Diane Babirye, right, UCU student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media studies, produced the video. Brendah Ndagire, UCU graduate and UCU Partners communications assistant, was an editor. (UCU Partners photo)
How can you best pull a country out of poverty? Education support.
And what does that education support look like? Books, supplies, technology, buildings, faculty and student scholarships.
Such is the message of a new video from Uganda Christian University (UCU) Partners, a Pennsylvania-based non-profit focused for the past 15 years on providing funds for these necessities at UCU.
The video contains part of this interview conducted on graduation day at the UCU-Mukono campus in October 2018 with UCU Partners Executive Director Mark Bartels. (UCU Partners photo)
“There is a shift in the idea of missions and ministry overseas,” said UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels. “Rather than bring as many Americans as we can to help, we know the best people to address Uganda’s challenges and problems are Ugandans.”
Bartels, who lived in Uganda with his wife, Abby, and children for 10 years until 2014, asserts that UCU is best equipped to deliver quality, university education for East Africans. UCU’s strength is not just because of its strong academic programs in eight faculty areas, but because Christian character building takes place alongside the high-level knowledge and skills.
The five-minute video contains remarks from Bartels and UCU’s Financial Aid Officer Walter Washika as well as testimonials and appreciation from seven scholarship recipients.It was produced by Diane Babirye, UCU student studying journalism and media studies; and edited by Brendah Ndagire, UCU graduate and UCU Partners communications assistant; and Patty Huston-Holm, UCU Partners Communications Director.
(NOTE: In the fall of 2018, Brendah Ndagire, UCU Partners’ Communications Associate, came on the Uganda Christian University Mukono campus to interview some UCU Partners scholarship recipients. For a 10-day period, UCU Partners features a summary of their feedback. To support students like these, contact Mark Bartels, executive director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or donate directly at: https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/)
Matende Wilson (UCU Partners Photo)
Name: Matende Wilson Paul
Program: Diploma in Business Administration (graduated)
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? It has given me a chance and opportunity to learn, and participate in forums such as, leadership and para-counselling forums which I enjoy.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? Among the many options I am exploring, I want to become an accountant. My program focuses mostly on accounting and I want to become that. I used to have a bias in mathematics in high school but when I joined the university, I chose to focus my career in accountant and be a tremendous accountant internationally. Depending on whether I receive funding for further studies, I would want to do a certified public accounting so that i can be a professional accountant.
What do you want to say to your sponsor? Thank you for the work you have done in helping me attain education.
Odogola Joshua Eli (UCU Partners Photo)
Name: Odogola Joshua Elishadai
Program: Diploma in Business Administration (graduated)
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? I wouldn’t have accessed this higher education without the blessings of this scholarship. God through this scholarship has been the centre of my studies here.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? I want to be a lecturer and a job creator. I think unemployment is one of the biggest hindrances to accessing education in Uganda. When parents lost their jobs, things become worse in our lives, and I give thanks for my scholarship to attain higher education at Uganda Christian University. Now that I have finished studying business administration, I want want to be a job creator and employ especially single mothers in my community to be able to earn income to educate their children. To God be the Glory!
What do you want to say to your sponsor? Your support and donation through Uganda Partners is like resurrection of the dead to life! Thank you so very much, God used to restore my hope. I never thought I would join a university. May God bless you!
(NOTE: In the fall of 2018, Brendah Ndagire, UCU Partners’ Communications Associate, came on the Uganda Christian University Mukono campus to interview some UCU Partners scholarship recipients. For a 10-day period, UCU Partners features a summary of their feedback. To support students like these, contact Mark Bartels, executive director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or donate directly at: https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/)
Kalule Toney (UCU Partners Photo)
Name: Kalule Toney
Program: Bachelor of Social Work and Social Administration
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? It has exposed me to the world here. It has helped me to acquire knowledge, made friends and have been able to redefine myself.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? I want to be an advocate and an activist for girl education, employment opportunities and human rights. I want to get a platform for sensitizing fellow youths about the value of education. I hope someday to start an organization for training vulnerable groups of people in my community.
What do you want to say to your sponsor? Thank you so much!
Bwambale Bernand (UCU Partners Photo)
Name: Bwambale Bernard Molcho
Program: Bachelor of Arts with Education (graduated)
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? It has helped me to focus on my studies and I am proud to graduate with a great GPA! The scholarship helped to restore hope of completing my degree. If I had got this opportunity earlier, I would have got a first class degree.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? I want to become an artist, to make art pieces to fundraise for the well-being of other unprivileged people particularly in acquiring skills through formal education. I want to be an art teacher and inspire young people in high school to view a bright future beyond the life of lack of enough resources.
What do you want to say to your sponsor? Thank you even though I think it is not enough other than praying for blessings to them, their family, and their work.
(NOTE: In the fall of 2018, Brendah Ndagire, UCU Partners’ Communications Associate, came on the Uganda Christian University Mukono campus to interview some UCU Partners scholarship recipients. For a 10-day period, UCU Partners features a summary of their feedback. To support students like these, contact Mark Bartels, executive director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or donate directly at: https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/)
Gaborya Charles (UCU Partners Photo)
Name: Gaborya Charles
Program: Master of Journalism and Media Studies
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? It has been a great and fundamental push towards my study and without It I do not think I would have been able to take up a master’s degree.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? I want to have a deeper understanding of development, communication and gender. And I want to use the degree in the field of development, specifically gender-based development.
What do you want to say to your sponsor? I want them her/him to know that I am very appreciative of her/his support.
Odongkara Emmanuel (UCU Partners Photo)
Name: Odongkara Emmanuel
Program: Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? It has created a good environment for me to learn, and share ideas with other fellow students, and lectures It has transformed the way I think.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? I want to become an investigative journalist and a writer. I have a passion for writing and serving others. I am influenced by great writers such as Ben Carson who inspires and leaves you challenged.
What do you want to say to your sponsor Thank you for your support, and thank you for believing in UCU!
Byron Otto (UCU Partners Photo)
Name: Byron Otto Andrew
Program: Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? It has helped me in every way of my life and my education’s journey in general.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? I want to be the best in journalism, reporting specifically on children’s and women’s issues affecting their humanity. I also want to be what God wants be to be in His Kingdom. I had a hard childhood that makes me cry often times. From surviving death, life on the streets, to living without parents, my life has been a very challenging journey to where I am at the university. I have learned to respect humanity,God, and appreciation to what is happening in the humanitarian sector, and I want to use my communication degree to report on what is happening in the humanitarian community. That is why I am studying journalism at UCU. I remember when I was a child I wanted to be President of Uganda. Now, and if God allows it, I want to represent the children on streets and tell my testimony.
What do you want to say to your sponsor? Thank you and may God Bless you! You are my parents now and would love to meet you someday!
(NOTE: In the fall of 2018, Brendah Ndagire, UCU Partners’ Communications Associate, came on the Uganda Christian University Mukono campus to interview some UCU Partners scholarship recipients. For a 10-day period, UCU Partners features a summary of their feedback. To support students like these, contact Mark Bartels, executive director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or donate directly at: https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/)
Byakatonda Gerald (UCU Partners Photo)
Name: Byakatonda Gerald
Program:
Bachelor of Agricultural Science and Entrepreneurship
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? It has provided funds for my tuition, accommodation and other fees at the university.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? I want to do many things. First,I want to be a crop scientist. I have worked with farmers and found out that they have challenges such as crop diseases, poor yields, among others. Becoming a crop scientist will give me the opportunity to offer solutions to such problems. Secondly, I want to start FARMHELP-AFRICA, an organization that would seek partnership with farmers and other stakeholders.I will also become a professional farmer of coffee and oil palm in Uganda. Lastly, I want to be agricultural-entrepreneur and christian-principled leader for young people who lack a professional example to direct them into farming business.
What do you want to say to your sponsor? I want to thank them for their genuine support towards my academic journey.
Kucel Newton (UCU Partners Photo)
Name: Kucel Newton
Program: Bachelor of Agricultural Science and Entrepreneurship
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? It has been of great help to me since I am always guaranteed to do my examinations.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? I want to become a professional farmer with a holistic background in caring for consumers of what I will produce. I see the rising population in Uganda and the World at large; hence, there is a need to improve food supply for this rising population. I have also seen farmers selling products contaminated with chemicals not minding about the consumers and with this; I am looking at producing good and safe food for my consumers.
What do you want to say to your sponsor? May God bless her in everything.
Mutesasira Ivan (UCU Partners Photo)
Name: Mutesasira Ivan
Program: Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? I have attained knowledge and skills in the engineering field, and how to appreciate and live with others.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? I want to become a good engineer who will work with people in society. I also want to help other people/children who have problems with studying when I become a practising engineer. Further in the future, I want to be a professor of Civil Engineering.
What do you want to say to your sponsor? I appreciate the support, love, and efforts they have put in to see that I become an important and great engineer who will benefit the society I live in. May God bless her!
(NOTE: In the fall of 2018, Brendah Ndagire, UCU Partners Communications Associate, came on the Uganda Christian University Mukono campus to interview some UCU Partners scholarship recipients. For a 10-day period, UCU Partners features a summary of their feedback. To support students like these, contact Mark Bartels, executive director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or donate directly at: https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/)
Ochora Walter (UCU Partners Photo)
Name: Ochora Walter
Program: Diploma in Procurement and Logistic Management
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? It has helped me to study at a Christian University and getting knowledge which I can apply after my studies.It has also helped me to meet different people not only in Uganda but other parts of the world.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? I want to help other needy people in our society by offering and giving back to them what God has done for me. Of course, I want to acquire a job to do after my studies. I also am looking forward to continuing with education if God wants me to continue; I will be appreciative of that as well.
What do you want to say to your sponsor? I appreciate them for what they have done in my life and other children/students to be part of UCU.
Nakungu Patricia (UCU Partners Photo)
Name: Nakungu Patricia
Program: Bachelor of Procurement and Logistics Management
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? I am able to concentrate on my studies because I don’t have to worry about incomplete tuition.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? I want to become a very successful business woman that’s what I have always wanted. And I want to put my degree to use by becoming a procurement officer with a difference.
What do you want to say to your sponsor? I want to thank them so much for the opportunity they have given me to be part of a great institution and attain a quality education.
Oweta Paul (UCU Partners Photo)
Name: Oweta Paul
Program: Diploma in Procurement and Logistics Management
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? It has brought a bright future which seemed darker a few years ago. The scholarship has brought hope in my life.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? I want to work as a procurement officer in the military. I am inspired by my uncle who studied a similar program, and when he graduated he joined the military and went on to live his other dream of opening a powerful church and charity home which helps needy children in his community.
What do you want to say to your sponsor? Thank you maximumly!
(NOTE: In the fall of 2018, Brendah Ndagire, UCU Partners Communications Associate, came on the Uganda Christian University Mukono campus to interview some UCU Partners scholarship recipients. For a 10-day period, UCU Partners features a summary of their feedback. To support students like these, contact Mark Bartels, executive director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or donate directly at: https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/)
Name: Nansereko Idah
Program: Bachelor of Community Health(Renamed Bachelor of Public Health)
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? It has enabled me to timely pay my tuition and utilize university facilities and services.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? I am already a clinician, when I finish my degree in community health, I would like to build a health facility in my village to bring health services to people there and offer job opportunities to people in different departments
What do you want to say to your sponsor? Thank you for your efforts to keep in school.
(NOTE: In the fall of 2018, Brendah Ndagire, UCU Partners’ Communications Associate, came on the Uganda Christian University Mukono campus to interview some UCU Partners scholarship recipients. For a 10-day period, UCU Partners features a summary of their feedback. To support students like these, contact Mark Bartels, executive director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or donate directly at: https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/)
Name: Uwimbabazi Sarah
Program: Bachelor of Nursing Science
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? The scholarship covers my fees, and I attend classes with no worries. This has helped me to perform better in classes.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? I will go back to my hospital and deliver holistic nursing care to the people within and outside the hospital with interest in maternal and child health for the betterment of our community and nation.
What do you want to say to your sponsor? I want to express to her how much I am grateful. Thank you for making me who I am today.
Name: Murezi Mereth
Program: Master of Nursing Science
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? I have had timely access to university services including lecture rooms and library. And I have been able to focus on my academic work without interruptions.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? I want to engage in teaching activities so as to strengthen the nursing profession further. Secondly, I want to become an education specialist and largely engage in policy formulation.
What do you want to say to your sponsor? I am very thankful for his/her support and devotion in seeing progress in the academic arena in Uganda.
Name: Monday Edson
Program: Master of Nursing Science
How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study? It has relieved me a lot. I have been able to attend all my classes without worries, and this has improved my concentration in class. I love my program and I have been able to take of my family alongside studying.
How would do you want to use your degree and why? I want to be a university lecturer and a researcher in the nursing field.
What do you want to say to your sponsor? Thank you so much!
Robert Kamugisha, center, with two staff members at the Uganda Nursing School (UCU Partners photo)
By Patty Huston-Holm
“This will hurt,” the nurse said, preparing to inject a vaccination into the arm of the six-year-old boy. “But it will help you be protected for the rest of your life.”
That boy was Robert Kamugisha, now age 37 and one of the leaders of a nursing school located 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the western Uganda area where he grew up and received that immunization. He has a small injection scar with a memory of how that experience propelled him to his career in medicine.
“Her words made me feel like a part of this at that very young age,” he recalled.
Signage of nursing school in the western Uganda area of Bwindi (UCU Partners Photo)
Robert is the academic registrar at the Uganda Nursing School (Bwindi), where students can get a certificate after about 2.5 years and a diploma in about 3 years. Uganda Christian University (UCU) provides the accreditation for the school. UCU’s School of Nursing relationship with the new school in Bwindi is one example of how the university reaches under-served areas.
While westerners know Bwindi best for gorilla trekking in the Impenetrable Forest, East Africans recognize the area’s rural poverty. Behind what most tourists see is the economically and educationally poor Batwa (pigmy) tribe. The Kellerman Foundation, based in Texas, has been instrumental in serving needs of this population.
“Infant mortality is a problem here,” Robert said. That’s the topic of his soon-to-be finished master’s dissertation with UCU, where he received his Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2013. He got that degree with the assistance of a scholarship from the Uganda Christian University Partners organization.
From practicing nurse to oversight for nurses at Bwindi Community Hospital, Robert’s career climb accelerated to a leadership position for a new school when two gorilla trekkers from the United States agreed to fund the building construction in 2013. Rotary International, through the Rotary Club of Reno, Nevada (USA), and the Rotary Club of Kihihi, Uganda, furnished the school.
The first class of 36 graduated in March of 2017. Today, there are nearly 300 Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda students studying at the Bwindi facility.
Taking care of people, including nursing students, is second nature to Robert. As the first born of five children, he grew up with the family responsibility for his younger brother and three younger sisters with little financial support for himself.
Robert and his wife, Uwimbabazi Sarah, have two children.A woman from Israel sponsors Sarah’s studies at UCU through UCU Partners.
“At some point, I want to be in a position where I can support someone other than my own family,” Robert said. “Ugandans can and should give back that way.”
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If you are interested in supporting students who are making a difference in Uganda such as UCU Partners Scholarship Recipient Robert Kamugisha is, contact Uganda Partners’ Executive Director Mark Bartels at mtbartels@gmail.com.
Some of many UCU graduates working in Bwindi, Uganda (UCU Partners photo)
(NOTE: In September 2018, UCU Partners Communications Director, Patty Huston-Holm, visited Bwindi, Uganda to interview a handful of UCU alumni, including UCU Partners scholarship recipients. The list coming out of this remote, Western Uganda area was larger than expected. At that, it is believed there are even more UCU success stories than these 15 compiled and shared here. The story of one UCU graduate – Robert Kamugisha, academic registrar at the Uganda Nursing School – is not captured below; it will be published in expanded form this Thursday, February 7.)
UCU graduates and UCU Partners scholarship/financial aid recipients
Sylvia Kokunda Education officer, Batwa Development Program
2014 UCU graduate with Bachelor of Public Administration and Management
“The best part of UCU was what I learned about spiritual morals. UCU is the best university in educating a complete person.”
Sarah Tumuramye Cashier, Batwa Development Program
2018 UCU graduate with Bachelor of Business and Administration
“At UCU, I not only got knowledge but I learned to know Jesus Christ better.”
Rev. Elizabeth Abanelinela Director of finance and administration, Bwindi Community Hospital
2015 UCU Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology graduate with Master of Divinity
“At UCU, faith is integrated into all aspects of the profession and social life.”
Nahabwe Haven Public health worker, Bwindi Community Hospital
2011 UCU graduate with Bachelor of Public Health
“At UCU, I learned to respect people regardless of their backgrounds and values.”
Orikiriza Patricia Volunteer, Bwindi Community Hospital
2017 UCU graduate with Bachelor of Development Studies
“The best part of getting an education at UCU is the Christian values.”
Ritah Katumba Kinkizi Diocese health coordinator
2009 UCU graduate with Bachelor of Social Work and Social Administration
“At UCU, I learned to work with commitment, compassion and respect for all. I recommend parents send their children to UCU because of the education focused on wholeness in all aspects of life.”
Praise Joyce Mugisha Accountant, Bwindi Development Program
2014 UCU graduate with Bachelor of Business Administration
“I am passionate about accountability. If I am faithful to God and do the right thing, I will be with the Father.”
Rev. Canon Jovahn Turyamureeba and his wife, Penny (UCU Partners photo)
Rev. Canon Jovahn Turyamureeba Executive Director, Batwa Development Program
1990 UCU/Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology graduate with Bachelor of Divinity
1999 Virginia (USA) Theological Seminary graduate with Master of Theology
“At UCU/Bishop Tucker Theological College, I was trained to be a servant leader who is called to serve and not to be served.”
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UCU graduates but not UCU Partners scholarship recipients
Constance Koshaba Manager/instructor, Women’s Craft Center, Batwa Development Program
2009 UCU graduate with Bachelor of Industrial and Fine Art
“I feel I am giving back by helping women learn skills like sewing, weaving and jewelry making.”
Samuel Okello Clinical instructor (nursing), Uganda Nursing School, Bwindi
2015 UCU graduate with Bachelor of Nursing
“At UCU, I not only got knowledge and skills but had moral values reinforced and instilled.”
Geneva Masika Warden, Bwindi Community Hospital
2006 UCU graduate with Bachelor of Social Work and Social Administration
“UCU improved my chances of having a career by exposing me to opportunities. I’m happy to be part of the UCU family.”
Barnabas Oyesiga Communications team leader, Bwindi Community Hospital
2011 UCU graduate with Bachelor of Public Health
“It was a friendly environment with holistic teaching that reinforced Christian values in academic and social life.”
Niwaha Bright Communications officer, Bwindi Community Hospital
2016 UCU graduate with Bachelor of Journalism and Mass Communications
“Being able to work on the student newspaper better equipped me with skills and expanded opportunities for my career.”
Kabasomi Harriet Personal assistant to executive director, Bwindi Community Hospital
2012 UCU graduate with Bachelor of Public Health
“The Christian environment at UCU helped me spiritually and emotionally. It’s the best university that I would recommend someone to join.”
Rev. Caleb Turyabagyeni Chaplain, Bwindi Community Hospital
2011 UCU Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology graduate with Bachelor of Divinity
“The most positive aspect of UCU is the Christian environment. I’m proud to say I’m a UCU alum.”
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If you are interested in supporting students who are making a difference in Uganda, contact Uganda Partners’ Executive Director Mark Bartels at mtbartels@gmail.com.
Also, follow our Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages.
On paper, Matende Wilson Paul is a Uganda Christian University (UCU) business student. He has a diploma and is working on a bachelor’s degree.
In his head, “I’m a scientist,” he said. In between studies, Wilson Paul, as he prefers to be called, teaches chemistry at his alma mater, Vision High School, Nakifuma (Mukono District).
It’s a strange combination – one that he admits with uncertainty about where it will take him. For now, however, he has written a chemistry book (the science part) and is selling it (the business part). It’s called “D1-I Must Pass Chemistry.” (The D1 is a protein with many functions and interactions.) His book has been reviewed and verified as accurate and valuable by academic teachers of science and chemistry. As of autumn 2018, he sold 70 copies at 15,000 shillings ($4) each.
“I don’t care about making money,” Wilson Paul, age 22, said. “I just want to help students get through chemistry easier than I did.”
In truth, chemistry came easy for Wilson Paul despite no chemistry teacher or class when he was at Vision High School. He and eight classmates formed a class. They studied without books and lab equipment. Despite their passion and learning, they knew the lack of a formally approved curriculum and deficient experimentation tools would cripple them when applying for entrance into related university programs.
“I have no paper to say what I know,” he said.
And like many students, funding to continue education was a barrier. Born to teenage parents who eventually separated, Wilson Paul was raised by his grandmother, going to primary school behind Mukono’s Colline Hotel.
He “felt like a failure” until he met Mary Chowenhill, a Florida resident living and teaching entrepreneurship at UCU. Together, they started teaching Sunday School in 2013, including one trip to western Uganda’s Masindi village to guide 400 children. They lost touch. Then, two years ago, they reunited with Mary’s proposal that Wilson Paul study business at her sponsorship. It happened through UCU Partners.
“It was like bringing me back from the dead,” Wilson Paul said. “I can’t tell her how much that meant to me or how much she means to me now.”
While Wilson Paul is uncertain about his future after finishing at UCU, he knows he will have one foot in science and one in business.
“I want to do both,” he said. “Mary reminds me that God has a purpose for everything and everybody, including me. I’ll keep searching.”
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If you are interested in supporting students who are making a difference in the communities around Uganda such as UCU Partners Scholarship Recipient Wilson Paul is, contact Uganda Partners’ Director @mtbartels@gmail.com or click on the “Donate” button in the upper right corner of this page.
Also follow our Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin pages.
Sarah Tumuramye, left, with Ivan Atuyambe, a UCU alum who paid for Sarah’s university education (UCU Partners photo)
By Patty Huston-Holm
Ivan Atuyambe has been spat upon, abandoned, beaten and starved. Conversely, the 31-year-old Uganda Christian University (UCU) graduate who works out of Tanzania is saved, loved, educated, and determined to give back.
His dream job is Secretary General of the United Nations, or something akin to a high-ranking international civil servant. His goal is to drive transformational leadership and good governance in Africa. Ivan is on his way now as he leads a regional leadership development initiative called the East Africa Youth Leadership Summit (www.youleadsummit.org), which aims to raise a new breed of leaders in East Africa. He also founded the Africa Centre for Integrity and Anti-Corruption. (www.acacia-africa.org)
During a 12-hour drive from Uganda’s central Kampala to western Bwindi, Ivan, who obtained his first of three academic degrees at UCU through a UCU Partners scholarship, told his story of desperation, redemption and inspiration.
Desperation
“I felt worthless, hated, miserable, with tears as the only thing coming from me,” he recalled of his early childhood.
To the best of his recollection, he was age 5 when he watched his mother walk out the door, abandoning marriage and motherhood in frustration from her drunk and abusive husband. Subsequently, the four children – Ivan, a brother and two sisters – became more frequent victims of their father’s anger. Nobody, including their father or his other two wives, wanted Ivan or his siblings.
One of Ivan’s designated caregivers was a woman he called “auntie.” She beat him with a broom and threatened to kill him. Another was a stepmother who resented raising another woman’s child, threatening divorce if the boy was in the house.
“I hatched a plan to kill myself by drowning in a huge river,” Ivan recalled. “I went to the river and went down three times, but came back up in fear.”
The early morning suicide attempt came when Ivan was about age 7. Confused and directionless, he walked away from the riverbanks, thinking that others might see some use in him as a cattle caretaker. He knew if he did that successfully for a year, he could get a heifer or bull of his own. Without food and water and wearing an oversized sweater and no trousers, he walked over the hills of Kabale into Rukungiri. As the day darkened, he was spotted by an Anglican pastor, who took him to his home.
“Nobody wanted to touch me or get near me,” Ivan recalled of that first experience walking into the pastor’s house. “I was dirty, miserable looking, half dressed. They gave me a long coat and mat for sleeping. I laid on it at night and picked it up each morning before everybody woke.”
To stay in the house, he was required to dig potatoes and do other family chores, including cooking and delivering food to children at their schools. Things improved when his abandoned child status got him a primary school scholarship through the African Evangelistic Enterprise. But they got worse as the pastor’s wife grew to believe he was the biological son of the pastor and another woman. The wife and her daughters exhibited anger by withholding food and spitting in his footsteps.
The pastor told Ivan not to despair and to “be patient.”
He was. He continued to carry water, clean and cook for the family while thriving at school. He completed Primary 7 at age 14 before the funding stopped.
Redemption
At age 12, while still in Primary 4, Ivan was saved.
“I didn’t know much about God,” Ivan said. “There was a woman evangelist speaking at a mission from John 15: 4-7 and about doing work in His name, and God being the only reliable father.”
With a less-than-stellar biological father, Ivan found peace in the message that he had a heavenly Father who loved him. He turned his life over to Christ, and joined an older person’s evening fellowship, which fulfilled his new hunger for the Word and for feeling valued amidst ill treatment at home. He also began to lead Bible fellowship at school.
At age 13, Ivan learned his father had died. In 2001, he searched and found his mother. Inflicted with HIV/AIDs from a lifestyle of prostitution, she apologized for abandoning her son and asked for forgiveness. Weeks later, she died.
Shortly thereafter, a United Kingdom couple that met Ivan at a Christian conference, agreed to pay his school fees through much of his secondary education. It was during his first days as a secondary school student that Ivan recalls “the most amazing aspect of his life.” The Rev. Dr. Edward Muhima, then National Team Leader of the African Evangelistic Enterprise, came to the school as a guest preacher. A short time later, Ivan was welcomed into the loving, welcoming family of Muhima, who was then bishop of the North Kigesi Diocese in the Western Uganda District of Rukungiri.
“I shared a room with the son,” Ivan said. “Almost immediately, I was treated equally as one of the children and by the children. Even today, these are my only and closest relatives – parents and brothers and sisters. I love them; they love me. This is my God-given family.”
Through life as a Bishop’s son, he met a couple from Washington, D.C., and a woman from Dallas, Texas. Together, they paid his higher education through Uganda Christian University Partners.
Inspiration
Being angry about mistreatment was never an option for Ivan.
Looking back on his life, he focuses on the caring pastor who picked him up from the street on that day of his suicide attempt; the scholarship sponsors, including UCU Partners that supported Ivan’s bachelor’s degree in Public Administration and Management at UCU; and the retired Bishop and his family that Ivan calls his own. He also has been blessed to receive scholarships for two post-graduate degrees from universities in Germany and Austria.
Today, the people and organizations that gave to him have inspired Ivan to give to others. One of his first giving back to UCU and UCU Partners was to sponsor the sister of a friend to get her degree from UCU.
“I thought he was joking at first,” said Sarah Tumuramye, the recipient of Ivan’s scholarship for her UCU Business Administration degree she attained in 2018. In a break from her job as cashier at the Batwa Development Program (Bwindi, Uganda), she said she is “so grateful.”
Ivan has sponsored four girls total – two university graduates (including Sarah), one currently in an undergraduate program and one in primary school. He also supports people living on some land he purchased.
Ivan’s full-time job is as the Regional Training and Development Advisor at the Danish government’s MS Training Centre for Development Cooperation, in Arusha, Tanzania. His work of engaging governments, development NGOs and youth leaders takes him across Africa and to Asia, Europe and Arab regions.
“So many people believed in me and supported me,” Ivan said. “I’m investing in others the way they invested in me. And I know the honor and glory for any blessings go to the Lord.”
Chris Nsanze, left, a dentist, poses with Ivan, who says Chris was one of his role models growing up (UCU Partners Photo)
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If you are interested in supporting students who are making a difference in the communities around Uganda such as UCU Partners Scholarship Recipient Ivan Atuyambe is, contact Uganda Partners’ Director @mtbartels@gmail.com.
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John and Christine Kiganda, long-time UCU supporters, pose at an October Friends of UCU event with Justice James Manage Ogoola, left standing, and UCU Deputy Vice Chancellor/Development and External Relations, David Mugawe.
Christine Kiganda’s grandfather was on the staff at Bishop Tucker Theological College in the 1920s. That’s part of the reason that she contributes to Uganda Christian University. A bigger reason, however, for both her and her husband, John, is in his words:
“Somebody helped us. We should do the same.”
Those people, according to Christine, who obtained some of her education in the United States, “didn’t know me.” Likewise, she commented while writing a 500,000-shilling ($133) check to UCU on October 25, she and students she helps at UCU today will likely never know each other.
The Kigandas are strong advocates of learning, including education for the deaf. They were among 40 mostly Ugandans who attended a “Friends of UCU” appreciation event in the Mukono campus Principal’s Hall. Christine and John operate an energy business called Battery Plus Limited in Kampala. They donate in spite of the fact that none of their three biological children went to UCU.
“The best giving is regular giving,” the Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, UCU Vice Chancellor, told the Oct. 25 participants.
The Vice Chancellor and David Mugawe, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Development and External Relations, outlined the financial needs, including the new School of Medicine and plans for a new UCU Kampala campus. Margaret Kiwanuka, UCU Development Officer, echoed appreciation to donors, distributed notebook gifts and announced the formation of a Friends of UCU WhatsApp group.
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Friends of UCU can contribute monthly or annually. Information about how to contribute through UCU Partners, located in the USA, can be obtained from Mark Bartels at mtbartels@gmail.com. Information about contributions directly to UCU can be obtained by contacting Margaret Kiwanuka at mkiwanuka@ucu.ac.ug or 0794770842.
The African culture is one of the most generous societies in the world. It attaches a lot of meaning to generosity because it is a product of a social consciousness with which Africans proudly identify, guarded by the principle of communalism.
At Uganda Christian University (UCU), an example of how this generosity is the student-driven initiative called Save a Buddy. The program is aimed at helping needy students who are unable to clear tuition and successfully sit for their semester examinations. Students contribute to help their less-fortunate peers through collections of money at the campus entrance gates, serving food in the dining hall to students, and car wash fundraising.
These activities are carried out in each of the three (January, May, and September) semesters at UCU. The current September (advent) semester Save a Buddy program runs from 15th – 26th October 2018.
Recipient Expectations and Appreciation Through the Financial Aid office, those chosen to receive Save a Buddy funds have their accounts credited with money in exchange for work two hours a day for the semester.
One such recipient is Trinity Ochen, who will graduate with a Bachelor of Business Administration from UCU this Friday, October 26. Ochen was meeting his financial obligations until his supporter, an older brother named Daniel Odinga, was critically injured in a bomb blast from a building in Myanmar.
“Tuition was more challenging,” Ochen said. “Whenever the tuition deadline was due, I would beg from friends. Because of Save a Buddy, I didn’t have to do that during my last semester.”
Another student, Justine Nanyanzi, echoed appreciation for tuition assistance.
“I was working for my sponsor, but instead of paying me, she was paying my tuition,” said Justine, a year two student pursuing a Bachelor of Procurement and Logistics Management. “However, things changed when her hotel building was taken, and I lost my job. She sold beds and mattresses and paid my tuition for the first year second semester. Then, my sponsor lost her father, and things became more difficult.”
Justine was considering suicide before the financial aid arrived. She is grateful.
A third student, Ivan Muteesasira, was “saved” from worry about where he would find food to eat. With financial assistance, he is able to better concentrate on his studies related to Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Student loan option under exploration According to Mr. Walter Washika, a financial aid officer at UCU, the fundamental objective of the financial office is to coordinate different scholarship programs that benefit students.
“Besides giving hope to the students, there is mentorship,” Washika said. “I am happy people worldwide are contributing towards this noble cause.”
With the growing need for financial support in the university, the financial aid office is undertaking steps to launch a student loan scheme to ease the hardship and help more students attain their education.
“We should have a student loan option soon so that our needy students can borrow and repay the money later,” Washika disclosed.
Other Scholarships at UCU Apart from Save a buddy, UCU has a number of scholarships. These include:
Biological scholarships. These benefit children of full-time staff at UCU. This is given to the students until they complete their program of study.
Sports scholarships. This is mainly awarded to exceptionally good sports students. Most of these students take part in playing games for the university.
Theological Scholarship. The university gets two students from each diocese across the country under this scholarship.
Needs-based scholarships. Needy students work throughout the semester to get money accredited to their account commensurate to the amount of work done.
Merit-based awards. This award is based on academic performance of students. It targets best performing students who are unable to pay tuition at the university.
Designated scholarships. This scholarship occurs from the outside community through partnerships, including from UCU Partners.
“I am now performing very well because I do not have sleepless nights any more,” said Muteesasira. “There is food for me at the university as opposed to the past.”
Nanyanzi’s disappointment was turned around by the UCU financial aid office that “have helped me carry on. UCU is the best place and has moulded me spiritually. I thank God I joined UCU.”
“There is a lot of commitment from the lecturers towards teaching the students, giving students the best platform and knowledge,” Ochen said. “I am happy for the opportunity to study at UCU.”
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If you are interested in supporting Uganda scholarships, contact Mark Bartels, UCU Partners’ Executive Director, at mtbartels@gmail.com.
2018 UCU Graduate Anna Betu at her job in Kyaka II Settlement, Kyegegwa District (Western Uganda)
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)
Anna Betu, a 2018 Uganda Christian University (UCU) graduate and a recipient of the UCU Partners Sponsorship program, is wasting no time in doing what the late South African leader practiced and believed. Before July, when she attained her prestigious First Class Degree (a 4.5 of 5.0 Grade-Point Average) in Bachelors of Arts in Governance and International Relations, she was already working. She was employed as a Protection Assistant by the Danish Refugee Council, accompanying predominantly Congolese and Burundian refugees resettled in Kyaka II Settlement, Kyegegwa District (Western Uganda).
There are about 25.4 million refugees of ethnic cleansing, civil war and genocide worldwide, according the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 2018 report. Just days before Anna Betu’s UCU graduation, this interview was conducted at the Kyaka settlement which supports more than 70,000 refugees from the Republics of Burundi and the Congo.
What inspired you to pursue the Governance and International Relations Program at Uganda Christian University (UCU)? I first wanted to study Procurement and Logistics but when I looked at the educational trends in Uganda, there were very many people who had (studied) procurement and logistics. In addition to getting an education that would lead to a job, I wanted to try out something different. Since my childhood, I have been fascinated by politics, governance and leadership. When I went to UCU, and saw that they had a program in Governance and International Relations, this seemed a good fit. I have always wanted to be a leader, and I felt like this program would be something that would help understand how to lead our own people and how different countries relate with each other.
How has your education at UCU prepared you for your vocation at the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) Uganda? The Governance and International Relations Program is only (available) at UCU. I am the first UCU graduate to work (with DRC). I had classes on refugees, international law, peace-building, communication, public and international relations. My all-round education has enabled me to implement here most of the things I studied. Refugee conditions are an international relations issue. Because of what I learned at UCU, I am equipped with the expertise (to understand ) how we engage with particular (refugee) cases. I see that some governments are not standing up to what has been ratified within the international laws concerning refugees and their protection. When I look at the current conflict in the Congo and the rest of the world, I understand their root causes because that’s something we studied extensively throughout our program. As a result of the classes I took on international law and relations, I am the only person that assists our organization’s lawyer to ensure that the legal issues of refugees are settled.
As a beneficiary of the UCU Partners Scholarship, how was the scholarship helpful to you? After eight years of being out of school due to financial difficulties, most universities did not look at me as a credible candidate for their programs. What I am giving back to the community is very little compared to what UCU Uganda Partners has invested in me.
The financial support I received from Uganda Partners is now benefiting 70,000 people here at Kyaka II Settlement.
Because a few individuals gave (money) towards my education, I am able to be in this position to give support to vulnerable people in settlement communities. The Uganda Partners’ scholarship has given me hope and inspired me to look beyond a Bachelor’s degree. I would love to have a Masters or even a PHD and become a Consultant on immigrants and refugees in Uganda and in Africa at large. This UCU Partners’ scholarship has laid a wonderful foundation. I am very empowered and very hopeful about my future, my children’s future, and the futures of refugees.
Anna (third from right) and Faith Atim, Refugee Reception Center Assistant, with the cooks at the refugee reception center, Kyaka II
Tell us about your experience accompanying refugees in Kyaka II Settlement community? I had my internship here. My performance as a student laid the groundwork for me to be a full-time DRC employee even before I graduated from UCU. I wanted to come back and they wanted me to come back. During my internship, I developed relationships with my clients that are building even more now. But as a full-time employee, I am more accountable to refugees. It is important to evaluate my success by looking at the progress and happiness of my clients. Some of my clients come to me when they are very sad, and after interacting with them, and solving their problems, I see them smiling. My success is then fulfilled by their smiles, and happy faces. Obviously, every context has its own challenges. Each refugee has his/her struggles. War affects women, children, and men differently. Some people come out of (the war areas) traumatized, disabled, unaccompanied, and my job is to walk with them in their healing journey.I pray for their healing, and every morning in my devotion, I set aside a time to pray for refugees and our staff who accompany them.
While Uganda has had an open-door policy towards refugees, other countries have closed their doors to migrants. Amidst this and other challenges faced by refugees here and beyond, what keeps you committed to the work you are doing at the Kyaka II refugee community with DRC Uganda? The innocence of the people I work with keeps me committed to the work I am doing. They are victims of violence. I understand that I work with victims of violence and together as a (DRC) community, we are committed to find a plan that would make their lives better. I may be a drop in the ocean that is working against the daily structures that cause violence, but the truth is I am working from the bottom up approach to undo violence to educate young people and adults in the settlement on the impact of violence, what they can do to solve violence, and learn about peaceful coexistence.
Finally, what is your advice to current UCU students? Understand your God-given purpose. We are occupying a very globalized space. Take time to identify your space and operate from that space to transform your community. And identify a problem in your community and be part of solving it. Finally, be passionate about something you are doing and love it.
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For more information about how you can sponsor a student who might make a difference as Anna is, contact Mark Bartels, UCU Partners executive director, at mtbartels@gmail.com.
Uganda Christian University Vice Chancellor Visit at Wesley Gardens Retreat Center, Savannah, Georgia, USA Front Row: Mark Bartels (Executive Director, UCU Partners), Rev. Dr. Joyce Brooks
(President of UCU Partners Board), Rev. Dr. John Senyonyi (VC, UCU) Second Row: Dr. Murray Black, Dr. Tom Gurley, Marcy
Osterhaus, Gwyneth Preu, Kyle Royer (UCU Partners Board) Back Row: Dr. Ken Bussema, Dr. Brian Dennison, Rev. Dr. Larry Adams
(John Senyonyi, Vice Chancellor at Uganda Christian University, and his wife, Ruth, were in the USA April 3 to May 2, 2018. During that time, they visited eight states and the nation’s capitol. This blog entry is Dr. Senyonyi’s reflection of some of that experience.)
There is a silent cry for Africa and the Southern Hemisphere Christian community to stay steadfast and to give the West much needed evangelical fellowship. Sadly, several theological schools in the West have moved away from the authority of the Bible and have succumbed to theological heterodoxy. The same can be said about some churches in the United States.
There was much positive in the recent, one-month visit that my wife, Ruth, and I made to Washington, D.C., Atlanta (Georgia), Chicago (Illinois), Norfolk (Virginia), Montgomery (Alabama), Cincinnati (Ohio), Savannah (Georgia), Charleston (South Carolina) and San Diego (California). I preached in four churches in two states: the Christ Anglican Churches in Atlanta, Montgomery and Savannah in Georgia; and New Life Presbyterian Church in Escondido, California. While on this annual trip, I was named Alumni of the Year 2017 at my alma mater, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. The fellowship with our American brothers and sisters in Christ was amazing.
However, we came away praying for strength among Christians battling western secularism and related liberalism in churches. We pray for truth in faith both in doctrine and practice.
‘More than a factory of African graduates’
Many Christians we spoke to hope that Uganda Christian University (UCU) will remain a theological beacon of light amidst the religious confusion of the West, and will produce graduates faithful to the Gospel. Now as I am back in Mukono, Uganda, I realize even more that UCU must see herself as more than a factory of African graduates. UCU has a global mission and owes it to world Christianity.
The objective of the annual visit was to increase awareness and raise support for UCU. We did this through messages and conversations at universities, churches, and with special interest groups, as well as among those attending the annual UCU Partners (UCUP) Board of Trustees meeting. The UCUP Executive Director, Mr. Mark Bartels, arranged the itinerary so that current and potential partners might have first-hand contact with me.
New Medical school
This visit happened shortly after the announcement of accreditation of the UCU School of Medicine (UCUSoM), thus making UCUSoM a focal subject in many of our meetings.
News of the UCU School of Medicine was welcomed wherever we announced it. Of course, we made clear the uniqueness of UCU’s brand of education reinforcing that as with all our academic programs, Christianity is what we also wish to see in the health care worker coming out of the University. As our Mission says, UCU works “To Equip Students for Productive, Holistic Lives of Christian Faith and Service.” To this, we must remain true.
Suffice it to say that the UCUSoM will be the major fundraising project for UCU Partners for the next several months. We met many potential partners who included the Friends of Mengo Hospital, the One World Health in South Carolina and others in the churches we visited.
One World Health may be a low-hanging fruit given that they are already involved with a Hospital in Masindi, Uganda. They promised that if through their fundraising networks they found support of a Medical nature that was best suited for the UCUSoM, they would gladly direct such donors to UCU’s Medical School. A pleasant surprise was finding one of our UCU graduates at their office. Our graduate is married to a One World Health staff member in Masindi. That meeting and our graduate’s excitement at seeing me in the United States helped put a face on my words of UCU’s influence in projects around the world.
Law, other academic relationships
The newness of the medical program joins the traditional strong positive reputation of UCU’s law program. The Faculty of Law is considered the best Law School in Uganda. Proudly, we have maintained the balance between law and faith. We are cautious about conscientious partnerships that will ensure UCU’s Christian character in the lawyers we send out. This visit renewed and strengthened some old friendships with UCU, especially with the privately funded, Regent University Law School. We also visited the public University of Cincinnati School of Law.
Likewise, we renewed friendships with Wheaton College and Water Mission. The latter donated portable water equipment to UCU years ago. But it also gave me opportunity to explore new ventures such as the Charleston Southern University (CSU) and the Clemstone Architecture Centre. CSU is a Christian University ready and willing for a relationship with UCU.
Church leadership ‘true to the Bible’
In addition to these important contacts related to UCU programmatic growth, I met with Rev. Dr. Peter Moore, director of the Anglican Leadership Institute that offers training seminars to develop church leadership. He is interested in sharing his expertise with UCU.
This is vital for two reasons. Much Christian Leadership in Africa has tended to model either the secular leadership models around them or their cultural exemplars. This fails to address contemporary challenges and the need for Christ-centered leadership. Secondly, there is a dire need for African theologies that are true to the Bible and which will address modern-day issues adequately.
We also encountered people interested in partnerships with UCU’s Think Tank, the UCU Africa Policy Centre (APC), to preserve the family as God intended it. Among these we had discussions with willing partners such as the Family Research Council (FRC), a chat with Dr. Alan Carlson and the now late Larry Jacobs of the World Congress of Families, and a group of Roman Catholic journalists that were brought together through our contact with Dr. Mary Eberstadt, an American author. We expect to host Dr. Eberstadt at our 2020 annual UCU Public Lecture.
Given the ambivalence on Family in the West, conservative voices want to see UCU’s APC become a viable influence in Africa and worldwide. Therefore the founding of the UCU’s Think Tank, the APC, is timely as a voice into the public square.
The family has suffered its fair amount of onslaught from secularism, and yet its breakdown spells social disaster. The need for authentic African Christian reflections on family life is more urgent than ever before. This will preserve African culture and stability for the family in accordance with God’s purpose.
Patty and Sailas, second UCU intern who came to Ohio in 2015 (Photo taken at Colline Hotel in Mukono, Uganda, in 2017)
By Patty Huston-Holm (May 2018)
Many well-meaning, first-time visitors to Uganda offer locals an invitation to the United States. They want to show them our country in a way that they have shown us theirs.
But Ugandans can’t just hop on a plane and fly to America. It takes understanding, persistence and relationship building. These three actions surround one word – the visa. And not everybody can get one.
I am no a visa expert. Truth is that until 2013, I knew nothing about it except that I didn’t need a visa to go to Europe or Haiti and since 2009 I had been plopping down $50 to $100 to buy one for myself to get into Uganda. In 2013, I had a vision to bring a Uganda Christian University (UCU) student to Ohio for an internship. More than 100 hours of nail-biting, head-scratching, sleepless nights of research and paperwork later, my husband and I had a UCU-selected, young woman on the plane and headed across the Atlantic. For three months and during the USA polar vortex winter, she lived with us while she interned and learned in her career path of communications.
We have since had a second student here to expand his social work experience and are now working on a third who wants to make a difference in Uganda’s community development and health education. While not as time-intensive as that first one, the process still requires understanding of what is required, persistence to get it done and building relationships with all involved.
I’ve gotten smarter and am passing this onto you.
Understanding The main type of visa to enter the United States is for non-immigrants. The foremost categories under the non-immigrant visa are B-1 for visiting, F-1 for studying, and J-1 that encompasses cultural exchange and professional development. I chose the J-1, which is under the Department of State, because it is most purposeful and resume-building for a university student. There are nearly 90 American J-1 sponsor organizations with different stipulations (Some do not handle religious institutions, most require employers to have at least five full-time employees, etc.). The other two “sponsors” are host parents and host organizations. They need cultural as well as financial and time expectation understanding. Selection of the organization, student and J-1 sponsor can occur on parallel tracks, but the organization and student need J-1 Visa documents before they can begin providing their information. The J-1 sponsor provides the necessary electronic files and vets the student and host organization.
The J-1 provides the groundwork to get the student into the United States. There is another visa required to get the student out of Uganda. (See Persistence and Relationship Building for more on this.)
Persistence Every process needs a driver. That driver, often the host parent sponsor, needs to be persistent to keep everybody – host organization, student, student’s university supervisor and J-1 sponsor – informed, energized and moving on independent and parallel tracks to meet paperwork deadlines and financial responsibilities. In concert with the university, the organization creates a training plan for what the student will do when he/she gets here, makes sure that plan aligns with the student’s academic field of study and determines if/how much the student will be paid. In addition to a passport, the student provides a CV/resume that includes his/her reason for wanting the internship. Skype and phone interviews take place between the J-1 sponsor and the student as well as between the J-1 sponsor and internship sponsor.
Once the J-1 Visa is approved and the flight booked from Entebbe to the USA, the student applies for another visa to get out of the country. That application occurs in person at the U.S. Embassy in Kampala.
Relationship Building When my husband and I stumbled on Greenheart Exchange in Chicago as our first American J-1 organization sponsor in 2013 – and it was a good experience – we looked no further. We have used them every time. Likewise, I have a relationship with Uganda Christian University and many of its staff. Relationships with visa-approving agents in Kampala, Uganda, are more difficult to forge, but certainly help. It is not uncommon to travel through the capital city’s traffic mess with what you believe to be everything needed for an appointment to get the country’s exit visa, only to be rejected the first time.
Organization sponsors are different each time. Building this rapport requires investment of time before and after the student arrives. For me, this connection includes an offer of cultural training. Likewise, the student needs to be prepared for lifestyle differences in the United States and for the re-entry to Uganda. Student assurance of safety and caring before and after arrival is essential. To further open doors for other potential students and to deepen their own relationships, the intern writes appreciation notes to the host organization, host parents and others who were key to the experience.
In short, be purposeful and try not to get discouraged. I have seen first-hand how these experiences benefit people in both countries. And don’t forget to pray.
Sarah Lagot Odwong, our first UCU student intern who came to Ohio in 2014, learning to love dogs as Americans do. (Photo taken at the central Ohio home of Clark and Emily Buck in 2014)
By Rev. Kamoga Alex, Chaplain – UCU Kampala Campus & UCU Alumnus, Child Development (25 January 2018)
Lubega Christopher is 26 years old. He comes from a humble background and is a son to a retired civil servant and a retired midwife. He went to Mugwanya Preparatory School Kabojja for Primary Leaving Examinations, Namilyango College school for his O’ level and Makerere College school for A’ level. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Uganda Christian University and is currently doing a Masters of Arts in Financial Services at Makerere University in Uganda.
Lubega’s interest in business started when he was in O’ level at Namilyango College. His mother would give him pocket money and he would save a fraction of it. During that time, his family was starting up an events company dealing in tents and chairs after realizing the need to create a source of income for the family. Every end of term he would collect his savings and add them to what his mother had saved and they started making tents. He remembers the joy he would feel whenever they would load the poles on the small pick-up driving back home. It felt like victory in his heart.
When joining Uganda Christian University, Lubega registered late and he was not able to get placement at main campus in Mukono, so he was sent to the Kampala campus. This put him down as he felt so unlucky not to get to the main campus. But little did he know that this was to become a blessing to him in the long run.
While at UCU’s Kampala Campus, finding food for meals many times was very difficult as restaurants were not common in the area. At times, Lubega and his friends had to go from Mengo, the site of UCU’s Kampala Campus, to Makerere near Makerere University to find good and affordable food. He noticed this gap of service in the Mengo area and he decided to pursue this opportunity; he made a deal with a restaurant: he would buy large amounts of food from them at a reduced price and sell the food to staff members at UCU’s Kampala campus. One time one of the staff members called him and gave him an opportunity to supply food for 12 people at campus. “Fear sprung in me but something was telling me you need to do this and therefore I did it and it turned out successful,” Lubega narrates. After that, he knew that the time to start his own catering company had come.
He started organizing himself, secured some funds, and started small. His catering company started growing slowly as he started getting bigger contracts. He was committed to delivering quality services and this has taken him to greater heights. Today, Lubega employs several men and women in his catering company, and every time there is a party at UCU’s Kampala Campus, he is the first person who is contacted to provide food. Recently when Chaplaincy was concluding the ALPHA Course at UCU’s Kampala campus, it was Lubega who served the food. His organization, hygiene, and customer care are exceptional!
Lubega (in front, in blue) serving his customers at an recent party
Lubega is so proud of the many values he learned from his time at UCU, such as honesty, humility and prayerfulness. Applying such values has been of great significance in his business and this has made his services distinct. He further asserts that UCU has nurtured him into who he is today. “It is from this great institution of UCU that I have got exposed to the businesses I am currently doing, especially the guild government where I served in the period of 2013-2014 as the guild deputy speaker. The position greatly helped me build my confidence, decision making and communication skills”. He is especially indebted to Mr. Baguma Edgar, the UCU Kampala campus’s Director of Student Affairs, who has helped him make many connections for his business to grow.
He is motivated by the parable of the talents. He desires to be like the servant who was given 5 talents and produced 5 more; he wants to make sure he uses his hands, ears, nose and legs to get him to places. He says his master God made him perfect and put him in the perfect world to make it a better place to live in. He plans on extending his catering services beyond the borders of Uganda, and eventually beyond Africa, so that he can employ as many people as possible and leave a lasting legacy.
An example of a full spread of food in Lubega’s business
He advises students to be the best they can be in character, work hard, and focus on relationships with people around them. He challenges students to look at the opportunities that are within the challenges around them and make good use of them to find benefit within such challenges; he thinks that It is important for students to position themselves as problem solvers in life.
He shares that: “we should stop complaining and start on creating what we want to become… Let us change the mindset and look at working on the solution but not the problems because the solution solves the many problems we always want to look at.”
By Rev. Kamoga Alex, Chaplain – UCU Kampala Campus & UCU Alumnus, Child Development (25 January 2018)
Zalwango Prossy is a 22 year old recent graduate of Uganda Christian University. She was born in 1995 in Seeta, Mukono District, in a family where she lived with her father, mother, and two sisters–Nakalema Suzan and Nantale Damalie. When she was 3 years, her parents divorced; one key reason for the divorce was that her mother had only given birth to girls. A year later, while in Primary Five, her father brought a step mother to his home; this step mother treated Prossy and her sisters poorly, she denied them access to things such as education, food, speech, and friendships. This forced her elder sister, Nakalema, into marriage at the age of fourteen because of the desperate straits they were experiencing at home.
Due to the tough situation at home, Prossy and her young sister escaped to their mother’s place. Though her mother had little financial capability, she continued looking after them and she strived to educate Prossy until her Senior Four year of school. However, Prossy’s mother developed a back injury during these years and she could no longer operate the restaurant she had previously opened. When this happened, she became unemployed and could not pay further tuition for Prossy and her younger sister.
At this point, though Prossy had little hope to go back to school, God raised a neighbor in the community who helped to pay school fees for her from Senior Five to Six. Because of the great responsibilities that surrounded him, this neighbor could not continue to pay for her studies.
At this point, she did not see much hope for proceeding with further studies. Yet she had a burning zeal to go for further studies and had faith that one day she would make it. So, she applied to UCU, and by the grace of God, she was able to enroll. Together with her little sister, she worked hard to raise her tuition and the money to sustain her through small jobs, such as tilling people’s land and doing laundry for people around the village, in order to get part of the tuition and money. Additionally, Prossy would also teach at a primary school, Kisaakye Primary School in Seeta-Bajjo in order to obtain tuition though this made it difficult for her to balance work and studies.
Her life at Uganda Christian University was a hustle from her first to her final year. She would often be laughed at by her classmates. She narrates a past experience with her classmates in this way:
“… Dust would be all over me, old shoes and faded clothes, that one could easily explain the situation I was in. I could walk a long distance from home to university. I remember one time during the community worship hour, a tent was pitched and my classmates were looking for me. One of them peered from below the tent and told the neighbor, ‘look! I have seen some old shoes, that should be Prossy,’ and, Yes, I was the one!”
Throughout her campus life, she never stepped into the university restaurants, and she would always fail to meet the tuition payment deadlines as it would be tough on her to clear tuition balances. She would always dwell in tears towards the end of the semester for being among the very last students to pay tuition balances.
Despite all of these challenges, she still was able to excel in class. She graduated with a first class degree with honors, with a GPA of 4.79 and emerged the Best Overall Female Student and also the Overall Best Performing Student in the Faculty Education. Prossy is immensely grateful to God who made it possible for her to graduate on 27th. October, 2017, and is now proud to be a qualified and skilled teacher with a first class degree from Uganda Christian University.
Prossy receiving her first class award from the Vice Chancellor
As she looks back on her past three years of her BA program, alongside her several side jobs, she is so thankful to God for the different University programs that helped to support her as a student. These include such programs as the Guild Fund (a scholarship fund established by the students government), and the Work and Study program under Financial Aid office( where a student can work for the university and earn some money towards their tuition). She was also member of the Honours College, a leadership programme at Uganda Christian University, and learned much about being a leader in this program. Besides the mentioned programs, several departments, such as the Chaplaincy, also helped her through supporting her with money for upkeep and encouraging her despite her personal hardships. Every time she felt like giving up, she would go to Rev. Rebecca Nyegenye, the University Chaplain, for counsel. She remembers a time when Rev. Rebecca was preaching in community worship and shared the Biblical concept: “You are a chosen generation, a peculiar people, a royal priesthood.” This message encouraged Prossy to continue to work with diligence and to be faithful to the Lord in her studies.
Above all, she praises God for giving her faith that helped her look to Him; He was her Father who would watch over her despite being abandoned by her biological father. She had confidence that the Almighty God would not leave her as an orphan or forsake her, but would come to her rescue and make her victorious in her studies. So, she praises God for blessing her and she is so thankful for the trust she had in Christ that helped her walk rightly with the Lord and discover her identity in him through these past three years of her BA program.
She is currently a volunteer in the Vice Chancellor’s Department at UCU while she looks for employment opportunities. She would like to do a master’s in educational planning and management in the future and she hopes to impact her community in the future, including through starting a primary school oriented towards needy children and youth, God being her Helper.
Name: Uwimbabazi Sarah
Name: Murezi Mereth
Name: Monday Edson
I first wanted to study Procurement and Logistics but when I looked at the educational trends in Uganda, there were very many people who had (studied) procurement and logistics. In addition to getting an education that would lead to a job, I wanted to try out something different. Since my childhood, I have been fascinated by politics, governance and leadership. When I went to UCU, and saw that they had a program in Governance and International Relations, this seemed a good fit. I have always wanted to be a leader, and I felt like this program would be something that would help understand how to lead our own people and how different countries relate with each other.
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