Beautiful Uganda!

Uganda has breathtaking views throughout the country. It is a vegetation dense country. Many citizens live off their land. You can see them barter and sell their produce, farm animals, and crafts. Yes, there is much poverty, but they appear to be a happy people when you visit their villages and homestead.

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit an island on Lake Bunyuni, with Amie Garcia the Program Coordinator for Mission Doctors, a sister organization to Lay Mission-Helpers. We had the wonderful experience of taking a boat ride and walking on a trail to sight see some of the animals. Unfortunately, that day they choose to hide from us but we did see just a couple of animals.

The view from the cabin at the Lake was amazing. It would be wonderful to wake up to that every day. Hopefully, some of you readers will have the opportunity to enjoy such a breathtaking view one day.

Bye for now!

God Bless.

Wildlife Excursion

Uganda has such expansive and beautiful parks with wildlife. I had the opportunity to participate on a field trip with the Tourism, Heritage, and Leisure Management Department students to Queen Elizabeth National Park. The purpose of this excursion was for students that had not been to the part of the country to know it and for students to practice being a tour guide.  The students explained the attractions and wildlife during the journey to the park. We were able to visit a hot spring park, and the equator.

It was a pleasurable trip, where I could observe the learning of the students this past year.

Please see the pictures below.

  

Nine Months In and Voting

Wow it's been 9 months! How time flies by.  I have had the opportunity to learn, share knowledge and enjoy many experiences during this time in Uganda.

Of course, I miss my Homeland and my family because there is nothing like home. As a United States citizen, it is my responsibility and duty to vote in all elections. So, yes I voted!

I recently received this email of my mail in ballot:

“Dear NANCY MAGLOIRE,

Your ballot was received by your local board of elections.

We expect to finish counting mail-in ballots on November 15, 2024. The exact date may vary by county. You can check the status of your ballot at vote.md.gov.

While you wait:

•  Share this digital ‘I voted’ sticker on your social media pages
•  Use the hashtag #MDvotes #trustedinfo2024”

 

I hope the best candidate for America wins.

Good bye for now.

Student Testimony - John Vianney

I wanted to share the experience of another student. In a previous blog, the experience of a student enrolled in the BA for Business Administration was shared. 

Now, a short video of a student enrolled in the BA of Tourism, Heritage, and Leisure Management. They are from different areas but the one thing that they have in common is they both are in the Chapel Choir. 

John Vianney Akanyihayo pictured below shares his experiences, goals and future aspirations in the attached video.

 

I hope you enjoyed learning about both students.

 

God bless. 

Student Testimony - Loyce

It is wonderful to see the students grow and develop leadership skills. Many were shy in the beginning of the year and now are more outspoken.  The students have been inspired, are in the process of transforming, with the hopes of empowerment and changing their families lives and those of the community in the future.

The students are really enjoying their experiences at St. Ignatius University-Kabale. As you walk the campus, sometimes you can hear the students singing the university Anthem. They are proud of their university, which is demonstrated by them taking time throughout the week to pick up trash and maintain the gardens. There is student consensus to share their learning in the community and recruit students to enroll in order to increase the student body. Even though enrollment is still low the library hours have increased, which reflects increased enrollment and the need of support services.

In the interest of learnings about students’ aspirations, I asked a couple of students about their goals. I had the opportunity to have a short conversation with a student to get her perspective of the university. Ms. Loyce Katushabe is majoring in Accounting and began pursuing her Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration in January, here is the video link: 

University Visit

Today. Alfred Kyaka, the Assistant Commissioner of Secondary Education of the Ministry of Education and Sports for the country visited the University to commend the work thus far and to convey the urgency for an increase of teacher preparation programs for Secondary Education in Uganda. 

 

Alfred Kyaka is standing to the left of me.

One Step Forward

One step forward! We were not listed on the NCHE website. I prepared an application for membership to the Inter University Council of East Africa, which requires a recommendation from the Executive Director of NCHE. It was perplexing to me that the university still was not listed on their website. I assume it was an oversight which has been corrected, accordingly on September 19th they finally added St. Ignatius University-Kabale to the list! 

The recommendation permits access to  Quality Assurance mechanisms from IUCEA as well as professional development on policy improvements, enforcement processes, data instrument tools, and many other mechanisms to monitor, evaluate and improve higher education access. 

Hopefully, Bachelors of Arts and Science for Primary Education will appear on the list in November.

St. Ignatius University, Kabale – National Council for Higher Education

https://unche.or.ug/institution/st-ignatius-university-kabale/