By Vanessa Kyalimpa
A Uganda-based thinktank, the Economic Policy Research Center, estimates that 41% of the jobs in the micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises were lost in Uganda as a result of the Covid pandemic. The job of Judith Nabwire, a Uganda Christian University (UCU) alumna and a social worker, was part of that statistic.
Nabwire squeezed her way through education in Uganda with limited finances. She completed Mbarara Secondary School and, with a sponsored scholarship from a church in Pennsylvania, USA, got a diploma and degree in social work and social administration as well as a certificate in gender training from UCU. She completed an internship with a German-based Off-Tu-Mission nonprofit and breathed a sigh of relief when she got employed with a Christian Non-Governmental Organization, Children Alive Ministry, which works with Mukono-area children, their families, and the church to bring about transformation and holistic wellbeing.
For three years, all was well with Nabwire’s job. However, due to health challenges, in 2020, she got an extended leave of absence. At nearly the same time, Covid and the Uganda government lockdown happened.
“Some people got laid off at Children Alive Ministry, and I was one of them,” Nabwire said. At 34, with a family to look after, losing her job was a hardship.
It was at this point that Nabwire looked back at some of the friendships and connections she had made. Among the people she reached out to was an Ohio USA resident, Patricia Huston-Holm, a friend for about 10 years and the UCU Partners Communications Director. She says Patricia advised her to take up a volunteer opportunity at any organization. She took that advice, and it made the difference.
“I searched around Mukono in central Uganda, until a friend who happened to know someone at Mukono Church of Uganda Hospital referred me there,” she said. “They have a Community Based Organization, with a program called DREAMS, where I worked as a volunteer for the first six months.”
With Dr. Nsingo Simon Peter and others observing Nabwire’s efforts with the DREAMS HIV/AIDS prevention program, she proved her value in half a year. Now, Nabwire, who is married to Kavuma Douglas and has a three-year-old daughter, is officially an employee with the organization as a field officer. She has been paid since November 1, 2022.
Nabwire is among leaders with the DREAMS (determined, resilient, empowered, AIDS-free, mentored, and safe) program, a community-based project with strategies to give age 9-24 girls skills to help them acquire employability and avoid pre-marital sex and HIV/AIDS. She works with girls considered vulnerable because of economic, education and/or early parenting challenges – out of school and at risk of having babies out of wedlock or already teen mothers.
Nabwire’s determination and work ethic are influenced by hard-working, Christian parents who reinforced these values for all five of their children. Her father, John Wabwire, is a pastor for a church in Mbarara. He struggled to pay school fees on his salary.
After completing high school, Nabwire had no hope of continuing her formal learning because she knew her family did not have the means to fund a university education. It was at a Mukono church called Mount Olives that she met visitors from Pennsylvania and Ohio, namely Shirleen Nixon Johnson and Patricia in 2009. After first hearing Judith’s solo voice in the choir and then meeting her, the two women saw value enough to help the young woman further her education and a career. When they couldn’t personally assist, they found others in the United States to provide support.
“I always put my faith in God,” Nabwire said. “I am grateful to so many people for how He put them in my path as I appreciate that God uses me to help others.”
