By Gloria Katya
“One day, I will be like them.”
This is what Alexis Mugabe Munyakazi commonly told his parents whenever he saw workers at a road construction site.
That desire drove Mugabe from his country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, to Uganda Christian University (UCU) for an undergraduate course in engineering.
In 2016, Mugabe was among the students who started the journey to attain a degree. That journey came to an end on October 22, 2021, when the 27-year-old and 66 other colleagues received a Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UCU.
Making the decision to pursue his undergraduate course from Uganda was not without anticipated challenges. In DR Congo, the national language is French. Mugabe, therefore, had to undergo a mandatory pre-year program at UCU, to enable him learn English, since it is the language of instruction in Ugandan institutions.
He learned English, but it was not sufficient enough for him to communicate.
“I could not express myself well in English,” Mugabe recalls. “The lecturers could teach, but I hardly picked anything, except from one course unit, Engineering Mathematics.”
Despite the challenges, Mugabe soldiered on with the course. With persistence and camaraderie, he, eventually, caught up.
Mugabe says the Christian orientation of UCU was key to his nudge to study in Uganda. When he eventually joined the institution, he says he was not disappointed.
“What I found unique about UCU were the Christian values they teach their students and they always practice what they teach,” he said.
Mugabe was actively involved in Christian ministry at UCU and held various positions of leadership, including minister of religious affairs at the UCU Honors College and chaplain of the UCU International Students’ Association.
Tough financial times
Mugabe is one of the students whom the economic impacts of the Covid-19 hit especially hard at both the personal and family level. He got stranded in Uganda when a lockdown was declared in March 2020. While some of his colleagues managed to go home, Mugabe could not because he did not have the resources to transport him. He is grateful that the university continuously housed and fed him and a few other international students who were in his shoes, throughout the lockdown.
In order to limit the spread of the coronavirus, Uganda imposed a lockdown on movement of people from March to June 2020 and on schools from March to October 2020, when it was opened only for in-person classes for final year students as they prepared for their exams.
The pandemic also did not spare the jobs of Mugabe’s parents – Munyakazi Matthew and Nyambo Angel – who were employed in DR Congo, leaving their son with a huge tuition bill.
“I was frustrated since I could not raise that big amount of money on my own,” Mugabe says.
It was at that point that Mugabe got wind of an opportunity – the UCU Financial Aid Office had made a call for applications for financial relief. UCU Partners was willing to make tuition top-ups for students who were due for graduation, but were financially stuck. Mugabe was among the fortunate few who got that financial relief.
“The financial aid helped me to understand that, indeed, there are generous people out there who are ready to help you to achieve your dreams, even when they do not know you,” Mugabe says.
“May God bless them abundantly.”
Now with the bachelor’s degree, Mugabe says he is leaving UCU with not only a transcript, but also with friends from diverse worlds, including America, because of his relationships with students in the UCU Uganda Studies Program.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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.