Category Archives: Scholarship

Craig Hammon presenting at a school in Kenya in July 2023.

‘Helping people less fortunate is the reason for living’

Faculty of Public Health, Nursing and Midwifery, Scholarship, UCU Alumni


Craig Hammon presenting at a school in Kenya in July 2023.
Craig Hammon presenting at a school in Kenya in July 2023.

By Patty Huston-Holm
When Americans think of philanthropy, the names of Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates with their causes of alleviating hunger and healing the sick frequently come to mind.  

Believers in Christ might overlook Him until remembering the many Biblical stories (John 4 woman at the well, etc.) and scriptures (Jesus’s advice to “give freely” per Luke and Matthew and Acts 10 about doing good, among others). Jesus Christ is the son of God, savior of human sin and, yes, a philanthropist. 

Then, there is Craig Hammon, who lives with his wife in the small coastal town of Essex, Ma. – just minutes away from their three daughters who have the titles of teacher, therapist and treasurer with five children ages 6 to 19. In addition to his titles of husband, father and grandfather, Hammon has been vice president of CURE, a nonprofit network of children’s hospitals; vice president of Christian colleges in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts; and head of development for the World Vision humanitarian aid organization. 

Hammon, 78, is a philanthropist.  More specifically, he consults about where to give and why. Over the years, he has advised many about responsible giving.  Among beneficiaries of those gifts is Uganda Christian University (UCU).  Among the givers is the Tennessee-based, Westwood Endowment, where Hammon was affiliated until all funds were expended at the end of 2021. Westwood provided UCU’s nursing program with $275,000 over 12 years. 

“In 2024, the UCU nursing program marks 20 years,” said Mark Bartels, executive director of Uganda Partners. “This seemed an appropriate time to recognize the generous donations of Westwood, where Craig was a trustee.”

In addition to Hammon, Thomas H. McCallie III and the late Richard A. West played leadership roles with Westwood since it founding in 1987.  Hammon, who has philanthropy consulting affiliations for various health-and-education-related entities, recalled a 2009 meeting at UCU where he was convinced that nursing education was a good investment of Westwood funds. Doug Fountain, formerly involved in UCU health sciences and finance and now executive director of Christian Connections for International Health, was at that meeting in Mukono, Uganda. The idea of nursing was developed by former UCU Vice Chancellor John Senyonyi and officials at Bethel University (Minnesota).

“Doug and some folks from Bethel University said they wanted to develop a transformative nursing school to undergird health care in Uganda,” Hammon said. “It felt right.”

Fountain recalled that “Westwood showed up ready to help” current and future nurses who had a passion to positively impact Uganda’s health care while “struggling to figure out how to pay.” He added that Westwood filled that nurse and nurse education gap with finances and  “the encouragement and support that lasted years.”

A dozen years of grants for UCU equipment and training nurses from midwifery to bachelor, master and doctoral degrees was aligned with Westwood’s Christian focus and other education and health care initiatives. From the start, Hammon saw that UCU had the need and accountability in place to make use of funds as he had observed in his affiliation with CURE International, a Christian nonprofit organization that owns and operates eight charitable children’s hospitals around the world.

“There is a terrible crisis in health care – lack of supplies and equipment and inadequately trained staff,” he said. “Things are improving. In 1988 around the world,  35,000 kids a day were dying of preventable diseases; now it’s 19,000 a day. Nurses are key.” 

In his 50 trips to Africa, including 15 times each to Kenya and Uganda, he has observed the worst (malaria, children living in slums, “families cooking food outside for hospital patients inside”) and the best, including a neurosurgical hospital in Mbale. 

“I’m focused on people and places with solutions to help the least and the lost,” Hammon said. “I don’t have a medical background, but my 35 years of fundraising provides me the insight into where donations are best used.  UCU nursing is one of those areas.”

Semi-retired since 2010, Hammon works part-time, consulting various foundations on where their funds can best be placed. His role, sometimes called development, is one of seeing people “caring deeply and passionately about a cause and giving them an opportunity to impact needs.”

“Advocating for and helping people less fortunate than yourself is the reason for living,” he said. “Philanthropy is not engagement only for the wealthy, but for all who have an  altruistic desire to improve human welfare. As believers, we find out what God is doing and become part of it.”

The terms charity and philanthropy are often used interchangeably with both related to money or talent or both. Differences are associated to length and consistency of giving. Charity tends to be an emotional impulse to an immediate, often short-term, crisis situation. Philanthropy addresses the root cause of social issues and requires a more strategic, long-term engagement.  At that, many of the world’s 260,000 philanthropic foundations help highly esteemed entities, such as noted universities. 

According to Philanthropy Tracker 2023, United States citizens surveyed over 10 years through 2018, 61% reported donating to charity and 42% said they volunteered time to an organization. Education and health are the most supported causes. 

“There was a time when I helped support five liberal arts colleges in the USA,” Hammon said. “It was a good investment.  But faith-based relief for East Africa is a better focus to serve the least and the lost and to enable them to serve themselves.”  

Regarding the UCU contribution, Hammon said he was “blown away” by the passion, qualifications and leadership.  The scholarship funding not only provided nursing credentials for individuals but knowledge and skill to improve communities.

 “The key is not sending doctors or medical teams somewhere, but training local people to be as good as they can be to do the work where they live,” he said. “With support, they have the ability to help themselves.” 

The 1,850 small and large contributors to the Uganda Partners organization since its inception 23 years ago have subscribed to this belief, according to Bartels.  The current donors of various levels number 1,000.  

“They understand the outreach and impact for a developing country like Uganda and the value of a Christ-centered learning environment,” he said. “We value all levels of giving.”  

Hammon said none of the benefactors he has represented has “expressed regret.” He said, “Once you’ve seen the need, you can’t turn your back.”

“The story isn’t about me,” Hammon said at the end of the late November interview. “It’s about everybody who gives.”

++++

To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities, and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

A Christian gives an offering at Saint Paul’s Cathedral Namirembe in Kampala during the Sept. 24, 2023, UCU Sunday. Offertory collected on UCU Sunday in Anglican churches is donated to the university.

UCU Sunday: Christians pray, give to university

News, Scholarship


A Christian gives an offering at Saint Paul’s Cathedral Namirembe in Kampala during the Sept. 24, 2023, UCU Sunday. Offertory collected on UCU Sunday in Anglican churches is donated to the university.
A Christian gives an offering at Saint Paul’s Cathedral Namirembe in Kampala during the Sept. 24, 2023, UCU Sunday. Offertory collected on UCU Sunday in Anglican churches is donated to the university.

By Irene Best Nyapendi
Every last Sunday of September, Anglican churches in Uganda commemorate a Uganda Christian University (UCU) Sunday (UCU Sunday). UCU Sunday was established in 2017 by the Church of Uganda Bishops with three objectives: to pray for UCU; to mobilize financial resources to support UCU projects, especially infrastructure; and to raise awareness about the university. This tradition spans across Uganda, with every Church of Uganda participating.

On Sept. 24, 2023, Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, the UCU Vice Chancellor, prayed at All Saints Cathedral Kampala and thanked the congregation for supporting the university.

“We would like to join you to thank God for our provincial university — your prayers and unwavering support have brought forth miraculous transformations at UCU,” Prof. Mushengyezi said.

Prof. Mushengyezi reaffirmed the university’s role to continue training clergy for the Church of Uganda. Every year, the university admits two students from each diocese in the country and sponsors their theological training. 

The congregation prays for Uganda Christian University at Saint Paul’s Cathedral Namirembe in Kampala. Anglican churches throughout the country dedicate the last Sunday of September to pray for UCU and learn about developments at the Church-founded university.
The congregation prays for Uganda Christian University at Saint Paul’s Cathedral Namirembe in Kampala. Anglican churches throughout the country dedicate the last Sunday of September to pray for UCU and learn about developments at the Church-founded university.

“We also sponsor children of clergy who are struggling to pay tuition fees,” he said. “In 2022, we supported 22 students. Above all, we thank God that we have continued operating. And God is with us.”

This year’s UCU Sunday was themed “United for service and growth in Christ.” The amount raised in 2023 should be known by late November. 

UCU’s Church Relations Manager, Rev. Richard Mulindwa, introduced four strategic focus areas: scholarship schemes for clergy children; scholarships for the clergy; continuous training for the clergy; and infrastructure development, namely construction of the ordinands’ apartments. An ordinand is a person training to be a priest or church minister. The ordinands’ apartments will accommodate over 50 theology students at the university.

Rev. Mulindwa said as of last year, about sh400 million (about $113,000) had been fundraised for the ordinand apartment project’s estimated need of sh8.5billion (over $2.2million).

“Once the necessary funds are secured, construction will commence, further facilitating the university’s expansion,” Rev. Mulindwa said.

The Vicar of Saint Paul’s cathedral Namirembe Cathedral, Rev. Abraham Nsubuga Muyinda, urged church members to donate generously to UCU.

“We have to put our hands together and support our own university as we see it go to greater heights and continue to excel because it is the Centre of Excellence in the Heart of Africa,” he  said.

He said UCU couldn’t be a great university unless Christians collectively contributed funds and supported it as the Lord guided them. He emphasized that supporting the institution was crucial as many religious leaders, such as him, have been shaped by the university.

The UCU chaplain, Rev. Canon Eng. Paul Wasswa Ssembiro, preached at Saint Paul’s Cathedral Namirembe in Kampala. He highlighted the divine calling and need for equipping leaders in the church and discouraged competition among them. He instead encouraged participation in ministry.

“It is important for us to know that our unity comes from our identity,” he said. “We are one in Christ and so our attitude towards believers should be that of unity.”

Rev. Canon Ssembiro told the Christians that their generous giving bore fruits during the July graduation where of 1,006 graduates, 45 were pioneer students of medicine and nine from dentistry. The buildings established for  the schools of medicine and dentistry were made possible by  sh300 million (about $79,275) that was collected on the 2018 UCU Sunday. 

“On behalf of UCU, I thank you for your generosity over the years,” Rev. Ssembiro said. “It is through it that we have the UCU schools of medicine and dentistry, and it was our joy to see our pioneer students graduate this year in July.”

Martha Kobusinge and Moses Isebo, Christians at Namirembe Cathedral, expressed appreciation for the UCU Sunday information that educates those who aren’t affiliated with UCU. 

 “It’s through such days that we get to know what happens at UCU, the programs offered and the developments there,” Kobusinge said.

“I give to UCU as a service to God because it’s founded by the Church of Uganda,” Isebo said. .

++++

To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities, and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

The Chancellor of UCU, Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu (holding microphone), launching the For Just 10k campaign in June last year. Extreme left is Vice-Chancellor Aaron Mushengyezi.

UCU’s ‘For Just 10k’ campaign lifts hopes of needy students

News, Scholarship, Students


The Chancellor of UCU, Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu (holding microphone), launching the For Just 10k campaign in June last year. Extreme left is Vice-Chancellor Aaron Mushengyezi.
The Chancellor of UCU, Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu (holding microphone), launching the For Just 10k campaign in June last year. Extreme left is Vice-Chancellor Aaron Mushengyezi.

In June 2022, Uganda Christian University launched a fundraising campaign intended to support education of needy students at the institution. Named “For Just 10k,” the campaign was intended to raise sh1billion (about $270,000), that, according to Vice Chancellor Aaron Mushengyezi, will come in handy, especially for students who “struggle with their tuition and other needs.” Dorothy Tushemereirwe, a consultant who is coordinating the project, says people have contributed from as little as sh10,000 (about $2.6) to organizations donating even up to sh10million (about $2,600) towards the cause. The campaign has so far raised sh70million (about $18,800) that has supported up to 24 students. Kefa Senoga talked to three of the beneficiaries.

Bridget Kiwala
All was well for Bridget Kiwala’s family until their father, Grace Mugweri, was involved in an accident, which affected his backbone. Mugweri is a farmer. “My father always paid my full tuition and my accommodation fees at a hall of residence in the university,” said Kiwala, a student of Bachelor of Procurement and Logistics Management. However, she said all this has since changed. She is no longer residing in the hall and has opted for the cheaper alternative of staying with a relative in Mukono, not far from the university, to be able to commute to the university every day. 

As the end of last semester approached, Kiwala was staring at a possibility of not sitting her exams because she had not paid the full tuition. “When my mother heard that I would not sit my exams, she got hypertensive and yet she was the one looking after my bedridden father,” Kiwala said.

When Kiwala learned of the opportunity of getting a tuition top-up from the “Just For 10k Campaign,” she immediately applied. She was awarded a top-up of sh2,652,000 (about $714). Kiwala said that news made her feel like she was reborn.

She is now thinking of what happens next, since her father is still in hospital. “I have been doing some work during the holidays, such as washing people’s clothes and engaging in some other small businesses, in order to raise tuition for the next semester,” she said. 

Bazibu Magibu
To raise tuition, Bazibu Magibu says that he has had to make and sell bricks before every semester. He says he has been paying his tuition since Senior Four, when his parents stopped paying the school fees. 

However, last year, Magibu, a student pursuing a Diploma in Information Technology at UCU, failed to raise the full tuition for his last semester. He says when he appealed to the university administration for help, he was informed of the opportunity with the Just For 10k Campaign basket. He applied and was considered for the tuition top-up. 

Magibu, the sixth-born in a family of 15 children, says he is the only one in the family who has reached this far in education. Most of his siblings stopped in Senior Four due to lack of school fees. He says when he graduates, he hopes to return to university to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the same field. 

At $1,260, Byishimo Ronald was the top beneficiary of the funds that were disbursed to a total of 24 students last year.
At $1,260, Byishimo Ronald was the top beneficiary of the funds that were disbursed to a total of 24 students last year.

Byishimo Ronald
Byishimo, a year-three student of Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering, received the highest top up of tuition of sh4,695,333 (about $1,260) from the campaign basket.

The former student of Mengo Senior School said ever since he joined UCU, he has always had challenges with paying full tuition within the university’s stipulated period. He said about five family members contribute to his tuition, but that the contributions are still not enough.

“I got the scholarship one day to the start of exams and you can’t imagine how relieved I felt,” Byishimo said, noting that the benefactors have raised the hopes of many people who were staring at a possibility of missing exams. He says he has been touched by the generosity, and that in the future, he will endeavor to do the same for the underprivileged. Byimosho hopes to become a water engineer.

Partnerships
Tushemereirwe says that after learning about the cause of the campaign, organizations like Ubuntu Youth Leadership Centre have come on board as partners and have paid tuition for three final-year students – George Ojocheyi, Apili Peninah and Namiiro Benita – who are pursuing Bachelor of Laws at UCU. 

An individual who prefers to remain anonymous has committed to paying tuition for Nambuya Anna, a first-year student of Bachelor of Business Administration at UCU, until she completes studies.

UCU has introduced many such initiatives to empower needy students before, such as the student-driven Save a Buddy. The program is aimed at helping needy students who are unable to clear tuition and successfully sit for their end-of-semester examinations. Students contribute to help their less-fortunate peers through collections of money at the campus entrance gates, serving food in the dining hall to students, and fundraising through washing cars

How to donate for the ‘For Just 10k’ campaign
For direct deposits: +256774530810 in names of Dorothy Tushemereirwe or +13344240964 in the names of Mark Bartels (Reason for giving should be “For just 10k fundraiser”)

Online donations: Use GoFundMe (https://www.gofundme.com/f/needy-university-students) 

Direct cash deposits on Stanbic bank: Account name: Uganda Christian University. Account Number: 9030005916673.   

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Students who participated in the movie pose for a photo at the premiere.

UCU journalism students produce movie

News, Scholarship, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Journalism, Media and Communication


Students who participated in the movie pose for a photo at the premiere.
Students who participated in the movie pose for a photo at the premiere.

By Asenath Were and Vanessa Namukwaya
Uganda Christian University (UCU) students of Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication have turned their classroom knowledge into action by producing a short film about university life. The 11-minute film, named My Degree, with a cast of seven students, centers on the dangers of pride at the university. 

In the movie, Alexa, a final-year student is seeking an extra mark, to push her score from 49% to 50%. It is that one mark that is standing between Alexa and her graduation. The solution for her challenge lies with the head of department. 

At the department, Alexa discovers that there is a new person in the portfolio, someone she had never met. However, as she joins the queue to the office of the head of department, the office bearer arrives. Alexa told the head of department off, thinking she was one of the students, and reminding her that it was only proper that she joins the queue from the back if she wanted to meet the head of department. 

The head of department eventually finds her way into her office. When Alexa and the head of department finally met in the latter’s office, the former presented her request for an additional mark so she could be able to graduate. The head of department was clear in her response: “One mark is added to students who have been participating in class and are virtuous throughout the years. Your report does not show that.”

Brian Kaboggoza, a third-year student of Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication, who directed the movie, said the film’s theme is about students “failing in life because of pride and disrespect.” It does not cost anyone anything to respect others because you may despise someone who will rescue you one day,” he added.

The movie was a work in progress from June 2022 to its September 16, 2022, premiere at UCU’s Nkoyoyo Hall, according to Kaboggoza, who said the My Degree film “is a dream come true for me because I thought I needed to start my career right now since the opportunities and the equipment are available.” 

Kabogozza believes that the movie will not only market the School of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMC), but also the university, since it has the potential to attract students who are interested in making films.  

Brian Kaboggoza, the movie director, poses with the two main actresses, Deborah Anita Talemwa and Shalom Komugisa, at the movie premiere.
Brian Kaboggoza, the movie director, poses with the two main actresses, Deborah Anita Talemwa and Shalom Komugisa, at the movie premiere.

Kaboggoza encouraged his student colleagues not to wait for graduation to start putting classroom knowledge into practice. He said, “Anyone passionate about film making should start right now because there is opportunity to learn and get experience.”

The movie producer, Emmanuel Ilungole, is a third-year student. He said the time he spent on producing the movie helped him and his colleagues gain experience in audio balancing and teamwork. “It was the first time I was producing a movie, and the experience taught me that hard work pays.” 

The lead actress, Alexa, whose real name is Deborah Talemwa, is a second-year student. She said she joined the cast because she saw it as a learning opportunity for the film crew, but also as an avenue through which they could pass a message to fellow students about the consequences of their actions.  

The 11-minute short film that students produced

John Semakula, the head of the Department of Undergraduate Studies at the School of JMC, said the project consolidates the school’s position as a leading practical journalism training institution in Uganda.

“We pride ourselves in equipping students with practical skills in line with our curriculum that is heavily practical and, therefore, students’ projects, such as My Degree, make us feel proud that our efforts of skilling them have yielded positive results,” Semakula said. 

Emmanuel Ilungole, the movie producer.
Emmanuel Ilungole, the movie producer.

“Most of the work in this project was student-led,” he added. “The school’s main contribution was skilling and encouraging the students, plus providing the equipment.”

Kaboggoza said they have plans to produce more episodes concentrating on the life of a campus student. He, therefore, called upon all those able and willing to finance their projects. 

The movie is just one of the many practical projects that the School of JMC is engaged in. The students also produce a weekly TV news bulletin through the online channel The UCU Focus,  podcasts and multimedia stories on the Standard website. They previously produced a bi-monthly newspaper, The Standard, and assisted the Uganda Partners NGO with the July 2022 production of a newspaper called Ebenezer.      

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Gloria Clinton Kani says she looks forward to helping her family when she completes her course

South Sudan war breaks Kani’s family, but hardens her resolve

COVID-19, Scholarship, Students, UCU School of Social Sciences


Gloria Clinton Kani says she looks forward to helping her family when she completes her course
Gloria Clinton Kani says she looks forward to helping her family when she completes her course

By Kefa Senoga
In 21 years, South Sudanese refugee Gloria Clinton Kani has witnessed miracles countless times. Each time that she feels she has reached the end of the road, God gives her a new path. The latest revitalization was winning a scholarship for her degree program at Uganda Christian University (UCU). 

This, then, is part of her story.

When she completed Senior Six, Kani lobbied organizations, including the Ugandan government, for scholarship opportunities.

Gloria Clinton Kani, a South Sudan refugee student at UCU, narrating her story.

“After bringing my plight to light, I started getting calls from people, informing me of the available scholarship opportunities,” Kani said. One such opportunity that seemed promising was the scholarship offered by Finn Church Aid Uganda. However, Kani’s hope was crushed in January this year when she learned that her first application was not successful. When she re-applied, she was. 

Finn Church Aid Uganda is now paying Kani’s fees for the university accommodation and tuition for her Bachelor of Social Work and Social Administration course at UCU. 

Citing her frequent visits to the chapel at UCU, Kani says that the institution has enabled her to rebuild a relationship with God, because of its deep-rooted Christian values.

Life in a refugee camp

Kani, a daughter of two South Sudan nationals, was born in 2001, in Koboko, northern Uganda. Kani’s parents were among escapees of the southern Sudan civil war between the central government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. That war eventually led to a cessation of South Sudan from Sudan, and the former’s eventual independence in 2011. However, despite the closure, peace has eluded South Sudan.

In 2007, when temporary normalcy returned to southern Sudan, there was repatriation of the Sudanese refugees like Kani’s family that was in a Ugandan camp. Kani and her family were among the people who returned to their country. Kani’s home area is in Yei state, in the southern part of South Sudan.

However, the war has kept Kani from fully feeling the warmth of her cradle land. In 2013, Kani and some of her family members were again back in Uganda after fresh fighting erupted in her home country. 

“When our father abandoned us, our maternal uncle relocated us to Uganda so we could continue with our studies,” she said. Her mother, however, was not part of the people who came to Uganda at that time. 

In 2016, Kani’s uncle died in South Sudan, prompting the rest of the family members who had stayed behind to relocate to Uganda. Among them was Kani’s mother.

“We moved into Bidi Bidi refugee settlement in northern Uganda, but I spent two terms at home because my benefactor had been killed, so I had no other source of money for tuition,” Kani narrates. She was in Senior Three at the time. Her cousin who had completed Senior Six was designated to help some of the family members. He took up the responsibility of paying Kani’s school fees using proceeds from his job as a shopkeeper for a Ugandan family. 

However, there were instances when the tuition fees were beyond what Kani’s cousin could afford. In Senior Four third term, for instance, Kani got financial assistance from the mother of a friend while for two terms in Senior Six, Kani’s friend in the camp came to her rescue. By that time, her cousin had lost his job at the shop. The shop was one of the businesses closed due to a Covid-induced lockdown in Uganda.

Kani has been able to build for her mother a house in the settlement. She built using proceeds from a short term job she got during her Senior Six holidays, working as a translator for a Non-Governmental Organization. 

As she embarks on her degree course, Kani is fully aware of the financial challenges – taking care of her siblings – ahead of her after the studies. But for now, she focuses on the course, to get the best possible grades, which can boost her abilities to get a  job after school and meet those obligations.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

Also, follow us on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook.

Eyotaru Patricia graduated with a Bachelor of Laws at UCU, on October 22, 2021. Courtesy photo.

Uganda Partners answered prayer for Law school beneficiary

News, Scholarship, Students, UCU Alumni, UCU School of Law


Eyotaru Patricia graduated with a Bachelor of Laws at UCU, on October 22, 2021. Courtesy photo.
Eyotaru Patricia graduated with a Bachelor of Laws at UCU, on October 22, 2021. Courtesy photo.

By Joseph Lagen
When the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020 and with it, Uganda’s education lockdown, all hopes of completing school evaporated for Eyotaru Sandra Patricia. The Uganda Christian University (UCU) Law alumna says since she could not afford tuition, she saw no other way of completing the education race at UCU.

Indeed, when Eyotaru resorted to sharing her challenges with friends, she began to see light at the end of the tunnel.

“I was so downcast,” she said. “However, I was strengthened by my friends and family in the Umoja choir who constantly prayed and encouraged me until God answered our prayers.”

Singing with UCU’s Umoja and Chapel choirs provided Eyotaru a family of friends who, sometimes, also “served as a distraction from the stress and the challenges that came with worrying about my study and finances.”

Eyotaru’s prayers were fully answered when the UCU financial aid office made her aware of Uganda Partners, a US-based charity, which was able to pay her tuition balance. The 24-year-old was part of UCU’s graduation ceremony on October 22, 2021, receiving her Bachelor of Laws degree.

“Uganda Partners was like a guardian angel sent to me by God,” she says, adding, “They came to my rescue at a time when all my hopes of completing school had evaporated. May God reward the hands that gave through them.”

When schools were closed in March 2020, in Uganda, the government wanted to reduce concentration points which could spread the coronavirus faster. Such a move provided UCU the opportunity to test its online learning infrastructure. Students who were learning virtually were still expected to pay tuition, which was a challenge for Eyotaru’s family because her father, Rev. Johnson Andama, lost his job as an employee of UCU’s Arua campus.  

Eyotaru says joining UCU was a good decision from many perspectives. In addition to what she learned in class, the new graduate says she was able to acquire vital social skills. The Christian values and moral virtues, she says, were the much-needed cherry on top. 

“I came to the university as an introvert,” Eyotaru says, adding: “My time at UCU taught me how to compromise and live with people of various nationalities and ethnicities – each with their own lifestyle.”

As a result, some of the people Eyotaru met, she says, became as close to her as her family. Some even went as far as offering financial assistance to her during times she lacked necessities.

Now that she has completed undergraduate studies, Eyotaru is presently a volunteer at the Uganda Law Society’s Regional Legal Aid Project in Arua, her home district. She helps to provide pro-bono legal services to the underprivileged and the underserved in her community. She is waiting to enroll for a Diploma in Legal Practice at Uganda’s Law Development Centre (LDC). To practice law in Uganda, one must attain this qualification at the LDC. 

“I hope to pursue a master’s in law someday, so that I can be able to help the marginalized access justice better,” Eyotaru says.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Ochen (wearing glasses) with children during one of the children ministry outreaches. (Facebook photo)

Partners-sponsored Ochen benefits in business school journey

News, Scholarship, Students, UCU School of Business


Ochen (wearing glasses) with children during one of the children ministry outreaches. (Facebook photo)
Ochen (wearing glasses) with children during one of the children ministry outreaches. (Facebook photo)

By Joseph Lagen
In 2017, when Gabriel Trinity Ochen joined Uganda Christian University (UCU) to pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration course, it was a dream come true.

First, Ochen, 27, had always got positive reviews from his elder siblings who were students at the institution.

Second, he had been admitted to a course he felt struck a chord. And there is evidence that Ochen’s feelings were spot on because, no sooner had he completed his course at UCU than he started his own business in Moroto district, northeastern Uganda. He roasts meat which he sells in the evenings in Moroto town.

Ochen, one of the beneficiaries of the charity of Uganda Partners, was among the more than 3,000 people who graduated at UCU’s 22nd graduation ceremony on October 22, 2021. While continuing his meat business, Ochen is eyeing a desk job to enable him to pool some resources before he launches into full-time self-employment. He believes the knowledge he has attained from the three years he spent in the UCU lecture rooms are adequate enough to enable him to run a business enterprise.

“I intend to engage in commercial agriculture, through which I can empower the community in which I live,” Ochen says.

Ochen’s journey through school has been unforgettable. Having been born in a family of 10, paying tuition in a private university was not going to be easy for his mother, Betty Angeyo Oyo, a single parent. Ochen lost his father, Sam Odinga, in 1997, when he was just three years old.

To complete primary school and O’level, he got a scholarship for tuition from a Catholic Mission in his area – the Charity Sisters at Reginamondi Catholic Diocese in Moroto district. For A’level, when he got stuck on where to get finances for tuition, family friends and the extended family provided the support.

While Ochen’s benefactors were willing to help pay his tuition even for the undergraduate studies, they said they lacked the capacity. The uncertainty this situation brought made Ochen anxious.

 “The semester was always engaging and fun, but as it drew to a close, the fear of being unable to sit examinations because of outstanding tuition balances loomed,” he said. “It was a trying time for me.”

It was in times like those that Ochen received financial aid from both students and some members of the university administration. 

Ochen had joined the choir, from where he learned how to play the guitar. He was also a member of the institution’s band.

Gabriel Trinity Ocen (on stage, wearing blue shirt) during a community worship service at Nkoyoyo hall. (Facebook photo)
Gabriel Trinity Ocen (on stage, wearing blue shirt) during a community worship service at Nkoyoyo hall. (Facebook photo)

“I loved to play the guitar and sing with one of the school’s choirs, the Mustard Seed,” he said. “I was also part of the instrumentalists that played at the university’s main auditorium – Nkoyoyo Hall.”

It is through associations like these that made some people get to know him more closely.

 “I am grateful to the university staff that helped me process exemption passes when I was unable to meet the full tuition in time,” he says.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, many of Ochen’s benefactors were affected and so they could not continue supporting him. It was at that point that a friend, Jimmy, introduced him to the Uganda Partners and how to apply for the help he needed. Uganda Partners, through their sponsorship program, has assisted many other UCU students like Ochen.

“While I was initially hesitant, I saw the Uganda Partners poster calling for sponsorship applications. Thanks to them, I was able to clear my arrears.”

Through the university chapel, Thornycroft, Ochen has been able to do missionary work across the country.

“In 2018, I led a team of about 200 students to Moroto, northeastern Uganda, for ministry,” he said.  “Later, I was also part of the mission teams to other districts.”

It is the leadership skills Ochen acquired while serving in the university church that he holds dear and uses at his local church, St. Luke’s Chapel in Moroto district, where he currently resides. He says serving in the Church at UCU enabled him to pick life lessons, such as the need to persevere, no matter the challenges that life throws at him, as stated in Hebrews 12:1-2.

With the degree in the bag, as Ochen settles to find his footing in the field of work, he says he has his eyes equally set on marriage.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Pamela in Democratic Republic of Congo

UCU student strives to get fair wage labor for DR Congo mineral workers

Faculty of Engineering, Design & Technology, News, Scholarship


Pamela in Democratic Republic of Congo
Pamela in Democratic Republic of Congo

By Yasiri J. Kasango
The mineral-rich region where Pamela Mema was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo is playing a factor on who she becomes in life. Having grown up in Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province in eastern DR Congo, Mema saw firsthand how her kinsmen were extracting minerals through artisanal means – and sometimes would not be paid for their labor.

The 18-year-old is out to overturn this unfair labor practice. She wants to participate in the exploration of minerals so the development in her region reflects its mineral worth. It is the reason she enrolled for the Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering course at the Uganda Christian University (UCU).  

Mema is not in the course by accident. As early as secondary school, the daughter of Achille Biffumba and Christine Faida was studying science subjects, in preparation for an engineering course.

She attended Lycee Amani School in Goma. In her Senior Three, Mema specialized in biochemistry. Coming from a family of modest means, Mema’s parents struggled to raise the $500-a-year tuition. But that did not derail her concentration in class. She would later pass her exams with a distinction. 

Despite passing her exams, Mema was stuck financially. Her parents could not afford to pay for her university education. Then, Mema’s friends introduced her to the Belgium Foundation scholarships, which were meant for the brilliant, but economically-imperiled students in Goma. 

She applied. There were 200 applicants for seven full scholarship spots. The beneficiaries were to receive scholarships as well as accommodation fees from the foundation. Mema sat for the tests and did not disappoint. She was among the seven successful applicants. That is how she ended up in Uganda, at UCU.

Covid-19 and restrictions that included closing Uganda’s academic institutions in March 2020 brought added challenges. Mema had to live outside the Mukono campus gates. They were opened six months after, but only for final-year students. Higher institutions of learning opened their gates to the rest of the students in March 2021.

Being a first-timer in Uganda, culture shock occurred as expected. “At the hostel, I prepare my own meals because some Ugandan food caused me stomach discomfort,” she says.

Pamela at Uganda Christian University (UCU)
Pamela at Uganda Christian University (UCU)

At UCU, international students are given a bridging course for a year, to help them adapt to the local curriculum. They are also taught the English language because some of them, like Mema, are not from English-speaking countries. DR Congo uses French as its official language.

Pamela’s dream is to return to DR Congo and to set up a factory in North Kivu, where people in the area can earn fair wages from their sweat, unlike today, where some owners of mining centres exploit their labor. 

Grace Kesimire, a student of Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication and a Congolese national, says Mema is one of the most ambitious Congolese students, she has ever met. Mema advises her fellow Congolese students to concentrate on their studies so they are able to perform well and return “home” because their country needs their expertise. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org

Also, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

The Bartels family

2020 Global 5K participants from USA, Canada, Nigeria, Uganda

Faculty, Scholarship, Sports, Students, UCU Alumni, , , , , , , , ,


The Bartels family
The Bartels family

By Patty Huston-Holm

“If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.”

The African proverb was the essence for the first few years of the Global 5K, a five-kilometer (3.1 miles) walk/run/social engagement activity sponsored by the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Partners non-profit organization. Abby Bartels, who lived for 10 years on the University campus and raised three children there with her husband, Mark, is the founder.

The year was 2015 and a time when many organizations were jumping on a 5K fund-raising bandwagon. For UCU Partners, it was less about raising money and more about building a relationship base among alumni of the Uganda Studies Program (USP), a one-semester, UCU learning experience for students enrolled in Christian universities, mostly in the United States. Mark Bartels, executive director for UCU Partners, started USP on the UCU Mukono campus. UCU Partners values USP alumni because they are a unique set of donors who have lived and studied at UCU.

“The event was actually better than expected because it strengthened connections not just with American students but with Honor’s College students and staff,” Abby, now living in Pennsylvania, said. “In addition to a time for remembering and re-connecting about a cultural, Christ-centered experience, it became an opportunity to raise money for Ugandan students in need.”

According to Ashton Davey, UCU Partners fundraising coordinator and facilitator for the 2020 Global 5K, nearly 200 people participated this year. Despite the hiccup of having an event on April 4 in the midst of worldwide COVID-19 lockdowns, more than $3,000 was generated, mostly by participant purchases of the event’s green T-shirt.  The funds will supplement tuition for 12 needy students at UCU.

“Many participants found the Global 5K to be good motivation to get out of the house and simultaneously support a great cause,” Ashton said. “The event’s flexibility allowed people to participate alone from wherever they live, which allowed them to adhere to social distancing guidelines.”

So what was it like engaging in an event during an unprecedented worldwide pandemic?  From Canada, Nigeria and Uganda, and nearly half of the 50 USA states, here is a sample of thoughts compiled from virtual interviews.

  • Atimango Innocent (Minna, Nigeria) – former UCU Honors College student who previously benefited from the scholarship assistance and was once a USP staff member; now engaged with The Navigators, two-year discipleship training program
Innocent, running in Nigeria
Innocent, running in Nigeria

In the midst of focusing on Mathew 28: 19-20 and its message about “making disciples of all nations,” Innocent and a friend, Drew Uduimoh, did 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) for the Global 5K. She has done it every year except for maybe one when the event didn’t get off the ground. For 2020 and while Nigeria reported more than 800 virus cases, she jogged around the town where she lives with no lockdown restrictions.

“I feel personal about it since I was one of the students who benefited directly from the funding,” she said of the Global 5K. “But I also find it a time to do reflections on people and on the Lord.”

  • Mikaela Hummel (Pakenham, Ontario, Canada) – USP student in 2019, while studying at Houghton (NY) College, where she receives her undergraduate degree in May; preparing to begin studies for a Masters of Science degree in physiotherapy
Mikaela, at right, with her family in Canada
Mikaela, at right, with her family in Canada

On the day of the Global 5K, it was 10 Celsius (50 Fahrenheit) in Pakenham, Ontario, where Mikaela participated in the event with her mom, dad, sister and dog. She wore long sleeves under her green shirt and her traditional African kitenge-design shorts. The area where they ran was a bit quieter than usual as COVID-19 restrictions had most stores closed and gatherings limited to five people or less.

“The experience in Uganda helped me to pause and think about what is really important in life,” she said. “The Global 5K is a time to reflect on that again. The pandemic puts the brakes on even stronger, reminding us to trust God.”

  • Erin Neilson (Gallup, New Mexico) – USP student in 2006 while majoring in music at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pa.; now raising two children and serving on a church music team with her husband, Phil, a middle school English teacher and also a 2006 USP student and USP program assistant 2008-2009
USP alumni, Erin and Phil, and family in New Mexico
USP alumni, Erin and Phil, and family in New Mexico

On the date of the 5K Zoom discussion on April 20, New Mexico had more than 2,000 confirmed cases of cornonavirus. Sixteen days earlier, the Neilson family of four, living in a small town near part of the Navajo Nation, did 5 kilometers.  A special highlight was that Christiana, age 5, made the entire distance on her own. Caleb, a toddler, was carried.

“We had been hoping to hike with friends, but due to social distancing requirements, we ended up with time just as a family,” Erin said.  Fourteen years after our USP experience I am reminded of the value Ugandans place on presence and am trying to live that daily with my children.”

  • Laura Sollenberger (Gainesville, Florida) – USP student in 2018 while majoring in exercise science at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pa.; now finishing her Penn State University bachelor’s degree in nursing through on-line classes while living back home with her parents
Global 5K Zoom with Laura (in Florida)
Global 5K Zoom with Laura (in Florida)

For Laura, her career move from occupational therapy to nursing was stimulated by a 150-hour internship at the Church of Uganda hospital (Mukono), where she realized the intimate and critical role of health care workers at a patient’s side. COVID-19 has reinforced that decision with some frustration that she can’t be on the front line now; she graduates in December.

Laura’s UCU experience in 2018 was “life-changing with deeper connections to friends and God, clearer purpose, better understanding of systemic injustices, and the challenge of learning from new cultural perspectives,” she said.

Laura planned to re-connect with 10 of those friends by participating in the Global 5K and making rolex afterwards in Lancaster, Pa. Instead, she is sheltered with family in her home state of Florida. Her mom and dad did the 5K with her.

“We did a Zoom afterwards,” she said of her USP friends. She added, “I will definitely go back to Uganda someday.”

  • Molho Bernard (Kilowoza/Mukono District, Uganda) – 2018 UCU graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Education, working with the Honors College and USP up to February 2020 when Ugandan universities closed due to COVID restrictions while pursuing a Masters of Education in Planning and Administration.
Bernard and young friend, Matthew
Bernard and young friend, Matthew

On April 4, Bernard engaged in his second Global 5K by walking around his compound – different than the previous year when there were more people and it occurred on the campus.  His “informal” companion during his warm-up with push ups and laps around the compound was a two-year-old named Mathew who lives in the same area and “loves coming to my room to watch me do some art work.” The 5K has special meaning to Bernard as he was once a recipient of the money raised through the event.

“In 2018, my family was going through a financial breakdown, and I was afraid of getting a dead semester,” he said. “Through the proceeds of 5K through UCU Partners, I was able to have my tuition and graduation fees cleared.”

Bernard continues to appreciate the Christian and academic standards at UCU. The environment has enabled him to “know Christ more, and I have grown up more in loving, trusting and obeying Him.”

Ashton, who splits her time between Uganda and Kansas, said it was “heartwarming” to see social media posts of people supporting Uganda Christian University in the 5K green T-shirts – from those  “running in rural villages in Uganda and families hiking to wave across the state border at each other to USP alumni organizing a Zoom call to reflect on the lessons they learned in Uganda.”

+++

To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org. For more information or with ideas for the 2021 Global 5K, contact Ashton at ashton@ugandapartners.org.

UCU students Ivan Mutesasira and Mildred Nampala pose with chess and “overcomer” coach Robert Katende. All are from Katwe. (UCU Partners Photo)

Uganda has many ‘kings’ and ‘queens’ of Katwe, including at UCU

Faculty of Engineering, Design & Technology, News, Scholarship, , , , , , , , , ,


UCU students Ivan Mutesasira and Mildred Nampala pose with chess and “overcomer” coach Robert Katende. All are from Katwe. (UCU Partners Photo)
UCU students Ivan Mutesasira and Mildred Nampala pose with chess and “overcomer” coach Robert Katende. All are from Katwe. (UCU Partners Photo)

By Patty Huston-Holm

In the game of chess, if you lose the queen, most players forfeit.

Not so for Robert Katende, best known as the chess coach for Phiona Mutesi, the Ugandan slum girl featured for overcoming the odds of poverty in the “Queen of Katwe” movie. Not so for Ugandan Madina Nalwanga who had never seen a movie before being plucked from a line up to portray Phiona in the 2016 movie.  And not so for chess players and Katwe slum residents Ivan Mutesasira and Mildred Nampala, studying at Uganda Christian University (UCU) in 2020.

The list of Katende-influenced, overcomer names is long and growing.

Children learning about life and chess at SOM Chess Academy in Katwe (UCU Partners Photo)
Children learning about life and chess at SOM Chess Academy in Katwe (UCU Partners Photo)

The game of chess and the Sports Outreach Ministry (SOM) Chess Academy compound in Katwe are the visible ties between Katende and his protégé students. Yet, the most valued of 16 chess pieces – the queen who can move in all directions on 64 squares of the game – symbolizes much more. Katende and his young chess players have suffered losses that would cause most people to quit. But they didn’t.

On a hot, sunny day in early January 2020, more than 50 children surround Katende at the academy. He calls them “kings” and “queens” because, he says, they can rise to the top despite their poverty and other vulnerabilities.  They call Katende “coach” as they learn not only how to play the game of chess but how to maneuver through life.

On break from regular school, the poorest of Kampala’s boys and girls ages three to teens, play or silently watch two-player teams at a dozen handmade, wooden chessboards. They sit or lean against each other under an avocado tree, within a three-sided tent or in the building that also houses Katende’s small office at the academy. Katende tells some of his story behind the better-known one about Phiona.  It also is detailed in his newly released book, “A Knight without a Castle.”

Coach Robert Katende at the academy in Katwe (UCU Partners Photo)
Coach Robert Katende at the academy in Katwe (UCU Partners Photo)

Katende lost his “queen” – his mother – who abandoned him before he was a year old.  As he grew, he felt so abused and unwanted that his only deterrent from killing himself was that he couldn’t scrape up enough money to buy rat poison to do it. He persevered with a life that often found him sleeping on cardboard with his grandmother and a younger child, suffering injuries that included a dislocated wrist wracked with pain as he successfully completed written exams, and digging his fingers into gardens and laying bricks to work his way through school while oftentimes being cheated out of wages.

Today, the former mathematics teacher with a university degree is the backbone of the Academy located in Katwe, which is the poorest slum in Uganda’s capital city of Kampala. The Academy is a haven in a village best known for high illiteracy, poor housing, prostitution and low employment except for metal workers who get accolades for their skill in crafting beds and sheds. The chess coach also leads the newer Robert Katende Initiative, a child-uplifting, fund-raising arm based in the United States.

“I see myself as a moving miracle,” he said. “It is not of my own making. God has chosen me to glorify His name. I have no reason to be alive but for His Purpose.”

Katende’s story is one he would rather tell through the next generation that he might have inspired.  That generation includes:

  • famous Phiona, now studying business at Northwest University (Kirkland, Washington), where another Katwe chess player (depicted in the movie as the boy clicking his fingers a lot) named Benjamin also is enrolled with a dream to become a neurosurgeon;
  • teenagers named David, Lydia, Gloria and Stella who auditioned as young, poor Katwe children and received supporting roles in the movie;
  • two student chess players enrolled in engineering at the Mukono campus of UCU. There, with the hand of the university’s Vice Chancellor, the Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) exists to serve the underserved with the Academy – if there is financial support.

Through the UCU Partners organization, based in the USA state of Pennsylvania, San Antonio, Texas, resident, Sandra Lamprecht, offered that first support. She sponsors the two UCU students, Ivan Mutesasira and Mildred Nampala.  Already an admirer of UCU quality curriculum and character-building education and with family in Uganda, the United States woman saw the “Queen of Katwe” movie in 2016, met Katende in 2017, and felt led to help.

With Katende’s recommendation and facilitated by the MOU at UCU, Lamprecht first agreed to be the American “mom” for Ivan Mutesasira, who is a lesser-known character in the “Queen of Katwe” movie.

“I’m the guy with the hat,” Ivan commented amidst the young chess players, including one hanging onto his leg on this January 8 day. He smiled as he referred to his movie portrayal as a member of the chess team that traveled more than a decade ago with Phiona to Juba, South Sudan, and the tournament where she won and garnered international attention through the media, a book and then a movie.

Like Katende, Ivan, who is now 28 years old, believes his life outside the movie better defines him and God’s purpose.

“The movie touches me because I lived it – paying for water and fetching it in a jerry can, sharing pit latrines, no electricity,” Ivan recalled. “My parents divorced when I was age five. There were five of us as children with a mom supporting us by selling vegetables at the market.”

While he was raised Christian and went to church, Ivan saw his life take an upward turn when, at age 12, he met Katende. Through moves on a chess board, the young Ivan learned discipline, responsibility, strategic planning, action consequences and that someone – the coach and God – believed in him and loved him.

“My friends were dropping out of school and having unplanned children,” Ivan said. “I was learning to accept and appreciate what I had, trusting in God, praying and playing chess.”

What Ivan learned through the chess academy is continuing at UCU, where character building is incorporated into his program in Civil and Environmental Engineering.  Upon his graduation with a bachelor’s degree in July 2021, he hopes to make a difference in the place where he grew up.

“That building is wrong structurally,” he said, pointing to a crumbling residence towering three stories above the Katwe academy. “Effluent from the upstairs bathroom is flowing down into people’s rooms. That’s part of what I want to fix to improve lives.”

Mildred Nampala, 21, and the second Katwe youth sponsored at UCU by Sandra Lamprecht, likewise wants to be part of the solution to her country’s poverty issues. She is a year behind Ivan at UCU and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in electronics and communication engineering.

One of three children, Mildred never knew her father who died when she was a toddler; her mother died when she was 12 years old. She served as a house cleaner and cook in exchange for school fees and a place to live with an uncle, his wife and five children until one of the biological children got pregnant out of wedlock. Out of fear that the same would happen with Mildred, the uncle kicked her out of the house. She found refuge in various homes, including that of her sister who works as Katende’s accountant.

Mildred found refuge in chess.  The game also reinforced the value of teamwork with all the pieces working together under the guidance of the players. And the “Queen of Katwe” movie that Mildred has “watched more times than I can count” reinforces that she and others in poverty can be more.

While he has had offers to relocate with other organizations and in developed countries, Katende says he is called to remain in his Katwe birthplace. As he looks around and admires the mechanical skills of the less-educated population of the slum, he aspires to grow the chess academy focus into a vocational school within the next few years.

“The school will go there,” he said, pointing to an area near the academy’s single avocado tree and below crumbling houses and rows of laundry blowing in the dusty wind.

This Katende and others know: Millions of people around the world play chess. Losing a queen early on doesn’t mean you lost the game.

+++

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.

+++

Fulbright Professor David Hodge with wife and daughters on the Uganda Christian University, Mukono, campus

Arizona professor lives his research dream in Uganda

Faculty, Scholarship, , , , ,


Fulbright Professor David Hodge with wife and daughters on the Uganda Christian University, Mukono, campus
Fulbright Professor David Hodge with wife and daughters on the Uganda Christian University, Mukono, campus

By Benezeri Wanjala

Relaxing at his new home-away-from-home on the leafy, expansive Uganda Christian University (UCU) in Mukono, American Professor David Hodge talked about his life. He is a social worker, researcher and teacher. He is married to Crystal, and they have two daughters, Esther and Rachael, ages 15 and 12.

A lecturer of Social Work at Arizona State University in Phoenix, USA, he’s here for a year – through June 2020 – as a Fulbright Scholar, he says. His specialty is spirituality and religion.

As we chatted, Mrs. Hodge offered me a beverage. Their children were away at school.

David Hodge
David Hodge

Hodge outlined the process of obtaining the scholarship: “When you apply for a Fulbright, you have to come up with some sort of plan that you will execute. Then you go through an extensive review process, which is evaluated by external reviewers who decide whether it is a good fit or something they want to support.”

He teaches a Master’s in Social Work class at the UCU Kampala campus. The program classes are condensed into three days – Thursday, Friday and Saturday. This arrangement is typical for advanced degrees, he says, because it enables students to work during the rest of the days in a week. His particular class in religion and spirituality takes place on Thursday evenings.

However, teaching is one of two components of his yearlong Fulbright scholarship. The second is research. He is developing tools and approaches to help social workers tap into clients’ spiritual strengths. His research project involves making the tools “consistent and congruent with Ugandan culture.” The research tools are qualitative in nature, as opposed to quantitative.

“I will take the questions and approaches, and I’ll ask social workers how I can make them more consistent with cultural norms,” he says. His previous writings have evolved around Christianity, Islamism, Hinduism and some indigenous tribal religions.

“My career has been focused on helping social workers work with clients’ spiritual and religious strengths in an ethical and professional manner,” he continued. “My academic work pretty much all revolves around spirituality, religion and culture.”

He obtained his PhD from one of the most respected schools of Social Work in the United States, the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Thereafter, he did post-doctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2005, he joined Arizona State University, one of America’s largest universities. Ten years later, he became a full professor. He also served as head of the PhD program for six years before stepping down to pursue the Fulbright scholarship opportunity. The Fulbright at UCU was attractive because of the East African reputation for spirituality.

“It is a faith-based school and its mission is to achieve excellence in the heart of Africa,” he says.  “When you look at the demographic data, Sub-Saharan Africa is the most spiritual and religious geographic area in the world. For my work, you can’t think of a better environment.”

Additionally, Hodge has found fascination in the food, wildlife and other cultural aspects of Uganda.

“There are all kinds of monkeys that jump around in the compound and on the roof,” he remarks with a smile. “We don’t have that in America. The monkeys there are in zoos. Here they are out swinging in trees. So I took some pictures and sent them to my parents, and they found it interesting.”

He has enjoyed all the Ugandan food he has tasted so far.

“I haven’t had rolex yet, though,” he admits. Rolex is a Ugandan street delicacy, composed of eggs wrapped into a bread called chapatti.  He says he likes the vegetables in particular and he buys them from the local market.

He also likes the weather. “You can have your windows open all the time. That’s a real luxury. In Arizona, it’s desert. It goes as high as 40 and 50 degrees Celsius during the summer. In the winter it goes down to close to zero.”

The transition to Uganda has not been without challenges. While they have made new friends, his daughters are finding it slightly harder to adapt, especially at school. They study at an International School, which is on the Northern Bypass of Kampala and involves a lengthy transport time from their home on the main UCU campus in Mukono.

“They had only been to one school their whole life before they came to Uganda,” he said. “They have to go to bed very early and wake up early as well. I am lucky because I only need to go to Kampala once a week.”

Land transportation in Uganda is a challenge for the entire family. Hodge and is wife do not have international driver’s licenses. Traffic jams are commonplace while traffic lights and drivers with licenses for the cars, taxis and motorcycles are not.

He has found the difference in the standards of time interesting. While Americans are extremely time conscious, Ugandans are not.

“My Ugandan friend says, ‘People from the West check their watches for the time, but Ugandans have the time’.”

He continued: “The way I look at it is different. People prioritize values differently. For example, Americans tend to prioritize efficiency over relationships. Ugandans prioritize relationships over efficiency. Societies are structured differently. And that’s one of the things I like about Ugandans. They are warm and friendly, but that means when you’re talking to someone, you might not be able to make it for your next meeting. It’s hard to optimize all your values simultaneously.”

Prof. Hodge is looking forward to the rest of his time in Uganda, both professionally and personally.

“On the personal end, I am looking forward to learning more about the Ugandan culture,” he said. “And I’d like to see some of the wonderful sites in the country like Lake Victoria and the source of the River Nile.”

+++++

For more of these stories and experiences surrounding Uganda Christian University, visit https://www.ugandapartners.org. If you would like to support UCU, contact Mark Bartels, Executive Director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or go to https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/

Also follow and like our Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages.

+++

Paul Robinson, right, with Tate Keko, Maasai elder, in Loita, Kenya, 1992

Servanthood at the core for UCU Fulbright

Faculty, Scholarship, , , , , , , ,


Paul Robinson, right, with Tate Keko, Maasai elder, in Loita, Kenya, 1992
Paul Robinson, right, with Tate Keko, Maasai elder, in Loita, Kenya, 1992

(The Fulbright Program is designed to improve intercultural relations, diplomacy and competence between people in the United States and other countries. This is the second of three stories about American Fulbright Scholars serving with Uganda Christian University.)

By Patty Huston-Holm

“It all starts with a conversation,” said Paul W. Robinson.

Amidst raindrops on fig and lemon trees, sips of hot tea and bites of freshly made banana bread on a chilly Friday afternoon, Dr. Robinson shared what he felt would be the beginning, middle and ending of his appointment as a United States Fulbright Scholar. He spoke from the patio of the Uganda Christian University (UCU) apartment of his daughter, Rachel, who directs the Council for Christian Colleges and University Uganda Studies Program on the Mukono campus.

Margie and Paul Robinson
Margie and Paul Robinson

“Ultimately, it’s about servanthood,” he said, distracted briefly as he and his wife, Margie, pointed to the delightful sights and sounds of the African parrot. “For all cultures and not just people who are Christian, this is key. To serve, you begin with listening.”

Forty years of teaching African history, anthropology, development studies, research methodologies and community health with half in East Africa, plus 65 years of life and learning, have told him so. The Wheaton College (Ill.) Professor Emeritus and Fulbright Scholar will spend the next year with UCU’s Institute of Faith, Learning and Service to help nurture and deepen the university’s practice of integrating the Institute’s three components for students, staff and programs. African leaders, including the late South African President Nelson Mandela and Nobel Laureate and Kenyan Professor Wangari  Maathai affirm that Africa’s greatest challenge is developing leadership that is intellectually grounded, ethically formed and committed to service.

Robinson hopes that in some small way that he can support the work of UCU colleagues leading the Institute that was launched in 2010 as well as those within the School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies who share his servanthood passion.

“It’s my understanding that in some regards as the university grew in 20 years, it faced challenges that resulted in a diminished focus on faith and learning,” said Robinson, who has studied and taught in several American and African universities. “This is a pretty common experience in Christian higher education globally. Institutions frequently lose their core.”

Robinson was born in the Belgian Congo as a son of missionaries. When he was age eight, his family fled as refugees from the Congo’s first post-independence civil war to Kenya. There, he met and later married Margie, his high school sweetheart who also was born in the Congo. Together, they forged a life crossing continents and raising three children while being engaged in university teaching, development and church service.

His life and work were informed by a two-year academic and spiritual journey in the desert areas of Kenya and Ethiopia while doing field research for his Northwestern University doctoral dissertation. During that time, he had conversations with sages of the Gabra camel-herding culture to learn how they survived and flourished in one of Africa’s harshest physical environments.

“It’s important to recognize that we all can learn from each other,” said Robinson, who is an American citizen with some roots in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Montana but who considers Africa another home. “We should never be so busy with the reality of where we live that we can’t do that.”

Robinson’s long list of service includes: director of an international study program at St. Lawrence University (Nairobi, Kenya); leader of a USAID-funded initiative responding to the East African HIV-AIDs epidemic; co-founder of The Christian Bilingual University (Congo); elder involved in urbanization work at Nairobi (Kenya) Chapel; and director of a Wheaton College Human Needs and Global Resources Program that engages 200 organizations in 40 countries worldwide. He also continues to serve on boards for a half dozen Christian organizations involved in education, development and missions.

While the Western world sees its role as serving less-developed countries of “the majority world,” Robinson believes that “at the heart of service is a commitment to listening, learning and being present.” Countries known as “developed” have a lot to learn from those they would serve about injustice, suffering, community and more. The traumas of Africa – “fleeing from post-independence Congolese militias, soldiers with guns at barriers and borders, losses and heartache” – remain a part of him, but the “courageousness, resilience, hospitality  and generosity of African people and the vibrancy of Africa’s vegetation, tall elephant grass, bird song, hearth-smoke in evenings and mornings” are stronger, he says.

“Africa is a place where people care deeply about their neighbors and want to help them, and serve them,” Robinson said. “It is a continent of abundant and rich resources that could be the life-blood of its peoples, but because of poor leadership and a global economic system that primarily extracts its resources, Africa remains a continent of deep inequalities and poverty.”

In addition to research student involving UCU’s climate and culture, the professor will teach two courses that focus on global perspectives and transforming poverty.

Paul Robinson looks at UCU’s mission, vision and core values, realizing that often for all universities, these are words forgotten or misplaced in the midst of daily tasks of listening to student stories of financial woes, teaching and grading papers. The UCU commitment to offering a “complete education for a complete” person aligns and resonates with his core passions and work.

“How do you effectively teach a whole person?” he asked. “You need to look at the foundational questions of what knowledge should be understood, what skills should be developed, what attitudes fostered, what values modeled, what experience needs to be involved and finally but most importantly, what service should be incorporated.”

With answers to these questions as a baseline, Robinson hopes that a process will be deepened to encourage a more concrete and sustainable model to strengthen UCU.

+++

To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at mtbartels@gmail.com.

+++

Sheila, center, is shown with some faculty at Bishop Barham University, Kabale, where she assisted in her role as an intern with the fifth annual dissertation writing and research clinic in 2019. (UCU Partners photo)

Sheila Ainembabazi, 2019 UCU Literacy Project Intern: ‘God will make a way’

Scholarship, UCU Alumni, , , , , , ,


Sheila, center, is shown with some faculty at Bishop Barham University, Kabale, where she assisted in her role as an intern with the fifth annual dissertation writing and research clinic in 2019. (UCU Partners photo)
Sheila, center, is shown with some faculty at Bishop Barham University, Kabale, where she assisted in her role as an intern with the fifth annual dissertation writing and research clinic in 2019. (UCU Partners photo)

(LAST OF FOUR PARTS: This article features one of 10 interns hired to assist with the five-year-old Uganda Christian University dissertation research and writing training. She was selected from among 200 applicants. In addition to serving post-graduate students through the clinic, interns build their own resumes and obtain jobs or further education opportunities. Parts I, II and III can be accessed at those links. A video is here.)

By Patty Huston-Holm

When Sheila was born in 1996, she was given the Ugandan name Ainembabazi, which in her Runyankole mother tongue language means “God has grace.”  She was the first born of Frank Kamukama, a vocational agricultural teacher, and Grace Kiconco, a housewife and part-time shop owner who sells basic household items in their Western Uganda Mbarara District.

Her younger sister, Franklin, got the name Ainomugisha, which means “God has blessings.”  Her two brothers, Kelvin Ainamaani and Alvin Ainebyoona, have Ugandan names translated to “God has power” and “God is everything,” respectively.

God, obviously, is central to the family.

Sheila Ainembazi, intern
Sheila Ainembazi, intern

Thus, on the September 2, 2019, morning of this interview, Sheila praised the Lord for placing her in the next phase of her studies to be an attorney.  While disappointed that she would be in a nine-month Law Development Centre (LDC) program in Mbarara and not alongside her best friend, Ruth, chosen to study in Kampala (269 kilometers or 167 miles away), she was grateful. Sheila and Ruth, who graduated in July 2019 with Bachelors of Law degrees from Uganda Christian University, received entry into the country’s LDC program with classes starting September 23. Due to some Ministry of Justice disagreement, this cohort of students was not required to take the usual pre-entry exam to qualify for this phase.

Coming from humble beginnings, Sheila has been able to find blessings and patience wherever she has been placed.

At UCU, she was a work study student who rose early each morning to clean offices, dust library books, prepare tea and make deliveries before her classes as part of her tuition reimbursement. She learned the value of being “the least of these” and appreciation to those who noticed and thanked her for her work, including Dr. Joseph Owor in the School of Research and Post-Graduate Studies (SRPGS).

While studying law on the UCU Mukono campus, she became especially concerned with Ugandans who were mistreated due largely to their literacy levels.  Her final research paper focused in the inequalities and legal violations related to land ownership and transfer rights, especially as it pertains to women.

“Most Ugandans are illiterate,” the 23-year-old said. “They go in and buy a two-page book and write sale agreements and think they are done until they save money and go further to register their land.  Then a richer, more literate person comes in and agrees to pay more and gets a title. For women, a husband dies or leaves, and the clan pushes her and the children out even though she legally has ownership.  These are some of the issues I want to help with.”

Noticing injustices, Sheila reflected, has been part of her life for quite some time.  A leader in her high school, she often noticed student issues and brought them to the attention of administrators.

“I remember we were being served old food at the canteen,” she said.  “The mandazi (fried doughnuts) were molded.  We broke them open and saw it.  I brought that to the attention of our school leaders, and it was resolved.”

Sheila understands being shunned and humbled.  Not all around her at UCU understood or valued her janitorial work.

“One student (in Law) told me that doing a maid’s work was not good for my career,” she recalled.  “He said people don’t trust a cleaner.”

But one such person who did trust her was the Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, UCU’s vice chancellor.  He observed her diligence and hard work and, along with his wife, Ruth, decided to provide Sheila with lodging at their house as part of their support of her scholarship in her final two years. Being able to work and live on campus and have her housing and some food provided enabled Sheila to focus more and excel higher in her studies.

For this, she is grateful, along with being chosen as a 2019 intern for the UCU Partners and SRPGS co-sponsored clinic to help post-graduate students. She learned a lot about technology, organization, time lines and service.

Today, she is concerned about paying fees for her next nine-month law study program.  Some of her payment of $400 for three months work in the internship will help. She is praying for more support.

“God will make a way,” she said.  “God has made a way.”

+++

To support Uganda Christian University programs, including the post-graduate literacy program, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at mtbartels@gmail.com.

+++

‘My life is a footprint of God’

Scholarship, UCU Alumni, , , , , ,


Namangale (third right) heads for her degree

By Douglas Olum

“My life was surrounded by death, death and death. Sometimes we read about faith in the Bible and doubt it, but for me, I have seen and experienced it.”

Such were some of the reflections of 27-year-old Jane Najale Namangale as she was recognized as the overall best performer at the 4th part of the 20th Uganda Christian University graduation ceremony on October 25, 2019. She scored a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.82 out of 5.00.  She was among 32 first class graduands out of a total of 1,200 who marched on the red carpet that Friday.

While she was being celebrated, Namangale did not have a parent or relative who accompanied her to witness her victory. In her cheering section was a friend, Kelly Rompel, an American Missionary based in Uganda. The reason for lack of blood relatives was that death took almost everyone around her.

One of six children, Namangale never saw her father because she was born months after his death. Her mother, Mary Auma, died six months after her birth. Left in the hands of her aged grandmother, the baby Namangale could not receive the adequate care needed. A local, missionary founded childcare organization, Good Shepherd, took her and one brother. Three sisters and another brother, fathered by a different man, were taken by that man.

At Good Shepherd, Namangale and many other children received food, medication, health care, clothing, education, among other needs. She also got spiritual nourishment at the center.

However, she was dropped from the organization’s care after she finished her secondary (Ordinary Level) education because of policy issues. But an American missionary family, took her on because she had no home to go to. The family of Michael Templeton took her through high school to acquire the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education.

But when the Templeton’s left Uganda, Namangale and some of her friends started selling fruits in the Eastern Uganda, Jinja town, for survival. For about three years, she was in this trade before she got a cleaning job with Cherish Uganda, another childcare organization. She worked with the organization for four years.

It was from Cherish Uganda that the grown up Namangale interacted with disadvantaged children, most of who had mental health problems, and developed the desire to practice social work. She wanted to return to school and pursue a degree in social work but her earning was too little to take her to a university.

“I shared my feelings, prayed about it and also asked my friends to join me in the prayer,” Namangale said. “Mine was nothing but pure faith.”

A few months later, one of her brothers from her step dad offered to pay for her studies at the university. Namangale was admitted to the UCU Social Work and Social Administration program. But during her first semester at the university, her brother, Walter Wanjala, who was an architect, got involved in a fatal motor vehicle accident that claimed his life. It was especially heartbreaking as this was her closest relative.

“At that point, I got so angry with God,” Namangale said. “I felt like any other person could have gone but not him because he was the full package of both a brother and parent. I even doubted God and kept asking: Why, why, why? But that was the time I saw God’s hands.”

An American friend to her former guardian, Templeton, came to her rescue. He had been trying to get in touch with her and help her for quite some time. Immediately, he took care of her tuition and all academic related needs.

“I gave education my best because I knew this was the only chance I have,” Namangale said. “If I delayed to graduate, there was going to be no other source of money to see me through school.”

As she graduated, three of her five siblings have all died. The other two returned to their roots somewhere in Kenya.

Despite obstacles and a void of family, Namangale sees her life as “a footprint of God” – one that will enable her to positively impact children with disabilities by establishing a care center for them and to help older students as a university lecturer. She believes that God has a purpose for which he allowed her to go through all the hardships.

+++

To support UCU students, programs and facilities, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at mtbartels@gmail.com or at UCU Partners, P.O. Box 114, Sewickley, Pa. 15143.

Also, follow up on Facebook or Instagram.

Matende Wilson with his mother on his graduation day in October 2018. (UCU Partners Photo)

UCU Partners Scholarship support for single mothers

Scholarship, UCU Alumni, , , , , ,


Matende Wilson with his mother on his graduation day in October 2018. (UCU Partners Photo)
Matende Wilson with his mother on his graduation day in October 2018. (UCU Partners Photo)

By Brendah Ndagire

One of the challenges of being a single mother – worldwide and in Uganda – is meeting the responsibility of educating children. The 2016 World Bank report shows that 26.90% of households are ‘Female Headed’ in Uganda. The reality is that Ugandans estimate the percentage of both female-headed homes and/or single-parent homes to be higher.

And the challenge is that Uganda as a nation struggles with the problem of research deficiency, largely due to the fact that majority of the population lives in rural areas, where such data, if collected, can be easily skewed.

Organizations such as the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA- Uganda) and Single Parents Association of Uganda (SPU) that work primarily on women issues, report that Ugandan women are single mothers for different reasons. Causes include death of the father to a disease or accident and/or father accusation of a crime and/or incarceration; unemployment of both parents; and willful abandonment of pregnant women.

Nabiryo Annet, mother of Uganda Christian University (UCU) graduate Matende Wilson Paul and four other children in Mukono, is one such single mother.  And like most other single mothers, she has struggled since she first learned the news of her pregnancy. When she had her son at age 16, his father abandoned her. She had to raise Wilson with her father.

“My father played the role of the father and grandfather at the same time,” said Annet.

When Annet got pregnant, her friends advised her to get an abortion because she could not possibly support her son on her own. But she refused. Looking now at her grown son who has a UCU Diploma in Business Administration, and all his academic accomplishments, Annet often thinks about the damage she could have done if she had aborted him.

But God has accompanied Annet through the USA-based UCU Partners nonprofit organization. Wilson Paul is a recipient of a UCU Partners’ scholarship. She remembers a time when Wilson graduated from high school. She did not know where to get the money for him to proceed to the university. When her son told her that he was receiving tuition support from a UCU Partners benefactor, she was filled with joy and gratitude. She did not know how he had managed to apply, or how he got accepted by UCU’s Financial Aid Office, but she felt that God had answered her prayers.

“I am grateful to UCU Partners’ scholarship and his sponsor specifically,” Annet said. “What stands out to me is that UCU Partners does not only give financial support, but sometimes some sponsors also give  career guidance to their students. My son would go on to be a chemistry teacher and mentor to high-school students upon the guidance of his sponsor at UCU.”

Today, Wilson’s mother is very hopeful about his future. When UCU Partners interviewed him, he had plans of going back to UCU for further studies. In January this year, he enrolled in UCU’s bachelor program in Business Administration, while serving as a Finance Assistant to the school where he is teaching chemistry.

There are more than 50 higher education institutions in Uganda, but these single mothers choose UCU because they want their sons to be rooted in Christ, and identify with UCU’s values of stewardship, community, integrity, and servant leadership.

When UCU’s financial aid office, in collaboration with UCU Partners, looks at which student to grant tuition support, they usually listen and learn the story of the student who is applying for support. Very rarely does the financial aid office get to hear the story and experiences of their parents.

Annet is not the only single mother UCU Partners has supported.

Odongokola Joshua with his mother on his graduation day in October 2018. (UCU Partners Photo)
Odongokola Joshua with his mother on his graduation day in October 2018. (UCU Partners Photo)

Stella Amonyi, is another mother the organization has supported. Her son, Odongokola Joshua El Shadai, also graduated with a Diploma in Business Administration in October 2018. He and his mother live in Kampala, but they are originally from the Northern district of Uganda, Lira.

Stella has worked as a mother to 47 orphaned and street children at Agape Christian Children Home/Center, in Nsambya, Kampala, for the last 11 years. With the sudden death of her husband, she held a job and raised their four children. Her husband died when Joshua, the youngest of the four children, was just three months old.

“My son never got a chance to meet his father. I thank God for caring for my son through UCU Partners,” said Stella.

When she learned that Joshua was receiving a scholarship from UCU Partners, she was very thankful to God.

“I have always prayed that God uses my sons and daughters for expanding His Kingdom. If it wasn’t for God, they would be nothing,” said Stella. Today, with a UCU diploma in hand, Joshua is enrolled in UCU’s bachelor program in Business and Administration. He wants to be an accountant.

Most parents in Uganda are responsible for their children’s education from kindergarten to the university. When UCU Partners supports students at UCU, they indirectly support their parents. This is why parents, such as Annet and Stella, are very grateful to UCU Partners who have empowered their sons through access to university education.

***

For more of these stories and experiences, visit https://www.ugandapartners.org.  If you would like to support a current student or otherwise support the university, contact Mark Bartels, Executive Director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or go to https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/

Also follow and like our Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin pages.

Cultural shock: Uganda and Norway

Scholarship, , , ,


Barbara Nambozo, left, with new Norwegian friend, Ingrid Johanne, who she met on a bus

By Barbra Nambozo

Being a first-time traveller across country borders comes with a lot of excitement, some surprises and occasional frustrations. I was one of two master’s students from the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Faculty of Journalism and Media studies to experience those feelings recently in Norway.

My UCU student exchange programme between UCU and NLA University College at Gimlekollen in  Kristiansand, Norway, started in August of 2018 and lasted six months. NLA University is a private Norwegian Christian university with its main campus at Bergen. UCU has one of 50 international exchange programs with NLA and is the only one from Uganda.

Bus stop in Kristiansand, Norway
Bus stop in Kristiansand, Norway

Most of the time, I was engaged in classes – learning more about such topics as how journalism is practiced in other countries, gender development and research methodology. But the cultural immersion went beyond curriculum.

As a first-time traveler to Europe, I was excited. Friends who had visited Europe had shared several experiences, including cultural shocks such as harsh, cold weather. Psychologists describe cultural shock as an experience a person may have when he or she moves to a cultural environment that is vastly different from his or her own.

During my stay in Norway, I was impacted by three particular cultural differences: Trash disposal, time management and interpersonal relationships.

Trash
Norway is listed among the most beautiful countries on earth, according to an on-line tourism site called Travel Away. The country is famous for its natural attractions such as mountains, the midnight sun, lakes, breathtaking sites and a vibrant cultural life, among others. But sustaining such natural endowments is pricy. The cost, partly, calls for every person to act responsibly.

Learning something as basic as responsible recycling was not a “walk in the park.”

It is common to find “No Litter” signs along the streets reminding you to act responsibly. The streets and environment are clean, especially compared to Uganda. Back at the university dormitory, the trashcans are clearly labeled to guide users on how to dispense different garbage. For instance, you do not mix broken glass particles with waste food or plastic bags. During the first few weeks of our stay, it was common for students, especially from Africa (who perhaps were accustomed to indiscriminately disposing of trash), to receive emails from the housekeeper reminding us to sort the trash, according to the procedure set by the facility management. However, a few weeks later, every occupant seemed to have mastered the skill.

Time
Time management is at the top of everybody’s agenda in Norway – a bit of a shock compared to Uganda where time is relaxed. From arriving in time for the lecture to the bus stop, or going for the doctor’s appointment, everybody keeps time. Torbjorn Larsen, a member of the Misjonshuset Church in Kristiansand, in his late 50s, said: ‘‘Personally, I arrive in time for any meeting as a sign of respect to the host. It also helps me to be organized, and to reflect on the purpose for the meeting and my contribution to its success.’’

Once I tried to chase a bus that was leaving the bus stop, but I paid dearly. My phone fell and got smashed. I realized I could have saved the energy lost in the chase, and the phone, of course, if I had managed my time well.

Relationships
Being a regular traveler on the bus from the university to Kristiansand city was a good experience. I learned not to judge people, but understand why they behave as they do. During one of the orientation meetings for international students at the university, we were briefed that Norwegian people are more reserved than Ugandans. For example, some would not take up an unoccupied seat on the bus beside another traveler nor engage in a conversation with a stranger. A few times, I observed that on the bus.

Coming from an African environment, where commuters on a taxi (even as strangers) chat all the way to their destination points, discussing anything from politics to fashion, I found this unusual. But one day, while on board a bus, I decided to demystify the belief. I purposely occupied a seat next to a lady. We exchanged pleasantries and engaged in a conversation about Africa. Before she departed from the bus, we had become friends, and we have kept in touch since. Sometimes, all you need is a courteous gesture to turn a stranger into a friend. Do not be hasty to judge.

Since my return to Uganda, I have made more new friends, including an American friend on campus. I am a better steward of the environment, and I try to manage my time appropriately.

It is always a wise idea to read a book beyond its cover.

++++

For more of these stories and experiences, visit https://www.ugandapartners.org. If you would like to assist a current student or otherwise support the university, contact Mark Bartels, Executive Director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or go to https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/

Also follow and like our Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin pages.

Mark Bartels, UCU Partners Executive Director, left, with Bwambale Bernard Mulcho with his parents at his October 2018 graduation day. (UCU Partners Photo)

A Parent Voice: UCU Partners scholarship makes difference in lives of disadvantaged students

Scholarship, UCU Alumni, , , , , , , ,


Mark Bartels, UCU Partners Executive Director, left, with Bwambale Bernard Mulcho with his parents at his October 2018 graduation day. (UCU Partners Photo)
Mark Bartels, UCU Partners Executive Director, left, with Bwambale Bernard Mulcho with his parents at his October 2018 graduation day. (UCU Partners Photo)

By Brendah Ndagire

Note: In October 2018, UCU Partners spoke with some parents of students who are beneficiaries of its student scholarship program. Pastor Baluku Moses is the father of Bwambale Bernard Mulcho, now a UCU alumnus of its Bachelor in Education program. Bwambale graduated with 4.3 of 5.0 grade-point-average (GPA), and at the time of his graduation he shared that he wanted to teach high school students and eventually pursue a masters program in theology. He and his parents are from Kasese District in southwestern Uganda, neighboring the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kasese district is known for its tourism. It is where Queen Elizabeth National Park is located, and it is home of the Rwenzori Mountain ranges. While popular for tourists, when to comes to learning, the region struggles to educate its children beyond high school level. Bwambale is one of the few young people who are able to make it out of the district and have access to higher learning institutions in the urban and central regions of Uganda. With the support of UCU Partners, his parents were able to send their son to Uganda Christian University. In this edited interview, Pastor Baluku provides insights into how he feels about his son’s university education.

Bwambale Bernard at Uganda Christian University. (UCU Partners Photo)
Bwambale Bernard at Uganda Christian University. (UCU Partners Photo)

How long did it take you to get to the graduation in Mukono?
From Kasese, it takes a total of nine hours with seven hours from Kasese to Kampala, and about two hours from Kampala to Mukono.

What does it mean for you to see that your son has graduated?
I have great joy because it was one way of elevating our family, community, and serving God. I am truly happy about it because I know my son has realized his dream.

How meaningful was the UCU Partners scholarship to you as a parent?
It is a great contribution towards my son’s education, and without it, we would not have made it. We have had some financial constraints in the past years. For example, we also were paying school fees for his siblings, and I also was studying at Uganda Baptist Seminary, so the whole household needed money to study, and it was hard for me to raise all the finances needed. We are thankful to God for UCU Partners’ support towards his tuition.

Why is having an education in this country important for you and your family?
It is important because when you are not educated you have a lot of challenges. And when you are educated, you understand the world differently. I believe education opens up doors for us to move anywhere in the world.

Why did you choose UCU for your son’s education?
Because of the good Christian morals it passes on its students. UCU is a more expensive education institution than others.  But regardless of that fact, people want to send their children here. Its values and quality education make the university special. It also is why we are very grateful for the UCU Partners’ scholarship program.

How have you contributed to Bwambale’s education?
I work with the Baptist Church as a pastor on volunteer basis, so I earn a small stipend. And my wife sells second-hand clothes. That is how we have earned our living, which in turn we have used to contribute in small amounts to our son’s education. It is common in Uganda for many priests/pastors to volunteer to work full without any financial remuneration. Most of us depend on farming. Our land is very productive, but the main challenge is inadequate rainfall for farmers who reside in the low land regions of Kasese. In the rainfall season, we grow maize, grounds nuts, beans, and keeping animals such as goats and cows. And that is how we are able to meet our financial responsibilities in most cases.

What challenges do young people experience in Kasese district?
The main challenge is poor and limited education access. Most children are only able to go to universal primary and secondary school. Very few can afford to go a private school or to higher learning institutions/universities.

What do you want other parents to learn from your experience?
To keep on trusting God, and not be discouraged by challenges as they support their children through university education.

Bwambale, what stood out from your UCU experience?
I have found UCU as a unique place for me to have the opportunity to access its educational services. I take great pride in the core values the institution has passed on to me, of leaderships, integrity, servanthood and Christ-centeredness. These values will continue to influence my work life and especially the way I will interact with people I encounter in future.

++++

For more of these stories and experiences, visit https://www.ugandapartners.org.  If you would like to support a current student or otherwise support the university, contact Mark Bartels, Executive Director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or go to https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/

Also follow and like our Facebook,Instagram and Linkedin pages.

Servant hood: Hand-washing students’ clothes yields money and Good Samaritan attention

Scholarship, , , , ,


Justine Nanyanzi washes clothes at her residence
Justine Nanyanzi washes clothes at her residence

By Olum Douglas

It was lunchtime when I first met Justine Nanyanzi. Her colleagues had scattered to various eateries. But to her, this was not a time for food, but for meeting or private reading.

As I reached out for her hand with a smile on my face, I noticed she was struggling to forge a smile back. Wearing a light dress with black-and-white flowery tint, and a pair of sandals with several traces of sewing on the strings’ base, Nanyanzi’s lips were dry and coarse, with white, scaly peals that clearly revealed dehydration and hunger. The weaves on her head were half-finished, leaving a large portion of her jumbled hair bare.

At that moment, it became clear to me that the story I had read online was true. In early February, an online paper in Uganda that reports events at universities, Campus Bee, broke the account of Nanyanzi under the headline, “The story of the UCU girl who is washing fellow students’ clothes for tuition.”

The story went viral and a few days later, a local television, NTV-Uganda, interviewed Nanyanzi and broadcasted her story. The focus was on her washing business, which was unusual because the Ugandan perception is that university students are middle-class and above such odd jobs.

A few minutes into our chat, I asked Nanyanzi what inspired her to begin washing fellow students’ clothes. She smiled and said the answer was long.

Justine Nanyanzi at the university
Justine Nanyanzi at the university

Born in Mukono District to a peasant-turned-evangelist and his wife, Justine Nanyanzi is the first-born in the broken family of three children. When she finished her Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) in 2014, Nanyanzi who excelled highly in mathematics, economics and geography, had to stay home for at least a year because she did not have any source of funding to take her to the next academic level.

During that time, she got employed as a cleaner at a local hotel. In 2016, the hotel owner rewarded the hard-working employee with a place to sleep and sponsorship at Uganda Christian University (UCU), where she pursued the Bachelor of Procurement and Logistics Management.

She completed her first-year without much challenge. Trouble started in her second year. The facility housing the hotel where she worked was sold to a new owner who pushed Nanyanzi’s boss and university sponsor out with no funds to continue supporting Nanyanzi.

Nanyanzi dropped out of school and got a job as maid to save for her university tuition and help pay rent at her new residence that she shared with a friend and single mother of three. But the money she earned was barely enough for food and rent. That’s when she turned to classmates.

“I told my classmates that I am tired of life and suffering. And if they ever heard that I was dead, it should not surprise them,” Nanyanzi said, “At that time, I was feeling alone, worthless and full of hate for everyone. I wanted to die because I knew that would save me from suffering and would not hurt anybody.”

To her amazement, UCU students collected over 1.7 million shillings ($460 American) for her tuition. Some gave her food. With the student assistance and another job cleaning university offices, she still fell short of needed finances by about 500,000 shillings ($135).

That’s where washing clothes came in. In Uganda, washing of clothes is predominantly done by hand. Individuals either wash their own or hire people of lower economic status and education to wash for them. Nanyanzi humbled herself for that job among her fellow students.

Her servanthood yielded publicity, including the call from a stranger to help further. That Good Samaritan took her to a bank. The man, who asked to be anonymous, paid her tuition and other fees for all the remaining semesters.

Nanyanzi said she asked the man if he was an angel and not human. He laughed before explaining that he and his siblings also grew up with much hardship. After pulling out of poverty, they resolved to help whoever they could help.

“It took me time to accept that, indeed, that was not a dream,” Nanyanzi said. “And because of that, whenever I pray these days, even when something is really bothering me, I have that confidence that the God that catered for my tuition is able to do everything.”

With a Cumulative General Point Average (CGPA) of 4.44 of 5.0 for her previous three semesters, there is little doubt that Nanyanzi is headed for a first-class undergraduate degree.

After that she desires to obtain a master’s degree in Statistical Economics.

“I may not have food or rent today but I believe my God is always with me. Like Jesus said, ‘man does not only live by bread alone.’ When I lack food, I pray to God and I believe he is preparing my happy days ahead,” Nanyanzi concludes.

+++++

If you are interested in supporting Uganda Christian University students in need, contact Mark Bartels, Uganda Christian University Partners’ Executive Director, at  mtbartels@gmail.com.

Also follow our Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin pages.

New video conveys shift in mission goal

Scholarship, , , , , , ,


Diane Babirye, right, UCU student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media studies, produced the video. BrendahNdagire, UCU graduate and UCU Partners communications assistant, was an editor. (UCU Partners photo)
Diane Babirye, right, UCU student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media studies, produced the video. Brendah Ndagire, UCU graduate and UCU Partners communications assistant, was an editor. (UCU Partners photo)

How can you best pull a country out of poverty?  Education support.

And what does that education support look like?  Books, supplies, technology, buildings, faculty and student scholarships.

Such is the message of a new video from Uganda Christian University (UCU) Partners, a Pennsylvania-based non-profit focused for the past 15 years on providing funds for these necessities at UCU.

The video contains part of this interview conducted on graduation day at the UCU-Mukono campus in October 2018 with UCU Partners Executive Director Mark Bartels. (UCU Partners photo)
The video contains part of this interview conducted on graduation day at the UCU-Mukono campus in October 2018 with UCU Partners Executive Director Mark Bartels. (UCU Partners photo)

“There is a shift in the idea of missions and ministry overseas,” said UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels. “Rather than bring as many Americans as we can to help, we know the best people to address Uganda’s challenges and problems are Ugandans.”

Bartels, who lived in Uganda with his wife, Abby, and children for 10 years until 2014, asserts that UCU is best equipped to deliver quality, university education for East Africans. UCU’s strength is not just because of its strong academic programs in eight faculty areas, but because Christian character building takes place alongside the high-level knowledge and skills.

The five-minute video contains remarks from Bartels and UCU’s Financial Aid Officer Walter Washika as well as testimonials and appreciation from seven scholarship recipients.It was produced by Diane Babirye, UCU student studying journalism and media studies; and edited by Brendah Ndagire, UCU graduate and UCU Partners communications assistant; and Patty Huston-Holm, UCU Partners Communications Director.

The video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zlie4AmRJCk

***

For more stories and experiences, visit https://www.ugandapartners.org.   To assist a UCU student or otherwise support the university, contact Mark Bartels, Executive Director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or go to https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/.

Also follow our Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin pages.

Matende Wilson (UCU Partners Photo)

UCU Partners business program scholarship recipients

Scholarship, , , ,


(NOTE: In the fall of 2018, Brendah Ndagire, UCU Partners’ Communications Associate, came on the Uganda Christian University Mukono campus to interview some UCU Partners scholarship recipients. For a 10-day period, UCU Partners features a summary of their feedback. To support students like these, contact Mark Bartels, executive director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org  or donate directly at: https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/)

 

Matende Wilson (UCU Partners Photo)
Matende Wilson (UCU Partners Photo)

Name: Matende Wilson Paul

Program: Diploma in Business Administration (graduated)

How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study?
It has given me a chance and opportunity to learn, and participate in forums such as, leadership and para-counselling forums which I enjoy.

How would do you want to use your degree and why?
Among the many options I am exploring, I want to become an accountant. My program focuses mostly on accounting and I want to become that. I used to have a bias in mathematics in high school but when I joined the university, I chose to focus my career in accountant and be a tremendous accountant internationally. Depending on whether I receive funding for further studies, I would want to do a certified public accounting so that i can be a professional accountant.

What do you want to say to your sponsor?
Thank you for the work you have done in helping me attain education.

 

Odogola Joshua Eli (UCU Partners Photo)
Odogola Joshua Eli (UCU Partners Photo)

Name: Odogola Joshua Elishadai

Program: Diploma in Business Administration (graduated)

How has the scholarship helped you in your course of study?
I wouldn’t have accessed this higher education without the blessings of this scholarship. God through this scholarship has been the centre of my studies here.

How would do you want to use your degree and why?
I want to be a lecturer and a job creator. I think unemployment is one of the biggest hindrances to accessing education in Uganda. When parents lost their jobs, things become worse in our lives, and I give thanks for my scholarship to attain higher education at Uganda Christian University. Now that I have finished studying business administration, I want want to be a job creator and employ especially single mothers in my community to be able to earn income to educate their children. To God be the Glory!

What do you want to say to your sponsor?
Your support and donation through Uganda Partners is like resurrection of the dead to life! Thank you so very much, God used to restore my hope. I never thought I would join a university. May God bless you!