Tag Archives: UCU Partners

Erasing mental health stigma – one person at a time

June 12, 2019Faculty of Public Health, Nursing and MidwiferyHIV/AIDS, mental illness, UCU Partners, Uganda Christian UniversityPatty Huston-Holm

Counselors Irene Ojiambo and Joseph Musaalo at the UCU-Mukono campus (UCU Partners photo)

Note: This is the first of a two-part series focusing on mental illness in Uganda. Part I demonstrates how Uganda Christian University (UCU) deals with the problem. Part II will provide an example of a program making a difference outside of the UCU campuses.

By Patty Huston-Holm

For Irene Ojiambo, the desire to be a counselor came before she could speak the word. As a little girl, she saw people come into her house, crying and looking for her father, a priest. Instead, the distressed men and women got her mother who had them laughing on the way out. That, the young Irene knew, was the job she wanted.

For Joseph Musaalo, the call to counseling was progressive. The students he taught and the steady flow of needy children that his wife, Sarah, brought home found him increasingly wanting to do more. It was an 11-year-old female HIV/AIDS victim who showed up at his job with Compassion International who propelled him to action.

“We were shedding tears together,” Joseph recalled of that day and the pain that he and the girl both felt about the naming-calling she endured as well, for him, feelings of inadequacy to help. “I knew I didn’t want to feel that helpless again.”

So it was that Irene, who aspired to “make people laugh” and Joseph, who sought to stop the tears, became counselors. Their offices slope down among the trees between the Uganda Christian University (UCU) medical building and the Noll classrooms on the Mukono/main campus. UCU has counselors at all five of its locations.

The first UCU counseling office opened in 2005 – eight years after the university was founded. A pastor was hired to do the job. In 2008, Joseph came on board, seeing UCU students and staff in a small room that was part of the Allan Galpin Medical Center.

“I immediately started making a case for locating the counselor services in a place that would provide more respect,” Joseph, now head of UCU counseling services, said. “There was – still is – a stigma about people seeking help for emotional problems. Some people say they are ‘mad’.”

Today, Irene, who came to UCU four years ago, and Joseph, at UCU more than a decade, offer counseling services in a building that was once a family home. They each see about five people a day or 50 total a week – usually by appointment and most often young females. They hold large meetings in a structure that used to house a resident’s car. A white tent for the twice-a-year para-counseling workshops is nearby.

“Counseling is about empowerment and not advice,” according to Joseph, known as “Uncle Joe” for his regular column in the university’s student newspaper, The Standard. “We listen, give coping solutions and empower people to make decisions, hopefully beyond a one-time crisis.”

Friends and family members give advice that may or may not be the best and could resolve a short-term problem related to bullying, abuse, diet, study habits, drugs and money. Counselors strive to enable individuals to not only resolve a single issue but to have to have the tools to avoid re-occurrence.

Mental health is less understood in developing countries like Uganda, according to Joseph. Butabika Hospital, founded in 1955 in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, is the mental health national referral hospital for the entire country’s population of more than 40 million. One source notes that 98% of Ugandans with mental health issues have no place to receive services.

The UCU counselors are doing their best to fill that void for students and staff. The overriding issues of fear, anxiety, self esteem and depression are connected to such conditions as drug and alcohol use and abuse, HIV/AIDS and financial deficiency and pressure toward extra-marital and pre-marital sex and academic cheating.

The counselors, along with Richard Bwire, their administrative assistant, know the clients they see barely touch the surface of the campus need. In addition to the negative stigma with asking for help is the requirement that students and staff come to the counselors and not the other way around.

“They have to come to us,” Joseph said. “We know there are many out there who feel isolated with a problem, but they need to take the first step and ask for help.”

One way to help meet the need that is too large for counselors is staff and student training. Since 2008, there have been 2,073 students and 396 faculty and staff receiving UCU para-counseling training to help themselves and others around them. Topics include self-awareness, and anger, stress and financial management as well as basic information about frequent mental and physical topics that a trained counselor addresses. There are some conditions – such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder common to those coming from war-torn areas – that only a certified counselor should handle.

“We are a Christian university and we are Christians, but we always follow the path of the client first; we unwrap the problem,” Irene said. “Some people we see have been hurt by people professing to be Christians.”

One client, one workshop at a time, Uganda’s trained counselors “must change the way of thinking that somehow mental illnesses are less serious than physical ones,” according to Joseph. “And we need to realize that we all have some level and some moments of mental incapacity, but when they become large, we need help.”

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To learn more about the UCU, go to http://ucu.ac.ug/. To support UCU, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button. or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at mtbartels@gmail.com.

UCU Partners Scholarship support for single mothers

May 29, 2019Scholarship, UCU AlumniEducation, Scholarships, Single Parents, UCU Alumni, UCU Partners, Uganda, Uganda Christian UniversityPatty Huston-Holm

Matende Wilson with his mother on his graduation day in October 2018. (UCU Partners Photo)

By Brendah Ndagire

One of the challenges of being a single mother – worldwide and in Uganda – is meeting the responsibility of educating children. The 2016 World Bank report shows that 26.90% of households are ‘Female Headed’ in Uganda. The reality is that Ugandans estimate the percentage of both female-headed homes and/or single-parent homes to be higher.

And the challenge is that Uganda as a nation struggles with the problem of research deficiency, largely due to the fact that majority of the population lives in rural areas, where such data, if collected, can be easily skewed.

Organizations such as the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA- Uganda) and Single Parents Association of Uganda (SPU) that work primarily on women issues, report that Ugandan women are single mothers for different reasons. Causes include death of the father to a disease or accident and/or father accusation of a crime and/or incarceration; unemployment of both parents; and willful abandonment of pregnant women.

Nabiryo Annet, mother of Uganda Christian University (UCU) graduate Matende Wilson Paul and four other children in Mukono, is one such single mother. And like most other single mothers, she has struggled since she first learned the news of her pregnancy. When she had her son at age 16, his father abandoned her. She had to raise Wilson with her father.

“My father played the role of the father and grandfather at the same time,” said Annet.

When Annet got pregnant, her friends advised her to get an abortion because she could not possibly support her son on her own. But she refused. Looking now at her grown son who has a UCU Diploma in Business Administration, and all his academic accomplishments, Annet often thinks about the damage she could have done if she had aborted him.

But God has accompanied Annet through the USA-based UCU Partners nonprofit organization. Wilson Paul is a recipient of a UCU Partners’ scholarship. She remembers a time when Wilson graduated from high school. She did not know where to get the money for him to proceed to the university. When her son told her that he was receiving tuition support from a UCU Partners benefactor, she was filled with joy and gratitude. She did not know how he had managed to apply, or how he got accepted by UCU’s Financial Aid Office, but she felt that God had answered her prayers.

“I am grateful to UCU Partners’ scholarship and his sponsor specifically,” Annet said. “What stands out to me is that UCU Partners does not only give financial support, but sometimes some sponsors also give career guidance to their students. My son would go on to be a chemistry teacher and mentor to high-school students upon the guidance of his sponsor at UCU.”

Today, Wilson’s mother is very hopeful about his future. When UCU Partners interviewed him, he had plans of going back to UCU for further studies. In January this year, he enrolled in UCU’s bachelor program in Business Administration, while serving as a Finance Assistant to the school where he is teaching chemistry.

There are more than 50 higher education institutions in Uganda, but these single mothers choose UCU because they want their sons to be rooted in Christ, and identify with UCU’s values of stewardship, community, integrity, and servant leadership.

When UCU’s financial aid office, in collaboration with UCU Partners, looks at which student to grant tuition support, they usually listen and learn the story of the student who is applying for support. Very rarely does the financial aid office get to hear the story and experiences of their parents.

Annet is not the only single mother UCU Partners has supported.

Odongokola Joshua with his mother on his graduation day in October 2018. (UCU Partners Photo)

Stella Amonyi, is another mother the organization has supported. Her son, Odongokola Joshua El Shadai, also graduated with a Diploma in Business Administration in October 2018. He and his mother live in Kampala, but they are originally from the Northern district of Uganda, Lira.

Stella has worked as a mother to 47 orphaned and street children at Agape Christian Children Home/Center, in Nsambya, Kampala, for the last 11 years. With the sudden death of her husband, she held a job and raised their four children. Her husband died when Joshua, the youngest of the four children, was just three months old.

“My son never got a chance to meet his father. I thank God for caring for my son through UCU Partners,” said Stella.

When she learned that Joshua was receiving a scholarship from UCU Partners, she was very thankful to God.

“I have always prayed that God uses my sons and daughters for expanding His Kingdom. If it wasn’t for God, they would be nothing,” said Stella. Today, with a UCU diploma in hand, Joshua is enrolled in UCU’s bachelor program in Business and Administration. He wants to be an accountant.

Most parents in Uganda are responsible for their children’s education from kindergarten to the university. When UCU Partners supports students at UCU, they indirectly support their parents. This is why parents, such as Annet and Stella, are very grateful to UCU Partners who have empowered their sons through access to university education.

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For more of these stories and experiences, visit https://www.ugandapartners.org. If you would like to support a current student or otherwise support the university, 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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A Parent Voice: UCU Partners scholarship makes difference in lives of disadvantaged students

May 9, 2019Scholarship, UCU AlumniEducation, Kasese, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Scholarships, Sponsorship, UCU Partners, UCUAlumni, Uganda, Uganda Christian UniversityPatty Huston-Holm

Mark Bartels, UCU Partners Executive Director, left, with Bwambale Bernard Mulcho with his parents at his October 2018 graduation day. (UCU Partners Photo)

By Brendah Ndagire

Note: In October 2018, UCU Partners spoke with some parents of students who are beneficiaries of its student scholarship program. Pastor Baluku Moses is the father of Bwambale Bernard Mulcho, now a UCU alumnus of its Bachelor in Education program. Bwambale graduated with 4.3 of 5.0 grade-point-average (GPA), and at the time of his graduation he shared that he wanted to teach high school students and eventually pursue a masters program in theology. He and his parents are from Kasese District in southwestern Uganda, neighboring the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kasese district is known for its tourism. It is where Queen Elizabeth National Park is located, and it is home of the Rwenzori Mountain ranges. While popular for tourists, when to comes to learning, the region struggles to educate its children beyond high school level. Bwambale is one of the few young people who are able to make it out of the district and have access to higher learning institutions in the urban and central regions of Uganda. With the support of UCU Partners, his parents were able to send their son to Uganda Christian University. In this edited interview, Pastor Baluku provides insights into how he feels about his son’s university education.

Bwambale Bernard at Uganda Christian University. (UCU Partners Photo)

How long did it take you to get to the graduation in Mukono?
From Kasese, it takes a total of nine hours with seven hours from Kasese to Kampala, and about two hours from Kampala to Mukono.

What does it mean for you to see that your son has graduated?
I have great joy because it was one way of elevating our family, community, and serving God. I am truly happy about it because I know my son has realized his dream.

How meaningful was the UCU Partners scholarship to you as a parent?
It is a great contribution towards my son’s education, and without it, we would not have made it. We have had some financial constraints in the past years. For example, we also were paying school fees for his siblings, and I also was studying at Uganda Baptist Seminary, so the whole household needed money to study, and it was hard for me to raise all the finances needed. We are thankful to God for UCU Partners’ support towards his tuition.

Why is having an education in this country important for you and your family?
It is important because when you are not educated you have a lot of challenges. And when you are educated, you understand the world differently. I believe education opens up doors for us to move anywhere in the world.

Why did you choose UCU for your son’s education?
Because of the good Christian morals it passes on its students. UCU is a more expensive education institution than others. But regardless of that fact, people want to send their children here. Its values and quality education make the university special. It also is why we are very grateful for the UCU Partners’ scholarship program.

How have you contributed to Bwambale’s education?
I work with the Baptist Church as a pastor on volunteer basis, so I earn a small stipend. And my wife sells second-hand clothes. That is how we have earned our living, which in turn we have used to contribute in small amounts to our son’s education. It is common in Uganda for many priests/pastors to volunteer to work full without any financial remuneration. Most of us depend on farming. Our land is very productive, but the main challenge is inadequate rainfall for farmers who reside in the low land regions of Kasese. In the rainfall season, we grow maize, grounds nuts, beans, and keeping animals such as goats and cows. And that is how we are able to meet our financial responsibilities in most cases.

What challenges do young people experience in Kasese district?
The main challenge is poor and limited education access. Most children are only able to go to universal primary and secondary school. Very few can afford to go a private school or to higher learning institutions/universities.

What do you want other parents to learn from your experience?
To keep on trusting God, and not be discouraged by challenges as they support their children through university education.

Bwambale, what stood out from your UCU experience?
I have found UCU as a unique place for me to have the opportunity to access its educational services. I take great pride in the core values the institution has passed on to me, of leaderships, integrity, servanthood and Christ-centeredness. These values will continue to influence my work life and especially the way I will interact with people I encounter in future.

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Student Profile: Three days away from dropping out… then, God stepped in

January 31, 2019UCU School of MedicineAgago, Christianity, dentistry, LRA, Medicine, UCU Partners, Uganda Christian UniversityPatty Huston-Holm

Ogwal in an interview with Uganda Partners at the Medical School premises

(NOTE: In September 2018, Uganda Christian University launched a School of Medicine with 60 students. To “put a face” on Uganda’s future doctors and dentists, some of these students, including this one, were interviewed at the completion of the first semester.)

By Alex Taremwa
When he applied (one day before the deadline) to be enrolled in dentistry as part of the pioneer Uganda Christian University (UCU) School of Medicine, Richard Ogwal, who turns 36 in February, did not know where the $1,900 (Shs7million) for tuition was going to come from.

He arrived from his rural district of Agago in Northern Uganda with just $270 (Shs1million) that was not even enough to cover his hostel fees. The father of two and the firstborn of an extended family of 17 children from four wives said that he counted on the Government Loans’ Scheme and the State House Scholarship to meet his tuition.

However, his bubble burst midway through the first semester when the list of successful candidates for the Government Loans’ Scheme was pinned on the notice board. Ogwal’s name was not in it.

When he inquired from the Medical School Head, Dr. Ned Kanyesigye, about the absence of his name, Ogwal was told that the government could not include UCU Medical School courses among those covered by the Scheme for 2018 because the School started in mid-year – not the full year. Around the same time, Ogwal received a warning letter that he would be thrown out of the hostel if he did not register fully. A few days later, another letter arrived – this time from the Academics Office warning him that he would not be allowed to take the forthcoming examinations if he wasn’t fully paid up.

“I almost ran mad,” Ogwal said. “Not only was I stuck, but I also was very frustrated. I kept calling Dr. Ned, David Mugawe (the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Development and External Relations) and literally everyone who cared to listen about my problems. They said they would pray for me.”

The fast
A strong and prayerful Christian, Ogwal turned to God. At the same time, he phoned his parents back home and instructed them to sell off a piece of land he had acquired. But the plan hit a snag when the buyer pulled out at the last minute.

Ogwal’s hopes diminished.

With family members, he engaged in a three-day fast that lengthened to five days.

“Things were tough,” Ogwal, now a hostel captain, said. “The siblings that I pay for needed money, my family needed money, I needed money, and I was running out of time. My friends up to now tell me that I am the most courageous person because I remained firm.”

Two days after the family’s five-day fast, Ogwal got a breakthrough. He received a phone call inviting him to Uganda’s Parliament to sign off on the State House Scholarship. He recalled that day:

“This time, I actually ran mad! I could not believe it. I ran out of the gate and took a boda-boda (motorcycle) to Parliament, handed in my passport photo and academic papers and the money –and all the Shs7 million was processed to the university’s account.”

By the time he returned from Parliament, UCU’s Financial Aid Manager, Walter Washika, had already notified the School of Medicine to clear Ogwal for exams and fully register him – a pure work of God.

Ogwal during the interview with Uganda Partners at the Medical School premises.

The Bachelors in Dental Science student now speaks confidently about the future that awaits him. In the midst of his studies, he says that he wants to start a charity organisation that will help less-privileged children like him getter a better education and livelihood. Unlike at his home where he and his siblings only had one meal a day, he wants to give children the chance for more nutrition and a better life, especially in war-torn areas like his home district where the Lords’ Resistance Army (LRA) once forced his family to live in an Internally Displaced Camp (IDP).

Ogwal says in addition to his studies, he hopes to inspire fellow students about the Grace of God through prayer and fellowship.

“I am the first in my village to study Dentistry,” he said “My people expect a lot of me and I have to live up to that standard so that I can inspire the next generation.”

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More information about the Uganda Christian University School of Medicine can be obtained at https://www.ugandapartners.org/priority-projects. To support students, books and facilities at the medical school, contact Mark Bartels, executive director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/.

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Student Profile: Davis Ampumuza perseveres despite poverty

January 24, 2019UCU School of MedicineChristianity, Kabale, Medicine, UCU Partners, Uganda Christian UniversityPatty Huston-Holm

Davis Ampumuza at UCU’s new medical school (Uganda Christian University Partners Photo)

(NOTE: In September 2018, Uganda Christian University launched a School of Medicine with 60 students. To “put a face” on Uganda’s future doctors and dentists, some of these students were interviewed at the completion of the first semester. This is a story about one student.)

By Pauline Atwine
For Uganda Christian University (UCU) School of Medicine (SoM) student Davis Ampumuza, the cards seemed stacked against him.

He is one of 20 children by a father with multiple wives.
A mom who had no formal English-speaking skills raised him.
Nobody else in his family had completed a university education.
At age 27, he was older than nearly all the first-year SoM students.

But what he had going for him was a passion to improve health care and two friends – one who nudged him to apply to the university’s new medical school and another who loaned him the application fee.

“I was pushed into applying for the Bachelor of Medicine program by a friend who had finished his studies at UCU,” Davis, who grew up in the Rubimbwa Parish in Kabale District, said. “On a quest to fulfill my burning desires to make it among the shortlist, I hurried off to borrow the application fee from a village friend.”

The added appeal to study at UCU was the university’s infusion of moral Christian values in the curriculum. Speaking at the end of the first semester, he talked not only about the academic knowledge and skills but also how his spiritual life has been strengthened.

Davis Ampumuza with some of his class mates at UCU School of Medicine (Uganda Christian University Partners Photo)

In particular, Davis has promised himself to bring strong work ethic and enthusiasm in the medical field to save the rate at which pregnant mothers lose their lives and children due to negligence and unavailability of medical officers. This goal alone drives Davis to keep seeking his tuition fees.

“I was one of those kids from the poor school who saw how green the grass was on the other side of the world,” he said. “I couldn’t sit back and expect someone to pay for my education. I had to miss some classes – getting notes from other students – to do things like play the guitar and teach it in church to even afford basic needs like scholastic materials.”

Yet, Davis keeps his focus on what he feels are critical needs in his country’s health care system. Prior to the Christmas 2018 break, he writes, in part:

“The short answer to making health care better in Uganda is a well-developed infrastructure. The longer answer relates to the fact that women in particular stay in very hard to reach areas whereby the distance between their homes and health units is very long and the roads are very poor. This makes it very difficult for the expectant mothers to acquire services easily and some of them end up losing their lives and their babies. Furthermore, minor surgeries are performed by under qualified staff…”

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Student Profile: Deaths of infant, grandmother drove Mwesigwa to study medicine

January 17, 2019UCU School of MedicineDoctor, Medicine, Scholarship, UCU Partners, Uganda Christian University, World Health OrganisationPatty Huston-Holm

Ronnie Mwesigwa, UCU School of Medicine Student (UgandaPartners Photo)

(In 2017, the World Health Organization reported Uganda’s doctor-to-patient ratio to be one doctor per every 25,725 patients. This story represents one Uganda Christian University School of Medicine student example of how that gap might be filled.)

By Douglas Olum
In 2015, Ronnie Mwesigwa lost his grandmother – a death he believes was caused by negligent doctors. Her final note urged her grandson to “study medicine and become a doctor.” He is.

“The doctor who was serving her postponed her treatment many times even when she needed immediate attention,” said Mwesigwa, who is among 50 students pursuing Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees at the Uganda Christian University School of Medicine (UCUSoM). The 20-year-old Ugandan born to a statistician dad, John Bosco Asiimwe, and a civil engineer mom, Priscilla Kobusinge, believes if he had been a doctor, he could have saved his grandmother’s life.

Inspiration
He is the first born to both parents and the only child in their broken marriage. He is the only boy among his mother’s three children and one of the four boys among his father’s eight children. A step-father was a doctor. He urges his siblings to pursue sciences and come to the rescue of Uganda, especially in the ailing health sector.

“My first inspiration to study medicine was when I traveled to visit my step-dad in Botswana where he worked in 2012 during my senior one vacation,” Mwesigwa said. “He was called around 1 O’clock in the night to attend to an emergency. I saw him pace up and down, trying to figure out a solution for the patient, a child that unfortunately passed on. I saw him sit down, hold his head at his palm and weep.”

Loss of Mwesigwa’s maternal grandmother to cancer occurred while he sat for his final Ordinary Level examinations (Uganda Certificate of Education).

After those two losses, Mwesigwa was determined to change that story for others. He said that he cares about people and wants to help them live happy lives by keeping them healthy.

Before his admission to the UCU School of Medicine, Mwesigwa was looking at studies in bio-medical Science at Makerere University, the oldest and most popular university in the country. But he knew that would not bring him to his career goal.

Challenge
Unlike many students facing financial challenges as they pursue their dream course, Mwesigwa says his only challenge this semester has been keeping pace with the course work that accumulates every day. A lover of challenges because of their push to make him a better person, he is up to it.

Motivation
Even amidst the demanding course requirements and lectures, Mwesigwa says he finds his solace in listening to inspirational music, watching football and studying the UCU Christian-related foundation courses. These include: Old Testament, New Testament, Ethics, Christian World Views, among others.

Before joining the school, his greatest motivation has been his mother who believed in his dream and continuously encouraged him to chase it. He said she was the one who brought home to him a copy of the newspaper that contained the UCUSoM call for applications.

Desire to serve
After finishing his five-year course, Mwesigwa wants to work in Uganda and contribute towards healing the ailing health sector. He says while money is a big factor when it comes to health care, he also is concerned about the huge patient-to-doctor ratio in Uganda, a thing that he thinks partially contributes to the poor health service delivery in the country.

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UCU Covers Ground in Science Education Thanks to Uganda Partner’s Equipment

October 31, 2018Science and Technologyengineering, Science, UCU Partners, Uganda Christian UniversityPatty Huston-Holm

Okot Francis, laboratory attendant, with liquid limit cone penetrator

By Alex Taremwa
Uganda Christian University (UCU) started out as a theological college. Slowly, the university transformed into one of the predominant arts and humanities’ institutions of higher learning in Uganda and produced the best lawyers, journalists, business leaders, teachers and social workers.

Over time, however, a vision was born to integrate the Christian spiritual values into sciences to better meet the needs of the country and as such, a Faculty of Science and Technology (FOST) was created with two departments – Civil and Environmental Engineering and Agriculture and Biological Sciences. These are housed in a new storied building in the Technology Park area of the UCU Mukono campus.

The need then was to build state-of-the-art laboratories and equip them to the standard that would allow students to create groundbreaking discoveries to improve the community, the graduates’ career opportunities and the university’s brand.

Making science real
Hellenah Dushime, a third-year student of Food Science and Technology says that ever since the Chemistry and Biology Labs were fitted with equipment from UCU Partners, her studies took a new twist.

“Before we were always told in theory what the equipment was and how it worked,” she said. “With the equipment, I can now do my practical assignments here and learn firsthand how things are done. This is what I call science. You can’t teach it like history.”

Her most used equipment are the deep freezer, where her samples are safely stored, and the analytical balance donated by contributors to UCU Partners.

Reaching beyond students
Okot Francis, the laboratory attendant since 2015, has noticed a great increase in the use of the equipment. He says that besides the students who are now a permanent fixture in the labs, the external community users such as researchers doing independent experiments have expressed interest in using the laboratories.

He believes if the university could secure accreditation for the labs from the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) certifying that they were of great standard and quality, the equipment could earn the university money that would in turn help in purchase of laboratory supplies, paying for routine servicing among others.

“I can comfortably say that UCU Partners has given our department a huge boost,” he says. “If you look at what the students have been able to do practically, you see great value. Some are already making bread jam, mayonnaise, waste purification; it is simply amazing.”

Okot says student instruction has significantly improved and so have skills and application to the local community. The university has made it mandatory for students to use their class groups (four students) to work on a project that solves a problem in the local village of Mukono.

“They have done water harvesting – a model that the university is currently using – waste management, crop clinics among other projects,” he says. “And even as they graduate, we are more certain of sending out all around graduates with great skills to create jobs.”

Equipment peaking interest
The relevance to learning and real-world application that the new equipment provides has not only increased enrollment in science programs but has enhanced partnerships with humanitarian organizations. World Vision, for example, uses the equipment to test the quality of water in boreholes and streams in the communities.

A student model demonstrating proper land use at home for gardening and rain water harvesting for rural homes

Going forward, Okot says the science laboratories will be further divided off so students can have dedicated spaces to work under controlled environments for better results.

“We shall partition the labs so that students in dairy production, micro-biology, and biotechnology can have more dedicated spaces to work with the equipment best suited for them. This also will improve the safety of the equipment,” he adds.

Rodgers Tayebwa, a lecturer in the Civil Engineering department says that his students have been more involved since they received the turbidimeter –equipment for measuring the cloudiness of water.

His students use the new liquid cone penetrators to determine the moisture content at which clay soils pass from a plastic to liquid state and to determine the undrained shear strength necessary for the longevity of civil structures such as roads, bridges and buildings.

In the laboratory, you can see the toil of students. The specimens are carefully placed in the room temperature spaces, some still under study labeled with tags “Do not touch,” and others already out being recorded.

Students at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels use the four laboratories. Tayebwa notes that strict standard operating procedures for equipment use were designed to ensure safety of both the students and the equipment.

Rodgers Tayebwa, UCU Civil Engineering lecturer, with new portable equipment

Portable laboratory
“This equipment is expensive. We can’t just let it be used without precaution. It is basically a portable laboratory that a student carries to the field and does the tests on the spot,” he explains.

Like Okot, he acknowledges that the faculty still needs more equipment especially for new courses such as Food Science and Technology, Nutrition and Dairy Technology. There is hope and prayer that this, too, will be forthcoming.

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For more information about how you can help support equipment to make a difference in UCU education, contact Mark Bartels, UCU Partners executive director, at mtbartels@gmail.com.

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