When 33 student athletes from 10 Ugandan universities met in July to flag off participants to a global sports competition, one of the items on the agenda was to select the team captain. The athletes were heading to China’s Chengdu city to compete with students from more than 150 countries in the World University Games. 

“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.

As the Advent semester of 2023 began, Uganda Christian University welcomed the enthusiastic footfall of students among the colourful rustle of leaves. As new and familiar faces converged on campus, united by goals and dreams, excitement permeated the air. Accommodation finds a home within the Sabiti, Nsimbabi, and PDR Halls of Residence, providing comfort and a sense of belonging to first-year students. The university began another chapter of shared learning with the promise of knowledge and growth, where halls echoed with laughter, friendships were formed, and the future’s canvas awaited the strokes of these bright brains.

(Uganda Christian University has a reputation for research excellence. Examples include pioneering research in vegetables and solar energy, supported by funding from the European Union. The university also has been at the forefront of biomass and climate change research, receiving funding from the Fund for Innovation in Development (FID). This story focuses on nakati, also known as African eggplant.)

Oftentimes, our children can choose to be very stubborn or disobedient, and as a parent, you feel there is nothing more you can do for this child.

In her early life, Christine Wanyana saw herself as a lawyer. However, all this was before she interacted with her Senior Four teacher of Biology, who saw her gifts with science. The