By Christine Mirembe
Mark Wesonga has always loved art and the natural beauty around him. From an early age, these afforded him the platform to express himself through his hands, such as by painting and drawing.
However, that love for nature was sometimes misunderstood. One day, during a school physical education lesson, as his classmates busied themselves with warmups in the field, Wesonga was lost in thought, gazing at the beauty of Kampala’s scenery from the school pitch.
Suddenly, he was jolted back to reality by a sharp slap across his left cheek by a teacher correcting what was perceived as absentmindedness. And with that slap, one of his teeth flew out.
At first, Wesonga was anxious and angry, but he quickly found a strange sense of gratitude. That tooth had been troubling him for some days, refusing to come out despite his many attempts to remove it. The slap had solved the problem, and he kept the tooth as a reminder of that moment as he grew up and chose a career in dentistry.
Mark Wesonga, at UCU’s School of Dentistry
But that was not the only influence for his profession in sciences. Wesonga’s grandfather was a veterinary doctor, and his father is a surgeon. These two were role models.
After his primary education, in 2013, Wesonga joined Uganda Martyrs Secondary School, Namugongo, near Kampala, for secondary education. His first year at Namugongo was particularly tough, as he had some of his property stolen at school. However, he persevered. By the end of Senior Four, Wesonga knew he wanted a career in a health profession, thus choosing one of the toughest subject combinations – physics, chemistry and biology.
The workload was immense. Night after night, he concentrated on his books, trying to grasp the concepts, as well as applying them in real-life situations. He often found himself struggling to stay awake in class the following day. The exhaustion was constant, but he persisted.
At the end of Senior Six, Wesonga scored 13 out of 20 points. To many, this would have been a respectable achievement, but to him, it was a crushing disappointment. He had dreamed of joining the medical field, and he feared these results would lock him out. In despair, he even suggested repeating A’level, but his parents declined, believing in his ability to still get a medical-related course.
With the 13 points, Wesonga was able to get a place toward a Bachelor of Dental Surgery at Uganda Christian University (UCU). What had once seemed like failure turned into a redirection, an opportunity that aligned with that fateful slap in primary school that had cost him a tooth but sparked a path toward a career in dental health.
Wesonga graduated from that course in July 2024 as part of the second cohort of dentists from the university joining the job market. The first cohort of doctors and dentists graduated in July 2023.
“I loved it; I loved the community,” Wesonga said of his experience at UCU. “You see, the environment for me was calm and serene; it was a comfortable experience for me.”
To put his classroom knowledge into practice, Wesonga participated in several medical outreaches. One such outreach was at Kasiso village in the central Uganda district of Luweero.
The camp, conducted in February 2024, was composed of a team of dental specialists, as well as UCU Bachelor of Dental Surgery students who were engaged in clinical practice as part of their degree course requirement. The specialists offered free dental services like fillings, teeth cleaning, restorations, extractions and surgeries.
During an interview Wesonga granted Partners last year, he said the medical camp offered him the opportunity to complete pediatric fillings, cleanings and examinations – vital practice in the profession.
It is from outreaches like these that Wesonga got the opportunity for his first job after meeting Dr. Rose Kibalizi, who hired him for a position at SR dental clinic in Kampala. Wesonga has since left that job for his current full-time employment at the Sokana Dental Clinic in Wandegeya, Kampala. There, he works 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. five days a week or, as Wesonga says, “until the last patient leaves.”
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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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