UCU Graduate Anna Betu at her job in Kyaka II Settlement, Kyegegwa District

UCU graduate work to ‘undo violence’ for ‘peaceful co-existence’ in Kyaka II Refugee Settlement

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By Brendah Ndagire

UCU Graduate Anna Betu at her job in Kyaka II Settlement, Kyegegwa District
2018 UCU Graduate Anna Betu at her job in Kyaka II Settlement, Kyegegwa District (Western Uganda)

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

Anna Betu, a 2018 Uganda Christian University (UCU) graduate and a recipient of the UCU Partners Sponsorship program, is wasting no time in doing what the late South African leader practiced and believed. Before July, when she attained her prestigious First Class Degree (a 4.5 of 5.0 Grade-Point Average) in Bachelors of Arts in Governance and International Relations, she was already working. She was employed as a Protection Assistant by the  Danish Refugee Council, accompanying predominantly Congolese and Burundian refugees resettled in Kyaka II Settlement, Kyegegwa District (Western Uganda).

There are about 25.4 million refugees of ethnic cleansing, civil war and genocide worldwide, according the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 2018 report. Just days before Anna Betu’s UCU graduation, this interview was conducted at the Kyaka settlement which supports more than 70,000 refugees from the Republics of Burundi and the Congo.

What inspired you to pursue the Governance and International Relations Program at Uganda Christian University (UCU)?
Anna Betu, a 2018 Uganda Christian University (UCU) graduate and a recipient of the UCU Partners Sponsor programI first wanted to study Procurement and Logistics but when I looked at the educational trends in Uganda, there were very many people who had (studied) procurement and logistics. In addition to getting an education that would lead to a job, I wanted to try out something different. Since my childhood, I have been fascinated by politics, governance and leadership. When I went to UCU, and saw that they had a program in Governance and International Relations, this seemed a good fit. I have always wanted to be a leader, and I felt like this program would be something that would help understand how to lead our own people and how different countries relate with each other.

How has your education at UCU prepared you for your vocation at the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) Uganda?
The Governance and International Relations Program is only (available) at UCU. I am the first UCU graduate to work (with DRC). I had classes on refugees, international law, peace-building, communication, public and international relations. My all-round education has enabled me to implement here most of the things I studied. Refugee conditions are an international relations issue. Because of what I learned at UCU, I am equipped with the expertise (to understand ) how we engage with particular (refugee) cases. I see that some governments are not standing up to what has been ratified within the international laws concerning refugees and their protection. When I look at the current conflict in the Congo and the rest of the world, I understand their root causes because that’s something we studied extensively throughout our program. As a result of the classes I took on international law and relations, I am the only person that assists our organization’s lawyer to ensure that the legal issues of refugees are settled.

As a beneficiary of the UCU Partners Scholarship, how was the scholarship helpful to you?
After eight years of being out of school due to financial difficulties, most universities did not look at me as a credible candidate for their programs. What I am giving back to the community is very little compared to what UCU Uganda Partners has invested in me.

The financial support I received from Uganda Partners is now benefiting 70,000 people here at Kyaka II Settlement.

Because a few individuals gave (money) towards my education, I am able to be in this position to give support to vulnerable people in settlement communities. The Uganda Partners’ scholarship has given me hope and inspired me to look beyond a Bachelor’s degree. I would love to have a Masters or even a PHD and become a Consultant on immigrants and refugees in Uganda and in Africa at large. This UCU Partners’ scholarship has laid a wonderful foundation. I am very empowered and very hopeful about my future, my children’s future, and the futures of refugees.

Anna (third from right) and Faith Atim, Refugee Reception Center Assistant, with the cooks at the refugee reception center, Kyaka II
Anna (third from right) and Faith Atim, Refugee Reception Center Assistant, with the cooks at the refugee reception center, Kyaka II

Tell us about your experience accompanying refugees in Kyaka II Settlement community?
I had my internship here. My performance as a student laid the groundwork for me to be a full-time DRC employee even before I graduated from UCU. I wanted to come back and they wanted me to come back. During my internship, I developed relationships with my clients that are building even more now. But as a full-time employee, I am more accountable to refugees. It is important to evaluate my success by looking at the progress and happiness of my clients. Some of my clients come to me when they are very sad, and after interacting with them, and solving their problems, I see them smiling. My success is then fulfilled by their smiles, and happy faces. Obviously, every context has its own challenges. Each refugee has his/her struggles. War affects women, children, and men differently. Some people come out of (the war areas) traumatized, disabled, unaccompanied, and my job is to walk with them in their healing journey. I pray for their healing, and every morning in my devotion, I set aside a time to pray for refugees and our staff who accompany them.

While Uganda has had an open-door policy towards refugees, other countries have closed their doors to migrants. Amidst this and other challenges faced by refugees here and beyond, what keeps you committed to the work you are doing at the Kyaka II refugee community with DRC Uganda?
The innocence of the people I work with keeps me committed to the work I am doing. They are victims of violence. I understand that I work with victims of violence and together as a (DRC) community, we are committed to find a plan that would make their lives better. I may be a drop in the ocean that is working against the daily structures that cause violence, but the truth is I am working from the bottom up approach to undo violence to educate young people and adults in the settlement on the impact of violence, what they can do to solve violence, and learn about peaceful coexistence.

Finally, what is your advice to current UCU students?
Understand your God-given purpose. We are occupying a very globalized space. Take time to identify your space and operate from that space to transform your community. And identify a problem in your community and be part of solving it. Finally, be passionate about something you are doing and love it.

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For more information about how you can sponsor a student who might make a difference as Anna is, contact Mark Bartels, UCU Partners executive director, at mtbartels@gmail.com.

Also, follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

UCU’s Africa Policy Centre Joins Fight to End Child Sacrifice in Uganda

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By Alex Taremwa

On the sidelines of the Hope Event organized by Kyampisi Childcare Ministries at the Kampala Serena Hotel is Joseph Nkunda, a 54-year-old pastoralist in the rural district of Nakasongola along the Kampala-Gulu highway.

Nkunda narrates that after two of his children – Canaan, 10, and Sylvia Nkunda, 7, returned from school in 2009, he asked them to look after the cows as he went to buy food from the market.  After the father left, a man the children didn’t know approached them with a sharpened machete and claimed that the cows had destroyed his garden. The children denied the claim, but the man overpowered them.

Joseph Nkunda, left, with his son, a child sacrifice survivor
Joseph Nkunda, left, with his son, a child sacrifice survivor, talks about how his son survived and his daughter was brutally murdered by a witch doctor.

“He commanded them to walk ahead of him so he could go and show them the garden that the cows had allegedly destroyed and since he had the machete, they could not object,” Nkunda continued.

When they got to a shrub, he motioned the children to sit on the ground. The boy refused, but the accuser grabbed him by the neck and his sister by the hands.

“He cut the boys neck from behind and the boy fell flat, lifeless, unconscious and bleeding profusely. He left him for dead and then cut the girl into several pieces, drained her blood, took her heart and her genitals,” the father recounted both privately at an August 24, 2018, cocktail reception for about 75 people and later that night in front of 1,000 parents, children, Ugandan officials and non-profit representatives from Uganda, Australia and the United States.

Because the boy was unconscious, the witchdoctor thought he was dead. But he wasn’t. Upon his return, Joseph Nkunda could not believe his eyes to find his children – ones he left alive and well an hour ago – lying lifeless in the jungle. He fainted.

Fast forward, the boy survived, and the witchdoctor was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. Nkunda believes the sentence could have been tougher and more lives saved had there been stricter laws in Uganda against child sacrifice and trafficking.

“Most cultures and traditions in Uganda still believe in appeasing the ‘gods’ with blood sacrifice of mostly children for they are considered pure and holy,” William Kasoba, a children’s activist, said.

Kasoba claimed that in Uganda, two of every 10 children are classified as targeted for child sacrifice. He added that some sacrifices are condoned by parents for material gain and that the business of witchcraft under the guise of “traditional healers, herbalists” is thriving.

Peter Sewakiryanga, left, executive director of the KCM organization
Peter Sewakiryanga, left, executive director of the KCM organization serving as the primary sponsor of the child sacrifice awareness event in Kampala, and Karen Lewis, Australia, holding a baby she is hoping to adopt, offered their voices about child protection. While not a victim of witch doctors, the baby falls in the category of “vulnerable” because he was one of two twin boys tossed out age two weeks by a mother who called them “snakes.”

This is where Uganda Christian University (UCU)’s think-tank Africa Policy Centre (APC) comes in. A study conducted by the Centre has been shared by the Parliamentary Committee on Children’s Welfare demanding for tougher legislation on child sacrifice.

“Prosecutors currently rely on the Penal Code Act, the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, and a series of legislation designed to enforce constitutional provisions on the right to life, personal liberty and freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The relevant parts of Ugandan law shows how inadequate it is to address child sacrifice,” Dr. Dickson Kanakulya, a Senior Researcher at the APC, said.

Kanakulya agrees with Justice Margaret Mutoni that the current law is too lenient for criminals who kidnap children with the intention to kill them but somehow the children survive. Parents who have lost their children to the vice call for even tougher and more extreme sentences – like the death penalty.

“The perpetrators are charged with manslaughter or kidnapping and are given lighter sentences that do not send out a clearer message that the practice is unacceptable and condemned,” he added.

In their legislation proposal, the APC calls for a unified missing persons database and the implementation of uniform procedures in investigation, training for law enforcement, and minimum standards of investigative excellence. APC also demands that the new legislation should name an NGO (or a network of NGOs) that will deal with all aspects of victim care.

Gloria Dandridge, left, and Chelsea Mack, are affiliated with the Christian law faculty of Regent University, Virginia.
Gloria Dandridge, left, and Chelsea Mack, are affiliated with the Christian law faculty of Regent University, Virginia. They have been working with the Uganda public prosecutions office to shut down witch doctor shrines and impose harsh penalties on perpetrators of child sacrifice.

Regents University in Virginia, a collaborative partner with UCU and the APC, was recognized for its program of bringing new attorneys to help wage the child sacrifice fight through the Uganda Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Also applauded for efforts were World Vision; the Ugandan Ministry of Gender and Justice; Operation Underground Railroad, a USA-based anti-trafficking organization; and Droplets in a Stream, an Australia charity focused on helping vulnerable children in Kenya and Uganda.

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To obtain a copy of APC’s analysis of the child sacrifice issue or to learn more about UCU’s APC, contact Dr. Dickson Kanakulya, APC Senior Researcher at tdkana@gmail.com.

The Traveling Sweater

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By Patty Huston-Holm

It was 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18.3 Celsius) when I saw Rose this morning (August 16, 2018). She wore a smile and a mostly-black sweater. In Uganda, such weather is cold. My arms were bare.  In Ohio, temperatures like this are refreshing.

Sitting with me at the Uganda Christian University Touch of Class canteen, she apologized for the sweater – a man’s sweater, she admitted, and one she bought used from her brother’s shop. I encouraged her to see the garment’s beauty. And I asked her to keep it close to her over the next four months.

You see, my young friend Rose will on Friday (August 18, 2018) take her first-ever plane ride to her first-ever trip to the United States. Her emotions are mixed. She is honored – the only African chosen for a semester of writing courses at The Kings College in New York City. She is anxious. While the college is Christian, she will be living in the liberal community of Greenwich Village. She feels guilty knowing how much the scholarship she got could buy for her family, friends and village.

While holding her hands and praying with her today, I reminded her that God gives us gifts like these, that she is a gift, and that others she meets in New York City will surely see her that way.

I met Rose when teaching journalism with Professor Angella Napakol last year at Uganda Christian University. Right before I left, I matched up Rose and two other students for a one-week internship in northern Uganda with two professors (Diane Ross, Pegi Lobb) from Otterbein University (Westerville, Ohio). Like many, they enjoyed her eagerness to learn and help others.  If that wouldn’t seal the deal for wanting to hang around with Rose, her deep dimples on both sides of her cheek do.

This morning as Rose removed the sweater in embarrassment and clutched it in her hands, I insisted she pack it in the small green suitcase I gave her.  I told her the story about the “traveling pants.” I suggested she write about her traveling sweater. I hope she reads this and that she does.

God speed, my young friend.

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For more information about how you can sponsor a student who might make a difference as Rose is, contact Mark Bartels, UCU Partners executive director, at mtbartels@gmail.com.   Also, follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

UCU Graduate Mark Muzira Supports Refugees with Mental Health Issues Over Four Years

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By Brendah Ndagire

Celebrating World Refugee Day in Itambabiniga Settlement

In recent years, Uganda has been ranked by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as the most favorable country for refugees from neighboring countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and South Sudan. Once refugees are resettled in Uganda, they are given many opportunities. These include access to land, employment, starting small- and medium-sized businesses, and quality education. All of these are necessary for helping refugees to integrate in different communities across Uganda and to take care of their families. It creates an opportunity for them to live a dignified life—a life that is different from their counterparts left behind in conflicting communities.

This month, Uganda Christian University Partners is highlighting the experiences of some Uganda Christian University (UCU) alumni who are accompanying Burundian and Congolese refugees in distinct roles at Kyaka II settlement community. Mark Muzira is a UCU alumni who graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and Social Administration. He has been working with refugees for over four years with the past two years as a Psychosocial Counselor with the  American Refugee Committee (ARC). Before joining ARC, he was working with an urban refugee program in Kampala, at a refugee resettlement organization called Inter-Aid Uganda. (This interview has been edited for clarity.)

Mark Muzira on World Refugee Day

What inspired you to study at Uganda Christian University?

I was motivated to join Uganda Christian University because of the quality of education that was guaranteed there. The UCU motto, “a center of excellence in the heart of Africa,” inspired very many secondary school (high school) graduates, including myself, to attend the institution. But it is not just their quality education; it also was their identity with Christian values of servant leadership. The three-to-four years I spent at UCU, my professors equipped me with soft and hard core skills needed to thrive in my current work within the non-government development field.

What are some of your experiences since graduating from UCU?

For a while I volunteered with different non-government organizations in Kampala. I was really interested in working with urban youth. I did some online job searching and that’s where I found Inter-Aid Uganda. While I was there, I worked as a Youth Liaison in their urban refugee program, mentoring teenagers and leading their peer-to-peer program. It was with Inter-Aid that  I found my passion in working with refugees resettled in Uganda. I am currently based in Kyaka II settlement community. I think the time I spent studying at UCU equipped me with certain Christian values, such as treating people from different cultural backgrounds with respect, on top of being a great role model in communities where we are working and living. I owe a lot to UCU for making me a leader, and planting in me seeds of excellence in ways I interact with refugees here.

How did you hear about American Refugee Committee?

While working with Inter-Aid Uganda, we had a partnership with ARC in working in the Urban Refugee Program. During my spare time, I would do research on ARC, and I found that the refugee work they were doing was both complex and interesting. Later, I found out that they needed a psychosocial counselor. I applied for the job, and I got it.

How many refugees are you working with?

With the refugee influx we are experiencing in Kyaka II settlement, we are currently receiving new refugees every week. We are having over 60,000 refugees coming in every day. And the fact that the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo is on-going, we expect more and more refugees will be entering the border of Uganda and eventually to Kyaka II settlement.

Share with us about your work with ARC.  How is it different from other Implementing Partners (IPs) in Kyaka II Settlement?

My role is to identify refugees who may need mental health and counseling support, and refer clients who may need extra help to an expert in therapy. There are many non-profit organizations working to implement different refugee resettlement activities in the area. However, each organization is mandated by the UNHCR to implement a specific project. In that respect, ARC’s mandate is to provide mental health and psychosocial support to refugees resettled in Kyaka II and neighboring communities. ARC also implements youth activities geared towards enhancing mental health including sports such as football, and competitions in music, dance and drama (MDD). This makes mental health and awareness our main focus and contribution to the wider wholistic approach to rehabilitating and reintegrating refugees.

Other partners, such as the Danish Refugee Council, implement Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) projects and education. Still others implement livelihood related projects such as agriculture. We do this in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Office of the Prime Minister.

Refugee women presenting a song during World Refugee Day

What has been your highlight working with refugees in Kyaka II for the last two years?

The resilience and positive attitude of refugees towards their future. Refugees experience very difficult challenges.

Many (refugees) are not aware that they are struggling with the trauma arising from the daily witness and experience of armed violence.

Additionally, they struggle integrating into the community, finding a job and building a new life here. Because they engage in different community integration  processes, they eventually emerge from being unemployed to employed, to leaders in their own communities, to business owners, and to musical artists.

Finally, Nelson Mandela once that, “education is a powerful tool that can be used to transform the world.” How do you translate those words in your life at UCU and now with ARC?

Education has definitely been a wonderful tool to have in my life. If it were not for the good quality education I received from the UCU, I would not be able to work with a respectful organization such as ARC. My education has created for me a foundation to be where I am and be able to give back to the refugee communities. The classes (such as counseling, gender, and research methodologies) I took during my time at UCU are now fundamental to my work here with ARC and the wider community.

For more information about how you can sponsor a student who might make a difference as Mark Muzira is, contact Mark Bartels, UCU Partners executive director, at mtbartels@gmail.com.

USA 2018 Faith and Relationships Through UCU Leadership Eyes

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By the Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi

Uganda Christian University Vice Chancellor Visit at Wesley Gardens Retreat Center, Savannah, Georgia, USA
Front Row: Mark Bartels (Executive Director, UCU Partners), Rev. Dr. Joyce Brooks
(President of UCU Partners Board), Rev. Dr. John Senyonyi (VC, UCU)
Second Row: Dr. Murray Black, Dr. Tom Gurley, Marcy
Osterhaus, Gwyneth Preu, Kyle Royer (UCU Partners Board)
Back Row: Dr. Ken Bussema, Dr. Brian Dennison, Rev. Dr. Larry Adams

(John Senyonyi, Vice Chancellor at Uganda Christian University, and his wife, Ruth, were in the USA April 3 to May 2, 2018.  During that time, they visited eight states and the nation’s capitol. This blog entry is Dr. Senyonyi’s reflection of some of that experience.)

There is a silent cry for Africa and the Southern Hemisphere Christian community to stay steadfast and to give the West much needed evangelical fellowship. Sadly, several theological schools in the West have moved away from the authority of the Bible and have succumbed to theological heterodoxy. The same can be said about some churches in the United States.

There was much positive in the recent, one-month visit that my wife, Ruth, and I made to Washington, D.C., Atlanta (Georgia), Chicago (Illinois), Norfolk (Virginia), Montgomery (Alabama), Cincinnati (Ohio), Savannah (Georgia), Charleston (South Carolina) and San Diego (California). I preached in four churches in two states: the Christ Anglican Churches in Atlanta, Montgomery and Savannah in Georgia; and New Life Presbyterian Church in Escondido, California. While on this annual trip, I was named Alumni of the Year 2017 at my alma mater, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. The fellowship with our American brothers and sisters in Christ was amazing.

However, we came away praying for strength among Christians battling western secularism and related liberalism in churches. We pray for truth in faith both in doctrine and practice.

‘More than a factory of African graduates’

Many Christians we spoke to hope that Uganda Christian University (UCU) will remain a theological beacon of light amidst the religious confusion of the West, and will produce graduates faithful to the Gospel. Now as I am back in Mukono, Uganda, I realize even more that UCU must see herself as more than a factory of African graduates. UCU has a global mission and owes it to world Christianity.

The objective of the annual visit was to increase awareness and raise support for UCU. We did this through messages and conversations at universities, churches, and with special interest groups, as well as among those attending the annual UCU Partners (UCUP) Board of Trustees meeting. The UCUP Executive Director, Mr. Mark Bartels, arranged the itinerary so that current and potential partners might have first-hand contact with me.

New Medical school

This visit happened shortly after the announcement of accreditation of the UCU School of Medicine (UCUSoM), thus making UCUSoM a focal subject in many of our meetings.

News of the UCU School of Medicine was welcomed wherever we announced it. Of course, we made clear the uniqueness of UCU’s brand of education reinforcing that as with all our academic programs, Christianity is what we also wish to see in the health care worker coming out of the University. As our Mission says, UCU works “To Equip Students for Productive, Holistic Lives of Christian Faith and Service.” To this, we must remain true.

Suffice it to say that the UCUSoM will be the major fundraising project for UCU Partners for the next several months. We met many potential partners who included the Friends of Mengo Hospital, the One World Health in South Carolina and others in the churches we visited.

One World Health may be a low-hanging fruit given that they are already involved with a Hospital in Masindi, Uganda. They promised that if through their fundraising networks they found support of a Medical nature that was best suited for the UCUSoM, they would gladly direct such donors to UCU’s Medical School. A pleasant surprise was finding one of our UCU graduates at their office. Our graduate is married to a One World Health staff member in Masindi. That meeting and our graduate’s excitement at seeing me in the United States helped put a face on my words of UCU’s influence in projects around the world.

Law, other academic relationships

The newness of the medical program joins the traditional strong positive reputation of UCU’s law program. The Faculty of Law is considered the best Law School in Uganda. Proudly, we have maintained the balance between law and faith. We are cautious about conscientious partnerships that will ensure UCU’s Christian character in the lawyers we send out. This visit renewed and strengthened some old friendships with UCU, especially with the privately funded, Regent University Law School. We also visited the public University of Cincinnati School of Law.

Likewise, we renewed friendships with Wheaton College and Water Mission. The latter donated portable water equipment to UCU years ago. But it also gave me opportunity to explore new ventures such as the Charleston Southern University (CSU) and the Clemstone Architecture Centre. CSU is a Christian University ready and willing for a relationship with UCU.

Church leadership ‘true to the Bible’

In addition to these important contacts related to UCU programmatic growth, I met with Rev. Dr. Peter Moore, director of the Anglican Leadership Institute that offers training seminars to develop church leadership. He is interested in sharing his expertise with UCU.

This is vital for two reasons. Much Christian Leadership in Africa has tended to model either the secular leadership models around them or their cultural exemplars. This fails to address contemporary challenges and the need for Christ-centered leadership. Secondly, there is a dire need for African theologies that are true to the Bible and which will address modern-day issues adequately.

We also encountered people interested in partnerships with UCU’s Think Tank, the UCU Africa Policy Centre (APC), to preserve the family as God intended it. Among these we had discussions with willing partners such as the Family Research Council (FRC), a chat with Dr. Alan Carlson and the now late Larry Jacobs of the World Congress of Families, and a group of Roman Catholic journalists that were brought together through our contact with Dr. Mary Eberstadt, an American author. We expect to host Dr. Eberstadt at our 2020 annual UCU Public Lecture.

Given the ambivalence on Family in the West, conservative voices want to see UCU’s APC become a viable influence in Africa and worldwide. Therefore the founding of the UCU’s Think Tank, the APC, is timely as a voice into the public square.

The family has suffered its fair amount of onslaught from secularism, and yet its breakdown spells social disaster. The need for authentic African Christian reflections on family life is more urgent than ever before. This will preserve African culture and stability for the family in accordance with God’s purpose.

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For more information on how to contribute to UCU Partners, contact Mark Bartels at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

So you want to bring a Ugandan student to the United States…

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Patty and Sailas, second UCU intern who came to Ohio in 2015 (Photo taken at Colline Hotel in Mukono, Uganda, in 2017)

By Patty Huston-Holm  (May 2018)

Many well-meaning, first-time visitors to Uganda offer locals an invitation to the United States. They want to show them our country in a way that they have shown us theirs.

But Ugandans can’t just hop on a plane and fly to America. It takes understanding, persistence and relationship building. These three actions surround one word – the visa. And not everybody can get one.

I am no a visa expert.  Truth is that until 2013, I knew nothing about it except that I didn’t need a visa to go to Europe or Haiti and since 2009 I had been plopping down $50 to $100 to buy one for myself to get into Uganda. In 2013, I had a vision to bring a Uganda Christian University (UCU) student to Ohio for an internship.  More than 100 hours of nail-biting, head-scratching, sleepless nights of research and paperwork later, my husband and I had a UCU-selected, young woman on the plane and headed across the Atlantic. For three months and during the USA polar vortex winter, she lived with us while she interned and learned in her career path of communications.

We have since had a second student here to expand his social work experience and are now working on a third who wants to make a difference in Uganda’s community development and health education.  While not as time-intensive as that first one, the process still requires understanding of what is required, persistence to get it done and building relationships with all involved.

I’ve gotten smarter and am passing this onto you.

Understanding
The main type of visa to enter the United States is for non-immigrants. The foremost categories under the non-immigrant visa are B-1 for visiting, F-1 for studying, and J-1 that encompasses cultural exchange and professional development.  I chose the J-1, which is under the Department of State, because it is most purposeful and resume-building for a university student. There are nearly 90 American J-1 sponsor organizations with different stipulations (Some do not handle religious institutions, most require employers to have at least five full-time employees, etc.).  The other two “sponsors” are host parents and host organizations. They need cultural as well as financial and time expectation understanding. Selection of the organization, student and J-1 sponsor can occur on parallel tracks, but the organization and student need J-1 Visa documents before they can begin providing their information. The J-1 sponsor provides the necessary electronic files and vets the student and host organization.

The J-1 provides the groundwork to get the student into the United States. There is another visa required to get the student out of Uganda. (See Persistence and Relationship Building for more on this.)

Persistence
Every process needs a driver.  That driver, often the host parent sponsor, needs to be persistent to keep everybody – host organization, student, student’s university supervisor and J-1 sponsor – informed, energized and moving on independent and parallel tracks to meet paperwork deadlines and financial responsibilities. In concert with the university, the organization creates a training plan for what the student will do when he/she gets here, makes sure that plan aligns with the student’s academic field of study and determines if/how much the student will be paid.  In addition to a passport, the student provides a CV/resume that includes his/her reason for wanting the internship. Skype and phone interviews take place between the J-1 sponsor and the student as well as between the J-1 sponsor and internship sponsor.

Once the J-1 Visa is approved and the flight booked from Entebbe to the USA, the student applies for another visa to get out of the country. That application occurs in person at the U.S. Embassy in Kampala.

Relationship Building
When my husband and I stumbled on Greenheart Exchange in Chicago as our first American J-1 organization sponsor in 2013 – and it was a good experience – we looked no further. We have used them every time. Likewise, I have a relationship with Uganda Christian University and many of its staff.  Relationships with visa-approving agents in Kampala, Uganda, are more difficult to forge, but certainly help.  It is not uncommon to travel through the capital city’s traffic mess with what you believe to be everything needed for an appointment to get the country’s exit visa, only to be rejected the first time.

Organization sponsors are different each time. Building this rapport requires investment of time before and after the student arrives. For me, this connection includes an offer of cultural training. Likewise, the student needs to be prepared for lifestyle differences in the United States and for the re-entry to Uganda. Student assurance of safety and caring before and after arrival is essential. To further open doors for other potential students and to deepen their own relationships, the intern writes appreciation notes to the host organization, host parents and others who were key to the experience.

In short, be purposeful and try not to get discouraged. I have seen first-hand how these experiences benefit people in both countries. And don’t forget to pray.

For more information on the J-1 Visa, go to https://j1visa.state.gov/. For more information on Greenheart, go to https://www.cci-exchange.com/.

Sarah Lagot Odwong, our first UCU student intern who came to Ohio in 2014, learning to love dogs as Americans do. (Photo taken at the central Ohio home of Clark and Emily Buck in 2014)

UCU Alumnus Profile: Lubega Christopher

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By Rev. Kamoga Alex, Chaplain – UCU Kampala Campus & UCU Alumnus, Child Development (25 January 2018)

 

Lubega Christopher is 26 years old. He comes from a humble background and  is a son to a retired civil servant and a retired midwife. He went to Mugwanya Preparatory School Kabojja for Primary Leaving Examinations, Namilyango College school for his O’ level and  Makerere College school for A’ level. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Uganda Christian University and  is currently doing a Masters of Arts in Financial Services at Makerere University in Uganda.

Lubega’s interest in business started when he was in O’ level at Namilyango College. His mother would give him pocket money and he would save a fraction of it. During that time, his family was starting up an events company dealing in tents and chairs after realizing the need to create a source of income for the family. Every end of term he would collect his savings and add them to what his mother had saved and they started making tents. He remembers the joy he would feel whenever they would load the poles on the small pick-up driving back home. It felt like victory in his heart.

When joining Uganda Christian University, Lubega registered late and he was not able to get placement at main campus in Mukono, so he was sent to the Kampala campus. This put him down as he felt so unlucky not to get to the main campus. But little did he know that this was to become a blessing to him in the long run.

While at UCU’s Kampala Campus, finding food for meals many times was very difficult as restaurants were not common in the area. At times, Lubega and his friends had to go from Mengo, the site of UCU’s Kampala Campus, to Makerere near Makerere University to find good and affordable food. He noticed this gap of service in the Mengo area and he decided to pursue this opportunity; he made a deal with a restaurant: he would buy large amounts of food from them at a reduced price and sell the food to staff members at UCU’s Kampala campus. One time one of the staff members called him and gave him an opportunity to supply food for 12 people at campus. “Fear sprung in me but something was telling me you need to do this and therefore I did it and it turned out successful,” Lubega narrates. After that, he knew that the time to start his own catering company had come.

He started organizing himself, secured some funds, and started small. His catering company started growing slowly as he started getting bigger  contracts. He was committed to delivering quality services and this has taken him to greater heights. Today, Lubega employs several men and women in his catering company, and every time there is a party at UCU’s Kampala Campus, he is the first person who is contacted to provide food. Recently when Chaplaincy was concluding the ALPHA Course at UCU’s Kampala campus, it was Lubega who served the food. His organization, hygiene, and customer care are exceptional!

Lubega (in front, in blue) serving his customers at an recent party

Lubega is so proud of the many values he learned from his time at UCU, such as honesty, humility and prayerfulness. Applying such values has been of great significance in his business and this has made his services distinct. He further asserts that UCU has nurtured him into who he is today. “It is from this great institution of UCU that I have got exposed to the businesses I am currently doing, especially the guild government where I served in the period of 2013-2014 as the guild deputy speaker. The position greatly helped me build my confidence, decision making and communication skills”.  He is especially indebted to Mr. Baguma Edgar, the  UCU Kampala campus’s Director of Student Affairs, who has helped him make many connections for his business to grow.

He is motivated by the parable of the talents. He desires to be like the servant who was given 5 talents and produced 5 more; he wants to make sure he uses his hands, ears, nose and legs to get him to places. He says his master God made him perfect and put him in the perfect world to make it a better place to live in.  He plans on extending his catering services beyond the borders of Uganda, and eventually beyond Africa, so that he can employ as many people as possible and leave a lasting legacy.

An example of a full spread of food in Lubega’s business

He advises students to be the best they can be in character, work hard, and focus on relationships with people around them. He challenges students to look at the opportunities that are within the challenges around them and make good use of them to find benefit within such challenges; he thinks that  It is important for students to position themselves as problem solvers in life.

He shares that: “we should stop complaining and start on creating what we want to become… Let us change the mindset and look at working on the solution but not the problems because the solution solves the many problems we always want to look at.”

UCU Students’ Internship in Adolescent Girl Education in Northern Uganda

News


By Akongo Ruth Rose, UCU Student, Mass Communications & Patty Huston-Holm, UCU Visiting Professor (7th February 2018)

(In late November-early December 2017, three Uganda Christian University students in Mass Communications participated in a one-week internship focused on adolescent girl education and lead by Dr. Diane Ross with assistance by Dr. Pegi Lobb, both from Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio. The Uganda Christian University students of Professor Angella Napakol were Mercy Agenorot, Akongo Ruth Rose and Adiru Hope. Akongo provides this account.)

For one week of our final year toward receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications at Uganda Christian University (UCU), two other students and I had the opportunity to participate in an internship with two American professors. Our job was to assist with an empowerment project involving adolescent girls in Uganda’s West Nile region. The project focuses on the use of personal story telling to increase self-esteem and improve the school retention rate for girls. Fewer than 11% of girls in this region finish secondary education – one of the lowest girl child education rates in our country.

Adiru Hope, Mercy Agenorot, Akongo Ruth Rose

We knew the rate was low because the three of us grew up in this geographical part of Uganda. We knew some of the reasons. What we didn’t realize was how telling our own stories to these younger girls and listening and providing feedback to their stories could help. For six days, we took our listening, public speaking and feedback skills from the UCU classroom to approximately 160 girls in four real-world settings of an area of Uganda bordered by the Congo and South Sudan.

We met about 20 girls ages 11 to 16 in each the P6 level classrooms of Galia, Arua Hill and Atratraka primary schools and about 100 older girls in the Bidibidi refugee camp in Yumbe. They had touching and painful accounts of their lives. Many of the more than 60 schoolgirls we met walk long distances to go to school and may spend a night or two without food. The 100 girls in the settlement camp at the Uganda-South Sudanese border live with memories of murder and rape. Just inside Uganda now, they are relatively safe from the acts but not from the thoughts.

One of the UCU student sharing her story in order to inspire the girls to consider their personal stories and to pursue excellence in the midst of their lives.

The school girls told us about drunkard and imprisoned fathers with multiple wives; about abuse from those fathers and other men and even boys; about sneaking out to go to school; and about no money for school fees, uniforms and supplies.

One girl wrote: “Those of us without pencils are given sticks by teachers. We do our lessons in the dirt, and teachers grade them from there.”

From others within the three schools: “My father says I am wasting my time at school.”  “He says, ‘I will kill you. You are worthless. I’ll throw you in the pit latrine. Go away before I kick you like a ball’.” “The boys won’t leave me alone.” “My mother has 11 children and can’t afford fees for girls.” “They want me to stay home and watch the babies.”

The settlement camp girls have writings about living with the sound of guns and the smell of blood, with the cries, begging for mercy and the knives cutting through the throats of loved ones in their memories. Some ran without parents, living on their own while others managed to escape by being raped by the rebel soldiers and are now caring for those babies from fathers they will never know.

But in the midst of these messages of desperation were expressions of support – writings about hard-working peasant farmers trying to get money for girl school fees and about the camp girl’s relatives that may still be alive. There were words of hope with dreams of becoming teachers, midwives, nurses, doctors, builders and bankers.

“I want to be elected to parliament and not be an evil leader,” one girl wrote. “I want to be able to get electricity to the villages.”

From another: “I want to be Uganda’s first female president.”

As I interacted with adolescents, it brought peace in my heart to hear girls talk about their futures. Today’s girls in Uganda tell us that empowerment of a woman should not only be about the babies they produce, but also other contributions connected to the development of their country and the world.

Previous research shows that personal story telling increases self esteem and awareness of possibilities to realize dreams. During our nearly seven days of time with girls in four West Nile locations, we realized the value of not only listening but serving as older role models – Ugandan young women about to graduate from the university. I talked about my plans to be a writer. Mercy wants to make it in the film industry.  Adriu would like a career working with kids.

Another aspect of the project involves teaching about the menstrual cycle and erasing embarrassment about this natural part of growing into womanhood. The American university faculty provided this education, including about menstrual hygiene and reproductive health.

All the girls we met love school. They want to learn. They want to go to the university some day. They want to be part of a new statistic – to raise the current literacy rate of only 29% for women in this region.

Agenorot with students at one of the schools

While we were there to help them, hearing their stories helped close the gap of fear in me. If these girls could overcome their obstacles, I, too, could move on from any negatively I’ve had in my life. While I know we were there to help the girls, being with them gave me added courage to overlook my own education distractions and stand up as a young woman and be proud of who I am.

UCU Alumna Profile: Zalwango Prossy

Scholarship, UCU Alumni


By Rev. Kamoga Alex, Chaplain – UCU Kampala Campus & UCU Alumnus, Child Development (25 January 2018)

 

Zalwango Prossy is a 22 year old recent graduate of Uganda Christian University. She was born in 1995 in Seeta, Mukono District, in a family where she lived with her father, mother, and two sisters–Nakalema Suzan and Nantale Damalie. When she was 3 years, her parents divorced; one key reason for the divorce was that her mother had only given birth to girls. A year later, while in Primary Five, her father brought a step mother to his home; this step mother treated Prossy and her sisters poorly, she denied them access to things such as education, food, speech, and friendships. This forced her elder sister, Nakalema, into marriage at the age of fourteen because of the desperate straits they were experiencing at home.

Due to the tough situation at home, Prossy and her young sister escaped to their mother’s place. Though her mother had little financial capability, she continued looking after them and she strived to educate Prossy until her Senior Four year of school. However, Prossy’s mother developed a back injury during these years and she could no longer operate the restaurant she had previously opened. When this happened, she became unemployed and could not pay further tuition for Prossy and her younger sister.

At this point, though Prossy had little hope to go back to school, God raised a neighbor in the community who helped to pay school fees for her from Senior Five to Six. Because of the great responsibilities that surrounded him, this neighbor could not continue to pay for her studies.

At this point, she did not see much hope for proceeding with further studies. Yet she had a burning zeal to go for further studies and had faith that one day she would make it. So, she applied to UCU, and by the grace of God, she was able to enroll. Together with her little sister, she worked hard to raise her tuition and the money to sustain her through small jobs, such as tilling people’s land and doing laundry for people around the village, in order to get part of the tuition and money. Additionally, Prossy would also teach at a primary school, Kisaakye Primary School in Seeta-Bajjo in order to obtain tuition though this made it difficult for her to balance work and studies.

Her life at Uganda Christian University was a hustle from her first to her final year. She would often be laughed at by her classmates.  She narrates a past experience with her classmates in this way:

“… Dust would be all over me, old shoes and faded clothes, that one could easily explain the situation I was in. I could walk a long distance from home to university. I remember one time during the community worship hour, a tent was pitched and my classmates were looking for me. One of them peered from below the tent and told the neighbor, ‘look! I have seen some old shoes, that should be Prossy,’ and, Yes, I was the one!”

Throughout her campus life, she never stepped into the university restaurants, and she would always fail to meet the tuition payment deadlines as it would be tough on her to clear tuition balances. She would always dwell in tears towards the end of the semester for being among the very last students to pay tuition balances.

Despite all of these challenges, she still was able to excel in class.  She graduated with a first class degree with honors, with a GPA of 4.79 and emerged the Best Overall Female Student and also the Overall Best Performing Student in the Faculty Education. Prossy is immensely grateful to God who made it possible for her to graduate on 27th. October, 2017, and is now proud to be a qualified and skilled teacher with a first class degree from Uganda Christian University.

Prossy receiving her first class award from the Vice Chancellor

As she looks back on her past three years of her BA program, alongside her several side jobs, she is so thankful to God for the different University programs that helped to support her as a student. These include such programs as the Guild Fund (a scholarship fund established by the students government), and the Work and Study program under Financial Aid office( where a student can work for the university and earn some money towards their tuition). She was also member of the Honours College, a leadership programme at Uganda Christian University, and learned much about being a leader in this program. Besides the mentioned programs, several departments, such as the Chaplaincy, also helped her through supporting her with money for upkeep and encouraging her despite her personal hardships. Every time she felt like giving up, she would go to Rev. Rebecca Nyegenye, the University Chaplain, for counsel. She remembers a time when Rev. Rebecca was preaching in community worship and shared the Biblical concept: “You are a chosen generation, a peculiar people, a royal priesthood.” This message encouraged Prossy to continue to work with diligence and to be faithful to the Lord in her studies.

Above all, she praises God for giving her faith that helped her look to Him; He was her Father who would watch over her despite being abandoned by her biological father. She had confidence that the Almighty God would not leave her as an orphan or forsake her, but would come to her rescue and make her victorious in her studies. So, she praises God for blessing her and she is so thankful for the trust she had in Christ that helped her walk rightly with the Lord and discover her identity in him through these past three years of her BA program.

She is currently a volunteer in the Vice Chancellor’s Department at UCU while she looks  for employment opportunities. She would like to do a master’s in educational planning and management in the future and she hopes to impact her community in the future, including through starting a primary school oriented towards needy children and youth, God being her Helper.