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opinion Friday, july 29, 2022 ebenezer 5 Business continuity that gives God glory Uganda Christian University (UCU), like many institutions, was negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, UCU was able to emerge from the pandemic stronger because of her business continuity plan. The strategy was to minimise costs and only keep essential services operating within the available resources. This was necessary because the revenue coming to the university had drastically reduced and even the little expected was uncertain. The University Council, as the supervisory body of the university, charged a business continuity committee to come up with strategies and interventions to enable UCU to survive the effects of the pandemic. The committee reviewed the university’s major expense lines and recommended to the University Council the suspension of the staff contracts. These, at 50%, were the university’s heaviest expense. This meant that only staff offering essential services would be given semester-based contracts and receive only a percentage pay of their former salaries. Secondly, all university operations were suspended save those offered online. Teaching and learning moved online with some hitches. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, UCU had already embraced e-learning as a future mode of teaching and learning. An e-learning centre with technical staff had been established with modern equipment. Modules for training staff in e-learning were ongoing. It is also worth noting that some programmes at UCU had already started offering blended programmes and take home examinations before the pandemic. Therefore, the foresight of UCU Management in investing in e-learning and online services, like library services, put UCU in an advantaged position to mitigate the effects of the lockdown. Currently, UCU has over 250,000 electronic books, journal articles and reference materials that can be accessed by students from anywhere and at any given time. Other on-line actions involved admissions, examinations (including pre-entry tests for some programs), graduation and student government activity. Guild government elections occurred via an on-line voting system known as e-Chagua. Prior to the pandemic, UCU had commissioned the development of a Management Information System (Alpha-MIS). This was to move all management operations online. This meant that financial functions, procurement operations, human resource activities, fleet management, etc. all could be conducted online. So even though staff were not present at the Campus, they were able to transact, By Rt. Rev. Prof. Alfred Olwa Bishop of the Diocese of Lango and Chairperson of the University Council of Uganda Christian University recommend and approve activities online. This greatly ensured business continuity of UCU. As UCU, we give God the glory that He gave us foresight, provided the means over such a difficult period, and He also gave us a team of staff and students who embraced the changes with a high degree of understanding and cooperation. The University Council, through her various Boards, provided strategic guidance and decision making. A number of Governance meetings were able to be held online, so UCU Management received timely guidance on key matters. Truly, UCU has lived up to her Vision: “A Centre of Excellence in the Heart of Africa.” To God be the Glory. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to serve as an insider in UCU We were honoured and privileged to become a part of the UCU family in January 2001 and stayed for another 20 years. Ten of those, my husband, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, was the Vice Chancellor. The serenity, the trees, the beautiful campus were all different from the busy city life that we had been used to. It was a safe space for us and great for bringing up our four children despite the long trips to take them to school in Kampala. The most exciting part was to see Jesus Christ lifted high in every part of the campus – there was a clear transformation of both students and staff alike – giving their lives to Christ and walking with Him at every opportunity. I was always amazed to see clusters and groups of students in two’s, three’s or more – under trees, in the chapel, in Principal’s Hall, in Nkoyoyo Hall – praying fervently together. The services, fellowships and community worship were always filled to the brim with students and staff. And what amazed me is that no one forced them to come, they wanted to be there. What a blessing for a campus to be so open to the gospel and the love of Jesus Christ. The UCU staff family was great, genuine, and showered us with love and respect. We had fellowship in different homes every week and had a great time welcoming new staff on campus with a basket of food and happy smiles and songs. Our house was open to both students and staff and we had many happy moments of sharing both food and the word of God. There were a few scary moments too. I do remember one instance where the students were not happy about the tuition increase. There was a lot of obtained first class degrees. I remember being reminded at their graduations that parents were not allowed to jump out to meet their children in joy after their names were read out. However, we, John and I, broke all the rules. I, in particular, first screamed and jumped up like a little excited girl. Then, I could not hold it any longer. I ran like an athlete to give a hug to our children who had made us so proud. This gave me a great experience of the joy our parents at UCU graduation went through. It was always a colourful occasion with applause and worship as well as a word of counsel from the Bible by the chief guest. At first it was scary for me to step into the shoes of the wife of a Vice Chancellor – especially after Mrs. Peggy Noll. She was so different from me. She had more time with staff, Dr. (Mrs.) Ruth Senyonyi Wife of former Vice By Canon Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, 2010-2020 commotion around the main hall and John went down to see what the matter was… he managed to walk through them and calm them down. Some students eventually confessed their involvement and were disciplined and/ or pardoned. Graduations were always a thrill for me – to see students ululating and jumping with joy at their success. Two of our children, Sarah and Benjamin, were students at UCU and both students, and internationals. I was working full time in Kampala and was also doing my PhD at the time. However, she encouraged me to be myself and to be used of the Lord in my own unique way. My main job was to support my husband. I did that with prayer, presence and encouraging words. In all our work life, this was the busiest and most engaging job. I may not have known all the inside campus and administrative decision stories but was pretty much involved in supporting whatever it was that I was allowed to do – hosting and entertaining, speaking from my heart to both students and staff, and preaching in chapel. I spent time teaching the MA counselling students, using my profession to help in counselling both staff and students and a good amount of time building up the Sunday School ministry. It was a worthwhile effort – we believe that both John and I impacted UCU in our own unique ways. We were blessed to be part of this wonderful family. Ebenezer. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to serve as an insider in UCU. Resilience is the new normal “The price of greatness is responsibility.” So said British statesman, soldier and writer, Winston Churchill, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during WWII. As the Uganda Christian University Guild, operating in a post-Covid-19 era, we cannot agree more. Our journey has been of resilience. We believe one must be resilient in order to progress in the “new normal.” However, most importantly, we believe the 24th Guild Government is on a journey orchestrated by God, who alone is immune to all crises that could happen now or tomorrow. And, therefore, He will hold us through. We have a five-point program, focused on enriching, strengthening and developing the following core areas that matter to students: Health, Education, Security, Accountability and Formidable Leadership. Much as the first 100 days of our governance have been uneasy, God has and continues to enable us to perform beyond our expectations. Through the leadership of Her Excellency Mirembe Racheal Sserwadda, the President, our Guild government has registered many success stories. We have managed to organize many impactful events/ programs, to the benefit of students. First, Guild Bazaars: These are normally weeklong, transient, marketplace arrangements, that bring essential products and services closer to students, especially those who reside within the university halls. The first bazaar (Easter semester) was not as robust to our expectation due to a few challenges like low student and trader turnup. But the second (Trinity semester) was far better and befitting our ideal. Hence a testimony of resilience. Second, Health Week, a weeklong health awareness campaign that brought free medical services and sensitization to hundreds of students. Third, Guild Run. The UCU annual Guild run was successfully held on March 12, 2022. More than 5 million shillings ($1,347) was collected Prime Minister of the 24th Guild Government, Uganda Christian University By Ephraim Titus Makuma towards supporting the Guild fund that caters for students with tuition arrears. Fourth, Outreach: We believe that Christcenteredness – a core value of UCU, entails compassion for the needy. Therefore, the Guild conducted an outreach dubbed Mwonyo’s Heart. We visited children/pupils of a Mukono-based primary school, and donated scholastic materials, clothes, foodstuff, among other essentials. We thank the student-community for heeding our resource-mobilization call and giving generously towards this cause. Furthermore, we participated in the orientation of the 2022 first-year students, to not only initiate them into the university culture, but also to make them feel at home. Currently, we are pursuing a grand guild project whose details I will not indulge in here. Await the surprise! Our heartfelt appreciation goes to the Church of Uganda, Chancellor, Council, management, staff, students and esteemed Uganda Partners for their continued support, both directly and indirectly to the students’ guild. Leadership is like a garden, one whose fruits come forth in due season. We remain hopeful and resilient as we make our mark on the Centre of Excellence in the Heart of Africa. Jesus was there with me, as real as that palm tree in my garden A graduation is a time to look backward as well as a time to celebrate in the present and to look forward to the future. An invitation to write this short piece has prompted me to look both backwards and forwards, and to encourage you, especially the graduates themselves, to do the same. First, looking backwards… What memories will we take from our time at UCU? I challenge the graduates to cultivate a spirit of gratitude to God for how He has shaped them, even perhaps through times of doubt and difficulty, during their years in Mukono. I will briefly share three such memories of mine among the many others still vivid to me despite our return home to the USA a dozen years ago. The morning of October 18, 2000, I was desperately homesick for my youngest daughter, who was turning (or as you would say, “making”) 18 years the next day on the other side of the world. In my quiet time I read these words from the famous English preacher Charles Spurgeon, By Mrs. Peggy Noll Pennsylvania, USA. “Come up to the palm tree of Jesus and take hold of the branches.” When I lifted my eyes and saw the literal palm tree growing outside my window (House #2) on the Mukono campus where we lived, I knew how I would survive these years far from my children — because Jesus was there with me, as real as that palm tree in my garden. Another memory is of a Christmas Eve service in the small chapel, as we worshipped with the Wife of the first Vice Chancellor of UCU, the Rev. Professor Stephen Noll, 2000-2010 students who had not been able to go home for the Christmas break because they were from countries outside Uganda. The international students were from DRC Congo, Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi. That night I gained a new understanding about what it meant that Jesus was a refugee when Joseph fled with him and his mother Mary into Egypt, away from the violence of Herod and his soldiers, as many of these students had fled from strife in their home countries. Finally, I remember the dedication of the Children’s Library here on the campus after a procession of children and adults down from Nkoyoyo Hall after a Sunday morning service. I knew the joy of seeing a vision become a reality, of being able to share not only my love of books with children of UCU students and staff and Mukono townspeople, but the books themselves, donated by friends from around the world. Today, as we give thanks with and for these graduates, whatever their degree or program, we can also look forward in confidence with them to the future God will open up for them. The reason we can do so is expressed in a chorus I remember singing often in Nkoyoyo Hall many years ago: “I know who holds the future, and I know He holds my hand; With God things don’t just happen, Everything by Him is planned. So, as I face tomorrow with its problems large and small, I’ll trust the God of miracles, Give to Him my all.” God bless you all.

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