The Archbishop of the Provincial Church of Uganda, Rev. Dr. Samuel Stephen Kazimba Mugalu, hands over a copy of the holy Bible to Rev. Dr. John Kitayimbwa during his ordination at All Saints Cathedral on Sunday, December 6, 2020.
By Douglas Olum
Atop the Nakasero Hill in Kampala, on a clear December 6, 2020, Sunday morning, sweet melodies from a Christian hymn song ring through the open doors and windows of a towering, red-tile-roofed, cream painted building, into the trees, houses and the open sky of the neighborhood. Men, women and a few children were trickling into the All Saints Cathedral premises, to praise and worship God as life returns to Ugandan Churches after six months of the COVID-19 induced closure.
Inside, 13 men and three women were set to be ordained into Christian ministry for the Anglican Church; two of them as deacons and 14 as priests. Among them was the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs, Rev. Dr. John Kitayimbwa. He was being ordained into priesthood. According to the Anglican Church of Uganda, priests are called to be servants and shepherds to proclaim God’s word.
Rev. Dr. John Kitayimbwa with his family shortly after his ordination.
With his hand raised up high, Dr. Kitayimbwa, the father of three and husband to Rev. Lydia Nsali Kitayimbwa, was singing and praising the Lord; his face lit with joy. Right behind him was his wife, equally full of joy.
“Seeing him join this great ministry really keeps me excited, and I know that not even the sky is the limit,” Mrs. Kitayimbwa said after the service, “I know God has a lot in store for us so we just pray that He humbles us and we remain under his Mighty hand that He may use us to the glory of His name.” She said having her husband join the Christian ministry was both a great spiritual support to her and a sign that the presence of God rests in their home, where their ministry starts.
As the service commenced, Kitayimbwa said that he felt a very heavy weight over his shoulders, presumably signifying the weight of the task ahead of him. But with God’s guidance, he believed he would weather the test of time and bear fruits.
“My major role now is that of a priest because when you are called to come close to God to be with God in His vineyard to work with Him, it is a blessing,” Dr. Kitayimbwa said, “Whether I am at UCU or outside UCU, this call on my life is to serve God’s people, and I will do it diligently.”
Asked what impact he thinks his ordination would have on his service at the university, Dr. Kitayimbwa said, “I am going to freely share the word of God even as I do my role as the DVC at UCU. I am going to try and follow Christ as I imitate Him in order to draw more people to the Kingdom of God. In whichever situation, I will ask myself what would Christ have done? And I think that is what is going to be my motto going forward.”
Dr. Kitayimbwa holds a PhD in Computational Biology, and he is a senior lecturer in mathematics. He was first ordained as deacon in 2019, the same year he was appointed as Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UCU.
Dr. Kitayimbwa said his calling to be a priest started a long time ago but it took him time to realize that he was being called. And now, whatever achievement he attained in his past life, he counts it but loss, like Paul says in Philippians 3:8-10 (8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.)
The Dec. 6 ordination service was presided over by the Kampala Diocese bishop who also doubles as the Archbishop of the Provincial Church of Uganda, the Most Rev. Dr. Samuel Stephen Kazimba Mugalu.
The Archbishop reminded the new priests that their answer to the calling was a life-time commitment for God’s glory and strengthening of His Kingdom. He noted that they would only be able to maintain the call by praying, believing and relying on the strength of God and his grace given in the Word, and not their individual strengths.
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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. Also, follow us on FaceBook and Instagram.
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
UCU staff members discuss on-line learning enhancements in the Mukono campus eLearning Centre.
(NOTE: At the time this was written, the Ugandan government agreed to allow medical school students only to return to in-person education. There were unconfirmed rumors that physical delivery could be allowed for all schools by the end of September. If permitted, this could impact the UCU plan as outlined in this story.)
By John Semakula
Uganda Christian University (UCU) students, who missed their end of Easter Semester (January-May) examinations because of the country’s COVID-19 lockdown, have cause to smile. According to the office of the UCU Vice Chancellor, the students can take the Easter Semester examinations from September 15 to October 15, 2020.
“These will be done as take-home examinations, as it is the practice in universities all over the world,” read a statement from the VCs office dated September 4, adding, “Teaching for the Trinity (normally starting in May) and Advent (normally starting in September) semesters will commence on October 15.”
Students enrolled with UCU for the first semester of this calendar year missed their examinations when all the academic institutions in the country were closed on March 20 as part of a government-imposed, country lockdown to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. These students were mostly completed with their studies except for their final semester examinations. At that time, and despite UCU’s readiness to conduct on-line learning and administer take-home exams, the University’s efforts were denied by President Yoweri Museveni on grounds that the process would discriminate against individuals from poor families.
In early September, UCU had that approval, including from the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) that conducted an early August inspection. According to a letter dated August 26 and signed by the outgoing Vice Chancellor, Dr. John Senyonyi, after assessing UCU’s capacity to undertake online distance eLearning, the NCHE gave the University a green light to resume teaching virtually.
NCHE also cleared the University’s School of Medicine and the newly named School of Dentistry to continue operations after an inspection by the regulatory body conducted on August 10. Early this year, the NCHE had raised some concerns about the standards of most medical schools in the country, including the medical schools at UCU and Makerere University, and asked the institutions to improve or be denied a chance to offer the courses.
In a letter dated August 28, NCHE’s Executive Director, Prof. Mary J.N. Okwakol, noted that UCU’s medical and dental programs met the requirements for the training of medical doctors and dental surgeons within the East African Community (EAC) as set out in the guidelines.
“Upon qualifications, therefore, the graduates shall be eligible for reciprocal recognition within the EAC partner states,” she wrote. “The University may admit students to the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Dentistry programmes, ensuring adherence to the recommended number of students for each programme.”
Dr. Aaron Mushengyezi, UCU’s new vice chancellor, speaks at a press conference.
In his August 26 letter to UCU staff, Dr. Senyonyi commended those who worked hard to ensure that both assessments were successful. He said he was sincerely indebted to them.
The University has since advertised vacancies for first year students who would wish to take those science courses advising them to apply online for the courses.
The new Vice-Chancellor, Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, also confirmed NCHE’s clearance for UCU to continue teaching in a letter to staff dated September 4. He also revealed that the University Senate had as a result of the clearance by NCHE met on September 2 and passed several resolutions to pave way for the University to reopen for online distance eLearning.
Key among the resolutions, which Senate passed, was that the University would hold a virtual graduation – a first for UCU – for those students who will have finished their studies. The ceremony is scheduled for December 18, 2020.
Also important to note is that students who are supposed to be in session for both the Trinity (May-August) and Advent (September- December) semesters will first complete the Trinity Semester. To have access to inexpensive Internet services for online learning and while tuition costs are in discussion, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs, Dr. John Kitayimbwa, advised students to buy MTN cell phone sim cards to access Internet hotspots.
(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.
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.
Elizabeth Nagudi Situma, left, UCU Head of Nursing, and students meet with Magdalene Nayonjo, a community resident
By Caleb Bamwesiga
Magdalene Nayonjo is one of 653 residents of Nakkoba Village, located in rural Dundu Parish, Kyampisi Sub County – about a 45-minute mostly bumpy bus ride from the Uganda Christian University (UCU) main campus. At age 89, she’s the one I remember most during a February 2020 trip with UCU Nursing students and their head of department, Elizabeth Nagudi Situma.
Openly in her Luganda language and while plucking tiny stems from the bitter miniature apple fruit called katunkuma, she says she is barren. She admits that over the years she has been shunned for her inability to have children. Now approaching 90 years, however, she is an accepted part of her community. With her husband who has had other wives with children, she is content.
Segayi Dessan Salongo, coordinator for UCU nursing student visit in Nakkoba
Segayi Dessan Salongo, a village council member and the student nurse contact for the day, agrees. Magdalene is a respected and valued member of this poverty-stricken village. He supports the student visits not just for their ability to apply learning but also for what they teach residents about health care. In this village, safe drinking water is not abundant. There is no health care facility or pharmacy. Knowledge of the importance of cleanliness is sparse.
Elizabeth Nagudi Situma, who sits next to me enroute to and from the village and remains with me as I meet residents, explains that these visits are part of the year four learning for students working toward a UCU Bachelors of Nursing Science degree within the School of Medicine and give opportunity to students get exposed to health care at the grass roots level.
While healthy for an elderly person, Magdalene struggles more than younger residents who spend hours in farming or brick laying and ride motorcycles called bodabodas into towns with stores and clinics.
In order to address rural and urban health care disparities, Elizabeth says that the university joins forces with the Mukono district health service.
“We signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mukono district health service,” she said. “We carry out community health nursing outreach, educating people about the health preventative measure. This program is just one aspect of the university’s efforts to improve health care in rural communities around the university.”
The UCU Head of Nursing notes that the community nursing program’s strategic initiative is emphasizing preventive measures that not only have direct impact on rural areas, but also cultivate learning opportunities for students.
“With preventive measures at finger tips, this places people in the community at a privileged position of not suffering from communicable diseases, and other diseases resulting from poor sanitation are minimized,” she said. “Students are able to address critical issues encountered by health care professionals every day, from the prevention of disease to the delivery of care.”
She also noted that public awareness of symptoms of conditions and diseases (such as strokes) can help improve the speed of receiving medical help and increase the chances of a better recovery.
“On some occasions we encounter people who are sick with diabetes or blood pressure and live without knowing they are sick,” the head of nursing said. “This delays the chances of one seeking diagnosis from medical professionals. The untreated condition can advance and get worse. In these cases, the benefit of treating the disease promptly can greatly exceed the potential harm from unnecessary treatment.”
Residents are encouraged to go to government hospitals where they can access free medical services. Mulago hospital, for example, has free diabetic clinics.
John Bosco Ntambara, one nursing student, noted long-held cultural beliefs and practices keep people from seeking health care facilities. Often, they prefer traditional healers because they are better known and live nearby.
“That’s why they go for medical treatment late,” John said. “They first believe that they will get better. Some traditional healers will tell them that the payment arrangements will be made when they heal.”
However, the university head of nursing notes that one aspect of quality nurse service delivery is understanding culture and also getting to know what traditional healers offer to clients for easy clarification to community members.
“We don’t just talk,” she said. “We listen.”
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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.
Ayub inspects a backyard nursery bed with one of his learners
By Douglas Olum
When Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni directed COVID-19 restrictions on March 20, 2020, many citizens wondered how they would survive. The lockdown order involved closure of all schools and academic institutions, ban of public transportation and shutting of businesses except for manufacturing industries and food dealers.
In addition to hindering the ability for workers to get to places of employment, drivers of motorcycles and taxis were out of work. The pressure on husbands and fathers in particular gave rise to violence in homes. In one three-week period, the Uganda Police Force reported 328 cases of domestic violence. Uganda’s Minister of State for Gender, Labour and Social Development, Peace Regis Mutuuzo, reports that Uganda has recorded over 10,000 cases of domestic violence in the past year, 1,000 of which were recorded between January and April. She said the number is higher as compared to 2019 statistics where only 3,000 cases were recorded in that year.
James Ssenkubuge, a Front Desk Officer at the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Kampala Campus, saw first-hand the impact of such stress. When returning from work one evening, he witnessed battering of a wife by her husband after the woman complained about her spouse’s inability to get food for the family. Ssenkubuge ran to the neighbor’s house and separated the fight.
After listening to their plight, he went back to his house and returned with some food that saved the family from sleeping hungry that night. Despite his reduced salary and uncertainty of payment for the future and with his experience of working with less-than-peaceful students, he continued to counsel and help his neighbors in this time of need.
UCU’s Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, has in recent weeks notified staff like Ssenkubuge that their salaries are reduced by 75 percent for the month of May with no payment for June and possibly other months. The university staff pay is curtained because UCU, supported largely through tuition, is unable to serve new or current students during the lockdown. The roughly 5% of essential UCU employees working on campus are completing tasks without pay.
Ayub tends to his tomatoes in the garden
While the lockdown threatens peace in families like those in Ssenkubuge’s neighbourhood, Mutaasa Mugereza Ayub, the UCU main campus/Mukono Students’ Affairs Administrator, is reaching out to share what he has with others to bring about food security and reduce on the chances of domestic violence. He is using the lockdown period to inspire and mentor children at his neighborhood in practical agricultural skills that can translate into food security in Uganda in the long run.
At the time the lockdown was pronounced in Uganda in late March, Ayub had just transplanted his tomatoes and green pepper seedlings in a garden measuring about 15 x 20 meters (49.2 x 65.6 feet). He started spending more time in his plot, watering, weeding, prunning and spraying the crops.
Passersby of all ages stopped to ask Ayub questions. Without hesitation, he gladly answered and even encouraged them to give the project a try.
Tomatoes seedlings planted in used tires at Ayub’s compound
“To me agriculture is one thing that gives people financial freedom and time, let alone the food security aspect,” Mutaasa said. “But the problem is that, because of the way some people were raised they look at agriculture as a backward and dirty practice.”
Among the people who asked him questions were five neighborhood children who started regular visits to the garden. As he encouraged the children to do what he was doing, they started looking for tomato seeds and seedlings for planting. Ayub gave them some seeds free of charge.
In early June, the five children were raising their own backyard gardens of not only tomatoes, but other vegetables like onions and green peppers. In Ayub’s own home, children and other relatives are growing tomatoes, beans, among other crops in pots and used car tires.
Ayub says he enjoys imparting whatever skills he has to people and he feels fulfilled seeing the children he is mentoring practice the skills he taught them. He continues to visit the children’s gardens, to support them with chemical spray treatments and to advise them on what to do next.
As his tomatoes and green pepper hit the harvest period, Ayub’s garden has become the community food basket. People flock to the site to purchase products at fair prices – not the higher rates from markets.
Ayub is currently raising another garden of vegetables, hoping to get more fulfilled with his garden outputs and the learners’ skills while he and other people worry about possible job losses and struggle financially.
In mid-June, the possibility of the university re-opening and the staff getting back to work was hanging in balance because the Government of Uganda remained undecided on when schools and other learning institutions could resume. UCU staff like Ssenkubuge and Ayub can’t afford to wait. While exploring options to support their own households, they seek to apply Christian principles to help others.
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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.
“If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.”
The African proverb was the essence for the first few years of the Global 5K, a five-kilometer (3.1 miles) walk/run/social engagement activity sponsored by the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Partners non-profit organization. Abby Bartels, who lived for 10 years on the University campus and raised three children there with her husband, Mark, is the founder.
The year was 2015 and a time when many organizations were jumping on a 5K fund-raising bandwagon. For UCU Partners, it was less about raising money and more about building a relationship base among alumni of the Uganda Studies Program (USP), a one-semester, UCU learning experience for students enrolled in Christian universities, mostly in the United States. Mark Bartels, executive director for UCU Partners, started USP on the UCU Mukono campus. UCU Partners values USP alumni because they are a unique set of donors who have lived and studied at UCU.
“The event was actually better than expected because it strengthened connections not just with American students but with Honor’s College students and staff,” Abby, now living in Pennsylvania, said. “In addition to a time for remembering and re-connecting about a cultural, Christ-centered experience, it became an opportunity to raise money for Ugandan students in need.”
According to Ashton Davey, UCU Partners fundraising coordinator and facilitator for the 2020 Global 5K, nearly 200 people participated this year. Despite the hiccup of having an event on April 4 in the midst of worldwide COVID-19 lockdowns, more than $3,000 was generated, mostly by participant purchases of the event’s green T-shirt. The funds will supplement tuition for 12 needy students at UCU.
“Many participants found the Global 5K to be good motivation to get out of the house and simultaneously support a great cause,” Ashton said. “The event’s flexibility allowed people to participate alone from wherever they live, which allowed them to adhere to social distancing guidelines.”
So what was it like engaging in an event during an unprecedented worldwide pandemic? From Canada, Nigeria and Uganda, and nearly half of the 50 USA states, here is a sample of thoughts compiled from virtual interviews.
Atimango Innocent (Minna, Nigeria) – former UCU Honors College student who previously benefited from the scholarship assistance and was once a USP staff member; now engaged with The Navigators, two-year discipleship training program
Innocent, running in Nigeria
In the midst of focusing on Mathew 28: 19-20 and its message about “making disciples of all nations,” Innocent and a friend, Drew Uduimoh, did 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) for the Global 5K. She has done it every year except for maybe one when the event didn’t get off the ground. For 2020 and while Nigeria reported more than 800 virus cases, she jogged around the town where she lives with no lockdown restrictions.
“I feel personal about it since I was one of the students who benefited directly from the funding,” she said of the Global 5K. “But I also find it a time to do reflections on people and on the Lord.”
Mikaela Hummel (Pakenham, Ontario, Canada) – USP student in 2019, while studying at Houghton (NY) College, where she receives her undergraduate degree in May; preparing to begin studies for a Masters of Science degree in physiotherapy
Mikaela, at right, with her family in Canada
On the day of the Global 5K, it was 10 Celsius (50 Fahrenheit) in Pakenham, Ontario, where Mikaela participated in the event with her mom, dad, sister and dog. She wore long sleeves under her green shirt and her traditional African kitenge-design shorts. The area where they ran was a bit quieter than usual as COVID-19 restrictions had most stores closed and gatherings limited to five people or less.
“The experience in Uganda helped me to pause and think about what is really important in life,” she said. “The Global 5K is a time to reflect on that again. The pandemic puts the brakes on even stronger, reminding us to trust God.”
Erin Neilson (Gallup, New Mexico) – USP student in 2006 while majoring in music at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pa.; now raising two children and serving on a church music team with her husband, Phil, a middle school English teacher and also a 2006 USP student and USP program assistant 2008-2009
USP alumni, Erin and Phil, and family in New Mexico
On the date of the 5K Zoom discussion on April 20, New Mexico had more than 2,000 confirmed cases of cornonavirus. Sixteen days earlier, the Neilson family of four, living in a small town near part of the Navajo Nation, did 5 kilometers. A special highlight was that Christiana, age 5, made the entire distance on her own. Caleb, a toddler, was carried.
“We had been hoping to hike with friends, but due to social distancing requirements, we ended up with time just as a family,” Erin said. Fourteen years after our USP experience I am reminded of the value Ugandans place on presence and am trying to live that daily with my children.”
Laura Sollenberger (Gainesville, Florida) – USP student in 2018 while majoring in exercise science at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pa.; now finishing her Penn State University bachelor’s degree in nursing through on-line classes while living back home with her parents
Global 5K Zoom with Laura (in Florida)
For Laura, her career move from occupational therapy to nursing was stimulated by a 150-hour internship at the Church of Uganda hospital (Mukono), where she realized the intimate and critical role of health care workers at a patient’s side. COVID-19 has reinforced that decision with some frustration that she can’t be on the front line now; she graduates in December.
Laura’s UCU experience in 2018 was “life-changing with deeper connections to friends and God, clearer purpose, better understanding of systemic injustices, and the challenge of learning from new cultural perspectives,” she said.
Laura planned to re-connect with 10 of those friends by participating in the Global 5K and making rolex afterwards in Lancaster, Pa. Instead, she is sheltered with family in her home state of Florida. Her mom and dad did the 5K with her.
“We did a Zoom afterwards,” she said of her USP friends. She added, “I will definitely go back to Uganda someday.”
Molho Bernard (Kilowoza/Mukono District, Uganda) – 2018 UCU graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Education, working with the Honors College and USP up to February 2020 when Ugandan universities closed due to COVID restrictions while pursuing a Masters of Education in Planning and Administration.
Bernard and young friend, Matthew
On April 4, Bernard engaged in his second Global 5K by walking around his compound – different than the previous year when there were more people and it occurred on the campus. His “informal” companion during his warm-up with push ups and laps around the compound was a two-year-old named Mathew who lives in the same area and “loves coming to my room to watch me do some art work.” The 5K has special meaning to Bernard as he was once a recipient of the money raised through the event.
“In 2018, my family was going through a financial breakdown, and I was afraid of getting a dead semester,” he said. “Through the proceeds of 5K through UCU Partners, I was able to have my tuition and graduation fees cleared.”
Bernard continues to appreciate the Christian and academic standards at UCU. The environment has enabled him to “know Christ more, and I have grown up more in loving, trusting and obeying Him.”
Ashton, who splits her time between Uganda and Kansas, said it was “heartwarming” to see social media posts of people supporting Uganda Christian University in the 5K green T-shirts – from those “running in rural villages in Uganda and families hiking to wave across the state border at each other to USP alumni organizing a Zoom call to reflect on the lessons they learned in Uganda.”
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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. For more information or with ideas for the 2021 Global 5K, contact Ashton at ashton@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.
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.
Ball Hockey team during training at the Uganda Christian University sports field
By Maxy Abenaitwe
Africans take pride in their cultural roots. For Ugandan Amon Matthew, the curiosity for other cultures has always been equally as strong.
Captain Amon Matthew with the Uganda flag
That inquisitiveness found an eight-year-old Matthew playing ball hockey, a sport more common to Canada. He played it on the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Mukono campus with the children of a Canadian couple, journalist Thom Froese and medical doctor, Jean Chamberlain Froese, founder of the UCU Save the Mothers program.
Now age 22 and captain of the UCU Ball Hockey Team that in March 2020 had no name, Matthew recalled his addiction to “the most beautiful and interesting thing” he had learned. Referring to the ball hockey sport, he added, “Out of love for the game, I put my all.”
Uganda Ball Hockey will forever be grateful to Froese for building the first playground at the UCU staff quarters. Now, Matthew has taken over the ball hockey team reins from the Canadian founder.
“At that point, I realized I had been left with a huge task ahead of me, considering the fact that I was young and still in secondary school,” Matthew said. Part of taking his leadership role seriously involved missing his high school sports activities. When students questioned his absence, he replied with two words – ball hockey – and then had to explain what that was.
Captain Amon Matthew with ball hockey supporters
Ice hockey is synonymous with Canada. When the ball hockey sport evolved by replacing an ice puck with a tennis ball in the 19th century, ball hockey became elevated in popularity in this North American country. Rules between hockey on ice and other surfaces vary but all involve using sticks to move an object toward a goal.
Matthew’s excitement about the sport became contagious for other Ugandan youth. There were teams and games – first informally among young men and then formally with Matthew’s persuasion to places like the Baroda International Vocational Institute in Mukono and UCU.
By 2018 and armed with videos and enthusiasm, Matthew approached the Ugandan Ministry of Education and Sports. He also visited the National Council for Sports, and met with a representative of the Uganda Hockey Association and the Mukono Municipality Mayor, George Fred Kagimu, who had watched the game in Sweden. With some coaching, ball hockey moved from an association to a federation.
Barriers were largely financial – lack of equipment, including the ability to buy hockey sticks at 50,000 UGX ($15) each; and no uniforms. Matthew sought and received foreign support from the London Ball Hockey Association in Canada, International Street Ball Hockey Federation and World Ball Hockey Federation.
Ambitious Matthew sees Uganda taking part in the 2021 World Championship Events. Additionally, Matthew is organizing a national tournament of the UCU juniors and men’s teams.
“With or without Ugandan government, we can still go on,” he said. “We are moving on and growing. No matter what, we shall get there.”
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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.
UCU Nursing students Babirye Tamara Peace and Kakooza Abdul Wahabu practice a birth simulation with “Baby Nicole.”
Uganda Christian University (UCU) is launching a new program – a master’s course in midwifery and women’s health – under its School of Medicine. At the request of UCU Partners, Ugandan writer Constantine Odongo had a chat with Elizabeth Namukombe Ekong, a lecturer in the medical school’s nursing department. What follows is some of this conversation related to the new program.
What programs are under the department of nursing? We have undergraduate and master’s programs in the department. In the Bachelor of Nursing Science, which began in 2006, we have two entry points – nurses with diploma, but want to get bachelors; and the direct entry right from S6 (high school graduation). The completion program takes three years for nurses already experienced, while the other entry takes four years. The master’s in nursing started in 2008. We are now introducing the master’s in midwifery and women’s health.
Students Kiribata Dorothy, Bagenda Isaac, and Mbulaka Remmy Allan with a practice plastic baby as part of their training in the UCU nursing program.
When does the new course start? In 2017, the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) approved our curriculum, but we have not had the personnel the NCHE insisted on. They insisted on staff with master’s degrees in midwifery, yet most of us have masters in nursing. We have been looking around for personnel. The challenge we have had is that in Uganda, only one university has been offering this course, so not many people have the skill set that NCHE required. The other challenge is many people who opt to pursue master’s degree studies are already established somewhere else. So, it is not for us to uproot them from their already set systems. There are some people who have expressed interest, so the university actually put up advertisements in January, calling for people to apply for the position of lecturer in midwifery. As this year (2020) is the Year of the Nurse and Midwife (designated by the World Health Assembly under the World Health Organization in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale), it is appropriate that UCU starts the master’s in midwifery.
Which people are you working with to ensure that the program kicks off? We are trying to put up a team as NCHE recommended. The other thing is we have partners who are professors with PhDs in midwifery and are willing to come and teach and also offer online interactions, since the program design is a modular one. We have two professors from the United States – one from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and another from Bethel University in Minnesota. They are ready to start the teaching in May, if we have set our intake to start and we have finally got the required number of students, the personnel and the clearance from NCHE. We are making arrangements for the professors to come and make the physical preparations. We expect the face-to-face teaching to happen three times a year.
Elizabeth Namukombe Ekong, nursing lecturer
Who helped you design the curriculum for the midwifery master’s course? We developed it from a prototype curriculum that was designed from a program by the East, Central and South African College of Nursing (ECSACON). The ECSACON prototype is the same that many universities in the region use to develop their curriculum. We undertook a study to review the status of midwifery in the region and established that there was a need to provide a platform for the existing midwifery cadres to upgrade their skills at master’s level. When developing the curriculum, some of the areas the study looked at is the number of midwives in the country, the mortality rates, etc. From the ECSACON prototype curriculum, we developed ours for the master’s course, with assistance from colleagues in the UK. When we were satisfied that it was ready, we passed it through the approval process up to the university Senate and the NCHE. With the approval in 2017, it meant that the moment we get the relevant personnel with a master’s degree in midwifery, we would be ready to start.
What achievements has the nursing department registered? We have developed skilled competent and dependable nurses with the passion and faith to render services across the continent, but also offer leadership. Our graduates have been absorbed in different institutions, both state and non-state and the feedback we get about their conduct is encouraging. We have had collaborations with facilities where we send our students for placement, like Uganda-China Friendship Hospital Naguru, the hospitals of Nsambya, Mulago, Butabika, Jinja referral and many others.
Some of our students are Assistant District Health Officers, and some are in charge of medical facilities and in other leadership positions in hospitals. Others are working at the Ministry of Health.
What is in the curriculum for the midwifery master’s program that you are soon launching? The curriculum is designed with two tracks: Education and Practice as the program prepares educators and practitioners We have areas of midwifery education, which involves teaching and learning, curriculum development, measurement and evaluation; we also have an area on research and statistics. We have another area of midwifery leadership courses and management, so our students are able to graduate with better management and leadership skills.
There are foundation science courses like pathophysiology, pharmacology, and advanced health assessment in maternal and infant care. Other profession-based foundation courses offer an opportunity for the students to learn theories in nursing/midwifery, together with advanced courses in normal and abnormal midwifery. With other partner universities both here in Uganda and beyond, we share courses to do with cultural diversity, trends and issues in midwifery, neonatal and women’s health. Students also go for an international module (internship) to strengthen their teaching approaches and clinical experiences.
The students also take selected courses in advanced clinical practice from areas of their desired specialty in maternal and child health. Health care systems is another course taught to enable students understand the major elements, dynamics, determinants and organizational themes in public health, policy issues and health financing.
How have you taken care of the developments in information and communications technology as far as your course is concerned? We intend not to leave our graduates behind as far as information and communications technology is concerned. We have lined up a course in informatics, which involves the application of technology in what they learn. We expect to take the students through online healthcare packages, how they can remotely follow up on patients and network with the online medical ecosystem in order to know a patient’s medical history and other things.
Many women, especially those in rural areas, still opt for traditional birth attendants (TBAs) to deliver them, citing harassment from midwives. What is your department doing to reverse this phenomenon? We always emphasize professional ethics and Christian values in our students and that is why we have faith-based and foundation courses to see how virtues of the respect for one’s work is instilled and how the students ought to relate with their clients. In the midwifery curriculum, for instance, we have integrated Christian worldview to help students relate and handle our clients from a Christian perspective.
Why should we separate nursing from midwifery? Would it be better to equip the students with both skills, so the medical field gets multi-skilled professionals? At UCU, the Bachelor of Nursing Science teaches concepts of both nursing and midwifery, just like the undergraduate course, which teaches medicine and surgery. The specialization occurs only at post-graduate level. That said, there are universities that offer bachelor’s degrees in midwifery. It’s also important to note the difference between the work of a midwife and a nurse. A midwife’s work involves care for women and families whereas a nurse is involved with the general health of everyone. Midwives focus on women, children, pregnant women, reproductive health issues and educating the community about the same.
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To support this Uganda Christian University program and others as well as students, activities and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at mtbartels@gmail.com.
Prof. Monica Chibita with her husband, Justice Mike Chibita (left) and the Uganda Christian University Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi at the inaugural lecture
By Douglas Olum
It was 1:45 p.m. East African Time on Friday, January 17, and I was in the Nkoyoyo Hall at Uganda Christian University (UCU). A couple of other people were gathered under the same roof. But, unlike the other days of that week, the sky was coated in dark clouds. And drizzles from the sky were peacefully showering the trees and green grass on the compound, making them look even more beautiful.
Prof. Monica Chibita delivers her professorial inaugural lecture
For a moment, my heart wondered why the rain on such a day? We were set to listen to the first-ever professorial inaugural lecture at UCU, and it was to be delivered by the dean of the faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication, Prof. Monica Balya Chibita, receiving full professorship.
Then I remembered one Bible verse, Hebrews 6:7 (KJV) which states: “Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.” Indeed, the rain was a momentous blessing as Dr. Chibita was to be only the second to Rev. Prof. Christopher Byaruhanga, the dean of the UCU School of Divinity and Theology, to receive such a full academic professor designation
Over the weeks, this particular lecture on the topic of “Between freedom and regulation: Reflection on Uganda’s Communication landscape” had been widely advertised. And a number of people, both within and without UCU were eagerly waiting to listen to this incredible academic whose childhood dream wandered from becoming a nurse, to becoming a lawyer because it seemed prestigious, then to becoming an altar girl, a social worker and finally a teacher.
Soon, Prof. Chibita marched into the hall in company of her husband, Supreme Court Justice Mike Chibita; her mother; four of her five children; Rev. Byaruhanga; the Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi; two UCU deputy vice chancellors; and other UCU faculty members, donned in their academic gowns but not the mortarboard cap that only Monica Chibita wore to match her red robe.
The University Chaplain, Rev. Eng. Paul Wasswa Ssembiro, led the opening prayer. And it was all joy and praises as the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Rev. Dr. John Kitayimbwa, the Vice Chancellor, and the dean of the UCU School of Divinity and Theology, provided words in the ceremony for the highly anticipated lecture.
“To us as a university, Uganda Christian University, this is a very welcome opportunity for us to showcase to the public but also to showcase to our very students what it is we are doing in the area of teaching and learning, in the area of research and in the area of community outreach,” Rev. Dr. Kitayimbwa said.
Prof. Monica Chibita (left) receives an award from Uganda Christian University Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, shortly after her professorial inaugural lecture
Dr. Senyonyi expressed appreciation to Prof. Chibita for her focused developmental leadership that has transformed the former department of Mass Communication under the Education and Arts faculty to its own esteemed faculty.
“Shortly after she joined UCU, Prof. Chibita sent five staff for PhD studies to build her department. Furthermore, she merged that departmental growth with her personal academic growth, thus becoming the second home-grown professor at Uganda Christian University,” Dr. Senyonyi said, “Today her contributions are out for all of us to see. She stands tall in every way among the achievers of this university.”
Dr. Chibita graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts in Education (Literature in English) from Makerere University. In 1992, she obtained an MA in Journalism from the University of Iowa. She joined Makerere University as a lecturer in 1994, where she rose through ranks up to Associate Professor. Between 2003 and 2006, she pursued her doctoral studies from the University of South Africa. She joined UCU in 2012 as head of the then department of Mass Communication under the Faculty of Education and Arts. Over the years, she developed and got her department lifted to a faculty status.
“Congratulations to you, Prof. Chibita, for a well-deserved promotion,” the vice chancellor continued. “I am elated to host UCU’s first inaugural lecture.”
An inaugural lecture is a formal public function in which a newly appointed full professor is unveiled to the public, with the desire to inform the academic and general public of the professor’s recent research and publication works that have merited her new appointment.
Dr. Senyonyi warned that UCU will not grant professorship and honorary doctorates to people who do not deserve it.
“It seems to me today that university leaders and even none academic personalities have taken to self-proclaim themselves professors. Someone asked me to give him an honorary doctorate, even without a clear beneficial relationship with this university. Of course I refused and instead proceeded to write a policy on honorary doctorate to knock out the quacks,” Dr. Senyonyi said.
He also encouraged the university academic staff members to invest in research, warning that, “Academics who do not research are digging their academic grave,” because without research, they die academically.
In her lecture, Prof. Chibita illustrated the issues of media ownership, management, operations, legal frameworks and how the arms of the media in Uganda have continuously been twisted since the pre-colonial days, to curtail media freedom and serve the interests of the financial and political powers. Some of the means used by the governments that she illustrated included expelling foreign journalists and banning newspapers under the Milton Obote II Government. Others include the mandatory annual licensing of all journalists by the Government of Uganda. She noted that the pages of laws may be confusing for journalists.
Another challenge to Uganda and global communication in the age of social media is the blur of lines between consumers and distributors of news. She concurred with the vice chancellor and his concern with lack of research, including lack of deep reading in an age when people get news from Facebook.
For Uganda, part of the answer is in translation to mother tongue. Prof. Chibita asserted that, at least 36 different languages are spoken in Uganda, including dialects like English and Kiswahili. But research has shown that people in the central and western parts of Uganda prefer to receive information in their own languages.
To her, that explains why large corporations like the Vision Group, with 53 percent ownership of the media in Uganda, run English and Local Language newspapers, radios and television. These include: The New Vision as English Newspaper, Bukedde as Luganda paper, radio and TV for the central region. Others include: Rupiny Newspaper and Radio for the North, Orumuri newspaper, Radio West and TV West for Western Uganda.
At that, she joked with her audience of roughly 500 dignitaries, current and former students and colleagues and family and friends, “I won’t embarrass you by asking how many of you read the newspaper today.”
Fulbright Professor David Hodge with wife and daughters on the Uganda Christian University, Mukono, campus
By Benezeri Wanjala
Relaxing at his new home-away-from-home on the leafy, expansive Uganda Christian University (UCU) in Mukono, American Professor David Hodge talked about his life. He is a social worker, researcher and teacher. He is married to Crystal, and they have two daughters, Esther and Rachael, ages 15 and 12.
A lecturer of Social Work at Arizona State University in Phoenix, USA, he’s here for a year – through June 2020 – as a Fulbright Scholar, he says. His specialty is spirituality and religion.
As we chatted, Mrs. Hodge offered me a beverage. Their children were away at school.
David Hodge
Hodge outlined the process of obtaining the scholarship: “When you apply for a Fulbright, you have to come up with some sort of plan that you will execute. Then you go through an extensive review process, which is evaluated by external reviewers who decide whether it is a good fit or something they want to support.”
He teaches a Master’s in Social Work class at the UCU Kampala campus. The program classes are condensed into three days – Thursday, Friday and Saturday. This arrangement is typical for advanced degrees, he says, because it enables students to work during the rest of the days in a week. His particular class in religion and spirituality takes place on Thursday evenings.
However, teaching is one of two components of his yearlong Fulbright scholarship. The second is research. He is developing tools and approaches to help social workers tap into clients’ spiritual strengths. His research project involves making the tools “consistent and congruent with Ugandan culture.” The research tools are qualitative in nature, as opposed to quantitative.
“I will take the questions and approaches, and I’ll ask social workers how I can make them more consistent with cultural norms,” he says. His previous writings have evolved around Christianity, Islamism, Hinduism and some indigenous tribal religions.
“My career has been focused on helping social workers work with clients’ spiritual and religious strengths in an ethical and professional manner,” he continued. “My academic work pretty much all revolves around spirituality, religion and culture.”
He obtained his PhD from one of the most respected schools of Social Work in the United States, the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Thereafter, he did post-doctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2005, he joined Arizona State University, one of America’s largest universities. Ten years later, he became a full professor. He also served as head of the PhD program for six years before stepping down to pursue the Fulbright scholarship opportunity. The Fulbright at UCU was attractive because of the East African reputation for spirituality.
“It is a faith-based school and its mission is to achieve excellence in the heart of Africa,” he says. “When you look at the demographic data, Sub-Saharan Africa is the most spiritual and religious geographic area in the world. For my work, you can’t think of a better environment.”
Additionally, Hodge has found fascination in the food, wildlife and other cultural aspects of Uganda.
“There are all kinds of monkeys that jump around in the compound and on the roof,” he remarks with a smile. “We don’t have that in America. The monkeys there are in zoos. Here they are out swinging in trees. So I took some pictures and sent them to my parents, and they found it interesting.”
He has enjoyed all the Ugandan food he has tasted so far.
“I haven’t had rolex yet, though,” he admits. Rolex is a Ugandan street delicacy, composed of eggs wrapped into a bread called chapatti. He says he likes the vegetables in particular and he buys them from the local market.
He also likes the weather. “You can have your windows open all the time. That’s a real luxury. In Arizona, it’s desert. It goes as high as 40 and 50 degrees Celsius during the summer. In the winter it goes down to close to zero.”
The transition to Uganda has not been without challenges. While they have made new friends, his daughters are finding it slightly harder to adapt, especially at school. They study at an International School, which is on the Northern Bypass of Kampala and involves a lengthy transport time from their home on the main UCU campus in Mukono.
“They had only been to one school their whole life before they came to Uganda,” he said. “They have to go to bed very early and wake up early as well. I am lucky because I only need to go to Kampala once a week.”
Land transportation in Uganda is a challenge for the entire family. Hodge and is wife do not have international driver’s licenses. Traffic jams are commonplace while traffic lights and drivers with licenses for the cars, taxis and motorcycles are not.
He has found the difference in the standards of time interesting. While Americans are extremely time conscious, Ugandans are not.
“My Ugandan friend says, ‘People from the West check their watches for the time, but Ugandans have the time’.”
He continued: “The way I look at it is different. People prioritize values differently. For example, Americans tend to prioritize efficiency over relationships. Ugandans prioritize relationships over efficiency. Societies are structured differently. And that’s one of the things I like about Ugandans. They are warm and friendly, but that means when you’re talking to someone, you might not be able to make it for your next meeting. It’s hard to optimize all your values simultaneously.”
Prof. Hodge is looking forward to the rest of his time in Uganda, both professionally and personally.
“On the personal end, I am looking forward to learning more about the Ugandan culture,” he said. “And I’d like to see some of the wonderful sites in the country like Lake Victoria and the source of the River Nile.”
Paul Robinson, right, with Tate Keko, Maasai elder, in Loita, Kenya, 1992
(The Fulbright Program is designed to improve intercultural relations, diplomacy and competence between people in the United States and other countries. This is the second of three stories about American Fulbright Scholars serving with Uganda Christian University.)
By Patty Huston-Holm
“It all starts with a conversation,” said Paul W. Robinson.
Amidst raindrops on fig and lemon trees, sips of hot tea and bites of freshly made banana bread on a chilly Friday afternoon, Dr. Robinson shared what he felt would be the beginning, middle and ending of his appointment as a United States Fulbright Scholar. He spoke from the patio of the Uganda Christian University (UCU) apartment of his daughter, Rachel, who directs the Council for Christian Colleges and University Uganda Studies Program on the Mukono campus.
Margie and Paul Robinson
“Ultimately, it’s about servanthood,” he said, distracted briefly as he and his wife, Margie, pointed to the delightful sights and sounds of the African parrot. “For all cultures and not just people who are Christian, this is key. To serve, you begin with listening.”
Forty years of teaching African history, anthropology, development studies, research methodologies and community health with half in East Africa, plus 65 years of life and learning, have told him so. The Wheaton College (Ill.) Professor Emeritus and Fulbright Scholar will spend the next year with UCU’s Institute of Faith, Learning and Service to help nurture and deepen the university’s practice of integrating the Institute’s three components for students, staff and programs. African leaders, including the late South African President Nelson Mandela and Nobel Laureate and Kenyan Professor Wangari Maathai affirm that Africa’s greatest challenge is developing leadership that is intellectually grounded, ethically formed and committed to service.
Robinson hopes that in some small way that he can support the work of UCU colleagues leading the Institute that was launched in 2010 as well as those within the School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies who share his servanthood passion.
“It’s my understanding that in some regards as the university grew in 20 years, it faced challenges that resulted in a diminished focus on faith and learning,” said Robinson, who has studied and taught in several American and African universities. “This is a pretty common experience in Christian higher education globally. Institutions frequently lose their core.”
Robinson was born in the Belgian Congo as a son of missionaries. When he was age eight, his family fled as refugees from the Congo’s first post-independence civil war to Kenya. There, he met and later married Margie, his high school sweetheart who also was born in the Congo. Together, they forged a life crossing continents and raising three children while being engaged in university teaching, development and church service.
His life and work were informed by a two-year academic and spiritual journey in the desert areas of Kenya and Ethiopia while doing field research for his Northwestern University doctoral dissertation. During that time, he had conversations with sages of the Gabra camel-herding culture to learn how they survived and flourished in one of Africa’s harshest physical environments.
“It’s important to recognize that we all can learn from each other,” said Robinson, who is an American citizen with some roots in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Montana but who considers Africa another home. “We should never be so busy with the reality of where we live that we can’t do that.”
Robinson’s long list of service includes: director of an international study program at St. Lawrence University (Nairobi, Kenya); leader of a USAID-funded initiative responding to the East African HIV-AIDs epidemic; co-founder of The Christian Bilingual University (Congo); elder involved in urbanization work at Nairobi (Kenya) Chapel; and director of a Wheaton College Human Needs and Global Resources Program that engages 200 organizations in 40 countries worldwide. He also continues to serve on boards for a half dozen Christian organizations involved in education, development and missions.
While the Western world sees its role as serving less-developed countries of “the majority world,” Robinson believes that “at the heart of service is a commitment to listening, learning and being present.” Countries known as “developed” have a lot to learn from those they would serve about injustice, suffering, community and more. The traumas of Africa – “fleeing from post-independence Congolese militias, soldiers with guns at barriers and borders, losses and heartache” – remain a part of him, but the “courageousness, resilience, hospitality and generosity of African people and the vibrancy of Africa’s vegetation, tall elephant grass, bird song, hearth-smoke in evenings and mornings” are stronger, he says.
“Africa is a place where people care deeply about their neighbors and want to help them, and serve them,” Robinson said. “It is a continent of abundant and rich resources that could be the life-blood of its peoples, but because of poor leadership and a global economic system that primarily extracts its resources, Africa remains a continent of deep inequalities and poverty.”
In addition to research student involving UCU’s climate and culture, the professor will teach two courses that focus on global perspectives and transforming poverty.
Paul Robinson looks at UCU’s mission, vision and core values, realizing that often for all universities, these are words forgotten or misplaced in the midst of daily tasks of listening to student stories of financial woes, teaching and grading papers. The UCU commitment to offering a “complete education for a complete” person aligns and resonates with his core passions and work.
“How do you effectively teach a whole person?” he asked. “You need to look at the foundational questions of what knowledge should be understood, what skills should be developed, what attitudes fostered, what values modeled, what experience needs to be involved and finally but most importantly, what service should be incorporated.”
With answers to these questions as a baseline, Robinson hopes that a process will be deepened to encourage a more concrete and sustainable model to strengthen UCU.
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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 mtbartels@gmail.com.
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.
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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