By Pauline Luba
The leadership journey that Nkurunungi Seth Niwabiine started in May 2023 was not for the fainthearted. His courage was resolute. With faith, he forged challenges.

The 24-year-old had just made public his longtime desire of leading Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) Bishop Barham University Campus (BBUC) as its guild president. That particular semester, Niwabiine says he had reported to school with sh10,000 (about $2.6) as money for upkeep. Many who knew Niwabiine’s financial status thought his ability to fund his campaign was wishful thinking. 

“No matter where you come from or what your background is, be positive,” Niwabiine said during a late November interview with Uganda Partners. “My personal motto is ‘believe, begin, become’.” Indeed, he believed he could win. On November 11, 2023, he did. He became the university’s guild president.

But Niwabiine’s was no ordinary campaign. He was honest with his classmates about his financial status and, therefore, many of those who campaigned for him did not expect compensation. 

“In my first meeting (to strategize about how to conduct the campaigns), only five students showed up and I was honest about having no money,” Niwabiine said. “I ended up receiving contributions and help from several students.”

As luck would have it, on voting day, Niwabiine said his name was the first on the paper ballot. Could that opportunity have worked to sway fence-sitting voters who could have opted for any candidate whose name was first on the ballot? Perhaps, but Niwabiine says he believes voters knowingly chose him because he was the best among the contestants. 

BBUC Guild President: Niwabiine’s Triumph Amidst Family Tragedy

To Niwabiine’s mother, Mary Aida Nkurunungi, her son’s victory was a family triumph. Nkurunungi said she informed almost every relative she could reach about the new pride of the family. She said she not only often talks to her son on phone, but also prays for his successful tenure as guild president. 

There is no doubt his father, Eric Nkurunungi Muhoozi, would have been just as excited. However, the day Niwabiine reported to school to start his journey of university education was the same day Muhoozi complained of pain and was rushed to hospital. Tests at hospital revealed he had liver complications. Three months later, those complications claimed his life. 

That tragedy catapulted Niwabiine, as the first born in a family of five children, to fill the leadership void that his father had left in the family. He would often engage in different money-generating activities, with the hope that they would supplement whatever his peasant mother got in her pursuit to put bread on the table. Tasks like brick laying and farming were common activities from which Niwabiine and his family earned a livelihood.

The manifesto of Niwabiine, a year-three student of Bachelor of Agricultural Science and Entrepreneurship, is built on accountability, security, advocacy and welfare of the students. He said he will strive to establish a cash fund, to support the tuition of needy but bright students, especially those from humble backgrounds. 

Niwabiine attended Ishasha Primary School and Rushoraza Secondary School for O’level and and Kyamakanda Secondary School for A’level. All the three schools are found in western Uganda. In both primary and secondary school, Niwabiine was a student leader, including holding the position of head prefect. 

Today Uganda Christian University (UCU) officially closed the highly successful DALILA project after three years ever since it was launched. This was during a closing conference held at the UCU Main Campus, Mukono, which was graced by the Deputy Vice Chancellor Finance and Administration Mr.David Mugawe.
DALILA focuses on technological and economic subjects, paving the way for a greener, more sustainable future. This groundbreaking initiative brings universities together to tackle the challenges of energy management for sustainable and green economic growth. Join us in celebrating this significant milestone towards a brighter and eco-friendly tomorrow!

Andrew Bugembe covered the event and brings you the highlights in pictures below:

Deputy Vice Chancellor David Mugawe addressing at the closure of the DALILA conference as the representative of the Vice Chancellor.

Kironde Dennis,Jenavive Iucot, middle is Dr. Miria Agunyo, Okot Innocent, Namonyo Blessed, and Ogwang Emmanuel are ucu alumnus who did research, tests and wrote a paper about Assessing the viability of an Integrated Renewable Energy System for Institutions; Case of UCU Mukono.

Extreme left Dr. Miria Agunyo, left Dorcas Magoba,Centre Sempungu Godfrey, RodgersTayebwa and extreme right is Percy Mulosi the UCU DALILA project coordinators Giving their experiences.

Ronald Mayanja Pionior Graduate of the Post graduate Diploma discussing his experience while in Italy during the project implementation.

Seyyid Bukhari, one of the participants giving remarks during the closure about the research project.

Pioneer graduates giving their internship experiences in Europe and AFRICA.

A Group photo taken inside the UCU principal’s hall after the conference.

Pioneer Graduates of the Post graduate Diploma posing with Dr. Miriam Agunyu the Dean Faculty of Engineering Design and technology.

Solid waste management is a major challenge in sub-Saharan Africa in general, and its food waste component is high and increasing with the rapidly increasing population.

Survey data (class p1) collected from households, hotels, restaurants, schools and produce markets were analysed using descriptive and logistic regression analyses for insights into the types and amounts of food waste, and respondents’ attitudes and practices towards its collection, disposal and alternative uses.

Households produce the highest amounts of food waste compared to institutions (hotels, schools and restaurants) and produce markets. In a week, about 96, 72, and 93% of all the respondents in households, institutions and produce markets respectively experienced food waste at least one to three times.

On average, with a solid waste collection coverage of 45%, households, institutions and markets in Kampala can respectively supply 680, 80, and 8 t of food waste daily. Moulding, poor food storage, food leftovers, food expiry and excess food produce were the major reasons for condemning food to waste.

Over 90% of the respondents recognized food waste as a problem, and as a resource especially for use in livestock feed production, and were willing to consume house crickets raised on feed from food waste.

Lower levels of education (none, primary and secondary levels), unemployment, and being divorced at household level were positively associated with recognizing food waste as a resource [X² (21, N = 209) = 137.77, p =  < 0.0001] and re-use for alternative purposes [X² (21, N = 209) = 47.44, p = 0.001] by households and institutions [X² (14, N = 92) = 30.97, p =  < 0.019]. Majority of the respondents were willing to donate food waste, especially married people and institutions that have been in existence for a period of 5–10 years.

To read the full article, visit this link: https://sustainenvironres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42834-023-00195-6

Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Uganda Christian University, Mukono, 31204, UgandaGeoffrey Ssepuuya
2. Department of Food Science and Technology, Kyambogo University, Kampala, 10308, UgandaGeoffrey Ssepuuya
3. Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, Uganda Christian University, Mukono, 31204, UgandaElsie Nsiyona
4. Department of Natural Resource Economics, Busitema University, Namasagali, 20217, UgandaMoses Kakungulu
5. Department of Linguistics, English Language Services & Communication Skills, Makerere University, Kampala, 20217, UgandaJane Frances Alowo
6. Department of Agriculture, Uganda Christian University, Mukono, 31204, UgandaPaul Nampala

For more information on research at UCU, visit this link: https://grants.ucu.ac.ug/

Economic and social disruptions, such as the global COVID-19 pandemic, heighten the vulnerability of adolescents. These disruptions exacerbate health and economic inequities, which are further compounded in informal labour settings such as the mining sector.

Therefore, strengthening adolescent resilience and coping are crucial for well-being and equitable health outcomes. However, there is a limited, comprehensive literature that synthesizes adolescent resilience interventions, especially in mining communities.

This study presents a scoping review, following Arksey & O’Malley’s (2005) framework, to map existing literature on interventions for adolescent resilience in mining communities. Relevant studies were identified from academic journals and grey literature published between 2012 and 2022. Of the 1286 studies screened, 13 were retained for final analysis.

Literature showed that common economic resilience interventions included policy-level advocacy and activism, and predominant health interventions focused on sexual and reproductive health, including HIV counselling, screening, and testing, targeting both individual and community-level change in mining communities. The findings emphasize the necessity for interventions to adopt multi-level, multi-sectoral, and multi-stakeholder approaches while mainstreaming gender.

Future research should prioritize intersectional, gender-transformative, and community-based interventions to strengthen adolescent resilience in mining communities and advance health equity and rights amongst this last-mile population.

To read the full article, visit this link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214790X23001582

For more information on research at UCU, visit this link: https://grants.ucu.ac.ug/

By Patty Huston-Holm

Kasule Kibirige believes in Jesus.

A guy he met on November 15, 2023, believes in UFOs (Unidentified Foreign Objects) and Sasquatch, also known as “Big Foot.” 

After a quick handshake, the man, donned in a baseball cap embroidered with the Sasquatch name, asserted that USA government data verifies the existence of alien life (i.e., UFOs) and many videos from average people authenticate that a large hairy creature is walking his big feet around North American forests. Kasule listened without prejudice during the five minutes that the man in the hat espoused his views that were new to Kasule and what some more familiar consider fictitious and as the sun was setting outside the Cedarville, Ohio, Sunset Inn and Suites.  

That’s what social workers, especially those who are Christian, do. 

“Social work has a value base similar to Christian faith,” said Kasule, head of undergraduate studies, School of Social Sciences, Uganda Christian University (UCU), since 2016. “Social work is a program of study that includes accepting others without judging them.”

The profession is much more, of course. The Webster dictionary defines social work as a field with “activities or methods concretely concerned with providing social services and especially with the investigation,  treatment and material aid of the economically, physically, mentally or socially disadvantaged.” 

The brief, unexpected encounter with the Sasquatch-UFO follower – who also might have shared his religious beliefs had he remained longer – provided an example of implementing social work skills outside the confines of a dictionary or textbook, according to Kasule, who learned of these topics for the first time in his three-week, November trip to the USA.  It was his first visit to Ohio and second trip to the United States. While waiting to have dinner with faculty at Cedarville University, he shared other illustrations, including his early recognition of how listening and observing make a difference in the field of social work. 

“Most students come to universities directly from high school,” Kasule said. “I didn’t.”

Without sufficient funds, or academic marks to

garner a government scholarship grant, Kasule first enrolled in vocational training. Using his tertiary knowledge and skill, he was employed as a welder in a small-scale steel fabrication factory that made machines like the ones used in the agro-processing industry. He later saw social workers in action when working for a child-focused non-profit organization in Kampala,  Uganda.  

“Choosing social work was largely inspired by that life-changing opportunity of  working with a non-governmental organization that helped disadvantaged, urban out-of-school children,” Kasule said. 

From 2001 to 2007, Kasule received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work from the University of Botswana in Africa. Since 2008, he’s been a social work faculty member at UCU and participated in numerous community engagements, both integrated in fieldwork supervision of students’ practicums and community service, researching to enhance teaching and leading social work curriculum at UCU.  In addition to these roles, he has collaborated with Lisa Tokpa of UCU’s Uganda Studies Program (USP), a semester-long course of study for American university students. The goal in collaborating is to create mutual benefit among their two programs at the university, including research, co-teaching, social work supervisor trainings, and cross-cultural student groups.

“My major interest is to contribute to improving the quality of social work educational experiences for both students and faculty,” Kasule said. “I continuously seek to engage with colleagues who share this passion through collaborations – in international field education, co-teaching and learning, and applied research.”

The main objective of Kasule’s November visit to the United States was expanded collaboration. He spoke and listened during the North American Association of Christians in Social Work Convention 2023 in Pittsburgh, Pa.; engaged with educators and students at two USA universities that have been involved with the USP in the two decades of the program’s existence; and spoke with the Rt. Rev. Deon Johnson, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri at St. John’s Episcopal Church, St. Louis, Mo. In the state of Pennsylvania, he visited Grove City College. In Ohio, he spent two days at Cedarville University. In Missouri, he met with social work faculty at St. Louis University. 

Since 2004, students from more than 100 American Christian universities, as well as those from a smaller number of secular universities have participated in the UCU-USP four-month curriculum that is largely focused on social work. Most USP-sending universities are associated with the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, which represents more than 180 higher education institutions.  

“My key initiatives are local and international,” Kasule said. “Locally, UCU social work and USP social work emphasize cross-cultural learning groups. Internationally, there is the exchange with universities outside Uganda.”

UCU Lecturer Promotes Global Collaboration for Cross-Cultural Learning

Kasule has seen first-hand the academic and cultural value for American students spending a semester of study at UCU, as well as a more recent collaboration that has UCU students studying at Hanze University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. He would like to see more United States higher education opportunities for Ugandan students and faculty.

“Cross cultural conversations have infinite value,” said Kasule, who has two children, ages 4 and 7, with his wife, Grace, a pediatrician currently engaged in clinical research. “We have our own perceptions about Christianity and social problems in Uganda. You have yours.” 

Besides its spiritual redemption and religious values for the majority of Ugandans, Christian virtues also are an important reference for promising hope; and a practical framework when integrated into curriculum.

While partnership benefits are readily acknowledged, money is a barrier for an equal exchange because Ugandans have fewer resources than Americans. But it’s an obstacle that can be overcome.

“There is the possibility of grants, but we don’t expect our partners to throw money at a problem,” Kasule said. “Rather, we seek mutually-beneficial collaboration.” He pointed to the internet with possibilities for co-teaching and co-research, especially since all UCU post-graduate programs are now online. 

David Hodge, distinguished professor, School of Social Work, Arizona State University, is among USA social work partners who have come to UCU. In 2021, Dr. Hodge and Kasule co-published a paper addressing academic research inequalities between Sub-Saharan faculty and their counterparts in the West, and planned more related to how spirituality can be used in assessment until Covid drove Hodge home earlier than planned. As 2023 comes to a close, this later project is being revived.

“Even for non-believers, Christian principles and similar intervention strategies can be applied,” said Kasule, reflecting on some work he has embarked on with partners fighting against child sacrifice, in Uganda.  According to census data, 82 percent of Ugandans are Christian. In the USA, 63 percent identify as believers in Jesus Christ. 

Kasule sees Christian faith playing an integral part for worker efforts to rebuilding community resilience, prevention and mitigation of social struggles, such as domestic violence, mental illness and children not in school. Loneliness issues for people of all ages also is a current focus both in Uganda and the United States, he said.

Enabling university faculty and students to experience multiple cultures is key, according to Kasule.  Opportunities for faculty to engage in more practice-academics (pra-academics) and collaborative projects would not only improve teaching and learning effectiveness but also will certainly improve service users’ overall  outcomes. 

“We need to engage agencies as partners, teachers and students as learners,” he said. “We learn so much from each other to help others.”

By Kefa Senoga 

The Rev. Assoc. Prof. Andrew David Omona has learned how he reacts to adversity is more important than the actual misfortune.  His up-and-down life story depends on the value of strength and resilience. And these are skills he has mastered.

Take, for instance, the incident of 1996 when he tried to begin his theology career. 

Born in 1970 in Adjumani district, northern Uganda, to the Rev. Andrew and Mary Olal, Omona completed his primary education at Biyaya Primary School before joining Obongi Secondary School in 1986, where he completed his O’level.  In 1990, he joined Moyo Secondary School in northern Uganda, from where he completed his high school studies. Unlike many of his peers, he was not influenced by a mass recruitment of people into the Uganda Police Force. He decided to pursue a Diploma in Theology at the Bishop Tucker Theological College. 

Rev. Omona’s UCU journey

In 1996, Omona, the seventh of 10 children, enrolled for a Bachelor of Divinity course at what is now the Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology. At the time, the college was under Uganda’s Makerere University. It became part of Uganda Christian University (UCU) in 1997. For reasons unknown to Omona, a week into his course, the Makerere University Council canceled his admission and those of some of his colleagues. 

“When that happened, the Dean of Studies of Bishop Tucker at the time, the Rt. Rev. Canon Dustan Bukenya (now a retired bishop), gave me a letter to take to Bugema University,” Omona said, noting that with the letter, he gained admission into Bugema. 

He was, therefore, allowed to enroll for a dual program leading to the consecutive award of two bachelor’s degrees — Bachelor of Theology and Bachelor of Arts with Education. The two degrees were combined because the programs shared certain elements, a practice that was acceptable at that time.

As Omona’s graduation at Bugema drew nearer, he encountered another hurdle. He got a challenge with the practical element in his theology course. He explains that despite having fulfilled all the requirements for graduation, there was one challenging course unit remaining — a practical component where they intended to assign him to a Seventh Day Adventist church. 

“Whereas the head of department had agreed to supervise me in the Anglican church, the university management made it difficult for that to happen,” Omona says, indicating that when they reached a stalemate on the matter, he opted to only graduate with a Bachelor of Arts with Education.

After completing the BA with Education, he secured an admission at UCU to pursue a Master of Arts in Theology in 1999 and graduated in 2002. In 2005, his interest switched from theology and education to international relations and diplomacy; he enrolled to pursue a Master of Arts in International Relations and Diplomacy at Nkumba University, graduating in 2007.    

Soon after, a friend who was studying at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania encouraged Omona to enroll for a PhD in International Relations and Diplomacy. However, he says the advisor he was assigned turned out to be too busy for him. On many occasions, according to Omona, he would travel from Uganda to Tanzania, only to find that his advisor had traveled out of the country. So, in 2008, upon a friend’s recommendation, he transferred to Kenyatta University in Kenya, to pursue the same PhD course. He graduated from the university in 2015.

Upon acquiring his doctorate in 2016, Omona applied for a promotion at UCU, where he has been teaching since 2001. He was granted that request. However, three years later, when he applied to graduate to the higher rank of Associate Professor, his wish was denied. He did not lose hope, though. In 2021, Omona re-applied for the promotion. The good news reached him in May this year, when he was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor of Ethics and International Relations.

He said one of the most gratifying aspects of his academic journey are the friendships he has made while pursuing his studies and attending conferences. He said that whenever he travels, he forms acquaintances with people with whom he frequently collaborates on research publications. 

The Rev. Omona is married to Anne Cheroto, a priest and the Principal of Ndegeya Teacher Training College in Masaka district, central Uganda. The couple has three biological children — two boys and one girl. Their first born, a boy, is pursuing a Bachelor of Laws at UCU.