Category Archives: Faculty

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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Ball Hockey team during training at the Uganda Christian University sports field

With the help of Canadian mentor, ball hockey breaks ground in Uganda

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Ball Hockey team during training at the Uganda Christian University sports field
Ball Hockey team during training at the Uganda Christian University sports field

By Maxy Abenaitwe

Africans take pride in their cultural roots. For Ugandan Amon Matthew, the curiosity for other cultures has always been equally as strong.

Captain Amon Matthew with the Uganda flag
Captain Amon Matthew with the Uganda flag

That inquisitiveness found an eight-year-old Matthew playing ball hockey, a sport more common to Canada.  He played it on the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Mukono campus with the children of a Canadian couple, journalist Thom Froese and medical doctor, Jean Chamberlain Froese, founder of the UCU Save the Mothers program.

Now age 22 and captain of the UCU Ball Hockey Team that in March 2020 had no name, Matthew recalled his addiction to “the most beautiful and interesting thing” he had learned. Referring to the ball hockey sport, he added, “Out of love for the game, I put my all.”

Uganda Ball Hockey will forever be grateful to Froese for building the first playground at the UCU staff quarters. Now, Matthew has taken over the ball hockey team reins from the Canadian founder.

“At that point, I realized I had been left with a huge task ahead of me, considering the fact that I was young and still in secondary school,” Matthew said. Part of taking his leadership role seriously involved missing his high school sports activities. When students questioned his absence, he replied with two words – ball hockey – and then had to explain what that was.

Captain Amon Matthew with ball hockey supporters
Captain Amon Matthew with ball hockey supporters

Ice hockey is synonymous with Canada.  When the ball hockey sport evolved by replacing an ice puck with a tennis ball in the 19th century, ball hockey became elevated in popularity in this North American country. Rules between hockey on ice and other surfaces vary but all involve using sticks to move an object toward a goal.

Matthew’s excitement about the sport became contagious for other Ugandan youth. There were teams and games – first informally among young men and then formally with Matthew’s persuasion to places like the Baroda International Vocational Institute in Mukono and UCU.

By 2018 and armed with videos and enthusiasm, Matthew approached the Ugandan Ministry of Education and Sports. He also visited the National Council for Sports, and met with a representative of the Uganda Hockey Association and the Mukono Municipality Mayor, George Fred Kagimu, who had watched the game in Sweden. With some coaching, ball hockey moved from an association to a federation.

Barriers were largely financial – lack of equipment, including the ability to buy hockey sticks at 50,000 UGX ($15) each; and no uniforms. Matthew sought and received foreign support from the London Ball Hockey Association in Canada, International Street Ball Hockey Federation and World Ball Hockey Federation.

Ambitious Matthew sees Uganda taking part in the 2021 World Championship Events. Additionally, Matthew is organizing a national tournament of the UCU juniors and men’s teams.

“With or without Ugandan government, we can still go on,” he said. “We are moving on and growing. No matter what, we shall get there.”

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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 students Babirye Tamara Peace and Kakooza Abdul Wahabu practice a birth simulation with “Baby Nicole.”

Uganda Christian University launches master’s in midwifery program

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UCU Nursing students Babirye Tamara Peace and Kakooza Abdul Wahabu practice a birth simulation with “Baby Nicole.”
UCU Nursing students Babirye Tamara Peace and Kakooza Abdul Wahabu practice a birth simulation with “Baby Nicole.”

Uganda Christian University (UCU) is launching a new program – a master’s course in midwifery and women’s health – under its School of Medicine. At the request of UCU Partners, Ugandan writer Constantine Odongo had a chat with Elizabeth Namukombe Ekong, a lecturer in the medical school’s nursing department. What follows is some of this conversation related to the new program. 

What programs are under the department of nursing?
We have undergraduate and master’s programs in the department. In the Bachelor of Nursing Science, which began in 2006, we have two entry points – nurses with diploma, but want to get bachelors; and the direct entry right from S6 (high school graduation). The completion program takes three years for nurses already experienced, while the other entry takes four years. The master’s in nursing started in 2008. We are now introducing the master’s in midwifery and women’s health.

Students Kiribata Dorothy, Bagenda Isaac, and Mbulaka Remmy Allan with a practice plastic baby as part of their training in the UCU nursing program.
Students Kiribata Dorothy, Bagenda Isaac, and Mbulaka Remmy Allan with a practice plastic baby as part of their training in the UCU nursing program.

When does the new course start?
In 2017, the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) approved our curriculum, but we have not had the personnel the NCHE insisted on. They insisted on staff with master’s degrees in midwifery, yet most of us have masters in nursing. We have been looking around for personnel. The challenge we have had is that in Uganda, only one university has been offering this course, so not many people have the skill set that NCHE required. The other challenge is many people who opt to pursue master’s degree studies are already established somewhere else. So, it is not for us to uproot them from their already set systems. There are some people who have expressed interest, so the university actually put up advertisements in January, calling for people to apply for the position of lecturer in midwifery. As this year (2020) is the Year of the Nurse and Midwife (designated by the World Health Assembly under the World Health Organization in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale), it is appropriate that UCU starts the master’s in midwifery. 

Which people are you working with to ensure that the program kicks off?
We are trying to put up a team as NCHE recommended. The other thing is we have partners who are professors with PhDs in midwifery and are willing to come and teach and also offer online interactions, since the program design is a modular one. We have two professors from the United States – one from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and another from Bethel University in Minnesota. They are ready to start the teaching in May, if we have set our intake to start and we have finally got the required number of students, the personnel and the clearance from NCHE. We are making arrangements for the professors to come and make the physical preparations.  We expect the face-to-face teaching to happen three times a year. 

Elizabeth Namukombe Ekong, nursing lecturer
Elizabeth Namukombe Ekong, nursing lecturer

Who helped you design the curriculum for the midwifery master’s course?
We developed it from a prototype curriculum that was designed from a program by the East, Central and South African College of Nursing (ECSACON). The ECSACON prototype is the same that many universities in the region use to develop their curriculum. We undertook a study to review the status of midwifery in the region and established that there was a need to provide a platform for the existing midwifery cadres to upgrade their skills at master’s level. When developing the curriculum, some of the areas the study looked at is the number of midwives in the country, the mortality rates, etc. From the ECSACON prototype curriculum, we developed ours for the master’s course, with assistance from colleagues in the UK. When we were satisfied that it was ready, we passed it through the approval process up to the university Senate and the NCHE. With the approval in 2017, it meant that the moment we get the relevant personnel with a master’s degree in midwifery, we would be ready to start.

What achievements has the nursing department registered?
We have developed skilled competent and dependable nurses with the passion and faith to render services across the continent, but also offer leadership. Our graduates have been absorbed in different institutions, both state and non-state and the feedback we get about their conduct is encouraging. We have had collaborations with facilities where we send our students for placement, like Uganda-China Friendship Hospital Naguru, the hospitals of Nsambya, Mulago, Butabika, Jinja referral and many others.

Some of our students are Assistant District Health Officers, and some are in charge of medical facilities and in other leadership positions in hospitals. Others are working at the Ministry of Health.

What is in the curriculum for the midwifery master’s program that you are soon launching?
The curriculum is designed with two tracks: Education and Practice as the program prepares educators and practitioners We have areas of midwifery education, which involves teaching and learning, curriculum development, measurement and evaluation; we also have an area on research and statistics. We have another area of midwifery leadership courses and management, so our students are able to graduate with better management and leadership skills.

There are foundation science courses like pathophysiology, pharmacology, and advanced health assessment in maternal and infant care. Other profession-based foundation courses offer an opportunity for the students to learn theories in nursing/midwifery, together with advanced courses in normal and abnormal midwifery. With other partner universities both here in Uganda and beyond, we share courses to do with cultural diversity, trends and issues in midwifery, neonatal and women’s health. Students also go for an international module (internship) to strengthen their teaching approaches and clinical experiences.

The students also take selected courses in advanced clinical practice from areas of their desired specialty in maternal and child health. Health care systems is another course taught to enable students understand the major elements, dynamics, determinants and organizational themes in public health, policy issues and health financing.

How have you taken care of the developments in information and communications technology as far as your course is concerned?
We intend not to leave our graduates behind as far as information and communications technology is concerned. We have lined up a course in informatics, which involves the application of technology in what they learn. We expect to take the students through online healthcare packages, how they can remotely follow up on patients and network with the online medical ecosystem in order to know a patient’s medical history and other things.

Many women, especially those in rural areas, still opt for traditional birth attendants (TBAs) to deliver them, citing harassment from midwives. What is your department doing to reverse this phenomenon?
We always emphasize professional ethics and Christian values in our students and that is why we have faith-based and foundation courses to see how virtues of the respect for one’s work is instilled and how the students ought to relate with their clients. In the midwifery curriculum, for instance, we have integrated Christian worldview to help students relate and handle our clients from a Christian perspective.

Why should we separate nursing from midwifery? Would it be better to equip the students with both skills, so the medical field gets multi-skilled professionals?
At UCU, the Bachelor of Nursing Science teaches concepts of both nursing and midwifery, just like the undergraduate course, which teaches medicine and surgery. The specialization occurs only at post-graduate level. That said, there are universities that offer bachelor’s degrees in midwifery. It’s also important to note the difference between the work of a midwife and a nurse. A midwife’s work involves care for women and families whereas a nurse is involved with the general health of everyone. Midwives focus on women, children, pregnant women, reproductive health issues and educating the community about the same. 

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

Prof. Monica Chibita with her husband, Justice Mike Chibita (left) and the Uganda Christian University Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi at the inaugural lecture

Praise and joy as UCU holds first professorial inaugural lecture

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Prof. Monica Chibita with her husband, Justice Mike Chibita (left) and the Uganda Christian University Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi at the inaugural lecture
Prof. Monica Chibita with her husband, Justice Mike Chibita (left) and the Uganda Christian University Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi at the inaugural lecture

By Douglas Olum

It was 1:45 p.m. East African Time on Friday, January 17, and I was in the Nkoyoyo Hall at Uganda Christian University (UCU). A couple of other people were gathered under the same roof. But, unlike the other days of that week, the sky was coated in dark clouds. And drizzles from the sky were peacefully showering the trees and green grass on the compound, making them look even more beautiful.

Prof. Monica Chibita delivers her professorial inaugural lecture
Prof. Monica Chibita delivers her professorial inaugural lecture

For a moment, my heart wondered why the rain on such a day? We were set to listen to the first-ever professorial inaugural lecture at UCU, and it was to be delivered by the dean of the faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication, Prof. Monica Balya Chibita, receiving full professorship.

Then I remembered one Bible verse, Hebrews 6:7 (KJV) which states: “Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.” Indeed, the rain was a momentous blessing as Dr. Chibita was to be only the second to Rev. Prof. Christopher Byaruhanga, the dean of the UCU School of Divinity and Theology, to receive such a full academic professor designation

Over the weeks, this particular lecture on the topic of “Between freedom and regulation: Reflection on Uganda’s Communication landscape” had been widely advertised. And a number of people, both within and without UCU were eagerly waiting to listen to this incredible academic whose childhood dream wandered from becoming a nurse, to becoming a lawyer because it seemed prestigious, then to becoming an altar girl, a social worker and finally a teacher.

Soon, Prof. Chibita marched into the hall in company of her husband, Supreme Court Justice Mike Chibita; her mother; four of her five children; Rev. Byaruhanga; the Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi; two UCU deputy vice chancellors; and other UCU faculty members, donned in their academic gowns but not the mortarboard cap that only Monica Chibita wore to match her red robe.

The University Chaplain, Rev. Eng. Paul Wasswa Ssembiro, led the opening prayer.  And it was all joy and praises as the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Rev. Dr. John Kitayimbwa, the Vice Chancellor, and the dean of the UCU School of Divinity and Theology, provided words in the ceremony for the highly anticipated lecture.

“To us as a university, Uganda Christian University, this is a very welcome opportunity for us to showcase to the public but also to showcase to our very students what it is we are doing in the area of teaching and learning, in the area of research and in the area of community outreach,” Rev. Dr. Kitayimbwa said.

Prof. Monica Chibita (left) receives an award from Uganda Christian University Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, shortly after her professorial inaugural lecture
Prof. Monica Chibita (left) receives an award from Uganda Christian University Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, shortly after her professorial inaugural lecture

Dr. Senyonyi expressed appreciation to Prof. Chibita for her focused developmental leadership that has transformed the former department of Mass Communication under the Education and Arts faculty to its own esteemed faculty.

“Shortly after she joined UCU, Prof. Chibita sent five staff for PhD studies to build her department. Furthermore, she merged that departmental growth with her personal academic growth, thus becoming the second home-grown professor at Uganda Christian University,” Dr. Senyonyi said, “Today her contributions are out for all of us to see. She stands tall in every way among the achievers of this university.”

Dr. Chibita graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts in Education (Literature in English) from Makerere University. In 1992, she obtained an MA in Journalism from the University of Iowa. She joined Makerere University as a lecturer in 1994, where she rose through ranks up to Associate Professor. Between 2003 and 2006, she pursued her doctoral studies from the University of South Africa. She joined UCU in 2012 as head of the then department of Mass Communication under the Faculty of Education and Arts. Over the years, she developed and got her department lifted to a faculty status.

“Congratulations to you, Prof. Chibita, for a well-deserved promotion,” the vice chancellor continued. “I am elated to host UCU’s first inaugural lecture.”

An inaugural lecture is a formal public function in which a newly appointed full professor is unveiled to the public, with the desire to inform the academic and general public of the professor’s recent research and publication works that have merited her new appointment.

Dr. Senyonyi warned that UCU will not grant professorship and honorary doctorates to people who do not deserve it.

“It seems to me today that university leaders and even none academic personalities have taken to self-proclaim themselves professors. Someone asked me to give him an honorary doctorate, even without a clear beneficial relationship with this university. Of course I refused and instead proceeded to write a policy on honorary doctorate to knock out the quacks,” Dr. Senyonyi said.

He also encouraged the university academic staff members to invest in research, warning that, “Academics who do not research are digging their academic grave,” because without research, they die academically.

In her lecture, Prof. Chibita illustrated the issues of media ownership, management, operations, legal frameworks and how the arms of the media in Uganda have continuously been twisted since the pre-colonial days, to curtail media freedom and serve the interests of the financial and political powers. Some of the means used by the governments that she illustrated included expelling foreign journalists and banning newspapers under the Milton Obote II Government. Others include the mandatory annual licensing of all journalists by the Government of Uganda. She noted that the pages of laws may be confusing for journalists.

Another challenge to Uganda and global communication in the age of social media is the blur of lines between consumers and distributors of news.  She concurred with the vice chancellor and his concern with lack of research, including lack of deep reading in an age when people get news from Facebook.

For Uganda, part of the answer is in translation to mother tongue. Prof. Chibita asserted that, at least 36 different languages are spoken in Uganda, including dialects like English and Kiswahili. But research has shown that people in the central and western parts of Uganda prefer to receive information in their own languages.

To her, that explains why large corporations like the Vision Group, with 53 percent ownership of the media in Uganda, run English and Local Language newspapers, radios and television. These include: The New Vision as English Newspaper, Bukedde as Luganda paper, radio and TV for the central region. Others include: Rupiny Newspaper and Radio for the North, Orumuri newspaper, Radio West and TV West for Western Uganda.

At that, she joked with her audience of roughly 500 dignitaries, current and former students and colleagues and family and friends, “I won’t embarrass you by asking how many of you read the newspaper today.”

To access a video of the lecture, click here. https://www.facebook.com/UgandaChristianUniversity/videos/486175712043875/?epa=SEARCH_BOX

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

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Fulbright Professor David Hodge with wife and daughters on the Uganda Christian University, Mukono, campus

Arizona professor lives his research dream in Uganda

Faculty, Scholarship, , , , ,


Fulbright Professor David Hodge with wife and daughters on the Uganda Christian University, Mukono, campus
Fulbright Professor David Hodge with wife and daughters on the Uganda Christian University, Mukono, campus

By Benezeri Wanjala

Relaxing at his new home-away-from-home on the leafy, expansive Uganda Christian University (UCU) in Mukono, American Professor David Hodge talked about his life. He is a social worker, researcher and teacher. He is married to Crystal, and they have two daughters, Esther and Rachael, ages 15 and 12.

A lecturer of Social Work at Arizona State University in Phoenix, USA, he’s here for a year – through June 2020 – as a Fulbright Scholar, he says. His specialty is spirituality and religion.

As we chatted, Mrs. Hodge offered me a beverage. Their children were away at school.

David Hodge
David Hodge

Hodge outlined the process of obtaining the scholarship: “When you apply for a Fulbright, you have to come up with some sort of plan that you will execute. Then you go through an extensive review process, which is evaluated by external reviewers who decide whether it is a good fit or something they want to support.”

He teaches a Master’s in Social Work class at the UCU Kampala campus. The program classes are condensed into three days – Thursday, Friday and Saturday. This arrangement is typical for advanced degrees, he says, because it enables students to work during the rest of the days in a week. His particular class in religion and spirituality takes place on Thursday evenings.

However, teaching is one of two components of his yearlong Fulbright scholarship. The second is research. He is developing tools and approaches to help social workers tap into clients’ spiritual strengths. His research project involves making the tools “consistent and congruent with Ugandan culture.” The research tools are qualitative in nature, as opposed to quantitative.

“I will take the questions and approaches, and I’ll ask social workers how I can make them more consistent with cultural norms,” he says. His previous writings have evolved around Christianity, Islamism, Hinduism and some indigenous tribal religions.

“My career has been focused on helping social workers work with clients’ spiritual and religious strengths in an ethical and professional manner,” he continued. “My academic work pretty much all revolves around spirituality, religion and culture.”

He obtained his PhD from one of the most respected schools of Social Work in the United States, the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Thereafter, he did post-doctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2005, he joined Arizona State University, one of America’s largest universities. Ten years later, he became a full professor. He also served as head of the PhD program for six years before stepping down to pursue the Fulbright scholarship opportunity. The Fulbright at UCU was attractive because of the East African reputation for spirituality.

“It is a faith-based school and its mission is to achieve excellence in the heart of Africa,” he says.  “When you look at the demographic data, Sub-Saharan Africa is the most spiritual and religious geographic area in the world. For my work, you can’t think of a better environment.”

Additionally, Hodge has found fascination in the food, wildlife and other cultural aspects of Uganda.

“There are all kinds of monkeys that jump around in the compound and on the roof,” he remarks with a smile. “We don’t have that in America. The monkeys there are in zoos. Here they are out swinging in trees. So I took some pictures and sent them to my parents, and they found it interesting.”

He has enjoyed all the Ugandan food he has tasted so far.

“I haven’t had rolex yet, though,” he admits. Rolex is a Ugandan street delicacy, composed of eggs wrapped into a bread called chapatti.  He says he likes the vegetables in particular and he buys them from the local market.

He also likes the weather. “You can have your windows open all the time. That’s a real luxury. In Arizona, it’s desert. It goes as high as 40 and 50 degrees Celsius during the summer. In the winter it goes down to close to zero.”

The transition to Uganda has not been without challenges. While they have made new friends, his daughters are finding it slightly harder to adapt, especially at school. They study at an International School, which is on the Northern Bypass of Kampala and involves a lengthy transport time from their home on the main UCU campus in Mukono.

“They had only been to one school their whole life before they came to Uganda,” he said. “They have to go to bed very early and wake up early as well. I am lucky because I only need to go to Kampala once a week.”

Land transportation in Uganda is a challenge for the entire family. Hodge and is wife do not have international driver’s licenses. Traffic jams are commonplace while traffic lights and drivers with licenses for the cars, taxis and motorcycles are not.

He has found the difference in the standards of time interesting. While Americans are extremely time conscious, Ugandans are not.

“My Ugandan friend says, ‘People from the West check their watches for the time, but Ugandans have the time’.”

He continued: “The way I look at it is different. People prioritize values differently. For example, Americans tend to prioritize efficiency over relationships. Ugandans prioritize relationships over efficiency. Societies are structured differently. And that’s one of the things I like about Ugandans. They are warm and friendly, but that means when you’re talking to someone, you might not be able to make it for your next meeting. It’s hard to optimize all your values simultaneously.”

Prof. Hodge is looking forward to the rest of his time in Uganda, both professionally and personally.

“On the personal end, I am looking forward to learning more about the Ugandan culture,” he said. “And I’d like to see some of the wonderful sites in the country like Lake Victoria and the source of the River Nile.”

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

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Paul Robinson, right, with Tate Keko, Maasai elder, in Loita, Kenya, 1992

Servanthood at the core for UCU Fulbright

Faculty, Scholarship, , , , , , , ,


Paul Robinson, right, with Tate Keko, Maasai elder, in Loita, Kenya, 1992
Paul Robinson, right, with Tate Keko, Maasai elder, in Loita, Kenya, 1992

(The Fulbright Program is designed to improve intercultural relations, diplomacy and competence between people in the United States and other countries. This is the second of three stories about American Fulbright Scholars serving with Uganda Christian University.)

By Patty Huston-Holm

“It all starts with a conversation,” said Paul W. Robinson.

Amidst raindrops on fig and lemon trees, sips of hot tea and bites of freshly made banana bread on a chilly Friday afternoon, Dr. Robinson shared what he felt would be the beginning, middle and ending of his appointment as a United States Fulbright Scholar. He spoke from the patio of the Uganda Christian University (UCU) apartment of his daughter, Rachel, who directs the Council for Christian Colleges and University Uganda Studies Program on the Mukono campus.

Margie and Paul Robinson
Margie and Paul Robinson

“Ultimately, it’s about servanthood,” he said, distracted briefly as he and his wife, Margie, pointed to the delightful sights and sounds of the African parrot. “For all cultures and not just people who are Christian, this is key. To serve, you begin with listening.”

Forty years of teaching African history, anthropology, development studies, research methodologies and community health with half in East Africa, plus 65 years of life and learning, have told him so. The Wheaton College (Ill.) Professor Emeritus and Fulbright Scholar will spend the next year with UCU’s Institute of Faith, Learning and Service to help nurture and deepen the university’s practice of integrating the Institute’s three components for students, staff and programs. African leaders, including the late South African President Nelson Mandela and Nobel Laureate and Kenyan Professor Wangari  Maathai affirm that Africa’s greatest challenge is developing leadership that is intellectually grounded, ethically formed and committed to service.

Robinson hopes that in some small way that he can support the work of UCU colleagues leading the Institute that was launched in 2010 as well as those within the School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies who share his servanthood passion.

“It’s my understanding that in some regards as the university grew in 20 years, it faced challenges that resulted in a diminished focus on faith and learning,” said Robinson, who has studied and taught in several American and African universities. “This is a pretty common experience in Christian higher education globally. Institutions frequently lose their core.”

Robinson was born in the Belgian Congo as a son of missionaries. When he was age eight, his family fled as refugees from the Congo’s first post-independence civil war to Kenya. There, he met and later married Margie, his high school sweetheart who also was born in the Congo. Together, they forged a life crossing continents and raising three children while being engaged in university teaching, development and church service.

His life and work were informed by a two-year academic and spiritual journey in the desert areas of Kenya and Ethiopia while doing field research for his Northwestern University doctoral dissertation. During that time, he had conversations with sages of the Gabra camel-herding culture to learn how they survived and flourished in one of Africa’s harshest physical environments.

“It’s important to recognize that we all can learn from each other,” said Robinson, who is an American citizen with some roots in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Montana but who considers Africa another home. “We should never be so busy with the reality of where we live that we can’t do that.”

Robinson’s long list of service includes: director of an international study program at St. Lawrence University (Nairobi, Kenya); leader of a USAID-funded initiative responding to the East African HIV-AIDs epidemic; co-founder of The Christian Bilingual University (Congo); elder involved in urbanization work at Nairobi (Kenya) Chapel; and director of a Wheaton College Human Needs and Global Resources Program that engages 200 organizations in 40 countries worldwide. He also continues to serve on boards for a half dozen Christian organizations involved in education, development and missions.

While the Western world sees its role as serving less-developed countries of “the majority world,” Robinson believes that “at the heart of service is a commitment to listening, learning and being present.” Countries known as “developed” have a lot to learn from those they would serve about injustice, suffering, community and more. The traumas of Africa – “fleeing from post-independence Congolese militias, soldiers with guns at barriers and borders, losses and heartache” – remain a part of him, but the “courageousness, resilience, hospitality  and generosity of African people and the vibrancy of Africa’s vegetation, tall elephant grass, bird song, hearth-smoke in evenings and mornings” are stronger, he says.

“Africa is a place where people care deeply about their neighbors and want to help them, and serve them,” Robinson said. “It is a continent of abundant and rich resources that could be the life-blood of its peoples, but because of poor leadership and a global economic system that primarily extracts its resources, Africa remains a continent of deep inequalities and poverty.”

In addition to research student involving UCU’s climate and culture, the professor will teach two courses that focus on global perspectives and transforming poverty.

Paul Robinson looks at UCU’s mission, vision and core values, realizing that often for all universities, these are words forgotten or misplaced in the midst of daily tasks of listening to student stories of financial woes, teaching and grading papers. The UCU commitment to offering a “complete education for a complete” person aligns and resonates with his core passions and work.

“How do you effectively teach a whole person?” he asked. “You need to look at the foundational questions of what knowledge should be understood, what skills should be developed, what attitudes fostered, what values modeled, what experience needs to be involved and finally but most importantly, what service should be incorporated.”

With answers to these questions as a baseline, Robinson hopes that a process will be deepened to encourage a more concrete and sustainable model to strengthen UCU.

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

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The Just family – Jason and Ladavia; Jada, 14; twins Jamie and Jael, who recently turned 9.

God nudges South Carolina pharmacist to UCU medical school service

Faculty, Faculty of Engineering, Design & Technology, UCU School of Medicine, , , , , , , , , , ,


The Just family – Jason and Ladavia; Jada, 14; twins Jamie and Jael, who recently turned 9.
The Just family – Jason and Ladavia; Jada, 14; twins Jamie and Jael, who recently turned 9.

(The Fulbright Program is designed to improve intercultural relations, diplomacy and competence between people in the United States and other countries. This is the first of three stories about American Fulbright Scholars serving with Uganda Christian University.)

By Patty Huston-Holm

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

Uprooting from a developed to developing country shouldn’t be an overnight decision.  For Dr. Ladavia Just of North Charleston, South Carolina, it wasn’t.

Sitting barefooted in her Kampala, Uganda, home while her three children were in their new school and juggling phone messages about her husband’s American-to-Uganda air travel snafus, she reflected on her path across the ocean to serve with Uganda Christian University (UCU).  The three-year discernment journey started in February 2016 with UCU’s Vice Chancellor, the Rev. Canon Dr. John. Senyonyi, visiting South Carolina. This connection was followed by Ladavia’s two exploratory trips to Uganda before a Fulbright Scholarship award to do nine months of work related to Dr. Ladavia’s expertise in pharmacy.

Ladavia Just
Ladavia Just

Dr. Just is teaching pharmacology courses for second-year students at the UCU School of Medicine that is located within Kampala’s Mengo Hospital. She also has been tasked with helping to lay the foundation for a new pharmacy program at UCU’s School of Medicine. In addition, she will conduct research assessing the feasibility of increasing access to heath care using telemedicine in refugee settlements.

“When I look at the needs of Ugandans, the list is overwhelming,” she said. “I wondered how I could possibly have made a ripple of an impact. Now as I consider the fact that I have been practicing as a clinical pharmacist for the past decade, coupled with my background in postsecondary education and health administration, I realize there is a ripple that has my name on it.”

That ripple became a wave with “first God nudging me very subtly” before the giant push with her husband, Jason, agreeing to hold down the fort with his work at the Medical University of South Carolina while his wife and three daughters took up a year’s residency in Uganda.  The couple agreed that having their twins, Jamie and Jael, age 9, and Jada, 14, engaged in the international experience, including school in Uganda, would be a plus.

Here’s some of what Dr. Ladavia Just knows as it relates to the need she might fill in Uganda:

  • In the United States, the career path to become a pharmacist involves at least two years of undergraduate study, four years of graduate-level study, and two exams. There are 144 accredited programs with the more than 300,000 pharmacy graduates (2016) making more than $100,000 a year. These American pharmacists give advice on wellness, educate on drug benefits and side affects and administer certain vaccinations. Throughout the country, citizens can access a licensed pharmacist about every two miles (3.2 kilometers).
  • In Uganda, which is about the size of the state of Oregon, you can become a pharmacist following a four-year program, followed by a one-year internship, in four locations – one in the north, one in the west and two centrally located. While institutions offer lower levels (certificate, diploma) of programs related to pharmacy work in Uganda, the best comparable solution to supplementing health care in this country is the licensed pharmacist, making 4 million shillings ($1,085) a month. Except for the injection role, they operate much the same as those in the Western world. But there are are not enough of them.

As quoted in May 2019 by Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper, 20 percent of the just over 1,000 Ugandan licensed pharmacists are working or getting further education out of the country. And 90 percent of the rest are working in private pharmacies that the most economically vulnerable, particularly the rural poor that make up 80 percent of Uganda’s population, cannot access.

According to Samuel Opio, the Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda secretary, Uganda needs five times more than the 150 pharmacists who graduate each year.

“If you look at Uganda’s 42 million population as a while, the number of ‘in country’ pharmacist ratio is roughly 1 per 60,000 people,” Dr. Ladavia said. “The Ministry of Health has indicated a goal of 1 per 20,000 over the next decade.”

The pharmaceutical issue in third-world countries goes beyond access data. It’s also about substandard drugs.  In June of 2019, the Ugandan National Drug Authority estimated that 10% of all medications provided in the country are counterfeit.  Ineffective ingredients (sugar, powder, chalk, etc.) in these fake drugs can be deadly.  In July of 2019, the Ugandan government was exploring a relationship with MediConnect block chain technology to alleviate the problem.

While considering assistance to start a UCU School of Medicine pharmaceutical school at some point, providing this information to the university’s medical students will assist in not only added knowledge but also with reinforcing ethical and Christian practices in Ugandan health care, according to Dr. Ladavia.

Dr. Edward Kanyesigye, Dean of the UCU Faculty of Health Sciences (including the medical school) cites Dr. Ladavia’s practical and teaching experience as an asset to UCU as well as her highly relational personality.  In Uganda’s community-based culture, the American pharmacist had the added advantage of being able to build sustainable relationships.

An added uniqueness with Dr. Ladavia is her African-American heritage. Most Westerners working in Uganda are Caucasian. This ethnic unfamiliarity results in many locals mistaking her for Ugandan until she starts to speak. She recalled one restaurant experience in Kampala with white-skinned Americans.

“My friends, Amy and Jayne, were given menus, and I was not with the assumption that being Ugandan, I would get my food from the local buffet, “ Dr. Ladavia recalled, smiling.  “When hearing my American accent, the wait staff quickly apologized and brought me a menu. But the rest of the lunch was spent with curious stares of other (Ugandan) diners.”

Heritage, Dr. Ladavia believes, will be another asset to her teaching in East Africa. While teaching basic principles of pharmacology, the nervous system, chemotherapy and other drug-related topics, students and staff will expand their cultural, racial and ethnic awareness by learning who she is and what she believes.  If the subject of slavery comes up, she welcomes the conversation.

“I want them to understand and learn from me, ” Dr. Ladavia remarked from her home in Kampala, shortly after moving in. ““Already, I have learned so much from them.”

She has learned how to go to the market, to enroll her children into an international school with children from 35 countries, to find a place where her children can see a movie, to drive a car on rugged streets and around bodabodas (motorcycles) that don’t follow traffic rules, and to buy and keep four rabbits for her girls to have as pets.

“Ugandans are wonderful, friendly people,” she said. “I know that God is using me for His Glory and placing His children from here in my path.”

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

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Americans Patty Huston-Holm (right) and Linda Knicely – volunteer lecturers and coaches for Uganda Christian University post-graduate students (UCU Partners photo)

Third World people investment – USA visitor to UCU offers insights

Faculty, Students, , , , , , , , , ,


Americans Patty Huston-Holm (right) and Linda Knicely – volunteer lecturers and coaches for Uganda Christian University post-graduate students (UCU Partners photo)
Americans Patty Huston-Holm (right) and Linda Knicely – volunteer lecturers and coaches for Uganda Christian University post-graduate students (UCU Partners photo)

(SECOND OF FOUR-PART SERIES:  This is the second of four stories about a five-year-old, American-led writing and research workshop at Uganda Christian University. The first article contained reflections of the Ohio woman who founded and leads the training.  This second article reflects thoughts of an American volunteer in 2017 and 2019. The final two articles  feature UCU graduates who helped with the workshop. Parts I, III and IV can be accessed at those links. A video is here.)

By Linda Knicely

“It’s not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?” So said American essayist and philosopher, Henry David Thoreau.

Ugandans are busy. During the four weeks that I and three other American lecturers spent on the Uganda Christian University (UCU) campuses in four different locations, presenting to graduate students and faculty members during the dissertation clinic and trainings and individually coaching the students in  2019, this was apparent.

Sometimes they’re busy earning a living, taking care of children, and handling other tasks needed to survive. Other times, they’re busy relaxing and enjoying fellowship with one another. On campus, they’re learning. Both formally from their instructors and peers in the classroom sand informally during pick-up basketball games, at the canteens or as they walk and talk with each other. They’re learning how to grow into young adults of integrity, guided by Christian principles in the nurturing environment of UCU.

They’re also teaching.

Linda Knicely, left, with one of her students from 2019 (UCU Partners photo)
Linda Knicely, left, with one of her students from 2019 (UCU Partners photo)

They teach by example – the genuine and warm “You are welcome” that greets us at every turn brings smiles to our faces and is not as common in other parts of the world as one might think (or wish). They teach by sharing their stories with us and sometimes their language and their culture. They teach by risking vulnerability as they reveal their fears, their hopes and their dreams for themselves, their families, and their country of Uganda.

Americans are busy. Sometimes we’re coping with what, as I explained to one of my UCU students, David, we call “first world problems.” Very minor issues, in the scheme of things. We work hard, both on the job and even at play. We can find it hard to relax and just “be.”  Sometimes, unfortunately, we consider ourselves more often as “teachers” for the rest of the world, than learners. What a loss, for those that have that perspective, for there is so much to learn in Uganda.

I’ve been busy. When I first came to Uganda for six weeks two years ago (2017), I had no plans of making a return trip. It wasn’t a personal judgment about Uganda, but more about my craving to explore and experience as many different places in the world as possible.But because of what I learned that year from the people of Uganda, mostly in the UCU graduate school program, and the piece of my heart that I left here, I surprised myself by deciding to return.

In very typical American fashion, as our students (and interns) in 2019 have learned, we (our American team here) like to “keep time” and schedule ourselves tightly in order to be as productive as possible. I came back to teach, of course, and to support the graduate students with whom I interacted, to successful completion and defense of their dissertations.

But I also came back to learn more, and to re-imprint the lessons of two years ago on my memory and in my heart. My time spent here at UCU during this visit has felt even busier. Self-reflection will be a process that may wait until I return to the USA and my life there. But I hope that some of the lessons that I learn in Uganda prompt me to always question: “What am I busy about?”

And then there’s Patty Huston-Holm, the queen of “busy.” Patty was in Uganda for her eleventh visit in 2019 with many of the visits lasting months at a time; she led the student and faculty dissertation training for the fifth consecutive year on behalf of UCU Partners and the UCU School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies. While we (me, Tracy and David Harrison) were along this year, other years she has “flown solo.”Patty is never satisfied with what’s she’s done before, but constantly strives to improve the presentations or extend the program’s reach.

This year, she added coaching sessions at the UCU Kampala campus and faculty and student presentations on both Kabale and Mbale campuses. And the work that we’re directly involved with only represents one of the many roles that Patty has personally embraced in her support of Uganda Christian University’s mission.

I think that even those staff who know her on campus would be surprised at the time that she invests when she is home – continuing to arrange logistics and remain in communication to plan next steps, etc. She commits her tremendous talents and experience to this work out of Christian love for her Ugandan brothers and sisters, both those she knows already and those who will be impacted in the future through the vision and efforts of today’s students and staff at the university.

Patty’s clear sense of what she should “be busy about,” inspires me, and many others whose lives she has touched.

Two years ago, during one of our first conversations about Uganda, she told me that she believed in “investing in people.” I can’t think of a better way to be busy.

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Ohioan Linda Knicely volunteered with Patty Huston-Holm in 2017 and 2019. To learn more about how to become part of this literacy work at UCU, email Patty at hustonpat@gmail.com. For more information about UCU Partners and how to contribute financially to students, programs and facilities at UCU , contact Mark Bartels, UCU Partners executive director, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

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

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American Patty Huston-Holm (standing) with UCU graduate school leadership, Kukunda Elizabeth Bacwayo and Joseph Owor (UCU Partners photo)

‘He was my student. But I also was his’

Faculty, Students, , , , , , , , , , , ,


American Patty Huston-Holm (standing) with UCU graduate school leadership, Kukunda Elizabeth Bacwayo and Joseph Owor (UCU Partners photo)
American Patty Huston-Holm (standing) with UCU graduate school leadership, Kukunda Elizabeth Bacwayo and Joseph Owor (UCU Partners photo)

(FIRST OF FOUR PARTS:  This is the first of four stories about a five-year-old, American-led writing and research clinic at Uganda Christian University. The author is the founder and lead facilitator of the training. The second article reflects an experience of one USA citizen who assisted with the clinic in two different years.  The final two articles feature UCU alumni who served as interns with the clinic. Parts II, III and IV can be accessed at those links. A video is here.)

By Patty Huston-Holm

I don’t think much about gold. I’m not a wealthy person, so the only gold I’ve ever had is in the wedding band I’ve worn for 27 years. And the only reference I had to this precious metal was during a junior high school history class when I learned it was discovered in some kind of “rush” and then used in coins in the United States in the 1800s.

Until Monday, August 13, 2018…

Sometime around 4 p.m. and at a desk in a room shared with two other people at Uganda Christian University and in a country I had associated with tea, tilapia and bananas, a young student named Christopher Mwandha expanded my knowledge about gold.  The mining of it around Lake Victoria, he said emphatically, was destroying the wildlife in this second largest body of fresh water in the world.  Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa, is home to hippos and fish and more.

That afternoon and in a room filled with East African tropical heat moved around by a fan, Christopher talked about his water pollution research connected to gold mining.  In particular, his focus was on the small village of Nakudi near the Kenyan border. It was here in an area previously known for farming and fishing that a group of some farmers and fishermen struck gold when digging a hole to bury a friend. They buried the friend elsewhere and became miners.

Christopher’s dissertation research surrounding this is a requirement for his master’s degree in Science and Water Sanitation. He is one of 150 UCU students I coached and one of more than 300 I’ve taught in five years of leading a writing and research training through the university’s School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies (SRPGS).

He was my student.  But I also was his.

I am an education missionary.

Yes, I’m a volunteer – starting when coming to Uganda with a Reynoldsburg, Ohio, church in 2009. Yes, I contribute financially to Uganda’s needy.  Yes, I’m a believer in Jesus Christ. Yes, coming from the Mid-West that gets brutally cold in the winter, I sweat and work hard. But I don’t build buildings, preach the gospel or give up my American home so that others can have one in Africa.

A lifelong writer and teacher and an Ohio State University Buckeye with journalism and communication degrees, I invest in minds. I build people.  And they build me.

One avenue for this building is an annual, free workshop to help post-graduate students and their supervisors with dissertations and thesis projects to improve the master’s degree graduation rate and to expand global awareness of their research. The workshop includes large-group lectures and one-on-one coaching.  The individualized assistance is where the magic occurs – both for coaches and students.

I tell students that writing a research paper can be lonely.  Having a coach who believes in you helps fill that void; it’s half the battle towards completion. Coaching them to produce a paper with credible, original, well-written and compelling information is the other half. Good coaches listen – and learn – while nudging students to see what they have to offer their country, continent and world.

With the first clinic in 2015, my husband, Mike Holm, and I began supplementing what university faculty members were already doing with their heavy workloads. Under the guidance of SRPGS leaders, Dr. Kukunda Elizabeth Bacwayo and Dr. Joseph Owor, we implemented a learning model that keeps getting better.  Two interns that we hire each year make us better; likewise for them as they receive resume-building experience and get jobs or further education shortly after working with us.

Columbus State Community College President, David Harrison, with a USU post-graduate student he coached in 2019 (UCU Partners photo)
Columbus State Community College President, David Harrison, with a USU post-graduate student he coached in 2019 (UCU Partners photo)

Americans Linda Knicely and Larry Hickman, career development specialists; Sheila Hosner, an international health specialist; Tom Wanyama, an engineer and professor; Tracy Harrison, a reading specialist; and Dave Harrison, president, Columbus State Community College; helped with improvements by their on-site assistance and expertise at various times over the five years. They came from Ohio, Washington State and Canada – all as volunteers.

Now, semi-retired, I donate my knowledge and skills in Uganda for four to six months a year.  Approximately half of that time is with graduate students. The other half involves working with young journalists, public relations employees and other university staff on various literacy initiatives.  Occasionally, like now, I write.

As I reflect on what I’ve learned from UCU’s post-graduate students, I recall how they have educated me on such topics as disparities of health care in higher poverty areas, injustices for women when it comes to property and child “ownership,” truthful news reporting in South Sudan war zones, Islamic to Christian conversion, prevalence of counterfeit drugs, differences in preaching and teaching of the gospel and terminology such as “waiting homes” to help economically disadvantaged women prior to delivery of a baby. Interest in their research often finds me digging into their topics after the coaching sessions and late into the night.

Beyond the academic, the young people I meet in Uganda stretch my appreciation and thankfulness.

One such master’s level student in 2016 sobbed from a simple gesture of giving her half of my granola bar during a lunchtime meeting. Through tears, she shared her childhood story devoid of love and compassion. She was abused by a stepmother who denied her food and water to drink or bath, forced to sleep outside in the dirt and required her to walk alone and vulnerable in the dark to get alcoholic beverages for her father’s new wife. She was grateful, she said, for a simple gift of food from me that day. That afternoon, in addition to working on research in the university library, we held hands, prayed and forgave.

God’s work is good.  And it’s not lonely.

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Patty Huston-Holm has been volunteering through UCU Partners for half of her decade of service in Uganda. To learn more about how to become part of her work, email her at hustonpat@gmail.com. For more information about UCU Partners and how to contribute financially to students, programs and facilities at UCU , contact Mark Bartels, UCU Partners executive director, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

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

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

UCU alumnus launches volunteer effort to improve Uganda’s literacy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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UCU represented at 11th Pan-African Literacy Conference

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

By Patty Huston-Holm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Piggery project gives boost to aging widow in Bugujju, Uganda

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

By Rev. Emmanuel Mukeshimana

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The women looked so much stressed after mentioning this.

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

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