By Eriah Lule
Uganda Christian University’s core values of integrity and servanthood didn’t only indulge in Paul Sennyonga’s tenure at the university but became part of the person Paul has become today.
If you have engaged with the Rotary circles, Mukono General Hospital or youth community-based organizations, you won’t fail to recognize the 25-year-old fellow who has painted his name on the humanitarian walls within the community.
Covid’s after math not only shook the entire world, but it also left indelible scars on the many teenagers in the country.Paul sought for a solution, presenting this challenge to Mukono Rotary, who later asked him to conduct some research and conduct a survey to find out the challenges teen mothers faced at the General hospital.
Paul’s efforts helped Mukono General Hospital acquire a fully equipped teen mother facility from Mukono Rotary Club. From this initiative, 9 other hospitals got equipment from a grant of USD70,000 from the Rotary Clubs in Canada through Full Soul, a not-for-profit organization.
For his servant hood spirit and integrity, Paul was nominated as the Rotaract president and won 70% of the election ballot cast by the members.
“It’s from UCU that my servant hood spirit was awakened. Joining Rotaract was like a continuation of serving the Mukono community. My nomination and installation as the Rotaract president is like another challenge and call to serve and impact the community,” he said.
It’s no surprise that various alumni are climbing ladders of servanthood all over the world, thanks to the university’s moral principles and core values instilled in students.
“We believe UCU molded us to be the people we are now. Everything we do is a reflection of our mother,” he said.
In 2019, Paul created a community-based organization called Save the Youth, fully registered in Mukono District, that has engaged a lot of teen mothers and young people in secondary schools. Although his organization hasn’t stretched its hands out of Mukono, it has skilled, empowered, and counseled its beneficiaries.
Save a Youth employs three full-time staff with 9 on-call volunteers. It receives its funding partly from St. Francis School of Health Sciences in Namataba, which dedicates resources to the organization on a quarterly basis.
No, this wasn’t enough for Paul. He is the Programs Officer at Muntu wa Wansi, a not-for-profit organization in Ntinda that amplifies men’s role in sexual reproductive health.
Zack Tamale, Senior Lab Technologist at Allan Galpin and an emeritus Rotary president of Mukono 2019, noted that UCU doesn’t only groom but nature talent with its principles. It’s one of our missions to have a complete education for a complete person.
“With UCU, we groom and nature all characters to serve the community. For Rotary, we acquire such people to come and add efforts to serve the community,” he said.
Born to Nathan Kigongo and Catherine Namutebi of Mukono District, Paul is the first born among the 5 siblings and the pioneer winner of the John Ssenyonyi scholarly challenge in 2019, an event that was launched by the Katikiro (Prime Minister) of Buganda Kingdom, Charles Peter Mayiga.
Paul hopes to make Rotaract activities very vibrant among universities and calls upon young people to engage and serve the community.
He attended Little Cranes primary school, Kanjuki secondary school, and Paul Mukasa Senior School. He graduated with a Bachelor’s of Social Work and Social Administration from UCU in 2019.
