By Kefa Senoga
Yohana Eyob Ghebrekristos always held the notion that her dream would not become a reality through magic, but rather, by sweat, determination and hard work. She has had dreams of a career in dental surgery. 

She is one of nine pioneer students of Bachelor of Dental Surgery at Uganda Christian University (UCU) where she emerged as the overall best student out of 1,006 students at the previous graduation. She had a CGPA of 4.71 of 5.0.

Yohana began university studies from her home country, Eritrea. However, due to some difficulties at her university in 2018, she traveled more than 1,000 miles to relocate to Uganda to cement her dream.

“I studied at the Orotta School of Medicine and Dentistry for a couple of years, but due to some challenges that our school was going through, I decided to relocate to Uganda to continue with my studies,” Yohana said.

Since arriving in Uganda in 2018, Yohana considered herself fortunate to be admitted at UCU. She shared that she has enjoyed the privilege of being taught by highly trained professionals at UCU.

“I’m so excited and extremely honored to be the best performing student,” Yohana said. “UCU has been amazing, and I was very fortunate to join this esteemed institution. Its reputation of producing well-rounded professionals really attracted me to UCU.”

She appreciates the university for equipping her with both academic knowledge and spiritual values that she believes will guide her as she ventures into the working world. Yohana says UCU has also provided an opportunity for her to grow in her faith. 

As a dentist, Yohana notes that it is her role to identify a gap in relation to oral health literacy in the community and then use every opportunity to educate the community about oral hygiene, noting that scholars have affirmed that good oral health leads to good general health.

Looking ahead, Yohana aspires to specialize in orthodontics and dental surgery, with hope of opening up a dental clinic to serve underprivileged communities.

Yohana’s Advice to UCU Aspiring Medical Professionals

To her fellow students in the medical field, Yohana offered valuable advice, emphasizing that the medical profession requires unwavering hard work, determination, and sacrifice.

“Don’t underestimate the course; it’s a journey that demands your best effort. And in the end, the rewards will be worth it,” she urged.

As Yohana eagerly awaits her internship, her father, Eyob Ghebrekristos, expressed immeasurable joy and excitement upon her accomplishment.

“We are so excited and proud of Yohana, and we all came from the United States to be here and celebrate Yohana’s graduation,” he said.

He believes this was possible because of Yohana’s nature of hard work and discipline together with support from the family.

By Kefa Senoga
In a bid to instill a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship among students, the Uganda Christian University (UCU) School of Business (SoB) has introduced an International Entrepreneurship Summer Camp to understand what it means to do business in Uganda. 

According to Aston Aryamanya, one of the coordinators of the program, the camp was initiated as a result of UCU’s collaboration with Hanze University in the Netherlands. He said the camp is fully funded by the Hanze University Foundation.

“One of the key areas of our collaboration with Hanze is entrepreneurship and promoting practical skills; this is where the idea of starting up this camp emerged,” says Aryamanya, a lecturer in UCU SoB.

From the ideation stage, Aryamanya said SoB has been working with the team from Hanze. However, for this particular camp, the students from Hanze will not participate, though they will be expected in the subsequent ones. 

To get the students to participate in the camp, which took place from August 21 to September 1, a call was sent out to those in SoB to submit proposals, which they had to defend before a select committee.  

UCU Nurtures Business Talent

Out of the exercise, 17 students were selected, with representatives from all courses in SoB —Business Administration, Human Resource, International Business, Tourism, Procurement, Accounting and Finance, Economics and Statistics.

Aryamanya said at the end of the camp, held on the Mukono campus, all the participating students were expected to come up with bankable and fundable business proposals.

“The key issue we are addressing in this training is educating the students to value their customer or consumer, to get to know what they need, what their problems are and how they can be addressed,” Aryamanya explained. 

At the camp, the students were expected to visit the country’s body in charge of investment, the Uganda Investment Authority, to understand the policies that govern doing business in Uganda. Experts from the country’s business registration agency, the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) were also lined up to talk to the students about patent rights, copyrights and registration. Also, the students were expected to visit the country’s taxman, Uganda Revenue Authority, as well as the Uganda Industrial Research Institute for further mentorship.

While addressing the participating students and the SoB staff during the opening of the camp at the UCU business hub, Christa Oluka, the Director of Academic Affairs at UCU, asked the participants to embrace the opportunity provided to them at the training if they wanted to create, and not seek jobs. 

Oluka urged the team to find ways of solving community challenges without necessarily duplicating what already exists. She expressed optimism that future camps will involve students from beyond SoB to be able to help them embrace the idea of entrepreneurship.

The Associate Dean of the SoB, Elsie Nsiyona, asked the students to identify what they have so that they can beverage their competitive advantage. 

Bulya Maria Anthony Cindy, one of the students who attended the camp, noted that she expected to learn a lot about the processes of business development and to be guided on the journey of generating ideas and bringing them to life.

Brian Muwanguzi, another student, expressed excitement about the diverse opportunities the program offers. He noted: “This kind of program allows us to explore various sectors and uncover unique ideas.”

Early this year, top managers from UCU and Hanze signed a partnership that was expected to lead to the setting up of an innovation hub at the UCU main campus in Mukono. 

At the event, Vincent Kisenyi, the Dean of the UCU SoB, said the hub would widen the school’s scope of operation in training and empowering students by creating an avenue of engaging with the outside community.

In April last year, Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, the UCU Vice Chancellor, visited Hanze University, where he established stronger ties with the institution’s administration.

By Pauline Luba
Uganda Christian University (UCU) student, Philip Mugume Baitwa, attests to the fact that life is  partly made by the caliber of friends we choose.

At 15 years of age, and while a student of Mbarara High School in western Uganda, Baitwa sought to befriend classmates who he thought would inspire him to social and academic heights. He succeeded in making friends, but did not succeed in gaining positively from the friendships. 

Influenced by substance abuse, pornography addiction and juvenile delinquency, Baitwa says he was violent and a bully by senior four. He led many student strikes at school.  

“I was lost,” said Baitwa, who was raised by a Christian grandfather, a canon in the Anglican Church in Uganda. While engaged in negative life choices, Baitwa said there were times he felt uncomfortable that he had separated himself from the religious teachings that his grandfather emphasized. 

“Every time I was lost, there was a voice in my head telling me I was in the wrong, though I ignored it,” Baitwa said.

How He Discovered His Calling in Divinity at UCU

The 34-year-old eventually listened to the voice that was showing him the right path. He is now a year-three student pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at UCU.

He said his turning point came when he joined Valley College High School in western Uganda for A’level after many people spoke to him about changing his ways for the better. 

In 2010, Baitwa joined UCU to pursue a Bachelor of Laws, a course he says was largely influenced by his father’s desire.

“My father did not study his dream course — law — unlike his brothers,” Baitwa said. “And that saddened him. Someone, however, told him that if he got a son one day, he could live his dream in his son.” Baitwa’s father, Enoch Tumusiime Baitwa, instead studied a certificate course in veterinary medicine. 

Upon admission in 2010, Baitwa already had it in his mind to contest for the position of Guild President at UCU. He had been a student leader before. While in Kitwe Town Primary School in western Uganda, Baitwa was a time-keeper, health leader and eventually became the school’s top leader. 

In 2013, he was successful in the guild elections. One memorable thing about Baitwa’s leadership was changing the semester for voting for student leaders at UCU from January–May to September–December. And to justify the change, the Baitwas reasoned that in the January-May semester, many of the students are either on holiday or in internships so they would not participate in the voting of their leaders. They, thus, preferred the September-December semester, that had every student at school.  

After graduating from his law course in 2014, it did not take Baitwa long to realize that despite the law degree, his heart was elsewhere. “I didn’t like sitting behind a computer for long. I’m an outgoing person and I like to socialize,” Baitwa said.

In 2020, Baitwa said he experienced what many describe as the “call to Christ.” He began to have constant communication within himself, directing himself towards Christ and the service of God. Finally, in 2021, he returned to UCU to study divinity. 

Many friends and family members, however, rebuked him for the decision, with some calling it “foolish.” Even some of his church leaders, he said, could not readily believe the decision he had taken. 

“Theology is the queen of all subjects,” Baitwa said of the reason for the switch.  “We see it in all other courses. The legal framework is from the Bible.”

Baitwa hopes to combine his knowledge of the law with that of divinity once he graduates, to be able to “fill the legal gaps in church.” The father of three children — three years, one year and a three-month old baby — says his ultimate life goal is to see people live for God’s purpose, regardless of what career they are pursuing.

To give his family a livelihood during the time he is in school, Baitwa trained his wife — Peace Mugume — on how to handle investments and how to run the family farm.

By Kefa Senoga
In a bold move that underlines a desire to further the comradeship created during student days at Uganda Christian University (UCU), the institution’s alumni have launched a project where they can buy land and settle in the same area. 

The project, dubbed Alumni Villages, was introduced by a committee from the UCU Alumni Association’s Eastern Chapter to foster living in one community among former students of the institution.

The UCU alumni, led by Paulo Katto, the eastern representative on the Alumni Association Executive, started the mobilization and purchase of over three hectares (7.4 acres) of land located in Bukomolo village, Budaka district, eastern Uganda. 

According to Eriah Lule, the official in charge of publicity of the project, for one to own a piece of land in the alumni village, they pay sh1.5million (about $406) for a 50 feet by 100 feet plot of land.  

Lule, who also has purchased land in the village, noted that it is a viable investment at a low cost. “Land is costly today. As a young person trying to build myself, this was a good opportunity for me to also acquire a piece of land,” Lule says.

He added that so far 76 alumni have been able to acquire plots in the area, though their target is 100 people. There are plans to establish UCU alumni villages in other parts of Uganda.

UCU’s Vision for Bukomolo Village and Beyond

Katto, the team leader of the project, said factors like accessibility and proximity were

considered before they purchased the land. People who set up structures in the village will be able to access the national grids of electricity and water, according to Katto. 

In purchasing the land, Katto said they followed due process by involving lawyers, surveyors and local leaders. 

Tatiana Wandar, an alumna dealing in real estate, said that the alumni have a bigger vision of developing Bukomolo village into an estate, providing all the social services that the residents would need. 

The chairperson of Bukomolo village, Musa Kawiso, expressed joy at the initiative, saying: “I believe the team of UCU alumni will develop the village.”

Dorothy Amony, the UCU Mbale College secretary, said the alumni had left a mark in the development of the community and marketing of UCU as an institution.

“As the administration, we shall support you in all your ventures as the alumni association,” Amony noted.

The development comes after members of the Engineering Development Fund (EDF), an association of older students of UCU’s Faculty of Engineering, Technology and Design, in 2021 bought land in central Uganda. The land, purchased at sh42m (about $12,000) with each member contributing sh2m, was subdivided into 30 plots, with each of the 27 members taking a plot.

By Irene Best Nyapendi

On September 1st, we celebrated the achievements of the students who participated in the Uganda Christian University (UCU) School of Business International Entrepreneurship program.

This unique initiative is a result of UCU’s collaboration with Hanze University in the Netherlands. It was created to nurture a positive business mindset in the students and provide them with the necessary skills and outlook to excel in entrepreneurial endeavors.

The two-week program started on August 21st, under the theme “Innovation for Enterprise Sustainability” with 17 students from various programs. They were divided into five groups, namely: Avo Grow, Ticket Buddy, Tidy Up, Cultural Quest, and Bright Ear.

Each group received certificates and medals for their participation, but the Bright Ear team stood out as the best group after pitching a fundable business proposal. Kristina Nabatanzi, Divine Wabasa, Arthur Ronald Apire comprise the Bright Ear team. Their exceptional ideas demonstrated outstanding innovation, viability, value proposition, market research, and presentation skills, and they were awarded golden medals. They are also gearing up to put their ideas into action this September, marking the beginning of their entrepreneurial journey.

UCU’s Arthur Ronald Apire’s Entrepreneurial Journey

Arthur Ronald Apire, a third-year student pursuing a Bachelor of Human Resource Management and a member of the Bright Ear group notes that their journey was tough yet fulfilling. At the start, their idea faced criticism, which could have discouraged them. However, they chose to learn from their mistakes and the advice of their critics.

“This is the first time in my life I have won a medal. At first, we used to fail; we made a lot of mistakes, but it’s the advice from these critics that we chose to use, and it surely helped us get here.” Apire said.

He says that throughout the program, he gained the ability to adapt and collaborate effectively with individuals who shared a common objective, he acquired the skills of cost reduction and revenue generation. Additionally, Apire learned the importance of flexibility and collaboration, and he also gained insights into managing expenses and increasing revenue.

As a team, they presented an idea for a multimedia library that included audio books, and they developed an audiobook narrating the tale of Nambi and Kintu.

“People often encounter challenges when it comes to reading, so our initiative aims to address this issue by incorporating audio and visual materials, making it easier for students to enhance their academic performance,” Apire explained.

Linda Maat, the Director of Hanze University, who joined the event virtually from the Netherlands, expressed her enthusiasm and urged the students to keep working on their ideas.

“Congratulations to all the students who pitched their business ideas, and especially to the winners; you need to continue working on these ideas,” she said.

She also mentioned that she would come to UCU soon and is curious to see these students at the next level.

“It would be wonderful to see all the students already maybe in the next level. I am really curious where these students will be in four to six weeks from now,” Maat said.

Eva Joselyn Aluka, a third-year student pursuing a Bachelor of Tourism, described the Program as the most productive two weeks of her life. She found it both challenging and enjoyable. “It was both hectic and enjoyable. During the program, we played assimilation games that taught me to think so fast,” Aluka said.

Each group had a mentor, and Aluka expressed gratitude for the valuable knowledge and skills her mentor imparted. Through the presentations, she learned how to effectively pitch a business idea and win support.

Before this program, her knowledge of pitching ideas was limited, but now she feels confident in her presentation skills and understanding of how to prepare for pitching.

Christa Oluka, the Director of Academic Affairs at UCU, appreciated the judges for validating the students’ efforts. She emphasized that entrepreneurship is something that can go from small to big as you refine it.

“Thank you for investing in yourselves as young people. I was happy that you thought about meaningful problems and how you can think together to bring those things out,” Oluka said.

She also encouraged them to put themselves out there and take advantage of this and other opportunities.

This initiative has not only equipped students with essential skills but has also instilled in them the mindset needed for entrepreneurial success.

As these students embark on their entrepreneurial journeys, we look forward to seeing their innovative ideas become impactful realities in the coming months. It’s important to note that the next program is scheduled for July of next year.

By Pauline Luba
“Watching your peers graduate in their third year while you still have two more to go is hard,” Hilda Diana Ayikoru said. This is what Ayikoru had to contend with at Uganda Christian University (UCU) for two years as she completed her five-year course while those who were pursuing three-year courses walked out of the university with degrees.

But that was not the only challenge she faced while a student at UCU. The 24-year-old said she barely had any holiday time since medical students were constantly studying. As a result, she said she had to forgo many plans with her family and friends. 

“That’s what makes me more excited that this day has come,” the 24-year-old said during an interview with Uganda Partners a few hours to her graduation at UCU on July 28 as she repeatedly said “finally” she was done with the course. She is not just a graduate with a Bachelor of Dental Surgery, but also is part of the nine members of the pioneer class of the course at UCU. They were among the 1,006 students who graduated on July 28. On the day, the university also graduated 45 pioneer students in Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery.

“It was a long and tough journey,” said Ayikoru, adding: “I have learned a lot, and I am a different person now from when I first joined university.”

“I always wanted to be a doctor because doctors bring so much change into the world,” said Ayikoru, who was once a class leader at the university. Her love for the career started in her childhood as she often visited the hospital where her parents worked.

Why UCU school of Dentistry fills her with Pride

When UCU announced it would be starting a course in dental surgery in 2018, Ayikoru says she was one of the people excited about the development because of the university’s good academic and Christian reputation.

“The kind of course units we study, such as Christian Ethics and World Views, helped paint a picture of how best my dental sensitization dream will work,” she said in an earlier interview in 2021, noting that some of her friends in other institutions envied her especially when it came to the student-lecturer relationship for my course. “UCU lecturers know their students individually.”

While in school, Ayikoru also started a crocheting business in order to get money for her upkeep. She would crochet balls, wool or yarn into clothes for sale. When she discovered that the business was a promising one, she convinced two other students – one in the UCU School of Medicine and the other at the UCU School of Business – to join her. Most of her crocheting work was done late in the night, when she completed reading. She hopes to continue with the business of crocheting even as she joins the world of dental work.

For now, Ayikoru will undergo a mandatory one-year internship in a Uganda government health facility before she is able to practice her profession in a country with slightly over 300 dentists for a population of over 45 million people. After gaining more work experience, Ayikoru plans to enroll for a master’s course in the same field, before plunging into private practice. 

The last born of four children attended Kirinya Parents School, St. Joseph’s Girls School Nsambya for O’level and Gayaza High School for A’level before joining UCU.