Category Archives: Students

UCU’s engineering students help solve road construction challenge

May 21, 2021Faculty of Engineering, Design & Technology, News, StudentsPatty Huston-Holm

UCU’s Civil Engineering students take measurements on Bishop Tucker Road in Mukono, recently.

By Sempa Ivor and Joseph Lagen
To them, it is coursework. To the community, it is a solution to a longstanding challenge. As Joseph Wasswa, 21, and Freanor Akora, 22, embark on pre-repair road tests on one of the roads adjacent to the university, there is hope from the community, especially the vendors who have been spending a considerable part of the day wiping dust off their merchandise on display.

Wasswa and Akora are part of the seven-member team of third-year students of Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering undertaking a class project on the Wandegeya-Kauga section of the Bishop Tucker Road. It’s a section outside the gates of the Uganda Christian University (UCU) main campus in Mukono.

The pre-repair road tests are expected to help inform decisions of government contractors on which resources are best suited to durably reconstruct the road that is riddled with potholes.

“We are doing a Dynamic Cone Penetration Test, which combines onsite and laboratory tests to determine the traffic load on the roads, the soil type and quality, among others,” Wasswa said. “Our findings will be shared with Mubarak Construction Company Limited, which has been contracted to repair the road.”

Stephan Ntwari, a final-year student of UCU’s program leading to Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering, is using his final research project to sort out the issue of dust on the road. Using scientific research and a unique salt, the 24-year-old Burundian national intends to make dust clouds a thing of the past on the Bishop Tucker Road.

“Having been here for five years, I took the issue of the dust on the Bishop Tucker Road personally,” Ntwari says. His answer to the dust is a spray of a calcium chloride solution.

“As opposed to using trucks to spray water on the roads daily, because of the soil’s poor water retention abilities, calcium chloride can only be applied once in three months – which, in the long term, is way cheaper than water,” Ntwari explains.

While less expensive, would that not come at a cost to the environment? Ntwari’s answer is no.

“The amount of calcium chloride used is too negligible to cause any harm,” he said.

However, the part of the road being sprayed should be more than eight meters (26 feet) from any natural water source. Anything closer would mean runoff water, especially during rain, can pollute the water source with the chemical.

The project works of the students are made possible through a partnership between UCU’s Faculty of Science and Technology and the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA). UNRA is a government agency authorized to develop and maintain the national roads.

“This partnership came into being in 2018 and serves two purposes – building the experience of our students and developing the surrounding community,” said Rogers Tayebwa, the head of the Department of Civil Engineering at UCU. “We have seen its fruits and we are optimistic for more.”

Certainly, there are challenges in the projects on the roads.

“It has been raining and rain is not an ideal weather for road works; but we are grateful for the chance to apply our classroom knowledge,” Akor said, beaming under her construction helmet. “Many do not get such an opportunity until they go for internship.”

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

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UCU commissions Covid-19 Student Taskforce for peer-to-peer assistance

May 19, 2021COVID-19, News, StudentsPatty Huston-Holm

Guild officials who are part of the UCU Covid-19 Student Taskforce pose for a photo after being commissioned.

By Ivan Tsebeni
Uganda Christian University (UCU) management and student leaders have commissioned a Covid-19 Student Taskforce to further ensure the safety of learners.

The group of 244 students was tasked with coordinating health activities related to Covid-19 in the university.

The team was equipped with several skills, such as how to maintain a clean facemask and how to detect students with high body temperatures. This, the university argued, is intended to help the task force identify possible Covid-19 cases among the students and how to offer health assistance to those affected while keeping the larger student body and staff safe. They are, thus, expected to ensure that students practice social distancing, wear masks and always wash their hands at the different water points within the university.

All education institutions in Uganda were shut down in March last year in order to eliminate concentration centres for the coronavirus. After six months of lockdown, final-year students were allowed to report to school in October 2020. Universities and other tertiary education institutions were reopened to the rest of the students in March 2021.

Some of the UCU student coronavirus task force

During the launch of the UCU student taskforce on March 19, Dr. Geoffrey Mulindwa, the Director of Medical Services at the university’s Allan Galpin Clinic, urged members of the student task force to encourage students to adhere to the set standard operating procedures.

Mulindwa, who is the vice-chairperson of the UCU Covid-19 Taskforce said the university lost two people to the deadly virus since March 2020 and that there were some who had contracted the virus, but got healed.

“We are not immune from the pandemic; our staff, about six of them, got infected,” he said. “But I thank God that since we reopened for physical classes this year, we have not had any new cases.”

Mulindwa used the opportunity to rally people to get the Covid-19 vaccination, saying it is one sure way of protecting oneself. He thanked the university employees who had heeded the call and got vaccinated.

UCU Guild President Kenneth Agaba Amponda welcomed the idea of forming the Covid-19 Student Taskforce. He said the main priority of the guild government is to ensure that students are safe by adhering to the Ministry of Health guidelines.

He asked the university to provide T-shirts and tags to students, to help intensify the campaign against the pandemic. He promised to contribute some money from the coffers of the guild government, if the university buys his idea of intensifying the sensitisation campaign about the effects of Covid-19 and how to keep safe.

The student in charge of health affairs in the UCU guild government, Benjamin Bikongo, noted that the adherence of the students to the Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 prevention was good. “I can testify that many students are minding about their health. I, however, urge them to continue observing the set guidelines,” he said.

Garry Murungi, one of the members of the taskforce, lauded the university for the initiative, saying it would keep many students safe.

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

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UCU law graduate mints cash out of tourism

May 12, 2021News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of LawPatty Huston-Holm

UCU students of Bachelor of Governance on a study trip to Sipi Falls that was coordinated by Ecstacy Ventures Tourism and Travel

By Gloria Katya
The ultimate goal of many students who pursue a course in law in Uganda is to join legal practice. However, for Joackim Mumbere, the story was different.

After spending four years at Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) Law School, the 26-year-old did not proceed to the Law Development Centre to pursue a diploma in legal practice, which would enable him become an advocate.

CEO of Ecstasy Ventures, Joackim Mumbere, with Miss Tourism Eastern Uganda at Sipi Falls

Mumbere instead opted to venture into tourism. While a student at UCU, Mumbere started a tour and travel company. He realized that tourism was a lucrative venture when he joined the Rotaract Club of UCU in 2014. As the chairperson of the club, he was put in charge of organizing trips, dinners and picnics for club members.

The experience Mumbere garnered from organizing such events soon changed his career path.

In his second year, Mumbere started a tourism and travel company called Ecstasy Ventures. Mostly on weekends, he promoted and conducted business of the company.

In 2018, following his graduation with a bachelor of laws from UCU, Mumbere returned to his company, as his colleagues hit the streets to search for jobs.

With him in the steering of the business, it expanded its clientele rapidly. Mumbere organized dozens of trips, weddings, parties, graduation parties and boat cruises for clients.

“I also worked with many corporate companies, such as Jumia and banks, and my network grew,” he says. He credits the rate of expansion of his business to the special services that he says he offered.

“My company organizes movies, campfires and celebrates birthday parties during the trips.”

Mumbere earns between sh500,000 (about $136) and sh1,00,000 (about $272) per trip he organizes.

“I organize two-three trips every month, but my dream is to double the number,” he said.

Mumbere’s company is online, but his dream is to secure physical space (offices) for it soon.

Studying law has helped Mumbere to realize the importance of documenting every transaction with clients, so that people don’t cheat him.

“With my law background, I am not easily intimidated by certain classes of customers because I know what the law requires,” he said.

Mumbere’s dream in the next five years is to grow the company so that it can acquire more assets, travel cars, land and at least a lodge in one of the national game parks. He urges students to embrace academics, as well as their talents.

“UCU has a lot of co-curricular activities that can make students successful in life, if well exploited,” he said.

Mumbere says his parents – David and Teopista Mayanja of Kasese district in western Uganda – are proud of his business acumen. Mumbere’s law lecturer at UCU, Samson Wanambuko, says he is not surprised by what his former student has achieved.

“He was a good, inquisitive student who used to participate in class, and was always eager to learn. He is very intelligent,” Wanambuko said.

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‘You were born to pass’

May 10, 2021COVID-19, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of BusinessPatty Huston-Holm

Asaph Lee Nsadha showing one of his products.

By Yasiri. J. Kasango
Somewhere in 18th century America the expression “shirt off your back” evolved to refer to the generosity of a person who would give up his/her possessions to help another. For Asaph Lee Nsadha, it means a quality shirt on your back – and front – and a way to make ends meet for him.

The Uganda Christian University (UCU) alum of a Diploma in Business Administration is an unplanned entrepreneur of T-shirts. Here’s how it fell into his lap during the Covid-19 pandemic year:

In late 2020, he worked in marketing for somebody else for sh300,000 (about $80) a month.
After 1.5 months, he was terminated without written reason and with no payment for the work he had done.
In January 2020, he re-joined UCU to expand his diploma to a Bachelor’s in Public Administration.
In March 2020 and because of a government-mandated education shutdown, he was both out of a job and out of education designed to provide him credentials to get another job.
In April 2020, his former employer paid him the money he was owed.
He used some of the money to start a business.

Asaph Lee Nsadha with a shirt printed by his business

The birth of Nsadha’s new idea of making money coincided with the government’s lifting of the three-month ban on private transport in Uganda. In June 2020, when the ban on movement of private vehicles was lifted, Nsadha opened an art store, to do fabric printing.

In order to have a fully stocked workshop, he needed sh7,000,000 (about $1,800). From that money, he could acquire a heating press estimated at sh1.5million (about $406). He also needed a plotter, a laptop, rent for his work station and the clothes, such as T-shirts, to start with, among others. That money was not available. But Nsadha’s will and determination was.

“Whenever my late grandfather sent me a success card as we approached national exams, he often wrote a quote ‘You were born to pass’,” Nsadha said. This statement has been the driving force in his business ventures. He translates this statement to imply that in everything he does, he is meant to succeed.

He started his art store with sh150,000 (about $40.60). He could take orders from customers through social media. He says he took advantage of social media to avoid middlemen. He also asked his friends and relatives to refer people to his business.

By the time government reopened schools in October 2020, Nsadha’s business had picked up, but he had to strike a balance between his work and studies. He managed to find time for class and his business, too. For now, he takes orders from his clients during the week and works on their requests over the weekend.

He adds that the biggest challenge he faces is people not trusting him. Since there are many scammers online, clients find it difficult to trust him with their money before he delivers. However, he says due to lack of equipment, he is forced to demand a deposit of 50% from the clients.

“There is a time I got an order worth sh1million (about $270),” Nsadha said. “The client asked me whether I had guarantee for his business.”

He asked the client to deposit half of the money. She paid, hesitantly. He says he worked and delivered the products. The client appreciated and recommended more clients to him.

According to Reagan Muyinda, one of Nsadha’s clients, the products are unique.

“I placed orders for him to do printing on five T-shirts,” Muyinda said. “He made the products and delivered on time. The T-shirts were good and durable. Whenever, I think fabric printing, he is the answer.”

Nsadha has not yet registered his company. He expects to do so when he gets a permanent location for it.

Nsadha advises youth to follow their hearts in whatever they want to do, arguing that it is only then that one can give whatever they do “their all.”

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Former UCU guild president and Partners-sponsored student is newly elected alumni leader

May 7, 2021News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Social SciencesPatty Huston-Holm

Wabwire sensitizing the youth about their rights in the Kampala suburbs in a campaign designed by Faraja Africa. Photo/Faraja Media Team.

By Lule Eriah
It is not the first time that Wabwire Emmanuel’s name is being etched on the annals of Uganda Christian University (UCU). From 2012-2013, Wabwire was the university’s guild president as he pursued a Bachelor’s in Development Studies.

When he left the university in 2013, if some people thought it was the end of his relationship with the institution, they were wrong. On March 5, 2021, Wabwire renewed his leadership relationship with UCU, when he assumed another role – chairperson of the UCU Alumni Association.

Those who have been close to Wabwire narrate how the 30-year-old has been a leader throughout his life. To close associates, Wabwire’s victory in the polls is simply one more testament to the fact that he never tires from service.

Wabwire is currently the Gold Award Winner of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, a non-formal education and learning youth program currently operating in more than 130 countries. The awards were founded in the UK in 1956 by the late Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

Wabwire during the alumni presidential debate held early this year.

Wabwire, a holder of a Master’s in Business Administration from the Catholic University of Milan, is currently the Executive Director of Faraja Africa Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that deals in digital story-telling and youth leader-mentorship.

Former students speak glowingly of Wabwire’s tenure as UCU guild president.

“He created a bridge between student leadership and the administration, which was quite a hard thing to do during that time,” Ronald Awany, a former student and now a communications assistant at UCU, says.

But that was then. Now, Wabwire said he wants to establish a leadership and business incubator for both UCU alumni and the entire UCU community. He intends to use the incubator to mobilize resources in order to avail UCU alumni, among other beneficiaries, loans and/ or grants for businesses.

Besides his impeccable leadership background, Wabwire also credits his tech savviness for giving him an edge over his competitors in the race for the alumni association chairperson. The campaigns were digital and the elections online, through the E-Chagua – an online voting application created by the university’s ICT department. Eligible voters would receive links through their email addresses registered prior to the voting day and, follow it to vote for the candidate of their choice.

Daphine Kumakune, the alumni office administrator, says voter sensitization and calls for voter registration were done on different social media platforms and reminders sent through emails to active members.

“I know it was a low turn-up, but, still, I was very sure of victory because I had campaigned very well and my voters knew what I had in my manifesto,” Wabwire said.

Background
Wabwire is the third of four children of Henry Nicholas Wabwire from Mbale in eastern Uganda. Growing up from a simple, God-fearing background, Wabwire’s spirit for leadership erupted at a tender age.

“I have been a leader from nursery school, where I was the class monitor. In primary school, I was a prefect and eventually became the head prefect,” he says. “In secondary school, I held many leadership positions in school clubs. However, the highest of them all was deputy head prefect.”

From 2008-2009, he worked with the Red Cross as the National Youth Council Treasurer for Mbale district. Later, in the same organization, he was assigned to lead the task force that oversaw rescue and rehabilitation at the occurrence of a major landslide that had left many homeless in Bududa and Butaleja districts, in the eastern Uganda. He was also the District General Secretary for the Uganda National Students Association for Mbale district.

Wabwire believes his service with Red Cross tickled his soft spot for charity work. “Initially, I wanted to be a lawyer, but after the Red Cross experience, I changed my mind into community service and social work,’’ Wabwire said, noting that the change of mind shifted his interest to development studies.

Like it usually is with many students, Wabwire struggled financially. During one of the semesters, he had failed to raise tuition fees. However, Uganda Partners was at hand to intervene.

“But I was saved by Uganda Partners, which topped up sh500,000 (about $137) on my tuition,” Wabwire said. “And I give them credit for their support toward students,” he added.

For now, we wait to see the fruits of Wabwire’s business incubator idea that he plans to implement during his term of office.

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UCU alumnus applies law degree skills as police officer

May 5, 2021News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of LawPatty Huston-Holm

ASP Beyanga Cornelius poses in his police official uniform at one of the events at Naguru Police Headquarters. Photo by Police Media Team

By Lule Eriah

When Cornelius Beyanga was completing his Bachelor of Laws course at Uganda Christian University (UCU), he attended a talk during the institution’s Career Week. The presentation facilitator, then Uganda’s head of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, made a case for why it was beneficial for graduates to join the Police force. He made specific reference to a need for recruits with legal knowledge.

Having had a background of family members serving in the armed forces, Beyanga already saw working in the police or military forces as one professional option. Beyanga had three uncles who were serving in the military. The magnetic pull toward that work was made stronger during the career week talk.

When he completed school, Beyanga enrolled into the Police. And he was not alone with his legal background.

ASP Beyanga conducts a workshop in one of the Uganda police academies in the country early this year.

“During our entry into Police in 2014, we were 47 lawyers who joined,” Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Beyanga, a UCU 2011 Bachelor of Laws graduate, recalled. “I thank UCU for the Career Week that it organized. It is because of those career talks that I am what you see.”

He currently works in the Directorate of Human Rights and Legal Services of the Uganda Police, where he sits on a panel of six prosecutors of a Police tribunal. The tribunal was established as an internal mechanism for trying errant Police officers and guiding the Police disciplinary process. Beyanga’s work includes orientation of new recruits on the Police ethical codes of conduct in Police academies all over the country.

Before his current position in the Police, which he assumed in 2018, Beyanga was the deputy officer in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), in Lwengo, a district in central Uganda. He also served as the Officer in Charge of Lamwo district in northern Uganda, from 2016-2017.

Dr. Anthony Kakooza, a former dean of the Faculty of Law, said: “I am pleased to see my students prosper in different fields. This encourages me to share knowledge more and enforce discipline in order to develop our nation.”

Edith Kamakune, the outgoing speaker of the UCU Alumni Association and Beyanga’s former classmate, is not surprised by achievements in the Police. “Our class was full of serious people. No wonder, Beyanga is in the Police to fight for the oppressed as he used to say,” she added.

When he rests his gun, Beyanga’s other hand picks up a hoe. He owns an agro-produce company called Cousin Factor Uganda Limited, established in Mbarara, western Uganda. This produces coffee, bananas and also deals in livestock farming.

“I am working hard to become one of the remarkable farmers in the country,” Beyanga, who hopes to make a demonstration, says. The father of two children, he is married to an alumna of UCU.

He hopes his colleagues in the forces can borrow a leaf out of his entrepreneurial endeavors, so that they diversify their sources of income while making a positive impact in various careers.

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Two UCU soccer players help team secure 5th trophy

April 30, 2021News, Sports, Students, UCU AlumniPatty Huston-Holm

Fred Atuhwera, UCU student and star soccer player with the Gomba Lions

By Ivor Sempa and Joseph Lagen

Two final-year students of Uganda Christian University (UCU) were among the players who helped their team win a soccer tournament at the finals played at the picturesque St. Mary’s Stadium, Kitende, off Entebbe Road. For their outstanding performance, Fred Atuhwera, Derrick Mbowa and teammates helped their team – Gomba Lions – walk home with a sh12m (about $3,300) cash prize after roaring past the Buddu Buddu Football Club (FC).

Part of the award money is distributed among the football players and part supports administration of the club.

Twenty-three-year-old Fred Atuhwera is a final-year student of Bachelor of Business Administration, while Derrick Mbowa, 24, is pursuing a Bachelor of Procurement & Logistics Management course, also in his final year.

The Masaza Cup tournament, held since 2004, was one of the sports activities affected by the Covid-19 lockdown imposed on sports in the country last year. As a result, the competition, which usually attracts a record number of spectators in the country, started six months later, in December 2020. The finals, held on March 6, were played behind closed-doors to fans. Attendance was only by invitation. The tournament is played by the local administrative units in Buganda, called counties. Buganda is the biggest kingdom in Uganda.

Atuhwera, a three-time winner of the Masaza Cup, is a central defensive midfielder. UCU also has had the opportunity of benefitting from his immense talent. In 2019, Atuhwera helped UCU win the soccer league of Uganda’s University Games.

Atuhwera’s three medals in the Masaza Cup have come with three different teams – Mawokota in 2015, Buddu in 2016 and the most recent, Gomba.

UCU student and soccer player, Derrick Mbowa

On the other hand, Derrick Mbowa is an attacking midfielder on UCU’s soccer team, the Cardinals. For four years, Mbowa has been part of the university soccer team, until 2020, when he retired from competitive university sports. Mbowa has also previously played for other counties in the Masaza Cup, such as Kyaggwe FC.

When asked about the performance of Atuhwera and Mbowa, the coach of Gomba Lions, Ambrose Kirya, said: “These two players have helped the team win and their names will remain etched in the Masaza Cup history.”

For his outstanding performance, Atuhwera was named the best central defensive midfielder of the 2020 competition, while Mbowa scored one of the three goals that helped his team roar to victory.

Kirya lauded the vibrancy of Uganda’s University League, saying it is from there that he scouted Atuhwera and Mbowa. He tasked other universities with borrowing a leaf from the books of UCU’s level of organisation and commitment to develop the game of soccer.

Atuhwera said: “Winning has always been a part of me. While I am excited, it is normal for me to win trophies as I have done back home at UCU. Winning for UCU brings me particularly more joy because I get to represent the university’s students.”

Mbowa, who will be leaving the university soon, pledged commitment to help his alma mater, even when he is out. “I am proud to have served UCU and I pledge to bring more young talent to the university, in order to grow the team,” he said, adding: “I send my appreciation to all those in UCU who have always believed in me.”

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Work on UCU’s Bishop Tucker Road stalls

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

Part of the Bishop Tucker Road that is tarmacked

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

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

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

Part of the Bishop Tucker Road that is not tarmacked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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UCU students wash cars to raise money for sanitary pads

April 21, 2021News, Students, UCU School of Social SciencesPatty Huston-Holm

Bachelor of Human Rights, Peace and Humanitarian Intervention students pose while washing cars to raise money for teaching youth how to make re-usable sanitary pads.

By Dalton Mujuni
The day was March 12, 2021. The venue, Uganda Christian University (UCU) parking yard. The activity, car wash. The university was witnessing one of its first student-led charity activities upon their return from a year-long break, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A disturbing statistic drove the charity activity. The Non-Governmental Organization, World Vision, reports that insufficient menstrual hygiene management is responsible for 10% of the dropout rate of girls in primary schools in Uganda. The data unsettled a group of UCU third-year Bachelor of Human Rights, Peace and Humanitarian Intervention students, up to the point of organizing a fund-raising car wash.

The students are targeting girls in Bugujju, a poor neighborhood near the university’s Mukono campus, with basic menstrual hygiene necessities. Suzan Venusto Kaluma, one of the students, said their intention is to empower up to 100 youths in Bugujju with skills in making re-usable sanitary pads. The car wash has given them a financial boost to kick-start possible other activities; the students collected sh200,000 (about $55) in one day of washing cars.

Whereas a pack of disposable sanitary pads can cost as low as $1, many children from poor families in Uganda cannot afford them. According to the World Bank, more than a third of Uganda’s population lives below $1.9 a day.

Previously, the government had promised to give school girls free sanitary pads, but the promise did not materialize. The government later said it had no funds to implement the promise. Money raised by UCU students will allow the purchase of cloth the girls can use to make pads that can be washed for re-use.

Kaluma said they were concerned about the high school dropout levels in Uganda that are attributed to the lack of self-esteem caused by insufficient access to sanitary pads by young girls.

She noted that high poverty levels in the country were the root cause of the challenges the young girls face and that it was the reason they were compelled to consider equipping youth with skills to make re-usable pads.

The team leader of the students, Emmanuel Sanyu, said: “Bureaucracy in Uganda has caused a big gap between the central government and the people at the grassroots, compelling young leaders like us to step forward and fill the gap with such initiatives, so as to mitigate the effects of this divide.”

The students expressed their gratitude to the university administration for supporting them with free water to use for washing cars.

They also said the Director of Students Affairs, Mrs. Bridget Mugume K. Mugasira, had promised them some financial assistance through her department.

Sandra Abara, a student from Makerere University Business School (MUBS), who participated in the campaign, said there were similar campaigns at her university.

The same group conducted a similar project for Bidibidi Refugee camp in northern Uganda in February 2020, where they empowered hundreds of youths with the life skills. In Bidibidi, they taught the camp settlers the skill of making reusable pads and also used a football game to sensitise the residents about the dangers of domestic violence.

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

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

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

By Yasiri J. Kasango

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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‘Mummy, I have told you, I want to pray alone.’

April 7, 2021News, Students, UCU School of BusinessPatty Huston-Holm

House of Rest existed as a church for over a decade on the top floor of the famous Fido Dido building on Kampala Road. Photo by Jimmy Siyasa

By Jimmy Siyasa and Joseph Lagen

On July 2, 2021, and during Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) 22nd graduation, Lorita Blessy Asiimwe will receive a Faculty of Business and Administration Bachelor of Human Resource Management degree – posthumously.

Lorita Blessy Asimwe, a victim of the March 2021 building collapse, was slated to graduate in July 2021 with a BA in Human Resource Management.

She will not have a physical presence to cap off 19 years of study from primary through postsecondary. Her young, lifeless body was pulled on March 16 from a partially collapsed church where, ironically, she had gone to pray for a long life and prosperity. Asiimwe, who joined UCU in 2017, was among the more than 30 members of the Kampala, Uganda, House of Rest Church who had gathered for lunchtime prayers on the fateful day.

Eyewitnesses said when the church had a power outage, a technician climbed to the ceiling to see if he could fix the problem. However, that was not to be. He came tumbling down with the ceiling onto the worshippers.

Asiimwe was among those critically injured. She and other worshippers were rushed to the Mulago National Referral Hospital. There, she passed away.

At first, there were no indications that this Tuesday was unusual for Asiimwe. However, as others look back at events of the day, there were signs of difference.

Her mother, Ritah Bagyenda, had gone with her for the lunchtime fellowship at the church located on the top-most floor of an aging building on Kampala Road. Oddly, Asiimwe declined to sit with her mother for the fellowship.

“Mummy, I have told you, I want to pray alone. Please let me be,” Bagyenda quoted her daughter as telling her. Asiimwe sat on the side of the church that was badly affected by the collapsed ceiling. Bagyenda escaped unscathed.

A woman who preferred anonymity and claimed to be a survivor of the accident, showed Asiimwe’s photo off her phone to curious onlookers just after the collapse of the ceiling. Her account corroborated that of Bagyenda.

“They sat on opposite sides of the church. I saw her mother walk to her side before the start of the service. After failing to convince her daughter to sit with her, the woman went back to her seat,” the woman, who in her late twenties, said of Bagyenda and Asiimwe.

Another woman, identified as Maama Naava, also succumbed to injuries sustained in the accident.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Geoffrey Sam Oyelolobo at the Kampala Central Police Station said they were investigating the cause of the collapse of the ceiling.

In January 2020, six builders were killed and three others sustained serious injuries when a building under construction collapsed on them in the Kampala suburb of Kansanga. In May 20019, five people lost their lives after a wall fence collapsed on them during a downpour.

Asiimwe was buried in Kayunga district, central Uganda. Among the mourners at her burial was UCU Guild President Kenneth Amponda.

“We went to console with the family of our sister and colleague,” Amponda said. “The collapse of the ceiling was an accident, but it took away someone dear to us.”.

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Covid-19: UCU revises graduation program for 2021

March 31, 2021COVID-19, News, StudentsPatty Huston-Holm

UCU Graduates celebrate after graduation ceremony on October 11, 2019.

By Ivan Tsebeni

Uganda Christian University (UCU) has announced that this year’s graduation ceremonies will be held in July and October – a departure from the usual March, July and October ceremonies. Another change in the ceremonies will be their virtual nature, as opposed to the usual in-person attendance, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A memo to the students, signed by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. John Kitayimbwa, says the July 2 event also will involve the other campuses and constituent colleges of UCU. The university has two constituent colleges – Bishop Barham University College, Kabale, and UCU Mbale University College – and three campuses – in Mukono, Kampala and Arua.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, UCU would hold three graduation ceremonies at the main campus in March, July and October and one at each of its constituent colleges during a 12-month period. The two constituent colleges would hold their ceremonies a few weeks after the primary one at the main campus. However, world over, the disruptive effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have made institutions to move to a fully virtual graduation ceremony or a hybrid one, with just a handful of the graduands attending in person.

Graduates excited after their graduation at UCU Mukono-based campus in July 2018.

Kitayimbwa said no student will be allowed to graduate before clearing with all the university’s departments. The July event, which will be the 22nd graduation of the university, will also be the second time UCU holds a virtual graduation, after its maiden online event held on December 18, 2020. In the December 2020 graduation, only guild officials and graduands who had attained a first-class degree were allowed to attend in person.

UCU’s Director of Teaching and Learning, Dr. Olivia Nassaka Banja, noted that the effects of the coronavirus pandemic have made it impossible to run a normal graduation plan of up to five in-person ceremonies a year. Dr. Banja said the decision on when to hold the graduation ceremony was made by the University Council.

“Covid-19 has disrupted the program, so the University Council thought it wise to hold the graduation only in July and October, to give students ample time to clear their dues and the transcripts office to finalize the processes (of getting the transcripts and certificates ready),” she said.

Commenting about the changes, Prof. Monica Chibita, the Dean of Faculty of Journalism, Communication and Media Studies, said everyone is in a “period of reading and learning” how to live in a new normal and that she was sure the university will “go forward,” despite the existing challenges.

Janet Natula, a final-year student of the Bachelor of Social Work and Social Administration course, said although the new arrangement has hampered the graduation plans of those who expected the ceremony to be held in March, the university had to adapt to the challenges posed by the pandemic.

Another final-year student, Andrew Semujju, pursuing Bachelors of Arts in Education, said the extension of the graduation date does not worry him much. After all, and most importantly, he has completed studies all but a ceremony.

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UCU Law Student beats decades-older candidates in election

March 29, 2021News, Students, UCU School of LawPatty Huston-Holm

By Lule Eriah

Before January 2021, the closest Mary Immaculate Wabuyele had been to politics was campaigning for other candidates.

In 2018, she was the campaign manager of Joshua Wanambwa, who was contesting for the position of Uganda Christian University (UCU) guild president. Wanambwa lost in that election. The following year, guild presidential candidate Timothy Kadaga brought Wabuyele on board as his campaign manager. This time round, Wabuyele’s candidate won.

Wabuyele during the campaign. Courtesy photo.

When Wabuyele, a fourth-year student of law at UCU, declared her intentions of contesting herself in national politics last year, she took many by surprise. It was even more surprising that the novice emerged victorious over contenders two decades older than her. For the next five years, she will represent Goma division in Mukono as a councillor in the local council three. She assumes office in June this year.

In Uganda, councillors monitor performance of the civil servants in their jurisdiction, ensure compliance of government policies, approve budgets of the respective local government, as well as monitor provision of government services.

Wabuyele attributes her victory to the support from her friends and family. The tenacity of the 23-year-old could have been passed down from her mother, Lorna Wabwire, the sole provider her daughter’s tuition especially since the death of her husband in 2018.

“I don’t know the right way to explain how Mary has brought prestige to this home,” said an emotional Wabwire. “I can’t imagine that my girl represents all these people in the division.”

Wabuyele’s poster used during campaigns. Courtesy photo.

For a novice politician who only showed up to campaign twice a week due to the stringent academic schedule of the law school, one would understand the source of Wabwire’s emotion.

“I thank God that in spite of having less time to campaign, compared to my fellow contestants, the people of Goma still trusted me with their votes,” Wabuyele said. She contested on the National Unity Platform party ticket. Many candidates who contested on the same party ticket in central Uganda emerged victorious because of the party’s popularity in the area.

Her greatest challenge during the campaign trail was the language barrier. She was reaching out to not only the uneducated people, but also people with diverse dialects, the majority of whom do not understand English.

“Since I was young and educated, if I had tried to use English during the campaigns, it would be construed as a mockery of their illiteracy,” she said. “Besides, some were already indifferent about the fact that I am a young woman who aspired to lead them.” The two contenders who Wabuyele defeated were her mother’s age.

“I was very shocked when Mary told me she had joined national politics. In fact, till now, I am still shocked she won,” Carle Uwitingiyimana, a student pursuing a course in procurement and logistics, said. “I believe one day, she will become a Member of Parliament for the area.”

For now, Wabuyele has the uphill task of elevating her impoverished community by ensuring that the government services in the area reach the intended beneficiaries. Most of the residents are subsistence farmers.

“As a woman councillor, I want to lobby for my people from this society, so that I can inspire socio-economic development in the area,” Wabuyele said. Should she achieve this goal, voters may find it easy to give her another nod for an electoral office five years from now, if she chooses to contest.

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Hostel owners hike fees as UCU students return for physical classes

March 26, 2021COVID-19, News, StudentsPatty Huston-Holm

One of the plush hostels that accommodate UCU students

By Simon Omit and Yasir J. Kasango

The excitement was palpable on February 4, 2021, when Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni gave the okay for the physical return to school of learners, starting March 1.

The permission for the return to school, which is expected to be in a phased-in manner, follows the October 2020 resumption of face-to-face learning of final-year learners, some of whom start their national exams in March 2021. Uganda closed all education institutions in March of 2020 to control the spread of the coronavirus, allowing on-line studies at mid-year.

That excitement by Uganda Christian University (UCU) students about the resumption of in-person learning was, however, short-lived when they heard the news of the increase in fees by hostels located outside the campus gates in Mukono. In some cases, these hostels had increased their fees by over 70%.

Inside the UCU main campus, students pay hostel fees per semester for accommodation in its halls of residence. At sh1.2million (about $330) to the university, a student gets housing as well as meals for the entire semester. However, the space in the halls is not adequate for all the students; hence, the need to seek accommodation in the hostels.

In justifying the increase in hostel fees, hostel proprietors argued that they had spent a year out of business, and under Covid-19 guidelines can have fewer students in their facilities. Their income has suffered. Having a smaller number of student residents in order to maintain social distancing has increased the demand for hostels around the university. For a few, it seems like an increase when actually the rent was reduced during a more restricted time and is now back to the previous rate. Many of the hostels announced their new charges in notices pasted on their gates.

Examples include:

At Jordan Hostel in Bugujju, students now pay sh605,000 (about $164) per semester, up from the sh350,000 ($94.90) that they paid last semester.
At St. Benedict Hostel, students will have to part with sh100,000 (about $27) more, up from the sh800,000 ($216) they paid last semester.
For Ndagano Hostel in Bugujju, management has increased fees from sh400,000 (about $108) to sh600,000 (about $162) for a single self-contained room. New management said they renovated the hostel during the lockdown, rebuilding rooms to be self-contained.
The non-self-contained rooms, which previously cost sh300,000 (about $81) per semester at Luna Hostel in Bugujju, are now at sh650,000 (about $176). The hostel also charges sh850,000 (about $230) for the self-contained rooms, up from sh400,000 ($108) last semester.
Orange Hostel is charging sh500,000 (about $135) this semester, up from sh300,000 (about $81).

Ritah Kaitana, a student who resides in an outside-campus hostel, said the services have improved, which could justify the increase.

“Previously, we used to fetch water from one stand tap in the hostel’s compound, but now the rooms have been fitted with taps,” she said.

The Benedict hostel manager, Jotham Kinene, echoed what other proprietors said – that the increase is intended to recoup the loses they incurred during the lockdown. Charles Nabongo, the director of the Luna Hostel, said: “Last semester, we were considerate to the students because we were just emerging from the COVID-19 lockdown.”

The proprietors of hostels are smiling, but most students are not.

Asaph Nsadha Lee, a student of business administration, said despite the increase in hostel fees, there is no innovation in the services offered. “I think the increment is because there are more students now, hence more demand for rooms.”

“The increase in prices would have been okay if we were living in normal times, but all of us have been hit by Covid-19,” said student David Awoko. “But hostel owners are still asking for exorbitant accommodation fees.” Awoko asked the university’s student leaders to engage with the hostel owners to reach a lower price compromise.

UCU’s Guild President, Kenneth Amponda Agaba, called for calm among the students as the leaders engage hostel owners.

Meanwhile, more students are weighing the less-expensive option of residing in university halls.

“I will return to Sabiti Hall inside the university, where I know that after paying sh1,200,000, (about $335), I will have access to food and shelter, unlike in hostels where only the shelter is provided,” Janat Nalukuba said.

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Excitement as students return for face-to-face classes

March 22, 2021COVID-19, News, StudentsPatty Huston-Holm

By Dalton Mujuni and Ivan Tsebeni

With excitement, students returned to Uganda Christian University (UCU) after a year-long absence. For finalists, the face-to-face reporting for classes was February 8; for the rest, it was March 1, 2021.

Their return to school follows the lifting of the ban the Ugandan government had imposed on all academic institutions in the country. On March 18, 2020, President Yoweri Museveni closed all academic institutions and banned gatherings, a move intended to limit the spread of the coronavirus. After a six-month lockdown, academic institutions were opened slowly to final-year students.

In January 2021, the government allowed universities and all institutions of higher learning to reopen in a staggered manner. Primary and secondary schools were also allowed to reopen, following the same pattern.

University students had been allowed to study online, beginning October 2020. However, the online classes in many institutions were hampered by poor internet connectivity and inadequate skills among both learners and their lecturers.

Students in the queue for registration at UCU after returning for the Easter Semester

“It’s exciting to be back for physical classes,” Gloria Adikin, a year-three student of social work and social administration, said. Adikin returned to UCU mid-February for the Easter Semester that usually starts in January and closes at the end of April.

Ruth Owomugisha, a second-year student of social work and social administration, said: “I have been missing friends, lecturers and the beautiful UCU compound…Home has many distractions that make reading and studying online difficult.”

Marvin Sseruma, a third-year student of procurement and logistics management, said the face-to-face studies will enable him engage with his lecturers more. “Most of my course units have calculations in them and require face-to-face consultation,” he said.

Sseruma appealed to the university management to revise the operation hours of the library, to enable students catch up on lost time. He said an extension from the current closing time of 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. would create ample time for revision and research.

Rinah Mumpe, a second-year law student, said the e-campus that they were using for online studies lacked the social component of learning.

“I was afraid I would fail to complete my assignments at the college if the university had not opened for physical classes. I am going to work tirelessly to accomplish my four papers, to be able to graduate on time,” Marvin Kaddu, a final-year student pursuing Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication, said.

The excitement of the resumption of physical classes at UCU spread to the students undertaking the Honor’s College Leadership mentorship program that has also been allowed to resume. The new Head of Department at the Honor’s College, Pamela Tumwebaze, said students will be able to utilize all the resources in the university, to accomplish their assignments.

According to a memo to the UCU community dated February 8, the Vice Chancellor, Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, noted that all classes for this semester will be conducted in a blended manner – a mixture of online and face-to-face.

The university has been a hive of activity, with registration of students, training of staff in online teaching, elections for student leaders and campus beautification. The Easter Semester is expected to end by April 30, for the Trinity Semester to start in May.

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UCU shares medical equipment with Mengo, Mukono hospitals

March 15, 2021News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Dentistry, UCU School of MedicinePatty Huston-Holm

Entrance to Church of Uganda Hospital in Mukono – one facility that benefited from UCU equipment donations

By John Semakula

Whenever songs of the late South African artist, Lucky Dube, are played, many music lovers in Africa strike a chord with them. One of the songs, The Hand that Giveth, makes lovers of his music go wild – not just because of the beats, but also the message in the lyrics. The message in The Hand that Giveth is derived from Acts 20:35, which says it is more blessed to give than to receive.

The most recent act by Uganda Christian University (UCU) is a replica of the message in The Hand that Giveth. The institution has shared a donation of the sh520m (about $141,488) medical equipment that it received recently from the US with three hospitals in Uganda – Mukono Church of Uganda Hospital, Mukono General Hospital and Mengo Hospital in Kampala. The three beneficiaries are UCU’s training partners for its medical and dental students.

The medical supplies and equipment was donated and transported to Uganda by MedShare, a US humanitarian organisation.

UCU’s Vice Chancellor, Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi; the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, Mr. David Mugawe; Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academics, Dr. John Kitayimbwa; and Dr. Edward Mukooza, the chairperson of the university’s health and safety committee, delivered the equipment to the hospitals.

The consignment included catheters, breast pump kits, blankets, abdominal binders, a Cook SP Tube Introducer Set, and PDB Kidney Shape Balloon. Also provided were applicators, antiseptic, swabs, Povidone Iodine 10%, cabinets, filing metal drawers, covers, face rest pad covers, disposables, thermometers, electronic probe, drapes, surgical and endoscopies.

At Mengo Hospital, UCU’s medical training school founded in 1897 by the Anglican Church, the consignment was handed over to the facility’s medical director, Dr. Rose Mutumba. Commending UCU for the gesture, she said. “UCU is walking the talk and we are excited about the fruits and the prospects of this partnership.”

At Mukono General Hospital, the donation was received by Dr. Robert Kasirye, who is in charge of the facility. Kasirye, too, expressed appreciation to UCU for the gesture. Part of the donation was delivery kits for expectant mothers. Statistics show that in Uganda, 15 women die every day from pregnancy or childbirth-related challenges. Many of the expectant mothers who die during child birth delay to reach hospitals after failing to get money to buy delivery kits, hence developing complications.

“We shall use whatever you have given us equitably to the save mothers,” Dr. Kasirye said, adding, “For long, we have had a good working relationship with UCU. The university’s program, Save the Mothers, built a shelter at this hospital, for expectant mothers. That is a plus for UCU and we shall continue working with you.”

At Mukono Church of Uganda Hospital, the Diocesan Bishop, James Williams Sebaggala, who is the chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the hospital, received the equipment and supplies.

The prelate said he was glad to receive the donation at a time when they were looking for a Good Samaritan to donate the necessary equipment.

Assoc. Prof. Mushengyezi noted that the donations were intended to further cement the relationship between UCU and the hospitals.

“We thought that as part of building our partnership in training students, we should support you also by providing some essential medical items that you need in your daily work, as you attend to patients,” he said. “We are here to show that we care for our friends by donating these supplies.”

Mushengyezi added that UCU’s first lot of medical and dental students who are in their third year now would soon be sent out for internships and asked the staff of the hospitals to accord them the necessary support.

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UCU student services reorganized as part of Covid cost-saving plan

March 12, 2021COVID-19, News, StudentsPatty Huston-Holm

UCU International students celebrate during the International Students Cultural week in 2019.

By Grace Bisoke

Uganda Christian University (UCU) has made changes in the three offices that handle student-related issues under the office of the Director of Students’ Affairs (DOSA).

Largely as a cost-cutting measure, the university fused the previously independent international student administrator’s office, the guild record’s office and the Ugandan student administrator’s office. The Covid-related, government order to close education institutions in Uganda during 2020 grossly affected the purse of various establishments, including UCU.

The Director of Students Affairs, Bridget Mugume K. Mugasira, said that in addition to cost savings, the fusion reduces the duplication of services. Previously, for example, there was a thin line between tasks handled by the guild records assistant’s and student administrator’s offices in regard to financial requests for students. The international student administrator’s office that focused on helping students from countries outside of Uganda is closed with that role assumed by the guild office.

These changes made through the UCU human resource department, which could be temporary, resulted in loss of staff positions.

“I feel sad to see some of the people under my office leave after we have built a strong relationship,” Mugume said.

While Tom Toboswa, the guild records assistant, said he stands more than ready to help the international students under the new arrangement, he likewise laments that others are without a job.

The former international student administrator, Edgar Kabahizi, said it was not easy for him to leave his previous office, but he understands the re-organization need.

“I ask the international students to support whoever will be working with them,” he said, adding: “I will also not be far away since I lecture at UCU. During the International Students Association (ISA) meetings, I will always be with them.”

“He knew his job well,” said one beneficiary of the international services, Hellen Akek Marial, a student from South Sudan. “He knew everything about that office and, even when was tired, he would never let his face show.”

Gracia Bwale, a third-year student of bachelor’s of mass communication from the Democratic Republic of Congo, said Kabahizi has left a big gap that will take time to fill. Bwale said Kabahizi was among the people who helped her fit into the university when she arrived.

Another example of UCU’s fiscal responsibility plan is the introduction of the Management Information System (MIS). The MIS helps an individual perform tasks that were previously handled by other people, rendering some office positions obsolete.

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American lecturer describes e-teaching experience in Uganda

March 5, 2021SRPGS, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Social SciencesPatty Huston-Holm

UCU Post-Graduate Student, Prisca Nandede, and niece

By Patty Huston-Holm

On a Saturday and at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time and via Zoom, the niece of one of my Uganda Christian University (UCU) students in silliness stuck out her tongue at me. I playfully stuck mine back. Then, in a time zone eight hours later, Prisca Nandede, a sociologist pursuing a UCU Masters in Development, shooed away the niece and a younger nephew hanging on her neck, as we got down to business.

Such is how I did my work – coaching doctoral and masters level students about writing and research – virtually in the Covid-restricted learning environment of 2020.

It was a setback. I didn’t want to teach this way.

Author/Lecturer Patty Huston-Holm teaching at UCU in January 2020

The beauty of being on the ground, engaging an entire classroom and praying one-on-one with a struggling student was replaced with text in emails, unfamiliar names asking questions in an e-learning platform and faces blurred through wireless optics via Zoom across the Atlantic Ocean. The pandemic that beached me in the state of Ohio USA did the same but in closer proximity to other UCU lecturers and students.

Misery does love company. But as a volunteer faculty member, I took no solace in the worse suffering of my East African colleagues who were without teaching jobs or teaching with greatly reduced pay. Nor did I relish the shared desolation of students struggling even more to have jobs, put food on the table and access technology to learn and get a degree.

We were in the same e-boat, keeping afloat as best we could.

My course was optional – a seminar, actually – and free of charge to post-graduate students. It was a research and writing seminar designed to help them with their dissertations and theses. Since 2015, I lead the training in person alongside faculty within the UCU School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies (SRPGS). The summer of 2020 was to be a time to focus on a train-the-trainer model in which Ugandan scholars would assume greater ownership of this assistance to students and to their research supervisors.

When leaving Uganda in February 2020 after seven weeks of face-to-face assistance in Mukono and Mbale, I promised Dr. Kukunda Elizabeth Bacwayo and Dr. Joseph Owor to be back in July. As we exchanged hugs and smiles, we knew nothing about a deadly virus drilling into our countries with economic, educational and health consequences.

Starting in mid-March 2020, the coronavirus changed life – and the delivery of education – as we knew it. In both the United States and Uganda, the emphasis was on a greater shift to on-line learning with the realization that the students most financially and technologically challenged would encounter the greatest obstacles.

For my seminar, the content was much the same as what I delivered in person for six years. The focus was on guiding students through the components of the UCU Academic Research Manual with strategies for good writing, quality research and plagiarism avoidance mixed in. My new delivery model involved 16 virtual lecturers on 20 different topics. With eight lecturers from North America and eight from Uganda, we recorded subject matter experts in business, social work, theology, law, education, engineering and journalism, among others. Through YouTube videos of under 15 minutes each, they provided a real-world context for academic learning. We conducted live zoom chats with professionals. We offered e-badges and e-certificates for students successfully completing the quizzes and short writing activities.

From mid-September to mid-December 2020, there were more than 100 students enrolled into the 24-7 e-seminar. Roughly half of those engaged in the content at some level. Nine got certificates. Five, including Prisca Nandede, took advantage of my free services as a virtual writing/research coach.

UCU Masters in Development student, Prisca Nandede

During that Saturday Zoom session, we discussed Prisca’s research topic about how a woman’s participation in the economy impacts her spousal and overall family relationships. Prisca, in her early 40s and working with the Uganda Ministry of Water and Environment, also shared her passion for her job and her concerns about the health of some family members, challenges with technology in Uganda, fears of pre-election violence, remembrances of living in Mbale and Masende and her love of Christ.

While realizing that quality is often more important than quantity, I shared my disappointment with student participation in the e-seminar. I expressed hope for better engagement in the next seminar – March 8 through May of 2021. I asked Prisca for advice to reach and help more students.

For the students and their teachers struggling with on-line delivery, she said, “They need to understand that we all have to adapt (to change) at a certain point.” Concluding our one-on-one Zoom session before the ending prayer, Prisca, one of the UCU students who persevered (i.e. Romans 5:5 with a message of hope) to finish the pilot e-seminar in December, issued this reminder: “It all comes down to God – His plan for us.”

I look forward to what He sets before me in this next 2.5 months.

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

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UCU student uses innovation to challenge youth leadership stereotypes

January 21, 2021News, StudentsAIESEC Uganda, SDGs, Silicon Valley, UCU Innovation Hub, UN in Uganda, Youth InnovationPatty Huston-Holm

Odongo poses with Rosa Malango, the UN Resident Coordinator in Uganda, after a meeting at her residence in Kololo.

By Alex Taremwa

When I first met Solomon Odongo in 2017 at the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Honour’s College, he was working on an innovation that would transform the lives of rural Ugandans using a bicycle dynamo technology to charge their mobile phones. At that time, Odongo was working with a team of three to design a functional prototype that would pass for mass production, if approved.

Three years later, not only has the final-year UCU Information Technology student successfully engineered a working prototype for his game-changing bicycle technology for which he has won several awards. Odongo also has championed youth innovation at a national and global level.

While at UCU, Odongo – a bespectacled natural charmer always in jacket and tie – was elected president of a global youth-led development club, AIESEC.

Odongo speaking at the 2020 International Youth Day Celebrations in Kampala.

“AIESEC gave me the opportunity to create change in my community by providing the right networks and partnerships to grow both as a person and an entrepreneur,” he said. “I gained invaluable leadership experience and skills that have been the benchmark of my career growth.”

From UCU, Odongo – the young man not known for settling for less – decided it was time to go big. He threw himself in the race to become AIESEC’s country director. The position was never held by someone still a student. He lost the first try. On the second attempt, Odongo made headlines as the first-ever AIESEC university club president to successfully transition to the position of Country Director.

In his time at the helm, Odongo has forged numerous partnerships with multilateral organisations to bring voices and innovations of young Ugandans to the table and opened up conversations with stakeholders on investment opportunities in the youth sector. The consideration of young entrepreneurs is significant because most youth don’t have funds to elevate their innovations.

One million solutions for SDGs
Odongo is part of a team of young leaders spearheading the United Nations One Million Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Solutions Challenge to accelerate scalable innovations to help in the achievement of the SDGs by 2030.

The initiative, which is run on www.ugandayouthsolutions.com, is aimed at identifying and mobilizing Ugandan youth to present one million solutions. In 2021, the challenge will be televised. Of the 50 innovations submitted, 40 Innovations were selected to receive support from UN agencies and partners in Uganda.

One of the solutions is a solar-powered oxygen machine. Another is a local mosquito repellent diffuser that uses solar energy to emit human friendly gases from locally sourced herbs.

In January 2021, Odongo was part of a youth delegation under the Youth Coalition for SDGs umbrella slated to meet Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni to discuss the youth’s contribution in achieving the SDGs and government’s support towards their innovations.

He planned to use the opportunity to garner attention for innovations from young people and call for a youth-inclusive government that would bridge the youth divide that often creates a mismatch in prioritization of resources at implementation level.

Odongo also was nominated by Uganda’s government-owned daily newspaper, the New Vision, as one of the Top 40 under age 40 in the category of youth leadership and entrepreneurship in 2020.

A UCU ‘Silicon Valley’?
Odongo believes that UCU has the right talent mix among students, staff and partnerships to run a successful innovation and entrepreneurship center that can incubate new solutions and have the potential to employ hundreds of the university’s graduates.

“I know the Faculty of Business has an incubation hub of sorts but I would love for the new Vice Chancellor to expand it into a university innovation center where not just business students but lawyers, journalists, programmers, agriculturalists and artisans can put ideas together, incubate them and come up with scalable solutions,” he said. “Imagine graduating 3,000 students and at the same time, launching 50 new products to the Ugandan market. One product alone can even employ half the number graduating.”

Odongo said he had presented the idea to the former Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon. Dr. John Senyonyi, and now hopes that new leadership can bring the idea to life.

“A university in today’s world of technology must invest heavily in research and development in order to create local solutions for the community in which it operates,” he noted.

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How UCU community observes COVID-19 regulations

January 7, 2021COVID-19, Faculty, News, StudentsPatty Huston-Holm

As COVID-19 continues to spread in Uganda, academic institutions are increasing their efforts related to health and safety of staff and students. At Uganda Christian University (UCU), the management has put in place several tight measures to ensure that members of the community strictly observe coronavirus Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). These include washing hands with the help of tippy-taps placed in different locations (gates, classroom blocks, residence halls, etc.). No person is allowed to access the University before washing or sanitizing their hands. Meanwhile students without facemasks are not allowed into the examination rooms and during community worship. In these pictures, Samuel Tatambuka, a University Communications Assistant, shows how measures are in place at UCU.