By Linda H. Bassert
(Second of three parts –  Meeting Daniel)

Tuesday was a day of great anticipation:  we were finally headed to Mukono, to the main campus of Uganda Christian University (UCU), where my husband David and I would at last connect with Daniel, the student we sponsor.  

Before that, we would be meeting with Vice-Chancellor Aaron Mushengyezi (who has a nickname of  “the Coolest Vice-Chancellor in the country”), and touring some of the campus on foot, then linking up with Daniel at the Community Worship service. 

We learned that while an Anglican seminary had been on location since 1913, UCU was founded in 1997, and in 2000 graduated its first non-theological students.  

Now with a student body of 14,000 students, the university includes 11 schools and faculties.

Every undergraduate student takes the Old Testament, New Testament, World Views, Ethics, Math, and Study Skills.  There also is a Study Abroad Program in which students from the USA and other countries come here to study.  (We later would learn that the Study Abroad program included concentrations in Global Health, Social Work, and Interdisciplinary Studies.)  Degree Programs include Engineering, Social Services, Law (25% of the students, and considered the number one law program in the country), Business (the second largest program), Journalism, Public Health, Agriculture, Education, and Nursing (100 students in the Degree program).  

The Vice Chancellor, similar to a University President in the United States, explained that many of the UCU nursing graduates are leaders in nursing in Uganda.  The programs at UCU are highly respected due to the Christian ethics and high standards maintained. Employers say they find the UCU graduates are different, and are giving preference to hiring them. UCU graduates bring an attitude of ministry in their fields. This attitude of ministry, and a mindset of seeking solutions to challenges, would be revealed over and over during our visit.

We also learned of a thriving sports program at UCU.  The women’s basketball team had recently won another championship, and many Ugandan national athletes have been graduates of UCU. 

As we headed to the Community Worship service in Nkoyoyo Hall, a large roofed building with a stage and altar at one end, and open sides, I texted Daniel a photo of what David and I looked like.  I reasoned it would be easier for Daniel to find his white sponsors than for us to find him in a sea of Ugandan students. When he found us, I immediately had to go over and hug him, and could hardly hold back the tears.  At last! 

This worship service was our first glimpse of the difference a Christian university makes.  The posted theme for the Advent Semester 2024 was: “The power of the Gospel to transform secular ingrained thinking. 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.”    

Every speaker and preacher at UCU begins with, “Praise the Lord!” 

The speaker at the worship service focused on the topic of self-esteem. I was pleased to find that in this way UCU is teaching their students success strategies in addition to academic subjects. She spoke on Romans 12: 1-8, and these key points:  Be kind to yourself.  Speak affirmations.  You are the CEO of your life. A closed mouth is a closed destiny. Set achievable goals.  How did we drift where we are? Low self-esteem causes painful wounds. Constantly renew your commitment to the Lord.  

After a lunch to which our student, Daniel, also was invited, our group then headed to the Innovation Hub, also the location of the campus Coffee Club.  

This hub assists students with their business ideas, leading them in a process through 1) Ideation; 2) Incubation (3 months), with  exhibits to show their ideas, seed capital for a second exhibit to show what they have done; and 3) 3) Acceleration, involving one in 10 reaching this stage and getting venture capital funding, fostering the microbusiness economy. As a solution to employment challenges in the country, the Innovation Hub also develops cohorts of 25 cross-disciplinary groups of students who collaborate  and have training and support, with the goal of having them graduate and start businesses.  The focus is “Let’s not run for the money;  let’s meet people’s needs.”

The Innovation Hub also supports research collaboration. UCU is using grants to create teams, to train and teach them how to write grants and to write proposals.  The Hub forms a support team for the staff, as partnerships are very important in research, and every program is now required to have community engagements.

The last stop before we headed to our hotel was a visit to the Bishop’s School, a secondary boarding school located very near UCU and where a UCU graduate who is a teacher there gave us a tour.  The students study long hours, because the exams they take determine their ability to progress in the educational system.  Many students from the Bishop’s School later go on to study at UCU.  

Wednesday is a day I will treasure. We began the day visiting two locations where UCU graduates are making a difference.  The first stop was the CALM (Children Alive Ministries) Kindergarten and Primary Day School, whose directors and owners are a married couple, both UCU grads.  Ernest Matsiko and his wife, Elizabeth Gim Praise Matsiko, who had done tutoring as UCU students, have a passion to give children a good foundational education at the primary level, so they would do better later at upper levels. This led them to found the school.  

The children lined up for morning assembly, all in school uniforms.  One of the older students was tapped to do a call and response, leading them in praise for about 15 minutes, to start the day.  “Praise God” the older student said. 

“Praise God,” the children replied in unison, adding “God is good – All the time. So awesome is His Name!”  

The children were also delighted in answering our questions, and asking us questions about our favorite foods, colors and names of our children. 

After this stop, we picked up Daniel, who would spend the rest of the day with us.  The next stop was a small regional hospital, where the senior administrator is a UCU graduate.  We had a tour there, and it was disconcerting, to say the least, to understand the challenges of health care in Uganda.

Wednesday’s adventure also included a brief stop to shop for souvenirs.  Daniel helped our group negotiate prices for things we wanted to purchase.  I was looking for gifts for grandchildren.  We were instructed by Daniel, “Don’t accept the first price!”  

As we took our “glider” on to Jinja, there we all then went by boat to one end of Lake Victoria, where over 60 springs supply 30% of the water of the White Nile, considered the source of the Nile River.  Some in our group stepped out of the boat to stand on a platform located amidst the springs, and have their photo taken there. We also saw Monitor lizards and many kinds of birds along the shore line, including African weaver birds, which make small basket kinds of nests.  Uganda has more than 1,000 bird species. 

After the boat tour, we enjoyed a lovely lunch at a golf club overlooking Lake Victoria.  Fresh-caught and grilled tilapia for me!

On the way back to Mukono and UCU, via a road dubbed “Pothole Road,” our glider had a flat tire.  The noise from the tire burst terrified some goats tied up in the yard of a house nearby, and the goats pulled up the stakes, and ran toward their owner’s house.  Small children gathered at the side of the road to watch the excitement, as we stood waiting for those changing the tire to finish.  One member of our group started doing magic tricks for the children.  

Great cheers went up for our driver when the tire was changed, and prayers of thanksgiving were offered.

After that pause, we headed to campus, made plans to have lunch the next day with Daniel, and then had a delicious buffet dinner with the Vice Chancellor and his wife in a tent on the lawn.  The Vice Chancellor quoted former Uganda President Idi Amin in saying, “If they return, we shall have our revenge,” so the dinner was his “sweet revenge” for having been hosted by our church members in the USA.  

Thursday was another day spent on the UCU campus, learning more about programs at UCU.  The morning began with a tour of Computer Science and Technology programs.  This curriculum goal is to give students practical skills to find solutions to problems.  Some of the student projects on display were a Robotic Wheelchair prototype, a Smart Home design, and an Automatic waste management prototype – as a sorter to sort plastics out of waste.  They use a 3D printer to create models, and emphasize practical applications of what they have learned, as well as supporting business startups.  Community outreach in this program includes free computer repair and setup.                        

New programs include Data Science and Analytics, and Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering: a program UCU Partners has made possible with equipment purchased and then carried over in suitcases by Mark Bartels. This department has industry partners for career guidance and mentorship, and all first-year students in this program are mentored by senior students.  

While the tour of the programs within the Faculty of Engineering, Design and Technology  continued on foot, two of us whose bodies were objecting to the walking were given a ride in the glider bus down to a far corner of the campus, where the technology tour would conclude.  

To my delight, this put us right next to the Fine Arts and Industrial Arts program buildings in the Tech Park portion of the Mukono campus. We saw wonderful sculptures installed around the buildings.  The best sculpture transforms the space it is in.  As I gazed at one abstract torso with a book, I was enchanted by the artist’s vision of a student.  As I am an interior designer, this was a highlight of the campus tour for me, as we two were able to not only see the sculptures up close, but also view senior School of Education student art projects and paintings, and view a demonstration of a student throwing and forming a cup on the potter’s wheel.  One remarkable painting was of faces, painted with coffee, on an irregularly shaped piece of wood. 

Our next stop on Thursday was a presentation by the Church Relations Office, as another priority of UCU.  The only University owned by the Province of the Anglican Church of Uganda, UCU needs to serve the church, and the University’s mission needs to align with the values and teachings of the Church. They spoke at length of ways they support various dioceses with different needs. For example, the Southern Ankole Diocese is growing coffee as a part of its broader mission to improve livelihoods and promote sustainable development. Agriculture students and Business students have been engaged there.  

In another diocese, with extensive wildlife resources, students focused on Tourism and Hospitality Management have been engaged in programs there. This department also offers fellowship and mentorship for clergy children. The church plays a huge role in the economic transformation of the country.  Every diocese is unique, and this office has ongoing outreach to the dioceses to seek out ways to support their efforts.  

There was also a presentation by the Directorate of Research, Partnerships and Innovation.  UCU seeks to be different from other universities. UCU communicates and engages with the community, to identify problems and jointly work together on solutions.  This was evident at graduation, where, under the UCU Postgraduate Directorate, descriptions of research by graduates with advanced degrees focused on problem solving in a wide range of areas. For example, one Master’s program candidate had focused on the educational needs of deaf students, how they were being met, and where shortfalls were found.

At this combined presentation members of our group also became solution-focused, sharing thoughts and questions, out of their expertise in a wide range of areas. I learned more about some of my friends from church, and was impressed that all of us, seeing the extraordinary difference that UCU is making in Uganda, were drawn to that solution-based mindset, thinking of ways we might help.   

David and I had to slip out of this presentation, so we could adjourn to a campus restaurant for lunch with Daniel and a friend of his, while the rest of the group had lunch on campus together.  This was another special memory as I think about our trip.  Daniel shared with us that our coming to Uganda to see him had “given him back himself,” giving him a deeper sense of his self-worth and value, and rekindling his passion for his course of study.  

Our time with Daniel was short, but very precious, and we continue to stay in touch.

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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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