By Kefa Senoga
Brain drain means the depletion of a country’s best and brightest workers who take their knowledge and skill to another country – usually leaving lower wages in a home country for higher wages in another country. 

Such was the topic of discussion among Uganda Christian University (UCU) students and facilitators from BBC Africa Daily. The occasion was a recent masterclass podcast session organized by a BBC Africa Daily team consisting of Alan Kasujja, host of Africa Daily; Janet Ball, producer for Africa Daily; and BBC minute presenter Ria Khatab.  The main question was: Would you stay, or would you go?

According to BBC, a new survey of more than 4,500 age 18-24 people in Africa found that 52% are likely to consider emigrating in the next few years, citing economic hardship and education opportunities as the top reasons. Ms. Ball says Ugandan young people are more optimistic about the future in their home country than youth in Kenya and Nigeria. 

Kasujja says that one of the most difficult decisions he had to make in life was accepting a job offer in another country. He appeared both amused and conflicted by the answers he got from the young people at UCU regarding why they want to spend the rest of their lives in Uganda or why they want to leave.

Throughout this discussion, the common justifications from these young people on why they want to leave their countries were three-fold: adventure, better paying jobs and better education opportunities. 

Alan Kasujja offers some advice to students at UCU

Kenneth Bananuka, a third-year journalism student playing with the UCU basketball team, says that he wants to play professional basketball at the highest level, which is not in Uganda.

Joshua Bamwike, a UCU School of Medicine student, said the pay for medical workers in Uganda is unfavorable. “As medical students, we put in a lot of effort in research and pay high sums of tuition; then at the end of the day, the salaries we are paid are still discussed while in other better countries, it’s not negotiable for medical workers to get a better pay.” He thinks of moving to Canada, if he got the opportunity after his studies. 

“How much money do you want?” Kasujja asked.

“Roughly, I would want 30 million Ugshs a month (about $8,000 dollars),” Bamwike replied. According to statistics, monthly poverty in the USA remained elevated in February 2022, with a 14.4 percent poverty rate for the total US population considering the high cost of living.

However, Rukia Micky Nambwayo, also a medical student at UCU looking forward to being a gynecologist, does not agree with those who wish to leave their country to seek greener pastures. Nambwayo says that it is unfair for some doctors to leave their country and go look for jobs elsewhere. 

“They should stay and serve their country such that the people in Uganda also get the opportunity of being treated by the best,” she says.

According to Nambwayo, when you decide to offer medical studies, you should not be looking at the money, but rather at the services and help that you are going to offer to people.

Two journalism students – Christiana Ampeire and Timothy Nsubuga – shared the same view of “going to other countries such that they can be able to learn new skills and knowledge and return to apply them in their countries.” Timothy Nsubuga emphasizes that he is “not looking forward to leaving my country and staying in a foreign country for over 100 years.”

Despite the fact that Ampeire is not looking at completely abandoning her country, she agrees that it is not unusual to hear young people lamenting about leaving their country. She says most of her colleagues share the same view with Bamwike that there is no hope in their country and, therefore, they have to find means of leaving.

Ampeire thinks that the government should listen and act against the reasons that bring such kind of desperateness among the youth. “The youth in these professional fields should be catered for more in the national budget and even given more pay to motivate them,” Ampeire says. 

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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.

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By Muduku Derrick Brian
During his sabbatical from his duties at Bethel University in Minnesota in the United States, Prof. Ripley Lawrence Smith became part of the Uganda Christian University (UCU) community. Coming from a University that shares similar Christian virtues and beliefs, Prof. Ripley Smith was at home at UCU.

Prof. Ripley Lawrence Smith, a visiting professor at UCU ‘s School of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMC), had multiple messages during his visit with one advising journalism students  to stick to the elements of good story telling in the wake of changing technology and journalism practices.

“When you go out in the field,  the software will change but what will still remain  are the elements of good story telling no matter what channel you are talking to,” he said.

In a UCU podcast, Smith emphasized that journalism students should embrace new technological and audience trends and get acquainted with audio production skills as are their peers in the United States where many students prefer listening to podcasts over radio.

Smith, who is the Department Chair of Media Communication at Bethel University, explained more about why he is interested in UCU and why he came.

“I have a close relationship with Prof. Monica Chibita, and she invited me to come and do some seminars with the students here,” he said. “Also, I wanted to explore partnerships between my University (Bethel University) and the School of Journalism, Media and Communication here.”

Smith says that Bethel University has had a long-standing partnership with UCU, primarily with the nursing faculty where students and faculty members have been involved in an exchange program.

Smith, who has been teaching at Bethel since 2008, says he hopes  to do the same for journalism students. This exchange would engage students in writing and telling stories that can be documented as well as boosting research among students in the two institutions.

A renowned scholar, Smith who is familiar with discourse analysis, explains: “Here we are not interested in why people are saying what they are saying but what they do as they are saying it. It is a deeper-rooted form of research.”

He urges universities and other learning institutions to embrace discourse analysis that gives students a unique angle to understand what is taking place. He says that discourse analysis offers another lens in what is happening which one may not get without using this methodology.

He also hopes to produce a magazine with the help of students as one application of story telling programs. This would involve faculty and students of his university travelling out to various countries such as Morocco,  and working  with the local community to  co-produce a magazine and create stories. He believes this will enrich cooperation between the students of the two universities (Bethel and UCU) while building student resumes.

“This is one of the areas in which students can come and work with each other,” he said.

Smith acknowledges the challenges of media students in the United States. ”Our students in the United States are so used to short form story telling,” he said. “You find that a student wants to tell an entire story in a 90-second TikTok clip. They are narrowing their field of view of storytelling.”

He urges media students at UCU and in Uganda to embrace online journalism and to blend Christianity further into their education.

” If we study the world and keep God out of it, we are missing the motivation,” he said. “We are missing a whole slice of reality. Students who have Christ in their studies work hard and are trustworthy and such virtues give them an edge even in the job market.”

Prof. Monica Chibita, the Dean of the School of JMC at UCU, says that Smith is a committed journalist.

“I met him in 1993 together with my husband as we were teaching in Northwestern College,” she said. “He used to play football with my husband and he is passionate about integrating faith in his teaching.”

Chibita says that the School of JMC intends to work with Smith in such areas as qualitative research under discourse analysis.

“We are more than ready to work with him and tap into his vast tank of knowledge,” she said.

Prof. Smith  has research interests in social networks and socio-cultural adjustment, trust development in partnerships across cultures and organizations, international crisis intervention processes, and prophetic rhetoric.

A father of four daughters and a husband, Smith is an enthusiast of the classical guitar and has been involved in playing and coaching competitive soccer. A strong reader, one of his favorite books is The Passion of the Western Mind by Richard Tarnas.

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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 Twitter, and Facebook.

By Patty Huston-Holm
Andrew Bugembe’s early experience with audio journalism involved walking outside the Uganda Christian University (UCU) gate and, with his phone, recording what random people along a dusty street thought about topical sports issues. He, thereafter, walked back on the Mukono campus and shared his “African English” recordings with five friends who used this information raw or as background for stories in UCU’s student newspaper, The Standard. 

“I wasn’t good at writing; I wasn’t good at sports,” Andrew, who hails from Mityana in central Uganda, admitted. “The credit I got for this work was ‘thank you,’ and that was enough. God puts you where He can use you.” 

Sitting on a black, wrought-iron bench between the newspaper and communications offices in the third month since post-Covid, in-person learning resumed, the final-year student in UCU’s School of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMC) shared his comfort and enjoyment of being behind the scenes.

Thus, as UCU launched in January 2022 its first podcast – the only university podcast in Uganda – Andrew was the guy splicing the audio and monitoring the analytics of who was listening and from what devices. 

“It was exciting,” he said during a March 2022 discussion. “I didn’t even know the word ‘podcast’ until I was tapped to be a part of it last year.” 

The UCU podcast training for a small group of students began through David’s United Church of Christ in Canal Winchester, Ohio, USA, in June 2021.  Students used the church’s podcast platform to conduct interviews on topics such as Black Lives Matter, Hate Speech, Street Preaching and Fake Pastors.  

Under the supervision of veteran broadcaster and UCU lecturer, Geoffrey Ssenoga, and with support by the School of JMC head of undergraduate studies, John Semakula, UCU started its own podcast. 

By early April, students had recorded and produced 17 podcasts under the umbrella of the new on-line Standard newspaper with the theme “Lighting our Way.”  With a combination of fun (male-female differences, etc.) and serious (Ankrah Foundation, etc.) topics, the initial  target audience is students. 

“Students are always excited about new ways of applying their knowledge and skill,” said Geoffrey, a lifelong journalist with most of  his work in television. “We were teaching radio, but during the Covid shutdown, the practical application of that was mostly non-existent. Podcast recordings via Zoom allowed students to learn this form of media while practicing coronavirus safety protocols.”

As the School of JMC revises its curriculum for the Council of Higher Education, podcasting – the fastest-growing media channel with two million globally – is included. 

While not necessarily listening to recordings in the initial phase of UCU’s podcast, two Ugandan professionals, New Vision’s Stephen Ssenkaaba and Max Adii, are lauding them. Together, they started the New Vision podcast three years ago. Fresh from a research project on online strategies for emerging markets as part of a fellowship in Michigan, Stephen became fascinated with podcasting and pitched the idea upon his return to Uganda. 

“I came to understand how podcasts were relevant to people in Uganda and Africa where the culture revolves around talking, and having conversations,” Stephen said. “After I pitched to the Editorial Board, I was charged to work with our radio expert, Max. We got it rolling.”

“More and more, media audiences are shifting to on-line content,” Max said. “Podcasting is Internet-based – allowing our audience potential to be people all over the world.”

Data indicate podcasting is especially popular with those under age 35 because of the content’s 24-7 accessibility, generally casual delivery by interviewers and ability to stop and start a 15-to-30-minute recording. To date, podcasting is less expensive and less regulated than radio.

Commenting from Oregon, USA, where he is studying for his Ph.D. in Media Studies, Stephen said “a one-size-fits-all” podcast should not be the goal in today’s cafeteria of media genres. At that, younger listeners lean towards light-hearted, celebrity podcast content, while those older tend to want to supplement what they don’t “have time to get sitting and reading a newspaper or listening to radio at home,” he added.

“Podcasts done right take the listener into a situation,” Max said. One of his favorites that does that is a 12-episode New Vision podcast that tells the story of an undercover reporter who became part of the slave trade in Dubai. 

Student Nicollette Nampijja, one of the first UCU Podcast interviewers, expressed appreciation for UCU’s launch into the podcast medium. Despite her experience speaking in front of classmates in secondary school, her “heart was beating” for the first recording she did at UCU.  Now,  with three podcast interviews under her belt, confidence of the 22-year-old has soared.  

“The UCU podcast has added excitement for students while giving them hands-on experience in a cutting-edge part of our industry,” Geoffrey said. “That we added the podcasting piece to what we teach and did it in the midst of coming off a pandemic lockdown speaks volumes about where UCU is going and can be.” 

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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 Twitter and Facebook.

PODCAST LINKS RELATED TO THIS STORY

• https://www.newvision.co.ug/podcasts  
• https://podcasts.standard.ucu.ac.ug

By Patty Huston-Holm with Israel Kisakye, Vanessa Kyalimpa and Yasiri J. Kasango
In mid-May 2021, Cecilia Okoth broke a story about how health care workers were charging money for the government’s free vaccination against Covid-19.  The next month, she wrote about hospital patient expense, treatment and lax safety regulations regarding coronavirus.

Expose’ stories like these in the height of the pandemic are nothing new to this New Vision investigative reporter. In 2018, she uncovered a scam involving cancer patients and wrote about a possible solution to the stigma of HIV-AIDS in men. In 2019, she reported about “brokers” who lure public hospital patients to private facilities and how Karimojong girls were trafficked, with some ending up with the Al-Shabaab terrorist group.

These are only a few of the investigative journalism pieces authored by Okoth, a 2010 graduate of Uganda Christian University (UCU) and a speaker for a March 2022 event focused on engaging more women in deep, fact-finding news stories. The occasion was co-sponsored by the UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMC) and  the Kampala-based African Institute of Investigative Journalism (AIIJ) with the nonprofit, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), in Nkoyoyo Hall of the UCU Mukono campus.

The School of JMC and AIIJ  have a new Memorandum of Understanding that seeks collaboration in research and training of investigative journalists in the country.

“We are doing a lot of research in areas for journalism within Uganda and we think that UCU offers us that margin, but also think that UCU would love a space where they take their students for internships and could benefit from the guest lectures that we’ll have,” said Raymond Mujuni, of AIIJ and an editor and talk-show host at the Nation Media Group in Uganda.

Before an audience of 100, Okoth served on panel of journalists and media scholars who discussed press issues under the theme “Women and Investigative Journalism: An untapped opportunity.” Other panelists were Dr Patricia Litho, a communications specialist and trainer; Dr. Annette Kezaabu, the Head of Postgraduate Studies at the UCU School of JMC; and Anna Reismann, the country representative KAS Uganda and South Sudan.  Mujuni moderated the discussion.

“In our early time of investigative journalism, we didn’t have such training to equip the young female journalists,” Okoth said at the event. Later, she shared how, as her career seemed  to be stagnant, she stumbled on a deeper story she saw at a routine press conference.

“When I arrived, I immediately noticed an anomaly,” she recalled of the press event. “Many patients were lying on the verandas at the institute. I later learned that patients had to bribe medics to access the radiotherapy machine which was known to be free of charge. That was the story I wrote after a three-month investigation. My career has never been the same.”

In an interview after the March 2022 event, Okoth shared her thoughts about challenges and opportunities, especially for women. Investigative journalism is tough enough, but tougher for women as the difficult assignments often go to men.

“The onus is on a woman to fight and prove that you can equally accomplish a ‘man’s’ task,” she said. “Investigative journalism involves unearthing well tucked secrets by the powers that be or highlighting the injustices and abuses of power. It is giving a voice to the voiceless. However, in trying to accomplish this, you will rub some people the wrong way or even get frustrated along the way, or face threats.”

Investigative pieces require time, patience and stamina for the reporter, and a budget for a newsroom – all four of which can compromise the quality of the work, according to Okoth. The content of the investigations can be “very disturbing” psychologically with risks from perpetrators reporters are researching to expose wrongful deeds.

“As journalists, we are told that no story is worth your life,” she said. “So, you have to know when to retract when an assignment gets dangerous.”

At the same time, deeper fact-finding stories provide opportunities not only to clear up corruption, but also to gain recognition as reporters. Okoth has received accolades, such as the August 2018 editorial innovations award, 2019 runner up in the Uganda National Journalism Awards explanatory reporting category, and 2020 Nominee for the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) Knight International Journalism Awards. She also has had several training and mentorship opportunities globally.

“As a field journalist, I have seized the opportunity to transform the lives of people I have been assigned to report about,” Okoth said. “The stories I have covered have helped start uncomfortable conversations that have created awareness or led to policy change.”

Another panelist, Dr. Kezaabu, implored lecturers to mentor their students on life skills, adding that “the skills taught in class can be compromised if we don’t teach or mentor our students on how to focus on their life and conduct themselves.”

“Go for it if it’s your passion, if it’s your conviction, go for it,” added panelist, Dr. Litho, encouraging upcoming female journalists to break the bias. She added that ladies should not be relegated to soft stories like beauty contests.

“As journalists, we are often told, you are as good as your last story so that technically means your best story is one that you have not yet done,” Okoth, mother of  a 16-month-old son, said. “This pushes me to work harder…Plus, being a mother shouldn’t deprive someone of career goals. You can definitely achieve both.”

In addition to hearing speakers, attendees watched a documentary film known as a Thousand Cuts about the life of Maria Ressa, a female investigative journalist who put her life at stake to hold the Philippine President accountable for killing innocent people under the disguise of drug abuse.

The March activities were attended by UCU Vice Chancellor, Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushenygezi;  Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academics, Assoc. Prof. John Kitayimbwa; Deputy Vice Chancellor (Finance and Administration), David Mugawe; Dean for the School JMC, Prof. Monica Chibita; head of the School of JMC undergraduate studies, John Semakula; and AIIJ executive director Solomon Serwanjja.

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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 Twitter and Facebook.

By Yasiri J. Kasango
Thirty Uganda Christian University (UCU) students in the School of Journalism, Media and Communication have multi-media skills compliments of training sponsored by the United States Embassy in Uganda.  The students were trained for two weeks in February 2022.

Ultimate Multimedia Consult, a journalism and communications organization based in Kampala, conducted the training.

For the first week of the training, the students were taught how to write stories and to incorporate video, audio, photos, text and animation. The second week of the training was reserved for practical exercises, where the students were sent to the field to gather information and generate multimedia stories.

Before applying the skills outside the training room, the students pitched their ideas before a panel comprised of embassy officials, trainers from Ultimate Multimedia Consult and UCU lecturers.

The training comes at a time when the university is focusing its energies on producing all-round multimedia journalism graduates who are able to meet the realities in the current journalism job market.

Stories of Asenath Were, a second-year student, and Steven Kolawole, who is in third year, were considered the best.

“I’m grateful for everything I learnt in the training, and most especially the gadgets I got,” Kolawwole said.

Writers of the best four stories having multimedia components were awarded cash and technology with a directive to use their new equipment to produce products for UCU – namely for the Standard and UCU Partners. The first two – Were and Kolawwole – were given a smartphone, a tripod stand and sh100,000 (about $28). The third and fourth best stories were of Elsie Tukahire Kukunda and Irene Best Nyapendi. Kukunda and Nyapendi were awarded sh400,000 (about $113) each.

Asenath Were praised the US Embassy and Ultimate Multimedia Consult.

“I can’t believe that I was able to perform well since my story pitch looked shaky,” she said. “I am speechless.”

To further instill the need for students to acquire modern, real-world skills, in 2021, Uganda Partners, under a mentoring collaborative with students from the UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication, embarked on a podcasting mentoring project, where students apply classroom learning to script podcast material, conduct interviews and edit audio. The podcast initiative is part of the UCU/Uganda Partners e-lab model initiated in January 2021 and is aligned with the university’s mission to prepare students for both continued learning and the world of work.

U.S. Kampala embassy spokesperson Anthony Kujawa and his deputy, Dorothy Nanyonga, commended Ultimate Multimedia Consult and UCU for spearheading the training of students.

“Multimedia is the future of communication in the world today,” Kujawa said, encouraging students to embrace the model to tell their stories.

At the closing ceremony, the Dean of the School of Journalism, Media and Communication, Prof. Monica Chibita, commended the U.S. Embassy for choosing to partner with UCU in many aspects, including the Save the Mothers’ project and the Fulbright scholarships.

Chibita also thanked Ultimate Multimedia Consults for training UCU staff during the Covid-19 lockdown and encouraged students to keep in mind the journalism ethics while telling stories using the multimedia platforms.

Ultimate Multimedia Consult team leader Gerald Businge thanked UCU, and particularly the School of Journalism, Media and Communication, for the opportunity given to him to train students.

Prof.  Elizabeth Balyejusa Kizito, the Director for Research Partnerships and Innovations at UCU, urged the trainees to put into practice the skills that they had acquired.

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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 Twitter  and Facebook.