Category Archives: News

UCU shares medical equipment with Mengo, Mukono hospitals

March 15, 2021News, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Dentistry, UCU School of MedicinePatty Huston-Holm

Entrance to Church of Uganda Hospital in Mukono – one facility that benefited from UCU equipment donations

By John Semakula

Whenever songs of the late South African artist, Lucky Dube, are played, many music lovers in Africa strike a chord with them. One of the songs, The Hand that Giveth, makes lovers of his music go wild – not just because of the beats, but also the message in the lyrics. The message in The Hand that Giveth is derived from Acts 20:35, which says it is more blessed to give than to receive.

The most recent act by Uganda Christian University (UCU) is a replica of the message in The Hand that Giveth. The institution has shared a donation of the sh520m (about $141,488) medical equipment that it received recently from the US with three hospitals in Uganda – Mukono Church of Uganda Hospital, Mukono General Hospital and Mengo Hospital in Kampala. The three beneficiaries are UCU’s training partners for its medical and dental students.

The medical supplies and equipment was donated and transported to Uganda by MedShare, a US humanitarian organisation.

UCU’s Vice Chancellor, Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi; the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, Mr. David Mugawe; Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academics, Dr. John Kitayimbwa; and Dr. Edward Mukooza, the chairperson of the university’s health and safety committee, delivered the equipment to the hospitals.

The consignment included catheters, breast pump kits, blankets, abdominal binders, a Cook SP Tube Introducer Set, and PDB Kidney Shape Balloon. Also provided were applicators, antiseptic, swabs, Povidone Iodine 10%, cabinets, filing metal drawers, covers, face rest pad covers, disposables, thermometers, electronic probe, drapes, surgical and endoscopies.

At Mengo Hospital, UCU’s medical training school founded in 1897 by the Anglican Church, the consignment was handed over to the facility’s medical director, Dr. Rose Mutumba. Commending UCU for the gesture, she said. “UCU is walking the talk and we are excited about the fruits and the prospects of this partnership.”

At Mukono General Hospital, the donation was received by Dr. Robert Kasirye, who is in charge of the facility. Kasirye, too, expressed appreciation to UCU for the gesture. Part of the donation was delivery kits for expectant mothers. Statistics show that in Uganda, 15 women die every day from pregnancy or childbirth-related challenges. Many of the expectant mothers who die during child birth delay to reach hospitals after failing to get money to buy delivery kits, hence developing complications.

“We shall use whatever you have given us equitably to the save mothers,” Dr. Kasirye said, adding, “For long, we have had a good working relationship with UCU. The university’s program, Save the Mothers, built a shelter at this hospital, for expectant mothers. That is a plus for UCU and we shall continue working with you.”

At Mukono Church of Uganda Hospital, the Diocesan Bishop, James Williams Sebaggala, who is the chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the hospital, received the equipment and supplies.

The prelate said he was glad to receive the donation at a time when they were looking for a Good Samaritan to donate the necessary equipment.

Assoc. Prof. Mushengyezi noted that the donations were intended to further cement the relationship between UCU and the hospitals.

“We thought that as part of building our partnership in training students, we should support you also by providing some essential medical items that you need in your daily work, as you attend to patients,” he said. “We are here to show that we care for our friends by donating these supplies.”

Mushengyezi added that UCU’s first lot of medical and dental students who are in their third year now would soon be sent out for internships and asked the staff of the hospitals to accord them the necessary support.

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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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UCU student services reorganized as part of Covid cost-saving plan

March 12, 2021COVID-19, News, StudentsPatty Huston-Holm

UCU International students celebrate during the International Students Cultural week in 2019.

By Grace Bisoke

Uganda Christian University (UCU) has made changes in the three offices that handle student-related issues under the office of the Director of Students’ Affairs (DOSA).

Largely as a cost-cutting measure, the university fused the previously independent international student administrator’s office, the guild record’s office and the Ugandan student administrator’s office. The Covid-related, government order to close education institutions in Uganda during 2020 grossly affected the purse of various establishments, including UCU.

The Director of Students Affairs, Bridget Mugume K. Mugasira, said that in addition to cost savings, the fusion reduces the duplication of services. Previously, for example, there was a thin line between tasks handled by the guild records assistant’s and student administrator’s offices in regard to financial requests for students. The international student administrator’s office that focused on helping students from countries outside of Uganda is closed with that role assumed by the guild office.

These changes made through the UCU human resource department, which could be temporary, resulted in loss of staff positions.

“I feel sad to see some of the people under my office leave after we have built a strong relationship,” Mugume said.

While Tom Toboswa, the guild records assistant, said he stands more than ready to help the international students under the new arrangement, he likewise laments that others are without a job.

The former international student administrator, Edgar Kabahizi, said it was not easy for him to leave his previous office, but he understands the re-organization need.

“I ask the international students to support whoever will be working with them,” he said, adding: “I will also not be far away since I lecture at UCU. During the International Students Association (ISA) meetings, I will always be with them.”

“He knew his job well,” said one beneficiary of the international services, Hellen Akek Marial, a student from South Sudan. “He knew everything about that office and, even when was tired, he would never let his face show.”

Gracia Bwale, a third-year student of bachelor’s of mass communication from the Democratic Republic of Congo, said Kabahizi has left a big gap that will take time to fill. Bwale said Kabahizi was among the people who helped her fit into the university when she arrived.

Another example of UCU’s fiscal responsibility plan is the introduction of the Management Information System (MIS). The MIS helps an individual perform tasks that were previously handled by other people, rendering some office positions obsolete.

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UCU alumnus ‘will not be intimidated’ as icon of justice

March 10, 2021News, UCU Alumni, UCU School of LawPatty Huston-Holm

(NOTE: 2004 Uganda Christian University graduate and civil rights lawyer, Nicholas Opiyo, was imprisoned in Uganda for eight days, including Christmas 2020. The charges were related to fundraising of the human rights’ nonprofit organization, Chapter Four Uganda, where he serves as executive director. Without access to Opiyo until his release on December 30, this story was written largely with information from sources outside Opiyo. Once released, he posted on his Facebook page his response to his written/spoken support. That response is at the end of this story.)

By Douglas Olum

The mention of the name, Nicholas Opiyo, rings a bell of justice and the struggle for protection and defense of human rights among many Ugandans.

As Diana Muhanguzi puts in her Facebook post, “I [first] met Nicholas Opiyo in the year 2016 when he was representing my father in court for free and he managed to get for him bail.”

In the same vein, Bryan Ksg, a medical doctor writes, “During our internship three years ago, [the] Ministry of Health brought up a draconian policy of bonding Medical Interns into work without any compensation at respective hospitals. Imagine working 24 hours as an intern without food or even rent! Counsel Nicholas Opiyo offered zero cost legal services to medical interns and helped us secure a Court injunction to stop this policy.”

In the words of a renown Ugandan columnist and journalist, Daniel K. Kalinaki, “Few lawyers spend as much time hobnobbing with the police trying to find ‘disappeared’ people, helping folks post bail or just press back against the overreach of executive authority [as Nicholas Opiyo does].”

Nicholas Opiyo, right, interacts with his client, Dr. Stella Nyanzi, during one of her trials in 2019

Nicholas Opiyo, a 37-year-old, bespectacled Uganda Christian University graduate, is described by his colleague, Robert Kirunda, as “tall, dark, gentle, soft spoken and deeply caring. Selfless to a fault, and loyal in every way. Deeply reflective and thoughtful in every task and time. Never to shy away from a fight and yet as carefully strategic and methodical.”

Opiyo is the Executive Director and Lead Attorney at Chapter Four Uganda, a civil rights charity. He is the recipient of German Africa Prize, 2017, UCU Law Society Alumni Human Rights Award, 2018, Voices for Justice Award from Human Rights Watch 2015 and the European Union Parliament Sakharov Fellows Prize in 2016. Until March of 2017, he was a member of the Team of Experts to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Peaceful Assembly and Association. He also is a visiting scholar at the Centre for African Studies, Stanford University, Calif., and the Global Health Program at the University of San Francisco (UCSF), California.

His work has over the years been characterized by a series of wins. But asked what the secret to his success was, he told The Independent Magazine journalist, Joan Akello, in a 2014 interview that, “I do not believe that there is any secret to my work except hard work, persistence and being able to take the walk along sometimes lonely legal roads. [But] I chase causes not a big cheque.”

Recently, Opiyo has represented the leading Uganda opposition politician and presidential candidate, Robert Sentamu Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine), the controversial Makerere University academic, Dr. Stella Nyanzi, and many others he believes have been unfairly and illegally arrested and detained. He has been in the forefront for condemning actions of security operatives who torture and abuse Ugandans.

On December 22, 2020, Nicholas Opiyo, alongside three other human rights advocates – Herbert Dakasi, Anthony Odur and Esomu Obure – was abducted by plain-clothes, armed men from a restaurant in Kamwokya, a suburb of the Ugandan capital, Kampala, where they went to have lunch. Until late evening of that day, police said they had no clue about the arrest and did not know the whereabouts of Opiyo and his colleagues. But with mounting pressure, they later revealed that the four were under their custody.

Opiyo was charged on December 24 with money laundering and remanded to Kitalya Prison, while his colleagues were released. Prosecution alleges that, in his capacity as the Director of Chapter Four Uganda, Opiyo, on October 8, received $340,000 through the organisation’s account, “knowing at the time of receipt that the said funds were proceeds of crime.”

Chapter Four Uganda denied the claim. The arrest and detention of Opiyo attracted criticism from diplomatic missions in the country, Civil Society Organisations and the legal fraternity.

Partners for Democracy and Governance, a coalition of 14 diplomatic missions in Uganda, including the US, UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and the EU, among others, expressed concern over the arrest, saying that “Human rights defenders play an important role in every country and should be able to work without fear of arrest or reprisals, wherever they are.”

On Monday December 28, Opiyo re-appeared before a Kampala Magistrate via video conferencing from his detention facility, and he was further remanded until January 11. He, however, attained partial freedom on Wednesday, December 30, when High Court Judge, Jane Okuo Kajuga, who heard his bail application, granted him a Uganda sh15m ($4,104) cash bail.

Prior to his arrest, unknown people, suspected to be government security operatives, broke into Opiyo’s house and took his “laptop, phones, other electronics and several other items,” as his September 9 Twitter account states. Similar break-ins have been reported in various civil society offices in the recent years.

Chapter Four Uganda, posted on their Facebook Page, shortly after the arrest that at the time, that Opiyo was gathering evidence of the killing of more than 50 Ugandans in Kampala during a demonstration over the arrest of presidential hopeful, Robert Kyagulanyi around Mid-November.

As Daniel Kalinaki sums it up, “Officials whose capacity has been “built” under Western donor funding to the “Justice, Law and Order sector” go around hunting for people receiving money from abroad. The government is happy to beg and borrow… but will spear any citizen it finds in bed with the aforementioned partners…”

The first Facebook post from Nicholas Opiyo since his release expresses his appreciation for messages of support. In part, the post states: “I am teary reading all of your messages… Thank you so much. We will fight these baseless and malicious charges. One thing is clear; we will not be intimidated. I will continue to do my work and defend the rights of the vulnerable and marginalized in our society… I can only repay your faith and belief by fighting on and continuing the work we have been doing over the years. I am undaunted by this minor inconvenience, rather inspired by it.”

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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

Why UCU ranks among the 50 most beautiful Christian campuses globally

March 8, 2021News, UCU School of EducationPatty Huston-Holm

Monkeys are a unique feature of Uganda Christian University.

Story and photos by Esther Byoona and Jimmy Siyasa

The sight of monkeys freely swinging from tree to tree, shaking up and enlivening the evergreen foliage, is hard to miss for anyone visiting the Uganda Christian University (UCU) main campus in Mukono. The interaction between students and the monkeys plays out best on Sunday afternoons. Usually, part of the menu for students on Sundays are bananas – something the monkeys seem to be keenly aware of as the primates play like court jesters for a king, hoping to be rewarded with the yellow fruit.

Monkeys are likely part of the reason why UCU was designated one of the 50 most beautiful Christian campuses globally in 2017 by Christianuniversities.org, an online independent resource. As if to buttress the findings by Christianuniversities.org, a year later, in 2018, timeshighereducation.com ranked UCU among the top 10 most beautiful campuses in Africa.

UCU’s lush green terraces and beauty spots sometimes are dotted with mangoes and guavas that fall off the fruit trees. The fruits become food for the monkeys and various species of birds.

The birds sometimes fly waist-high. They land with a peace that tells of their guarantee for safety. During the Advent semester, which happens during wet season in Uganda (September to December), the misty hills of UCU cut an impression of quasi-winter in Africa.

This is the same period doves are seen in beautiful array, pecking at grains underneath the greenery, in front of the Nsibambi university hall. Viewed from the main gate, located at its extreme lower front view, the crown of Hamu Mukasa library also deceptively appears to have snowflakes dangling above it at dawn, during the wet season.

Hamu Mukasa, the largest building on the UCU Mukono campus, houses the library.

Even when the dry season strikes, between February and June, UCU’s beauty does not fade with the weather. Magnificent buildings, such the Hamu Mukasa Library, stay stunning, in and out of season. The library is the largest facility in the university, covering 5,582 square meters.

The Bishop Tucker building, which will make a century of existence in 2022, is another magnificent feature at the university. The building is belted by green ribbons of lush grass and well-tended flowers, on both sides of an isle made of ever-clean, concrete paving. The building, looking like a smaller version of the centuries-old Fiesole Cathedral in Italy, is the most iconic on the university main campus.

Mariam Naigaga, a second-year student, pursing a Bachelor of Arts in Education, says UCU has such a beautiful campus that is conducive for learning.

“The garden near the university’s main gate is really beautiful and inviting,” Naigaga said.

The Rev. Jessica Hughes, from the US, working with the chaplaincy and theology department in UCU, also praised the university’s beauty.

The Bishop Tucker building that houses the UCU main administrative block, including the Vice Chancellor’s office, was built in 1922.

“I admire the way the UCU campus is always improving and I love the beautiful garden that was put at the main gate, as well as the new developments coming up within the university,” she said. Hughes finds the UCU landscape beautiful.

Mary E. Chowenhill, a lecturer at the Faculty of Business Administration, said the variety of plants in the university gives a beauty to behold.

“The hibiscus in the UCU compound has beautiful flowers and originally was planted with the idea that the hedges would be flowers,” she said.

Despite being located within Mukono town, UCU sits on a huge chunk of land, thanks to former Buganda Kingdom Chief Hamu Mukasa, who donated it to the Church of Uganda in the early 1900s.

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UCU moves to outsource private catering, cleaning and security services

March 3, 2021NewsPatty Huston-Holm

Saracen security guards check a staff member's vehicle at the UCU main gate in Mukono. — Saracen security guards check a staff member’s vehicle at the UCU main gate in Mukono.

By Dalton Mujuni

If you last visited the Mukono campus of Uganda Christian University (UCU) before December 2020, you will be surprised by the changes that have happened at the dining, security and cleaning departments.

Starting in December, the University outsourced support services in those three sections, eliminating UCU’s oversight to over 100 part-time and full-time staff.

In a November 11 memo to the University staff members, the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, Mr. David Mugawe, noted that the changes were intended to cut down the administrative costs amidst the adverse budgetary effects of the Coronavirus pandemic.

“This decision was made by the University Council after a consultative process involving University Management, academic and administrative leaders following a report by the Business Continuity Committee, which was set up in July 2020,” Mugawe wrote in the memo.

The changes also were intended to save resources to increase the salaries of a smaller number of full-time staff especially after a recent promise by the new Vice Chancellor, Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, to raise salaries for full-time staff.

While some previous staff members were able to re-invent themselves into entrepreneurs as part of the outsourced services, the changes left some staff members financially challenged.

Dan Mubiru who was laid off from the cleaning department said the financial situation after losing his job became very hard to cope with since it was his main source of livelihood.

“I wish this had not happened during the pandemic period because my side businesses had also come to a standstill as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown that started in March, 2020,” said Mubiru.

However, the new service providers have exhibited a high degree of standard and quality that both staff and students say the move to outsource was long overdue.

The New Royal Hospitality Restaurant staff serve a customer.

Richard Ekadu, the manager of the new catering service, said effective January 5, 2021, the students’ Dining Hall transitioned into The Royal Hospitality Restaurant providing new dishes, and a wide service delivery to the entire University.

Ekadu, who was previously in charge of the dining, was allowed to start a private company to provide the catering services under the new privatized arrangement.

“I and three other directors of The Royal Hospitality Restaurant sat and agreed that our stakeholders – the students and staff – are royals and we ought to give them royal services, which is why we branded ourselves as the Royal Hospitality Restaurant,” said Ekadu.

He added that they will introduce Asian and European dishes to serve their customers better while pleasing international students and exposing East African students to new choices.

Richard Ssekitoleko, a technician in UCU’s Information Systems Department, called the change “fantastic,” adding his pleasure with the buffet style that has an entre with salads, stew, ground nuts and greens.

Some students who don’t live on campus also believe that the changes at the dining will reduce their burden of having to pay for expensive meals from outside restaurants. So far lunch at the Royal Hospitality Restaurant goes for sh3500 (about $1) a plate for students and sh5000 ($1.35) for University staff members.

Previously, one would not be served food at the dining unless they had a meal card issued by the University, which was always expensive to pay for at once. But under the new arrangement, anyone can pay for a single plate of food.

Nixon Kamugisha, a technical assistant at the eLearning department, said the dining changes are a convenience. “I can verily say that the challenge of long-distance treks for lunch will no longer be existent,” he said.

The University security services also were taken over by an outside source, Saracen Security Limited. Charles Nahamya the manager of Security Services at UCU, said Saracen is a trusted entity of UCU that has provided commendable security services at the Kampala campus for years.

Saracen’s regional supervisor for Mukono District, Emmanuel Kedi, said his company is humbled by the call to service by UCU and that they will provide safety to the best of their competence.

A cleaner attached to Sevenstar Cleaning Company sweeps the University’s compound.

The tender to clean the University premises at Main Campus went to Seven Star Cleaning Company. David Kivumbi, the Director Estates and Capital Projects at UCU, said that Seven Star cleaning Company also had provided commendable cleaning services at UCU’s Kampala Campus in Mengo.

He added that there has been considerable improvement in sanitation at the main campus considering that the company does things that had never be done at UCU.

“These people have gone a step further by scrubbing walk paths, toilets, and also worked on places that had algae,” said Kivumbi.

Seven Star Cleaning Company is a well-established business entity owned by Rashid Kintu and is based in Kampal–Makerere Kampala on Ham Towers.

A number of the previous staff members at the Cleaning and Catering departments were hired by the new service providers.

Some students also have expressed their satisfaction for some of the new service providers.

“The new security guards use a very sophisticated and effective form of radio call communication, which has strengthened security around the University,” said Mavin Kaddu, a second-year communication student.

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UCU hosts 2021 Church of Uganda head teachers’ conference

March 1, 2021NewsPatty Huston-Holm

(L-R) UCU Vice Chancellor Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi; Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu and German ambassador to Uganda Matthias Schauer leave the conference venue on February 5.

Story By John Semakula; Photos by Sam Tatambuka

French Painter Alfred Agache says, “Saying thank you is more than good manners; it is good spirituality.” Agache’s quote had added sense when Ugandan head teachers of educational institutions under the Anglican Church of Uganda committed to prompt payment of the foundation fee to the Church during their annual conference held at the Uganda Christian University (UCU) in Mukono, from February 3^rd -6^th, 2021

The foundation fees are paid in recognition of the role the Church played in establishing the schools, which are now managed in partnership with the government of Uganda.

Church of Uganda leaders and head teachers after the conference on February 5, 2021.

Since 1887, the Anglican Church has founded and owns over 40% of Uganda’s schools – 2,000 pre-primary schools, 5,200 primary schools, 630 secondary schools and six universities.

The prompt payment of the foundational fee was part of the 14 resolutions the head teachers, under their umbrella organization, Church of Uganda Heads of Education Institutions Conference (COUHEIA), made at the conference.

They also resolved to uphold Christian values in their schools, by being exemplary and further agreed to be steadfast in the fight against Covid-19 in the Church-founded schools.

The conference that attracted over 100 participants from different parts of Uganda, was held under the theme, Improving Professional Training of Teachers for Better Learning.

The Rev. Paul Kakooza, the head of Church of Uganda’s directorate of education, thanked UCU for hosting COUHEIA’s annual conferences without attrition. Kakooza noted that the ambience at UCU makes head teachers look forward to attending their annual conference whenever they receive invitations.

“The natural beauty at UCU, punctuated with a well-designed landscape and buildings makes the university one of the most beautiful places to stay in,” Kakooza said.

He thanked the deputy vice chancellors in charge of academics and that in charge of finance and administration; the chaplaincy and the entire UCU team for the “splendiferous” working relationship during the conference.

The head teachers also congratulated UCU’s new Vice Chancellor, Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, upon assuming the office. Mushengyezi was installed as UCU’s third vice chancellor in August last year. He attended the opening and closing sessions of the four-day conference held at the UCU Mukono campus’ Nkoyoyo Hall.

Mushengyezi told the head teachers that UCU was ready to partner with them, to take short courses to Church-founded schools in a bid to impart more skills on the teachers.

He noted that the Faculty of Education and the Bishop Tucker School of Theology and Divinity had quality short courses that suit those who teach in high school.

The closing ceremony was graced by the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Most Rev. Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu and the ambassador of Germany to Uganda, Matthias Schauer, who was the chief guest.

Kaziimba asked government to prioritize the teaching of Christian Religious Education and to support the section of the chaplaincy in schools. He also appealed to government to expedite the reopening of schools, arguing that the move will save young girls who are getting unwanted pregnancies during the Covid-19 lockdown in Uganda. Uganda Police records show that at least 547 girls were defiled in Kampala from April to July 2020, when the country was under lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Learners in the final years at the different levels of education in Uganda returned to school in October last year. Starting March 1 this year, those in Primary Six, Senior Three and Senior Five also will join those already at school as the rest continue with homeschooling.

Ambassador Schauer commended those who are teaching learners during the Covid-19 period, saying that he has “enormous respect for them.” He also urged teachers to be inviting to the learners since they are the latter’s role models in the absence of their parents at school.

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UCU Schools of Dentistry and Medicine acquire nearly $400,000 in modern training equipment

February 19, 2021News, UCU School of Dentistry, UCU School of MedicinePatty Huston-Holm

The acting Dean of Department, Dr. Gerald Tumusime, tries out some equipment on a UCU student.

Story by John Semakula; Photos by Samuel Tatambuka

Uganda Christian University (UCU) has acquired state-of-the-art dental and medical equipment worth sh1.46bn ($397,855) to boost the training of students at its dentistry and medical schools in Mengo.

On February 18, University top management received equipment that included 5 dental suites, LED dental lights, a separator tank assembly, a powervac P7 base, powerair oil-less compressors and a Midmark M3 Steam Sterilizer, 230V.

Speaking at the function on the UCU main campus in Mukono, the University’s Vice Chancellor Associate Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, revealed that all of the dental equipment was donated to the University by Midmark, a US-based manufacturer of medical and dental tools while the medical equipment was donated by MedShare, another US based organization that procures medical donations and helps ship them to hospitals and medical schools around the world.

The donation from Midmark was worth over sh520m ($141,722).

The Vice Chancellor Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, together with the University staff, observe how equipment works. — The Vice chancellor Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, together with the University staff, observe how equipment works.

“We are now getting to where UCU should be,” said Assoc. Prof. Mushengyezi. “We want UCU to set the pace in the training of a wholesome individual. From today bring your children to study dentistry at UCU because they will get the best training.”

Mushengyezi added that with the newly acquired equipment, UCU is now compliant with the set standards of the East African Community (EAC) Partner States National Medical and Dental Practitioner’s Council to run a full-fledged dentistry school.

In 2020, the Council identified a number of infrastructure gaps at the School of Dentistry, including the need for certain equipment.
UCU made the necessary improvements and continued to rapidly acquire more dental and medical equipment.

Inspecting equipment are the Dean of School of Dentistry, Dr. James Magara; the Vice Chancellor Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi: Deputy Vice Chancellor Finance and Administration Mr. David Mugawe: and the University Chaplain Rev. Paul Wasswa.

Dr. John Kitayimbwa, the University’s Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, noted that UCU is working very hard to ensure that it sends to the job market well trained Christian medical and dental practitioners to transform the two professions.

Kitayimbwa added that with the new dental suites, the ratio of students to the training equipment at the UCU Dentistry School is almost 1:1, which is an assurance of quality education to the leaners.

He commended Midmark for donating the equipment and Uganda Partners in the US for ensuring that the donated equipment was delivered to the University. The donated equipment from the US was delivered free of charge to UCU due to the generosity of many individuals who donated to Uganda Partners to make the shipment possible, and the work of MedShare in packing and shipping the container. “This would not have been possible without the generosity of both Midmark and MedShare. MedShare’s expertise in shipping medical supplies overseas was an essential part of this process.”

The Dean of the UCU School of Dentistry, Dr. James Magara, described the donation from Midmark as generous, critical and foundational in setting up a dental training lab.

“It’s very expensive to train a doctor,” he said. “If the purchase of the equipment had been left to us, we would not have been able to achieve it.”

Mushengyezi disclosed that while all of the dental equipment donated by Midmark would go to the School of Dentistry, some of the medical equipment donated by MedShare will be given to hospitals that partner with the School of Medicine for clinical training, include Mengo Hospital, Mukono Church of Uganda Hospital and Mukono Government of Uganda Hospital. He said the hospitals are key partners of UCU in the training of the medical and dentistry students.

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UCU Partners launches e-lab pilot to benefit students and organization

February 17, 2021News, UCU School of Journalism, Media and CommunicationPatty Huston-Holm

Some students in the Uganda Partners e-lab pilot interact from the UCU-Mukono library via Zoom with managers of the NGO in the United States.

By Jimmy Siyasa

It’s only mountains that don’t meet, but people do, goes a famous saying. This came to pass on January 25, when a group of Uganda Christian University (UCU) students met virtually with UCU Partners leadership.

UCU Partners is a two-decades old, non-profit organization that raises awareness about UCU in the United States by seeking material and spiritual support for students. The students, meeting via Zoom, are part of a new UCU Partners e-lab project designed to provide real-world experience to learning while creating products for the organization. Mark Bartels, executive director, and Patricia Huston, communications director, for UCU Partners were coming in virtually from the USA states of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively.

The time was 4 p.m. in Uganda when the curtains opened on the face of Huston. She started by telling the “junior writers” a bit about her journalism and public relations careers. She dusted off any doubts in her capacity to support the writers in their career development by showcasing some of the payoffs from her own professional journey. It was inspiring to behold Huston’s accolades, published literature such as Inviting a Giraffe to Tea (now also available in Luganda), among other achievements.

This was no doubt a result of hard work. She urged the students to “work hard and be open to learning.” She advised the students to put into practice the writing, photography, videography and social media theories and skills they learn in class and from textbooks.

“It’s good to acquire facts and figures, to learn the theory of journalism and communication and to be able to take a test to prove that knowledge,” Huston said. “But if you can’t apply what you learned, then of what use is it to you, your country or your work?”

Together with Bartels, Huston unpacked the mission and vision of the Partners NGO and the relevance of the pilot for the students involved. Prior to the Jan. 1, 2021, launch of the education-product delivery model, Huston and selected UCU alumni and staff generated stories and photos for the organization. Huston, who has been a volunteer consultant and teacher at UCU since 2012, says the new e-lab model reinforces student learning and provides products for the organization.

On Feb. 14 – 1.5 months into the e-lab pilot – Huston noted: “The product quality I see so far is impressive.”

Bartels, who is the son-in-law of the first UCU Vice Chancellor Steven Noll, said the organization exists to “raise money and develop partnerships for UCU.” Bartels lived with his family and worked on the UCU-Mukono campus for 10 years.

Via Zoom, the Uganda Partners leaders rolled out the pilot “Communication Plan,” which was more like a dartboard of expectations for the students. With the on-the-ground guidance of three seasoned Uganda professionals, the 12 UCU journalism students chosen for this new hands-on learning model were eager to shoot right in the bullseye. The Ugandan leadership team under Huston’s guidance consists of John Semakula, coordinator; Edwin Byarugaba, technical consultant; and Constantine Odongo, editor and social media consultant. Another Ugandan, Frank Obonyo, and an American, Ashton Davey, provide collaborative assistance as ex-officio members of the team.

John Semakula, UCU Partners e-lab communications coordinator, at left, with some of the UCU journalism/communications students chosen for the pilot project.

According to Huston, the model rollout is designed to start with an emphasis on writing and still photography, followed in the coming months by video and audio products and promotion using traditional and social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp).

“I was nervous at first, because this was the first time I was attending a Zoom meeting, let alone with Americans,” Grace Bisoke, a student who is part of the e-lab project, said, adding: “Surprisingly, everything went well.”

Pauline Ruth Alupo, another student, said: “With my journalism skills, I would like to establish a multimedia production company in Uganda. One that creates high quality content for the global audience.”

The youthful Ugandans left the late January 2021 virtual launch meeting with a clearer vision of their careers and excited and eager to roll up their sleeves and get into the trenches.

With that, Bartels hopes that at the end of the day, the “donors will be able to see the huge impact they can have by investing in Uganda Christian University and the UCU students.” He added, “We are also excited by the opportunity to contribute directly to the experience of these students—giving them opportunities to grow and develop their professional skills.”

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UCU markets student artwork to boost sales during pandemic

February 16, 2021News, UCU School of EducationPatty Huston-Holm

UCU Student Mark Wandera with one of his pieces during the exhibition

Story By Fiona Nabugwere and Majorine Kiita
Photos by Paulyn Alupo and Dalton Mujuni

By 8 a.m. on a hot Friday morning, the Technology Park area of the Mukono campus of Uganda Christian University (UCU) was a beehive of activities as 3rd year students of the Bachelor of Industrial Fine Art program make final touches on their art stalls.

It was December 8, 2020. The students had decorated the area with stunning art pieces ready for the 2020 UCU Annual Fine Art Exhibition. Their master art ranged from ceramics, pottery, and fashion to interior design assembled according to different themes and styles. The 2020 exhibition was a wonderful display of creativity, effort and talent.

Kevin Kambere, one of the students who exhibited pieces, said he created his best piece – a family of giraffes on canvas – using fiberglass and bark cloth. He chose a giraffe to represent the African family.

Kelvin Kambere exhibiting his art — Kevin Kambere exhibiting his art

“I molded clay and laid it on the floor before creating designs in different shapes,” he said. “Then I cast the mold. When it was complete, I introduced the bark cloth sliced into small pieces and thinned to reduce the thickness. I dipped the bark cloth into glue for about 2-3 days to ease the manipulation before putting it on the mold and leaving it to set.”

Kambere spent sh900,000 ($244.95) to make the fiber glass giraffe sculpture and about sh200,000 ($54.06) for the bark cloth piece.

Another student, Mark Wandera, used pencils, pens and watercolors to draw human figures in a style he calls expressionism. One of those pieces depicted a boy eagerly catching water into his mouth.

“I am a freelance artist, and people like the human figures in my work,” Wandera said. “My art pieces can be put anywhere in galleries and sitting rooms where there is no (outside) water to spoil them.”

Solving a Problem in Society through Art was the 2020 exhibition theme.

The late 2020 event drew fewer than normal buyers because it was two days vs. the normal seven and entry inside the Mukono campus was restricted due to Covid-19. Another barrier to sales was a shorter preparation time for students. But being able to do artwork and display it after a virus lockdown brought hope to the young artists.

Mercy Chekwemboi, a fashion student who focused on decency in dressing while still looking elegant and stylish in an African print dress called “Ekitengi,” displayed a detachable dress that could be worn in several different ways. She said time was her biggest challenge in preparing for the exhibition.

“I failed to get a suitable floral material to make the duvet,’’ she said.

To ease student frustrations and offer added opportunity for sales, UCU offered to allow students’ best pieces to remain with the university for another 12 months. During that time, the university would help market and sell those pieces from a gallery in the art department area, from different churches and during university events. One of those events is planned for March 2021 at All Saints Cathedral, Kampala.

“It’s true the students did not have enough time to create as many art pieces like in the past years because of the pandemic,” said Grace Ashe, a lecturer for Painting, adding, “But still they have displayed impressive work.”

According to Rita Namwebe, the acting Head of the Department of Industrial Art and Design, students can retrieve money from sales as they occur and pick up artwork not sold after a year.

Obinna Ikenna, a student who majored in sculpture, said he was glad that the university had granted them this offer. “I am giving them my best piece, which I made under the theme ‘unity among family’,” he said. Chekwemboi loaned a hand-knitted mat to the university to sell it for her.

But Esther Blessing Ageno, who majors in interior design, was concerned that the University may not get the best price for their products. “I spent almost a week working on this piece so it won’t be fair to just give it at a price I am not happy with,” she said.

Esther Ageno assembling her stall during the exhibition in January 2021

During the preparations for this year’s exhibition students faced several other setbacks including challenges in blending colors and patterns plus breakdown of machines.

Art student Abel Nshemereirwe had a process challenge with cracking in ceramics. He illustrated through his zebra-themed ceramics pieces three methods of making ceramics: pottery wheel method, slab method and slip-casting method. He explained that using a pottery wheel produces more durable and attractive ceramics compared to the slab method.

The department of Industrial Fine Art and Design offers a number of course units that include painting, drawing, computer graphics, ceramics, interior design, and fashion and fabrics. In addition to an exhibition, lecturers award students with grades.

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UCU students say International Desk relieves loneliness

February 11, 2021COVID-19, News, UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication, UCU School of Law#COVID, #News, Journalism, LawPatty Huston-Holm

International students from the United States, Nigeria and Rwanda

By Gloria Katya

Joining Uganda Christian University (UCU) in 2019, Garcia Bwale’s major challenge was the language barrier. Since she is from a French-speaking country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), she was not fluent in English. Contributing during class discussions was one of her major challenges.

International students pose for photo after a 2020 food gala at UCU

With the little English she knew, and spoken with a French accent, most of the Ugandan students found it funny whenever she raised her hand to contribute in class. This lowered her self-esteem.

“Whenever I was contributing in class, I noticed students laughing silently and the lecturers, too, found it hard to interpret what I was saying,” Bwale says.

However, from the UCU International students’ desk, Bwale discovered a solution. The desk provided her with a language mentor as she journeyed in her academics.

Once she solved the language issue, her fears were greatly diminished. She is now a confident journalist in the making who also has served as Minister on the International Students Association.

Another student, George Caleb from Nigeria and who is in his second year studying law, faced a similar obstacle. Interacting with locals especially when buying food and talking to transporters in case he had to move around had become a serious challenge for Caleb because he didn’t speak any of the Uganda local languages.

He, too, was helped by the International students’ desk to get Ugandan friends who gradually taught him survival skills.

“The desk linked me to some Ugandan students who helped me and life became easier,” he says.

The International students desk, headed by Mr. Edgar Kabahizi, was established in 2011 by the university management to help mainly with international students’ welfare. This desk serves students from the time they step in to the time they exit.

Usually a friendly and welcoming face, Kabahizi awaits to be of service to fresh international students from the time they arrive in Uganda for their studies at UCU.

“Studying away from one’s home country and family is always challenging and at times creates a lot of anxiety not knowing what to expect,” Kabahizi said. “Most times, it’s the local culture and language that is most perplexing for the foreigners so students need help.”

To simplify life for an international student, Kabahizi does a lot of things for them.

“I follow up on the students from the time they are admitted by the University until they are settled and begin to progress academically,” he says. “Students that face linguistic problems are incorporated in mentorship classes under the Uganda Studies Program where they learn English.”

Kabahizi’s office also makes sure that international students have the necessary paperwork that enables them access to living in the country.

“We are there, when the students are sick, struggling academically and when facing any challenge,” he said, “This office is their first reporting point.”

With 7% of the UCU student population from outside Uganda, the Director of Students Affairs Bridget Mugume K. Mugasira says the university created the desk to better serve those students. International students at UCU come from such countries as Nigeria, DRC, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and the USA.

When an international student arrives at UCU, he/she is led to their place of accommodation that is already organised for them by the International Students’ Desk. The students are then oriented the next day by introducing them to other international students. They are also given class timetables and briefed about the Ugandan currency and its exchange rate.

The students also are informed about the dos and don’ts in Uganda, Ugandan culture, and UCU norms.

“The International Students Desk is a serious relief to foreign students as it brings them together such that they don’t feel lonely on campus,” Kabahizi said.

International students are not left out in the different co-curricular activities on campus such as the cultural galas, food galas and politics. International students are engaged in many fun activities on campus including dinners, picnics, trips, food galas, celebrating their country’s days of Independence, among others. The students also are represented with the guild government.

“Our last trip last year with the International students was in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Kasese and Bundibugyo before the Coronavirus pandemic struck,” Kabahizi said.

Covid-19 that has affected education across the globe has interfered with the desk, but UCU is not ready to compromise any of its services. Throughout the Covid-19 lockdown in Uganda, the University took full care of the international students without asking them for additional financial contributions.

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‘God used so many people to support us’ – Bishop Obetia (recovered from Covid)

February 8, 2021Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology, COVID-19, Faculty, News#Covid-19, #News, Faculty, TheologyPatty Huston-Holm

Bishop Joel Obetia and his wife, Joy, at their home, a week after being discharged from hospital

By Jimmy Siyasa

After recovering from Covid-19, retired Bishop Joel Obetia of the Madi and West Nile diocese in northwestern Uganda has stopped taking certain things in life for granted.

Bishop Joel Obetia drinking a concoction of Vitamin C to boost his body immunity.

“Many times, we forget to thank God for the free oxygen,” he said. “A disease like Covid-19 clogs your lungs and you are asked to pay millions of shillings for oxygen to support your breathing.”

Bishop Obetia, together with his wife, the Rev. Canon Joy Obetia, was in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Mulago Hospital in Kampala for around two weeks. Their health deteriorated from contraction of Covid-19.

On the evening of Monday, January 11, 2021, the twosome arrived back at their home on the Uganda Christian University, Mukono Campus. Their return from hospitalization replaced long-held anxiety with bursts of irrepressible joy among their family members.

Besides running a busy pastoral life, Obetia, 64, an academic, also doubles as a lecturer at Bishop Tucker School of Theology and Divinity at the main campus in Mukono. His wife, Joy, 62, is the Assistant Chaplain at St. Kakumba Chapel, located in Kyambogo, a suburb of Kampala. At St. Kakumba, she heads the weddings, welfare, women and prayer/ intercession ministries.

The two had been in ICU since December 27, 2020. Still frail and fragile by the time of this interview, they were under close medical monitoring. They can only resume their clerical and other activities when doctors say so.

Bishop Obetia and his wife, Joy, arrive at All Saints’ Cathedral Kampala in January 2020 before being diagnosed with Covid. He had gone to confirm new converts. (Internet photo)

“Their return is an answered prayer,” exclaimed Gloria Obetia, the couple’s oldest daughter and a health care worker 500 miles from Kampala, at Kuluva Hospital, Arua. “Such a relief! At first, we felt that they were going to die because they were badly off. But God has worked a miracle.”

She delivered healthy food daily to her parents ever since they got admitted. Gloria and other family members last saw the couple, looking lifeless, three days after the 2020 Christmas holiday. They were being whisked away to Mulago National Referral Hospital, dangling between the hands of the emergency team and death.

“It has been God since day one,” said a jolly, 22-year-old Miriam Litany Pakrwoth, another one of the couple’s daughters. “They could’ve lost their lives in the process of being transferred from Mukono to Mulago because their oxygen intake was so low.”

The Obetias’ initial arrival at the Mulago hospital was marred with tension, suspense and anxiety. One of the voices of fear and doubt that contributed to this unease was reportedly a nurse in whose hands the patients had been cast.

Mercy Dokini, 16, the couple’s youngest daughter, recalled the nurse saying, “5 to 8 people in your parents’ condition die every day. You better pray and fast for them.”

Triggered by the nurse’s pessimism, Mercy and her older siblings took to persistent prayer and fasting. Not only family but also friends and the faithful to whom the Obetias minister were constantly on bended knees and gave generously. Not on any single day were prayers and goodwill in short supply.

“I want to thank God for the faith he has allowed us to plant in our children,” said a contemplative Joy Obetia. “They have been praying and fasting for us ever since.”

She recalls pocketing about $100 as contingency cash, on their way to the hospital. But it stayed untouched throughout their admission. Their God through friends “supplied all their needs according to his riches in Glory.”

“God used so many people to support us,” said Bishop Obetia. “People were calling in from the USA, UK and all around the world. The support was overwhelming. UCU had close contacts who kept a close watch of us, to keep the community updated.”

Obetia and his wife believe that their place in the church somehow opened doors to the “overwhelming support and respect” they received while at the hospital. Another plus is that their admission caused a dramatic turn in not only meal scheduling, but also quality of the meals.

“Breakfast would be served late, at about noon and then lunch would come like at 3:00 p.m.,” said Joy Obetia. “I sympathize with those only depending on hospital meals.”

However, the tardiness in the hospital’s welfare department stopped at the intervention of State Minister for Northern Uganda in the Uganda cabinet, Grace Freedom Kwiyucwiny, a sister to Joy Obetia. This was to the advantage of the majority of more economically challenged, less high-profile patients who often endure helplessly within the healthcare system.

When asked where and how they may have contracted coronavirus, the two pointed to some of the congregations unto whom they had last-ministered before their health deteriorated on December 27, 2020.

“I personally officiated so many weddings – two of them on November 29, 2020,” Bishop Obetia recalled. “And on December 12, 2020, my family attended a wedding of my niece at St. Johns Church, Kamwokya. Thereafter, I travelled from Kampala to Arua, where I officiated another wedding on December 19, 2020. Then, I began to show Covid-19 signs like an intense cough.”

Obetia confessed that by the time he travelled to Arua, his wife, Joy, was already severely sick. Hence, on return to their home on the UCU campus, they tasked themselves to test for the virus, only to realize that that the potential “angel of death” had visited their household. On February 5, 2021, they are grateful that it didn’t remain.

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‘This boy will be a reverend’ – 20-year journey to Ph.D.

February 4, 2021Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology, Faculty, News#News, Alumni, TheologyPatty Huston-Holm

Rev. Canon Moses Stephen Isabirye at the veranda of his house where he sometimes works

By Penelope Nankunda

When Jacob in Genesis (Chapter 47:1-10) is brought before the pharaoh of Israel and asked to identify himself, he says, “My years have been difficult.” Canon Moses Stephen Isabirye, an undergraduate degree alum from Uganda Christian University (UCU), has a similar story is as it pertains to his academic life.

“My years have not been easy, and some of the people that I studied with especially in primary school and secondary school would wonder why I have taken so long to get this Ph.D.,” he said. “I should have gotten it about 20 years ago.”

Isabirye’s story is one of triumph amidst challenges with his latest success in attaining his Ph.D. in theology from Kenyatta University (Kenya) on December 18, 2020.

With a narrow, stretched-out smile, and eyes glowing brightly with joy and humility, Isabirye spoke in early January 2021 from his home in Mukono. Dressed in a black coat, a deep-dark grey shirt accompanied by a clerical collar and an ashy grey trouser, at 8:09 a.m., he gently emerged from the right-hand corner of his long rectangular house just above the University Chapel.

“You are welcome,” he begins pausing briefly in his steps before resuming his gentle walk to the back of the house. He quickly lifts two bright green plastic chairs – one for himself and one for this student reporter – and a small squared, long-legged wooden table and places them in the center of the compound.

He sits comfortably under the one-sided leaning Jacaranda tree in the midst of a colorful green garden covered with peaceful grass and a short jasmine tree. Next to it is a row of striking yellow lily flowers and several banana trees within the fenced compound.

Canon Isabirye told his story.

He was born on October 23, 1962, to Agnes Namboira and the late Sudulaki Ibanda of Iwololo village, Butagaya, in Jinja District, eastern Uganda. His names – Moses and Stephen – are renowned for heroism in the Bible. The biblical stories depict Moses as the leader of the Israelites, while Stephen was the first Christian martyr whose martyrdom is reflected through the bravery and persistence of Isabirye in his pursuit for a Ph.D. despite numerous challenges and persecution. His third name, Isabirye, means “father of twins” a name that was derived from his grandfather who had had twins three times.

Rev. Canon Moses Stephen Isabirye and wife, Ruth

Married to Ruth who, like Canon Isabirye, is a teacher by profession, the couple has three children. The first born is Rachael Kyobula, a graduate with a Bachelor of Computer Science from UCU and currently employed at Equity Bank in Entebbe. The second born is Paul Mwesigwa Ibanda, a senior six candidate at Hillside Namirembe SS, and Paula Mwebaze Mukyala is the youngest.

Canon Isabirye’s journey at UCU began in September 1991 when he joined the Bishop Tucker Theological College to study a Bachelor of Divinity course offered by Makerere University through the college; he successfully completed that undergraduate degree in 1994 and graduated with first-class honors in January 1995. While at Bishop Tucker, he pursued several other short courses in youth ministry and chaplaincy at Daystar University Nairobi, which helped him attain advanced certificates from that University.

Owing to Canon Isabirye’s academic excellence during his undergraduate studies, his lecturer, Dr. Tudor Griffith, helped Isabirye secure a master’s level scholarship in the United Kingdom. Dr. Tudor Griffith also had just returned to Uganda with a Ph.D. from Bristol University and was eager to see Ugandans acquire similar qualifications.

“There was a requirement for my diocesan bishop who was a very good friend of mine to sign but he refused,” recalls Canon Isabirye about the forms that Dr. Tudor provided for the University of Leeds. “He said it was a good opportunity, but that I had just graduated and started working at the diocese, insisting that he would only sign the forms after I had spent three years at the diocese.”

The opportunity at Leeds was for a Masters in Theology, majoring in Christology. The decision not to sign his forms left Isabirye bitter but determined to pursue further studies. In 1997, he joined Makerere University to pursue an MA in Religious Studies, graduating on November 23, 2003. It was while he was pursuing his MA studies that Canon Isabirye was invited to work at UCU as a part-time lecturer.

In 2006, he was again invited from his Parish in Jinja, St. Andrews Cathedral, by UCU to teach full-time at Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology. Canon Isabirye, who now teaches church history, pastoral care and counselling as well as related subjects also heads practical studies and history in the School.

Although Isabirye enrolled for a Ph.D. in 2010, which he applied for in 2008, and was admitted in 2009, it took him 10 years to graduate. He attributes his delay to several challenges, one of them being having changed supervisors.

“When one’s supervisor is changed, definitely there is a delay, which forces one to go back to the drawing board,” he said.

Canon Isabirye’s Ph.D. is in the area of Theology called Church History, specifically African church history. For his thesis, he examined the Phenomena of African Indigenous Pentecostal Christianity in Busoga and Buganda regions in Uganda using the Deliverance Church as a case study. His comprehensive exploration includes how those churches emerged, and the reasons and the factors their founders had.

His desire now is to continue teaching and also do ministry work.

Reflecting back on his journey to accomplishing this great attainment, he acknowledges the difficulty. He attributes two stingingly memorable and important days in his life which brought a large wave of change that never left him the same again, as well as helped him remain firm, faithful and confident in God, preparing him for these challenges.

The first day was in 1974 when the late Rt. Rev. Cyprian Bamwoze (the former Bishop of Busoga Diocese) visited his church while he was in primary school and identified him out of many other pupils, prophesying “this boy will be a reverend.” The second memorable day on April 17, 1981, was when he came to the Lord (became born again).

“On that day, the preacher spoke of when Jesus had died the curtain tore into two, and as I was getting saved, I saw something get torn into two in my life,” he said.

Canon Isabirye urges the youth to depend on the Lord.

“My journey has been long, tedious and at times painful, but I do not regret anything because God has been in it,” he said with a reminder that regardless of age, people are in a pilgrimage for Christ. “I always ask God to lead me until the end.”

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Nationwide internet shutdown stalls online exams at UCU

February 1, 2021Newselections, internet, Ministry of Education, on-line, UCU Faculty of Business, Uganda Christian UniversityPatty Huston-Holm

Students engage in group discussions at the UCU-Mukono dining hall in preparation for the end of the Advent Semester examinations in January 2021. Some students who were off campus due to Covid-19 returned to access the University’s internet services for their online examinations.

By Jimmy Siyasa

Have you ever prepared for an online examination and the internet disappeared?

That is what happened to Uganda Christian University (UCU) students who were studying remotely online in mid-January 2021. The Ugandan government claimed a need to shut down the internet for reasons related to the Jan. 14, 2021, general elections.

According to the government spokesperson, Ofwono Opondo, the Internet shutdown was intended for national security reasons and to curb sensationalism and hate speech during and after the elections that included balloting for President.

The internet shutdown forced UCU to extend examinations deadlines and halt vital institutional activities as absence of connectivity fractured cyber communication between the University administration and students.

Before the shutdown, online examinations were underway for students who had been studying remotely in the institution nationally acclaimed for her effective cyber-based learning system.

The internet shutdown forced students living in rural areas to travel back to the main campus in Mukono to seek clarity amidst the internet crisis. The students were supposed to write their first examination at 9:00 a.m. (East African Time) on Monday, January 18, according to the timetable.

However, the examinations, which had to be emailed to each of the students, were delayed because email, social media and other online-communication had been cut off. Final-year law students, for example, were emailed their exams late – on Jan. 22 – with some arriving even later.

Both students and members of staff were frustrated at the occurrence of the nearly one-week long disconnection of the internet.

“Some of us had coursework submission deadlines to beat but we could not because the internet was off,” said Matthias Tumuhairwe, a third-year student of Bachelors of Science in Accounting and Finance, who failed to submit an online course work as required on January 15.

According to the office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, some parents were also hindered from making last-minute tuition payments through UCU’s online banking platforms such as Flexi pay.

UCU’s usually active Twitter handle and Facebook page, managed by the UCU Communication and Marketing Department, were unable to convey information. The Department staff members were unable to load text, photos or videos.

“Ever since the internet shutdown, we have not been able to keep in touch with our current and prospective stakeholders, including support of recruitment of students, now that it is done digitally,” said Marketing and Communication spokesperson, Frank Obonyo. “I don’t know how many potential applicants we have lost because we disappeared from cyber space.”

According to the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, John Kitayimbwa, in a January 27, 2021, memo, starting with the Easter Semester (February 6, 2021), final-year students will engage in a blended on-line and face-to-face learning while other students will learn on-line only.

In addition to educational institutions such as UCU, many Ugandan businesses also suffered due to the inability to access technology. According to the Daily Monitor newspaper, a Ugandan local daily, financial technology companies lost Shs66b ($17.9 million) on a daily basis due to the internet shutdown.

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Family roots + UCU applied learning = graduation

January 28, 2021COVID-19, News, UCU Alumni#entrepreneurship, #Kapchorwa, #potatoes, #UgandaChristianUniversity, business, Mukono, Uganda, UgandaPartnersPatty Huston-Holm

By Collin Wambete

In addition to sickness and death, the COVID-19 pandemic reaped loss of employment and gaps in education around the world. Youth in Uganda have been discouraged and even more hard pressed to make money, including acquisition of funds to go to school.

Amidst the storm, Cherop Lillian found an answer to her personal situation. That answer – potatoes with an occasional onion, fruit and other edibles – enabled her to graduate on 18th December 2020 with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science and Entrepreneurship at Uganda Christian University (UCU) with financial security.

She brought Irish potatoes from her home in Kapchorwa District, which is roughly 266 kilometers (165 miles) away from the UCU campus Mukono District. Starting in February 2020, she set up a retail business 50 meters (164 feet) away from UCU’s main gate. First, raw potatoes, onions and fried potatoes were sold. Ready-to-eat, fresh fruits followed.

Cherop Lillian at her December 2020 graduation from UCU

For Lillian, the lockdown that started in March and the subsequent loss of customers posed a threat to the survival of her business. She’d make fries from potatoes and sell to the students that were on campus. Her target market predominantly being students, the lockdown threw a wrench in her plans.

Who would she sell to? With transportation being shut down for 32 days, what would she sell?

She cut down her usual trade of six-to-seven 100kg (220 pounds) bags of potatoes to two bags. For most of 2020, no one was around to buy ready-to-eat fries. Lockdown measures eventually eased up and UCU, under Standard Operating Procedure guidance from the Ministry of Health, was permitted to let finalists return to campus and complete their studies. These final-year student customers returned on October 15th when UCU re-opened.

Food was the obvious product for sale. History told her so. The earliest business venture she can remember is selling vegetables on her veranda. On holidays, she fried cassava chips in senior six and senior four.

“It is a must for everybody to eat food, so this is a viable business.” She said.

Logistics was part of the survival. Since her produce comes from Kapchorwa, her business depends on the stability of crop prices there. Transport costs shooting up all over the country due to curfew and new road restrictions was an added obstacle.

“I spend 75,000 Uganda shillings ($20.50) to transport five bags of Irish potatoes and this is too high for me,” she said. “I wish I could buy my own van; it could be much cheaper.”

Lillian’s business survived. On January 1, 2021, it was stationed 100 meters (328 feet) from the main UCU gate. Most days, she was at her stall by 7 a.m. She employed five staff. In addition to potatoes, sometimes they sell homemade passion juice.

“At my age (24) I am trying as much as possible to find my destiny, and the mistakes I make today become very big lessons to me especially in business,” she said. “I do not ask for money from people and my parents are glad that as a girl child, I am independent and able to cater for my basic needs”

She advised fellow youth to venture into business, have self-drive, and aim at growing business instead of focusing on profits at the beginning. These skills, she acknowledged, were largely learned in her program of study at UCU.

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UCU enters inter-university collaboration to boost research culture

January 25, 2021COVID-19, Faculty, News#COVID, #Research, Health, NEMRA, Uganda Christian University, vaccinePatty Huston-Holm

By Douglas Olum

In the wake of the global invasion by the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of research, especially in the health sector, has without doubt been fully uncovered. Health experts across the globe are working tirelessly to understand the nature of the virus and derive appropriate vaccines and treatment for it. In Uganda, researchers at the Uganda Virus Institute are equally trying to develop a home-based remedy for COVID-19.

The Uganda Christian University (UCU) dean of the School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies, Associate Prof. Kukunda Elizabeth Bacwayo, said in an interview that research and innovation are necessary for such developments to occur, and universities have a great role to play in developing the researchers.

“Having people that are teaching at the university and are not helped in developing their research career means that you are having people that are teaching and using information that is not of their own making,” Bacwayo said. “But also, it means that they are not contributing to knowledge out there and innovation that is needed for the country.”

Relating her point to the COVID-19 vaccine development, Bacwayo said there was need for Ugandans to develop their own solution to the pandemic.

“If we are to rely on what other people are doing, I think you have heard [that] people have developed the [COVID-19] vaccine, but how many people will get it?” Bacwayo asked. “People will always first think of themselves and so we too as a country need to develop home-based solutions. We can only do that if we have a number of researchers who have been mentored and trained to do research.”

To that end, UCU recently entered into a collaborative research project with Makerere University, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, and Muteesa I Royal University.

The first year of the five-year project is funded with sh157 million ($42,450) by the Government of Uganda under the Research and Innovation Fund. Its aim is to create an inter-university research and innovation community for early career researchers in Uganda. The project was launched on November 13, 2020, at the UCU Main Campus in Mukono.

Under the project, the partners seek to: strengthen the capacity of early career researchers in teaching, research, and innovations; establish an inter-university large-scale soft research data infrastructure; promote joint research and organize agenda-setting activities for cutting-edge research; and enhance research outcome dissemination by digital approaches to support policy and the national research and innovation agenda.

Assoc. Prof. Bacwayo said this research project is designed to address key challenges facing research in Uganda including inadequate capacity and perspectives of early career researchers, narrow inter-university research networks, limited and uncoordinated research and innovation-based solutions, and limited advances in modern research and innovation dissemination.

She also said that while most Ugandans still do research only as part of the requirement for their degree studies, the collaborative project is targeting to get as many Ugandans as possible to embrace research as continuous processes and as part of their lives and work.

“We want to get people who are still developing as researchers to get into the habit of looking at research as not just something you do once but something that you do and it produces information, it produces knowledge and it produces solutions to a country’s problems,” Bacwayo said.

To achieve that target, the project is holding virtual seminars to equip their academic staff with necessary research knowledge. They are also preparing them to write at least five joint review papers that will be published.

Uganda Christian University has continuously been ranked as the second-best university in the country. But according to former Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, the university has not made it to the top because of limited research output.

With this project in place, Bacwayo believes that the full participation of UCU staff in those seminars and review papers writing will help to unveil the university as one that also produces research.

“We have many staff but there are very few research products coming out,” Bacwayo said. “I am really hoping that many of UCU staff will get involved in these capacity development seminars that we are running so that they can gain that confidence and start thinking of research as an essential part of their lives so that we as UCU can start seeing many research products coming out of us.”

Speaking at the launch, UCU Vice Chancellor, Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, commended the project team for the “comprehensive move to raise research standards.” Mushengyezi urged them to create networks with the external world so that their works are published and their relevance and impact on society is felt.

The project launch was organized by Network for Education and Multidisciplinary Research Africa (NEMRA). But the collaboration is a product of a four-institution, joint application for a grant.

“I am passionate about research because I love to read, I love new knowledge and I know that now we are living in a world driven by knowledge where if you are not knowledgeable, you are left behind,” Bacwayo said. “I don’t want to be left behind. But I also want to be able to contribute to the knowledge creation.”

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UCU student uses innovation to challenge youth leadership stereotypes

January 21, 2021News, StudentsAIESEC Uganda, SDGs, Silicon Valley, UCU Innovation Hub, UN in Uganda, Youth InnovationPatty Huston-Holm

Odongo poses with Rosa Malango, the UN Resident Coordinator in Uganda, after a meeting at her residence in Kololo.

By Alex Taremwa

When I first met Solomon Odongo in 2017 at the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Honour’s College, he was working on an innovation that would transform the lives of rural Ugandans using a bicycle dynamo technology to charge their mobile phones. At that time, Odongo was working with a team of three to design a functional prototype that would pass for mass production, if approved.

Three years later, not only has the final-year UCU Information Technology student successfully engineered a working prototype for his game-changing bicycle technology for which he has won several awards. Odongo also has championed youth innovation at a national and global level.

While at UCU, Odongo – a bespectacled natural charmer always in jacket and tie – was elected president of a global youth-led development club, AIESEC.

Odongo speaking at the 2020 International Youth Day Celebrations in Kampala.

“AIESEC gave me the opportunity to create change in my community by providing the right networks and partnerships to grow both as a person and an entrepreneur,” he said. “I gained invaluable leadership experience and skills that have been the benchmark of my career growth.”

From UCU, Odongo – the young man not known for settling for less – decided it was time to go big. He threw himself in the race to become AIESEC’s country director. The position was never held by someone still a student. He lost the first try. On the second attempt, Odongo made headlines as the first-ever AIESEC university club president to successfully transition to the position of Country Director.

In his time at the helm, Odongo has forged numerous partnerships with multilateral organisations to bring voices and innovations of young Ugandans to the table and opened up conversations with stakeholders on investment opportunities in the youth sector. The consideration of young entrepreneurs is significant because most youth don’t have funds to elevate their innovations.

One million solutions for SDGs
Odongo is part of a team of young leaders spearheading the United Nations One Million Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Solutions Challenge to accelerate scalable innovations to help in the achievement of the SDGs by 2030.

The initiative, which is run on www.ugandayouthsolutions.com, is aimed at identifying and mobilizing Ugandan youth to present one million solutions. In 2021, the challenge will be televised. Of the 50 innovations submitted, 40 Innovations were selected to receive support from UN agencies and partners in Uganda.

One of the solutions is a solar-powered oxygen machine. Another is a local mosquito repellent diffuser that uses solar energy to emit human friendly gases from locally sourced herbs.

In January 2021, Odongo was part of a youth delegation under the Youth Coalition for SDGs umbrella slated to meet Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni to discuss the youth’s contribution in achieving the SDGs and government’s support towards their innovations.

He planned to use the opportunity to garner attention for innovations from young people and call for a youth-inclusive government that would bridge the youth divide that often creates a mismatch in prioritization of resources at implementation level.

Odongo also was nominated by Uganda’s government-owned daily newspaper, the New Vision, as one of the Top 40 under age 40 in the category of youth leadership and entrepreneurship in 2020.

A UCU ‘Silicon Valley’?
Odongo believes that UCU has the right talent mix among students, staff and partnerships to run a successful innovation and entrepreneurship center that can incubate new solutions and have the potential to employ hundreds of the university’s graduates.

“I know the Faculty of Business has an incubation hub of sorts but I would love for the new Vice Chancellor to expand it into a university innovation center where not just business students but lawyers, journalists, programmers, agriculturalists and artisans can put ideas together, incubate them and come up with scalable solutions,” he said. “Imagine graduating 3,000 students and at the same time, launching 50 new products to the Ugandan market. One product alone can even employ half the number graduating.”

Odongo said he had presented the idea to the former Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon. Dr. John Senyonyi, and now hopes that new leadership can bring the idea to life.

“A university in today’s world of technology must invest heavily in research and development in order to create local solutions for the community in which it operates,” he noted.

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UCU-Norway collaborative – One recipient’s perspective

January 18, 2021News# NORHED II, #Faculty of Journalism Media and Communication, #Global Journalism, #John Semakula, #NORHED I, #UgandaChristianUniversity, Norway, Uganda, UgandaPartnersPatty Huston-Holm

John Semakula and Frank Obonyo, UCU communications manager, during graduation ceremony at the UCU main campus in Mukono in 2019.

(NOTE: In December 2020, the NLA University College in Norway announced plans to continue its partnership with the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Faculty of Journalism and Media Studies for a six-year period, starting in 2021. The partnership involves a grant of sh8.4bn ($2.3 million) for UCU as well as the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and the University of Rwanda specific to promoting equality in gender and for people with disabilities and including PhD scholarships. This article gives the perspective of one UCU beneficiary of the current collaborative.)

By John Semakula

Around this time in January 2018, I had just returned from a five-month study trip in Norway. I had never been away from Uganda that long and never experienced such cold temperatures.

Apart from struggling to adjust to the cold and missing home, staying in Norway was a wonderful, memorable experience that positively impacted my life and career. I travelled to Norway in early August 2017 under an NLA University College one-semester exchange program to study global journalism. The opportunity was part of a scholarship awarded in 2016 to me and five others at Uganda Christian University (UCU), where I was pursuing a Masters Degree in Journalism and Media Studies.

John Semakula (second left) with friends at Kristiansand, Norway, in 2017.

Through the Norway government Norwegian Program for Capacity Development in Higher Education and Research for Development (NORHED), the UCU Mass Communication Department received in 2013 a sh4.7bn ($1.3 million) grant for staff capacity building. At the time, I was a senior writer at New Vision and teaching several UCU course units such as news and feature writing and investigative journalism.

Collaboratives are important from academic, cultural and work place perspectives.

While in Norway, one of the key values I learned was keeping time. If I had not mastered time keeping, I would not have survived because nearly everything in Norway – as is common for Western world countries – rotates around time management. Without the skill, one would miss a bus from the College to Kristiansand town for shopping and fail to submit coursework on time, which is punishable. Overall, being late is perceived as lack of respect. This expectation is difficult to implement in Uganda where tardiness excuses range from traffic jams to weather.

In Norway, traffic is orderly. Unlike in Uganda, Norwegian drivers follow roadway rules and are respectful of pedestrians. Respecting the laws means citizens report other citizen disobedience. In Uganda, citizens often help criminals to escape justice.

The experience in Norway reinforced the value of networking. In my class of about 20 students, we had representation from Palestine, Ethiopia, Ghana, Denmark, Norway, Uganda, Pakistan, Germany, Brazil and Nepal. Some of the journalists, especially those from Europe, could not believe our stories of Ugandan police using teargas and clubs to stop members of the press from doing their work. Such police brutality does not happen in many developed countries. In Norway, it’s rare to see a demonstration and when it occurs, the participants are escorted peacefully away by unarmed police officers. I learned that in Norway, Germany and Denmark, journalists are valued and paid well.

Through the Christian-based NLA University College, I saw a commonality with UCU in how belief in God was incorporated into the curriculum. Many people in Norway go to Church every Sunday and attend evening prayers and other fellowships. I attended many of the church services and evening fellowships in Kristiansand. I was treated the same way Jesus treated participants at the wedding in Cana. However, I saw the growing trend of fewer young people in churches.

I was impressed with how the materialistically wealthy in Norway helped poor migrants by sharing food and clothes with them. As a result there are usually no people sleeping on empty stomachs.

In addition to growing me, the Norwegian grant under NORHED helped UCU establish and run an MA Program in Journalism and Media Studies and another one in Strategic Communication (supported by NLA University College and the University of KwaZulu-Natal). The benefits for UCU involved sponsorship of five PhD students, four “post-docs” and six student exchange visits as well as engagement in four international conferences in Africa and Europe and procurement of books and equipment. The five PhD candidates completed their studies on time at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and four of the six MA students have graduated.

For the Norwegian government that funded my trip and MA studies, I am highly indebted and aspire to gain more knowledge and experience if selected for the 2022 doctoral program.

Countries in what is known as African Great Lakes Region (Victoria, Malawi, Tanganyika) have a scarcity of doctoral programs. The Norwegian program will help fill that gap for higher education at UCU and the region. The doctoral program, like all the other projects under the NORHED II UCU grant, will run on the theme, Preparing Media Practitioners for a Resilient Media in Eastern Africa. The goal is to produce a better-qualified workforce that can contribute to democratization. Other goals are improving the quality of media and communication education; enhancing the competence of academic staff; and improving gender balance and making the learning environment more inclusive.

UCU will reach out to the university in Rwanda to help start the first local MA program in Media and Communication Studies. To achieve all the goals, partner universities also intend to optimize research and dissemination of findings on the continent and have already marked out three thematic research areas for focus: Media, Democracy and Development in East Africa; Media, gender, identity and participation; and the changing role of the media in crisis.

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Former UCU Guild President publishes book on youth and leadership

January 11, 2021News, UCU Alumni#book, #CourageUnderFire, #Guild, #Leadership, #PriscaAmongin, #UgandaChristianUniversity, business, Uganda, UgandaPartnersPatty Huston-Holm

Prisca Amongin (center) and friends at the launch of her book in December 2020.

By John Semakula

Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) former Guild President, Prisca Amongin Nangiro, has published a book challenging Christian youth in Africa to aspire to become leaders.

In her book, “Courage Under Fire: Let No One Despise Your Youth,” Amongin observes that the more Christian youth assume leadership positions on the continent, the easier it is for youth voices to be heard.

Prisca Amongin and the current UCU Guild President Kenneth Agaba Amponda during the launch of her book last month.

“We have to find our way into these big rooms to let decisions be taken in our favor,” Amongin writes in the 128-page book. “We need ambassadors, we need vessels.”

She observes that leadership positions give youth an opportunity to fulfill the burdens that are on their hearts.

“Heaven is on the search for men and women who will make a difference in our days,” she writes. “Dear friends, God is counting on us; on you dear reader. Our generation has so many wars against us, which we must fight. We cannot afford to maintain the status quo in politics, in health, academics among others. May the Lord make us restless and separate us for His work…”

Amongin’s book has received endorsement from prominent and influential Ugandans such as the Rt. Rev. Sheldon Mwesigwa, Bishop of Ankole Diocese in Western Uganda, and Lawrence Ssebulime, her former UCU lecturer.

Ssebulime describes the book as “a burning sensation that evokes a positive attitude even in the toughest of challenges.” Bishop Mwesigwa says the book is a “spell binding” story that takes the readers through the scenes and emotions that shaped Amongin’s resolve to engage in youth leadership positions with a desire to transform society.

“With Amongin’s brain power, godliness, down to earth character, social capital and zeal for service, youth will be inspired to exploit their leadership potential, even without adequate resources,” Bishop Mwesigwa writes in his endorsement message. “I unreservedly recommend this book, which illustrates that youth are leaders of today and not tomorrow.”

Amongin, who became the first directly elected UCU female guild President in 2016 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance and Accounting in 2018, started writing her book in March 2020 when the Ugandan government imposed a countrywide lockdown to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Amongin says it is good to always look at the silver lining in every looming cloud.

“Who knew the COVID-19 pandemic season would finally birth the hours I needed to put into this book to get it started?” she asked rhetorically during the launch of the book on December 27, 2020, in Kampala.

Prisca Amongin (in black) and her older sister, Filda Nangiro Loyok, at the launch of her book last month.

“I wanted to invite us on a journey to think together on why we are here in this world . . . To find ways for us to contribute and participate to resolve some of the issues in our immediate communities, especially as leaders and as the young people of our generation.”

Amongin who is currently contesting for the Female Youth National Parliamentary seat in Uganda, says that if elected, she wants to use that office to coordinate programs for youth development.

“I will use whatever there is within my means to advance the desirable change for all the youth,” she wrote. “This shall be made possible through partnership, lobbying and advocacy.”

Amongin’s book advises youth to enter politics with an ideology.

“Rome was not built in one day,” she says. “Each decision we make comprises of a collective approach. As a house is built brick by brick, so our lives are built decision by decision. These decisions have a collective destiny. In order for us to achieve the greater goal, we need the right ideology.”

Amongin’s family shaped her love and passion for leadership. Her mother, Eunice Lochoro Nangiro, served as a teacher before joining the National Resistance Council in the early 1990s to represent the people of Kotido District in northern Uganda. Her father, Simon Apollo Nangiro, taught her and her other siblings how to face life by ensuring they had experience with the family business in Moroto town.

“Through that experience we learnt people skills and staff management,” Amongin says. “He also taught us all how to stand up for what we believed in and work hard.”

Amongin, 28, comes from Natumkasikou village, Rupa Sub County, Moroto District in the Karamoja region, which is one of the poorest and least developed in Uganda. She urges youth not to let their humble backgrounds to stop them from scaling higher heights in life.

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How UCU community observes COVID-19 regulations

January 7, 2021COVID-19, Faculty, News, StudentsPatty Huston-Holm

As COVID-19 continues to spread in Uganda, academic institutions are increasing their efforts related to health and safety of staff and students. At Uganda Christian University (UCU), the management has put in place several tight measures to ensure that members of the community strictly observe coronavirus Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). These include washing hands with the help of tippy-taps placed in different locations (gates, classroom blocks, residence halls, etc.). No person is allowed to access the University before washing or sanitizing their hands. Meanwhile students without facemasks are not allowed into the examination rooms and during community worship. In these pictures, Samuel Tatambuka, a University Communications Assistant, shows how measures are in place at UCU.

Security personnel takes body temperature of a UCU staff before letting her into the University premises. — Security personnel takes body temperature of a UCU staff before letting her
into the University premises.

A University staff member washes her hands at the Bishop Tucker Gate before entering the University.

Mass Communication students of UCU sitting at a distance from one another during their examinations in Nkoyoyo Hall on December 28. — Mass Communication students of UCU sitting at a distance from one
another during their examinations in Nkoyoyo Hall on December 28.

A University chapel warden takes the temperature of students before allowing them to access community worship in Nkoyoyo Hall. — A University chapel warden takes the temperature of students
before allowing them to access community worship in Nkoyoyo Hall.

‘I welcomed Christ into my life’

January 4, 2021Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology, News, UCU Alumni#BishopTucker, #EasternCollegeAustralia, #RevOchen, #UCUGraduate, #UgandaChristianUniversity, Christianity, God, Theology, UgandaPatty Huston-Holm

Ocen Walter Onen at the UCU Mukono campus

(NOTE: In October, UCU Partners published an article about how this graduate of UCU helped the poor. That article is here: https://www.ugandapartners.org/2020/10/we-cannot-keep-preaching-the-gospel-to-the-poor-without-helping-them-realize-their-potential/. This article is the “back story” of that alum.)

By Ocen Walter Onen

BEFORE KNOWING CHRIST
In the morning hour of about 8:45 a.m. on March 2 of the year of our Lord 1992, my mum gave birth to me. Like any other baby, I cried at my first arrival into the world, which was going to be my home for some years as the Lord so wished. My mum later told me that I was born during an insurgency – various Ugandan civil wars.

Though, what was worse than my country’s rebellion against government is the fact that I was borne into non-Christian family. This meant that my life and growth were somewhat controlled by the traditional ancestral deities. For example, when I was a four-year-old, I fell sick and my parents consulted a traditional healer, who said that “the god wanted my name to be changed from Okot Walter Onen to Ocen Walter Onen.” This practice of listening to witch doctors was inherited from our great-great ancestors and continued until 2005, when Jesus Christ interrupted this evil chain – starting with me and then with all my family by 2014.

KNOWING CHRIST
On May 5, 2005, I welcomed Jesus Christ into my life. The burdens accruing from my countless sins had suffocated me and sincerely speaking, “I was dead pretending to be alive.” So, when a preacher quoted Matthew 11:28 (Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.), I realized my vulnerabilities and the need to accept the free mercy of God to redeem me from my state of hopelessness.

I could say much more about this wonderful day, but let me turn your attention to what happened after I got saved. Immediately, I felt my heart lightened, and my fears of guilt disappeared. In fact, the spirit of God filled me and I began going to church, sharing with brethren through fellowship and Bible study.

I began to question where God was leading me. What was my purpose? What does He exactly want me do? Why did He create us in his image instead of animals, trees, mountains and other non-human creations? Why does He cherish us so much to the extent of giving us His only Son? These questions shaped my thinking and ignited my quest for a philosophical understanding of the church’s doctrines. It was also one of the key reasons that compelled me to pursue a degree in Theology and Divinity at Uganda Christian University.

AT UGANDA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY (2016-2019)
At UCU, I met distinguished scholars, especially from the faculty of Bishop Tucker School of Theology and Divinity who encouraged me to wrestle with new theories and concepts about Christianity and its mission in the world. For example, Rev. Can. Prof. Byaruhanga Christopher challenged us to think outside the box and avoid the temptation of spiritualizing Jesus’ proclamation in Luke 4:16-18, but apply it to fight multidimensional poverty, injustices and the all forms of ungodliness in our vocational context.

According to him, “a pastor is the fifth gospel” meaning that people will always look up to you for the meaning of righteousness. Another professor, Rt. Rev. Prof. Alfred Olwa, who was our dean then, also would reinforce the message that the centre of Christianity is shifting from the global north to the global south. The theologians in the global south, including Africa, should be more prepared than ever to shape the discussion revolving around the orthodoxy of the unchanging gospel truth in the dynamic world.

I wondered how we might do this if most of the biblical scholarship is still being done in the western world. The urgency of theologians in the south to participate in sharing the Word became more apparent.

AT EASTERN COLLEGE AUSTRALIA (2019-CURRENT)
In 2019, the words of the “Amazing Grace” hymn became ever more real. I received my degree from UCU on July 5 that year. Just the day before, I learned that I had been awarded a scholarship to pursue a Master in Transformational Development at Eastern College Australia. What a blessing! In fact, I felt like God’s exhortation to prosper us had just visited my door. Glory be to him, our rock and our redeemer.

In November 2020, my post-graduate studies are deconstructing, reconstructing and restructuring the worldview I had built from UCU. Indeed, it has created a platform for me to amalgamate both theology and development in one single unit of “integral mission.”

CHRIST IN EDUCATION
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges throughout the world, including in Uganda and specifically with education. A shift to on-line learning has been difficult for many.

Despite obstacles, I encourage current students of Uganda Christian University to appreciate the fact that a university education produces thinkers who can derive solutions for the mantra of prevailing problems in our communities. Individuals with university degrees are best positioned to creatively engage in rigorous research and innovation.

Scholars will play a key role in unleashing the United Nations sustainable development goals for 2030, the vision 2063 of the African Union, the vision 2040 of the republic of Uganda, and/or the vision of their own communities, or their own vision. At that, this is only possible if we permit Jesus Christ to reign in our lives, thoughts, words and actions.

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The Rev. Ocen Walter Onen is a UCU Bishop Tucker School of Theology and Divinity alum who is pursuing a Master in Transformational Development from Eastern College Australia.

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