By Eriah Lule
From post-colonial times to the early 2000s, nursing as a profession was regarded as a second option for many who failed to qualify for medicine but had a passion for health. A lot of dos and don’ts surround the profession with little effort from professionals
Lunkuse Mary, a 62-year old nurse working with Mukono General Hospital, can’t fail to narrate the huddles they passed through during the three last quarters of the 20th century as nurses.
“We were minors in the medical fields yet we did most of the work in health centers,” she said “Our needs and voices where on invitation and often came last.”
This was the same story that Jemima Mutabazi, the former head of the Department of Nursing and Midwifery, lived and worked to break all the odds that were attached to the field as a leader and an academic.
When the university sought to start a nursing course at bachelors level, ” who is going to help us with such a big job?” asked the Rev. Canon. Dr. John Senyonyi, the then deputy Vice Chancellor Finance and Administration.
Jemima Mutabazi, a renowned nurse and scholar at Aga Khan University at the time, was the best candidate for the job.
“I personally talked to Jemima to join Uganda Christian University, which she later did after a series of engagements,” he said. “These are the seeds she sowed, we are now reaping”.
Dr. Miriam Mutabazi, the Dean of the faculty of Public Health, Nursing and Midwifery,, commended the good work that her predecessor did to change the narrative of the nursing profession. They laid the foundation for the formation of the current faculty, aspiring to become a school.
“In every circumstance, there are individuals who sacrifice themselves for the future of others, and it was Jemima for this faculty,” she said. “Her resilience and hard work helped to put a big mile stone on the country’s nursing profession.”
As Uganda Christian University (UCU) celebrates its 25th anniversary and Bishop Tucker celebrates his 100th, the Faculty began in 2006 and has celebrated 16 years of empowering medical professionals with strong Christian morals.
Dr. Elizabeth Namukombe Ekong, a lecturer in the nursing department at UCU and the Chairperson of the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council, praised Jemima’s willingness to help her peers grow professionally despite the challenges of the nursing profession.
“Jemima encouraged us to not only feel comfortable with our degrees, but aspire higher to even get PhD’s, which we take pride in as a faculty,” she said. “Her selfless efforts have helped the faculty grow and become recognized in the country.”
Elizabeth Situma, the Head of Department Nursing and Midwifery, commended Jemima’s sacrifice towards the department and the nursing profession. Jemima designed the curriculum alone in the academic office where she got space from Allan Galpin, with the help of the books she received from Dr. Karen Drake, who was a full-time scholar from Bristol University.
“Such people had the vision, they stuck on it till they saw the fruits of their tireless efforts,” she said. “The Nursing department now offers a PhD program.”
Jemima Mutabazi, a 73-year old, retired from the leadership of the Faculty in 2019, and resorted to being a consultant and an academic in her long-dear profession, “nursing”.
According to Mutabazi, if it weren’t for Dr. Karen, who was a Fulbright scholar who came with different reading materials for nursing at the time, it would have been harder to develop the curriculum.
Many other challenges and stereotypes where attached to the profession like nurses keeping their hair short but she had to fight all these to bring a complete Christian product.
“I am truly indebted to very many memories when I come back to UCU, how we started as a small department in one office and we have a whole building for our space,” she said.
