From a trade school to a lay readers training college and now part of the Uganda Christian University (UCU) family, the Arua campus has shown a marked growth in both enrollment and importance to the community in the northwestern part of Uganda. 

UCU constructed a $300,000 wastewater treatment plant in 2006. Two-thirds of the cost of the plant, the first of its kind for any institution in Uganda, was funded by the Diocese of Sidney’s Overseas Relief and Aid Fund of Australia.

Work, dedication and discipline paid off for the Uganda Christian University (UCU) School of Law class of 2020/2021 as these graduates topped the list at the 50th Law Development Center (LDC) graduation. Among the top 20 students who scored a first-class degree at the LDC graduation in June, 10 did their Bachelor’s Degree at UCU. 

In the bustling halls of the university, the air was thick with anticipation as the end of semester examinations loomed just days away. The campus, usually alive with various events and activities, had transformed into a serene haven for diligent students, all united by a common purpose: to conquer their exams and emerge victorious. The atmosphere was one of focused dedication, a symphony of rustling papers, intense discussions, and the occasional soft sigh.

Hungry people dive into trash bins for discarded food that cats, dogs and birds pick over. They climb trees for fruit half-eaten by monkeys. They steal. They drink dirty water.  They exhibit anger, hopelessness and desperation. 

While growing up, Beatrice Masendi says some aspects of Christian salvation did not make much sense to her. And that forced her to begin equating her faith to politics. All this happened despite Masendi being a child of a lay reader. Lay readers are non-clergy who are authorized to preach and to conduct some religious services, but are not permitted to celebrate the Eucharist.