By Immaculate Auma
I grew up reading a lot of fables and listening to folk tales. My heart would race as I flipped through pages that seemed infinite at the time. One character that stood out for me was always the hare, for how brilliantly he was depicted. The hyena was tainted as the greedy one, with quite little brains to show. I still cannot put my finger on where the monkey got lost within those fragile pages, yet I was often told they were distant cousins.
Walking into the gates of Uganda Christian University came with its fair share of pleasant surprises. Watching monkeys jump from one tree to another uncaged without paying a penny was truly priceless. It triggered a re-imagination of the day Abraham Lincoln’s declaration literally took off the shackles from the black man’s feet.
Many moments are wiped off the pages of history, while only a handful are engraved on concrete. For UCU students, monkeys have been one of the key highlights that they leave with them as a bonus to their degrees.
‘I watched as a whole family of monkeys passed by me one sunny afternoon. It looked like a miniature version of a hairy human with tails. I laughed at the baby monkey that received a slap as a reward for disturbing its mother.’ Glory Chimwemwe, a third-year journalism student, narrates, adding, “I wouldn’t mind having monkeys around me all the time. In fact, even if they brought a whole zoo, I would not mind at all.”
Being the pearl of Africa, it is no secret that Uganda is gifted with striking scenery. Nature is rooted in the black man’s DNA, which explains why even our ancestors lived longer than animals. In 2019, a study by Frontiers in Psychology showed that time spent with nature is an antidote to stress.
Ruhigira Johnson, a student of civil engineering, says that seeing monkeys soothes his stress levels. He notes that their mischievous innocence adds a flicker of light amidst a demanding schedule.
“Looking at the monkeys is stress-relieving. When I am in the middle of a lecture and see them passing by, it adds a light moment to my long, dull day,” he says.
Living alongside monkeys has become the new normal at UCU. The marvel that grips most students at first sight slowly dwindles away with their stay at the university.
Mr. Jimmy Siyasa, the public relations officer, notes that the university was very intentional about its plan to paint it green. He adds that having creatures like monkeys is one of the reasons that UCU is among the most stunning campuses in Africa.
