Category Archives: UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication

Post Covid-19 Lockdown: UCU relaxes fees for needy students

May 26, 2021News, Students, UCU School of Business, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Students walk on campus during the Easter Semester

By Israel Kisakye and Joseph Lagen
The parents of Eriya Lule, a final-year student of Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication at Uganda Christian University (UCU), are just emerging from the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.

Lule’s father is a real estate broker, while his mother is a beautician. The two spent much of their time last year at home, due to the lockdown that was instituted by the Ugandan government to reduce the rate of spread of the coronavirus. Operations of salons, where Lule’s mother earns her daily bread, were suspended from March to August 2020.

When the Ugandan government allowed final-year university students to resume studies on October 15, 2020, Lule was among those who breathed a sigh of relief, returning to school after a seven-month lull.

However, the sigh of relief did not extend to Lule’s parents. Where would they get the money to pay the full tuition for their son to complete his studies? That question lingered in their minds.

The normal UCU policy requires that students pay either half of the tuition at the start and the balance before sitting for examinations or pay the full tuition at the start.

“The university only has two registration stamps to indicate half and full payment,” said Joselyn Mukisa, a final-year student of Bachelor of Business Administration. “Without the full payment stamp, it is near impossible to sit for exams, which worried most of us.”

Parents of Mukisa lost their jobs during the lockdown, something which made the 21-year-old contemplate registering for a dead year at UCU. Tuition fees per semester for many of the undergraduate courses at UCU are a little over $800.

Lule and Mukisa were not the only ones going through financial challenges. As a result, the university adjusted the policy for the two and many others with similar economic challenges. Unlike before, where one sat for examinations only after paying full tuition, this time round, the university, through the Financial Aid office, temporarily relaxed its fees policy, granting permission to over 1,000 students who had paid half tuition to sit for their exams. Lule and Mukisa were among the beneficiaries of this goodwill.

“Many students sat for their exams without completing their tuition,” Walter Washika, the manager of the UCU Financial Aid office, said. “We didn’t want to be so hard because we knew what was going on out there, and, besides, we are also parents.”

“Last year, 642 students approached our offices for assistance,” Washika noted. “This number was only for the finalists who had been allowed to report back to school.”

But hundreds more who were studying remotely using online platforms also reached out to the Financial Aid office to be permitted to sit for their end of semester examinations before completing the fees payment, and Washika permitted them.

Washika noted that before Covid-19 struck, only between 40-60 students would run to his office per semester to ask for pardon to sit for the examination before completing their fees payments.

Lule explained what the arrangement entailed: “About 30 of my classmates, myself inclusive, were given exemption letters by the Financial Aid office, so as to be able to sit for the exams. The letters allowed us to sit for our examinations after paying only half of the tuition required and we were asked to complete the outstanding balance before graduation.”

Washika confirmed that a number of students who were allowed to sit for the examinations before paying full fees have since paid their balances and continued with the new semester. For the finalists who have not yet paid he said they will not graduate until after the balance is settled.

This year’s first phase of graduation will take place on July 2, in a virtual nature. The next virtual ceremony will be held in October.

The Financial Aid office has, since inception of the university, offered a life-line to thousands of students, ordinarily contributing a little under $100 to each of its beneficiaries’ tuition balances.

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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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UCU appoints new deans, heads of departments

May 24, 2021Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, Design & Technology, Faculty of Public Health, Nursing and Midwifery, SRPGS, UCU School of Business, UCU School of Dentistry, UCU School of Education, UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication, UCU School of Law, UCU School of Medicine, UCU School of Social SciencesPatty Huston-Holm

Some new UCU Deans and Heads of Departments present for announcement at a May 2021 function at the Hamu Mukasa University Library. Photo/ Israel Kisakye

By Jimmy Siyasa
The Uganda Christian University has announced a change of the guard within its faculties and departments.

The announcement was made by the university’s Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the Rev. Dr. John Kitayimbwa, during the farewell for some of the outgoing leaders and the unveiling of the new guard. The ceremony took place on May 10 in the Learning Commons Room, located at the Hamu Mukasa University Library.

The Rev. Dr. John Kitayimbwa unveils a list of some new deans and heads of departments. Photo/ Israel Kisakye

“Covid-19 has shifted the demands,” UCU Vice Chancellor Associate Professor Aaron Mushengyezi said as he urged the new leaders to be creative in their work. “And so, as we come in to lead, please take note, you are not going to lead with the ordinary tools your predecessors have led with. You will require new tools because wholly duplicating what your predecessors did, may not work.”

Due to the “new normal” presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, Mushengyezi said all programs will have a digital equivalent.

“Covid-19 has changed the academic landscape,” he said. “And so, one of the main tasks for you is to pioneer and continue to consolidate e-learning.”

The university’s council chairperson, the Rt. Rev. Can. Prof. Alfred Olwa, congratulated the new leaders and thanked the outgoing for their dedication and hard work.

The newly appointed Head of the Department of Literature and Languages, Dr. James Tabu Busimba, was delighted by his new role at UCU. Busimba recently retired from a public university, Makerere, after clocking 60 years.

“I think serving in an institution that has one of its core values as Christ-centeredness is such a golden opportunity,” Busimba said. “I am grateful to God.”

According to the Rev. Dr. John Kitayimbwa, the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, who unveiled the new team, the UCU Statute for Appointment of deans and heads of departments mandates that the appointments are ratified by the University Senate and then submitted to the institution’s human resource board for consideration.

Comments from some of the leaders
“To me, serving in Uganda Christian University is building the kingdom of God,” Professor Martin Lwanga, former Dean, School of Business, said. “It is a privilege, and some of us are still available to serve at this great institution.”

Eriah Nsubuga, the Head of the Fine Arts Department, said: “It is unusual times. But an opportunity for us to reengineer how we do things. And one thing I like about UCU is that they care for their staff.”

“This year, we are changing direction as a university,” said Prof. Kukunda Elizabeth Bacwayo, the dean of the School of Research and Post Graduate Studies. “We shall provide a bigger amount of funding to professors, to lead various teams of researchers.”

The changes that were announced in May 2021

Faculty/ Department	New Head of Department	Predecessor
School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies	Dr. Emilly Comfort Maractho (Now the Director- UCU Africa Policy Center) Also Head of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies, until contract expires on 31 May 2021	Reverend Professor Lawrence Adams
Faculty of Social Sciences	Mr. Kasule Kibirige Solomon
Department of Social Work and Social Administration. (Expired contract )	Mr. Kasule Kibirige Solomon	Contract renewed
Faculty of Education and Arts
Department of Languages and Literature	Dr. James Taabu Busimba	Mr. Peter Mugume
Honors College	Ms. Pamela Tumwebaze	Reverend Abel Kibedi
Department of Art and Design	Dr. Eriah Nsubuga	Dr. Joel Masagazi
Department of Education	Dr. Mary Kagoire	Dr. Joel Masagazi
School of Business
Department of Management and Entrepreneurship	Mr. Martin Kabanda	Mrs. Elsie Mirembe Nsiyona
Faculty of Health Sciences
Department of Public Health	Dr. Edward Mukooza	Dr. Ekiria Kikule

ASSOCIATE DEAN APPOINTMENTS

Faculty	New Dean	Predecessor
Faculty of Social Sciences	Rev. Dr. Andrew David Omona	Prof. Mary Ssonko Nabachwa
School of Business	Mr. Vincent Kisenyi	Assoc. Professor Martin Lwanga
School of Medicine	Dr. Gerald Tumusiime	Has been acting Dean, but now is the substantive Dean
Faculty of Engineering, Technology & Design	Assoc. Prof. Eng. Eleanor Wozei
School of Law	Dr. Peter David Mutesasira	Dr. Roselyn Karugonjo Segawa
Faculty of Education and Arts	Rev. Can. Dr. Olivia Nassaka Banja	Effective date: September 1, 2021

CONTRACT RENEWALS

Faculty	Dean/ Department Head	Renewal Date
Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication	Professor Monica Chibita	To be communicated
Department of Communication	Dr. Angela Napakol	Effective date: June 1, 2021
Bishop Tucker School of Theology	Rev. Can. Prof. Christopher Byaruhanga	Renewed in December 2020
Faculty of Health Science	Dr. Miriam Gesa Mutabazi	Renewed but not communicated

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UCU alumna awarded for non-communicable disease reporting

May 17, 2021News, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Lynn Komugisha received the award of “Best NCDs journalist” 2021 in the Broadcast category, in a contest organized by the Non-Communicable Disease Alliance for East Africa.

By Jimmy Siyasa
Journalists are trained to be messengers of news. Not many of them are the news. Uganda Christian University (UCU) graduate Lynn Komugisha was both in 2020. The attention was on her and her reporting of non-communicable diseases (NCD).

The East Africa Media on NCDs Awards (EAMNA Awards) 2021 has acknowledged Komugisha as the best NCD journalist at the national level – Uganda. Her reporting was recognized as exemplary for highlighting the dangers and means of prevention for non-communicable diseases. Such diseases as diabetes, cancers, strokes and heart attacks cause more deaths globally than conditions that are contagious.

Komugisha told stories of Ugandans suffering from NCDs such as diabetes. Through these stories, she called upon relevant stakeholders to sensitize masses about diabetes. Her reporting covered the dangers of this condition that keeps the body from processing food properly, its causes, and what individuals and communities can do to support persons suffering from diabetes.

Her media message stood out above other entries from the region that includes Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and Zanzibar.

Komugisha, who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication degree from 2010, says health reporting is her passion. In 2020, when understanding that people with underlying, non-communicable health conditions were more at risk of Covid-19, she reported it.

Lynn Komugisha, TV and radio news anchor and hosts of a Talk Show on Urban Television

“The award encourages me to do more. An award is not only an appreciation for the work you are putting in. It is also a reminder that you can do more,” she commented from her office at Vision Group, the largest media conglomerate in Uganda.

At Vision Group, Komugisha hosts a TV show on Urban TV, reads news on TV, as well as on Vision Group’s radio, XFM. She reads and reports the news.

Komugisha is driven by both her passion for the news and a strong work ethic. She gets up at 3 a.m. and is at work two hours later, researching and preparing copy for the Urban TV show that she hosts. At 6 a.m., Komugisha is brainstorming with her producer. Some days, she anchors radio news on 94.8 XFM. She eventually retires for the day at 7:30 p.m.

Komugisha’s intense schedule pushes much of her role as a mom to an eight-year-old son to the weekend.

“Sometimes my son is not with me, so I get to see him whenever I really can. But I make time over the weekend to see him, my family and the people I care about,” she says.

While she appears tough on the surface, Komugisha has an easygoing and genial side. She says the tough demeanor is a shield she puts on herself to ward off some men who harass her, including male engagement in catcalling.

When asked how she is able to manage the pressure of working in a media house, Komugisha points to the sky to signal divine power. Every morning, when she wakes up, prayer is among the to-do items on her list.

“My faith in Christ, is my grounding force, for every move I make, He is my guide and the only one that keeps me on the right track,” she said, adding, “I am grateful to Uganda Christian University because it cemented my faith in Christ. I believe it nurtured me into the faithful woman that I am.”

Komugisha attended St. Hellen’s Primary School in Mbarara, a district in western Uganda, before joining Masheruka Girls Secondary School for secondary education. Masheruka is found in Sheema district, also located in western Uganda.

Komugisha says she was advised to pursue journalism at UCU by one of her former high school teachers who believed she had great potential in that profession.

By the time she acquired her undergraduate degree in 2010, Komugisha had worked as an intern or volunteer at least at four radio stations in Uganda – Spirit FM (2007), FM J, Kampala FM and Capital FM. Upon graduation, she worked at Vision Radio, located in Mbarara, her hometown, for four years, after which she quit to join Vision Group.

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Ntege dances off stage, ending her ‘tour of duty’ as UCU librarian

May 3, 2021News, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Retiring Librarian Monica Nabagala Ntenge and guests enjoy a meal outside the UCU Learning Commons Room at Ntege’s farewell party.

Story and Photos By Jimmy Siyasa

“Time limits are good things. No matter how good a dancer you are, you must leave the stage.”

This quote, attributed to former Congolese politician Patrice Lumumba, came to mind when Uganda Christian University (UCU) bid its recent farewell to the campus’ long-serving librarian, Monica Nabagala Ntege.

For half of the time she has spent on earth, Ntege has been serving UCU. She retires at 65, which is the university’s age of passing the baton.

“UCU has been my home. UCU has made me what I didn’t even expect to be. And I thank all of you for being part of that making,” Ntege told guests at a farewell party organized in her honour on April 26, by the Human Resource Department.

“It’s been a long journey. Some people were asking me to request for a contract extension. But the university retirement age is clear and we have to uphold it.”

Ntege is credited for many initiatives during her tenure, including starting a library choir whose sweet melodies always formed part of the ambiance outside the Hamu Mukasa Library whenever they met to practice.

Ntenge serves cake to Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi and former Vice-Chancellor, the Rev. Can. Dr. John Senyonyi, at her farewell party.

Top UCU managers, led by the Vice Chancellor, Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi and his two deputies – John Kitayimbwa and David Mugawe – as well as former Vice Chancellor, the Rev. Can. Dr. John Senyonyi and his wife, Ruth, were part of the team that convened at the UCU Learning Commons Room to celebrate Ntege’s dedicated service.

Senyonyi exalted Ntege for upholding Christian values and inspiring her subordinates.

“As Vice Chancellor, I visited the (library) staff several times,” he said. “And I saw her to be a mother, so caring and loving to the staff. Thank you for leaving the library without a scandal.”

Senyonyi added: “She could have actually served very easily as an Assistant Chaplain. Her interest in the spiritual life and spiritual vibrancy of this university is something that I can attest to.”

Ntege’s strong Christian values are reflective of a conventional brand of Christianity that was popular in the early 1930s, as espoused by an Anglican movement then known as the East African Revivalists.

Her not-beating-around-the-bush approach to life could have rubbed some students the wrong way, but it, no doubt, won Ntege admiration from not only “people that matter,” but also those to whom truth matters.

“I am so obliged to celebrate your hard work. I have not worked for long with Monica, but for the few months I have been here, a few things have struck me about her; she is someone who is natural.” Assoc. Prof. Mushengyezi said.

One of the things the library staff will miss about Ntege are the pancakes that she would bake for them. “Every small thing she had, she shared with us. She made sure we had something, especially for breakfast,” Annet, a front desk officer at the library, said.

A daughter of Mr and Mrs. Isaac and Ekiria Ntege, who were both primary school teachers, Ntege is the eighth of 14 children. Both her parents have since died. Ntege joined Nabisunsa Girls School for O’level at 11 years and later proceeded to Trinity College Nabbingo for A’level. It was at Nabbingo where she gave her life to Christ, at 17 years. She later enrolled to pursue a Diploma in Library course at Makerere University.

Ntege joined Bishop Tucker Theological College on June 1, 1988, as the Assistant Librarian. Bishop Tucker Theological College became UCU in 1997. Before joining Bishop Tucker Theological College, Ntege worked at Kibuli Secondary School in Kampala as a librarian.

To sharpen her competence edge, Ntege flew to England to study a bachelor’s degree in library studies, which she completed in 1996. At the time, there were plans to transition from a theological college into a university, so she needed the academic qualification to work in a university library. World Council of Churches sponsored her course in England.

In 1999, Ntege returned to England to pursue a master’s degree in library services at the Loughborough University.

Upon her return, Ntege was employed as the Deputy University Librarian, a position she held till 2015, when she became the Librarian, upon the retirement of Dr. Frederick Mukungu, who held the position.

As a child, Ntege’s parent taught her to appreciate reading. While she says her father did not know much English, he often bought for them books to read, to sharpen their literacy. It is no surprise that the grammar Nazi once punished Frank Obonyo, currently the UCU Communications and Marketing Manager, in his student days, for poor punctuation.

In her retirement, Ntege plans to open a bookshop, so she can “strengthen the reading culture among children.”

Ntege leaves the library in the able hands of David Bukenya, who has been deputizing her. Bukenya will be the acting University Librarian.

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New journalism curriculum reinforces ‘industry ready’ learning

April 28, 2021News, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

UCU journalism students have a discussion at the University Guild Park.

By Ivan Tsebeni

Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) Faculty of Journalism, Communication and Media Studies has adopted a new curriculum that aims at bridging the gap between training institutions and the practical world.

The curriculum implementation has started with the first-year students who joined the university for the Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication (BAJC) on March 1, 2021. Until its implementation, the journalism program at the Uganda Christian University (UCU) was called Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication (BAMC).

The faculty dean, Prof. Monica Chibita, said the changes in the curriculum are aimed at “shooting several birds with one stone.” Chibita noted that the first aim was to address the requirement of the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) that curriculums should be revised every three years.

“But the faculty also has used the same opportunity to redirect the curriculum to address the questions of ethical practice, gender and the faculty’s performance,” she noted. “Our goal is to produce students who are industry-ready and ethical in practice.”

Building that houses leadership for the UCU Faculty of Journalism, Communication and Media Studies.

To achieve the goals, the faculty made changes in some of the course units. The new course units introduced include Media and Information Literacy; Introduction to Journalism and Media Studies; Journalism and Political Communication; Economics and Business Journalism; Data Journalism; Media, Gender and Social Justice; and Understanding Journalism, Media and Communication.

Chibita said the new curriculum was approved by the university’s senate and NCHE, which allowed the faculty to launch it this semester, using blended learning.

Dr. Emily Comfort Maractho, the Head of Department of Journalism and Media Studies, said the faculty labors a lot to respond to the dynamic demands in the media industry.

She noted that the areas tackled under the new curriculum are of “great importance” in defining the future of journalism.

“We have introduced writing in almost every semester. We believe that the writing skills are helpful in restructuring the profession of journalism,” she said. “It has been our desire to improve journalism performance in Uganda.”

The changes in the curriculum have been welcomed by the journalism and communication students.

Marvian Kadu, a third-year student, said the curriculum will yield more and better results and lauded the faculty for what he called progressive transformation.

Andrew Bugembe, a second-year Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication student, said he expects the new curriculum to help them improve their writing skills, which he said is the ‘backbone’ of journalism.

“Without writing skills, a journalist is incomplete. It is encouraging to see the faculty giving it priority,” Bugembe said.

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Work on UCU’s Bishop Tucker Road stalls

April 23, 2021News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Business, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Part of the Bishop Tucker Road that is tarmacked

Story and Photos by Israel Kisakye and Joseph Lagen
It is commonplace for vendors on the Bishop Tucker Road to wipe thick dust off their merchandise. Some traders operating electronics shops have been forced to buy electric blowers to remove dusty grime from their displayed equipment. The road, 4.7 miles long, links the Kampala-Jinja highway to Namilyango. It is also the main road to the Mukono campus of Uganda Christian University (UCU).

Reagan Muyinda, a graduate of Bachelor of Public Administration and Management at UCU, operates one of those whose business – selling ice cream – affected by the state of the road. “My customers leave the shop immediately after buying ice cream because of the dust,” Muyinda says.

But dust is not the only challenge on the road, named after the Bishop Tucker Theological College (later becoming Uganda Christian University). The street is also riddled with pot-holes.

Part of the Bishop Tucker Road that is not tarmacked.

In December 2020, people operating businesses issued a sigh of relief when Mukono Municipality’s local council started renovations on the road. The constructors placed fresh tarmac on the section of the road from the Bus Stop on the Kampala-Jinja road to Wandegeya trading centre, just before the UCU small gate, a distance of about 0.4miles.

However, the excitement of the businesspeople was cut short. For now (mid-April 2021), the works on the road have stalled.

Nevertheless, the Mukono Municipal Council’s head engineer is hopeful the road repairs will be completed.

“We are working alongside the central government to get the construction done,” says Josiah Sserunjoji, an engineer who blames the snail pace of the construction on the lack of funds. “We are co-operating with the government to get enough funds to complete the road works.”

According to Sserunjoji, it costs a little over $880,000 to construct a mile on the road.

The Mukono Municipal Council says it is responsible for the section of road from the Bus Stop on the Kampala-Jinja Road up to the end of the university fence. After that, the responsible agency for managing the road is the national roads agency, the Uganda National Roads Authority. The money used by the Mukono Municipal Council for the road works comes from their fund of locally collected taxes.

UCU’s Director of Facilities and Capital Projects, Eng. David Kivumbi, says since 2010, they have been in discussions with the Mukono Municipal Council over the works on the Bishop Tucker Road.

“Sadly, we hit a dead end each time we hold the discussions,” Kivumbi, who is also in charge of construction works at the university, says. “While they promise to work on the road, all they do is fill the pot-holes with murram, which easily erodes.” Murram is laterite which is largely used for surfaces of seasonal roads in Africa.

Beyond the impact on businesses, the uneven, dusty road negatively effects the image of UCU, endangers pedestrians as they dodge vehicles weaving in and out of potholes and hinders UCU student travel to classes.

Lillian Nganzi, a final-year student of Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication, said whenever it rains, the road becomes slippery for cars and foot travelers. Students’ clothing is covered with dust in dry weather and mud when it rains, causing discomfort and often delaying their time to classes.

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From mockery, ‘I get the inspiration to climb high’

April 14, 2021News, Students, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

(Yasiri J. Kasango is a man with capabilities overcoming disabilities. He has thick skin. The life of the 25-year-old with height and sight impairments has been laced with mockery. But through the ridicule, he has found strength. Below, the Uganda Christian University third-year student in the Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication program narrates the trials he has faced due to his physical challenges.)

By Yasiri J. Kasango

Visual impairment is usually attributed to old age. For my case, I was born with the challenge. The trials with my sight cannot be corrected with prescription eye glasses or surgery. Medical professionals in Uganda label it “low vision.”

I stand more than a head shorter than the shortest person. When I asked my mother why I am this short, she told me that I was created like this. As a child, due to my unique height, wherever I passed, people would call me names. Pygmy was the most common. I used to get irritated. While in boarding school in Senior One at Bukoyo Secondary School in the eastern Uganda district of Iganga, I almost quit my education because of such harassment.

At school, we used to pick food from the dining hall and eat from our dormitories. Whenever I went to the dining hall to pick my food, students would follow me, shouting “pygmy.”

There were days when the bullying was so much that I didn’t eat. I slowly started losing my self-esteem. There were many occasions when I did not turn up for evening prep or eating in the dining hall because I had anxiety about the bullying. I made meals from the snacks I carried from home, which were meant to last me the whole term.

Despite the bullying, there were days I would wake up with the resolve that my happiness entirely depended on me. I chose not to pay attention to the mockery that I would get from fellow students. With this new attitude, I started getting leadership positions.

From Senior One to Senior Six, I was a student leader. For Senior One to Senior Three, I was a councillor on the country’s umbrella body for secondary school student leaders – the Uganda National Student’s Association (UNSA). From Senior Three to Senior Four, I was the external coordinator for UNSA. In Senior Five and Senior Six, I was a prefect in my school, in charge of lights, furniture and water.

So, how did I discover that I had low vision? In Primary Three, while at Covenant Primary School in Mbale, eastern Uganda, Mrs. Sylvia Mutungi, my former teacher, found out that I had a sight challenge. She told me to always move closer to the black board, to be able to see.

One day, she informed my father, Juma Mugabi, about my vision obstacle. My mother, Zain Mutesi Kasango, told me that when my father told her about what the teacher had said, she remembered that as a child, I always had challenges with my right eye. “You would cover the eye with one finger, in order to see well,” she told me.

Sometimes I was forced to squint, in order to see objects at a distance.

My mother said she usually slapped me whenever I put a finger on my eye. While in Primary Six, I went to an eye hospital, St. Benedictine Eye Care Center, in Tororo district, eastern Uganda. That is when I was diagnosed with low vision.

I was warned never to drive a car because of my challenges. The optician said I should also learn to live with my sight challenges since there were no lenses to correct my condition.

I was told that since my sight problem originates from the retina, it was difficult to find optical glasses that would solve the problem. However, I was given magnifying lenses for close range reading and a telescope to focus on the black board.

The telescope gave me short relief while reading things on the black board. However, it was only for use in class. But being a child, my telescope did not last for more than two terms. It fell and got damaged. In my final term, I went back to my usual struggle of moving closer to the black board. When I joined Senior One, I went back to the eye hospital.

After tests, I was given two lenses. The optician told me they were meant for reading only. Therefore, I had to struggle while walking on the road. Throughout my life, I usually find a person to walk with on busy roads.

One day, I was left home on a Sunday. My siblings and dad had gone to church. I, too, wanted to attend prayers that Sunday. I set off for church, alone. When I reached the point to cross the road, I waited until I could not hear the sound of any car. I crossed the road while running. To my surprise, there was a car coming, and it missed hitting me by a whisker.

The recent introduction of Computer Studies in A’ level as a subsidiary subject was a good initiative by the Ministry of Education and Sports in Uganda. However, to a student like me with a sight challenge, it was a disadvantage. The subject has two sections – theory and practical.

I struggled to do the practical exams because of my visual impairment and ended up getting a pass. I joined Uganda Christian University in 2017. At the university, I found a similar challenge. In my first year, I was supposed to study basic computing. For the practical coursework of basic computing, my lecturer, Mr. Henry Sseguya, helped and gave me “oral practical” coursework.

I thank teachers and lecturers who have helped to make studying a little easier for me than it would have otherwise been.

The nick names that people have always given me due to my challenges have, instead, been my source of strength. Whenever people called me pygmy, I get the inspiration to climb high. I wish all people who are naturally blessed differently – physically and mentally – can be considered just as important in society as those who seemingly blend in.

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‘This was not the Jesus I knew’

April 5, 2021Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology, News, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Site of evangelism experience in day light

When Penelope Nankunda joined UCU in 2017, she attended an overnight prayer service at a hill about a kilometer (0.6 mile) away from the Mukono Campus. Penelope, ending her three-year program in 2021, shares this account to warn first-year students about religious activities outside UCU.

By Penelope Nankunda

The year before I joined the Uganda Christian University (UCU) main campus in Mukono in 2017, I gave my life to Jesus Christ. My hunger to know God was at its peak. I was willing to satisfy this hunger at any cost. That is when I met a person I will call Alex.

Alex (not his real name) had been coming to our first-year classroom at the University for close to three weeks. He came off as someone eager to spread the good news of the Lord. He did this through sharing his personal testimonies, scripture readings, praying and inviting my class to his Friday overnight prayers on a nearby hill with many names – Monkey Mountain, Prayer Mountain, etc.

I was captivated.

Alex was a very powerful speaker, seemingly well conversant with the word of God and very charming in an unsettling, Gothic manner. I desired to spend more time in the presence of God as well as seek a strong spiritual family to sustain me through my three-year academic journey at UCU. An overnight prayer event appeared to be a good opportunity to make that happen. After weeks of contemplating, and with a combination of excitement and guilt for this delay in what I perceived as my new-found journey in Christ, I prepared for the Friday overnight on the hill.

It was a decision I later regretted.

On that Friday evening after my dinner at 8 p.m., I rushed back to my bedroom to gather some things. At 9 p.m. I grabbed my black leather jacket in which I stuffed a handkerchief and my student passbook and ran for the door.

By 11 p.m., I was at the venue – a heavily dense forest with close to 30 meters (98 feet) of cleared trees with a cut-out tree trunk at the center. The weather had changed at the top of the hill and the atmosphere was now chilly with the moon as the only source of light. Slowly analyzing the scene, panic began to set in.

I was then informed that the overnight did not only consist of students from UCU, but also Kyambogo and Makerere University, and so we were to wait until they arrived.

At 11:30 p.m., the headlights of two vehicles slowly emerged up the hill pointing towards my direction, before parking nearby. Out of the vehicles, which were taxis, hopped out two dozen university students.

Amidst all the chatting and laughing, a male voice called out to all the students to form a circle. However, before forming the circle, we were told to place our bags, phones and coats onto the cut bark of the tree.

Once the circle was formed, a short man walked to the middle of the circle and began to sing some familiar songs of praise. He clapped his hands and sang as the rest of us followed. The sky grew darker. Now, I could only see people’s eyes.

Thirty minutes into the singing, I suddenly noticed a white Toyota Ipsum drive up the hill and park under a tree near our circle. Out of the vehicle came a tall, thin man dressed in a long dark overcoat (as though a tuxedo), a cap and what seemed to be gum boots. He walked towards the circle and stepped into the center, standing with a strong presence of command, hands held behind his back.

The singing was immediately brought to a halt as the song leader requested that we welcome our pastor with a thunderous clap.

“You are welcome to another mighty overnight; I am happy to see you all here,” said the pastor with a loud husky voice. “God loves you all, and it is because of this God that we are all here today. Therefore, open your hearts and receive his spirit today.”

As we resumed singing, the pastor pointed at me. Two young men walked towards me and instructed that I approach the pastor. I slowly walked up to where the pastor stood, right at the center of the circle. He took hold of me. He began to pray in tongues placing his hand on my chest, while bending me backward as though wishing for me to fall, but I did not. In less than a minute, he released me to return to where I was standing in the circle.

I resumed singing as I watched him call my neighbors. I saw students fall to the ground while others screamed, as the pastor placed his hand on their chests while praying, just as he had done to me.

Once he had finished praying for all the students, the pastor pointed at me again. I walked towards him. This time, the pastor whispered in my ear “open up your heart and let the spirit in. You are not opening your heart.”

I remained silent as he began to pray again, placing his hand on my chest and pushing me backwards, but again I did not fall. He released me.

At past Midnight, the pastor preached to us about a new way in which we were going to worship God. He explained to us that this way of worship was directed at calling the Holy Spirit, that it was new to most believers and three-dimensional. He then instructed us to make a circle around the incompletely cut tree bark where our properties sat and begin to rotate around the tree bark until he told us to stop.

As we rotated around the tree bark, the pastor told us to begin imitating how leopards roar in order to invite Jesus the lion of Judah. Everybody, it seemed, except for me began to roar loudly as they rotated around the tree bark.

The whole night was full of such strange activity as different groups of people performed different rituals. This was not the Jesus I knew from worship on the UCU campus. At one point, a few other students and I attempted to leave the hill but failed, because Alex followed us and nudged our return. I could only leave at sunlight.

Needless to say, this is not an experience I repeated. While I realize there are different ways that different people come to Christ, this is not the means endorsed and provided by UCU. In fairness, there is much good on that hill, including tent housing for the homeless.

I am narrating this account to advise other students to be more discerning to avoid falling prey to religious activities outside the University.

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UCU Partners launches e-lab pilot to benefit students and organization

February 17, 2021News, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Some students in the Uganda Partners e-lab pilot interact from the UCU-Mukono library via Zoom with managers of the NGO in the United States.

By Jimmy Siyasa

It’s only mountains that don’t meet, but people do, goes a famous saying. This came to pass on January 25, when a group of Uganda Christian University (UCU) students met virtually with UCU Partners leadership.

UCU Partners is a two-decades old, non-profit organization that raises awareness about UCU in the United States by seeking material and spiritual support for students. The students, meeting via Zoom, are part of a new UCU Partners e-lab project designed to provide real-world experience to learning while creating products for the organization. Mark Bartels, executive director, and Patricia Huston, communications director, for UCU Partners were coming in virtually from the USA states of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively.

The time was 4 p.m. in Uganda when the curtains opened on the face of Huston. She started by telling the “junior writers” a bit about her journalism and public relations careers. She dusted off any doubts in her capacity to support the writers in their career development by showcasing some of the payoffs from her own professional journey. It was inspiring to behold Huston’s accolades, published literature such as Inviting a Giraffe to Tea (now also available in Luganda), among other achievements.

This was no doubt a result of hard work. She urged the students to “work hard and be open to learning.” She advised the students to put into practice the writing, photography, videography and social media theories and skills they learn in class and from textbooks.

“It’s good to acquire facts and figures, to learn the theory of journalism and communication and to be able to take a test to prove that knowledge,” Huston said. “But if you can’t apply what you learned, then of what use is it to you, your country or your work?”

Together with Bartels, Huston unpacked the mission and vision of the Partners NGO and the relevance of the pilot for the students involved. Prior to the Jan. 1, 2021, launch of the education-product delivery model, Huston and selected UCU alumni and staff generated stories and photos for the organization. Huston, who has been a volunteer consultant and teacher at UCU since 2012, says the new e-lab model reinforces student learning and provides products for the organization.

On Feb. 14 – 1.5 months into the e-lab pilot – Huston noted: “The product quality I see so far is impressive.”

Bartels, who is the son-in-law of the first UCU Vice Chancellor Steven Noll, said the organization exists to “raise money and develop partnerships for UCU.” Bartels lived with his family and worked on the UCU-Mukono campus for 10 years.

Via Zoom, the Uganda Partners leaders rolled out the pilot “Communication Plan,” which was more like a dartboard of expectations for the students. With the on-the-ground guidance of three seasoned Uganda professionals, the 12 UCU journalism students chosen for this new hands-on learning model were eager to shoot right in the bullseye. The Ugandan leadership team under Huston’s guidance consists of John Semakula, coordinator; Edwin Byarugaba, technical consultant; and Constantine Odongo, editor and social media consultant. Another Ugandan, Frank Obonyo, and an American, Ashton Davey, provide collaborative assistance as ex-officio members of the team.

John Semakula, UCU Partners e-lab communications coordinator, at left, with some of the UCU journalism/communications students chosen for the pilot project.

According to Huston, the model rollout is designed to start with an emphasis on writing and still photography, followed in the coming months by video and audio products and promotion using traditional and social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp).

“I was nervous at first, because this was the first time I was attending a Zoom meeting, let alone with Americans,” Grace Bisoke, a student who is part of the e-lab project, said, adding: “Surprisingly, everything went well.”

Pauline Ruth Alupo, another student, said: “With my journalism skills, I would like to establish a multimedia production company in Uganda. One that creates high quality content for the global audience.”

The youthful Ugandans left the late January 2021 virtual launch meeting with a clearer vision of their careers and excited and eager to roll up their sleeves and get into the trenches.

With that, Bartels hopes that at the end of the day, the “donors will be able to see the huge impact they can have by investing in Uganda Christian University and the UCU students.” He added, “We are also excited by the opportunity to contribute directly to the experience of these students—giving them opportunities to grow and develop their professional skills.”

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UCU students say International Desk relieves loneliness

February 11, 2021COVID-19, News, UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication, UCU School of Law#COVID, #News, Journalism, LawPatty Huston-Holm

International students from the United States, Nigeria and Rwanda

By Gloria Katya

Joining Uganda Christian University (UCU) in 2019, Garcia Bwale’s major challenge was the language barrier. Since she is from a French-speaking country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), she was not fluent in English. Contributing during class discussions was one of her major challenges.

International students pose for photo after a 2020 food gala at UCU

With the little English she knew, and spoken with a French accent, most of the Ugandan students found it funny whenever she raised her hand to contribute in class. This lowered her self-esteem.

“Whenever I was contributing in class, I noticed students laughing silently and the lecturers, too, found it hard to interpret what I was saying,” Bwale says.

However, from the UCU International students’ desk, Bwale discovered a solution. The desk provided her with a language mentor as she journeyed in her academics.

Once she solved the language issue, her fears were greatly diminished. She is now a confident journalist in the making who also has served as Minister on the International Students Association.

Another student, George Caleb from Nigeria and who is in his second year studying law, faced a similar obstacle. Interacting with locals especially when buying food and talking to transporters in case he had to move around had become a serious challenge for Caleb because he didn’t speak any of the Uganda local languages.

He, too, was helped by the International students’ desk to get Ugandan friends who gradually taught him survival skills.

“The desk linked me to some Ugandan students who helped me and life became easier,” he says.

The International students desk, headed by Mr. Edgar Kabahizi, was established in 2011 by the university management to help mainly with international students’ welfare. This desk serves students from the time they step in to the time they exit.

Usually a friendly and welcoming face, Kabahizi awaits to be of service to fresh international students from the time they arrive in Uganda for their studies at UCU.

“Studying away from one’s home country and family is always challenging and at times creates a lot of anxiety not knowing what to expect,” Kabahizi said. “Most times, it’s the local culture and language that is most perplexing for the foreigners so students need help.”

To simplify life for an international student, Kabahizi does a lot of things for them.

“I follow up on the students from the time they are admitted by the University until they are settled and begin to progress academically,” he says. “Students that face linguistic problems are incorporated in mentorship classes under the Uganda Studies Program where they learn English.”

Kabahizi’s office also makes sure that international students have the necessary paperwork that enables them access to living in the country.

“We are there, when the students are sick, struggling academically and when facing any challenge,” he said, “This office is their first reporting point.”

With 7% of the UCU student population from outside Uganda, the Director of Students Affairs Bridget Mugume K. Mugasira says the university created the desk to better serve those students. International students at UCU come from such countries as Nigeria, DRC, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and the USA.

When an international student arrives at UCU, he/she is led to their place of accommodation that is already organised for them by the International Students’ Desk. The students are then oriented the next day by introducing them to other international students. They are also given class timetables and briefed about the Ugandan currency and its exchange rate.

The students also are informed about the dos and don’ts in Uganda, Ugandan culture, and UCU norms.

“The International Students Desk is a serious relief to foreign students as it brings them together such that they don’t feel lonely on campus,” Kabahizi said.

International students are not left out in the different co-curricular activities on campus such as the cultural galas, food galas and politics. International students are engaged in many fun activities on campus including dinners, picnics, trips, food galas, celebrating their country’s days of Independence, among others. The students also are represented with the guild government.

“Our last trip last year with the International students was in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Kasese and Bundibugyo before the Coronavirus pandemic struck,” Kabahizi said.

Covid-19 that has affected education across the globe has interfered with the desk, but UCU is not ready to compromise any of its services. Throughout the Covid-19 lockdown in Uganda, the University took full care of the international students without asking them for additional financial contributions.

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How technology is shaping journalism in East Africa

April 18, 2019Faculty of Engineering, Design & Technology, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationAga Khan University, BBC, Digital Journalism in East Africa, Nation Media Group, New York Times, social media, Uganda Christian UniversityPatty Huston-Holm

Alex Taremwa, Ugandan journalist, checks out camera angles.

By Alex Taremwa

In the words of the late author Norman Mailer, “Some of us, finding that we were not smart enough to become lawyers, talented enough to become novelists or with hands too shaky to perform operations, became journalists.”

Globally, journalism has gone through significant 21st century transformations but East African media stands as the most threatened. This is somewhat due to substandard journalism training and the controlled political environment, but mostly, the digital disruption.

The digital age has had a considerable impact on the journalism profession. The media eco-system is constantly changing with new technologies and mediums re-defining the relationship between the news media and the public. As American scholar and author Mark Briggs noted, learning the skill and technology is the easy part. Recognizing we are part of a new information eco-system is the steeper hill to climb.

In East Africa today, journalism fails in four major areas: content creation, distribution, monetization and coping with the ever-changing consumption habits of the audience. Showbiz and celebrity websites in Uganda and East Africa at large have more visitors that mainstream media. Kenya’s most popular website – Tuko – is a purely entertainment site that has almost double the number of visitors of East Africa’s highest circulation newspaper, Daily Nation.

In Kenya, the Tuko entertainment site was among those who “broke the Internet” talking about a controversial tourist campaign focused on curvy women while an issue of serious national impact – reviving a national airline – has struggled to gather traction. Mainstream media have had to develop separate websites for viral content in order to compete.

The present era of dynamic new media is being referred to as a golden age of storytelling – the element that stimulates human interest and emotion but taking advantage of the contemporary disruption and the acceleration of technology to tell better stories and connect with more audiences.

Daily Nation – East and Central Africa’s biggest-selling paper – has seen its sales drop from 160,378 copies a day in 2009 to 105,000 by December 2018. It is even severe in Uganda where the highest-selling daily is a local language newspaper (Bukedde), and the two oldest, mainstream presses of the government-owned New Vision and independent Daily Monitor cannot reach a combined 50,000 copies sold.

Author Alex Taremwa comments on the state and future of the media during a panel discussion at Aga Khan University.

While doing my undergraduate degree at Uganda Christian University (UCU), I made it my business to write letters to the then Head of Department (and now dean), Professor Monica Chibita, asking her to include a digital aspect in the course curriculum. During that 2012-2016 time period, the role social media would play in a newsroom was unthinkable.

When renowned Kenyan investigative journalist, John Allan Namu visited my class in early April 2019, he said that the Daily Nation had, at first, thought itself too big to join the microblog platform, Twitter.

Today, social media provides not just jobs but also critical insights about fans and the potential audience through listening, testing and engagement. In today’s world, each social media user is a small media owner. They don’t need a newspaper to broadcast content when they have Facebook Live, Instagram and Snap Chat.

Some public figures like Kenya’s President H.E Uhuru Kenyatta have more online following than most Kenyan media houses. Like most of the world’s high-profile people, he isn’t fully reliant on traditional media to deliver his messages.

With Google, Amazon and Facebook dominating almost 80% of the advertisement revenue online, turning good content into money in East Africa and the world over is a daily preoccupation of media executives, academia, and journalists alike.

Content creation costs money, and distribution platforms are expensive to support and maintain. Therefore, knowing how to monetize content and distribution is crucial. Just as the New York Times has found the goose that lays its golden eggs in on-line subscriptions and digital journalism, media in East Africa is yet to crack the puzzle on whether we go the NYT way or adopt micro-payments, a la carte purchases or just hang onto the advertisement model.

Without a doubt, the multi-mediality that digital has brought to journalism is impacting for readers/viewers/listeners who get a full experience of the story beyond written words and photos. This revolution includes virtual and augmented reality, 360• video that most developed newsrooms such as the BBC, the Associated Press, the NYT and the Washington Post and Reuters are adopting.

Technology is increasing pluralism and making it hard for governments to stifle the freedom of the press. The watchdog role of journalism is even stronger with new digital research tools. If implemented with understanding and adherence to what journalism was designed to do, the content is richer with better visualisation and data interpretation with an audience that is no longer the passive consumer but an active player.

On the flipside, social media has eroded the gatekeeping role of journalism, killed the element of surprise in breaking news and made it possible for even those not schooled in the practice of journalism to join our space and compete for the same eyeballs as the professionals. Fake news, disinformation and click baiting need to be combated. It is easier for trained journalists to become lazy and less credible copycats who violate intellectual property by pasting other people’s versions of news. Professional journalists need to invest time and understanding into new tools such as Google Earth and crowdsourcing.

As Uganda’s Daily Monitor Editor Daniel Kalinaki once noted, it’s still true that journalists need to invest in public interest, relevant and solutions-oriented journalism. The alternative to this is to ask the last journalist to switch off the lights when they leave the newsroom.

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Alex Taremwa is a native Ugandan currently pursuing a Masters in Digital Journalism at Aga Khan University and a Uganda Christian University (UCU) Mass Communication graduate. He also is the editor of Uganda’s Matooke Republic.

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

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