Tag Archives: #coronavirus

UCU alumnus lifts up students, teachers during pandemic

October 5, 2020COVID-19, News, UCU Alumni#coronavirus, #COVID19, #girlchild, #Kyungwe, #Lockdown #Uganda, #teacher, #UgandaChristianUniversity, UCU, UCUPartnersPatty Huston-Holm

Nsubuga (at left) with workers at the school farm

By Maxy Magella Abenaitwe

Teachers worldwide are often underpaid, frequently disrespected, sometimes suppressed and occasionally ignored. This is despite the fact that educating children is one of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals with the acknowledgement that 69 million primary and secondary teachers will be needed globally to reach that 2030 target. To date, and according to the latest (2016) school census, Uganda has 261,000 teachers.

Deogratious Nsubuga, a 2018 first class graduate with a bachelor of science degree in education from Uganda Christian University (UCU) is among these. He is an author, writer, motivational speaker, entrepreneur and a headmaster at Agape Christian School, Kyungu. Having started teaching right after his Senior Six exams in 2014, he has grown a passion for improving teacher reputation. He wants to help administrators understand a teacher’s role and struggles.

“These are people who often have no clue what teaching is like, people who have had their education in developed countries and cannot relate with the problems on the ground here,” Nsubuga elaborates.

The appointment as head teacher at Agape Christian School in 2019 brought him closer to forging those relationships and understanding that would, in turn, improve the quality and quantity of students at the school. As of March 2020, the number of students in the school had increased from 135 to 400 in a year’s time. Starting 2020 in high gear and eagerly prepared to mold his students to attain the best grades possible, the COVID-19 lockdown blocked all the school programs and fractured hopes.

Filled with grief and short of words, Nsubuga struggles to describe how demeaning the COVID-19 lockdown since March has been to teachers in Uganda. To have the basics of living, including food in cupboards, teachers have taken hard labor jobs such as digging and washing neighbor’s clothing.

“Some teachers have sold off their clothes and shoes,” Nsubuga said. “You will be surprised to see teachers walk to class ragged and barefooted after the lockdown.”

To curb poverty-related problems related to his school, Nsubuga has exchanged his head teacher role for that of garden and small business employer.

Nsubuga supervises one of his staff members at the school farm

Two teacher assistance examples
Cornelius Arkker, for example, is one of the teachers working as a produce manager with a food store business started by Nsubuga. Arkker feels honored to have met and worked with an innovative and developmental person like Nsubuga.

Arkker says Nsubuga has inspired him to improve his character, in terms of being patient, honest, principled and hopeful.

“There is a time I delayed for an appointment with Nsubuga by four hours,” Arkker said. “Being the principled person he is, I thought he would get mad at me, he instead calmly listened to me and everything went on as planned.”

Nsubuga also has mentored teacher, Isaac Kawanda, who is currently managing the Musomesa Education Consultants project. The firm handles all records and sales of academic books published by Nsubuga. Both Nsubuga and Kawanda met as young untrained teachers in 2014/2015.

“Nsubuga always told me that I am a young, energetic man who can do wonders,” Kawanda discloses. “His company has helped me unveil my academic and business potentials. He has made me realize how capable I am.”

Student assistance examples
In addition to helping teachers re-tool their skills to survive during the coronavirus lockdown, Nsubuga initiated the use of social media to maintain student interest in education, monitoring streets to guard youth safety and making public address announcements to get communities engaged in nurturing young people.

To reinforce learning, he formed WhatsApp groups to better ensure student access to academic work. However, due to limited technical resources and poor network, some students have been left out. For these students, he plans remedial assistance after the lockdown.

Andrew Baluku, a Senior Two student, commends his teachers for the academic support rendered to him, especially during the COVID restricted environment. According to Baluku, online studying is efficient because he pays maximum attention to his studies. However, he yearns to have more subjects like agriculture and commerce.

“Studying alone gives me more time to learn at my pace and understand some concepts,” Bakulu explains. “I think online studying would be the best, if not for the limited resources to maintain it. Plus, some of my colleagues cannot afford it all.”

Nsubuga also has engaged the community about the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown and how they can adapt and offer their assistance. Through a community radio characterized by a highly raised wooden platform and a speaker with sound covering at least a hundred meters (328 feet) of Kyungu village, Nsubuga encourages local parents to prepare their children for the lockdown experience, particularly the girl child. He has spread a similar gospel via Dunamis radio Uganda.

Nsubuga narrates an incident when he bumped into one of his teenage female students being intimately held by a boy in the evening. Much as Nsubuga was able to rescue her and drop her to her home safely, Nsubuga still wonders about the safety and well-being of girls.

Giving a hand to someone’s growth and development is Nsubuga’s happiness. This is a spirit he developed from the UCU community, where sharing and kindness are virtues.

Previously, Nsubuga possessed a self-centered mindset towards the process of achieving success.

“Before I came to UCU, my principle was, ‘hustle, get in my way, I kick you out and proceed,” Nsubuga said. “However, the UCU Christian environment put in me a spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood.”

He is thankful to God that he was able to meet a Christian family (UCU) that groomed him spiritually.

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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 moves ahead with e-learning as Uganda gives partial lift to education lockdown

September 21, 2020COVID-19, News#coronavirus, #COVID19, #elearning, #Lockdown #Uganda, #Museveni, #Mushengyezi, #UgandaChristianUniversity, UCU, UCUPartnersPatty Huston-Holm

The UCU Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. John Kitayimbwa; Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Finance and Administration, Mr. David Mugawe; University Council Chairman Prof. Alfred Olwa; and Vice-Chancellor Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi pose after a recent meeting. (Photo by Sam Tatambuka)

By John Semakula
The government of Uganda has lifted its six-month lockdown on education, allowing schools to reopen on October 15 for candidate classes and for finalists in institutions of higher learning.

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni announced the move on Sunday evening (September 20) in his address to the nation about the state of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

By Sunday, Ugandans infected with the coronavirus were 6,827 and only 63 fatalities.
President Museveni noted in his address that the decision to reopen academic institutions that have been closed since March 20 was meant to reduce the possibility of clogging in the education system.

“If we don’t allow the 2020 batch of finalists to move on, what will happen to the batch of 2021?” the President asked, observing that the smaller number of finalists will make it easier to observe social distancing while at school. The figures presented by President Museveni showed that of Uganda’s 15 million learners, there are 1.2 million finalists.

President Museveni also declared the reopening of the International Airport and land borders, which could allow international students to return and complete their studies.
These students, as with all foreigners coming to Uganda, must test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours before their arrival. The government also lifted the lockdown in border districts across the country to allow students to travel back to their schools.

The lifting of the lockdown on academic institutions came at the time when Uganda Christian University (UCU) was finalizing its plans to roll out the eLearning training for staff and online distance learning for students.

Earlier this month, UCU conducted online pre-entry exams for law students. UCU Vice-Chancellor Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi noted that this virtual examination was a landmark achievement for the University that wants to strive to be “paperless” and become a leader in distance learning in the country. Mushengyezi and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. John Kitayimbwa have said the university will roll out online distance learning on October 15, regardless of government lifting of education restrictions.

On the issue of the staff contracts, which were suspended in June, the deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Finance and Administration, David Mugawe, has said the affected staff will be reinstated on the payroll as soon as the lectures start in October.

In Uganda, private academic institutions mainly rely on students’ tuition fees for their operations. But Assoc. Prof. Mushengyezi has vowed to work with the private sector to grow the University’s revenue.

In May, UCU released the teaching timetable for the final year students who were supposed to be in sessions during the Trinity Semester (May-August), but withheld it after government extended the lockdown on academic institutions. Following the Sept. 20 President announcement, the University must decide if it will revise the same timetable or release a new one.
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To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org

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COVID lockdown in a foreign country

July 23, 2020COVID-19, Students#coronavirus, #COVID19, #InternationalStudents, #Lockdown #Uganda, #Nigeria, #SouthSudan, #UgandaChristianUniversity, UCU, UCUPartnersPatty Huston-Holm

Chizoba sells candy to a customer in Yesu Mulungi hostel

By Maxy Magella Abenaitwe

The COVID-19 shutdown of Ugandan education has halted career-building knowledge and skills for 9,000 Uganda Christian University (UCU) students. The stories of students returning home or stuck a few hours away and picking up odd jobs and doing manual labor to get food instead of engaging in their studies are common. The lesser-known stories involve UCU students from countries outside of Uganda. Since mid-March 2020, international students have been stuck inside Uganda’s closed borders. Some wondered how they could survive a day in a foreign country with no relatives, the added language barrier and poor knowledge of how to get around.

These are two such stories – of Eziuzo Chizoba from Nigeria and Rogers Moras of South Sudan.

Chizoba with her host mother and sisters

Eziuzo Chizoba – Nigeria
Eziuzo Chizoba, a second year Nigerian student of governance and international relations could not imagine how hard life would get if not for the kindness of Mr. and Mrs. Ezekiel Kolawole, her host family. To Chizoba, it is not just a roof over her head but a life-transforming encounter.

From her host mother’s girl talks about Christ centeredness, saving capital for future purposes and premarital sex, Chizoba has made resolutions to polish her spiritual, academic and physical life. She now knows that she must build her future today if she must give back to a society that has shown her so much kindness.

“I have made up my mind to be a giver,” Chizoba says. “But in order to do this, I must first work on myself. Mother Ruth Kolawole always says that giving is a medicine for prosperity.”

She adds that her ambition for making money has grown. Chizoba looks at every aspect of life as an opportunity to earn a living. For example, she vended sweets in student hostels when she travelled back to check on her property in Mukono. Chizoba earned $9 (Shs 32,000) every time she sold off a tin of candy initially purchased at $4.5 (Shs 16,000). She hopes to carry on with the business once studies resume.

In one bid to build herself, Chizoba deactivated some of her Facebook pages. She realized she had spent too much time on social media.

“I feel everything I do should have a positive impact on society and on me,” she said. “If it is a Facebook account, I need it to have motivating content. That’s why I intend to resume social media interactions only when I have something (significant) to offer.”

In the lockdown and without university classes, she also mastered cooking. She perfected various delicious dishes and snacks like plantain chips, pizza and chicken soup.

Rogers Moras – South Sudan
By end of October this year, Rogers Moras, a South Sudanese refugee student at Uganda Christian University, was expected to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Procurement and Logistics Managment. To Moras, graduating was a free ticket back home – to reunite with his family in South Sudan and establish himself with quality employment. Unfortunately with the continued lockdown of academic institutions, Moras might not graduate soon.

“Uganda is a very beautiful country,” he said. “I enjoy being here. But I look forward to getting back home because I need to contribute to the growth of my country. Additionally, that it is where I belong.”

With the initial lockdown notice, Moras decided not to go home because of the high cost of travel and because he believed “the situation could settle within the thirty two days as per the (Ugandan) Presidential address.”

In addition to the financial and academic strains for all university students, as an international student Moras suffers added despair with lack of socialization in a different country.

Despite difficulties, however, Moras has used the quarantine period to master skills such as baking vegetable rolex. He hopes to put up a rolex business around campus as soon as the university reopens.

Moras also has adopted a reading culture for purposes of self-improvement and stress management.

“Books help me get over stress and rebuild my hope,” he said. “A novel like ‘Becoming: Michelle Obama’ helped me understand that I choose how I see the world and that my happiness depends on me. If borders are never opened, my life must go on even in a foreign country.”

Unable to access a gym, Moras has improvised ways to stay strong and healthy. He has developed self-made weights of two jerricans filled with wet sand and joined by a stick. He also jogs and climbs Ankhra hill in Mukono.

The lockdown has taught Moras to build relations with productive people, engaging in activities like debates and trade fairs.

He says: “I have vowed to live my life as if the present day was my last because I cannot be sure of what tomorrow holds for me.”

The writer of this article, Maxy Magella Abenaitwe, is a 2018 graduate of Uganda Christian University with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication. Before the lockdown, she was an intern for the UCU Standard newspaper.

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‘Choose to see the good in the bad thing’

June 14, 2020COVID-19, Students: #socialwork, #coronavirus, #COVID19, #cowhooves, #entrepreneurship, #Lockdown, #prayer, #UgandaChristianUniversity, Gulu, UCU, UCUPartners, UgandaPatty Huston-Holm

A crowd under Ojok's exercise instruction after the MTN marathon last year — A crowd under Ojok’s exercise instruction after the MTN marathon last year

By Maxy Magella Abenaitwe

For most Ugandans, the COVID-19 lockdown has been a financially painful time of watch and see. The presidential speeches have been a wave of hope whose flap never settles. Lives have come to a standstill.

For a few, however, it has been a time of growth and development.

Denish Ojok, a second-year Social Work student at Uganda Christian University (UCU), is among those few. Being alone since childhood presented him many challenges to sail through storms at their worst. The lockdown with the inability to attend UCU classes was yet another to overcome. For Denish, of Gulu, the answers came through food, fitness and market deliveries with a bit of radio inspiration on the side.

Income from his Rock of Ages fitness club helped pay his tuition. When the club was shut down through government orders, he moved workouts online. Clients subscribed at a daily fee of 80 cents (Shs.3000), accessing exercise through such platforms as Go to Meeting and Facebook.

Ojok preparing a traditional dish for delivery

Realizing this wasn’t enough, he thought about how his other skills could be used. Ojok, who is good at boiling a cow hooves, started making door-step deliveries of a much-prized dish known as Mulokoni. Most days, this brought Ojok a minimum of $9 profit.

Ojok’s third idea related to helping people obtain food when they weren’t allowed to travel. With the suspension of public and private means of transport but allowance of motorcycle deliveries, he took orders and made deliveries of sugar, rice and other market goods. Business was so good that he was able to employ a handful of youth to help him.

This voice of hope – one that resonates with biblical scripture – has been echoed by Ojok on Rupiny FM radio. His encouraging words on youth radio talk shows are about growth during a pandemic, thinking “beyond the nose” in a positive way to overcome circumstances, and continuing good sanitation habits after the COVID-19 virus is controlled. Such habits as handwashing will solve other problems such as diarrhea, he said.

“Exercise financial discipline, spend less and learn to cope with any condition that comes your way,” the 24-year-old student entrepreneur said. “Choose to see the good in the bad thing. Stay positive.”

Despite the great work progress, Ojok is dissatisfied with the fact that a large portion of his potential clients are unable to access his services due lack of communications through smart phones and the Internet. This is a circumstance he is working to resolve.

Much as the lockdown has kept him away from people who inspire his spiritual journey, Ojok has disciplined himself to read and understand scriptures. Before he does anything he prays, as inspired by his UCU lecturer, Peter Nareba, who begins every lecture with prayer.

Ojok plans to maintain his online business after the lockdown. He believes post lockdown will be an era of innovations since it was a shock that left the world with so much to learn, think about and take action.

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Virus Lockdown: Foot journey in search of toothpaste

May 29, 2020News#coronavirus, #COVID19, #LockdownTrek, #OlumDouglas, #SixHourWalk, #ToothPaste, #UgandaChristianUniversity, UCU, UCUPartners, UgandaPatty Huston-Holm

Central Uganda Namanve Train Station Market Day during COVID lockdown

By Douglas Olum

On a bright sunny Thursday afternoon in Mukono and on an aging, handcrafted papyrus couch under shade within our compound, I hear the cries and fight of playing children, including mine. They are just outside a wire fence, near a tomato garden and some buildings just a few meters from ours.

I wasn’t with them. It wasn’t because I didn’t care or because of concern regarding Ugandan social distance COVID-19 safety guidelines. I listened to the voices of children without engaging because I was nursing joints, leg muscle and toe pains that would not allow me stretch out and walk easily. I was recovering from a six-hour on-foot journey to and from Mukono to Lugogo in Kampala to buy a tube of Colgate Pro Gum Health toothpaste.

Olum Douglas writing his story on phone at his home in Mukono

I walked the approximately 23km (14 miles) each way because the country’s pandemic orders have shut down public transportation. No bodas. No taxis. No private cars, which I don’t have anyway. Our first order was issued March 24. It was extended twice – on April 22 and May 18.

Truth is, this was not the first I time walked that distance. Many times before the lockdown and with lack of funds – the 8,000 UGX for a boda ride and 3,000 UGX for a taxi – I have walked to Kampala for shopping and for study at the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Kampala Campus. I also remember one occasion when I walked a longer distance from Munyonyo in the Southern part of Kampala and back home after I had gone to interview an American source for a story.

This latest trip, the journey was more tiresome because my body had been in hibernation for close to two months during the lockdown, which had been ordered for a total of 63 days with the latest ending date of Monday, May 25. Private cars were to be permitted and some shops opened on Tuesday, May 26, with public transport allowed on June 4, when the announcement about when schools will re-open is expected.

Foot travel during the lockdown is more stressful because of a 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. curfew. Our President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni directed a ban on all forms of travel between those hours, except for trucks transporting food to the market. The week before, I narrowly escaped arrest because I was walking home at 7:17 p.m.

While my primary purpose of this trek was toothpaste, I also needed to meet with a journalist friend whom I had not seen for eight weeks. My friend and I had agreed to meet at the Lugogo branch of Café Javas to share experiences and brainstorm on post-lockdown story ideas. Besides, I was curious about how Ugandans outside my locality were treating the lockdown.

I had donned a sky-blue surgical mask. I was given two of them by a medical worker during the UCU Health Awareness week in February. But since then, I had only used one. And with its elastic strap coined around my ears and walking alone, I believed my health was protected.

During my long trek, here is some of what I saw:

Walking along a dusty road before I joined the tarmacked Jinja Road highway, I was puzzled at how boda-boda riders carried passengers when the Government banned them.
When I left the dusty road and took to the railway, I came across a Market Day at the Namanve Train Station. Traders in all tribes of items: clothes, shoes, jewelry, fresh cassava, maize, sweet potatoes, fish and so many others were crowded and not “social distancing” both along the walk-paths by the railway lines and the market area itself.
Youthful men were gathered under tree shades, conversing in loud voices without face masks on; women and girls without facial coverings were walking in groups, picking and trying on the items from one dealer to another. Occasionally, they would pull out a few notes or coins from their handbags and pay for the items they liked before moving on.
While locally made facemasks were visibly on sale everywhere, both the traders and their customers paid little attention to owning or wearing them. Those who had them either held the masks in their hands or wore them at their chins. That was, however, contrary to the practice at the supermarket where the workers remind those who put off their masks to put them on and properly.
Unlike the dusty road, the highway had several police and military checkpoints. Privately owned cars without the Ministry of Health stickers permitting them to drive during the lockdown, except for trucks, were stopped and impounded at those checkpoints. The Uganda Police Force has said that all impounded vehicles shall only be retrieved after the lockdown. Since the beginning of the lockdown, an unstated number of vehicles and motorcycles have been impounded, including those transporting sick persons and mothers in labor pain to the hospital.

I wondered how much Ugandans would be affected if COVID-19 ravaged our country like it has done in other parts of the world.

After shopping and my meeting, I set out to return to Mukono. Aware that security agencies start implementing curfew at 19:00 hours (7 p.m.), the return journey felt longer because the sun was going down fast. Thanks to my speed and resilience, and with the overpriced toothpaste in hand, I got home 3 minutes before the curfew time. Amidst the painful toes, muscles and joints, I know that my family’s oral health was sorted for a month or so before I may need a trip to Lugogo again. Maybe then I won’t need to walk to purchase it.

(Douglas Olum is a regular contributor for UCU Partners, which is sponsoring him for his master’s degree in strategic communications at the university.)

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UCU Law student creates COVID-19 awareness application

May 12, 2020COVID-19, Faculty of Engineering, Design & Technology, Students, UCU School of Law#attorney, #AuthenticInformationSource, #coronavirus, #CovidGuide, #Lira, #StudentDevelopsApp, #UCULawStudent, Mukono, UgandaPatty Huston-Holm

Christopher Mogal Muchwa narrates his story at Sts. Phillip and Andrew's Cathedral in Mukono — Christopher Mogal Muchwa narrates his story at Sts. Phillip and Andrew’s Cathedral in Mukono

(NOTE: On May 4, Uganda President Museveni announced a 14-day extension of the lockdown measures. Adjustments from the previous order include that some businesses are allowed to operate and all persons must wear face coverings in public places. The ban on personal and public transport, as well as the curfew of 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. remain in effect at least through the middle of May. On May 7, there were 98 identified cases of the coronavirus in Uganda.)

By Douglas Olum

When Christopher Mogal Muchwa first heard about the COVID-19 outbreak in China from his Chinese friend, and the subsequent lockdown in Wuhan, the very city his friend lives in, he never thought the same would reach Uganda. And he certainly never thought he would delve into technology related to the virus.

“My Chinese friend told me that they were not allowed to move out,” Muchwa recalled. “And if they wanted to take evening walks, they would only walk through the corridors and stairs of their apartment buildings, then return to their rooms.”

That, Muchwa thought months ago,“was impossible” for the country of Uganda.

But on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, when Uganda’s president, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, directed the closure of schools and banned all forms of social gatherings including church and political rallies, Muchwa realized he was wrong.

A third-year student of Bachelor of Laws at Uganda Christian University (UCU), an orphan and only child to his late parents, Muchwa did not rush to his home in Lira, northern Uganda, like other students did when the university was officially closed on Friday, March 20. Instead, he went to live with a friend to his late mother, Mary Achoma, who resides in Mukono.

“I did not see the need to return to Lira because I would be all by myself, “ Muchwa said.

He started preparing for the UCU planned take-home examinations but the Government of Uganda stopped these. Muchwa found himself with time to think more about the world pandemic, particularly as it related to Uganda. In a traditional attorney/lawyer way of thinking, he wondered what was true and what was false; he wondered if others could use some help in sorting out the facts.

That’s when he got the idea for developing a free access mobile application to help share authentic information about COVID-19 among Ugandans.

“I knew that all the [Government] Ministries had websites, but most people do not visit those,” Muchwa said. “And many times they rely on social media information which may not be true. Someone can screen shoot a tweet by a Government official and edit the information, causing unnecessary panic among the public.”

Prior to the lockdown, Uganda already suffered from COVID-19 fake news. In late February, there emerged an allegation that two Chinese factory workers living in Seeta (Mukono) had tested positive with the Coronavirus, and that they had been put into isolation by the Ministry of Health. The Ministry denied that claim. Other rumors persisted.

Muchwa saw African IT specialists with his idea, but seeking funds to develop a more accessible, honest information tool. While they waited, Muchwa moved ahead with his “COVID Guide.”

Screenshot of the COVID Guide application

The application uses specific words, or “commands,” to derive and give replies to the user. Some of the command key words include: Ministry of Health (MoH), World Health Organization (WHO) and the names of all 134 districts of Uganda. It contains incorporated links to the Uganda’s Ministry of Health and World Health Organization websites which help one easily get up-to-date information about new cases, total number of infections in the country, quarantine centres, recoveries, risk groups, among other relevant information.

Other features of the COVID Guide are emergency helplines for the ministry and district COVID-19 taskforce. Typing in the name of a district, even without Internet connection, brings the contact of the Resident District Commission of that district and his/her deputy. One can also use the same app to order a product from the market, especially Kampala markets, direct the dealer to put in on a boda-boda (motorcycle taxi) and receive it from home.

Muchwa admits that in addition to his passion for law, he is an “IT geek.” He is self taught, learning a little from a cousin who is an IT specialist but also from YouTube videos.

Prior to building this app, Muchwa built the Law Library app sui-genris, through which law students access learning materials, including some books. He also built a hostel-booking app through which UCU students can check hostels around the university and book them even from a far. He built a website for the UCU Law Society and Bobics app, for a fast food business outside the university.

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