UCU Vice-Chancellor Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi inspects some of the merchandise produced by students under the Faculty of Business and Administration during the recent launch of the Business Incubation Centre. (Courtesy Photo)
By John Semakula
Uganda Christian University (UCU) will in May 2021 rollout a new post-graduate diploma in Sustainable Business and Renewable Energy.
According to the UCU Faculty of Business and Administration, the course sponsored by DALILA was cleared by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) in August.
DALILA is a capacity-building project funded by the Education, Audio-visual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Union.
DALILA stands for Development, Academic Curricula on Sustainable Africa-Project.
The Associate Dean of the UCU Faculty of Business and Administration, Godfrey Sempungu, revealed that six new courses on “Renewable Technologies and Green Business Creation and Development” have been designed for the new program in line with the sponsorship agreement.
The courses are: Energy and Sustainable Development; Renewable Energy Technologies and Decentralization of Electricity; Energy Efficiency and Storage Application; Business and Financial Models of Renewable Energy; Renewable Energy Financing and Modeling; and Renewable Energy Enterprise Management Support to Business and Enterprise.
Sempungu said the program will offer renewable energy startup and entrepreneurship opportunities to UCU graduate students, alumni, staff, community and other key stakeholders such as those in the Church of Uganda Dioceses of Mukono and Kampala.
The program is a product of a sh5bn (Euro 1,123,790 or $1.3 million American) grant, which the Faculty won recently as part of an international nine-partner consortium.
A similar project is also implemented in four other universities in Uganda and Tanzania. The other three are Uganda Martyrs University, the State University of Zanzibar and University of Dodoma.
Sempungu said the post-graduate diploma will be taught for two semesters and that students will be expected to take classes both online and face-to-face on campus.
He said: “The courses are intended to facilitate students’ transition to work and to promote the use of innovative business technologies. Green university laboratories will provide vocational training for renewable energy and adaptation of technologies to local context plus boosting students employability.”
According to the Faculty, the program will be facilitated by lecturers from UCU and other partner institutions in Spain and Italy and that the best four students will have a chance to travel and conduct their internship in European companies for a month.
The other partner higher education institutions are the University of Cadiz in Spain and Sapienza University of Rome – both providing expertise to inform the project.
According to the terms of the grant, UCU also shall furnish a renewable energy laboratory for training of students in the recent trends in the field and to allow them many hours of practice under the guidance of experts.
To avail stakeholders with the necessary information about the project, the UCU Faculty of Business and Administration, in conjunction with its implementing partner the Faculty of Engineering, held an online DALILA Information Day on December 10.
Speaking during the event, the Faculty’s Dean Dr. Martin Lwanga said the project is helping to fulfill UCU’s mission of sending out job creators – not seekers – to the market.
“This is an exciting time,” he said. “Over 100 proposals were submitted from all over the world and UCU emerged among the winners.”
In his remarks, the deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. John Kitayimbwa, said the program was well thought out because it supports Uganda’s development goals under Vision 2040. The National Vision is intended to transform Uganda from a peasant to a modern and prosperous country within 30 years through strengthening fundamental infrastructure, including energy.
Kitayimbwa noted that the four main components of the program – partnership, practical based education, emphasis on environmental sustainability, and renewable energy – make the program unique and outstanding. “We therefore need to raise more awareness about the program because we need more people on board when we finally roll it out,” he said.
Dr. Miria Anguyo from the UCU Faculty of Engineering said the post-graduate diploma will be able to produce graduates who will provide solutions in renewable energy.
Meanwhile, Prof. Cipri Katiuscia, the project’s international coordinator from Italy, said she was glad to be part of the project that seeks to create employment opportunities for Africa’s young people and particularly in the green economy sector.
“We need to give support to the young people in Africa who support their countries’ young economies,” she said.
Marianna Stori, a member from one of the partner organizations of DALILA, took the members through the dangers of climate change in Africa and globally including flooding, landslides, heat waves, loss of biodiversity and desertification and urged participants to embrace the new measures to contain climate change.
This is one of the grants the UCU Faculty of Business and Administration has won lately in a bid to boost its academic training for students. The Faculty also recently won a sh230m (51,700.4 Eur or $62,611 American) grant to develop a short course in promoting bird tourism. The course will be incorporated in Bachelor of Hospitality and Tourism.
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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
Pauline Nyangoma shows off one of the gratitude cards she gives to her customers.
By Maxy Magella Abenaitwe
The late physicist Stephen Hawking once said: “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.”
When the Uganda COVID-19 lockdown, including education suspension, started in mid-March 2020, Uganda Christian University (UCU) continued paying its workers full salaries. In two months’ time and with no tuition income, however, the financial strain was elevated. Only a handful of essential workers were kept with salaries reduced by 25%. Sadly, that payment decrease for these few continued to be reduced as UCU adapted to change.
Nyangoma with one of her customers
Pauline Nyangoma, a Communication Assistant at UCU who was not among the essential workers kept, was adapting, too. Bankrupt, anxious and wondering how she would eat and pay her bills, it was a surprise 150,000 UGX ($40) in her mobile account that accelerated her adaptation.
“Seeing this money in my account felt like I had been set free from an extremely dark prison,” Nyangoma said of the support from an anonymous donor with the American-based, Uganda Partners organization. “I could finally catch a breath, feel my blood freely flow and my brain finally thinking straight.”
Holding some cash helped Nyangoma realise an answer that had been there all along – making bags and neck accessories. It was a skill she discovered in Senior Six as she took seamstress classes with a local tailor. Mable Katusiime, an elderly street hawker who had products, a work ethic and a smile that belied her age, further inspired Nyangoma when they met in 2018. With craft bags over her shoulder and appearing affluent and educated, Mable told Nyangoma that she preferred this work to other options because it “kept her heart beating.”
Nyangoma’s bags
Nyangoma bought one of Mable’s bags. She took it home to unstitch and re-stitch it to learn the secrets of quality and style. When Nyangoma wasn’t working in the UCU Communications and Marketing office, she was making bags on borrowed machines. She sold these as a second job for supplemental income until the COVID -19 lockdown forced her to make and sell more.
“I made a precise, clear budget on how I would use this money,” she said of that $40 donation. “Half of it, I used to buy craft making materials and the other for facilitation to and from Kisasi town where I could easily access a sewing machine.”
From Nyangoma’s creativity and skilful hands, varieties of colourful bags evolved and began selling but not without the obstacles typical for a “street hawker” – especially a female one. Taxi drivers shouted harsh words at her; strangers mocked her with loud laughs.
“Aaaaah… why have women of these days adopted a habit of running away from their husbands’ homes?” one man said. Another pointed at her and hooted, “Now she is carrying all her language like a street hawker.”
One barrier became a blessing. As she was forced to wait to board taxis that were more eager for passengers without a load of product as she had, she sold off some items to passers-by and truck drivers. Truck drivers became her best customers and marketing advisers who made referrals for additional sales. Nyangoma learned to throw bags through moving truck windows and pick up their tossed cash blowing in the wind.
First-time customers, appreciative of the beauty and durability of her work, referred more customers. Friends and family bought and made orders. The UCU community embraced and bought her products.
While the lockdown’s high transportation fees necessary for travel to the sewing room eat into her profits, Nyangoma sees a revenue light at the end of the tunnel. Her client growth is promising. Sales are getting her closer to owning a sewing machine. Nyangoma has created a brand name, Pauline’s Craft Workroom. With compelling photos of her products and satisfied customers, she uses her social media accounts as her showroom. She also displays her works at restaurants and shops.
Instead of business cards, she has created gratitude cards. To Nyangoma, gratitude – thanking people – is the most rewarding tool. It outgrows all marketing strategies. Her customers return the favour with praise. For example:
Phiona Atuhaire, a satisfied user of Pauline’s craftwork and a regular referral, says that she has continuously bought Nyangoma’s products because of their unique African touch and meticulous effort she puts into the quality. Atuhaire has also observed that Nyangoma is open to customer feedback and has made tremendous changes following advice from her clients.
Conrad Ochola, one of Nyangoma’s recent customers, admits to purchasing a craft bag because of its overall bold outlook. To Ochola, general outlook is second to quality.
Madrine Ayebare, one of Nyangoma’s clients, praised her for being a solution giver. She says: “I no longer get stuck while finding gifts for friends and relatives. When I am going to parties or visit friends, just a simple call to Pauline’s Craft workroom gets me exactly what I need.”
Seeing her products appreciated and functional with no clear indication when she might be recalled to her university position, Nyangoma has a vision of making clothing and teaching others after getting her own her sewing machine, to turn part of where she lives into a workshop and to make African clothing. If she gets recalled to her job at UCU, she will continue the business full-time or part-time.
Someday – maybe as early as 2021 – she may start a tailoring school to pass along her skill.
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 her country’s lockdown, she was an intern for the UCU Standard newspaper.
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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
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
Emmanuel Otim poses for a photo after his interview with UCU Partners.
By Maxy Magella Abenaitwe
Most Ugandan children have been told that holding on to sciences – that is, the traditional, formal curriculum – is the only key to success. Little or no value is attached to talents outside that box or personal passions. Those who create their own chances and platforms to ensure talent growth beyond what is customary are few.
Emmanuel Otim, a Uganda Christian University (UCU) bachelor of arts in education graduate, is among those few. Since 2007, he has identified himself as a comedian – a career path sparked by his love for stage performance.
This, then, is how Otim (known as Ehmah Napoleone and preferring to be known as simply “Ehmah”) made it unfold. Having lived a childhood with various stage opportunities, he fit himself in the already-established university entertainment sessions. Under the brand name, The Filosofaz, he and a bunch of friends broke the mold of the University praise and worship system of entertainment and introduced comedy.
The comedy group grew so popular that students referred to the Saturday evening walks to watch Ehmah and his partner, Catro Johnson, as, “The great trek to Nkoyoyo hall.” The paved route from the Dining hall to Nkoyoyo hall became known informally as Prince Ehmah Road.
For someone who had grown up with no access to television and the Internet, his first comic sessions were presentations solely intended to cheer up students and satisfy his own creative talents. Little did he know this would become a career that would pay his bills.
Several times, friends tapped him saying, “Man! You’re going to be big, you will be a millionaire.” Their encouraging words started to sink in. He began to realize there could be something special about what he had been doing.
Ehmah still remembers Peace Lona, a girl he had met in his S5 class at Makerere high school in 2004. She told him about the successes of Kato Lubwama (comedian turned politician) and Philip Luswata (actor/director best known for “Queen of Katwe”). To further educate himself, Ehmah started attending comedy shows, including those of East African comedians like Philip Luswata and Ebonies.
“Going for these shows shaped my idea that I could actually earn from this,” he reckoned.
In 2009, DSTV held competitions called “Stand Up, Uganda.” He didn’t compete but found family in a union formed by the top 10 winners of the contest. A Ugandan named Omara, who took second place in the competition, called on Ehmah to assist in forming the Crackers’ show that later premiered on National Television (NTV) as Mic Check. Omara and Ehmah had met at UCU.
To Ehmah, his “fully rewarding” world of comedy is the job he “never sought.” It simply evolved.
As of September 2020, Ehmah’s highly ranked comic gigs have taken him to Zambia, Namibia, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan as well as within his native Uganda. In spite of curfew, economic and travel restrictions of the COVID-19 lockdown, Ehmah has maintained his relevance with some earnings through social media fan base management, replacing a desired stage performance schedule.
In August 2020, Ehmah Napoleone’s You Tube channel and social media platforms were trending with more than 2,000 views of “Afande Piano,” an imaginary police spokesperson of the Wakanda Republic. Afande Piano is an exaggerated sarcastic character who mimics the Ugandan police spokesperson who at many occasions has been cited defending police and government for their deeds. In addition to bringing smiles to people’s faces, Ehmah’s aim was to show the public how hard it is to be a spokesperson in a country with a political environment like that of Uganda.
While the Afande Piano character is partially political, Ehmah usually refrains from politics as well as tribal, vulgar and religious content that may negatively impact on society.
At that, for the sake of solidarity, advocacy for the rights of Comedians, growth of the comedian industry and as the spokesperson of The Uganda Comedian Association (TUCA), Ehmah has taken part in political performances with comedians like the Bizonto group that were once arrested over allegations of promoting sectarianism through their comic church-like hymns. For some performers, like Allan (alias Optional Allan) and Joshua Okello (alias Okello Okello), he has both learned and mentored.
Kibuka describes the five-year relationship as a kind, generous, helpful and friendly mentorship. He applauds Ehmah for paving for him the way from the ghetto setting to the urban stage.
“I will never forget the day he recommended me for my first Jazz comedy Uganda performance,” Kibuka recalls. “It was unbelievable, I mingled with big names in the Ugandan comedy industry. That day, I realized my potential.”
Okello, Ehmah’s other mentee credits him for being professional, principled, honest and flexible.
“Ehmah keeps time and will always show up if you have a booking, appointment or performance with him,” Okello said. “This is a rare trait among Ugandan entertainers.”
Okello recalls of a time he invited his mentor to perform on a show he had organized in Soroti. That day it rained, and the show flopped. As the dismayed organiser, worried about how to pay, Ehmah agreed to forego his payment.
Ehmah credits UCU for his humility as this was reinforced there for students and staff. He points his success to the 2006-2009 UCU community that embraced him and offered him his first platform as an amateur comedian.
“By the time I left UCU, I was already a brand,” he noted.
Ehmah is saddened by what he perceives as a decline in creative stage talent emphasis and opportunities at UCU. His cry is for the university to embrace drama and entertainment because it holds a great future in Uganda.
His passion for comedy has helped him overlook some challenges like the negative perception some people have towards entertainers. Most parents dislike comedians around their children because they think artists are not good role models.
“Sometimes it’s hard for people to accept you,” Ehmah said. “Africans have not yet embraced comedy as a profession.”
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 her country’s lockdown, she was an intern for the UCU Standard newspaper.
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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
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
(L-R)-The Vice Chancellor Dr. John Senyonyi, Chancellor Archbishop Stephen Kazimba Mugalu, at UCU.
After his enthronement as the 9th Archbishop of the Province of the Church of Uganda on March 1, 2020, Dr. Stephen Kazimba Mugalu became the Chancellor of Uganda Christian University (UCU) in line with the institution’s Charter. The Rt. Rev. Kazimba was officially inaugurated as UCU’S Chancellor on March 20, 2020. His leadership has been hindered by the Uganda government order closing academic institutions to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. In this July 16 interview with John Semakula, the new Archbishop and UCU chancellor discussed challenges and opportunities for education, Christians and the church.
How long have you been connected with UCU? I am an alumnus of Bishop Tucker Theological College, which trained me many years ago. When the University was beginning, and it was a transition from Bishop Tucker to Uganda Christian University, I was a student. I am grateful to God for how far He has taken us and for the way He has kept Bishop Tucker and UCU. And for all those who have been in leadership like the Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo, Henry Luke Orombi and Stanley Ntagali, my predecessor. These were Chancellors. But we have also had wonderful Vice-Chancellors like Prof. Stephen Noll, who was in charge when I was a student, and his successor, the Rev. Cannon Dr. John Senyonyi.
During your short tenure as Chancellor, can you summarize challenges? Like any other university because of COVID-19, UCU is at the moment experiencing some challenges. After the government imposed a lockdown in March, the University was very ready to offer on-line exams, but because of one reason or the other, the government discouraged the exams that time. That is why I say it’s not only UCU, but also all the other universities because there are no students, and the income is not there.
Some are concerned that UCU’S Vice Chancellor of 10 years, John Senyonyi, is retiring on August 31 at this critical time. What are your thoughts? What a challenge! But God’s ways are not ours. God’s ways of doing things are incomprehensible. But where there is a challenge, there is an advantage. I learnt this from a missionary called Hudson Taylor. He said: “Your setback can be a setup for your comeback.” So at the time I came as an Archbishop and Chancellor, immediately the country was locked down. But there are other things we are learning together during this critical time. I am so grateful that I was installed as the chancellor just a few days before the lockdown. We are also happy that we are going to have another Vice-Chancellor who is coming in office almost like myself when the country is still under the lockdown. Possibly by the time he comes, maybe there will be change. I am not sure, but we trust God for His leadership.
Dr. Stephen Kazimba Mugalu
What message do you have for Dr. Senyonyi, who is retiring? He became the Vice-Chancellor when I had already left UCU as a student. But I first met him when he was working with the African Evangelist Enterprise, and he did great work. This is the Ministry that was started by the late Bishop Festo Kivengere, a powerful preacher of the Gospel and a teacher. Dr. Senyonyi, I can say, is the product of Bishop Kivengere and I am sure he would be happy to hear that because of his great heart of evangelism, he has reached out to many to ensure that there is transformation. When Dr. Senyonyi came to UCU from the African Evangelist Enterprise and joined as a chaplain, he found that being a university, there was a lot that was needed especially in the area of the chaplaincy. He is the one who put in place the structure we have in the chaplaincy. He ensured real worshiping among students during community hour fellowship. He is a man with a heart for the mission at the University and at all the campuses. In addition, I think because of his passion for the gospel, the University is the Center of Excellence in the Heart of Africa.
How has Dr. John Senyonyi’s spirituality impacted on the UCU community? UCU is supposed to be the backbone that produces men and women who can bring about transformation in this country. That is the transformation I call conversion of the head, heart and the hands – the holistic and total transformation. When Dr. Senyonyi succeeded Prof. Stephen Noll, I think the later had done great work of mentoring him. You know what we are lacking in most of our institutions today is mentoring. Some people do good work, but mentoring others to succeed them is not something they prioritize. Some even look at their juniors or colleagues as threats because they think they will take over their offices, but one day they will retire. I am sure all we have achieved in the area of spirituality as UCU is linked to Dr. Senyonyi and Prof. Noll. This is definitely important to all of us because without total transformation, we are doing nothing. Actually when employers are looking for the best lawyers in Uganda, priority goes to the UCU Alumni. This is attributed to the total transformation of their heads and hearts. You can’t work well when the heart and mind are corrupted.
Any other attributes to Dr. Senyonyi? Dr. Senyonyi encouraged all the workers at UCU to put their marriages right. I don’t know whether they were requested kindly or by force, but they ended up appreciating afterwards. But it started with him. I can’t imagine a University like UCU having immoral people, who are cohabiting. I think Dr. Senyonyi did a great work. Dr. Senyonyi also encouraged people to pursue further studies and now we have well equipped professors. So we are going to miss Dr. Senyonyi, but definitely his successor Dr. Aaron Mushengyezi will do a nice job. I want to end with one thing about Dr. Senyonyi. He is a man of integrity; he is committed to God and is a preacher of the Gospel. He accepted Christ long time ago, and I am happy that he is supported by his wife, Dr. Ruth Senyonyi, a professional counselor. Ruth is a daughter of Bishop Misael Kawuma who confirmed me. She has lived to the standard of a daughter of a bishop. She has supported Dr. Senyonyi. Dr. Senyonyi exhibited integrity while dealing with money; a University like UCU is not getting a lot from government. You hear corruption stories in other places. I can’t say that there are no problems at UCU, but they are normal abnormalities. I wish Dr. Senyonyi God’s blessings in his retirement and I wish the same to the incoming Vice Chancellor.
How do you compare UCU to other Universities in Uganda? The University itself is admired by other universities in the area of spirituality. Once somebody is touched spiritually, other areas can follow very well. The areas are interwoven. In the other area of order, when you visit UCU, it’s well organized. I go to other campuses and say really? But at UCU, the compound, the buildings and all these other things reflect a wonderful Jesus.
And what does it mean to be a Chancellor of UCU? It’s very important for everyone to know that this University was founded by the Province of the Church of Uganda. This was mainly to ensure that there is promotion of holistic ministry, which covers three areas of Jesus Christ: teaching, preaching and healing. And because of that, the Charter indicates that the Chancellor of this University must be the Archbishop and one of the roles of the Chancellor is to ensure that he presides over the graduations, and that the values of the Church in the areas of spirituality, and academics are maintained. The Chancellor is therefore the father figure of the University and ensures that all the interests of the founders, like the bishops, are observed.
The Church of Uganda came up with the UCU Sunday in September to promote and support UCU financially. How do you feel about diocese support or lack of support? Because this University is founded by the Anglican Church, definitely this is a child of the Church and like any other responsible parent, when you have a child you must ensure that you support him or her. And so the Provincial Assembly, which is the supreme body of the Church of Uganda, decided that at least the first Sunday of September would be a UCU Sunday. This is mainly to ensure that every Church in Uganda talks about UCU, and sensitizes the congregation about what the University offers. But also to have the offertory, thanksgiving go towards supporting UCU. That one was agreed upon and I want to ask all Christians and the clergy to ensure that we respect our own resolution. Those who have done it, very well, we are so grateful, but those who are not yet on board, we need to encourage them. But definitely, this has just started. We want to invite the bishops, all God’s people. Let me also make this very clear, the UCU Sunday is not about money. It’s about making UCU known allover Uganda and outside. This is the Sunday we need to use to mobilize for students, and talk about the contribution of UCU to the community.
As the Chancellor, how do you intend to help UCU raise operational funds? If we are to raise funds for the University, we must begin with me and you reading this story. It’s our responsibility. The way to raise resources is also to mobilize students to come and pay school fees. That is very important. But since this is a private University, we need a lot more resources. I want also to appeal to the government of Uganda to support these private Universities because the students we educate are not private. They are government students and once they graduate, they serve the government. One way of government supporting these Universities is to waive the taxes or remove them on some of the things they use.
Any appeal to UCU Partners and donors, who have done a credible job already? I want to appreciate the donor communities for the way they support the University and I would like to further call upon our partners, the UCU friends. I know that there is donor fatigue, but I appreciate you so much the way you support us. We are also aware that there are those who do not know how to support us. Please you can do it in any way. You can connect us to someone who can donate a gift to the university. You can support us by giving us scholarships to equip our professors with Masters and PhDs. You can give partial scholarships or help our students who want to study abroad. By doing so you are supporting the University. And lastly, praying for the University. But as you know, prayer goes with actions. Faith without action is nothing, says St. James.
Why should someone study from UCU? Outside all the other reasons that I have already given, I and all the other bishops in Uganda plus many prominent Ugandans are products of UCU. UCU has wonderful professors. I am inviting students to apply for any course they want, let it be education, law or mass communication, you will be blessed by studying at UCU. We embraced e-learning already before COVID-19, and it’s the way to go so join UCU.
How are you helping to ensure that the Churches that have been closed since March 23 in Uganda due to the coronavirus pandemic are reopened? I don’t agree that the Churches have been closed since March. It’s the buildings that have been closed. Actually we have many Churches that have been opened during this period. I minister every Sunday to over 10,000 people using live streaming and television and this is the way to go. But sure, we are lacking fellowship, because I preach to many people, I don’t see them. But we have collaborated with other religious leaders to come up with a strategy called spiritual standard operation procedures, which we have submitted to the COVID-19 national task force to study. In the strategy, we have indicated that whoever will come to Church must have a mask. We have ushers to ensure that it’s done. Whoever doesn’t have a mask will not be allowed in Church. So we are organized. We shall also have sanitizers at every Church. And everyone entering Church will be required to wash their hands. In between the services, we shall have to spray before another begins. For the offertory, there will be a stick used to hold the bag where money is put. On the number of services, where we have been having three, we can have five or even six to ensure physical distancing. We are more ready and it will be a matter of sensitizing people. If we tell the flock to sit, it does, and to stand, it does which no politician can do. And we have divine authority.
Some pastors have called for protests against the continued closure of Churches? We are not supporting things like demonstrations and protests, we are peaceful people and we encourage dialogue. COVID-19 is there and we are aware and what we have proposed in the strategy is to help government to know that we are ready to cooperate because you can’t close Churches and open Kikubo one of the busiest places in the city center. We are more organized than the traders in Kikuboand in the shopping malls and arcades.
How is the Church caring for retired bishops under COVID-19? Definitely, it’s a very big challenge. The Province has always catered for retired bishops through their dioceses. But due to COVID-19, there some dioceses that have no means of income to ensure that they care for the incumbents and those who retired. It’s a challenge I now have as the Archbishop to ensure that we come up with the income generating activities to address this. And the Church must realize that the old tools can’t solve the new challenges. We must do business, do farming, plant trees and this must apply even to our University. We must look for new tools even in the way we communicate. Old tools don’t apply. I am ready to bring more changes.
How have you avoided money temptations as a top Church leader? Transparency, accountability and integrity are all Christian Values. We must embrace them because it’s the teaching of Jesus Christ in Mathew Chapter 5:13-14. You must be the light and salt of the world. It’s Jesus who saved me on March 7, 1984. Ever since I got saved, I discovered a secret in being transparent and accountable. This is what an American evangelist said about integrity: It is something you do at night, and in broad daylight. I want to call upon all God’s people. We must be transparent. Once you tamper with transparency, you block God’s blessings for you, your children and your children’s children.
The interviewer, John Semakula, is a graduate of Master of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies of Uganda Christian University (UCU). He is the supervisor of The Standard newspaper and lecturer of journalism and communication at UCU. John worked as a Senior Writer with the New Vision newspaper for eight years.
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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.
Outgoing Uganda Christian University (UCU) Vice Chancellor, John Senyonyi (right front) poses recently with some of his leadership team, including the Mayor of Mukono, George Fred Kagimu (third from right); and the incoming Vice Chancellor, Aaron Mushengyezi (third from left).
By the Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi Vice Chancellor, Uganda Christian University
The global COVID-19 pandemic is both unprecedented and baffling. It has locked up countries with the best healthcare systems, and plagued palaces and Presidential houses, just as it has pervaded slums. Churches and schools have been barred from physical gatherings, as well as places of amusement.
As Christians we have not been spared. We bend our knees in prayer pleading for God’s intervention during this crisis. For what can a believer do than cry for God’s deliverance?
In the early 1980’s, the political and security situation in Uganda similarly defied all hope. In desperation people half-jestingly would say, “God lost Uganda’s file,” to mean God had forgotten about Uganda. Had He?
A comparable pestilence struck Eilenburg, Germany, in the 1630s. It is said thousands died. People, including clergy, either fled Eilenburg or died. One pastor, Martin Rinkart, stayed and alone performed more than 4,000 funerals. His wife, too, perished. A famine followed the plague. Yet Rinkart shared his food with all he could. In the midst of this tragedy, Rinkart wrote a hymn of gratitude we know well, Now Thank We All Our God. He thanked God.
In modern Christian parlance, health and wealth have become a human right before God. Acquisition has become a “spiritual virtue,” alongside discontent. We tell God how He should run His world! We give thanks only when we get what we want. We even attribute our welfare entirely to our self-care.
But the Bible is relentless in urging us to thank God. Paul urges, “Give thanks in all circumstances …” All circumstances is not in some circumstances. During COVID-19, and even with bereavement thereby, or with other misfortunes.
Gratitude is important because it is as contagious as ingratitude. Children who grow up in thankful homes develop a brighter spirit toward life. The converse is equally true. The pilgrim children of Israel coming from Egypt demonstrate the infectiousness of grumbling.
The Bible does not command us to thank God for the crisis or misfortune, but in the midst of the situation. It commands and commends giving thanks because of who God is in His nature, and especially to us.
We may not know the circumstances that inspired King David to pen more than 70 psalms, including Psalm 103 (Bless the Lord, O my soul), though we are all too familiar with David’s personal troubles. They were not unlike our own. David endured many personal trials.
He encourages us not to forget all God’s benefits. For when hardships come, present circumstances press so hard that as a reflex, our emotions dominate our response. In adversity, we do not remember the past goodness of God easily.
Now, without a memory it is impossible to give thanks to God. For that reason, David says, “forget not all His benefits.” This is a fundamental statement. There is wit and truth in the statement, “the principal function of the brain is to forget.” If you will not remember, you will not thank God. Gratitude first reflects on what the LORD has done, and that is in the past.
David is teaching us a central truth that our circumstances should not dictate our relationship with God or how we walk with Him. Gratitude comes when we reflect on God’s goodness in our life – not the future, but the past. So, we can be thankful amidst the COVID-19, if we know where we have come from.
Moreover, David gives valid reasons for gratitude that are applicable to all. God forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, satisfies, and each verb is present continuous imputing God’s unending care and blessings. God’s unmerited Grace forgives our sins and heals our diseases and redeems our life from the pit.
That the Coronavirus has no medicine should be telling that God alone has spared His people. In Uganda, with our grossly imperfect health systems, people have not died in hordes as predicted. According to data, only five have died so far. Some friends were down with the Coronavirus and appeared near to death. Yet God’s mercy spared them. Bless the LORD, O my soul.
As David calls upon all people to thank God, he explains the means whereby we should thank Him. Thanksgiving is vain unless it flows from within – that is, from one’s soul. Thanksgiving is not the words we speak or the gifts we bring before God. Unless the heart is thankful, all external expressions are empty public rhetoric and display.
Equally, a thankful heart cannot be suppressed; it must burst out into expressed gratitude. The Psalmists repeatedly talk of thanking God among the people. Their thanksgiving flows from within to without, into Praise and Offerings to God and care for others.
A story is told that a man once stole the famous Bible commentator, Matthew Henry’s wallet. That can be traumatizing. When he reflected on the incident, Henry (1662-1714) had four reasons to thank God.
He was first of all thankful that the man had never robbed him before. Then he was thankful that although the man had taken his wallet and he certainly could have caused more harm, he did not take his life also. Furthermore, although the man had taken all Henry had, there wasn’t much in that wallet. And finally, Henry thanked God that he had been robbed, rather than he, Henry, doing the robbing.
Crises often have a silver lining. In the education sector, COVID-19 has been an eye opener. As human physical interaction receded, the virtual world that appeared distant and optional became urgent and necessary. It also has become more real in connecting the world, as the less fortunate yearn to be included in the new world.
We certainly do not know all the dangers God rescues us from, but we know that the Man who was bruised at Calvary is in control. He will not let you go – not even during the COVID-29 pandemic!
Therefore, we can confidently say with David, “Bless the LORD, O, my soul.” Amen.
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The need to support Uganda Christian University programs, students, and services is ever greater during COVID-19 and the lockdown of education. To contribute, 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.
Retiring UCU Vice Chancellor John Senyonyi, second from right, and his predecessor, Dr. Stephen Noll, right, with Archbishop Emeritus Henry Luke Orombi, his predecessor, Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo (second left) and the Rt. Rev. Dr. Michael Kyomya bishop emeritus of Busoga Diocese.
The Archbishop emeritus of the of the Province of the Church of Uganda and former Chancellor of Uganda Christian University (UCU), the Rt. Rev. Henry Luke Orombi, has joined the list of prominent clergy bidding farewell to Cannon Dr. John Senyonyi, who is retiring from the office of the Vice-Chancellor on August 31. Archbishop Orombi, who retired in 2012, was the University’s chancellor 10 years ago when Dr. Senyonyi was assuming the office. In this July 20, 2020, interview with John Semakula, the retired archbishop speaks out on why he chose Dr. Senyonyi for the position and why the Church is proud of UCU.
How is retirement? Some people have thought that I am not retired. I have only shifted camp. I left Namirembe, the Provincial home of the Archbishop and went to Nebbi as my main base in retirement. And I have continued to serve God and minister in many different ways. I have continued to help dioceses in the province and beyond our country. I have gone to Kenya several times, and Tanzania once. I went to Korea in November, and to the US before COVID-19 became serious. So I have been a busy man, extremely busy. The Lord has given me the strength and ability in me.
Why did you retire a year before the official end of your term as Archbishop? Everybody has a calling and a reason for that calling. When I came in 2004 as the Archbishop, I had a few things that I believed God wanted me to do. First was to bring peace to the Province. We had five dioceses which were not functioning well, and it was succession, seriously. There was no leadership; there were gaps there, so there were wrangles. Second, we needed to bring back our young people who were scattered. I believe that the young people were scattered because they were looking for a pulpit that can feed them. The third was the Church House, which was a 40-year dream that had to take off. And then, I also wanted to preach the gospel nationally. Once those things were done, results were already good, the Province was settled and then we had the Church House already started up to a level from where my successor started and finished it up, and the young people came back to the Church, finances were stable, I felt that my assignments were over. I was remaining with only one year to finish my tenure as we normally do 10 years as Archbishops, and I did nine. So I did not even see why I needed to spend another 12 months doing nothing. I said I have finished; let me go back and preach the gospel, which I am doing right now.
Any challenges in retirement? Yes, a lot of challenges. You just can’t do as much as you desire to do. Your physical body is not going to tell you that you can rush all over the place all the time. I have too many invitations that I cannot meet and that is why I do my diary two years at a time. So the 2021 items in my dairy are now filling up and by the time I get into December, I am already putting to finish the 2021 diary for my partners who are praying with me. So much as my spirit is always willing; my body can’t do it all, and now in retirement I can say to some people that I can’t do that and I can’t come to you. Remember that travelling up and down this country is a lot of work.
The interviewer, John Semakula, and Archbishop emeritus Henry Luke Orombi pause for a photo after the interview in Muyenga, Kampala. (Photo by Sam Tatambuka).
How have you been affected individually by COVID-19? Do you know that the day the lockdown was imposed, we were passing through Entebbe Airport from the US together with my wife? We arrived on March 18, the same day the President was on air issuing the restrictions that the airport will close, schools, and everything else. The airport authority said they were supposed to quarantine us in Entebbe, but asked us to do self quarantine. We went to Mukono to get a two-day’s breath then travelled to our upcountry home in Nebbi. After a month, the Ministry of Health sent a team to come and test us. They took our samples and the results came back negative. I have since been at home for four months, and the first trip I made was this one.
You were the chancellor when Dr. John Senyonyi became the Vice-Chancellor of UCU 10 years ago. Why did you endorse him? Dr. Senyonyi had been mentored already by Prof. Stephen Noll, his predecessor. He had worked alongside him and knew UCU very well. And what I thought about him then was the trust Prof. Noll had about him. That trust is always good because somebody who is local and locally bred and if people can trust him, let alone a Muzungu (white man), it means he has seen quality in the person and so we were very considerate about the honest assessment from Prof. Noll. I have also known John for a very long period of time ever since he was with the African Evangelist Enterprise.
What is your honest assessment of Dr. Senyonyi’s tenure as he retires in August? He has come to the end of his work without any single crisis. He has not been fired by the board or by anybody else. For me what will always tell you that somebody is a good leader is how they finish. When the people finish well and peacefully, then you know that they have worked their way within the best of their abilities and have finished. Perfect? No. Nobody is perfect. There are other things that could have happened that can happen to anybody. But Dr. Senyonyi’s main achievement is that he finished well and that in 10 years, UCU has grown in numbers, quality, and infrastructure. UCU is now one of those institutions in the country with a name and that depends on how the leadership has been. He has been at the apex of that leadership. I am also thankful that he has not collapsed because of diabetes, high blood pressure or stroke.
Any advice to Dr. Senyonyi for his retirement? John, you are coming out, but you have a lot of energy. May God give you opportunity to use your energy because men like you need outlet for energy. Use your gifts to bless this country.
And any word to the incoming Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Aaron Mushengyezi? Be a leader who is transparent. Listen because you learn a lot from your faculty and students. Be a man who is humble enough to ask for assistance. Even Jesus recruited disciples who would help him to advance his mission. And may I ask God to give you discernment to choose the right kind of people to advise you. Anything can rise or fail because of the kind of people who are advising you. I also pray that you will understand that this is about serving people and God. It’s not about prestige or promotion.
How does UCU fit into the mission of the Province of the Church of Uganda? UCU was a child conceived by Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo. And it’s an investment in the building of the next generation. That is one of the core values of the Church, to think ahead. For the Church our pride is we have ministered and we have served not only Uganda, but other countries around us and elsewhere because we partner very heavily with Nigeria. Nigerians have come to study here. We are also linked internationally. Trinity Divinity School has sent us people here and we have sent our people over there. So our international connection as a Church brings these things about. The Church is not only a local entity, but global and we see that happen as the Church’s pride in UCU. And also I think that comments people make, makes the Church encouraged and proud that we are producing results that are a blessing not only for our nation, but all the place where our people go to.
The Provincial assembly set aside the first Sunday in September for the dioceses to promote and fundraise for UCU. Why are some not cooperating? I don’t even want to think about the UCU Sunday. I want to think about Ugandans who have money to sometimes provide in their will that would like to put for UCU sh5m, sh10m or whatever. And this should be regular. You know when people are willing to give and give genuinely? Yesterday I had a man I met in the Archbishop’s place, a man who is a member of our Church with such a giving ability. He has done work with the Archbishop when he was still a bishop in Mityana. The Archbishop was telling us that he came to fundraise for their cathedral roofing and one man alone said he wanted to give sh100m ($27,284.70) for the project. When the money wasn’t enough, they came to say that they still needed some more money. The same man said he would give another $27,284.70 – Sh200m ($54,569.4) from one person? Now that to me tells me that we have people who are willing to give towards the cause of the Church including UCU. Let’s just put it for an argument’s sake, we have 20 Ugandans who are willing to commit $27.284.70 per year. That money is more than what comes from the dioceses. That’s how the Americans do it. They have philanthropists who are willing to commit money regularly for 5 to 10 years. That’s much more easier for planning purposes than when you are waiting for money to come in when you even don’t know how much it is.
How is that kind of fundraising possible in Uganda? I was in Mbarara District and for four years coming every November, we would go there, I was encouraging Christians to put their Church in the town. The Archdeaconry of greater Mbarara has now built a church, the biggest in Uganda, a 7,000 seater. Very beautiful indeed, but when they wanted to raise money for the roof, they invited the President of Uganda to come and the bishop stood up to say how much the Christians have actually committed to build the church without a bank loan. He said there is one Christian here, who built the offshoot of this Church in Kakooba near Bishop Stuart University and he and his family alone raised sh250m ($68,211.75).
Any message for UCU students going through challenges due to COVID-19? My encouragement to the students is that while you are out there, think as a student, but as a useful student. Meaning that if you are home with your guardian or parents, employ yourself. Make yourself useful. If there is a way you can eliminate the burden of finances, do it. I have university students in my home and I never give them the money. They will come to me and say, dad, give us work to do because they have their personal needs. So where I would be asking other people to do the work for me and pay them, I pay my own family members because they are willing to serve. That’s the way to go.
And any message for Christians going through the same kind of suffering? I only want to tell you Christians that what we are going through is not foreign to God. He understands it more than we do. He knows we need to wear, eat, and to be accommodated. He also knows that we need to be healthy even more deeply, so allow God to understand that we actually know that He knows. Yesterday I was emphasizing a lot on prayer. I said that there are two things that Jesus taught us. First, he taught us who God is. The God who is the father in heaven, the holy God, King of Kings, our protector, the forgiver of our sins, the shepherded of our souls and the defender of our lives. That is God in his quality. And then he is related to us. He is a friend, God our friend and our father. We still have our hotline with God our father and I know there are testimonies I have already heard during this period. On Saturday, I was in Makerere with a chaplain and his wife was giving a testimony about how God was intervening in their domestic needs this way: A batch of matooke will come, when it’s about to get finished, another one will come from different people and all are strangers. Why? The God who knows our different needs knows how we will survive.
Why should a student study from UCU? I don’t think that we are going to sell UCU more than it has already been sold. UCU is so well known. UCU is a university with Christian ethos, which in itself makes it a very special place. Secondly, our products from UCU are very marketable. When you finish from UCU, the workplace out there is looking for UCU graduates, and it’s because of the kind of way we have disciplined people and how we have brought them up. Thirdly, UCU carries with it the pride of the Church of Uganda and I am amazed the other people, Roman Catholics and Muslims, are attracted to this University and we do the foundation course, Christian Ethics, which gives the basis for UCU. So when other people who are not members of the Church of Uganda are attracted, then you know that something good is there. We keep that as a point of attraction because we deliver and anybody intending to apply for University education should come to UCU.
Where do you want to see UCU in the next 20 years? From an honest perspective, I don’t want UCU to grow beyond what it can manage. By the time a place becomes so popular, the temptation is to grow it and grow it. But if you grow it so big and you can’t manage it, your products are going to lose quality. So I would want UCU to keep growing, but very calculatedly, steadily and gently. What I would also want UCU to do is to strengthen the (regional) colleges. We have one in Mbale, we have another one in Kabale; we also have a study centre in Arua. I would love to see these become fully fledged colleges so that both Arua and Mbale should not come to the main campus for their graduations. Like Bishop Barham in Kabale, their graduation takes place there. I would like to see that built up so that we can decentralize our services. For somebody to come from Arua to graduate in Mukono is very expensive unnecessarily.
But some people say UCU has a very expensive tuition policy? The point is that UCU is a private institution. It doesn’t get any help from government. It works itself out with all the things we have in terms of infrastructure, lecturers’ salaries and everything else from the students’ tuition. In the end, it becomes expensive, but you actually get the worth of your tuition.
What do you say about Ugandan politicians who are secretly holding political meetings in churches that were closed in March to mitigate the spread of COVID-19? There is no leadership in those areas where this is happening. If there was leadership, the leaders would know that church buildings are sacred and dedicated to God. They would not allow politicians to use them. The politicians would rather look for other places for their activities. Churches are dwelling places for the Lord.
The interviewer, John Semakula, is a graduate of the Master of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies of Uganda Christian University (UCU). He is the supervisor of The Standard newspaper and lecturer of journalism and Communication at UCU. John has worked with the New Vision newspaper for over 15 years.
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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.
The Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, seated, with his wife, Ruth, and children and grandchildren in 2017
At the end of August 2020, the Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi says farewell to 19 years of service at Uganda Christian University (UCU), having come first in 2001 as a chaplain. He has been vice chancellor since 2010. He retires in the midst of COVID-related, government orders of education shutdowns. In this last segment of a two-part series, UCU Vice Chancellor Senyonyi gives his thoughts on various aspects of his leadership and the university. John Semakula, a UCU graduate and lecturer, conducted this interview on July 6.
What key lessons have you learned as the Vice-Chancellor? There is one fallacy. When we need someone to manage a university, academic qualification lends more weight than other requirements. To the best of my knowledge, if you are to manage a university, academic qualifications are necessary, but I would not even put them as number one. On the contrary, leadership qualities like listening, knowing that you are serving people, setting aside your own selfishness, being available and strategic thinking are more important. I also have learned that when it comes to managing people, it becomes more complex than even managing things like financial or building resources. The relationship with people is what is very critical because it is what will give you the respect and confidence to serve. If the people you lead don’t have respect in you, it doesn’t matter what you do.
Former UCU Vice Chancellor, Dr. Stephen Noll, right, and John Senyonyi, left, with Henry Luke Orombi, former Archbishop of the Church of Uganda
Any lessons on financing for a private University? There is one mistake that many managers of academic institutions make – that is to think that you must always look outside yourself to get the resources you need to manage an institution. What happens quite often is if it is a public institution, it looks to government to finance its activities. If it’s a private institution, at this present time, many don’t even know what to do at all. But you have got to be creative. It’s a wrong model to always turn to government for money that it does not usually have. My argument has always been that government should give us the right environment to operate in terms of taxation, or if we are talking about land to allow us to observe the law of ownership. Unless that is done, it becomes impossible for the institution to own land in a meaningful way. Many people have also come to me to benchmark thinking that UCU relies heavily on foreign funding. However, for the last 10 years, I can stand here and testify that I have received no foreign support for any capital development. None whatsoever, they have supported scholarships for students and things like that, but definitely no windfall of money that has put up a classroom building or worked on the roads and so forth. So this business of thinking that an outsider will finance what you need to do, I think for me, has been a very big lesson.
What has been the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the infrastructure at UCU? When buildings are not in use, they fall into disrepair, and that is what brings me pain and anxiety. I start wondering how much the University will invest to repair them when eventually it reopens, especially if it takes very long to get them back to tenantable condition.
Has government promised to finance private universities in the lockdown? What I have heard government say is not about providing grants, but loans. Once you talk of a loan, the first thing that someone will always have to think about is how to access it in a responsible way according to your cash-flows, both present and projected. We can’t take a loan at this time when we are even rescheduling the loans we had. If it was a grant, I would have been at the door of the government knocking so that I can support my staff. Government did indeed ask us how much we need to survive per month, which I sent them. We sent them our monthly bill that has payroll and utilities, above shb1.7bn (roughly $460,000), but I am not very sure that they are going to do anything more. I would be very happy if they can. I wrote a letter to His Excellency the President and to the Minister of Education (also the first lady),asking for support for private universities. Right now government is supporting public universities by paying salaries of staff and all that, but who is taking care of our staff? So the ball is pretty much in the hands of government to ensure that there is some support that comes to us as private institutions.
Why did UCU suspend staff contracts during the COVID-19 lockdown? The suspension is like putting on hold any obligations or liabilities that the University would have had toward those staff members, and it was to help save resources so that the University remains afloat even minimally. The suspension is saying that for the time being, you are a staff member, but we have no obligation and liabilities with respect to your benefits. I have to admit that probably, for all my 10 years as Vice-Chancellor or even for the 20 years I have been at the University, it was the most painful thing to do to look at all your staff and say we are not going to hold responsibility for paying your salary, well knowing it’s their livelihood.
Will the staff be paid the salary arrears in future? To promise that we shall pay the salary in arrears later is to make the assumption that for this period we shall be getting revenue that accrues to that time. Only public institutions can operate that way.
What piece of advice do you have for the incoming Vice-Chancellor? Fortunately, we are already doing some orientation sessions with him and they are going very well. To me I think that has been very helpful. We are exposing him to the full breadth of what I have been involved with. But I would say that first and foremost, he is coming from outside so it’s much better and foremost to be a listener. Implementation is not normally the best thing to start immediately. Leadership is like trying to place interlocking bricks. Before I place it, I need to know what fits where. Listening is critical to achieve that and will give him an opportunity to also understand the systems that are in place. He will of course be free to change according to his vision, but when you change before you have listened, it appears like you want to rub away what others have done. The problem with that is that you think you are changing what your predecessor has done, but you are also rubbing away all those people that are connected with it and may still be on staff. You are telling them that what they were doing is useless and that it was not the best way of doing it.
Any spiritual advice for your successor on how to handle staff and spirituality? The best people that will help him to settle down are within the University – not without. They are the ones he is going to live and work with. Other people may advise, but ultimately he needs to make sure that he connects with the staff rather than trying to create a relationship gap with them. What he does with staff members also becomes important with students. On the spiritual side, he is a Christian, which is very excellent. It will be very important for him who is not an ordained person not to relinquish his role as the spiritual leader in the University. That role may be carried out differently because he is not going to stand and lead services, he may not even be a preacher. He may not do the same thing that I have been doing, but his spiritual leadership is important to ensure that whatever has been in place in terms of spiritual leadership continues.
What advice do you have for the new Chancellor? I think the job of the new chancellor is easier. First and foremost, I think giving opportunities for the Vice-Chancellor and his leadership team to meet with him on a regular basis. One of the things we did here to ensure that we meet him quite often almost every semester was simply to create pastoral visits for the Chancellor. He comes and interacts with different people. There may also be time when the Vice-Chancellor may need to have a one on one or an opportunity away from here. Secondary for the Chancellor, one of the most critical things is to keep in mind that UCU is the Provincial University. Therefore, as Archbishop, he has the responsibility to ensure that the Provincial nature of this University is protected before the eyes of the Church. That means that all the bishops have a stake in the University. Unlike other Anglican founded Universities, when it comes to UCU, all the dioceses under the Province must see their responsibility and the chancellor is key in ensuring that they understand this such that they don’t look at the University like any other.
What has been your biggest challenge as the Vice-Chancellor in the last 10 years Inevitably, everything goes back to meager resources because if you wanted to get very good staff members and to furnish classrooms, you need the resources. When I talk about infrastructure, it still goes back to resources. Essentially what you are looking at is a University that depends almost entirely, more than 90 percent on student tuition. When you are in that kind of situation, you have got to put more weight on students to pay up. But if they don’t pay up, they won’t get the services. So it’s the issue of resources that has been my biggest headache. I sleep and wake up thinking about resources.
What is management doing to overcome the burden of inadequate resources? We have tried various ways to think of how we can harness some resources from the University particularly using our land from Ntawo, but then the problem is that squatters have put down their foot. They don’t want to compensate not even entering a relationship with the University that owns that land. That means that the University that owns this prime land, which we could have used to build an endowment can’t. So the issue of resources stands out as the one challenge that any Vice-Chancellor needs to come too and resolve.
What is the biggest challenge awaiting the new Vice-Chancellor? It’s still the same, inadequate resources. Some people quite often think that research money will bridge the financial gap. Research money will come and may be used to purchase some equipment, put up a building, but people are not going to give you money to run the University. Inevitably the biggest challenge that I think the new Vice-Chancellor will face is to ensure that there are resources that do not come from abroad that depend on any external factors other than the fact that the University has its own resources.
What advice do you have for the staff members you are leaving behind? Welcome the incoming Vice-Chancellor warmly because as much as his own handling of staff is important for that relationship to advance the mission of the University, it’s also true that unless staff members are open to welcome him, it also becomes problematic. Secondary, my experience in a University like this is that unless you feel a sense of calling to do this work, I am afraid it becomes very difficult for one to get the job satisfaction. It’s very easy to come here and do your work more or less for what you are going to get at the end of the month. That is important because people should get their pay, but if that is all that attracts you to UCU, you will not get the satisfaction. Staff members should take pride in a few years down the road to be able to look back and say I contributed to that University that there is a brick I put there.
How have you avoided the temptation to mismanage University finances? There is no position I have assumed because I am going to earn. Earning? Yes, I do, but I do whatever job as a vocation. This is my third station because I started from Makerere University. Then God called me and I spent another 13 years in an evangelical organization. I didn’t come here until I was convinced that God was calling me to serve. I knew he was calling me to be the University chaplain. Later, it was quite a bit of convincing to come out of the chaplaincy to be the deputy Vice-Chancellor. Eventually God just said; you will go whether you like it or not. When the Vice-Chancellor’s slot was falling vacant, ideally I was refusing to apply. I remember asking the then Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Stephen Noll whether I had to apply. He was encouraging. I still said no, and eventually it was my youngest son who convinced me by asking me a very serious theological question. He said: “If you don’t apply, how will you know that God is choosing you to serve in that capacity?” So that is when I applied, but it was like saying I don’t care if I don’t get it. When I am serving, I see money or resources and power as what God has equipped me with to serve others. Proverbs 22:1 says a good name is to be treasured more than riches. But for many people, when they get a job, it’s getting rich that becomes the most important. For me according to that verse, the most important thing is to have a good name. I want to be able to go through this University with an untarnished name.
Any piece of advice for thestudents as you leave? I think I have grieved more for the students than anything. The reason I grieve for the students is very simple; I went to the University of Nairobi a year before they had had a lockdown of the University for five months. The University of Nairobi used to be closed quite a bit. So when I look at these students I feel that what those others at the University of Nairobi went through. At least for them they had government supporting them. But this lockdown has created a situation where the students have suffered a setback by months and it may even be by years in terms of their career development. Secondary what will happen when they go out? Will the job market still be the same? That itself may set them back for years because the job market is going to struggle to get back to its rails. I feel for them.
The interviewer,John Semakula, is a graduate of Master of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies of Uganda Christian University (UCU). Currently, he works as the supervisor of The Standard newspaper and lecturer of journalism and Communication at UCU. John worked as a Senior Writer with the New Vision newspaper for eight years.
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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.
The Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, departing vice chancellor, shares thoughts with journalist John Semakula (Photo by Samuel Tatambuka)
At the end of August 2020, the Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi says farewell to 19 years of service at Uganda Christian University (UCU), having come first in 2001 as a chaplain. He has been vice chancellor since 2010. He retires in the midst of COVID-related, government orders of education shutdowns. In this two-part series, UCU Vice Chancellor Senyonyi gives his thoughts on the pandemic and other aspects of his leadership and the university. This July 6 interview was conducted by John Semakula, a UCU graduate and lecturer.
What has been the impact of closing the University due to the Coronavirus pandemic?The most obvious is finances of the University. Since the University largely draws its livelihood from student tuition, when students do not pay, the University is incapacitated. Moreover, the loss of revenue is equal to the period of closure. Therefore, if the University reopens next year, it also means that revenue lost probably will be for almost a year. That is over Sh50b (roughly $13.5 million American). In this case, the impact will be felt long after the reopening of the University. But then this affects many other aspects. The first and most painful is the Human Resource because it brings in many dimensions, as it should for any human being. Staff members cannot be paid. They suffer anxiety about the next meal, which could lead to distress and breakdown. Others consider abandoning University employment and look for where else to turn for gainful work. One can only imagine how all these affect the familial relations and other social interactions since in losing their monthly salaries; they are also likely to lose their self-esteem. People who think less of themselves than what God made them to be usually reflect that into the eyes of others. This is immediately followed by the impact on our students. In joining University, the students have the expectation of a straight and determinate period of study ending in completion and readiness for gainful work. This has been interrupted.
How can students be helped to continue studying amidst COVID-19? COVID-19 has highlighted the need to run affairs differently. One evident positive impact is the enhanced exigency of online learning. As a University, we already had an e-Learning Lab that enables us to tap into online resources worldwide. We have been training staff members in e-Learning, and we have had a policy on entering students coming with laptops for many years. Unfortunately, many have until now considered these as luxuries. The present pandemic with its resultant restrictions has woken everyone up to see that if they do not shape up to this new normal, they will shape out of higher education in particular. Staff members are compelled to urgently train and apply the new technologies to remain relevant. The future has no room for ICT illiteracy.
What’s the fate of students who were supposed to study between May and August?Inevitably, there is going to be a rescheduling of the Academic Year to accommodate them – every delay implicitly reschedules our Calendar. First, we need to lead our Easter (January to April) Semester students to complete their examinations. The University remains committed to helping all students complete their requisite studies. This means that, depending on what is allowed, Trinity Semester (May-August) students may be brought back cautiously or complete their studies remotely. But we are also cognizant of the Advent (September-December) Semester students and the same applies to them.
UCU Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi (Photo by Samuel Tatambuka)
How do the students who did not sit for their exams in April fit into your plan? Of course they need to sit for the examinations before progressing to their next Semester or graduating. The mode of examining will depend on how National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) handles the new normal situation; UCU is able to administer either the Take-Home examinations or the face to face, although the latter now appears to recede in probability with each passing month of the lockdown.
And international students who didn’t return home due to the lockdown? We continue to take care of them but of course they are idle. The Ministry of Education and Sports asked for their details, which we gave them. We did receive some help consisting of some food and body care items, but it is obvious that three months later, they cannot be living on those right now. So, the University has for long shouldered them single handedly. I cannot say how long we may be able to support them with food and board given that we do not have any revenue inflows at this time. The solution will be when foreign travel restrictions are lifted, and they are able to return to their nations. Moreover, some of these are students who were progressing to either the Trinity (May) or the Advent (September) Semester. I may conjecture that if they are caught up with time and need to restart in their scheduled subsequent Semester, they may not go back but continue with their studies.
Have you learned any lessons from the closure of the University due to COVID-19? No one living has ever seen such a global pandemic that results in restrictions as severe as we have witnessed in the COVID-19 environment. Most pandemics or epidemics are restricted geographically. Although UCU has had an Emergency Response Policy for years, it never anticipated a global pandemic. Furthermore, in the past we have used the term global village to refer to non-pandemic influences. Now, we have to ask how to live in the new global village in light of such life threatening pandemics. At this time, I may have more questions than answers for I am not sure we have learned the “last” lesson yet.
Will higher education still be relevant?
Can our University remain viable?
Are our e-Learning systems – staff, students and equipment – robust enough?
How can we ensure business continuity if something as severe as COVID-19 happens in the future?
How can education remain uninterrupted when all decision making is removed from our hands?
How can we make online learning amenable to UCU’s holistic education?
The answer to all these questions, and probably more, will be a matter for serious discussion for any institution that wishes to live above such disruptions.
Which projects haven’t you accomplished because of the coronavirus pandemic? There are doubtless many of these that I would have wanted to see completed, but I will mention just a few. About three years ago, I considered that my mission with UCU would be satisfactory if I accomplished four projects:
Ntawo Land: Securing this property is key to the financial health of UCU because if exploited it has the potential to generate revenue to alleviate UCU’s deficits. The continued forceful occupation of our land without any tangible benefit is a setback to UCU.
UCU Roads: I also thought it good to work toward the UCU roads. I was hoping that by the end of my contract that all roads would be covered. But alas, the costs had skyrocketed within less than three years to unmanageable levels.
E-Learning: At least the University now has an e-Learning Lab. The prohibitive challenge that has thankfully been highlighted by the present lockdown and may now be overcome more easily is staff and student training and use of online services more. For years, we have labored to get students and staff to own ICT gadgets and to learn their use with casual attention. COVID-19 has made online learning mandatory. I pray that when the University reopens, staff and students will be the main drivers for these modern resources. I also wanted UCU to have a Management Information System (MIS) that would essentially digitize all operations of the University, especially for our customers, the students. This is well on the way and most of it should have been completed but for the COVID-19 lockdown.
What is the cost of running a closed University during the lockdown? The biggest cost is intangible; it is the staff and students whose life and livelihood has been disrupted irretrievably. We cannot tell a staff member or a student that this lost time will be redeemed. Neither can we estimate the personal cost each has suffered. I know we have many heartaches out there, and I hate looking in the eyes of these dear people without a solution to their present hardships. At the same time, while we put brakes on expenditure, some of the needs of the University do not go away simply because it is closed and there is no revenue inflow. So, another painful cost is spending without collecting revenue; we are running downhill without an end in view. Ordinarily, the barest minimum I would need, without counting loans, maintenance costs, etc., is over Sh. 1.7 billion ($460,335) per month, but we have tried to cut that down to chewable monthly bits so that the University remains afloat for a few months.
How do you feel about handing over your office to a successor when the University is still closed because of the Coronavirus lockdown? It is admittedly a mixed bag of feelings. On the one hand, who wants to continue in this situation dealing with a daily crisis? On the other, I really want to support my successor to find some footing as he steps into the crisis.
Where shall we find you in retirement? If it is about location, my wife and I hope to move into our own house on Mukono Hill. Career-wise, I want to rest a bit but also to read and write more during the initial months of retirement.
How has the UCU environment contributed to the growth of your family? It would be wrong for me to say UCU has not contributed to our family growth though it is not easy to point at every aspect of that contribution. We came to UCU in January 2001, but really relocated to this Campus in May of that year. At the time, we had two of our children in Secondary School, and two still in primary school. Today, all of them are adults and graduates from different universities. Two attended UCU for their first degrees. As a family, we have been reminiscing about this since we arrived at UCU, and we are very thankful to God. We depart knowing that each of our children can now earn and live an independent life, and each of them has called upon Jesus to come into their hearts. I wouldn’t ask for more.
How do you feel that your tenure as Vice-Chancellor has come to the end? Of course I will miss the friendships forged at UCU, and the familiar routine that comes with a prolonged stay in a station. At the same time I look forward to the relief of setting aside the stressful life of daily decisions with meager resources. I also look forward to living in our own house, something we have never done in all our working and married life.
What are some of your key achievements as Vice-Chancellor? Interestingly, I started out faced with some doubters about if I would manage to run the institution. Some of that is a result of replacing a white man; very unfortunately, many Ugandans do not believe in themselves. The thinking that we cannot successfully replace a white man persists, and this is mainly because of the belief that a white man comes with money. So, one of my major achievements as far as I know, is to run the University and make some capital developments using Ugandan resources. It will surprise many to hear that I have not been receiving millions of foreign money to do what we have done; I have received no capital development money throughout my 10 years as Vice Chancellor. Moreover, during my first years, some students tried my nerves. They probably thought that I would be a push-over. It soon became clear to them that when I believe something to be right, I stick to my guns. But even more importantly, they have grown to respect my leadership, not to fear me or dread me. They know that they have had a friend in me, and I care for them. The hard decisions such as fees increments were not done to hurt anyone but for the good of all. Being accessible to whoever has issues has also been a key component of my leadership. I shun a leadership that is fenced from those we lead. No staff member or student who has sought my audience has failed to see me. They have been my priority. Finally, the growth of UCU is there for anyone to witness. UCU’s status among higher education institutions as well before Government and general public speaks for itself so much so that other universities and Vice Chancellors have come to benchmark with UCU.
What are some of your regrets for the period you have been Vice-Chancellor? I honestly do not have many regrets except for two: I am saddened by the continuing illegal and forceful occupation of squatters in our land at Ntawo, some of whom are in Government and boldly stand in our way to make use of our land. Therefore, up to now the University has a choice piece of land but is helpless and unable to build up its own endowment. Secondly, there is the challenge of unfair taxation on not-for-profit education institutions. It would help to learn from other nations about the primacy given to higher education, its role in national development and how they have brought it to the fore without endangering their economies.
The interviewer,John Semakula, is a graduate of Master of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies of Uganda Christian University (UCU). Currently, he works as the supervisor of The Standard newspaper and lecturer of journalism and Communication at Uganda Christian University (UCU). John worked as a Senior Writer with the New Vision newspaper for eight years.
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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.
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.
Moras rolls a vegetable rolex
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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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
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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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
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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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
Uganda Christian University team at the Africa Regional Conference of the World Congress of Families, November 2019, in Accra, Ghana. Jack and Linda Klenk with Michael Clement (Africa Policy Centre), Richard Sebaggala (School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies), Rev. Jasper Tumuhimbise (UCU-Church of Uganda Relations), Betty Enyipu (Social Sciences), and Peter Ubomba-Jaswa (School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies).
By Patty Huston-Holm
Waterfalls, forests, savannahs, gorillas, chimpanzees, lions and giraffes make Uganda amazing. Yet, as cliché as it sounds, for Jack and Linda Klenk, the best thing about the country known as the “pearl of Africa” is the people – the relationships they have there.
Jack and Linda Klenk, at home in Virginia, USA
Jack (Read More) first went to Uganda over fifty years ago for three years, studying and teaching as part of an Anglo-American teaching organization, Teachers for East Africa.
For Linda, her first of many trips to Uganda was in 1998, when she and Jack led a short-term mission team to Uganda. Some of the young children they met then have how grown up and are married with children. From the beginning, “I was all in,” Linda said. “The people were so friendly.”
Something that is very special for Jack and Linda is how Christianity connects people across cultural lines. When he lived in Uganda in the 1960s, Jack noticed a sense of bonding with Ugandans who were Christians. Over the years, he and Linda have experienced that again and again. When sharing a faith in Christ, “you’re family…regardless of the language you speak or the pigmentation of your skin,” Jack said.
Indeed, Linda added, “Ugandans have opened my eyes to see how faith connects us with brothers and sisters worldwide.”
Jack, a member of the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Partners Board, built new Uganda relationships with Linda after their marriage in 1997, while his long-established ones became hers as well. They were in a church that had a relationship with the Diocese of Kigezi in western Uganda, and later with UCU. The church sent short-term mission teams to Uganda and other countries, sponsored Compassion International children, supported missionaries at UCU, helped start a hospital in Kigezi, and sent containers with supplies for UCU and other ministries in Uganda.
For most of their marriage, the couple lived near Washington, D.C., where Jack worked for the US Department of Education. There, they gladly opened their home to Ugandans, including a number from UCU and the government, who were visiting the nation’s capital. The Klenks would show them Washington. So many Ugandans visited their home that it became known as “Uganda house.”
Under their roof emerged the “American Hamburger University” – so designated because Ugandans gathered in their kitchen to learn the trade of making traditional American hamburgers. Still today, Ugandan “graduates” of the fictitious AHU hold dear their certificates declaring their “hunger for learning” and “excellent taste and high achievement.” In 2019, when the Klenks were in Uganda, one graduate organized a dinner with certificate holders at a Kampala hotel.
“Our visitors from Uganda are so fun,” Linda said. “They ask me questions that make me think. Like, ‘why do Americans put stickers on fruit they buy at the grocery store’?’”
One of the first Ugandans Linda met was the Rev. Canon Jovahn Turyamureeba, when he was a student at Virginia Theological Seminary in 1997. He made arrangements for the team they led to the Diocese of Kigezi in 1998, where they became involved with Bishop George Katwesigye and other Ugandans who are friends to this day. Another was Julius Mucunguzi, now communications director for the Ugandan Prime Minister, who did a recent video call with them on Facebook Messenger. He continues to applaud the Klenks for their hospitality when he arrived for the first time in the United States with no luggage and few funds in 2000. In addition to a photo of the Klenks, Julius’ 2014 book, entitled “Once Upon A Time…” describes Jack and Linda as “a couple whose love for Uganda is unmatched.”
The stories are many. Seminarians. Bishops. Students. Faculty. The UCU Vice Chancellor and his wife. A wedding reception. Celebrations of Uganda Martyrs Day and Uganda Independence Day.
Sheltered in their home in the midst of COVID-19, the Klenks take precautions. On the occasions when they go out, as to visit their daughter and her family nearby, they wear masks and gloves, and social distance. But they see the difficulties they face as “just an inconvenience” compared with what others in Uganda and the US are facing. Linda said. “Others are really suffering, while we are comfortable, with food, running water, and electricity. . .”
Jack and Linda know that Ugandans are hurting because of the coronavirus, but also know that they don’t easily talk about their hardships. Thus, it is hard to know exactly how they are faring. Ugandans they have come to know are “so polite, they don’t complain, they see the glass half full, not half empty.”
Out loud, Jack wonders: “How can Ugandans survive this crisis? With 8-to-10 people living together in one room, how can they social distance? If they can’t travel or go to work, how can they afford to buy food? How can they pay school fees and university tuition?”
Many of the Klenks’ Ugandan friends are connected to Uganda Christian University. They have come to know and respect UCU for the way it combines academics with character building and spiritual formation, setting it apart from other universities.
Jack and Linda admire UCU for its determination to be a thoroughly Christian university and not to lose its Christian identity the way many colleges in the US that were once Christian have done. It provides “a complete education for a complete person” for its students, whether they are in traditional disciplines like science, law, journalism and business, or in the Bishop Tucker seminary that prepares clergy from all over Uganda and East Africa, and even from the U.S. They like how UCU is a leading institution for Christian orthodoxy in the “global south” and the whole world.
Jack has served on the UCU Partners board since 2010, and greatly enjoys his visits to UCU and the relationships he has there. In recent years, a special focus for him has been UCU’s Africa Policy Centre, the first Christian policy think tank in Uganda.
As Jack reflects on his Christian walk, he asserts: “God calls us to follow him and serve him in the community of the Church. Sometimes God directs us to specific things, but mostly we are to look for opportunities to live out our call to follow and serve him. I am grateful for how this has led to involvement in Uganda starting over fifty years ago. I am especially grateful for the blessings Linda and I have received through our engagement with UCU. We pray that UCU will survive the current coronavirus lockdown and always be a bright beacon of light for Uganda, Africa, and the world.”
Jack and Linda hope to travel to Uganda in October 2020 for the graduation and the annual Public Lecture, this year with the noted cultural critic, Mary Eberstadt. They hope the current shutdown will end and that those events will take place. Graduation in the past two years was extra special for them because students they helped along the way wore caps and gowns.
Jack sees Ugandan Christians as strong even during this coronavirus crisis because of their faith in Christ. They hurt, but they “do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope” (I Thess. 4:13). He and Linda are challenged by how Ugandan Christians endure incredible difficulties and still smile and have inner joy.
“No matter how bad it gets, Ugandan Christians have hope,” Jack said. “It is by the grace of God.”
For Jack and Linda, this they know: They have been blessed beyond measure by Uganda and Ugandans, and they have received much more than they have given.
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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.
Paul Mukhana, left, is a member of Mary’s “family,” helping others in time of need
By Mary Chowenhill
On a typical, sunny Ugandan day and in front of what most call the Thelma building but is soon to become the Uganda Christian University (UCU) business incubator on the Mukono campus, seven students and I got the news. They were telling me about their incubators – also known as business startups – related to piggeries, organic fertilizer, crocheted baby clothing and more. As their economics and entrepreneurship lecturer, I offered advice.
Then, we got the news of the lockdown, and everything changed.
Mary Chowenhill, left, before Ugandan distancing and lockdown guidelines
I think that day was March 30. But like most people living in the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, the exact date then and even the day of the week now escape me. I knew the coronavirus was spreading, including in my state of Florida in the USA. Yet, I didn’t see it coming to Uganda or my small apartment where I have lived on the UCU campus for the past four years.
Within days, I watched thousands of university students, including mine, as well as half of the Americans living and working at UCU, pack up and leave. Having recently sold my house in Florida and suffering from asthma, I felt it healthier for me to stay out of airplanes and remain here.
UCU offices are less than half full as Ugandan employees were ordered home and into isolation.
To the best of my knowledge while writing this on April 30, 2020, the deadly virus still isn’t here on the mile-long campus and in our houses, in my garden or on my patio. In fact, as I write, only 89 cases have been identified out of 39,000 tests administered in this country. It’s hardly in Uganda at all.
But the threat and precautionary measures are. And in Uganda, there are penalties for disobedience of such government regulations on social distancing, curfews, and taking public transportation. In addition to consequences of no income for people unable to go to work, there are government fines and imprisonment for disobedience.
In preparation for the inability to leave the campus, I immediately purchased 1.5 million shillings ($395 American) of food – something that the average Ugandan is not able to do. I divided beans, rice, posha, and sugar into various portions. My friend and gardener, Paul Mukhana, delivered these to many in greater need than me – a family with new twin babies, an elderly woman walking with a cane, among others.
Food purchased to help neighbors
When this ran out – and it did – I sent Paul to the market to get more. He went to buy posha and other items for me and another customer. Under Ugandan COVID guidelines, Paul was permitted to use his boda-boda (motorcycle) to pick up food. But due to some misunderstanding and while he was inside the market, the local police confiscated his transportation. Like many others who had their vehicles taken, he was required to pay 700,000 schillings ($184) to get it back legally or 200,000 shillings ($52) under the table.
It took two weeks, including prayer and a lesson about what Jesus thinks regarding bribery, to get Paul’s boda back.
The Christian love and human kindness of Ugandans, woven with the acceptance of a country fraught with bribes, is ever present in the COVID environment.
What has changed most is that my frenetic schedule of teaching economics and entrepreneurship and children’s Sunday school has ceased. It has been replaced with solitude and church on my patio and from the computer with six children and eight adults. After our most recent “service,” we moved and sat six feet apart under a tree, discussing the meaning of loving each other as depicted in 1 John 4:7-12.
A neighbor named Ebenezer, age two and a half, wraps his arms around my knees. He doesn’t understand why he can’t cuddle on my lap.
While the campus is quiet, there are places we can’t walk because a few international students still living here violated the distancing rule.
Depression from change and isolation contributes to the lack of motivation to accomplish tasks I was never quite able to get around to but could now. Yet, COVID is bringing me to a new way to minister.
I have always had people who are not students as part of my Ugandan family. But recently with students sent home, I am seeing more and more staff coming to my door. Some want to harvest greens from my garden. Some want a prayer. Most need a listener. Many need money for children’s school fees when that education returns.
It is an opportune time to teach people to fish. Not a hand out but a hand up. It’s what I’m trained to do.
One worker cleans out bat feces – 7 sacks full – from between the ceiling and roof of three apartments, including mine. I hire a man to fix my patio. Grateful for the work, he writes “Hebrews 13” in one section and ”Praise God, Jesus Lives” on the cement in another.
God is allowing my brain to be relaxed while I see deeper how people are hurting. Yesterday, I read Job 19. I know my redeemer lives. Is this easy? No. But it’s necessary. He will see us through.
Mary Chowenhill, a teacher in South Sudan until the war caused her evacuation, is a sponsored educator and missionary with the Society of Anglican of Missionaries and Senders (SAMS) and sponsors a student through UCU Partners. She hails from Jacksonville, Florida.
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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.
Sarah Lagot Odwong, UCU graduate and USAID employee
By Sarah Lagot Odwong
March 21st, 2020. 11:32 p.m. Uganda had its first identified case of COVID-19.
My mind buzzed with a thousand thoughts. Only weeks earlier, my siblings and I – with our own bills to pay – had emptied our savings to complete a large part of the construction work for my mother’s house. Because her life had been wrought with difficulty, it was always our dream to give her a place of rest.
There is no good time to be dirt poor, but having a bank account blinking red when a government shutdown is inevitable is the worst of times. Sleep eluded me.
I arose early on March 22. On my way to work, I noticed the unusual flurry of activity on the Kampala roads. The traffic was horrendous. Pedestrians trudged in silence on the pavements with swift gaits and downcast faces. The boda-bodas (motorcyclists) rode dangerously, swerving and wedging through the small crevices within the disorganized flow of traffic. It was a dystopian sight. I got into work in a pensive mood. I did not have much time to settle at my desk as a staff meeting was hurriedly called.
We sat hunched on white rickety plastic chairs in the parking yard. The chairs were spaced out from each other. Some staff wore masks. Others nervously tinkered with their phones.
Our boss announced, in part:
“As you all know, the first positive case of COVID-19 was confirmed last night. The grapevine alleges that the country will be in some sort of lock down. It will probably be announced later tonight when the President makes his address. I suggest that we share work plans with line managers and get all the resources we need to work from home…You will have your salaries in your bank accounts by this afternoon…”
At least some positive news. I got a notification from my bank at 1 p.m. that my account had been credited.
I picked up my bag, scampered to the car and drove to the nearest supermarket. I passed by the bank ATM at the premises, withdrew some cash and sauntered into the store. Inside, the panic buying had already ensued. There was a mad dash by shoppers. The queues stretched for miles. Shoppers’ trolleys were loaded with toilet paper, kitchen towels, soap, wipes and other hygiene products. Others heaped vegetables, milk, bread, cartons of beer, meat and liquor.
Only one big bag of rice remained. I grabbed it. I proceeded to pick up other dry rations, hygiene products and joined the snaking lines to pay prices that had increased tremendously in a matter of hours. Little bottles of sanitizer that were affordable a week earlier now cost almost ten times more. I bought just one.
Like anticipated, President Yoweri Museveni announced a lockdown of the country for an initial 14 days. After the two weeks lapsed, 21 additional days were added.
While fortunate to still have a job, my workload increased with hours extending from early morning to late at night. Not only do I have a full-time job, I also support the crisis communications for the epidemic response.
Before the outbreak, I was living out of suitcases, on the road for days and sometimes weeks at a time, working long hours. Now at home, my workload has ramped up even more. I jealously read texts in group chats from my girlfriends who suddenly find themselves with bursts of free time. They are learning new languages on Duolingo, learning to sew and evidently having an extended holiday off work.
Not me. I spend my days hunched at a desk in the living room with my pajamas on and my hair tied in a headscarf. I am writing, attending endless Zoom and Skype meetings, and tending to incessant phone calls.
What I have found hardest is the physical distance and inability to see family – both in Uganda and elsewhere. No travel on roads or in the air. We created a family chat group on WhatsApp, which helps my coping. Seeing videos of my nieces and nephews doing hilarious things, the new baby attempting to walk and other family milestones, I am reminded that there is hope after this plague blows over. And it will.
What precious time I have away from my computer, I am reminded to prioritize the things that really matter. Family, faith, friendships, love and personal development. We waste time chasing the wind, like the writer of Ecclesiastes opines. The “busy” job, the career growth, and monetary gain. All of it is meaningless.
What this pandemic has shown is that when it is stripped down, life makes meaning with just the simple things. Healthy thriving relationships with God, family, friends and the people who love and support you. They will always be a constant. All the other material contraptions we chase fade away. This epiphany has made me change gear.
In what I hope are the final days of this lockdown, I have a different attitude and mindset. Going forth, I aim to structure my work to fit within regular hours. I aim to find more time to check on the people I love.
I am determined to create extra time to pursue my passion projects. I wrote a book during my undergraduate studies that I need to publish this year. I have autobiography projects that I must complete. I have a consulting business to grow. I have a PhD proposal to write. There are friends and family to check on. I have series of sermons to watch.
I have seen the Lord’s handiwork amidst this chaos. He has been faithful. There is no day I have slept hungry. I have a roof over my head. My utility bills are paid. I still have a job. When I feel overwhelmed, I remember that the creator of the universe knew me before I was formed in my mother’s womb. He had the foresight that I would go through this calamity. And he promised to help me weather it.
(Sarah Lagot Odwong is a graduate of Mass Communication from Uganda Christian University and received her Master’s degree in Humanitarianism and Conflict Response from The University of Manchester, England. She currently works for USAID’s Better Outcomes for Children and Youth Activity as the Communications Director.)
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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.
Madonna waiting for her dad to come home from work
By Constantine Odongo Emmanuella Madonna is three years old. Every weekday, after taking her after-school nap, the kindergarten pupil engages her friends in the neighbourhood in games, such as dodge ball and hide-and-seek.
That was before mid-March 2020 and COVID-19.
On March 18, she got an abrupt, indefinite school holiday after the Ugandan government announced a closure of schools and a ban on work, unless it was an essential service. The ban was to enforce the health guideline of social distancing and staying home to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has become a pandemic. Madonna now spends more time with her mother at home and keeps wondering why I, her father, cannot stay home with them.
Emmanuella Madonna studying from home
As an employee of Uganda’s New Vision newspaper (i.e. news jobs are considered essential), it means I’m gone much of the day and conceivably more exposed to the potentially deadly virus.
Madonna doesn’t get that. She doesn’t understand why I can’t hug her the minute I get home between 6:45 and 7 p.m.
Uganda President Yoweri Museveni on March 30, 2020, announced a two-week stay-home order and capped it with a 11.5-hour curfew from 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. The order and the curfew were then extended by another three weeks.
Since, most times, the normal working hours at my office are not enough for me to accomplish my tasks, I often work up to the 11th hour. My workplace, being a media house, is open 24 hours. But, nowadays, the newsroom is almost empty, save for security personnel, especially past 6 p.m. People abandon office early, in order to get home and beat the curfew time of 7 p.m.
It usually takes me up to 25 minutes to cover the 14km (8.5 miles) distance from my office located in the capital of Uganda, Kampala, to home in Kawempe, a city suburb. I spend close to half of that time at roadblocks, trying to explain to security why my media movement permit sticker is on the dashboard and not on the car screen. Some motorists had lost their outside car stickers to thieves, who would pluck them off cars and sell them in the black market in Kampala, sometimes as high as one million shillings (about $280).
As I arrive home after work and oftentimes after the routine security interrogation, I see Madonna run to arms she can’t yet embrace – until I am cleansed of possible contamination to her and others in my family. I watch a fight brewing between Madonna and her nanny, who is seven times her age, but understands her job to keep a daughter from her dad in the world of COVID fear. I always ensure I bathe as soon as I arrive home, before getting into contact with anything or anyone, so that I do not become a conduit for the coronavirus.
Every morning, if Madonnna wakes up before I set off for work, she tries her luck in convincing me not to go to work that day. When President Museveni banned public and private cars from the roads on March 30, I carried my computer home and set up myself to work there. However, an unstable Internet network, an unfavorable work station and distractions by children hindered my ability to work.
Madonna’s sibling, Morgan, will be making one year on May 5. Throughout the day, I arbitrated disputes between her and Morgan. April 1 was day two of my full operation from home. We were both at our workstations, Madonna’s about two metres (6 feet) away from mine. When I stepped away from the room to receive a phone call, Madonna removed a keyboard key.
Madonna’s grandmother, a lady she was named after, lives and teaches in a primary school in Tororo district, located 220 kilometers (136.5 miles), east of Kampala. One-and-a-half weeks before the lockdown, schools were closed. Initially, teachers saw joy in the holiday. But it was short lived as they experienced more than one negative aspect of the lockdown.
Constantine Odongo
The weekend after schools had been closed, as one example, Madonna’s grandmother attended a funeral in Tororo, without knowing that she and some friends were going against the guidelines of the Ministry of Health – that only close family members bury the dead due to social distancing. There were water points for the mourners to wash their hands before getting to the funeral, but not many even understood why the water and soap had been provided.
Such stories justify why the Government enlisted the services of the security forces to enforce the observance of the lockdown guidelines. I remind myself of this each time I am stopped. Life as we know it has changed for Madonna and me. With God’s guidance and understanding, we will appreciate the fruits of the difference and get through it.
(Constantine Odongo is a deputy chief sub-editor for New Vision. He received an MA degree in Journalism and Media Studies from Uganda Christian University.)
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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.
Journalists Paddy Nsobya of Bukedde newspaper, Samuel Sanya of New Vision and John Semakula of The Standard newspaper of Uganda Christian University in an April 20 meeting to strategize for the post COVID-19 period in Mukono District, Uganda. (Courtesy photo from Samuel Sanya)
By John Semakula
When governments in Europe and the United States came up with altruistic measures to help their citizens during the Coronavirus lockdown, in Uganda, we were left to fend for ourselves.
Despite the fact that the majority of Ugandans live hand to mouth and expected help from government during the lockdown, a selected few received food items. Many communities, including mine, were forced to mobilise ourselves to help the most vulnerable like the elderly, the poor and children in child-headed families. This experience has reshaped my personality and worldview.
For a video showing food distribution in Uganda, click here
Before the lockdown, I did not care much about community. If I had food on my table, I was mindless about the needy in the community; someone always did that job anyway.
John Semakula of The Standard newspaper of Uganda Christian University
However, the lockdown has molded me into a better person. I have learned to share with others and be keen about what goes on in my community. When the government of Uganda declared a partial lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic on March 17, I plunged into thoughts about how my family would go through it. I stay with seven relatives in Mukono town, central Uganda.
Although I am a salaried employee at Uganda Christian University, the lockdown was abrupt and yet the situation required that I should help close family members whose incomes were affected by the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. Some of them operated casual businesses that had to close.
However, as I was still lost in thought, wondering what to do, I received a call from my father in the village offering us food from his garden. This has turned out to be our lifeline. Whenever we run out of food, I send a motorist to collect from my dad.
This kindness from my father has helped not only my siblings and me but also some of my neighbors. My siblings and I had to share the little we get from dad and the meager monetary resources I had saved up before the lockdown. My father has taught me an invaluable lesson in adulthood and I had to reciprocate his kindness.
I have also seen hundreds of other Ugandans donate food, cash and other critical items to the coronavirus national taskforce that was set up by the government to receive financial and food aid from members of the public for distribution to the most vulnerable. This was uncommon before the outbreak of the pandemic. I have discovered that Ugandans are a good people and that if we had been helping one another before, we would have been a better society.
I have also had to help several of my neighbors who need small cash handouts to feed and support their families in other ways during the lockdown.
On Tuesday April 14, a father of six including a pair of twins came to me at 8 p.m. to ask for a loan of $6. He said, “…if you do not help me out today, my family will go without food for the next three days…” I was forced to surrender part of my week’s small budget to him.
Within less than a week, on April 19, another neighbor, who had a patient at a nearby hospital, also asked me for a favor of sh40, 000 ($12) to transfer him for specialised treatment to another facility. I gave it to him out of sympathy. Before the Coronavirus pandemic, he worked in Kame Valley Market in Mukono town and like other traders, the lockdown has rendered him helpless.
Although markets are allowed to operate, only those trading in food items are allowed to work, the rest of traders like my neighbor, have to close. That is how my life has changed during the lockdown. But I thank God who has been merciful to my family because we are still alive when thousands of others around the world have succumbed to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, since the University where I work shut down on March 17, I have been operating from home, preparing for the reopening and the next semester. I am also going through students’ research proposals and internship reports. In addition, I am taking this time to come up with and bounce off different COVID-19 related research ideas with colleagues; hopefully we will have a research paper at the end of the year.
I see light at the end of the tunnel.
But the Coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown have taught me a lot of lessons in life that will remain fresh on my memory until death. I have never seen people the world-over suffer and die at this rate. I also have learned that in Africa we survive by the mercy of God. I will continue to exalt Him as the most supreme.
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John Semakula is the supervisor of The Standard newspaper under the Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication at Uganda Christian University (UCU). He is a UCU graduate of Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication and Masters of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies.
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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.
Rev. Jessica Hughes, from the state of Virginia in the USA, decided to remain on the University campus. These are some of her “neighbors” outside her apartment in Mukono, Uganda.
By Rev. Jessica Hughes
Jeremiah 29:7: “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
While I am neither an Israelite nor am I in exile, Jeremiah’s exhortation to pray for the place where you live is sound counsel that I think still applies today. As a missionary who has worked at Uganda Christian University (UCU) for almost eight years, I have long prayed for the peace and prosperity of Kampala and Mukono.
And then COVID-19 happened, and the US State Department issued a Global Level 4 Advisory – Do Not Travel (and come home if you are abroad unless you are prepared to remain abroad for an indefinite period). This immediately raises one challenge for any missionary or expatriate: Do you stay where you are, or do you go home?
I quickly decided that it was much easier for me to stay here, especially since I had no idea when I would be able to re-enter Uganda when the crisis had passed (without the mandatory 14-day quarantine expanded later to another three weeks). I have friends who have stayed, and I have friends who have returned home. Regardless of their choice, I am grateful that they were able to reach wherever they wanted to be safely.
One of the things for which I am grateful is that Uganda is a model for how to handle epidemics. The government reacted quickly, even though many of these decisions have caused a bit of havoc.
On March 18, Uganda announced that schools and churches would close on March 20 for 32 days. This meant that the students had to hurry and get home, and we had to hurry and try to finish the semester. I am so proud of my students; they finished their assignments as quickly as they could while packing and leaving early.
The airport and other borders were closed on March 22 for a minimum of 32 days to people, but cargo still transits, thankfully. Pharmacies, banks and all stores except for those that sell food were closed. All public transportation was shut down, and initially, private vehicles could carry three people, but then all driving was banned except for health transportation. People in Kampala were jogging in hordes on major roads, so then exercising outdoors in public was banned, though exercise in one’s yard is allowed. There is a curfew from 7 p.m.-6:30 a.m., and you will be arrested if you are caught even walking home from work.
In the midst of all this, I am grateful for so much:
The Ministry of Health. They are handling the pandemic as well as can be expected. Uganda has long been a standard for how to manage epidemics, and COVID-19 is no exception. They have worked well with various communication outlets to be sure that the message of staying home and preventing the spread of the virus is prominent; one cannot make a phone call without a few seconds of a message being played before the call is actually placed. There are many challenges, of course, but I am grateful for how they have taken the lead.
Uganda Christian University’s leadership. I often note that I live in an idyllic bubble on campus, with Internet, water, and security, and that is true. But I am most grateful that the University was very quick to make plans to allow lecturers to end the semester online and for exams to be converted to take-home exams. Though the latter was ultimately halted by the government, I am grateful that the University has been making use of online tools for education, was prepared to shift to take-home exams that would be submitted online (with allowances being made for students without easy internet access), but also that the students were so invested in their education that the overwhelming majority of them were very disappointed in the government’s decision disallowing take-home exams.
The church’s response. Much like in the US and the rest of the world, churches immediately went online. The Archbishop of the Province of the Church of Uganda has been publishing daily devotions, as well as leading two services on Sundays from home. The UCU Chaplaincy also immediately went online, as did many of my Theology students, so much so that scrolling through Facebook on a Sunday was very likely to cause the web page to hang with all the Facebook Lives that were playing.
For my mission society’s leadership. They have been proactive in checking on us, seeing what we need and where we need to be, and ensuring that we are well.
Most of all, I am grateful that my people, on both my continents, are safe. I’ve been able to talk with a number of my students, as well as friends and family, and all are well.
Yes, this pandemic is trying, difficult, and challenging. But just as the Lord was with the exiles in Babylon, He is with us also.
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Rev. Jessica Hughes is a lecturer in the UCU Bishop Tucker School of Theology and Divinity. She hails from the state of Virginia.
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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.
Frank Obonyo holds Keren, his daughter, who he features in the article. Other family members are the writer’s wife, Cathryn, and children, Adonai and Ezekiel.
By Frank Obonyo
Keren: Daddy, why does Coronavirus have many names?
Me: Which ones?
Keren: Corona, COVID-19, Coronavirus…
Keren, age 3, is my youngest of three children. We – my wife, Cathryn, and our children Adonai, age 9, Ezekiel, 6, and Keren – live in Kirowoza, Mukono, Uganda. As I write this on Easter in April 2020, the deadly virus has not reached our village. But word about it has, including to a three-year-old.
Children ask questions. Lots of awesome questions. If deeply thought about, their intricate inquiries make a lot of sense. They wonder why things are the way they are.
Our three-year-old is excessively talkative and inquisitive. I recall one such time when she asked: “Does Jesus have a house in my stomach?” We previously told her that Jesus lives in us. Instead of figuratively about the spirit of Christ, our youngest took this literally.
It was during an evening walk with Keren that the COVID questions came. When I later went to bed and recollected what happened in the day, Keren’s question made actual sense. To think about it, COVID-19 is like a maze.
Multiple names are part of the maze as we weave through additional questions related to isolation, lifestyle changes, overall confusion and then how what is taking place now relates to other experiences that we have had.
Africans are connected to nature. It feeds us and shelters us but we also link it to natural occurrences. Locusts –those swarming, tropical grasshoppers – eat up vegetation including crops, leaving people in terrible famine. A child born during a locust invasion is called “Obonyo,”which is part of my name and my identity. The naming of this child, or me, is symbolic. It reminds the community about the dreadful disaster.
The Northern Uganda Luo speaking group refers to the insect invasion as “bonyo.” The Luo are one of East Africa’s largest ethnic groups.
In this season, Coronavirus seems to have touched the climate as well. Our weather is either dry or wet, and April is a rainy month. However, the sun is now baking green leaves bone-dry, sprinkling our heads with grayish dust and we have no option but to survive this life indoors, behind closed shutters. It is the government’s “distancing” and “sheltering” orders (expanded for another three weeks from the two-week curfew that ended April 14).
What is more exceptional is that the desert locusts swarmed Uganda just a few months ago. The two tragedies seemed to have agreed to attack us one after another. These somewhat haphazard observations may give a fair idea of what our country is like.
Life, I must admit, is ugly for us as it must seem to others around the world in this COVID-19 pandemic environment. We are accustomed to routine. Wake up, get to work, come back home, sleep.
This has changed. It is now bedroom to living room, kitchen to compound; that is the cycle. We miss out on social life, working together and even as a community, mourning the death of someone. In Uganda, life is about meeting friends, extended family, workmates. Men, for example, reserve Saturday and Sunday to watch English premier league games, children have school assignments, and mothers go shopping. We go out to church together.
We now hear and live two words: Stay home.
I admire Keren and her two brothers for how they adapt. They remind me of Jesus’ teachings about humility. He said that we should humble ourselves like little children if we are to enter the Kingdom of God. If we are to live happily, we ought to live like children. And not worry.
My children do not worry about the bills, the next meal. If they have parents around them, food and accommodation, they have it all. They go forward, no matter what. There is very little fear. Children do not worry about the virus or a lockdown. They are focused on being themselves; they have an insatiable curiosity. It is not about missing the old life. It is about onward and upward. Children adapt quickly, and perhaps that is why they live happier lives. My children wake up, play, eat, and are happy to see us around.
The truth is, for adults accustomed to routines outside of parenting, spending more time with children can get complicated and chaotic. Lots of laundry, playing the role of a judge, answering why COVID-19 has many names…
I am using this season break from work and post-graduate studies to help my children improve in their reading skills and understand who they are in God. I read with them the adventures of Mr. Hare. This folklore revolves around the cunning Mr. Hare, who, though in small stature, employs his wisdom and tricks to outmaneuver bigger opponents and always takes the prize home. The stories are packed with humor and life lessons. We also study the Bible; April is the month of the book of Ephesians.
I am making good out of the season, as there will be others.
Frank Obonyo is a Communications Officer at Uganda Christian University(UCU), an MA graduate in literature from UCU and an MA Digital Journalism fellow at the Aga Khan University, Nairobi, Kenya.
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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.
On a typical, sunny Ugandan day and in front of what most call the Thelma building but is soon to become the Uganda Christian University (UCU) business incubator on the Mukono campus, seven students and I got the news. They were telling me about their incubators – also known as business startups – related to piggeries, organic fertilizer, crocheted baby clothing and more. As their economics and entrepreneurship lecturer, I offered advice.
My mind buzzed with a thousand thoughts. Only weeks earlier, my siblings and I – with our own bills to pay – had emptied our savings to complete a large part of the construction work for my mother’s house. Because her life had been wrought with difficulty, it was always our dream to give her a place of rest.
Emmanuella Madonna is three years old. Every weekday, after taking her after-school nap, the kindergarten pupil engages her friends in the neighbourhood in games, such as dodge ball and hide-and-seek.
When governments in Europe and the United States came up with altruistic measures to help their citizens during the Coronavirus lockdown, in Uganda, we were left to fend for ourselves.
I quickly decided that it was much easier for me to stay here, especially since I had no idea when I would be able to re-enter Uganda when the crisis had passed (without the mandatory 14-day quarantine expanded later to another three weeks). I have friends who have stayed, and I have friends who have returned home. Regardless of their choice, I am grateful that they were able to reach wherever they wanted to be safely.
Keren, age 3, is my youngest of three children. We – my wife, Cathryn, and our children Adonai, age 9, Ezekiel, 6, and Keren – live in Kirowoza, Mukono, Uganda. As I write this on Easter in April 2020, the deadly virus has not reached our village. But word about it has, including to a three-year-old.
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