Feature

Unlike children, most adults don’t eat the icing on cake. They only like its decorative appearance. When the cake is served, they quickly chip away the icing to get to the cake itself because it’s what really matters.

If someone had told Martina Anyango in 2023, when she joined UCU that she would become the NBL Playoffs Most Valuable Player and earn a scholarship to play basketball in the United States, she would probably have struggled to believe them.

Coming from a humble background with a peasant father, Patience Akampurira had no hope of joining a university after completing A’ level in 1998. It was like a dream and yet an answered prayer when her father, a very committed Christian and a canon in the Church of Uganda heard about Uganda Christian University (UCU) and how it offered other programs apart from theology.  Her father quickly sent for the application forms, and she was offered an opportunity to study for a Bachelor of Arts concurrent with a Diploma in Education (BAED). 

We have all failed in life at some point, but we have not been worthless. We are still alive and moving forward with greatness in one area or another. To some, failure came as a learning experience, and they got over it with more courage and focus. Other people never believed they could try again, and all their hope was shattered. That is also part of life. Life has never been straight.

Ordinarily, when a student studies Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics at A’level in Uganda, chances are they will opt to pursue a course in medicine at university. That was not the case with Emmanuel Okia. He says even before he completed A’level, he knew his heart was elsewhere.