Category Archives: Students

Zedekkia Ssekyonda is the first School of Medicine student elected Guild President for the UCU Kampala campus.

First medical student to lead UCU Kampala campus guild presidency


Zedekkia Ssekyonda is the first School of Medicine student elected Guild President for the UCU Kampala campus.
Zedekkia Ssekyonda is the first School of Medicine student elected Guild President for the UCU Kampala campus.

By Irene Best Nyapendi
Winning the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Kampala campus guild presidency did not come as a surprise to Zedekkia Ssekyonda. The fourth-year student in the School of Medicine (SoM) has had a history of leadership.

“I heard a voice telling me that I can do it,” he said. “I think it was the voice of God.”

Ssekyonda was emboldened by a desire for challenge, overcoming obstacles, previous victories and experience in shepherding others. 

 “I had never lost an election,” he says, adding that he served as a president of a debate club, minister of education and editor of the News link club, which he founded while in high school at St. Henry’s College Kitovu, Masaka.

Ssekyonda credits God for all of his success, saying, “In a very short time, I was popular in law school, medical school and the school of dentistry. That couldn’t be my own making but God’s.”

It’s not that his life has been without adversity. 

Book written by Zedekkia Ssekyonda.
Book written by Zedekkia Ssekyonda.

He lost his father in 2005, then an uncle in Namibia who had picked up the financial burden.  A pioneer student at the UCU SoM that started in 2018, Ssekyonda was forced to drop out after the third year. 

After his uncle died, he studied on borrowed time for three years without a tuition source, suffering from depression and uncertainty of ability to sit for exams. After the third year, his worst fear happened – he was discontinued for failure to clear tuition. He had to register for the dead year.

He applied for part time work in some companies around the city hoping to raise his own tuition, but was not successful. 

Ssekyonda lost hope as chances for him to become a doctor diminished. At the same time, his mother suffered two strokes. He was physically disconnected from his friends (classmates), and every time someone asked him what he was up to, he had no answer. 

He struggled to stay afloat and used that time to reflect about his life, improving his faith through prayer and fasting. Once in a while, he would open his medical books, but every time he did, he got depressed.

Ssekyonda found some solace in an old companion in the form of reading and writing. He drowned himself in reading novels and writing.

 “I have never written more than I did during that time,” he recalls.

He crafted his writing prowess at St. Henry’s, where he also practiced amateur journalism. In June last year, he published an online, long form piece titled “Waiting on Fate.” He also published a novel, “Nile River,” a fictional mystery story set in an unnamed African country and USA. 

God showed up for him yet again this year when he received a call from someone he did not know, Reverend Eric Fenton of Christ Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas. The priest, who also was sponsoring another SoM student, Emmanuel Mugoya, offered to clear all of Ssekyonda’s fees balance and also pay his tuition for the remaining two years. 

“This is someone I didn’t know and never met,” Ssekyonda said. “We only communicate via email and whatsapp. He says when he heard my story he was touched. Someone approached him and told him my story.”

With this unexpected encounter, he believed more that Jesus indeed paid it all. 

 “After Fenton made a background check about me, I was notified of his decision to support my education. He did not even look for me. It’s me who got his email address for purposes of making acquaintances and thanking him,” he says. “I know all this sounds miraculous, but that’s it. He cleared my arrears and paid upfront for my first semester fourth year before any communication had been established between us.”

As guild president, he has pledged integrity and transparency in order to earn the trust of the students. As president, Ssekyonda has an ambitious plan of installing a solar powered water purifier for his constituents. He says it is costly for students to keep buying safe water for drinking.

“One needs like 1.5 liters of water a day, but we spend a lot of money buying yet we can harvest water here, purify it and make it safe for drinking,” he says.

He hopes to enlist the partnership of water organizations as sponsors because guild funds alone are insufficient.

He also plans to use student co-curricular activities such as sports and the cultural gala to foster unity and cohesion among students from the different schools of law, dentistry and medicine. As these schools located at the UCU Kampala Campus are geographically separate, part of the new president’s plan is to bring them together in groups to compete as students, not schools.

 “Students across the campus will be distributed among five groups, irrespective of faculty,” he said. “It is within these groups that they will vie for the top prize. Imagine law, medical and dental students in one group strategizing to win the set prize.” 

He has further pledged to invite expert guests to talk to educate, inform and inspire the young professionals. 

With the new lease on life to study at UCU, to become a doctor, and now this leadership role, Ssekyonda is grateful.

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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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Kagodo was consecrated on February 26.

UCU alum Kagodo is Mukono’s new bishop


Kagodo was consecrated on February 26.
Kagodo was consecrated on February 26.

By Pauline Luba
After the death of James Kibirige, the father of new Mukono Diocese Bishop Enos Kitto Kagodo, the burden of looking after the family fell on their mother. Ruth Kibirige found herself brewing local beer and selling fish to get money to keep her children in school. Occasionally, Good Samaritans would support Ruth with handouts for the family. At the time, Kagodo was in Primary Five.

While lucrative, the work Ruth engaged in to make a living for the family had a temptation hazard. As a 19-year-old, Kagodo befriended another teenager whose mother also brewed local beer.  Kagodo says his friend would steal alcohol from his mother’s stand and share it with him. What started as a one-off soon became a habit, leading Kagodo to alcoholism and juvenile delinquency.

“Peer pressure got me into a life full of drinking. We would sneak out of Bishop West Senior – my secondary school – and go drinking,” Kagodo said during an interview with Uganda Partners at his home in Mukono, central Uganda.

However, God seemed to have a different plan for Kagodo. While still in secondary school, Kagodo would attend church service every Sunday. One day, the church hosted a preacher whose gospel was especially connected with Kagodo. He felt the need to know God more and, in order to do that, he would have to get rid of his worldly pleasure. When he did, God, indeed, made him discover a new life.

But change, seldom a welcome idea in people’s lives, didn’t happen readily. For Kagodo, quitting alcohol meant losing his alcohol-drinking friends and figuring out how to spend the time when he wasn’t drinking.

He found answers to many of the challenges in service.  Kagodo has since been able to serve the Anglican Church in various capacities, including as parish priest, archdeacon, diocesan health coordinator and as the provost of St. Phillip’s and Andrew’s Cathedral in Mukono. His latest position of service is the Bishop of Mukono Anglican Diocese, a position he assumed on February 26, 2023, at a plush consecration ceremony at the St. Phillip’s and St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Mukono.

Kagodo says his story of alcohol and conversion is a testimony that encourages youth, especially those who may be facing the same challenge, to believe that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. He encourages youth to  seek a higher form of spirituality and to always think about their life after death, in cases where they get temptations to engage in inappropriate acts. 

To become bishop, Kagodo competed against his friend, the Rev. Godfrey Ssengendo, for the position. Kagodo said he was prepared for any result. 

“Whatever the outcome, I would have praised the Lord. Ssengendo is a good friend. Any of us is able to do the job well,” Kagodo said. 

A text message from his bishop, James William Ssebaggala, on the afternoon of January 18, the day the voting took place, announced to Kagodo that he had sailed through in the elections. Anglican bishops in Uganda are elected by the House of Bishops, which is composed of active Diocesan and Assistant Bishops.

After completing his Senior Four at Bishop West Senior School, Kagodo briefly stopped studying. He, thereafter, proceeded to acquire a certificate, progressed to study theology and then became a deacon. He studied at Uganda Christian University (UCU) from 2011 to 2014, obtaining a Master of Divinity. He says he enjoyed studying at UCU because of its deep roots in Christianity and a good studying environment.

“The university has many denominations and gives a chance for everyone to learn about God through its course units,” Kagodo said. “I also liked the fact that as an older person studying, I was made to feel welcome and comfortable at the university.” 

This year, Kagodo and his wife, Catherine Namuddu, are celebrating 27 years of marriage. The bishop says his wife has been his biggest support system. 

When not doing church work, one is likely to find Kagodo either playing sports with his children, listening to music or spending time with friends.

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

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The Rev. Richard Mulindwa, manager, UCU Church Relations, says training has been provided to members of the clergy in the dioceses of Mukono, Busoga, Mbale and Rwenzori.

UCU church relations department skills clergy


The Rev. Richard Mulindwa, manager, UCU Church Relations, says training has been provided to members of the clergy in the dioceses of Mukono, Busoga, Mbale and Rwenzori.
The Rev. Richard Mulindwa, manager, UCU Church Relations, says training has been provided to members of the clergy in the dioceses of Mukono, Busoga, Mbale and Rwenzori.

By Kefa Senoga
The church relations department at Uganda Christian University (UCU) has embarked on training the Anglican clergy in Uganda with contemporary skills to be able to evangelize better in the ever-changing world.

The Manager of Church Relations at UCU, the Rev. Richard Mulindwa, said that one of the areas they have put emphasis on as they train the clergy is educating them to integrate Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in their work. The church relations department acts as a link between the university and the church.

“During lockdown, many of our churches shut down completely whereas our colleagues from the Pentecostal church were using digital and online media to do pastoral work and evangelism,” the Rev. Mulindwa notes.

The gospel does not stop at preaching at the pulpit, Mulindwa argues, emphasizing that the clergy need to use all the available avenues to take the gospel to the people. 

“Social media, and even just an SMS (Short Message Service), can be powerful tools for reaching out to people with a word of encouragement,” he said.

Among the other issues that the training delves in is land matters. 

“Many land grabbers are targeting church land and part of the reason it’s happening is because some members of the clergy have limited knowledge in that aspect,” Mulindwa explained.

He said they have partnered with the UCU School of Law, to provide lawyers among the students and lecturers, to guide the participants on how best they can deal with issues related to land management.

The church has on several occasions been embroiled in disputes, especially on land situated in prime areas, with most of them having squatters. In 2016, Anglican Archbishop Stanley Ntagali and close to 40 other bishops escaped an attack by a mob when the prelates had gone to inspect a church-owned land in Mukono, central Uganda.

In 2020, operating on the orders of a businessman in Kampala, workers demolished a Church in Ndeeba, Kampala, with the businessman claiming ownership of the land on which the church was sitting. Situations like these make the training a timely venture for the clerics.

The Church of Uganda oversees 55 pre-primary schools, 4,904 church-founded primary schools, 460 secondary schools, 50 post-primary schools, including vocational training schools, and six universities. According to Mulindwa, the training, which usually takes up to three days, with a certificate presented to the participants, also focuses on how the chaplaincies in such institutions can be revamped so that they play a more influential role in the spiritual nourishment of the learners in the institutions where they belong. 

Many parents take their children to church-founded institutions with the hope that Christian values will be instilled in the learners, a role that is often played by the chaplaincy. 

Mulindwa said they have so far reached members of the clergy in the dioceses of Mukono, Busoga, Mbale and Rwenzori, and that some of the responses they have been getting are encouraging. 

“Many churches have started online prayers out of this training and many pastors have taken up online ministries from their respective dioceses and parishes,” Mulindwa said.

Since the members of the clergy are servants of God in the church and family people outside church, they are also exposed to the every-day challenges that families go through. “We also talk to the clergy about child upbringing, issues of marriage, and sex, among others, because they are a pertinent matter in their lives,” Mulindwa said, noting that people who are approaching retirement at their workplaces also have been included. 

Last year, UCU also extended an invitation to teachers in mission schools in the Church of Uganda to participate in a special training to enable certificate-holding teachers to be able to upgrade and attain bachelor’s degrees through specialized programmes that suit their work schedules.

“The government is nowadays demanding that all teachers are graduates. We are calling upon teachers from the mission schools to come and enroll for the courses,” UCU Vice Chancellor Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi said last year. 

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

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The Chancellor of UCU, Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu (holding microphone), launching the For Just 10k campaign in June last year. Extreme left is Vice-Chancellor Aaron Mushengyezi.

UCU’s ‘For Just 10k’ campaign lifts hopes of needy students


The Chancellor of UCU, Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu (holding microphone), launching the For Just 10k campaign in June last year. Extreme left is Vice-Chancellor Aaron Mushengyezi.
The Chancellor of UCU, Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu (holding microphone), launching the For Just 10k campaign in June last year. Extreme left is Vice-Chancellor Aaron Mushengyezi.

In June 2022, Uganda Christian University launched a fundraising campaign intended to support education of needy students at the institution. Named “For Just 10k,” the campaign was intended to raise sh1billion (about $270,000), that, according to Vice Chancellor Aaron Mushengyezi, will come in handy, especially for students who “struggle with their tuition and other needs.” Dorothy Tushemereirwe, a consultant who is coordinating the project, says people have contributed from as little as sh10,000 (about $2.6) to organizations donating even up to sh10million (about $2,600) towards the cause. The campaign has so far raised sh70million (about $18,800) that has supported up to 24 students. Kefa Senoga talked to three of the beneficiaries.

Bridget Kiwala
All was well for Bridget Kiwala’s family until their father, Grace Mugweri, was involved in an accident, which affected his backbone. Mugweri is a farmer. “My father always paid my full tuition and my accommodation fees at a hall of residence in the university,” said Kiwala, a student of Bachelor of Procurement and Logistics Management. However, she said all this has since changed. She is no longer residing in the hall and has opted for the cheaper alternative of staying with a relative in Mukono, not far from the university, to be able to commute to the university every day. 

As the end of last semester approached, Kiwala was staring at a possibility of not sitting her exams because she had not paid the full tuition. “When my mother heard that I would not sit my exams, she got hypertensive and yet she was the one looking after my bedridden father,” Kiwala said.

When Kiwala learned of the opportunity of getting a tuition top-up from the “Just For 10k Campaign,” she immediately applied. She was awarded a top-up of sh2,652,000 (about $714). Kiwala said that news made her feel like she was reborn.

She is now thinking of what happens next, since her father is still in hospital. “I have been doing some work during the holidays, such as washing people’s clothes and engaging in some other small businesses, in order to raise tuition for the next semester,” she said. 

Bazibu Magibu
To raise tuition, Bazibu Magibu says that he has had to make and sell bricks before every semester. He says he has been paying his tuition since Senior Four, when his parents stopped paying the school fees. 

However, last year, Magibu, a student pursuing a Diploma in Information Technology at UCU, failed to raise the full tuition for his last semester. He says when he appealed to the university administration for help, he was informed of the opportunity with the Just For 10k Campaign basket. He applied and was considered for the tuition top-up. 

Magibu, the sixth-born in a family of 15 children, says he is the only one in the family who has reached this far in education. Most of his siblings stopped in Senior Four due to lack of school fees. He says when he graduates, he hopes to return to university to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the same field. 

At $1,260, Byishimo Ronald was the top beneficiary of the funds that were disbursed to a total of 24 students last year.
At $1,260, Byishimo Ronald was the top beneficiary of the funds that were disbursed to a total of 24 students last year.

Byishimo Ronald
Byishimo, a year-three student of Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering, received the highest top up of tuition of sh4,695,333 (about $1,260) from the campaign basket.

The former student of Mengo Senior School said ever since he joined UCU, he has always had challenges with paying full tuition within the university’s stipulated period. He said about five family members contribute to his tuition, but that the contributions are still not enough.

“I got the scholarship one day to the start of exams and you can’t imagine how relieved I felt,” Byishimo said, noting that the benefactors have raised the hopes of many people who were staring at a possibility of missing exams. He says he has been touched by the generosity, and that in the future, he will endeavor to do the same for the underprivileged. Byimosho hopes to become a water engineer.

Partnerships
Tushemereirwe says that after learning about the cause of the campaign, organizations like Ubuntu Youth Leadership Centre have come on board as partners and have paid tuition for three final-year students – George Ojocheyi, Apili Peninah and Namiiro Benita – who are pursuing Bachelor of Laws at UCU. 

An individual who prefers to remain anonymous has committed to paying tuition for Nambuya Anna, a first-year student of Bachelor of Business Administration at UCU, until she completes studies.

UCU has introduced many such initiatives to empower needy students before, such as the student-driven Save a Buddy. The program is aimed at helping needy students who are unable to clear tuition and successfully sit for their end-of-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 fundraising through washing cars

How to donate for the ‘For Just 10k’ campaign
For direct deposits: +256774530810 in names of Dorothy Tushemereirwe or +13344240964 in the names of Mark Bartels (Reason for giving should be “For just 10k fundraiser”)

Online donations: Use GoFundMe (https://www.gofundme.com/f/needy-university-students

Direct cash deposits on Stanbic bank: Account name: Uganda Christian University. Account Number: 9030005916673.   

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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.

Also, follow us on TwitterInstagram and Facebook.

UCU students pose for a photo at the main building of Sapienza University (Rome, Italy). Pictured are Bonny Abuka (left), a student from Uganda Martyrs University, with UCU students Sharon Longora, Amosi Mangeni, Ronald Mayanja and Agatha Ankunda.

UCU students learn about green energy in Italy, Spain


UCU students pose for a photo at the main building of Sapienza University (Rome, Italy). Pictured are Bonny Abuka (left), a student from Uganda Martyrs University, with UCU students Sharon Longora, Amosi Mangeni, Ronald Mayanja and Agatha Ankunda.
UCU students pose for a photo at the main building of Sapienza University (Rome, Italy). Pictured are Bonny Abuka (left), a student from Uganda Martyrs University, with UCU students Sharon Longora, Amosi Mangeni, Ronald Mayanja and Agatha Ankunda.

By Irene Best Nyapendi
Four Uganda Christian University (UCU) students had a resume-building experience during a one-month internship in Spain and Italy. 

Amos Mangeni, Sharon Longora, Agatha Ankunda and Ronald Omugalanda Mayanja, who studied for a one-year, UCU Post Graduate Diploma in Sustainable Business and Renewable Energy in 2022, were chosen from among their class of 10 to travel to the two European countries for a program sponsored by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union.

The students were at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, between January 16-27, 2023, and were at the University of Cadiz, Spain, from January 30 to February 10. They returned to Uganda on February 12.

Students at the experimental site at the faculty of engineering at the University of Cadiz in Spain. In the background is wind energy.
Students at the experimental site at the faculty of engineering at the University of Cadiz in Spain. In the background is wind energy.

The focus of the visit was renewable energy.  Mangeni, Longora, Ankunda and Mayanja observed and learned about how other countries were making strides in clean energy to better prepare them to harness renewable energy in Uganda. 

Mangeni shared that he made contacts that promised further collaboration after he left their countries. 

 “This means a lot to me,” he said. “It was an opportunity to interact with different people from different fields and experiences, new software and machines.”

He was impressed by the technologies.

“I visited a 100kw Solar PV grid connected plant at the University of Cadiz  faculty of business in (Andalusia) Spain,” he said. “This PV plant supplies energy to the faculty and the surplus is connected to the grid for sale, especially during the day.”

Mangeni said the university buys electricity from the national grid whenever the need arises. The quadruple got a chance to install a 0.6kw PV grid connected system at the University of Cadiz’s faculty of engineering.

“It was an opportunity not only to learn more about renewable energy, but to network with experts for future collaborations on renewable energy projects to advance the energy transition,” Ankunda concurred.

Ankunda commended the University of Cadiz for giving them access to their laboratories where they did practical experiments on the application of technologies. The tryouts came at the right time for her because she will use the knowledge to train others specific to solar systems, bridging the gender gap, in the  Women Renewable Energy Association (WREA) in Uganda.

“I was also intrigued by their enforcement of sustainability approaches whereby most businesses were using recyclable bags and wooden cutlery for restaurants,” Ankunda said. “Wood is environmentally friendly because it can decompose.”

Ankunda and Longora enjoyed field visits to renewable energy project sites One example was the privately-owned hydropower plant in Ascoli, Italy. The power plant in Ascoli is in a mountainous area and taps water from a river that is 45km (27 miles) away. The plant produces hydro energy and feeds it into the grid.

“This hydro power plant is also used for irrigation,” Ankunda said. “They channel water from the river, it is pumped and sent to the farm.”

Uganda’s location at the equator and receiving moderately 6 to 7 hours of sunshine per day is an added reason for communities to shift from hydro power to solar. 

Students testing the solar panel
Students testing the solar panel

Ankunda interacted with a team of professors conducting research on sustainable waste management – an exposure relevant to a similar project in Uganda.

For Mayanja, gaining added knowledge on how to set up a solar system was valuable. “I am forever grateful to God for the answered prayer to be included on the list to go to Italy,” he said.

“I worked with fellow students to connect the solar panels, generate energy and connect the direct current energy to the converter to change it. It is then converted to alternate current energy, then connected to the grid,” he said.

He said that such a project can even be installed at UCU as well as communities that are not connected to the national grid. 

Mayanja observed energy-saving practices throughout Spain. One example is polythene bags in the supermarkets with messages of reduce, reuse and recycle, the 3 RS of sustainability. Another lesson came from a session on how hydro and wind energies are generated.

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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.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Rev. Dr. Jessica Hughes’ paper argues that the lack of the inculturation of Christianity means that it is not molding or shaping the Ugandan worldview.

Hughes champions cultural expressions during Christian practices


Rev. Dr. Jessica Hughes’ paper argues that the lack of the inculturation of Christianity means that it is not molding or shaping the Ugandan worldview.
Rev. Dr. Jessica Hughes’ paper argues that the lack of the inculturation of Christianity means that it is not molding or shaping the Ugandan worldview.

By Pauline Luba
In 2022, Jessica Hughes, a USA missionary serving at Uganda Christian University (UCU), Mukono, found herself in every academic’s dilemma of trying to condense a voluminous thesis into a journal article. For Hughes’ case, she was adapting a 300-plus-page thesis into an article for Missionalia, a journal of the Southern African Missiological Society. 

She succeeded. Her journal article, titled The Influence of the Missionary Legacy on the Practice of Discipleship in the Anglican Church of Uganda, was published on December 30, 2022. The article, co-authored with Marilyn Naidoo, a professor in the discipline of Practical Theology at the University of South Africa, centers on discipleship, a subject Hughes confesses she has always been passionate about. Naidoo supervised Hughes for her doctorate.

Hughes argues that currently, in the Church of Uganda setup, “evangelism is still the hallmark and priority of the church.”

“The number of people ‘saved’ in a service is often publicized, even among the bishops’

Rev. Dr. Jessica Hughes
Rev. Dr. Jessica Hughes

press releases regarding their pastoral visits,” the paper argues, suggesting that such actions have made discipleship take a backseat to evangelism in terms of church priorities. Much as evangelism leads to widespread professed Christianity, it may not also lead to a “skin-deep” faith. 

According to Hughes, a missionary serving under the Pennsylvania-based Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders (SAMS), seeking to gain more believers and numbers rather than deepening the spiritual maturity of the believers makes the church “send people to evangelize, yet they are supposed to make disciples.” And she bases this argument on Matthew 28:19: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Discipleship is not only bringing people to God, but also being able to relate to them and deepening their faith, Hughes, who has been a lecturer at UCU for over a decade, explained during a Zoom interview from the US state of Virginia. In addition to being a lecturer, she is currently UCU’s head of the Online Distance Learning (ODL) department – more commonly known by students as eLearning. 

During the interview, Hughes offered suggestions on how the faith of a newly saved soul could be strengthened – by spending more time in prayer and answering questions together, so that there is more learning. “It’s hard to grow in faith when one is not being corrected,” she reasoned.

Another central pillar in Hughes’ paper is the concept of inculturation, which is the process of assuming or assimilating the behaviors and beliefs of another culture. The paper argues that the lack of the inculturation of Christianity “has caused it not to become a part of the culture, and that means that Christianity, though widely accepted, has not been involved in molding and shaping the Ugandan worldview.”

The experience of Christianity, it has been argued, can be expressed by cultural means. And Hughes believes that inculturation is one of the easiest ways to attain this. The Gospel can be fused with traditional practices, she argues, citing the example of cultural dancing and singing, while still glorifying the Lord. Such a blend, Hughes’ paper argues, will lead to an African Christianity, which “honors both the culture and the gospel,” and is more relatable to Africans. Western Christianity, according to the paper, rarely gives room to the voices from the global south to be heard.

“Tribes could still have their beautiful dances and speak their beautiful languages while continuing to worship God and spreading the Gospel,” she said during the virtual interview, where Uganda Partners sought to deeper understand reflections in the article.

Hughes is aware that through her propositions, she is not asking for too much. And she subtly makes this point by drawing from the practices in Kenya, Uganda’s neighbor to the east: “An example of how to inculturate the gospel is found in the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) and how they develop liturgies, rather than only importing liturgies from the West,” she writes. 

“The ACK has contextualized the liturgies to reflect African culture, by incorporating the ancestors, particularly in the section of the Holy Communion liturgy. Rather than the standard ‘therefore, with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven’, the Sanctus in the ACK reads, ‘therefore, with angels, archangels, faithful ancestors and all in heaven’,” she writes in the paper, as though reading from the same script that Pope Francis has always read.

In 2021, the Pope called for Christian freedom, by rooting for the respect for other people’s cultures and traditions. “How many errors have been made in the history of evangelization by seeking to impose a single cultural model,” the Pope asked during his address to the weekly general audience at the Vatican. 

Explaining that unity does not mean uniformity, the Pope argued that in the call to freedom, one discovers the true meaning of the inculturation of the Gospel.

Writing on her blog, the Virginia-USA-born missionary notes that she initially had no plans of coming to Africa as a missionary. However, this later changed. “My bishop, the Rt. Rev. John Guernsey, had suggested that I study abroad for my M.Div., and then suggested Uganda, since my home church (All Saints Anglican in Woodbridge, Virginia) had come under the Church of Uganda when we left the Episcopal Church,” she writes. 

Hughes obtained an undergraduate degree from the George Mason University in Fairfax Virginia and a certificate as a legal assistant from George Washington University in 1993. In 2005, she earned her first master’s degree in human performance systems at Marymount University based in Arlington, Virginia. Her second was the Master of Divinity from UCU, which she got in 2011. She is now a lecturer at the university’s Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology.

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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.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Magara (extreme right) with colleagues from the UCU School of Dentistry

Like father, like son: Two Magaras at UCU’s School of Dentistry


Magara (extreme right) with colleagues from the UCU School of Dentistry
Magara (extreme right) with colleagues from the UCU School of Dentistry

By Kefa Senoga
Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) Dean of the School of Dentistry (SoD),  James Magara, was among the 10 pioneer students getting a Bachelor of Dental Surgery at Makerere University in 1988. Thirty years later, in 2018, Magara’s son, David Magara, was among the pioneer students of UCU’s Bachelor of Dental Surgery program. 

One might think David was always attracted to the course because he saw his father practice the profession. 

But that’s not the case.

In fact, after David’s final examinations to qualify for university admission, he says he was conflicted about a career.. He was passionate about arts and had a love for music, but also was obsessed with sciences. Despite making up his mind to study dental surgery in 2015, David found himself at a crossroads when it was time to enroll in a university. Subsequently, he took a gap year to rediscover himself.

During that year, he worked at his father’s dental clinic – Jubilee Dental Limited – as a receptionist. It was during that time at the dental clinic that David got the affirmation that that was the profession for him. 

“While at the dental facility, I observed how the dentists enjoyed their work, and also had time to pursue their other passions,” he said. “I found that balance quite attractive, and it is what first interested me in the course.” 

David says after prayer and fasting about his future, he felt a strong peace about going into that field.

Magara (right) during a practical session with a colleague from the UCU School of Dentistry.
Magara (right) during a practical session with a colleague from the UCU School of Dentistry.

That same year, UCU was making arrangements to start a Bachelor of Dental Surgery

course, which gave David the opportunity to also be a pioneer student in the course. 

He says humility, confidence, great listening and communication skills are some of the attributes that a dentist should have.

“Having seen my father practice dentistry for many years, I am confident to say he embodies each of these principles,” David says. Possibly these are some of the reasons UCU considered as they courted James Magara in 2020, to convince him to return to training Uganda’s next generation of dental surgeons. 

The SoD dean had left university teaching in 2007.

David says he has had the rare opportunity of learning from celebrated practitioners in Uganda, such as Dr. Arabat Kasangaki, who is one of his lecturers at UCU; Dr. Aisha Sekalala, an experienced orthodontist; Dr Francis Ochieng, a  dental practitioner; and Dr. Nevis Nagirembabazi, a clinician of dental surgery.

According to David, his former school, Vine International Christian Academy, prepared him well for the kind of experience that he has had at the School of Dentistry. At Vine International Christian Academy, David says he learned how to set daily, weekly, and long-term goals on a regular basis, something that has helped him to keep focused in school. 

He promotes oral hygiene awareness, and its impact on the overall health of a person. While good oral hygiene is believed to benefit the teeth and gums, its benefits extend to the rest of the body as well. 

David believes that because of poor oral health among the people, periodontal diseases which are a major source of tooth decay continue to be part of the pressing health issues in the country.

Oftentimes, dental surgeons in Uganda have decried the increase in cases of dental health issues, with research showing that 90% of the country’s population of about 45 million need dental attention. 

However, with the less than 300 dental surgeons who are in active practice in Uganda, covering only 29 districts (21% of the country), the possibility of the surgeons reaching all the people who need their services, for now, remains a distant dream. 

When David and his cohorts join the workforce soon, it is hoped that such statistics will, in time, improve and that even the poor in the rural areas who need the services of a dental surgeon will eventually get access to one. 

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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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Mary Chowenhill, center, with some UCU graduates she mentored in entrepreneurship.

Missionary Mary Chowenhill says farewell after decade at UCU


Mary Chowenhill, center, with some UCU graduates she mentored in entrepreneurship.
Mary Chowenhill, center, with some UCU graduates she mentored in entrepreneurship.

By Irene Best Nyapendi
Mary Chowenhill came to Uganda Christian University (UCU) to teach children about the love of God. She did that and more. Now, Mary, an American missionary with the Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders (SAMS), is leaving UCU after a decade of ministry.

In 2012, SAMS sent Mary to UCU on a mission to teach the Mukono campus Sunday school pupils about God. Seeing the need at a larger scale, Mary expanded the ministry to their teachers and to the Sunday School teachers of the diocese in Mukono.

“I won’t trade my time with the children for anything because I love children, and the children love me,” Mary says confidently about her work.

Sunday School
One Sunday in the same year, while Mary was attending Sunday school at UCU, she was bothered by the lack of enough teachers to cover all the classes. The classes are in age groups of 0-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12 plus 13 and above. She chose 7-9 which had the greatest need. Since then, Mary has been part of the Sunday school ministry at UCU which hosts over 300 staff and local community children, ranging from babies to young adults, especially during the holidays on Sunday mornings.

The 70-year-old has been a spiritual mother to scores of children that have gone through her hands.

“It is precious to be able to be part of their lives, and it was exciting watching my Sunday school children getting confirmation,” Mary recalls with joy and satisfaction of a mother witnessing their son or daughter blossom into an adult.

Student entrepreneurship
Mary was soon quickly moved to skilling adult School of Business students for their life after the university.  “I had a conversation with school of business lecturers in 2013, and they told me they were having a problem with parents calling to say their children were not getting jobs,” she says.

The school then embarked on looking for ways to bridge the skills gap of its graduates.

Mary Chowenhill at the UCU Mukono Campus
Mary Chowenhill at the UCU Mukono Campus

She proposed embedding an hour of practical lessons into the entrepreneurship class, an idea that was bought by the school. Mary has a masters degree in economics and entrepreneurship education besides a degree in International Relations.

Florence Gimadu, a lecturer at the school of business, says Mary is passionate about entrepreneurship. She admires her dedication to reducing the levels of graduate unemployment.

With Mary’s help, over 450 students have learned how to apply their School of Business knowledge with real-world skills. She has trained students to generate ideas of their own and helped them build startups and entrepreneurial enterprises such as making jewelry.

“Through practical lessons, the students learned what worked and what didn’t,” she says.

Mary is optimistic that the UCU School of Business can be the best in the country. Her dream is seeing people refer to the School of Business as the star school at the top of the hill (UCU is built on a hill) and realizing many opportunities of scholarships for the students at UCU.

She recently played a pivotal role in launching a business incubation hub. The hub under the School of Business also services students from other courses.

“In 2019, the Hanze Foundation in the Netherlands gave us money to start an incubation hub where young people can come and work on developing their business ideas,” says Mary, who is an administrator at the hub.

The hub gives aspirational students an opportunity to bring their ideas to life, according to Gimadu, who adds: “Mary has helped us get funders. She has taught and mentored students at the hub without expecting any salary for it.”

Aston Aryamanya, a lecturer and trainer at the incubation hub, describes Mary as a determined person who makes things happen.

“Most of the things at the hub are from her dedicated effort, right from the tiles in the main room of the incubation hub, to the walkway that leads to the hub,” he says.

Two cohorts of students have so far been trained at the hub and 18 successful businesses have been hatched.

Mary approves of the way UCU has been a good steward of the environment in that the development on the beautiful campus on the hill has not tampered with the natural beauty.

 “I am pleased with the way the campus is being transformed into a much more pedestrian and ecologically friendly place,” she says.

She dreamed of adding to the beautiful scenery when she gave birth to the idea of a mural that happened in 2022 with the support of Jack Klenk, a board member of the Uganda Partners NGO. The mural, which is located near Thelma students hall in the middle of the Mukono campus, creates a serene atmosphere for the UCU community. The designs and themes painted on the mural reflect the university’s Christian values with many stories hidden in the pictures. 

After UCU
In late April, Mary will return to live in Florida, USA.

The thought of bidding farewell to her UCU home and friends makes Mary teary-eyed but as a missionary, that is part of the life she chose – moving on to the next destination where God is calling her. According to her, everything happens solely because God opens doors and closes others.

Mary says her greatest role as a teacher is to help others understand that our labor on earth should be for God’s glory.

 “We must always place the needs of others before our own,” she says, revealing the inspiration behind her missionary work at UCU.

She believes UCU is on the right path of awakening students to be missionaries with programs such as Mission week. 

Even in her retirement, she will continue serving God’s kingdom as she plans to start a ministry teaching churches the importance of mission in the lives of building God’s church. 

Her final thought and challenge for the church today? 

“A church that has no one going out should ask themselves where the great commission is,” she said.

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

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Abaliwano Yvette hopes to specialize in oncology after completing her undergraduate studies

Medical career is more about service than making money


Abaliwano Yvette hopes to specialize in oncology after completing her undergraduate studies
Abaliwano Yvette hopes to specialize in oncology after completing her undergraduate studies

By Kefa Senoga
If anyone had been in the shoes of Abaliwano Yvette, chances are he/she would have made the same career decision. Yvette, a student of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at the Uganda Christian University (UCU) School of Medicine (SoM), is surrounded by medical professionals at her home.

Her father, Dr. Abaliwano Mark, is a dental surgeon working with Uganda’s central bank. Yvette’s mother, Dr. Walusansa Victoria, works with the Uganda Cancer Institute, where she is the organization’s Deputy Director, consultant oncologist and the clinical head.

And that’s not all. Yvette’s extended family, too, has a sizable number of medical practitioners. Two of her uncles are doctors, and so is one of her aunts, as well as some of her cousins.

There is no doubt that the Abaliwano family members have been living off benefits that the parents have been accruing from their employment in the medical profession. That could have been a big factor in pulling Yvette into the career she is pursuing.

The four years she has been a student at the SoM have been a real test to Yvette’s resolve to pursue her dream course. “Many of my colleagues with whom I completed secondary school have since graduated — those who undertook courses of three or four years,” Yvette, a member of the SoM writing club, noted.

However, she explained that determination and keeping hope alive have always conspired to give her the much-needed patience for her to complete her five-year course.

She said one of the attractions to the medical course is the multiplicity of disciplines that one can specialize in. For Yvette’s case, the charm of her mother has finally lured her into considering specializing in oncology — the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer.

Research shows that the incidence and mortality due to cancer are increasing globally. The global cancer burden is predicted to rise to 22 million cases and 11 million deaths by 2030. In Uganda, government statistics indicate that about 33,000 Ugandans are diagnosed with cancer every year, of which, only about 7,400 make it for care at the Uganda Cancer Institute.

It’s damning statistics like these that have drawn Yvette into seeking to make a mark in the fight against the world’s second-leading cause of death.

I hope to set up a fitness clinic and possibly help in reducing obesity among people,” she said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, being overweight increases the risk of getting up to 13 types of cancer, which make up 40% of the cancers diagnosed in the United States each year. 

Yvette strongly discourages anyone who wants to pursue the medical profession purely for financial benefit. “Being a doctor means offering service to the community. It is not guaranteed that you will get the amount of money that you desire, especially in Uganda” she says. 

Others, Yvette explains, seek to pursue the career because of the prestige which comes with holding the title “doctor.” However, many of such people, according to Yvette, end up dropping out of the course in the early stages after experiencing the rigor and the level of commitment that is required. 

Yvette strongly believes the secondary school she attended — Mt. St. Mary’s College, Namagunga, a church-founded elite school in Uganda — has a lot to do with the achievements she has so far registered at the SoM. At Mt. St. Mary’s College, Namagunga, she learned good values, such as hard work and the virtue of patience. At UCU, she says her religious life has been greatly enhanced because of the institution’s reputation as a Christ-centered university not just in name, but in deed.

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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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Namayanja Christabel says when she graduates as a doctor, she hopes to run a blog that incorporates telemedicine and mental health

Student drive towards medicine strengthens after losing mom to Covid


Namayanja Christabel says when she graduates as a doctor, she hopes to run a blog that incorporates telemedicine and mental health
Namayanja Christabel says when she graduates as a doctor, she hopes to run a blog that incorporates telemedicine and mental health

By Kefa Senoga
By January 28, 2023, Uganda had registered 170,328 cases of coronavirus. Of those, 3,630 had died. Florence Bwanika is part of that tragic statistic. Bwanika, a renowned veterinary doctor and academic, succumbed to the pandemic on January 17, 2021, the time Uganda was just shaking itself off the first wave of the pandemic. Uganda later had the second wave of the virus, which was more deadly.

Bwanika was the mother of Namayanja Christabel, a year-four student of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) School of Medicine (SoM) in Mengo. Namayanja says while zeroing in on a course to pursue at university, she wanted one which would give her the opportunity to impact and transform lives. And human medicine was one such course.

Namayanja’s mother, as well as her father, Christopher Bwanika, wanted her to pursue medicine. Her parents encouraged her to put emphasis on science subjects in secondary school to prepare her for this path. Namayanja studied at the Church-founded Gayaza High School, Uganda’s oldest all-girls boarding secondary school. The Bwanika couple was passionate about educating the younger generation. 

In August 2021, seven months after losing her mother, Namayanja says she also lost her grandmother “under circumstances that could be prevented.” While interacting with Uganda Partners during an online interview, Namayanja said those two deaths of her loved ones cemented the belief that she was, indeed, on the right path, by pursuing a career in medicine. She believes that the knowledge she will acquire in the training will enable her to offer the first line of treatment to her close relatives.

According to Namayanja, Gayaza High School laid the foundation for whatever virtues she currently reaps. She says at Gayaza, she was able to acquire multiple skills outside of science. Among these were writing, reading and social interaction – the latter reinforced as she served in different capacities as a student leader in Gayaza. She was once a chapel prefect (leader in charge of religious affairs) and the editor in chief of the school writers’ club.  

With the experience she garnered working for the writers’ club, it was easy for Namayanja to work for the UCU School of Medicine’s Writers’ Society, where she runs a blog.

Acknowledging that her medicine studies, including extensive reading, are time intensive, she juggles classwork and activities beyond class with strong planning skills.

 “I usually plan for the day, and follow up that plan with daily goals,” Namayanja says.

She says the SoM learning environment eases student academic challenges.

“UCU has provided quality services to us,” she said. “As students, we feel we are getting the value for our tuition; we are taught by some of the best practitioners in the medical field, and groomed to be high-quality professionals who are exceptional and holistic.”

She cites lecturers like Dr. Rhoda Mayega, a renowned pediatrician at Mengo Hospital, who “has been very pivotal in driving us to become better doctors.”

Namayanja says she is also interested in exploring other fields like finance, technology and artificial intelligence. “I strive to equip myself with knowledge from other fields that are necessary in this fast-changing world.”

She believes that one day, she will be able to apply all the knowledge that she acquires from other fields into her profession. 

In the future, Namayanja hopes to run a mental health blog that incorporates telemedicine to be able to reach people who need mental health services.

“I am looking at promoting good health-seeking behavior and practices among members of my community, which is the responsibility of a doctor,” Namayanja explains.

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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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Barungi Abigail with her lecturer, Dr. Kanyesigye Edward, who was among the founders of the UCU School of Medicine

‘Not all angels have wings…some have stethoscopes’


Barungi Abigail with her lecturer, Dr. Kanyesigye Edward, who was among the founders of the UCU School of Medicine
Barungi Abigail with her lecturer, Dr. Kanyesigye Edward, who was among the founders of the UCU School of Medicine

By Kefa Senoga
Dr. Lutakome Joseph is an amiable man. By the end of the day, not even the stress after a long day’s work will show on the face of the specialist physician who works at Nsambya Hospital in Kampala. 

“He always carries himself with the willingness to help his patients by interacting with them in such a way that makes them change their focus from their illness, for a little while,” says Barungi Abigail, for whom Lutakome has been a family doctor.  

Barungi thinks a doctor who understands and relates to their patients’ feelings, and treats them while focusing on their individual needs, would be the most ideal.

The fourth-year student at Uganda Christian University (UCU), pursuing a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery course at the institution’s School of Medicine in Mengo, Kampala, says Lutakome “takes his time to explain to patients basing on their level of knowledge and understanding, so they are able to know more about their diseases and how to avoid recurrence.” Through Lutakome’s virtues, Barungi says she was persuaded to pursue a career in human medicine. 

Barungi Abigail says the most ideal doctor is one who understands patient feelings.
Barungi Abigail says the most ideal doctor is one who understands patient feelings.

“The fulfillment that one gets after treating a patient is something I have longed for since childhood, I felt that I would best help those in society through the medical profession,” Barungi notes, as if in agreement with the saying that “not all angels have wings, but some have stethoscopes.”

A successful doctor-patient relationship is one of holistic treatment. According to Barungi, there is nothing more satisfying for a doctor than offering medical help and a patient gets healed. And that is the satisfaction that she yearns when she eventually begins medical practice after school.

Asked about what area she would love to specialize in after undergraduate studies, Barungi points to where she thinks she will be hitting two birds with one stone. When children, especially newborns, are not well, the amount of distress it causes the parents is unfathomable. And that is why she has her eyes in neonatology, which is concerned with the care and treatment of newborns. Barungi hopes that her contribution will, in one way or another, reduce the number of deaths of neonates in Uganda.

She believes that the kind of training she is receiving at the UCU School of Medicine has been a timely exposure not only in the medical field, but also on matters of faith. 

At UCU, Barungi says that she has been able to meet amazing professionals, such as Dr. Gerald Tumusiime, a lecturer in anatomy — the study of the structure of humans, animals and other living organisms. Tumusiime is also the Dean of UCU School of Medicine. 

“He has been like a father and mentor to most of us at the SoM,” she said, adding: “He mentored me in my clinical and non-clinical years, as well as coaching me in life after medical school.”

The mentorship by Tumusiime, Barungi says, is just a continuation of what she has always received from her parents, siblings and godparents. 

She says the schools she attended before joining UCU provided the much-needed holistic education, which does not just emphasize academics, but also discipline, humility and self drive — virtues which have been useful during her course at UCU. For Barungi’s six years of secondary education, she attended Mt. St. Mary’s College Namagunga, one of the elite secondary schools in Uganda. She said Namagunga, a girls-only school, had well-equipped laboratories, which motivated students to appreciate science subjects more. 

When she is away from books, Barungi says she spends her free time with family and friends, as well as participating in medical camps. She also engages in learning more about the business industry, where she says she also has a lot of interest.

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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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Mulungi Jemimah Mulamba at the UCU School of Medicine in Mengo

UCU student meets medical idol: ‘She is my hero’


Mulungi Jemimah Mulamba at the UCU School of Medicine in Mengo
Mulungi Jemimah Mulamba at the UCU School of Medicine in Mengo

By Pauline Luba
Mulungi Jemimah Mulamba and Dr. Juliet Sekabunga Nalwanga are separated by as many incidents in their lives as they are united. 

One point of convergence for the two Ugandan women is that they chose the same career path — human medicine. Another unifying factor is that both are daughters of academic parents. Mulungi’s father, Peter Mulamba, is an agricultural engineer and lecturer at Uganda’s Makerere University, and her mother, Esther Lilian Mulamba, teaches physiology at Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) School of Medicine. Nalwanga’s father, Prof. Sekabunga, was a respected academic and a well-known pediatric surgeon at Uganda’s national referral facility, Mulago Hospital. Another of the points of intersection is that Nalwanga and the mother of Mulungi are both academics at UCU’s School of Medicine.

Recently, Nalwanga and Mulungi met in class at UCU’s School of Medicine, the former as the teacher of the latter. Mulungi is in year four, pursuing a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, and part of Nalwanga’s roles at UCU is to teach neurosurgery courses to year-four students.

Before 2018, Mulungi hadn’t even heard Nalwanga’s name. However, an achievement that the latter had in the same year threw her in the limelight. Nalwanga became the first female neurosurgeon in Uganda, a feat that earned her global recognition in a field where specialists are rare.  By 2021, with a population of more than 40 million people, there were only 21 neurosurgeons in Uganda. The World Health Organization recommends one neurosurgeon for every 100,000 people.

“She is my hero and a living testimony that one can have a successful career in medicine while still balancing out other sectors in their life,” Mulungi said of Nalwanga.

Mulungi is still debating on which field to specialize in for her post-graduate studies. Three areas — neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery and gynecology — are on the table. Can the charm of her idol, Nalwanga, sway her towards neurosurgery to create another point of convergence for the two?

“I like neurosurgery because the brain has always fascinated me, cardiothoracic surgery because modern habits are leading people to develop new conditions and gynecology because I’m interested in the work of bringing in new life,” Mulungi said, further creating a mystery on what she will finally zero in on. 

But maybe it’s too early for the fuss. The 22-year-old still has another year of study, and another year of a mandatory medical internship before graduation.

What is for sure is she intends to use her profession to help women, especially when it comes to giving birth. “Women should not be paying hefty sums to health facilities to be able to give birth or for postnatal care,” she said, adding that she hopes for Ugandan facilities that will cater for women with issues related to antenatal and postnatal care. 

She says the main reason she applied to join UCU was because she wanted the university’s strong Christian foundation to reinforce her religious beliefs. One of her favorite programs is the lunch-hour, Christian fellowship that is conducted at the university every Tuesday and Thursday. Mulungi says her goal is to become a medical practitioner whose faith leads her practice. She is a firm believer in the mantra that medics administer medicines to patients, but the healing power of the sickness remains with God. In the future, Mulungi hopes to practice medicine alongside ministering the word of God.

For Mulungi’s early education, she attended Kampala Parents School for her primary learning and Nabisunsa Girls School for her secondary education. Both schools are in Kampala. Mulungi says she made a decision to study medicine when she was just 11 years old – a vision anchored in her desire to help people. 

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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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Kihumuro Peace Patricia (left) with her colleagues from the UCU SoM

UCU medical student: Incorporating faith with education will make me a better professional


Kihumuro Peace Patricia (left) with her colleagues from the UCU SoM
Kihumuro Peace Patricia (left) with her colleagues from the UCU SoM

By Kefa Senoga
“Without faith, nothing is possible; with it, nothing is impossible” is a famous quote from the late educator and American civil rights activist, Mary McLeod Bethune. 

Along that vein, Uganda Christian University (UCU) School of Medicine student, Kihumuro Peace Patricia, believes that education without faith is akin to building a house on sand. It is for this reason that Kihumuro says she sought to pursue her medical course at UCU. She hoped for a faith-based university education.

“Joining UCU was a family decision because the university is built on Christian principles,” she said during a recent interview with Uganda Partners.  

And when she joined the university, she witnessed just what she expected. For instance, she got to learn that at UCU, there is lunchtime community worship twice a week — every Tuesday and Thursday.

“Even with the way we have studied, we have had a lot of incorporation of faith in other activities that take place in the university” Kihumuro explained, noting that their studies have been multi-dimensional, which she believes will make her and her student colleagues better doctors in the market. 

And that is not all. Kihumuro says at UCU, within their first year of study, they were already having clinical exposure, where they would meet with doctors to discuss issues.

“Accessing the ward in year one gives a student the ability to make the connection between classroom knowledge and what they will practice,” she explained, adding that the smaller class sizes are an added advantage. 

“We are 56 students per class, which helps us to network more, an advantage UCU has over other medical schools,” she said.

When UCU’s first Vice Chancellor, Prof. Stephen Noll, assumed office in 2000, his main task was to set up a Christian university not just in name, but also in character. Indeed, when Noll addressed a gathering as a keynote speaker during a public lecture at the university on October 26, 2022, he said his task was to set up a university that “seeks to incorporate fully the Christian gospel in all its programs.”  

Decades later, it is this system that is attracting people like Kihumuro, a year-four student of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at UCU’s School of Medicine in Mengo, Kampala.

She says the ideals of UCU make the institution almost an extension of the secondary school she attended — Uganda Martyrs Secondary School Namugongo in central Uganda — that also is built on strong Christian values, and the administrators do all they can to enforce the principles.

Kihumuro is positive that the grooming she has received thus far will play a pivotal role in making her a better professional. After her undergraduate course, Kihumuro hopes to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology. 

“When patients trust you with their lives, you need to treat them with a lot of dignity in return,” she said, noting that if she combines her empathy towards patients and passion for solving a health challenge that is affecting someone, she will be of good use to many patients. 

In fact, it is this empathy that attracted Kihumuro to the medical profession. “While growing up, I was in and out of hospital, especially during my childhood. Along the way, I met Dr. Christine, an ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialist, who I would go to for treatment; she was so caring and kind.”

Kihumuro emphasizes that a patient should be treated as a fellow human being and not just as a patient. To her, there is nothing as gratifying as sending a patient back home to their family in a better condition than how they came to the hospital.

Given a chance, Kihumuro says she will not think twice when an opportunity for greener pastures knocks on her door. She urges the Ugandan government to create better working conditions for the medical workers, to reduce chances of brain drain since the country still needs more personnel. Estimates indicate that the doctor-patient ratio in Uganda is at 1:25,000 and the nurse-to-patient ratio at 1:11,000. The World Health Organisation recommends a doctor-patient ratio of 1:1,000. 

For now, before any chances of greener pastures present themselves, Kihumuro says she is eager to make a mark in the fight against non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes, by preaching lifestyle changes and frequent health check-ups through an NGO called Health Torch Uganda. 

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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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Jethro Odoi Okoth at the UCU School of Medicine in Mengo

Brother’s sickness paved way for medical career


 Jethro Odoi Okoth at the UCU School of Medicine in Mengo
Jethro Odoi Okoth at the UCU School of Medicine in Mengo

By Pauline Luba
A 2007 incident in the family of Jethro Odoi Okoth was the impetus for a medicine career choice for Odoi, now age 23 and a year away from becoming a doctor. Odoi, then a teenager, saw his younger brother suffer a fractured skull, necessitating surgery in a country where neurosurgeons are scarce.

Odoi, who hopes to specialize in neurosurgery, is pursuing Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) School of Medicine in Mengo, Kampala.

By 2007, Uganda had only four neurosurgeons for a population of about 30 million people. By 2020, thanks to interventions through deliberate strategic partnerships, that number had more than tripled, to 13 until one neurosurgeon, John Baptist Mukasa, died of Covid in 2021.  At that, the country’s population also increased to more than 40 million people, meaning each neurosurgeon was serving slightly over three million Ugandans. The World Health Organization recommends one neurosurgeon for every 100,000 people. 

Odoi’s parents — the Rev. Denis Odoi and Mrs. Harriet Eve Odoi —  finally obtained a neurosurgeon for the brother, but after a long struggle. 

In 2007, when Odoi’s family made contact with the neurosurgeon who eventually performed a surgical procedure on the family member, they discovered that at the time they were looking for him, he was not even in town. However, when he learned of their need, he “came specifically to help my brother.” That gesture, Odoi says, left an indelible mark in his memory. When his brother got healed, Odoi made the decision that he would pursue a career in neurosurgery, to reduce the high specialist-patient ratio. At year four in medical school, he seems to have walked the longer part of the journey towards achieving his dream.

Odoi, who has always been a high performer in class, attended Victorious Primary School and the elite King’s College, Budo for both O’level and A’level Both schools are in central Uganda. Since joining university, Odoi says he has learned to be more outgoing, a virtue he will need in his profession. This has been helped by the fact that the “people in the university have a warm personality” and that the lecturers are down-to-earth and more engaging.

Had he not opted to study human medicine, Odoi says his love for reading would not have spared him from pursuing a course in literature. During his leisure time, if he is not reading a book, most probably one will find him writing an article or engaging in a brain game of chess or in the field playing hockey. It would not be surprising also to find Odoi participating in boat rides or doing nature walks.

Asked about whether he would consider working abroad, Odoi said: “Four years ago, if I had been asked that question, I would have said my goal is to study abroad, get a job and stay there.” However, his position has since changed.

“Witnessing my relatives, my friends and my brother struggle to get medical attention, I would prefer to stay in Uganda and help all those who would need my services.”

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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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As early as Senior Three, Sharma Yash Pareshkaumer had already made up his mind to pursue a career in medicine

Medical course exposes Sharma to challenges of profession


As early as Senior Three, Sharma Yash Pareshkaumer had already made up his mind to pursue a career in medicine
As early as Senior Three, Sharma Yash Pareshkaumer had already made up his mind to pursue a career in medicine

By Pauline Luba
When Sharma Yash Pareshkumar was admitted to Uganda Christian University (UCU) to pursue a degree in human medicine, it brought him closer to realising his dream of wearing the white coat. However, events that unfolded soon after left him with more questions than answers if, indeed, he had made the right decision to pursue a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery.

As early as Senior Three, Sharma had made up his mind to pursue a career in medicine. He says his interest was supported by the fact that he was generally performing well in science subjects.

Sharma’s early years of study at UCU, however, exposed him to the real challenges met by many who are pursuing the course, as well as those already practising it. Some staff members lost the battle to Covid-19. He says the passing on of the staff made him fully understand the path that medical practitioners have to tread — even during a pandemic of a contagious disease like Covid, as others are retreating to safer environments, health workers have to take the frontline positions to save communities.

And that was not the only challenge. More recently, the outbreak of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease in Uganda also deepened his perspective on the duty of the medical personnel. When the Ugandan government announced the outbreak of Ebola on September 20, the 24-year-old was at Mulago Hospital during his class’s scheduled rotation of the ward rounds. He said like anyone else, it was a scary experience, since he was at the country’s main referral hospital. According to the World Health Organisation, 19 medical workers contracted the virus in Uganda, with seven of them losing the battle. Of the 142 confirmed cases, 55 died. However, on January 11, the country was declared Ebola-free.

As a first-year student in 2019, Sharma says studies took up almost his entire time. Matters were even made worse by the kind of grades he obtained, which he said did not reflect the amount of time he was devoting to the course. However, with time, faith, planning and more reading, Sharma says his grades progressively improved. 

“I enjoy breaking down difficult things. In my time here, I have gained confidence, a better attitude and shifted from being impulsive to being calm,” says Sharma, a Ugandan of Indian descent and a son of Sharma Paresh, an engineer and Mrs Sharma Damayanti, an accountant.

He attended Buganda Road Primary School, Makerere College School for his O’level and Mengo Secondary School for his A’level. Sharma says he learned about UCU through a friend who was already studying at the institution. The year-four student, a Hindu by faith, said he was drawn to the university because of the similarities between its core values and his religious beliefs.

“I related the university’s core values to my faith. As much as you can find differences in religion, some values relate, like the belief and worship of God, humility and faith. I believed UCU would be the perfect environment for me to study in,” Sharma explained as he defended the choice of the university. 

He says sometimes he attends fellowship at the university because, according to him, the teachings are universal. 

Once he becomes doctor, Sharma hopes to be part of a campaign against anxiety because he believes the condition has hindered many people from achieving their full potential.

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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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Joel Semakula, fourth-year student at UCU School of Medicine

He quit a well-paying job to study medicine at UCU


Joel Semakula, fourth-year student at UCU School of Medicine
Joel Semakula, fourth-year student at UCU School of Medicine

By Irene Best Nyapendi
At Mukwano Industries, Uganda, Joel Semakula was the employee of the year, earned a promotion, and had a salary boost on the way. But his true love was elsewhere. 

After completing secondary school, he had his sights on medicine. However, he did not make it to the shortlist to study it at Makerere University. So, he thought of studying bio medical laboratory technology with a plan of upgrading to medicine later on, but this too was not possible. He settled for chemical engineering at Kyambogo University.

Once he graduated, he got a job with Mukwano, where he excelled and was recognized as employee of the year in 2018.  At that and with his heart elsewhere, he turned down a promotion and resigned.

“I always saw myself practicing medicine, and I will even do it when I am past retirement age,” he says.

The busy work schedule at Mukwano was a roadblock to studying in the demanding field of medicine. He got his savings and requested his parents to support him further to pursue the course he loves. 

Semakula (left) poses for a photo with his lecturer (center) and classmates after an oncology lecture.
Semakula (left) poses for a photo with his lecturer (center) and classmates after an oncology lecture.

“My mother believed in me and together with my family, they supported me,” he says.

He tried several times to get a vacancy at Makerere University with no success. This, however, did not break his resolve. 

To Semakula, he loves the life-saving work doctors do because it is like working together with God to give people a second chance at life. God finally answered his prayers when he applied at Uganda Christian University (UCU).

“When I heard about UCU School of Medicine, I applied and was so happy when I passed the interviews,” he says. “My mouth was filled with laughter.”

Now in his fourth year, with one more year to go, Semakula says he finds fulfillment in his work. 

“There’s satisfaction when you alleviate someone else’s suffering,” he says.

He recalls a time in year three, during junior clerkship when he answered a mother’s queries about her child’s health and the next day the woman returned asking for Semakula because she was so pleased with his services.

Semakula is determined to be an excellent surgeon. He is further encouraged by his lecturer, Dr. Mwanje Bright Anderson, who inspires him by the way he handles patients, relating to each. 

One day during a bedside teaching session at Mulago Hospital, the instructing specialist defined a surgeon as the world’s best physician who sometimes operates. 

“This stuck with me. I had simply wanted to become a surgeon, but it dawned on me that one ought to be an equally excellent physician to make a good surgeon,” he says.

Semakula joined UCU to study a course he loves, but has since fallen in love with its culture and values as well.

“At first, there was nothing particularly attractive about the school that drew me in, because I didn’t know much about it other than the widely known fact that UCU produced brilliant lawyers. But I was optimistic this would become the case with medicine,” Semakula says.

Joel Semakula’s certificate of recognition
Joel Semakula’s certificate of recognition

He confesses that the study of medicine is as tough as he imagined, but he has accepted the task because as professional doctors, they need to get everything right. He emphasizes that the oath doctors take of doing no harm to lives requires them to get it right during training.

“I have to make it, there’s no other option. I push on mostly for me, then because there are people who believe in me and importantly for the people I will serve (my patients) eventually,” Semakula vows.

Semakula is passionate about humanity and care for others. He is concerned about doctors who tend to prioritize money-making at the expense of compassionate service. He has pledged to be a good doctor that puts medical care above financial rewards. He is hopeful that when he has made good money, he will channel some into financing affordable health care for all. 

“I hope to stay true to my convictions and influence others to see the same,” he says, almost as a prayer.

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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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Celicia Rwankore, fourth-year student at UCU School of Medicine

‘I will be an extension of God’s healing hand in this world’


Celicia Rwankore, fourth-year student at UCU School of Medicine
Celicia Rwankore, fourth-year student at UCU School of Medicine

By Irene Best Nyapendi
Syringe in one hand and Bible in the other. God is at the center as Celicia Rwankore studies medicine at Uganda Christian University (UCU). Rwankore, who is in her penultimate year (fourth year) as a student of a Bachelor of Medicine, says titles such as a doctor add weight to the gospel one preaches.

 “When people see a doctor preaching, they are inspired and believe,” she says, adding that people then understand that the doctor’s achievements were made possible by his or her belief in God. 

As a Christian, Rwankore is convinced every believer must preach the gospel in their respective professions. She cites Jesus’ great commission to the disciples in the gospel of Mark 16:15: ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation…’

Rwankore regularly shares the teachings of the Bible with her colleagues in her free time after her lectures and practical classes in medicine.

She understands that Christianity, which asserts divine intervention, does not conflict with the science of healing, but rather works together. 

She references the book of Ephesians 2:10 and explains that Christians have the mandate to extend God’s creative and restorative power on earth. 

“As a Christian doctor, I believe that I will be an extension of God’s healing hand in this world,” she says. 

According to Rwankore, being a doctor does not negate the fact that she can pray for her patients – something she says they are constantly reminded of at the UCU School of Medicine. The lecturers encourage them to ‘do their best to treat patients, but the healing comes from God.’

Spending late nights in hospital wards
The demands of the profession are relentless. 

“We are basically expected to know enough material for our level (undergraduate) but that is a lot!,” she says. “This course is what I would describe as prestigious, but it comes with many high expectations from relatives and friends which is not necessarily a bad thing. However, it causes stress from time to time.”

Rwankore enjoys her stay at UCU regardless of the tight schedule which includes sometimes having to spend long hours in the wards at Mengo Hospital which could go on until late in the night. Nevertheless, all that is part of the memorable moments regardless of how hectic it may seem because she loves what she does.

 “We were usually tired, surviving on snacks, giving medication, waiting for mothers to deliver, following the doctors and nurses around, making write-ups, having the most random conversations and sleeping at desks at 3 a.m. yet we expected to be in lectures at 7 a.m.,” she says about the roller coaster schedule.

She loves medical camps because she interacts with many folks whose lives she impacts positively through teaching them how to keep healthy as she checks their vitals such as measuring blood pressure.

“I am so happy to take part in the medical camps because it is an opportunity for me to help my community even before I can become a fully-fledged doctor,” she says.

Rwankore never despairs amidst or after the daunting tasks. She believes challenges are everywhere and part of life.

“I am proud to say that I have always been determined to be a medical doctor regardless of the challenges that come my way. I find solutions and move on,” she said. “I think that’s because I really enjoy what I am doing.”

As part of staying on course, Rwankore seeks out experienced doctors who share with her their first-hand accounts of the job.  Such moments revitalize her quest and offer the much-needed courage to soldier on.

Rwankore chose being a doctor to save lives. “You can understand the difference doctors make. Remember when you felt like death was calling you, but then you walked into a hospital only to leave feeling much better after what the doctor said or did,” she says.

The 23-year-old already has plans for studying a masters in Orthopedics. But for now, she looks forward to completing her senior clerkship (which is in their fifth and final year) and internship. 

In the meantime, Rwankore is very busy with classes and assignments, and understandably hard to get because of her tight schedule. She is not complaining about anything because she is in the company of a close-knit UCU community, where people care about one another.

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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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Peter Kabuye removing carious tissue from a patient’s tooth at UCU dental clinic

‘I am grateful to UCU for its competent dental team’


Peter Kabuye removing carious tissue from a patient’s tooth at UCU dental clinic
Peter Kabuye removing carious tissue from a patient’s tooth at UCU dental clinic

By Irene Best Nyapendi
The career journey of Uganda Christian University (UCU) School of Dentistry student Peter Kabuye started out with bumps. In 2018, Kabuye was staring at a bleak future after missing out on studying dentistry at Makerere University, which he thought was the only institution with the program. 

“When I was informed by one colleague of mine about UCU’s plan to start a School of Dentistry, I was extremely positive and happy that I was finally going to pursue a Bachelor of Dental Surgery,” Kabuye says. 

Peter Kabuye doing an oral surgery during one of the trainings at Mulago Hospital in Kampala
Peter Kabuye doing an oral surgery during one of the trainings at Mulago Hospital in Kampala

UCU started the course in August 2018 to fill the gap of dentists in Uganda. Uganda Dental Association estimates that the country has only about 320 dentists licensed to practice in a population of over 45 million – that is a ratio of one dental surgeon for 146,000 people. The recommended dentist-population ratio should be 1:7,500, according to the World Health Organisation. 

Kabuye says he ventured into dentistry because he wants to be an agent of change and influence in the oral health care sector globally. He is passionate about promoting oral health and preventing oral diseases in his community.

“There is still much to do in regards to promoting oral health,” he says. “I feel I am destined for greatness and I am inspired by Dr. Martin Aliker, to start up my own dental clinic,”. Dr Aliker is distinguished among Uganda’s first dental surgeons and with the first black-owned private dental practice in East Africa.

UCU’s holistic education
Kabuye is full of praises for the teaching staff of professional doctors that strive to impart medical professionalism at the school. “Dentistry being one of the most expensive programs, I dearly appreciate UCU for providing the clinic, equipment and meeting all the requirements needed to enhance our learning,” Kabuye says.

Kabuye performs a scaling and polishing procedure at UCU dental clinic
Kabuye performs a scaling and polishing procedure at UCU dental clinic

Students have a fully-fledged dental clinic where they are able to practice under the supervision of a doctor. “I am so grateful to UCU for its competent and good dental team which gives us skills of the practice that any student would want,” he adds.

It is a blessing to study at UCU because it teaches a complete education that includes spirituality. The staff and students gather for special worship for an hour, twice every week. Kabuye acknowledges that such fellowships have improved his spiritual life as a Christian.

“Every community worship session is a platform for learning. There’s always something to learn – for instance, when they preached about addiction and sexuality, I had a lot to learn during the session,” he recalls. 

He says he has learned to be patient and honest, traits that have enabled him to handle patients properly.

Kabuye believes that one needs God in order to be a good dental surgeon. He explains that as dentists, they not only talk to their patients about the physical wellbeing, but also about their spiritual life.

 “Some things are beyond human understanding, and one just needs God,” he quips.

Kabuye (second from the left) poses for a photo with colleagues after a community outreach organized by Uganda Dental Association at Makerere Dental School in Kampala
Kabuye (second from the left) poses for a photo with colleagues after a community outreach organized by Uganda Dental Association at Makerere Dental School in Kampala

Now, in his final semester of the five-year course, Kabuye is fully motivated to be a dental surgeon that goes beyond making money, to one who serves humanity. He has pledged to sensitize communities about oral health education, especially to the vulnerable through dental outreaches.

Kabuye is a man on a mission inspired by the vision to “see patients leave with a smile on their faces” after attending to them. He will graduate this July a proud first UCU alumnus of the school of dentistry, who saw it blossom from a department under the school of medicine on its inception to morphing into a school in 2021.

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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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Ddungu said his ultimate goal in life is to fulfill God’s purpose for him

UCU’s Ddungu narrates journey to School of Medicine


Ddungu said his ultimate goal in life is to fulfill God’s purpose for him
Ddungu said his ultimate goal in life is to fulfill God’s purpose for him

By Pauline Luba
Tendo Jethro Ddungu long dreamed of being a doctor. However, it was not until he got to Senior Four that he shared his desires with his father, a specialist in public health. Upon receiving the news of his son’s career passion, Dr. Peter Ddungu did not think twice. He straightaway told his son to choose another career. Dr. Peter’s stand shocked his son, who had imagined his father, whom he looked up to, would be proud of him for choosing to follow in his footsteps.

But Peter had a reason for his stand. He knew medicine was not an easy course to study.  Instead, he advised Ddungu to opt for a career in engineering, which the father sensed would be less demanding academically than medicine. However, Ddungu stuck to his guns.

“I understood the weight of the medicine course from an early age,” Ddungu said. “If I felt I was not up to the task, I would not have expressed interest.” 

Upon seeing the determination of Ddungu, Dr. Peter eventually respected the wishes of his son. He thus supported him to achieve his dream. Ddungu is now in year four, pursuing the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) School of Medicine in Mengo, Kampala. He hopes to become a cardiac surgeon — a specialist in surgeries on the heart, lungs and other chest organs, as well as one who diagnoses and treats the same organs.

So far, Ddungu says one of his highlights at the School of Medicine was watching a specialist perform a chest surgery in the theater last year.

“There is a saying that a surgeon needs to know when not to cut,” said Ddungu as he explained his experience in the theater watching firsthand the medical procedure. “The surgeon should also have the heart of a lion (calm, no matter the situation), the eyes of an eagle (alert and strong sight) and the hands of an angel (delicate).” 

The 23-year-old says he was able to witness this mantra as he sat through the specialist medical procedure last year. 

The ultimate goal in the life of Ddungu is to fulfill God’s purpose for him, whether in family, business or any other area. He believes UCU offers the best place for him to accomplish God’s desires for him. Part of accomplishing God’s call is taking part in leadership in the community, which Ddungu, the eldest of three children of Dr. Peter and Mrs. Elizabeth Ddungu, has participated in, unreservedly. At King’s College Budo, where he had his O’level education, Ddungu was the timekeeper. 

From Budo, he headed to Turkish Light Academy, where he studied A’level. During his time at Turkish Light Academy, Ddungu was the head of fellowship, a role he described as “difficult leadership” because the school was predominantly Muslim.

At UCU, the university Ddungu says he joined because it is known for “producing good professionals,” he has been a representative at the Uganda Christian Medical Fellowship. He also plays the guitar during community worship at UCU.

When he is not at school or in church, most likely, you will find Ddungu swimming, reading or hanging out with friends. He believes in the notion that no one can be too busy to participate in the things they love, as long as they set priorities.

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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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Mwesigwa Joy at the UCU SoM in Mengo, Kampala

Mwesigwa’s loyalty to Christianity led her to UCU SoM


Mwesigwa Joy at the UCU SoM in Mengo, Kampala
Mwesigwa Joy at the UCU SoM in Mengo, Kampala

By Kefa Senoga
Listening to Joy Mwesigwa’s path to pursuing a course in human medicine at Uganda Christian University (UCU), one cannot help but conclude that, indeed, this was a predetermined route for the 21-year-old. 

Mwesigwa was mesmerized with the world of medicine as early as age 10 when her parents — Dr. Albert Siminyu and Mrs. Resty Nanziri Siminyu — would take her to a pediatrician. Mwesigwa names one particular pediatrician, Dr Jamil Mugalu, who she says conducted his work with so much ease and admiration that it played a role in motivating her to consider joining the profession. Mugalu is a senior pediatrician at Uganda’s national referral facility, Mulago Hospital.

“I admire doctors who can make a diagnosis with ease and offer treatment that actually works while still being compassionate, kind and are able to listen to the challenges of patients and their families,” says Mwesigwa, a second-year student of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at UCU’s School of Medicine.

Mwesigwa says her heart and mind resonated with a course in medicine and surgery because “it is in line with my passion to help people, regardless of the situation, learn more about the complexities of the human body and give back to society.” 

Mwesigwa (standing, third-left) with student colleagues at the UCU SoM
Mwesigwa (standing, third-left) with student colleagues at the UCU SoM

Even at home, she says, her parents supported her choice of career by offering financial and emotional support. “My father sometimes makes medical research in line with the course units I am pursuing at university, in order to have medical conversations with me,” Mwesigwa said from her school campus in Mengo, Kampala, during an interview that was conducted online.

For the two years that Mwesigwa has sat in the classroom at the medical school, she has been able to discover that every patient is unique in their own way, which means that learning never ends.  

Because of the complexity and the exciting nature of the human body, Mwesigwa says there are many concepts she has not yet understood, but that the answer lies in her conducting more research. 

For the two years that she has been studying the course, Mwesigwa says she is already able to debunk some age-old myths that she learned in her community. One of them, for example, is that rain causes malaria. “I have learned that people in my community normally associate most fevers with malaria, which isn’t entirely true.” 

And she is well prepared to debunk many more such myths because she believes that part of the social responsibilities of a doctor is to correct the misconceptions that society has about health, medicines and vaccines.

She believes that the spread of an epidemic like the HIV chronic immune system disease in Uganda is exacerbated by the myths and misconceptions that the society is fed on. She says young people protect themselves more from pregnancy than contracting HIV, which should not be the case since HIV has no cure. 

Being a devout Christian, when Mwesigwa was making choices on where to pursue her degree course, it was obvious where her choice would be. “The fact that UCU is a university set up on Christian principles, I believed it would offer me the platform to learn to be a good doctor as I also practice my Christian values.”

In UCU, she says she has found a home with reliable friends that support her academically and spiritually. She points out key figures like the Rev. Onen Ocen Walter, the UCU SoM chaplain and lecturers like Dr. Lwanira Catherine and Dr. Gerald Tumusiime, who she says have often offered her advice.

Her choice of UCU is not surprising, given that for her secondary school, she attended Gayaza High School and Seeta High School — schools with a firm foundation on religious doctrine. At Seeta High School, she was the head-girl, president of the school’s Interact Club and the head of the ushers in the school chapel. At UCU, she is the secretary of the Writers’ Society of the university’s School of Medicine and a choir leader in the same school.

The virtues that Mwesigwa says she possesses — honesty, patience, kindness and being a collaborative team player — are vital for her career growth. In fact, she hopes to take advantage of them to see how far they can propel her into achieving a specialty in neurosurgery and a doctorate in medicine.  

She also hopes to be able to set up a health facility and extend free medical camps to the underprivileged, with support from donors. And to be able to extend pro bono services to the community, Mwesigwa would desire practicing her profession in Uganda. 

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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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