. At the same time, while we put brakes on expenditure, some of the needs of the University do not go away simply because it is closed and there is no revenue inflow. So, another painful cost is spending without collecting revenue; we are running downhill without an end in view. Ordinarily, the barest minimum I would need, without counting loans, maintenance costs, etc., is over Sh. 1.7 billion ($460,335) per month, but we have tried to cut that down to chewable monthly bits so that the University remains afloat for a few months.

How do you feel about handing over your office to a successor when the University is still closed because of the Coronavirus lockdown?
It is admittedly a mixed bag of feelings. On the one hand, who wants to continue in this situation dealing with a daily crisis? On the other, I really want to support my successor to find some footing as he steps into the crisis.

Where shall we find you in retirement?
If it is about location, my wife and I hope to move into our own house on Mukono Hill. Career-wise, I want to rest a bit but also to read and write more during the initial months of retirement.

How has the UCU environment contributed to the growth of your family?
It would be wrong for me to say UCU has not contributed to our family growth though it is not easy to point at every aspect of that contribution. We came to UCU in January 2001, but really relocated to this Campus in May of that year. At the time, we had two of our children in Secondary School, and two still in primary school. Today, all of them are adults and graduates from different universities. Two attended UCU for their first degrees. As a family, we have been reminiscing about this since we arrived at UCU, and we are very thankful to God. We depart knowing that each of our children can now earn and live an independent life, and each of them has called upon Jesus to come into their hearts. I wouldn’t ask for more.

How do you feel that your tenure as Vice-Chancellor has come to the end?
Of course I will miss the friendships forged at UCU, and the familiar routine that comes with a prolonged stay in a station. At the same time I look forward to the relief of setting aside the stressful life of daily decisions with meager resources. I also look forward to living in our own house, something we have never done in all our working and married life.

What are some of your key achievements as Vice-Chancellor?
Interestingly, I started out faced with some doubters about if I would manage to run the institution. Some of that is a result of replacing a white man; very unfortunately, many Ugandans do not believe in themselves. The thinking that we cannot successfully replace a white man persists, and this is mainly because of the belief that a white man comes with money. So, one of my major achievements as far as I know, is to run the University and make some capital developments using Ugandan resources. It will surprise many to hear that I have not been receiving millions of foreign money to do what we have done; I have received no capital development money throughout my 10 years as Vice Chancellor. Moreover, during my first years, some students tried my nerves. They probably thought that I would be a push-over. It soon became clear to them that when I believe something to be right, I stick to my guns. But even more importantly, they have grown to respect my leadership, not to fear me or dread me. They know that they have had a friend in me, and I care for them. The hard decisions such as fees increments were not done to hurt anyone but for the good of all. Being accessible to whoever has issues has also been a key component of my leadership. I shun a leadership that is fenced from those we lead. No staff member or student who has sought my audience has failed to see me. They have been my priority. Finally, the growth of UCU is there for anyone to witness. UCU’s status among higher education institutions as well before Government and general public speaks for itself so much so that other universities and Vice Chancellors have come to benchmark with UCU.

What are some of your regrets for the period you have been Vice-Chancellor?
I honestly do not have many regrets except for two: I am saddened by the continuing illegal and forceful occupation of squatters in our land at Ntawo, some of whom are in Government and boldly stand in our way to make use of our land. Therefore, up to now the University has a choice piece of land but is helpless and unable to build up its own endowment. Secondly, there is the challenge of unfair taxation on not-for-profit education institutions. It would help to learn from other nations about the primacy given to higher education, its role in national development and how they have brought it to the fore without endangering their economies.

 The interviewer, John Semakula, is a graduate of Master of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies of Uganda Christian University (UCU). Currently, he works as the supervisor of The Standard newspaper and lecturer of journalism and Communication at Uganda Christian University (UCU). John worked as a Senior Writer with the New Vision newspaper for eight years.

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

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Chizoba with her host mother and sisters

COVID lockdown in a foreign country

COVID-19, Students, , , , , , , ,


Chizoba sells candy to a customer in Yesu Mulungi hostel
Chizoba sells candy to a customer in Yesu Mulungi hostel

By Maxy Magella Abenaitwe

The COVID-19 shutdown of Ugandan education has halted career-building knowledge and skills for 9,000 Uganda Christian University (UCU) students. The stories of students returning home or stuck a few hours away and picking up odd jobs and doing manual labor to get food instead of engaging in their studies are common.  The lesser-known stories involve UCU students from countries outside of Uganda. Since mid-March 2020, international students have been stuck inside Uganda’s closed borders.  Some wondered how they could survive a day in a foreign country with no relatives, the added language barrier and poor knowledge of how to get around.

These are two such stories – of Eziuzo Chizoba from Nigeria and Rogers Moras of South Sudan.

Chizoba with her host mother and sisters
Chizoba with her host mother and sisters

Eziuzo Chizoba – Nigeria
Eziuzo Chizoba, a second year Nigerian student of governance and international relations could not imagine how hard life would get if not for the kindness of Mr. and Mrs. Ezekiel Kolawole, her host family. To Chizoba, it is not just a roof over her head but a life-transforming encounter.

From her host mother’s girl talks about Christ centeredness, saving capital for future purposes and premarital sex, Chizoba has made resolutions to polish her spiritual, academic and physical life. She now knows that she must build her future today if she must give back to a society that has shown her so much kindness.

“I have made up my mind to be a giver,” Chizoba says. “But in order to do this, I must first work on myself. Mother Ruth Kolawole always says that giving is a medicine for prosperity.”

She adds that her ambition for making money has grown. Chizoba looks at every aspect of life as an opportunity to earn a living.  For example, she vended sweets in student hostels when she travelled back to check on her property in Mukono. Chizoba earned $9 (Shs 32,000) every time she sold off a tin of candy initially purchased at $4.5 (Shs 16,000). She hopes to carry on with the business once studies resume.

In one bid to build herself, Chizoba deactivated some of her Facebook pages.  She realized she had spent too much time on social media.

“I feel everything I do should have a positive impact on society and on me,” she said. “If it is a Facebook account, I need it to have motivating content. That’s why I intend to resume social media interactions only when I have something (significant) to offer.”

In the lockdown and without university classes, she also mastered cooking.  She perfected various delicious dishes and snacks like plantain chips, pizza and chicken soup.

Moras rolls a vegetable rolex
Moras rolls a vegetable rolex

Rogers Moras – South Sudan
By end of October this year, Rogers Moras, a South Sudanese refugee student at Uganda Christian University, was expected to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Procurement and Logistics Managment. To Moras, graduating was a free ticket back home – to reunite with his family in South Sudan and establish himself with quality employment. Unfortunately with the continued lockdown of academic institutions, Moras might not graduate soon.

“Uganda is a very beautiful country,” he said. “I enjoy being here. But I look forward to getting back home because I need to contribute to the growth of my country. Additionally, that it is where I belong.”

With the initial lockdown notice, Moras decided not to go home because of the high cost of travel and because he believed “the situation could settle within the thirty two days as per the (Ugandan) Presidential address.”

In addition to the financial and academic strains for all university students, as an international student Moras suffers added despair with lack of socialization in a different country.

Despite difficulties, however, Moras has used the quarantine period to master skills such as baking vegetable rolex. He hopes to put up a rolex business around campus as soon as the university reopens.

Moras also has adopted a reading culture for purposes of self-improvement and stress management.

“Books help me get over stress and rebuild my hope,” he said. “A novel like ‘Becoming: Michelle Obama’ helped me understand that I choose how I see the world and that my happiness depends on me. If borders are never opened, my life must go on even in a foreign country.”

Unable to access a gym, Moras has improvised ways to stay strong and healthy. He has developed self-made weights of two jerricans filled with wet sand and joined by a stick. He also jogs and climbs Ankhra hill in Mukono.

The lockdown has taught Moras to build relations with productive people, engaging in activities like debates and trade fairs.

He says: “I have vowed to live my life as if the present day was my last because I cannot be sure of what tomorrow holds for me.”

The writer of this article, Maxy Magella Abenaitwe, is a 2018 graduate of Uganda Christian University with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication. Before the lockdown, she was an intern for the UCU Standard newspaper.

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

UCU Nursing student Nankya Brenda Diana visits a village family

Community visits reinforce practical side of Ugandan health care

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


UCU Nursing student Nankya Brenda Diana visits a village family
UCU Nursing student Nankya Brenda Diana visits a village family

By Patty Huston-Holm

Four plastic cups of passion juice. Several crumbling, miniature queen cakes. Bananas. Two melting strawberry and vanilla ice cream cones – a relatively new treat on the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Mukono campus. Laughter.

For 15 of the university’s year-four nursing students, that’s how the ride in a burgundy and white bus in central Uganda’s scorching heat started.

Loosely called a “community visit,” this weekly trek supplements learning that takes place in classrooms and laboratories on the campus. The trips into remote villages enable students to see the practical side of health care in their final months before graduation. In years one, two and three, the book, lecture and Internet knowledge have been complemented with real-world experiences in hospitals and health centers.

Previous real-world experiences have included conversations with traditional healers and professionals dealing with mental illness and observing circumcision and critical care of accident and HIV/AIDS victims.

On this sunny, February 2020 pre-COVID-lockdown day, the student nurses and Elizabeth Nagudi Situma, UCU head of nursing in the School of Medicine, travel on bumpy, dirt-rutted roads 45 minutes away from the main campus. They serve and learn in village of Nakoba – an area too remote to be found on a map. With guidance by Situma, students listen, observe, record and advise two residences each at various locations within an approximate one-mile radius.

“I think it was more than worms,” student Nankya Brenda Diana said about one child’s protruding abdominal area. “When you push on the stomach, it feels like an organ or something out of place.”

Normally, she said, a child’s extended belly means intestinal worms. They contract them from uncooked food, walking barefooted among cattle feces or eating dirty mangoes. In her kit, she has mebendazole, a drug that she can provide to eliminate worms. The better resolution is prevention through proper sanitary practices. This time, however, Brenda is not so sure that the stomachs of a two-year-old and her four-year-old brother are filled with worms. She puts her suspicions in her report.

The mother, Helen, has six children, including two sets of twins. Giving birth to more than one child at a time is a much-esteemed blessing in Ugandan culture. In addition to discussion of hygiene related to chickens that roam freely in the family’s cooking and sleeping areas, a rudely constructed rain water pipe and lack of dedicated space for the household’s bathroom habits, Brenda is ready today to discuss family planning.  Steven, the husband and father, is there to get advice, too.

Brenda, wearing a backpack and holding a clipboard, talks to the family in their Luganda mother tongue.  Helen sits on a single stool, nursing the baby, as Steven and their other children, barefooted in torn and dirty clothes, lean against trees near their humble home. Across an unpaved, dirt road are more than 20 gravesites, signified by a few stones but mostly by rounded mounds of dirt.

Roughly a half mile away, John Damasen Ntwari has his second weekly meeting with Niyonsaba, a mother of seven who, along with her husband, escaped here from Burundi ethnic disputes in 2015.  They are Tutsi who fear death still today from the richer, more powerful Hutu. In broken English, she explains that they want to go back someday. But the time is not yet right.

John Damasen Ntwari, president of the UCU Nursing Class of 2020, visits with a family in a remote village near Mukono.
John Damasen Ntwari, president of the UCU Nursing Class of 2020, visits with a family in a remote village near Mukono.

“I am very happy to see John,” she says.  She shares that her family is better off than most with two children enrolled in school.  While her young daughter smiles broadly, Niyonsaba says her problems with allergies and a weak heart seem less than John’s last visit and the daughter has healed nicely from a vaginal repair.

John, who is president of the nursing class, scribbles notes as walking to his second site. There, 15-year-old Nabaweesi Zakiah emerges. As when John previously visited, she’s alone.  Again, in clear English, she says her mother is away “just one day to visit a friend.” When she returns with school fees, Zakiah can return to school.

Situma emerges and deepens the questioning about what the girl eats, if she is alone, if she is afraid at night, and if anyone hurts her. She praises the surroundings that include a vanilla plant and trees plentiful with bananas and jackfruit. Zakiah carries a large knife to a tree, cuts down some matooke and carries it back to her small living quarters.  A dog, kitten and chicken with babies scatter.

“It’s hard to know,” John said. “I’ve asked that her mom be here today, but she still isn’t. Maybe next time.”

For most of the UCU student nurses, including Brenda and John, the desire to work in health care stems from a young age when encountering a void in medical attention for a family member. In addition to this motivation, there is a government promise of a paid job for at least one year after graduation. They are placed around the country with a 750,000 UGX ($200) a month salary for 12 months.

Seat backs filled with ready-to-eat avocados. Fingers dipped into large, freshly opened shells of sweet jackfruit. Some laughter, but mostly vocalized thoughts about the conditions, causes and remedies for health maladies. That’s how a February six-hour day – but not professional careers – concluded.

“Ultimately, I want to work in cancer care,” John said.  “But I’m prepared for anything.”

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

A crowd under Ojok's exercise instruction after the MTN marathon last year

‘Choose to see the good in the bad thing’

COVID-19, Students, , , , , , , , , , ,


A crowd under Ojok's exercise instruction after the MTN marathon last year
A crowd under Ojok’s exercise instruction after the MTN marathon last year

By Maxy Magella Abenaitwe

For most Ugandans, the COVID-19 lockdown has been a financially painful time of watch and see. The presidential speeches have been a wave of hope whose flap never settles. Lives have come to a standstill.

For a few, however, it has been a time of growth and development.

Denish Ojok, a second-year Social Work student at Uganda Christian University (UCU), is among those few. Being alone since childhood presented him many challenges to sail through storms at their worst. The lockdown with the inability to attend UCU classes was yet another to overcome. For Denish, of Gulu, the answers came through food, fitness and market deliveries with a bit of radio inspiration on the side.

Income from his Rock of Ages fitness club helped pay his tuition. When the club was shut down through government orders, he moved workouts online. Clients subscribed at a daily fee of 80 cents (Shs.3000), accessing exercise through such platforms as Go to Meeting and Facebook.

Ojok preparing a traditional dish for delivery
Ojok preparing a traditional dish for delivery

Realizing this wasn’t enough, he thought about how his other skills could be used. Ojok, who is good at boiling a cow hooves, started making door-step deliveries of a much-prized dish known as Mulokoni. Most days, this brought Ojok a minimum of $9 profit.

Ojok’s third idea related to helping people obtain food when they weren’t allowed to travel. With the suspension of public and private means of transport but allowance of motorcycle deliveries, he took orders and made deliveries of sugar, rice and other market goods. Business was so good that he was able to employ a handful of youth to help him.

This voice of hope – one that resonates with biblical scripture – has been echoed by Ojok on Rupiny FM radio. His encouraging words on youth radio talk shows are about growth during a pandemic, thinking “beyond the nose” in a positive way to overcome circumstances, and continuing good sanitation habits after the COVID-19 virus is controlled. Such habits as handwashing will solve other problems such as diarrhea, he said.

“Exercise financial discipline, spend less and learn to cope with any condition that comes your way,” the 24-year-old student entrepreneur said. “Choose to see the good in the bad thing. Stay positive.”

Despite the great work progress, Ojok is dissatisfied with the fact that a large portion of his potential clients are unable to access his services due lack of communications through smart phones and the Internet. This is a circumstance he is working to resolve.

Much as the lockdown has kept him away from people who inspire his spiritual journey, Ojok has disciplined himself to read and understand scriptures. Before he does anything he prays, as inspired by his UCU lecturer, Peter Nareba, who begins every lecture with prayer.

Ojok plans to maintain his online business after the lockdown. He believes post lockdown will be an era of innovations since it was a shock that left the world with so much to learn, think about and take action.

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

Ayub inspects a backyard nursery bed with one of his learners

University staff blesses community amidst COVID-19 lockdown

COVID-19, Faculty, , , , , , ,


Ayub inspects a backyard nursery bed with one of his learners
Ayub inspects a backyard nursery bed with one of his learners

By Douglas Olum

When Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni directed COVID-19 restrictions on March 20, 2020, many citizens wondered how they would survive.  The lockdown order involved closure of all schools and academic institutions, ban of public transportation and shutting of businesses except for manufacturing industries and food dealers.

In addition to hindering the ability for workers to get to places of employment, drivers of motorcycles and taxis were out of work. The pressure on husbands and fathers in particular gave rise to violence in homes. In one three-week period, the Uganda Police Force reported 328 cases of domestic violence. Uganda’s Minister of State for Gender, Labour and Social Development, Peace Regis Mutuuzo, reports that Uganda has recorded over 10,000 cases of domestic violence in the past year, 1,000 of which were recorded between January and April. She said the number is higher as compared to 2019 statistics where only 3,000 cases were recorded in that year.

James Ssenkubuge, a Front Desk Officer at the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Kampala Campus, saw first-hand the impact of such stress.  When returning from work one evening, he witnessed battering of a wife by her husband after the woman complained about her spouse’s inability to get food for the family. Ssenkubuge ran to the neighbor’s house and separated the fight.

After listening to their plight, he went back to his house and returned with some food that saved the family from sleeping hungry that night. Despite his reduced salary and uncertainty of payment for the future and with his experience of working with less-than-peaceful students, he continued to counsel and help his neighbors in this time of need.

UCU’s Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, has in recent weeks notified staff like Ssenkubuge that their salaries are reduced by 75 percent for the month of May with no payment for June and possibly other months.  The university staff pay is curtained because UCU, supported largely through tuition, is unable to serve new or current students during the lockdown. The roughly 5% of essential UCU employees working on campus are completing tasks without pay.

Ayub tends to his tomatoes in the garden
Ayub tends to his tomatoes in the garden

While the lockdown threatens peace in families like those in Ssenkubuge’s neighbourhood, Mutaasa Mugereza Ayub, the UCU main campus/Mukono Students’ Affairs Administrator, is reaching out to share what he has with others to bring about food security and reduce on the chances of domestic violence.  He is using the lockdown period to inspire and mentor children at his neighborhood in practical agricultural skills that can translate into food security in Uganda in the long run.

At the time the lockdown was pronounced in Uganda in late March, Ayub had just transplanted his tomatoes and green pepper seedlings in a garden measuring about 15 x 20 meters (49.2 x 65.6 feet). He started spending more time in his plot, watering, weeding, prunning and spraying the crops.

Passersby of all ages stopped to ask Ayub questions. Without hesitation, he gladly answered and even encouraged them to give the project a try.

Tomatoes seedlings planted in used tires at Ayub's compound
Tomatoes seedlings planted in used tires at Ayub’s compound

“To me agriculture is one thing that gives people financial freedom and time, let alone the food security aspect,” Mutaasa said. “But the problem is that, because of the way some people were raised they look at agriculture as a backward and dirty practice.”

Among the people who asked him questions were five neighborhood children who started regular visits to the garden. As he encouraged the children to do what he was doing, they started looking for tomato seeds and seedlings for planting. Ayub gave them some seeds free of charge.

In early June, the five children were raising their own backyard gardens of not only tomatoes, but other vegetables like onions and green peppers.  In Ayub’s own home, children and other relatives are growing tomatoes, beans, among other crops in pots and used car tires.

Ayub says he enjoys imparting whatever skills he has to people and he feels fulfilled seeing the children he is mentoring practice the skills he taught them. He continues to visit the children’s gardens, to support them with chemical spray treatments and to advise them on what to do next.

As his tomatoes and green pepper hit the harvest period, Ayub’s garden has become the community food basket. People flock to the site to purchase products at fair prices – not the higher rates from markets.

Ayub is currently raising another garden of vegetables, hoping to get more fulfilled with his garden outputs and the learners’ skills while he and other people worry about possible job losses and struggle financially.

In mid-June, the possibility of the university re-opening and the staff getting back to work was hanging in balance because the Government of Uganda remained undecided on when schools and other learning institutions could resume. UCU staff like Ssenkubuge and Ayub can’t afford to wait.  While exploring options to support their own households, they seek to apply Christian principles to help others.

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

Some students receiving food relief carry packages from university gate to their hostels

UCU rescues hungry students amidst lockdown

COVID-19, Students, , , , , ,


Some students receiving food relief carry packages from university gate to their hostels
Some students receiving food relief carry packages from university gate to their hostels

By Douglas Olum

At mid-morning on Thursday, May 14, 2020, and under the sun’s sharp burning rays, small groups of students banned from Uganda Christian University (UCU) under government COVID19 guidelines approached the main gate in Mukono. Students trickled in and out of the university, undergoing hand sanitizer spraying and temperature check exercises before entering.

As with all Ugandan universities since the country’s lockdown and university shutdowns started in late March, the students faced health scrutiny by university security officers and a medical worker. The students were hungry – struggling for roughly eight weeks without access to the regular university meals of tea, bread, rice, beans and, on occasion, chicken. While not the same as regular consumption, the UCU Office of the Director of Student Affairs provided some food relief.

The university’s intervention, supported by the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda, responded to television and news reports that revealed that university students were starving in nearby hostels, caught by the lockdown with no public transportation to leave.  The news reported by NTV Uganda and the Daily Monitor newspaper, coupled with direct phone calls to the Guild President, Timothy Kadaga, prompted an the necessary intervention.

An estimated 160 UCU students were stuck in various hostels and rentals around Mukono. At least 81 students got the first batch of the relief package which included; 10kg (22 pounds) bag of maize flour, a carton of 124ml (4.23 ounces) boxed milk, beans, powdered milk, cooking oil, (1kg or 35.3 ounces/2 lb.) of sugar and a bar of soap.

Students were interviewed anonymously to avoid shame that most felt about receiving assistance. They came, they said, after exhausting all other possible options to survive.

“I had just received my transport money to return home that evening when the president [Yoweri Kaguta Museveni] announced the ban on public transport,” one of them, a second-year Bachelor of Civil and Environmental Engineering student, said. “I had to use the money for upkeep but it even got finished within a week. I called home again and I was sent some more money, which also got finished. When I called again, I was told to wait because there was no money.”

A collection of the items
A collection of the items

For more than a week prior to the time of the food relief distribution, the 22-year old said he depended on his friends and well-wishing neighbors.

Just like him, another beneficiary who is on the UCU Sports Bursary, and residing at the St. Michael Historical Hostel, said he lived on porridge for three days and almost died. He recounted:

“My tummy was grumbling. My joints were weak. I kept turning in my bed, trying to find a position in which my tummy would stop hurting to no avail. I got up and tried to make porridge again, but there was no more sugar in the room. At that point, my body was shaking like I was standing on something vibrating. I fell back to bed and that was when I started thinking of alternative options like contacting the guild president.”

At that point, the student said he came to realize that food was not just mere quench for hunger, but life itself.

A female student pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration echoed these thoughts. She said:  “The package may appear small but it means so much to me. At least I can be sure that I will feed myself and live for some time while I explore other options and wait for the end of the lockdown.”

A second batch of students received portions on Tuesday, May 19, taking the total to 150 beneficiaries. They were humbled and grateful, they said.

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

Uganda Christian University team at the Africa Regional Conference of the World Congress of Families, November 2019, in Accra, Ghana. Jack and Linda Klenk with Michael Clement (Africa Policy Centre), Richard Sebaggala (School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies), Rev. Jasper Tumuhimbise (UCU-Church of Uganda Relations), Betty Enyipu (Social Sciences), and Peter Ubomba-Jaswa (School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies).

‘Faith connects us with brothers and sisters worldwide’

COVID-19, Faculty, , , , , , , , , ,


Uganda Christian University team at the Africa Regional Conference of the World Congress of Families, November 2019, in Accra, Ghana. Jack and Linda Klenk with Michael Clement (Africa Policy Centre), Richard Sebaggala (School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies), Rev. Jasper Tumuhimbise (UCU-Church of Uganda Relations), Betty Enyipu (Social Sciences), and Peter Ubomba-Jaswa (School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies).
Uganda Christian University team at the Africa Regional Conference of the World Congress of Families, November 2019, in Accra, Ghana. Jack and Linda Klenk with Michael Clement (Africa Policy Centre), Richard Sebaggala (School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies), Rev. Jasper Tumuhimbise (UCU-Church of Uganda Relations), Betty Enyipu (Social Sciences), and Peter Ubomba-Jaswa (School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies).

By Patty Huston-Holm

Waterfalls, forests, savannahs, gorillas, chimpanzees, lions and giraffes make Uganda amazing. Yet, as cliché as it sounds, for Jack and Linda Klenk, the best thing about the country known as the “pearl of Africa” is the people – the relationships they have there.

Jack and Linda Klenk, at home in Virginia, USA
Jack and Linda Klenk, at home in Virginia, USA

Jack (Read More) first went to Uganda over fifty years ago for three years, studying and teaching as part of an Anglo-American teaching organization, Teachers for East Africa.

For Linda, her first of many trips to Uganda was in 1998, when she and Jack led a short-term mission team to Uganda.  Some of the young children they met then have how grown up and are married with children.  From the beginning, “I was all in,” Linda said. “The people were so friendly.”

Something that is very special for Jack and Linda is how Christianity connects people across cultural lines. When he lived in Uganda in the 1960s, Jack noticed a sense of bonding with Ugandans who were Christians.  Over the years, he and Linda have experienced that again and again.  When sharing a faith in Christ, “you’re family…regardless of the language you speak or the pigmentation of your skin,” Jack said.

Indeed, Linda added, “Ugandans have opened my eyes to see how faith connects us with brothers and sisters worldwide.”

Jack, a member of the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Partners Board, built new Uganda relationships with Linda after their marriage in 1997, while his long-established ones became hers as well.  They were in a church that had a relationship with the Diocese of Kigezi in western Uganda, and later with UCU.  The church sent short-term mission teams to Uganda and other countries, sponsored Compassion International children, supported missionaries at UCU, helped start a hospital in Kigezi, and sent containers with supplies for UCU and other ministries in Uganda.

For most of their marriage, the couple lived near Washington, D.C., where Jack worked for the US Department of Education.  There, they gladly opened their home to Ugandans, including a number from UCU and the government, who were visiting the nation’s capital.  The Klenks would show them Washington. So many Ugandans visited their home that it became known as “Uganda house.”

Under their roof emerged the “American Hamburger University” – so designated because Ugandans gathered in their kitchen to learn the trade of making traditional American hamburgers. Still today, Ugandan “graduates” of the fictitious AHU hold dear their certificates declaring their “hunger for learning” and “excellent taste and high achievement.”   In 2019, when the Klenks were in Uganda, one graduate organized a dinner with certificate holders at a Kampala hotel.

“Our visitors from Uganda are so fun,” Linda said.  “They ask me questions that make me think.  Like, ‘why do Americans put stickers on fruit they buy at the grocery store’?’”

One of the first Ugandans Linda met was the Rev. Canon Jovahn Turyamureeba, when he was a student at Virginia Theological Seminary in 1997.  He made arrangements for the team they led to the Diocese of Kigezi in 1998, where they became involved with Bishop George Katwesigye and other Ugandans who are friends to this day.  Another was Julius Mucunguzi, now communications director for the Ugandan Prime Minister, who did a recent video call with them on Facebook Messenger. He continues to applaud the Klenks for their hospitality when he arrived for the first time in the United States with no luggage and few funds in 2000. In addition to a photo of the Klenks, Julius’ 2014 book, entitled “Once Upon A Time…” describes Jack and Linda as “a couple whose love for Uganda is unmatched.”

The stories are many. Seminarians.  Bishops. Students. Faculty. The UCU Vice Chancellor and his wife. A wedding reception.  Celebrations of Uganda Martyrs Day and Uganda Independence Day.

Sheltered in their home in the midst of COVID-19, the Klenks take precautions. On the occasions when they go out, as to visit their daughter and her family nearby, they wear masks and gloves, and social distance. But they see the difficulties they face as “just an inconvenience” compared with what others in Uganda and the US are facing. Linda said. “Others are really suffering, while we are comfortable, with food, running water, and electricity. . .”

Jack and Linda know that Ugandans are hurting because of the coronavirus, but also know that they don’t easily talk about their hardships. Thus, it is hard to know exactly how they are faring. Ugandans they have come to know are “so polite, they don’t complain, they see the glass half full, not half empty.”

Out loud, Jack wonders: “How can Ugandans survive this crisis? With 8-to-10 people living together in one room, how can they social distance? If they can’t travel or go to work, how can they afford to buy food? How can they pay school fees and university tuition?”

Many of the Klenks’ Ugandan friends are connected to Uganda Christian University.  They have come to know and respect UCU for the way it combines academics with character building and spiritual formation, setting it apart from other universities.

Jack and Linda admire UCU for its determination to be a thoroughly Christian university and not to lose its Christian identity the way many colleges in the US that were once Christian have done.  It provides “a complete education for a complete person” for its students, whether they are in traditional disciplines like science, law, journalism and business, or in the Bishop Tucker seminary that prepares clergy from all over Uganda and East Africa, and even from the U.S. They like how UCU is a leading institution for Christian orthodoxy in the “global south” and the whole world.

Jack has served on the UCU Partners board since 2010, and greatly enjoys his visits to UCU and the relationships he has there. In recent years, a special focus for him has been UCU’s Africa Policy Centre, the first Christian policy think tank in Uganda.

As Jack reflects on his Christian walk, he asserts: “God calls us to follow him and serve him in the community of the Church. Sometimes God directs us to specific things, but mostly we are to look for opportunities to live out our call to follow and serve him.  I am grateful for how this has led to involvement in Uganda starting over fifty years ago.  I am especially grateful for the blessings Linda and I have received through our engagement with UCU.  We pray that UCU will survive the current coronavirus lockdown and always be a bright beacon of light for Uganda, Africa, and the world.”

Jack and Linda hope to travel to Uganda in October 2020 for the graduation and the annual Public Lecture, this year with the noted cultural critic, Mary Eberstadt.  They hope the current shutdown will end and that those events will take place.  Graduation in the past two years was extra special for them because students they helped along the way wore caps and gowns.

Jack sees Ugandan Christians as strong even during this coronavirus crisis because of their faith in Christ. They hurt, but they “do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope” (I Thess. 4:13).  He and Linda are challenged by how Ugandan Christians endure incredible difficulties and still smile and have inner joy.

“No matter how bad it gets, Ugandan Christians have hope,” Jack said. “It is by the grace of God.”

For Jack and Linda, this they know: They have been blessed beyond measure by Uganda and Ugandans, and they have received much more than they have given.

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

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Christopher Mogal Muchwa narrates his story at Sts. Phillip and Andrew's Cathedral in Mukono

UCU Law student creates COVID-19 awareness application

COVID-19, Faculty of Engineering, Design & Technology, Students, UCU School of Law, , , , , , , ,


Christopher Mogal Muchwa narrates his story at Sts. Phillip and Andrew's Cathedral in Mukono
Christopher Mogal Muchwa narrates his story at Sts. Phillip and Andrew’s Cathedral in Mukono

(NOTE: On May 4, Uganda President Museveni announced a 14-day extension of the lockdown measures.  Adjustments from the previous order include that some businesses are allowed to operate and all persons must wear face coverings in public places. The ban on personal and public transport, as well as the curfew of 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. remain in effect at least through the middle of May. On May 7, there were 98 identified cases of the coronavirus in Uganda.)

By Douglas Olum

When Christopher Mogal Muchwa first heard about the COVID-19 outbreak in China from his Chinese friend, and the subsequent lockdown in Wuhan, the very city his friend lives in, he never thought the same would reach Uganda.  And he certainly never thought he would delve into technology related to the virus.

“My Chinese friend told me that they were not allowed to move out,” Muchwa recalled. “And if they wanted to take evening walks, they would only walk through the corridors and stairs of their apartment buildings, then return to their rooms.”

That, Muchwa thought months ago,“was impossible” for the country of Uganda.

But on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, when Uganda’s president, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, directed the closure of schools and banned all forms of social gatherings including church and political rallies, Muchwa realized he was wrong.

A third-year student of Bachelor of Laws at Uganda Christian University (UCU), an orphan and only child to his late parents, Muchwa did not rush to his home in Lira, northern Uganda, like other students did when the university was officially closed on Friday, March 20. Instead, he went to live with a friend to his late mother, Mary Achoma, who resides in Mukono.

“I did not see the need to return to Lira because I would be all by myself, “ Muchwa said.

He started preparing for the UCU planned take-home examinations but the Government of Uganda stopped these. Muchwa found himself with time to think more about the world pandemic, particularly as it related to Uganda. In a traditional attorney/lawyer way of thinking, he wondered what was true and what was false; he wondered if others could use some help in sorting out the facts.

That’s when he got the idea for developing a free access mobile application to help share authentic information about COVID-19 among Ugandans.

“I knew that all the [Government] Ministries had websites, but most people do not visit those,” Muchwa said. “And many times they rely on social media information which may not be true. Someone can screen shoot a tweet by a Government official and edit the information, causing unnecessary panic among the public.”

Prior to the lockdown, Uganda already suffered from COVID-19 fake news. In late February, there emerged an allegation that two Chinese factory workers living in Seeta (Mukono) had tested positive with the Coronavirus, and that they had been put into isolation by the Ministry of Health. The Ministry denied that claim. Other rumors persisted.

Muchwa saw African IT specialists with his idea, but seeking funds to develop a more accessible, honest information tool.  While they waited, Muchwa moved ahead with his “COVID Guide.”

Screenshot of the COVID Guide application
Screenshot of the COVID Guide application

The application uses specific words, or “commands,” to derive and give replies to the user. Some of the command key words include: Ministry of Health (MoH), World Health Organization (WHO) and the names of all 134 districts of Uganda. It contains incorporated links to the Uganda’s Ministry of Health and World Health Organization websites which help one easily get up-to-date information about new cases, total number of infections in the country, quarantine centres, recoveries, risk groups, among other relevant information.

Other features of the COVID Guide are emergency helplines for the ministry and district COVID-19 taskforce.  Typing in the name of a district, even without Internet connection, brings the contact of the Resident District Commission of that district and his/her deputy. One can also use the same app to order a product from the market, especially Kampala markets, direct the dealer to put in on a boda-boda (motorcycle taxi) and receive it from home.

Muchwa admits that in addition to his passion for law, he is an “IT geek.”  He is self taught, learning  a little from a cousin who is an IT specialist but also from YouTube videos.

Prior to building this app, Muchwa built the Law Library app sui-genris, through which law students access learning materials, including some books. He also built a hostel-booking app through which UCU students can check hostels around the university and book them even from a far. He built a website for the UCU Law Society and Bobics app, for a fast food business outside the university.

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

Paul Mukhana, left, is a member of Mary’s “family,” helping others in time of need

‘COVID is bringing me a new way to minister’

COVID-19, Faculty, , , , , , , , , ,


Paul Mukhana, left, is a member of Mary’s “family,” helping others in time of need
Paul Mukhana, left, is a member of Mary’s “family,” helping others in time of need

By Mary Chowenhill

On a typical, sunny Ugandan day and in front of what most call the Thelma building but is soon to become the Uganda Christian University (UCU) business incubator on the Mukono campus, seven students and I got the news. They were telling me about their incubators – also known as business startups – related to piggeries, organic fertilizer, crocheted baby clothing and more. As their economics and entrepreneurship lecturer, I offered advice.

Then, we got the news of the lockdown, and everything changed.

Mary Chowenhill, left, before Ugandan distancing and lockdown guidelines
Mary Chowenhill, left, before Ugandan distancing and lockdown guidelines

I think that day was March 30.  But like most people living in the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, the exact date then and even the day of the week now escape me. I knew the coronavirus was spreading, including in my state of Florida in the USA.  Yet, I didn’t see it coming to Uganda or my small apartment where I have lived on the UCU campus for the past four years.

Within days, I watched thousands of university students, including mine, as well as half of the Americans living and working at UCU, pack up and leave.  Having recently sold my house in Florida and suffering from asthma, I felt it healthier for me to stay out of airplanes and remain here.

UCU offices are less than half full as Ugandan employees were ordered home and into isolation.

To the best of my knowledge while writing this on April 30, 2020, the deadly virus still isn’t here on the mile-long campus and in our houses, in my garden or on my patio. In fact, as I write, only 89 cases have been identified out of 39,000 tests administered in this country. It’s hardly in Uganda at all.

But the threat and precautionary measures are. And in Uganda, there are penalties for disobedience of such government regulations on social distancing, curfews, and taking public transportation. In addition to consequences of no income for people unable to go to work, there are government fines and imprisonment for disobedience.

In preparation for the inability to leave the campus, I immediately purchased 1.5 million shillings ($395 American) of food – something that the average Ugandan is not able to do. I divided beans, rice, posha, and sugar into various portions. My friend and gardener, Paul Mukhana, delivered these to many in greater need than me – a family with new twin babies, an elderly woman walking with a cane, among others.

Food purchased to help neighbors
Food purchased to help neighbors

When this ran out – and it did – I sent Paul to the market to get more.  He went to buy posha and other items for me and another customer.  Under Ugandan COVID guidelines, Paul was permitted to use his boda-boda (motorcycle) to pick up food.  But due to some misunderstanding and while he was inside the market, the local police confiscated his transportation.  Like many others who had their vehicles taken, he was required to pay 700,000 schillings ($184) to get it back legally or 200,000 shillings ($52) under the table.

It took two weeks, including prayer and a lesson about what Jesus thinks regarding bribery, to get Paul’s boda back.

The Christian love and human kindness of Ugandans, woven with the acceptance of a country fraught with bribes, is ever present in the COVID environment.

What has changed most is that my frenetic schedule of teaching economics and entrepreneurship and children’s Sunday school has ceased.  It has been replaced with solitude and church on my patio and from the computer with six children and eight adults. After our most recent “service,” we moved and sat six feet apart under a tree, discussing the meaning of loving each other as depicted in 1 John 4:7-12.

A neighbor named Ebenezer, age two and a half, wraps his arms around my knees. He doesn’t understand why he can’t cuddle on my lap.

While the campus is quiet, there are places we can’t walk because a few international students still living here violated the distancing rule.

Depression from change and isolation contributes to the lack of motivation to accomplish tasks I was never quite able to get around to but could now. Yet, COVID is bringing me to a new way to minister.

I have always had people who are not students as part of my Ugandan family.  But recently with students sent home, I am seeing more and more staff coming to my door. Some want to harvest greens from my garden. Some want a prayer. Most need a listener. Many need money for children’s school fees when that education returns.

It is an opportune time to teach people to fish.  Not a hand out but a hand up. It’s what I’m trained to do.

One worker cleans out bat feces – 7 sacks full – from between the ceiling and roof of three apartments, including mine.  I hire a man to fix my patio.  Grateful for the work, he writes “Hebrews 13” in one section and ”Praise God, Jesus Lives” on the cement in another.

God is allowing my brain to be relaxed while I see deeper how people are hurting.  Yesterday, I read Job 19. I know my redeemer lives. Is this easy?  No.  But it’s necessary. He will see us through.

Mary Chowenhill, a teacher in South Sudan until the war caused her evacuation, is a sponsored educator and missionary with the Society of Anglican of Missionaries and Senders (SAMS) and sponsors a student through UCU Partners. She hails from Jacksonville, Florida.

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

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Sarah Lagot Odwong, UCU graduate and USAID employee

COVID-19: Panic buying, added work from home, trusting God

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Sarah Lagot Odwong, UCU graduate and USAID employee
Sarah Lagot Odwong, UCU graduate and USAID employee

By Sarah Lagot Odwong

March 21st, 2020. 11:32 p.m. Uganda had its first identified case of COVID-19.

My mind buzzed with a thousand thoughts. Only weeks earlier, my siblings and I – with our own bills to pay – had emptied our savings to complete a large part of the construction work for my mother’s house. Because her life had been wrought with difficulty, it was always our dream to give her a place of rest.

There is no good time to be dirt poor, but having a bank account blinking red when a government shutdown is inevitable is the worst of times. Sleep eluded me.

I arose early on March 22. On my way to work, I noticed the unusual flurry of activity on the Kampala roads. The traffic was horrendous. Pedestrians trudged in silence on the pavements with swift gaits and downcast faces. The boda-bodas (motorcyclists) rode dangerously, swerving and wedging through the small crevices within the disorganized flow of traffic. It was a dystopian sight. I got into work in a pensive mood. I did not have much time to settle at my desk as a staff meeting was hurriedly called.

We sat hunched on white rickety plastic chairs in the parking yard. The chairs were spaced out from each other. Some staff wore masks. Others nervously tinkered with their phones.

Our boss announced, in part:

“As you all know, the first positive case of COVID-19 was confirmed last night. The grapevine alleges that the country will be in some sort of lock down. It will probably be announced later tonight when the President makes his address. I suggest that we share work plans with line managers and get all the resources we need to work from home…You will have your salaries in your bank accounts by this afternoon…”

At least some positive news. I got a notification from my bank at 1 p.m. that my account had been credited.

I picked up my bag, scampered to the car and drove to the nearest supermarket. I passed by the bank ATM at the premises, withdrew some cash and sauntered into the store. Inside, the panic buying had already ensued. There was a mad dash by shoppers. The queues stretched for miles. Shoppers’ trolleys were loaded with toilet paper, kitchen towels, soap, wipes and other hygiene products. Others heaped vegetables, milk, bread, cartons of beer, meat and liquor.

Only one big bag of rice remained. I grabbed it. I proceeded to pick up other dry rations, hygiene products and joined the snaking lines to pay prices that had increased tremendously in a matter of hours. Little bottles of sanitizer that were affordable a week earlier now cost almost ten times more. I bought just one.

Like anticipated, President Yoweri Museveni announced a lockdown of the country for an initial 14 days. After the two weeks lapsed, 21 additional days were added.

While fortunate to still have a job, my workload increased with hours extending from early morning to late at night. Not only do I have a full-time job, I also support the crisis communications for the epidemic response.

Before the outbreak, I was living out of suitcases, on the road for days and sometimes weeks at a time, working long hours. Now at home, my workload has ramped up even more. I jealously read texts in group chats from my girlfriends who suddenly find themselves with bursts of free time. They are learning new languages on Duolingo, learning to sew and evidently having an extended holiday off work.

Not me. I spend my days hunched at a desk in the living room with my pajamas on and my hair tied in a headscarf. I am writing, attending endless Zoom and Skype meetings, and tending to incessant phone calls.

What I have found hardest is the physical distance and inability to see family – both in Uganda and elsewhere. No travel on roads or in the air. We created a family chat group on WhatsApp, which helps my coping. Seeing videos of my nieces and nephews doing hilarious things, the new baby attempting to walk and other family milestones, I am reminded that there is hope after this plague blows over. And it will.

What precious time I have away from my computer, I am reminded to prioritize the things that really matter. Family, faith, friendships, love and personal development.  We waste time chasing the wind, like the writer of Ecclesiastes opines. The “busy” job, the career growth, and monetary gain. All of it is meaningless.

What this pandemic has shown is that when it is stripped down, life makes meaning with just the simple things. Healthy thriving relationships with God, family, friends and the people who love and support you. They will always be a constant. All the other material contraptions we chase fade away. This epiphany has made me change gear.

In what I hope are the final days of this lockdown, I have a different attitude and mindset. Going forth, I aim to structure my work to fit within regular hours. I aim to find more time to check on the people I love.

I am determined to create extra time to pursue my passion projects. I wrote a book during my undergraduate studies that I need to publish this year. I have autobiography projects that I must complete. I have a consulting business to grow. I have a PhD proposal to write. There are friends and family to check on. I have series of sermons to watch.

I have seen the Lord’s handiwork amidst this chaos. He has been faithful. There is no day I have slept hungry. I have a roof over my head. My utility bills are paid. I still have a job. When I feel overwhelmed, I remember that the creator of the universe knew me before I was formed in my mother’s womb. He had the foresight that I would go through this calamity. And he promised to help me weather it.

(Sarah Lagot Odwong is a graduate of Mass Communication from Uganda Christian University and received her Master’s degree in Humanitarianism and Conflict Response from The University of Manchester, England. She currently works for USAID’s Better Outcomes for Children and Youth Activity as the Communications Director.)

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

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Madonna waiting for her dad to come home from work

‘I can’t hug her the minute I get home’

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Madonna waiting for her dad to come home from work
Madonna waiting for her dad to come home from work

By Constantine Odongo
Emmanuella Madonna is three years old. Every weekday, after taking her after-school nap, the kindergarten pupil engages her friends in the neighbourhood in games, such as dodge ball and hide-and-seek.

That was before mid-March 2020 and COVID-19.

On March 18, she got an abrupt, indefinite school holiday after the Ugandan government announced a closure of schools and a ban on work, unless it was an essential service. The ban was to enforce the health guideline of social distancing and staying home to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has become a pandemic. Madonna now spends more time with her mother at home and keeps wondering why I, her father, cannot stay home with them.

Emmanuella Madonna studying from home
Emmanuella Madonna studying from home

As an employee of Uganda’s New Vision newspaper (i.e. news jobs are considered essential), it means I’m gone much of the day and conceivably more exposed to the potentially deadly virus.

Madonna doesn’t get that. She doesn’t understand why I can’t hug her the minute I get home between 6:45 and 7 p.m.

Uganda President Yoweri Museveni on March 30, 2020, announced a two-week stay-home order and capped it with a 11.5-hour curfew from 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. The order and the curfew were then extended by another three weeks.

Since, most times, the normal working hours at my office are not enough for me to accomplish my tasks, I often work up to the 11th hour.  My workplace, being a media house, is open 24 hours. But, nowadays, the newsroom is almost empty, save for security personnel, especially past 6 p.m. People abandon office early, in order to get home and beat the curfew time of 7 p.m.

It usually takes me up to 25 minutes to cover the 14km (8.5 miles) distance from my office located in the capital of Uganda, Kampala, to home in Kawempe, a city suburb. I spend close to half of that time at roadblocks, trying to explain to security why my media movement permit sticker is on the dashboard and not on the car screen.  Some motorists had lost their outside car stickers to thieves, who would pluck them off cars and sell them in the black market in Kampala, sometimes as high as one million shillings (about $280).

As I arrive home after work and oftentimes after the routine security interrogation, I see Madonna run to arms she can’t yet embrace – until I am cleansed of possible contamination to her and others in my family. I watch a fight brewing between Madonna and her nanny, who is seven times her age, but understands her job to keep a daughter from her dad in the world of COVID fear. I always ensure I bathe as soon as I arrive home, before getting into contact with anything or anyone, so that I do not become a conduit for the coronavirus.

Every morning, if Madonnna wakes up before I set off for work, she tries her luck in convincing me not to go to work that day. When President Museveni banned public and private cars from the roads on March 30, I carried my computer home and set up myself to work there. However, an unstable Internet network, an unfavorable work station and distractions by children hindered my ability to work.

Madonna’s sibling, Morgan, will be making one year on May 5. Throughout the day, I arbitrated disputes between her and Morgan. April 1 was day two of my full operation from home. We were both at our workstations, Madonna’s about two metres (6 feet) away from mine. When I stepped away from the room to receive a phone call, Madonna removed a keyboard key.

Madonna’s grandmother, a lady she was named after, lives and teaches in a primary school in Tororo district, located 220 kilometers (136.5 miles), east of Kampala. One-and-a-half weeks before the lockdown, schools were closed. Initially, teachers saw joy in the holiday. But it was short lived as they experienced more than one negative aspect of the lockdown.

Constantine Odongo
Constantine Odongo

The weekend after schools had been closed, as one example, Madonna’s grandmother attended a funeral in Tororo, without knowing that she and some friends were going against the guidelines of the Ministry of Health – that only close family members bury the dead due to social distancing. There were water points for the mourners to wash their hands before getting to the funeral, but not many even understood why the water and soap had been provided.

Such stories justify why the Government enlisted the services of the security forces to enforce the observance of the lockdown guidelines. I remind myself of this each time I am stopped. Life as we know it has changed for Madonna and me. With God’s guidance and understanding, we will appreciate the fruits of the difference and get through it.

(Constantine Odongo is a deputy chief sub-editor for New Vision. He received an MA degree in Journalism and Media Studies from Uganda Christian University.)

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

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Journalists Paddy Nsobya of Bukedde newspaper, Samuel Sanya of New Vision and John Semakula of The Standard newspaper of Uganda Christian University in an April 20 meeting to strategize for the post COVID-19 period in Mukono District, Uganda. (Courtesy photo from Samuel Sanya)

Coronavirus pandemic has reshaped me into a better person

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Journalists Paddy Nsobya of Bukedde newspaper, Samuel Sanya of New Vision and John Semakula of The Standard newspaper of Uganda Christian University in an April 20 meeting to strategize for the post COVID-19 period in Mukono District, Uganda. (Courtesy photo from Samuel Sanya)
Journalists Paddy Nsobya of Bukedde newspaper, Samuel Sanya of New Vision and John Semakula of The Standard newspaper of Uganda Christian University in an April 20 meeting to strategize for the post COVID-19 period in Mukono District, Uganda. (Courtesy photo from Samuel Sanya)

By John Semakula

When governments in Europe and the United States came up with altruistic measures to help their citizens during the Coronavirus lockdown, in Uganda, we were left to fend for ourselves.

Despite the fact that the majority of Ugandans live hand to mouth and expected help from government during the lockdown, a selected few received food items. Many communities, including mine, were forced to mobilise ourselves to help the most vulnerable like the elderly, the poor and children in child-headed families. This experience has reshaped my personality and worldview.

For a video showing food distribution in Uganda, click here

Before the lockdown, I did not care much about community. If I had food on my table, I was mindless about the needy in the community; someone always did that job anyway.

John Semakula of The Standard newspaper of Uganda Christian University
John Semakula of The Standard newspaper of Uganda Christian University

However, the lockdown has molded me into a better person. I have learned to share with others and be keen about what goes on in my community. When the government of Uganda declared a partial lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic on March 17, I plunged into thoughts about how my family would go through it. I stay with seven relatives in Mukono town, central Uganda.

Although I am a salaried employee at Uganda Christian University, the lockdown was abrupt and yet the situation required that I should help close family members whose incomes were affected by the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. Some of them operated casual businesses that had to close.

However, as I was still lost in thought, wondering what to do, I received a call from my father in the village offering us food from his garden. This has turned out to be our lifeline. Whenever we run out of food, I send a motorist to collect from my dad.

This kindness from my father has helped not only my siblings and me but also some of my neighbors. My siblings and I had to share the little we get from dad and the meager monetary resources I had saved up before the lockdown. My father has taught me an invaluable lesson in adulthood and I had to reciprocate his kindness.

I have also seen hundreds of other Ugandans donate food, cash and other critical items to the coronavirus national taskforce that was set up by the government to receive financial and food aid from members of the public for distribution to the most vulnerable. This was uncommon before the outbreak of the pandemic. I have discovered that Ugandans are a good people and that if we had been helping one another before, we would have been a better society.

I have also had to help several of my neighbors who need small cash handouts to feed and support their families in other ways during the lockdown.

On Tuesday April 14, a father of six including a pair of twins came to me at 8 p.m. to ask for a loan of $6. He said, “…if you do not help me out today, my family will go without food for the next three days…” I was forced to surrender part of my week’s small budget to him.

Within less than a week, on April 19, another neighbor, who had a patient at a nearby hospital, also asked me for a favor of sh40, 000 ($12) to transfer him for specialised treatment to another facility. I gave it to him out of sympathy. Before the Coronavirus pandemic, he worked in Kame Valley Market in Mukono town and like other traders, the lockdown has rendered him helpless.

Although markets are allowed to operate, only those trading in food items are allowed to work, the rest of traders like my neighbor, have to close.  That is how my life has changed during the lockdown. But I thank God who has been merciful to my family because we are still alive when thousands of others around the world have succumbed to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, since the University where I work shut down on March 17, I have been operating from home, preparing for the reopening and the next semester. I am also going through students’ research proposals and internship reports. In addition, I am taking this time to come up with and bounce off different COVID-19 related research ideas with colleagues; hopefully we will have a research paper at the end of the year.

I see light at the end of the tunnel.

But the Coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown have taught me a lot of lessons in life that will remain fresh on my memory until death. I have never seen people the world-over suffer and die at this rate. I also have learned that in Africa we survive by the mercy of God. I will continue to exalt Him as the most supreme.

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John Semakula is the supervisor of The Standard newspaper under the Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication at Uganda Christian University (UCU).  He is a UCU graduate of Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication and Masters of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies.  

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

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‘Just as the Lord was with the exiles in Babylon, He is with us also’

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Rev. Jessica Hughes, from the state of Virginia in the USA, decided to remain on the University campus. These are some of her “neighbors” outside her apartment in Mukono, Uganda.
Rev. Jessica Hughes, from the state of Virginia in the USA, decided to remain on the University campus. These are some of her “neighbors” outside her apartment in Mukono, Uganda.

By Rev. Jessica Hughes

Jeremiah 29:7: “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

While I am neither an Israelite nor am I in exile, Jeremiah’s exhortation to pray for the place where you live is sound counsel that I think still applies today. As a missionary who has worked at Uganda Christian University (UCU) for almost eight years, I have long prayed for the peace and prosperity of Kampala and Mukono.

And then COVID-19 happened, and the US State Department issued a Global Level 4 Advisory – Do Not Travel (and come home if you are abroad unless you are prepared to remain abroad for an indefinite period). This immediately raises one challenge for any missionary or expatriate: Do you stay where you are, or do you go home?

I quickly decided that it was much easier for me to stay here, especially since I had no idea when I would be able to re-enter Uganda when the crisis had passed (without the mandatory 14-day quarantine expanded later to another three weeks). I have friends who have stayed, and I have friends who have returned home. Regardless of their choice, I am grateful that they were able to reach wherever they wanted to be safely.

One of the things for which I am grateful is that Uganda is a model for how to handle epidemics. The government reacted quickly, even though many of these decisions have caused a bit of havoc.

On March 18, Uganda announced that schools and churches would close on March 20 for 32 days. This meant that the students had to hurry and get home, and we had to hurry and try to finish the semester. I am so proud of my students; they finished their assignments as quickly as they could while packing and leaving early.

The airport and other borders were closed on March 22 for a minimum of 32 days to people, but cargo still transits, thankfully. Pharmacies, banks and all stores except for those that sell food were closed. All public transportation was shut down, and initially, private vehicles could carry three people, but then all driving was banned except for health transportation. People in Kampala were jogging in hordes on major roads, so then exercising outdoors in public was banned, though exercise in one’s yard is allowed. There is a curfew from 7 p.m.-6:30 a.m., and you will be arrested if you are caught even walking home from work.

In the midst of all this, I am grateful for so much:

  • The Ministry of Health. They are handling the pandemic as well as can be expected. Uganda has long been a standard for how to manage epidemics, and COVID-19 is no exception. They have worked well with various communication outlets to be sure that the message of staying home and preventing the spread of the virus is prominent; one cannot make a phone call without a few seconds of a message being played before the call is actually placed. There are many challenges, of course, but I am grateful for how they have taken the lead.
  • Uganda Christian University’s leadership. I often note that I live in an idyllic bubble on campus, with Internet, water, and security, and that is true. But I am most grateful that the University was very quick to make plans to allow lecturers to end the semester online and for exams to be converted to take-home exams. Though the latter was ultimately halted by the government, I am grateful that the University has been making use of online tools for education, was prepared to shift to take-home exams that would be submitted online (with allowances being made for students without easy internet access), but also that the students were so invested in their education that the overwhelming majority of them were very disappointed in the government’s decision disallowing take-home exams.
  • The church’s response. Much like in the US and the rest of the world, churches immediately went online. The Archbishop of the Province of the Church of Uganda has been publishing daily devotions, as well as leading two services on Sundays from home. The UCU Chaplaincy also immediately went online, as did many of my Theology students, so much so that scrolling through Facebook on a Sunday was very likely to cause the web page to hang with all the Facebook Lives that were playing.
  • For my mission society’s leadership. They have been proactive in checking on us, seeing what we need and where we need to be, and ensuring that we are well.

Most of all, I am grateful that my people, on both my continents, are safe. I’ve been able to talk with a number of my students, as well as friends and family, and all are well.

Yes, this pandemic is trying, difficult, and challenging. But just as the Lord was with the exiles in Babylon, He is with us also.

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Rev. Jessica Hughes is a lecturer in the UCU Bishop Tucker School of Theology and Divinity. She hails from the state of Virginia.

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

Frank Obonyo holds Keren, his daughter, who he features in the article. Other family members are the writer’s wife, Cathryn, and children, Adonai and Ezekiel.

COVID-19: Ugandan father makes good out of the season

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Frank Obonyo holds Keren, his daughter, who he features in the article. Other family members are the writer’s wife, Cathryn, and children, Adonai and Ezekiel.
Frank Obonyo holds Keren, his daughter, who he features in the article. Other family members are the writer’s wife, Cathryn, and children, Adonai and Ezekiel.

By Frank Obonyo

Keren: Daddy, why does Coronavirus have many names?

Me: Which ones?

Keren: Corona, COVID-19, Coronavirus…

Keren, age 3, is my youngest of three children. We – my wife, Cathryn, and our children Adonai, age 9, Ezekiel, 6, and Keren – live in Kirowoza, Mukono, Uganda.  As I write this on Easter in April 2020, the deadly virus has not reached our village. But word about it has, including to a three-year-old.

Children ask questions. Lots of awesome questions. If deeply thought about, their intricate inquiries make a lot of sense. They wonder why things are the way they are.

Our three-year-old is excessively talkative and inquisitive. I recall one such time when she asked: “Does Jesus have a house in my stomach?” We previously told her that Jesus lives in us. Instead of figuratively about the spirit of Christ, our youngest took this literally.

It was during an evening walk with Keren that the COVID questions came. When I later went to bed and recollected what happened in the day, Keren’s question made actual sense. To think about it, COVID-19 is like a maze.

Multiple names are part of the maze as we weave through additional questions related to isolation, lifestyle changes, overall confusion and then how what is taking place now relates to other experiences that we have had.

Africans are connected to nature. It feeds us and shelters us but we also link it to natural occurrences. Locusts –those swarming, tropical grasshoppers – eat up vegetation including crops, leaving people in terrible famine. A child born during a locust invasion is called “Obonyo,”which is part of my name and my identity. The naming of this child, or me, is symbolic. It reminds the community about the dreadful disaster.

The Northern Uganda Luo speaking group refers to the insect invasion as “bonyo.” The Luo are one of East Africa’s largest ethnic groups.

In this season, Coronavirus seems to have touched the climate as well. Our weather is either dry or wet, and April is a rainy month. However, the sun is now baking green leaves bone-dry, sprinkling our heads with grayish dust and we have no option but to survive this life indoors, behind closed shutters. It is the government’s “distancing” and “sheltering” orders (expanded for another three weeks from the two-week curfew that ended April 14).

What is more exceptional is that the desert locusts swarmed Uganda just a few months ago. The two tragedies seemed to have agreed to attack us one after another. These somewhat haphazard observations may give a fair idea of what our country is like.

Life, I must admit, is ugly for us as it must seem to others around the world in this COVID-19 pandemic environment. We are accustomed to routine. Wake up, get to work, come back home, sleep.

This has changed. It is now bedroom to living room, kitchen to compound; that is the cycle. We miss out on social life, working together and even as a community, mourning the death of someone. In Uganda, life is about meeting friends, extended family, workmates. Men, for example, reserve Saturday and Sunday to watch English premier league games, children have school assignments, and mothers go shopping. We go out to church together.

We now hear and live two words: Stay home.

I admire Keren and her two brothers for how they adapt.  They remind me of Jesus’ teachings about humility. He said that we should humble ourselves like little children if we are to enter the Kingdom of God. If we are to live happily, we ought to live like children. And not worry.

My children do not worry about the bills, the next meal. If they have parents around them, food and accommodation, they have it all. They go forward, no matter what. There is very little fear. Children do not worry about the virus or a lockdown. They are focused on being themselves; they have an insatiable curiosity. It is not about missing the old life. It is about onward and upward. Children adapt quickly, and perhaps that is why they live happier lives. My children wake up, play, eat, and are happy to see us around.

The truth is, for adults accustomed to routines outside of parenting, spending more time with children can get complicated and chaotic. Lots of laundry, playing the role of a judge, answering why COVID-19 has many names…

I am using this season break from work and post-graduate studies to help my children improve in their reading skills and understand who they are in God. I read with them the adventures of Mr. Hare. This folklore revolves around the cunning Mr. Hare, who, though in small stature, employs his wisdom and tricks to outmaneuver bigger opponents and always takes the prize home. The stories are packed with humor and life lessons. We also study the Bible; April is the month of the book of Ephesians.

I am making good out of the season, as there will be others.

Frank Obonyo is a Communications Officer at Uganda Christian University(UCU), an MA graduate in literature from UCU and an MA Digital Journalism fellow at the Aga Khan University, Nairobi, Kenya.

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

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Olum Douglas playing a horse puzzle game at home

My experience with the COVID-19 outbreak in Uganda

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Olum Douglas playing a horse puzzle game at home
Olum Douglas playing a horse puzzle game at home

By Douglas Olum

I wish COVID-19 had consulted me before breaking out in Uganda. At the time it came, I was at a near zero financial balance. As the virus label moved from an epidemic to, by late January 2020, a pandemic, I knew this meant worldwide and my country was likely not to be untouched. With a wife and two children to provide for, I worried about how I would save my family from starvation should our Government order a lockdown to keep us from working and traveling to the store.

When? I didn’t know.

I had spent the whole of February attending lectures for my MA program at Uganda Christian University. Within that time, I had not contributed any stories for the Uganda Partners organization, which is my main source of finances. My car selling business also had gone down since December 2019, when I made a commission on the last sale. I had spent weeks since the beginning of March, trekking between Kampala and Mukono, trying to revive the business. I had a few cars at hand for sale, with a few promises from prospective customers but none was materializing.

On Saturday, March 21, Uganda announced in her first case of the coronavirus infection. The victim was a 36-year-old businessman who had returned from a three-day trip to Dubai in the United Arabs Emirates.

I anticipated very tough times ahead if the numbers of identified cases increased. I thought that if I could just sell one car for a dealer, I would use the money to transport my wife and children from our apartment in Mukono to my village of Gulu in the far north. Personally, I couldn’t go because I had periodical course assignments to do and submit until late June. I knew that going to the village – far away from electricity and Internet access – would hinder my studies. Besides, I still felt we might avoid being swept deeper into the pandemic.

My confidence was rooted as far back as the year 2000 when Ebola first hit northern Uganda. Christ the King Demonstration Primary School, where I studied back then, was among the first institutions to be affected. One of our teachers contracted the virus disease and succumbed to it within the first four days. The Government moved to close schools only after his death. But none of us was ever infected.

My home 20 years ago was located near Lacor Hospital, a private hospital in Gulu that handled most of the Ebola cases. Many of our neighbors worked there to take care of the victims. Our market and public transports remained functional. We interacted without being distanced and without negative consequences. Thinking of that earlier survival time that was not as life changing as the COVID-19 restrictions, I was not discouraged.

Even when I had heard of death cases in China, Italy and Spain, I had the impression that the COVID-19 infection was not as dangerous as the Ebola that took a life in less than 72 hours.

Olum Douglas in his mask, walking in Mukono Town during the lockdown
Olum Douglas in his mask, walking in Mukono Town during the lockdown

When a Norwegian newspaper/magazine journalism friend asked me to accompany her in collecting data for a story she wanted to do about the COVID-19 situation in Uganda, I didn’t hesitate even though we planned to work in the business hubs in Kampala. We were supposed to carry out the survey on a Monday. But a cough and cold hit her, necessitating postponement. While I was a bit anxious, she assured me that her condition was not the coronavirus because she had largely been at home, with very minimal trips to buy groceries and no contact with any person who had just entered or returned to the country. We re-scheduled our work for the next day, Tuesday, March 24th.

As I travelled to Kampala that hot, sunny day, I learned of eight new cases of confirmed infections. March 24 was my last trip to the city – at least for a while. That night, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni announced a ban on all public transport means, with private means limited to carrying not more than two passengers. The ban eventually was extended for everything except for trucks transporting food.

At this point, the virus threat became a reality. Most people were wearing facemasks. Hand-washing containers were at all entries and exits of markets, large buildings, taxi parks and supermarkets. Shop owners and operators were sanitizing the hands of their customers. Unlike the usually welcoming market environment, the traders themselves were barring those who resisted hand washing.

Money to feed my family was uppermost in my mind. With a slight headache and enough shillings for a few days of family meals, I headed back to Mukono. But fear grew with the headache pain as I understood this to be one symptom of the COVID-19 infection.  The anxiety lessened when my temperature taken at the UCU gate registered a normal 97 degrees Fahrenheit.

Douglas and his children, Daphine and Victor, feeding their chicken during the lockdown
Douglas and his children, Daphine and Victor, feeding their chicken during the lockdown

While financially crippling, the government curfew since March 24 has meant more family time – singing, playing, teaching and learning with my children. And while I didn’t have access to computers on the locked-down campus, I was able to complete some long-overdue writing assignments on a phone donated to me by an American last year. Many times, I did the work just outside the UCU gate where the university wifi was weak but reaching.

At 53 infections and zero deaths as I write this on Easter Sunday, I remain optimistic that Uganda may escape the huge numbers experienced by much of the rest of the world.

How deep, when and where else will COVID-19 strike? I don’t know.  But surrounded by my wife and children, I’m watching.

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

UCU’s e-learning center on the Mukono campus includes touch-screen capabilities as one example of state-of-the-art technology.

UCU e-learning status amidst COVID-19 environment

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UCU’s e-learning center on the Mukono campus includes touch-screen capabilities as one example of state-of-the-art technology.
UCU’s e-learning center on the Mukono campus includes touch-screen capabilities as one example of state-of-the-art technology.

By Douglas Olum

“A 21st century university isn’t just brick and mortar. It’s evolutionary, novel, re-engineering processes, emergent, have value laden solutions beyond geographical borders in complex times like these. A commendation is befitting,” Godfrey Sempungu, the Associate Dean of the Uganda Christian University (UCU), Faculty of Business and Administration, posted in an April 2, 2020, Tweet.

His post came only days after parliamentarian, Gilbert Olanya, proclaimed before the Parliament of Uganda, during a sitting in which UCU’s digital migration was discussed, that the university based in Mukono is one of the best.

“We thank the UCU for being one of the best universities in East Africa,” Mr. Olanya said, alluding, in part, to use of technology.

On Friday March 20, UCU, like all other educational institutions in Uganda, sent home its more than 5,000 main campus students as well as regional campus students following a presidential directive instructing all schools and academic institutions in the country to go on a 30-day shutdown because of the globally threatening COVID-19 pandemic.

At the time, Uganda had not yet recorded a single case of the viral disease. But all her neighbors, including Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan had already recorded cases of the disease.

The shutdown came just three weeks before students could kick-start their end of the Easter Semester examinations. Amidst the unanticipated interruption, UCU quickly shifted to its digital learning platform to continue assessing as well as to examine students in a bid to counter the eventuality of physical exodus from campuses. This on-line alternative was curtailed on April 4 when Janet Museveni, minister of education, suspended this option.

The UCU Vice Chancellor, Rev. Dr. John Senyonyi, who previously applauded university staff for adaptability in the midst of the pandemic, issued, in part, this statement on Palm Sunday, April 5, 2020:

“In compliance with the Minister’s directive, I must regretfully inform you that we shall not issue you with the examinations as we had intended. We realize that many of you have been preparing for these examinations. Besides, over 90% of you had registered your phone numbers or other contact information to receive the examinations from the University; and the number was still rising. This means that you will have to sit for these examinations upon resumption of normal University programs.”

Uganda registered her first case of the Coronavirus disease on March 22 with a 30-year-old businessman who returned from a trip in Dubai (United Arabs Emirates). The number has since grown to 53 (April 8, 2020), with the majority of the cases being of returnees from other countries, including China, India and Europe.

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni consequently banned all forms of public gatherings including church services, monthly market days, political rallies, clubs and large wedding events. He also has banned all public transportation and limited private vehicle use to curb the possible spread of COVID-19.

The UCU Vice Chancellor further clarified in an April 9, 2020, memo:

“As I said earlier, our plan for the Take Home exam was conceived in good faith and we had the best of intentions for our students. It has never crossed our minds and we never did anything intentionally to disobey Government at such a critical time. Despite the current situation in the country, we believed that through available technological facilities at UCU, students would be able to complete their semester with minimal interruption. We considered that we should fully support Government efforts to decongest, and in that spirit, we judged that the use of technology was safe for our students since they would be doing the exams in the comfort of their homes.”

The Rev. Dr. John Senyonyi further stated in that memo, in part, that “Uganda Christian University is a law-abiding institution which cannot act contrary to the directives of our line ministry or of the Government. I request you to remain calm and commit everything to the Risen LORD.”

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

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Teenager Jada Nicole Just engages in Uganda schooling remotely from her South Carolina, USA, home

BEFORE COVID-19: African American teen experiences Uganda

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Teenager Jada Nicole Just engages in Uganda schooling remotely from her South Carolina, USA, home
Teenager Jada Nicole Just engages in Uganda schooling remotely from her South Carolina, USA, home

(This is the second of two stories UCU Partners is featuring about American teens living in Uganda.)

By Douglas Olum and Patty Huston-Holm

At 1 a.m. on a Tuesday, 14-year-old Jada Nicole Just climbs out of her Charleston, S.C., bed to begin school – on-line and facilitated from Uganda, Africa, where it’s seven hours later. From her laptop, she takes her first class focused on the Bible and beamed out from Heritage International School, Kampala, where the time is 8 a.m.  Except for COVID-19, Jada would be there with new friends from around the world.

“We literally had days to pack up and get back to the States,” her mom, Ladavia, said of the coronavirus exit she did with Jada and two younger daughters in March 2020.

South Carolina 14-year-old Jada in Uganda
South Carolina 14-year-old Jada in Uganda

The night before the flight out from Entebbe was bittersweet as Jada had a goodbye sleepover with Heritage school friends from Finland, Kenya and Uganda. She was excited to return home to her life in South Carolina and to her friends, her dad and her dog there, but had grown to love much about Uganda. Experiences with African food, wildlife and even getting around chaotic streets are opportunities that few American teenagers receive or are even bold enough to try.

In the summer of 2019, Jada, then age 13, left South Carolina for her first trip to Africa. Her mom received a Fulbright opportunity to teach and lead pharmacy-related projects through Uganda Christian University’s School of Medicine. With anxious uncertainty, the girls went along. They made Uganda home and were comfortably settled in their school when they learned they needed to leave. With almost six months left, Ladavia’s Fulbright was suspended by a U.S. Embassy directive, forcing their exit from Uganda.

Jada is still processing her time in Uganda. She recalls her first long trip – nearly 7,500 miles over two days – to East Africa.  She had never before been overseas.

There was a stop in Brussels, which was her first time in Europe. Next, there was a landing in the dark at the Entebbe airport, followed by a car trip with a flat tire and two hours to fix it in darkness before arriving at a small Ntinda apartment in northeastern Kampala with no water pressure for showers. While exhausted, sleep did not come easily as there was a first encounter with nighttime Uganda mosquitoes. The sometimes-malaria-carrying insects were surprisingly smaller but nevertheless more frightening than the ones in South Carolina.

Daylight revealed disorganized traffic jams with motorcycles over dusty roads, cars and taxis with seemingly no driver guidelines, women carrying bananas in baskets on their heads, cows and goats without enclosures, skinny wandering dogs and dirty pelicans eating from piles of trash.  While observing these stark contrasts to the landscape and more-orderly life in Charleston, Jada and her family discovered there also were American-like places such as Café Javas with cheeseburgers and salads and Acacia Mall with its ice cream, book stores and a movie theatre.

Trips to the zoo allowed an up-close look at ostriches and zebras. Game parks enabled the family to see lions, primates, giraffes and hippos in their natural habitat. There was a chase by Uganda’s national bird, the Crested Crane, and a frightening but unforgettable, nighttime trip across the Nile while hippos moved dangerously close by their tiny boat.  Monkeys of different species roamed the trees seemingly everywhere.

“Sometimes, we picked jack fruit from a tree in our compound,” Jada recalled.  “We didn’t need to ask permission. It was just there, very sweet and good.”  Other regular foods were beans, rice, samosas and an egg-like treat called rolex.

Despite the time difference, the teenager kept in touch with Charleston friends via social media when there was a connection and electricity.  Uganda power outages sometimes necessitated earlier bedtimes and subsequent earlier wake times to finish homework before school each day.

The weather in Kampala was surprisingly similar to that in South Carolina except that despite Uganda’s location on the equator, the air was cooler. The friendliness of the Uganda culture was another pleasant surprise.

“People here don’t take offense when you stare at them; they smile back a lot,” she said. “And for the first time as an African American, I was living in a culture where everybody looked like me.  They just didn’t speak like me.”

Uganda has many tribal languages with the most common around the capital city being Luganda.

After getting over the nervousness that comes with starting high school in another country, Jada feels very prepared as she approaches her sophomore year in the United States. She’s become particularly fond of French, a language that is taught at Heritage beginning in kindergarten. But her favorite subject there was Physics. She has also grown in appreciation of her home in the United States.

“Although we can’t travel much now because of virus restrictions, I value that we have roads with no pot holes, and I’m not so picky about what I eat here,” she said.

Will she go back to Uganda?

“Not soon,” Jada said.  “But, yes, I want to go back some day.”

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

Rachel Hodge wears traditional African clothes for Karamojong wedding

‘I got a jigger, but I’d go back again’

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Rachel Hodge wears traditional African clothes for Karamojong wedding
Rachel Hodge wears traditional African clothes for Karamojong wedding

(NOTE: This story was written prior to the March 2020, virus-forced return home by the Hodge family and other Americans in Uganda. In early April, the Hodges were in quarantine in Iowa before returning to Arizona.)

By Alex Tarema

“What are you making for dinner Momma?” Rachel asks her mother, Crystal Hodge, from the living room. The scent that escapes the kitchen reports rice to her nostrils.

Rachel loves Ugandan rice, mostly its aroma. She loves the famed Ugandan rolex (egg roll) too but hates matooke – the highly popular delicacy in the central Uganda area. She likes her groundnuts prepared roasted and salted but does not enjoy their pasted stew.

The 15-year-old lives on the Uganda Christian University main campus in Mukono where her Fulbright father, David Hodge, has been doing academic work since August of 2019. She hit the ground running, starting her school at the prestigious Acorns International School, Kampala, Uganda.

Rachel reads at her family home on the UCU campus in Mukono, Uganda
Rachel reads at her family home on the UCU campus in Mukono, Uganda

The school is small by her standards but amazing, she says. Unlike Phoenix, Arizona, where she hails, here she can mingle with almost everyone and get to know them better. Her class only has 16 students, and she is the only Caucasian. When she returns to the United States, she will miss her teachers and friends in Uganda.

She hums her school’s anthem all evening.

“I really love music. I love to sing,” she says. “Five other students and I were taken to the studio today to record the school anthem. I sang it so many times that my throat is sore, and I cannot get it out of my head.”

Besides singing in the choir, Rachel auditioned and was accepted to perform in her school’s talent show – an experience she speaks of with a beaming smile. She’s wearing a pair of denim jeans and a checkered top. She occasionally walks around outside their residence called All Nations House while reading, but her favourite spot is a couch in the living room on which she reads herself away.

In order to avoid traffic jams, her driver takes many dusty, bumpy back roads on her hour-long drive to and from school every weekday. This is the most cumbersome part of her day.

“Back home, school is just 10 minutes away, the traffic is never as bad, and the roads are smooth,” she says.

Although temperatures can get up to 47 degrees Celsius (116 Fahrenheit) in Phoenix, she manages to stay cool in the car with air conditioning. Here, the driver drives with the windows lowered, allowing dust, heat, and exhaust fumes into the vehicle – part of her Ugandan experience that, she says, “I don’t like very much.”

The dust notwithstanding, Rachel agrees with a certain Ugandan minister who was recently quoted as saying that the bumpy roads add spice to the Ugandan experience. Rather than agonise, she uses her two hours on the road to finish up her homework that is sometimes twice as much as what she was assigned in the United States.

Rachel loves numbers, basically anything complex. Math is her favorite subject, but she has found physics to be quite insightful as well, particularly the class projects and the research.

Away from school, Rachel is a lover of life and nature. She loves rainy nights, and the sound of raindrops on the tin roof. It’s a refreshing change compared to living in the desert of Arizona where they only receive an average of nine inches of rain per year.  She has travelled to northeastern Uganda, attended a traditional wedding in Karamoja tribe sub-region and visited the Kidepo Valley National Park.

“Weddings here are so much different from what you see in the U.S.,” she said. “They dressed me up with beads around my waist and my head and gave me a traditional skirt to wear.”

The beautiful scenery of Kidepo Valley and the sight of giraffes, water buffalo, and zebras was so spectacular that she forgot about the long hours she spent getting to the wedding and the safari.

In Karamoja, Rachel got a jigger in her foot as a souvenir. Thankfully, a neighbor is a nurse and removed it. On a school field trip, Rachel hiked to the Sipi Falls in Eastern Uganda. From her diverse school classmates, Rachel has learned a lot about other religions, their values and perceptions while sharing her Christian faith.  To expand her knowledge of Ugandan culture, Rachel and her family also have visited the Buganda King’s palace, the parliament building, and the Uganda National Mosque.

Her most scary experience is when she walked to a restaurant in Mukono town around 5 p.m., but her order arrived after dark. Like any other foreign teenager among Ugandans who do not speak much English, Rachel started to “freak out” as she wasn’t sure she’d remember her way home. But she did.

Admittedly, Rachel misses her American life, her friends and mostly her freedom. Almost all her hobbies were within a ten-minute radius and she didn’t have to worry about being so conspicuous because she blended in with everyone else.  In Uganda, her long blonde hair and fair skin attracts attention and makes her feel uncomfortable. After just one walk into Mukono town, she has avoided walking there again.

“There are so many inconveniences like needing to boil water for drinking, no microwave, dishwasher, and regular shower, and the long drive to school that I’ve had to adjust to, but I keep telling myself that it is only for a short period,” she says.

For Rachel, living in Uganda has taught her to be socially perceptive and in the future, she is considering a return trip to help some impoverished villages get access to clean water and support children to attain education through fundraising and charity.

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

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COVID-19: What $40 a night in quarantine teaches you

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Alex Taremwa doing an on-line class via Zoom.

(During this unprecedented time of the COVID-19 pandemic, UCU Partners will be publishing stories about how UCU-connected Ugandans and Americans are coping.  This is the first of several accounts.)

By Alex Taremwa

In my shared apartment, Guma Jeremiah storms in from work. I call him the “diplomat extraordinaire” because he works for the Ugandan Foreign Service based in Nairobi. Panting is not Guma’s usual demeanour, and I can sense the haste and unease in this voice – evidently, he is scared.

“Have you watched the news yet?” he asks.

I send my hand for the remote and switch to NTV Kenya. The authorities are confirming what we feared the most – Kenya’s first Corona Virus Disease (COVID)-19 case – a 27-year-old female who had travelled in on March 5 from Chicago in the United States with a connect flight that went through London in the United Kingdom.  Both the USA and the UK were flagged high risk by my country, Uganda.

What followed was silence, then a unanimous decision that shopping essential supplies was paramount. The supermarket in our affluent neighbourhood of Kileleshwa, Kasuku Centre, is often less congested but this particular afternoon, it was as if people went out at the same time to shop. The place was filled to the brim – forcing some prices to shoot up.

At the counter was a Chinese man whose tray was mostly occupied by bathroom tissue paper – enough to cover him for two months or more. I can’t tell if it was the four-metre (up to 13 feet) social distancing recommendation by the World Health Organisation (WHO) or his nationality that is associated with the genesis of the novel Coronavirus, but other panic shoppers gave him more than the deserved distance accompanied with a rare stare. I shopped for beef, bread, soap and groceries. Philip, my other housemate, sent for some alcohol.

“If I have to die, I don’t want to meet God sober,” he joked. He is terrified by face-to-face interactions.

Kenya’s announcement on March 13, 2020, was a wakeup call for Uganda. The virus that supposedly didn’t affected “blacks” or “Africans” as previously assumed had touched base in the region. When I first posted the update on my social media, the first responses I received were asking if the victim was White or Black. Around the East African region, Rwanda, the DR Congo and South Sudan announced cases. Uganda, in the middle, was now sandwiched with cases in all directions.

The next move for President Yoweri Museveni was simple, at least according to the opinion of most Ugandans I interacted with: Close the borders and stop all flights. They didn’t care that out of those borders were other Ugandans like myself – students, expats, parents – who wanted to return to their families. It looked imminent that the President, being the populist that he is, would heed to this pressure. He didn’t.

Instead, the president announced mandatory quarantine for all returning citizens – especially those from “Category One” countries that had more than 1,000 cases confirmed. This was my window to come home. Folks on the “Ugandans in Nairobi” WhatsApp group that I created agreed that if we waited, we would be locked out.

And so, I packed ready for quarantine – normally a 14-day absence from the physical scene but present on social media. Living in Uganda though, where we pay tax for being on social media, it is possible to be absent on both scenes.

The journey home
At Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), I met a one Alex Kawalya. He had spent the night at the airport because he had run out of money to hop onto the next flight. He had just sold his phone to one of the airport staff to get a seat aboard Kenya Airways to Uganda where he wished for a miracle if he was to afford the $100 price per night in Entebbe Central Inn Hotel where government was quarantining returning citizens for 14 days.

Stories of returning Ugandans being herded like sheep by the army to the hotel were sickening. Women and children slept in lobbies and the government would have nothing of the “I am a student on scholarship in Kenya and I can’t afford $100 a night” talk.  Like Kawalya, I boarded KQ 412 at 11 a,m., not knowing what fate awaited me at Entebbe International Airport – but I boarded anyway.

It was the only one of the few flights heading to Kampala and from the look of things, one of the last ones as Jambo Jet, Fly Sax, and even Uganda Airlines were no longer plying the EBB-NAI route – a real catch 22 situation. You’re not wanted at home, but you cannot stay where you are.

Uganda confirmed her first case on Saturday, March 21, after I had been in the country for a few hours.  The victim, looking feverish, was a Ugandan coming from Dubai and had flown in at 2 a.m. aboard Ethiopian Airlines. Having just flown in and in the process had interacted with another Dubai returnee, the pressure mounted. Even when I wasn’t put in institutional quarantine, I felt sickish. I volunteered Kawalya’s name to the Ministry of Health for testing and he did well.

Life in Quarantine
On March 26 and from my self-quarantine hole at Kisubi Forest Cottages in Entebbe, where I am writing this, Uganda has 14 COVID-19 cases. President Museveni closed the airport and borders soon after and has since closed public transport, churches, markets (except for food stuffs). And as of today (March 26), all the 104 tested samples of suspected cases had turned up negative. From this hole, I keep my family updated about my health at all times. Occasionally, I go out, watch the stars and feed the mosquitoes – they are really hungry.

I have to cough up $40 a night to keep my family and country safe but with the stories of people bribing their way out of quarantine, others not staying home as required and thousands who have to be forced to wash their hands with soap – I am not sure if my sacrifice will make any difference.

One of the new cases is a father who travelled from Kisumi, Kenya, by bus and ended up infecting his 8-month-old baby. My conscience tells me that feeding mosquitoes is much safer that infecting innocent people. When I finally get out of this place on April 3, these mosquitoes will surely miss me.

Alex Taremwa is a graduate of Uganda Christian University, a journalist and Masters Fellow at the Graduate School of Media and Communications, Aga Khan University. 

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