By Aulah Najjuuka
Rose Babirye Kakaire dispels the commonly held notion that universities employ only the highly educated as she goes about her chores of cleaning offices at Uganda Christian university . Expressing gratitude to UCU for employing people from all walks of life she says that it is untrue that universities only employ people that “have had so much education.
She feels empowered by her cleaning job because she has something to show off for it. “I have been able to save money, have also been able to help my husband take our kids to school and take care of my family and hopefully mid this year, I will be able to purchase a piece of land,” she says.
When Rose and her family moved to Mukono in 2016 she never imagined that that would be the beginning of a blissful employment journey at Uganda Christian University (UCU).
The 29-year old mother of three started her employment in UCU in 2017 which was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic that drove the whole country into a lockdown.
During lockdown Rose was worried about retaining her job as most employers were cutting off employees because of the negative economic effects that the pandemic caused. She kept praying about it until the government permitted educational institutions to start operating again in March of 2021.
Rose eventually returned to UCU where she was not only retained, but was promoted to office attendant handling three departments, namely; The Standard newsroom , Office of Church Relations and Research , and Innovations and Partners.
Rose remembers that in 2016 when she had first moved to Mukono, she used to admire people who worked for UCU and she decided to apply for a job at the institution. “They didn’t even have any opening and neither had they put up any advert looking for workers but I prayed to God who told me that there lay my chances and so I walked through the main gate to ask for a job,” she remarked.
She says that one of the reasons that inspired her to take on her first cleaning job at UCU is because of the religious aspect of the University , she knew she was going to be treated with humaneness in addition to enjoying the conducive and quiet environment. She grew to love the job however small it was and believed that God had better plans for her in the future.
“I liked the flexibility that came with the job because it was next to home and the nursery school where I took my daughter. I walk to work and arrive on time which saves me so much money that would have been spent on transport.”
She adds that working at UCU has benefited her in so many ways as she started a ground-nuts business which she serves staff at breakfast time. She has been able to meet people that she now considers family and can count on them . “God blessed me with a baby girl during the pandemic and I can say that when I bring her here , I never have to worry because everyone treats her like their own, they always keep her safe even when I’m busy working.”
She adds that in spite of bringing her child along to her workplace she knows when it’s time to work and when it’s time to attend to her child. As a working mum, she is able to bond with her daughter something that isn’t very common to most young mothers that work full time.
Rose’s morning starts with taking her two children to school . Then she gets to work by 7am and begins by cleaning and organising The Office of Church Relations, then the Communications Office and lastly The Standard newsroom.
Rose says that young women should try to emulate God ‘s words in whatever they do, never look down upon jobs because everyone has to start somewhere and also make sure they are hardworking because no one will respect you if you live a life of dependency, she affirms.
