Uganda UCU Link Report

Theresa Newell reports on the recent mission to Uganda from the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Thirteen people formed the first Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh UCULink team under the diocese's 5-year partnership commitment to Uganda Christian University to visit Uganda May 22 - June 6, 2006. The team was made up of eleven people from the Diocese of Pittsburgh and two from outside the diocese. Since the new nursing program of studies at UCU was to be a major focus, two doctors and one nurse came who did a thorough job of assessing what was "on the ground" given the short period of time we were there. The Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll, Vice Chancellor of UCU, and his wife Peggy who are resident in our diocese, were gracious hosts and arranged for numerous meetings with faculty, staff and students both at the Mukono main campus of UCU and the newly attached Bishop Barham campus of UCU in Kabale in southwestern Uganda. The Rev. Dr. Canon Alison Barfoot, assistant to Archbishop Henry Orombi, was most helpful during the group's stay at the Namirembe Guest House in Kampala.

Following below is a general report of the team's activities, assessments and preliminary recommendations.

The Team

Members of the team were:

Kimberly Payne

pastoral staff, St. Michael's of the Valley, Ligonier

Michael Legard

businessman, St. Michael's of the Valley, Ligonier

Jinny Tuscano

businesswoman, St. Michael's of the Valley, Ligonier

The Rev. Langdon Pegram

MD, priest-in-charge, Christ Church, New Brighton and pediatrician

Elsie Strauss

RN, oncology nurse, Church of the Nativity, Crafton

Brian Taylor

MD, Director of Public Health clinics, St. Peter's, Uniontown

Connie Hughes

pastoral counselor, St. Stephen's, Sewickley

Sherman White

chairman of the Board of UCU Partners (non-profit fund raiser in US for UCU, headquartered in Dallas, TX), St. Stephen's, Sewickley

Jill Weisbrod

businesswoman, St. Stephen's, Sewickley

Eric Theis

retired engineer, St. Stephen's, Sewickley

Theresa Newell

D. Min., Director of Travel and Mission study programs, Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, St. Stephen's, Sewickley

Sandy Lamprecht

retired librarian and Trinity graduate, Christ Church, San Antonio

Murray Cheston

retired Navy pilot, Christ Church, Port Republic, MD

Of the 13 team members, this was the first time in Uganda for all but Sherman White and Theresa Newell. We thank God for supplying each member of this team and for their individual gifts, their cheerful spirit throughout the demanding schedule of the mission and the love that the Spirit shed abroad in our hearts for each other throughout our two weeks together.

Worship experiences with the Church of Uganda

Before discussing the academic areas in which team members heard about and participated in, I would like to comment on the various occasions that we were given to share in worship with our Ugandan brothers and sisters. During our first full day at UCU campus, May 25, Ascension Thursday, we joined students in the new Nkoyoyo pavilion for worship 12-1 PM. Archbishop Nicholas Okoh of the Delta Province of Nigeria was the preacher. His message was taken from Genesis 39. He called the students to repent of corruption and to commit to integrity of character before God in the world where godly values are compromised. Theresa was invited to introduce our group to the student body. (Archbishop Okoh was on campus for meetings with Dr. Noll re a writing project and was staying at the Ankrah Guest House near UCU with us, so we were able to share in many conversations and fellowship with him). That afternoon at 5:30, a Eucharist was celebrated in the smaller student chapel. Two Trinity graduates who are chaplain and asst chaplain at UCU (the Revs. Frederick Baalwa and Rebecca Nyegenye), were preacher and celebrant. Frederick preached on the Ascension and our hope in Jesus who is Victor over sin and death.

On Sunday, May 28, we joined the UCU community at their Sunday worship service in the Nkoyoyo Pavilion. It was their Family Sunday, so many of the children participated in the worship with joyful songs and dances of praise. The Scripture readings were Leviticus 4:1-24 and 1 Peter 2:1-12. The preacher was the Rev. Dr. Edison Kalengyo, professor of Biblical Studies at UCU and his text was the 1 Peter reading. He challenged us to know who we are in Christ: a royal priesthood. "I am who God says I am," he said.

Following the service, we walked a few yards in a light rain to dedicate the new Children's Library which was funded in part through gifts given in memory of Anna Hathaway, wife of former Bishop of Pittsburgh, who went home to the Lord recently. Anna had been a children's librarian and the construction of this small building was dear to her heart. A plaque at the site memorializes her. Some in our group brought children's books as gifts for the new library.

On Monday, May 29, we drove to Kabale (about six hours). The next morning we were invited to the 8 AM morning chapel service at Bishop Barham College, now a part of UCU, by the president, Dr. George Tibeesigwa. Patrick, a pastor and student from Sudan, preached on Matt 24: 36-44 calling us to "Be ready" and using the example of having to be ready in his home in southern Sudan when the airplanes would bombard his area at night.

Saturday, June 3 was a national holiday for the Uganda Martyrs' Day. We had the privilege of being at the site of the martyrdoms which happened 120 years ago (1886) at Namugongo, not far from Kampala. The 10 AM – 3 PM service was presided over by Archbishop Henry Orombi. The preacher was Bishop Nathan Kyamanywa of Bunyaro-Kitara Diocese. Arrangements were overseen this year by the Anglican primary and secondary school leaders and Patrick, headmaster of Namirembe Secondary School was in charge and graciously saw to our seating and that we were given a tour of the Martyr's site before the service. Much of the program included young people: a procession of Boy Scouts, a marching band and groups of school children from all the different schools, most of whom had prepared praise and worship songs, dances and scriptural recitations. Among the guests were the Prime Minister, Apolo Nsibambi and members of Parliament, and the 14-year old King of Toro. So much for separation of church and state! Steve and Peggy Noll joined our group with other UCU students who had come for the day's celebration of Eucharist.

On Sunday, June 4, we attended the 9:30 Pentecost service at All Saints Cathedral, Kampala, the seat of Orombi as Bishop of Kampala. Sherm White was invited to introduce our group at the service by the Provost of the Cathedral, The Very Rev. Canon Stephen Tirwomwe who preached. The cathedral holds 1,000 and two large tents were filled outside with the overflow crowds who participated in the service by way of large screens where the service was shown. The cathedral has four services each Sunday, all of them overcrowded.

UCU Campus Time

Our mission was clearly to spend as much time at UCU campuses as possible. After checking into the Ankrah Guest House situated just above the main campus, Steve Noll oriented us to the campus. That evening the Nolls hosted a dinner for us and several ex-pats working on campus, some other visitors and UCU administrators. These included: The Rev. Dr. John Senyonyi, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Development and External Relations at UCU, and his wife Ruth; Dan and Rosie Button, faculty from US and UK; Margaret Opol, Uganda Studies program whose husband Samuel is doing D.Min studies at Trinity; the Rev. John and Sandi Burley, visitors from UK and early graduates of Trinity; David Leber, son of Jennifer and Phil Leber who have worked in Uganda for over 10 years.

May 25, Thursday – The team sat in on various classes from 8:30 – 10:30, met with faculty and staff at 10:30 tea and then attended classes 11-12, followed by the chapel service described above. We were invited to join the UCU Board of Trustees for lunch as they were completing their semi-annual meeting.

That evening we met Beatrice Aber, a recent UCU graduate with a BD degree in theology from Kitgum, the northern most diocese of Uganda bordering on Sudan where the Lord's Resistance Army is active and dangerous. Beatrice has a full tuition scholarship at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia but is in need of Biblical Hebrew before beginning the M.Div degree at Westminster. Beatrice shared her testimony after dinner with us which included the story of losing her mother in a road mine explosion in Kitgum which necessitated Beatrice interrupting her education to return home to care for younger siblings for a number of years. We are praying for ways to help Beatrice take advantage of the scholarship she has been offered.

May 26, Friday – From 8:30- 10:30, the team met with the Academic Staff headed up by the Rev. John Senyonyi and Dr. Grant Lilford of Botswana. From 11 – 1 PM, we met with the staff. After celebrating a birthday luncheon with the Nolls (it was Steve's 60th birthday), we met at 2:30 – 4 with student leaders. That evening we watched the movie, "Cry, the Beloved Country" with the students in the Nkoyoyo pavilion. Much information was taken in on this day from all quarters of the leaders of the UCU faculty, staff and students.

May 27, Saturday – At 10 AM Steve Noll sat with the team at Ankrah G.H. to de-brief all that we had heard the day before. The following ideas were included in the discussion:

1. The medical team had spent time in class with the nursing students and with Jemima Mutabazi , the director of the program. They reported that the nursing program (which had only begun a week before) was off to a sound start. Steve Noll reported that Doug Fountain, director of Health Studies, was in the US during our visit as was Karen Drake, PhD. Both will be returning. Dr. Jean Chamberlain, a Canadian, was also a worker in the medical area but not there at the time of our visit. Immunization of all students at UCU and especially the nursing students was cited as a primary need. Maternal care was of chief concern. ("Save the Mothers" program has begun). Teachers' manuals for texts needed in nursing school.
2. Enrollment: Sherm reported that Makarere University (with 40,000 students as the state university in Kampala) had recently announced that they were phasing out their undergraduate programs. He noted that UCU was targeting to stop enrollment at 6,000 in Mukono with 2,000 additional students to be enrolled at the Bishop Barham campus and any further "regional" campus. UCU is fully accredited.
3. The law school is begun but is in need of textbooks. It is rated as the best law school in Uganda. There needs to be better tracking of the graduates, but they are noted for their integrity in a society which faces much corruption in public arena.
4. Eric noted the need for more curriculum development particularly in law and engineering areas. Manufacturing and Installing screen doors, building better sewage treatment plants, providing pure drinking water, building modular houses, and raising crops for bio-diesel fuel were some ideas put forward. Eric met with Steve Riley, an environmental engineer from Australia who was overseeing the building of a new septic field to service the new women's dorms on campus.
5. Expansion of the Guest House on the Mukono campus was discussed.
6. Uganda primary education: Steve noted that in 1997 the UN introduced a plan for universal primary education, but not all can pay school fees to attend school.
7. Business people in the group asked how we can help with entrepreneurial ideas for the people of Uganda in the business school at UCU. Water conservation, commodity prices for agricultural products, using global expertise to apply to problems in Uganda, construction of housing tracks near the campus or on land that UCU owns – were all ideas presented. Creation of an institute for entrepreneurs with guest lecturers and sabbaticals esp aimed at encouraging the growth of medium-sized business (50-100 employees).
8. Computers, internet access, generators to keep power going, expansion of the UCU website, ideas for bringing laptops over for student use and the security issues involved were mentioned.
9. Steve mentioned the need for a qualified bursar (re replace someone leaving soon) and the need for an economical accountability group (like ECFA in the US).

Sunday, May 28 - (see worship report above)

Monday, May 29 – Drive to Kabale. Our guests in the bus for the ride to Kabale were: Peggy Noll, Ammu Mathews (from India whose husband C.V. is a theology professor at Mukono campus), and John and Sandi Burley. Stop at Equator for photos and shopping, the drum maker shop and finally a 4 PM lunch at Mbarara. Arrived at the White Horse Inn, Kabale to check in and have dinner.

Tuesday, May 30 – 8 Am chapel at Bishop Barham, greeted and introduced by Dr. George Tibeesigwa, Principal of the college. At 9 AM we were greeted in the office of Bishop George Katesigye of the Diocese of Kigezi. We brought him greetings from Bishops Duncan and Scriven. He remembered his time in Pittsburgh and at Trinity with his wife Laura in 1999 not long after our diocesan Rwanda team visited him in Kabale. The Rev. Canon Jovahn Turyamureeba, Deputy Principal, showed us the cathedral and the memorial burial site of Bishop Festo Kivengere, former bishop of Kigezi, on the cathedral grounds and then ushered us into a meeting with Dr. George Tibeesigwa in his office. Dr. George told us the history of Bishop Barham College (founded in 1924) and showed us photos of Bishop Barham and the history of how Christianity had come to western Uganda through missionaries. He explained that a new law in 2005 had made it possible for the incorporation of UCU/Mukono and Bishop Barham, a first in Uganda and the Church of Uganda. "Now we must figure out how it is to work!" he said. There have been many meetings re admission standards, curriculum and how the two schools Boards will work together, how to manage one budget for the two campuses, mission statements, and how it can most benefit the students. There are 580 students at Bishop Barham, up from 104 in 2001. All staff and faculty will meet at the November 2006 Board meeting at Mukono to work on these issues.

Dr. George then took us on a tour of the campus where we saw two new classroom blocks which have recently been built, one through local donations. That evening we were hosted for a meal in the newly built house of the Dean where we met the rest of the Bishop Barham faculty and staff. Two lecturers are there from Germany through the Marberg Mission agency which has had a history of service at Bishop Barham. By this time the team had become accustomed to the wonderful feasts of Uganda: matooke (steamed, mashed bananas) with ground nut sauce, chicken, green beans, carrots, goat meat and potatoes and rice and sodas with long straws. We were treated royally everywhere we went and are so very grateful for the hard work our hosts did on our behalf.

May 31, Wednesday - Drive back from Kabale to Kampala. The Burleys stayed in Kabale but Milton, a professor of psychology at Bishop Barham whose wife was a counselor, joined us for the ride to Kampala. En route, we visited Mburo National Park, just past Mbarrara where we had lunch by Lake Mburo viewing the hippos bobbing up and down in the water and watching wart hogs and monkeys wandering around the open eating area! With Ed our guide, we saw impala, Uganda crested cranes, baboons, wart hogs, Cape buffalo, topi, water buck, water plover (bird), hens and lots of zebras.

The remainder of our time was spent at the Namirembe Guest House in Kampala. We spent one more day on the Mukono campus for further de-briefing with Steve Noll and John Senyonyi.

Recommendations

The question that our travel team and the UCU Link committee have focused on is this: what specific areas is God calling the Diocese of Pittsburgh to work with UCU on. Here are some of the ideas that percolated during our times of meetings and observations during this trip and in subsequent discussions on our return:

UCU Mukono Main Campus

1. Nursing Program: Work with new Nursing School program (See medical report) coordinating with Doug Fountain, Director of Health Services. This would include securing scholarships for the nursing students as well as gifts-in-kind that would be useful to the program and clinic.
2. Theology School: In the face of a decline in the number of Anglican priests being currently trained, emphasis on the Master of Divinity degree program and scholarships. The goal would be to bring the number of MDiv students from the current 100 to 300. Additional support for faculty couple Dan and Rosie Button is needed.*
3. Sports Field: Because UCU will host the Uganda Games in December 2007, there is a need for the construction of a sports field as well as equipment and uniforms for the UCU teams. Contact person at UCU is Jason Mehl, basketball coach. World Vision will be asked for donations.
4. Faculty Housing: Housing is inadequate for the 70 full time faculty members (there are currently 30 housing units on campus for faculty).
5. Guest House property: The Guest House presently has 5 twin-bedded rooms with baths, a kitchen, living and dining rooms and an apartment which Mark and Abby Bartels and family presently occupy when they are there. Expansion of a wing to the present structure would be helpful in hosting groups such as ours and others who come to do short-term mission.

The Bishop Barham University College Campus

1. Faculty: Help with fund-raising for Travis Hines and family (Trinity graduate who has been hired as lecturer in the dept of theology and divinity and to serve in their information center/computer lab at BBUC). The Hines family has recently welcomed their third child into their family. They are candidates with Global Team Ministries.

There were many other ideas that were discussed in meetings which have followed the trip to Uganda. For example, Steve Noll stated that his dream is that a library will be built before he and Peggy complete their time at UCU four years from now. The cost is estimated at $2.2 million. Teachers in a variety of fields, either short term or long term, are needed. Dr. John Senyonyi, newly appointed development and public relations for UCU, is the contact person for questions relating to this area.

Our diocesan team will work in some areas in coordination with Truro Church, Fairfax, VA who sends containers to Uganda two times per year and have been actively supporting UCU over many years with personnel and gifts-in-kind such as computers. Theresa Newell is liaison person with Truro.

*All UCU scholarships are sent from the USA through UCU Partners (PO Box 38333, Dallas, TX 75238. Diane Stanton is Executive Director of UCUP. Email: info@ugandapartners.org. Website: www.ugandapartners.org)

JoEllyn Fountain is the person at UCU/Mukono who oversees scholarship distribution once the funds from worldwide sources reach Uganda.