Celebrating Success and Reflecting on 2024
Editor’s Note: We’re pleased to announce that our Ugandan Communications Contractor, Kalinda Jamada Musa, is continuing forward in his professional growth after recently being awarded the prestigious Mandela Rhodes Foundation Scholarship to study for an LLM (Master's degree) in International Trade Law at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
This opportunity gives him the chance to support governments and organizations across Africa in strengthening their legal, institutional, and policy systems, to ensure a human rights-centered approach to economic development through sustainable trade. We wish him all the best in this new journey, and we’ll always save him a seat at our lunch table.
Hey there. I hope you have had a good and productive year. I know I have.
I have had the most fun writing to you about all the amazing people of the Action in Africa community and the inspiring things that happen in Nakuwadde. For my last trick, I would like to share with you what goes into these stories by highlighting my favourites this year. I will share some behind-the-scenes information for you to have a glimpse of the bigger picture here in Uganda.
The Impact of Action in Africa’s Scholarship Program
Action in Africa’s flagship program is its Scholarship Program. We believe that education is the greatest tool for empowering society. This year we wanted to highlight the impact of these scholarships by profiling scholarship students and alumni. One of my favourite stories was one on Kimera Mohammed, an AIA alumnus and medical worker. I interviewed Kimera on a phone call, after multiple failed attempts to get on a call with him because of his busy hospital schedule. After the Interview, it was an instant writing process because his story was inspiring, raw, and honest. In many ways, he represents the kind of hope, resilience, and potential that many young people in our community must have to achieve their dreams.
In 2016, Kimera Mohammad was selected for the Action in Africa scholarship and was supported to complete his last two years of high school at Central College school in Nakuwadde. He had previously witnessed and participated in the Action in Africa medical outreaches and his dream was to become a medical doctor. But to his misfortune, Kimera was not able to get the grades that would enable him to get university admission to study medicine. He was devastated but chose to look at this as a mere stumbling block.
The Power of Action in Africa's Women-to-Women Program
The second story that I would like to highlight is one I wrote in March about the AIA Women to Women Program. The marginalisation of women in a traditional society like that of Uganda is real, and the empowerment of women and girls is still as vital as ever before. Writing about the Women to Women Program was interesting because I got to sit in for one of the sessions and interview some of the women. As a young man, I was surprised to see how deeply grateful these strong women were to have a community of fellow women with whom they could share their challenges and find solutions. They acknowledged that they faced mental health challenges, and the Women to Women Program for them, above all else, was a mental health haven.
This community and circle of support that meets every Friday is a strand of hope for many of these women, they feel extremely empowered to forge ahead despite the social challenges they face. For the last year, Women to Women sessions have had a consistent attendance of over 30 women every Friday, and that number often goes up to 70 women. The lessons and tips shared on dealing with mental psychological problems are used by these women to help other women in the community as well as their own families.
Sylvia's Inspiring Journey in AIA's Special Needs Program
Talking about women and girls, this year I made a new friend. Sylvia Namutyaba is one of the students in the AIA special needs program. I visited her at school for the interview and I had never met anyone as cheerful and happy as her. Be it with her friends in class or in the AIA Library with Teacher Lucy, Sylvia transcends her hearing impairment by smiling joy into the world. Writing this story was different for me because unlike most of the other stories I write, this involved the use of a sign language interpreter. The fact that Sylvia is such a superb communicator, there was no void of emotion in her communication of her challenges and dreams.
At just eleven years, Sylvia has plans to help other children with hearing impairment when she starts working as a fashion designer, especially by ensuring that they have access to education because she knows that they face many challenges in accessing education in Uganda.
Juliana Nakavuma’s Passionate Journey with Action in Africa
Lastly, there is a group of dedicated individuals who work effortlessly to make the work of Action in Africa possible. The Action in Africa staff come with immense professional experience, but it is nothing compared to their personal motivation to see their community transformed. Once in a while, we like to share their stories too. One of those people is Juliana Nakavuma, the AIA Community Engagement Manager. I enjoyed writing her story because despite working so closely with her and receiving most of the information about programs that I share with you, I had never truly understood the reason for her passion; Juliana is often mentioned as a mentor for many of the scholarship students I interview. In the story we wrote about her, she explains how she pursued her academic dreams while staying awesome at her job with AIA and taking care of her family.
Juliana’s first role was teaching the Adult English Class. Her view on this experience is simply that, “Teaching is not easy.” She was nearly brought to tears talking about this because of two reasons. On one side, it is truly heartbreaking that there are mothers, fathers, and grandparents who cannot read or write their names because they did not get an opportunity to go to school, but on the other hand, it is inspiring to imagine those people taking the initiative to step away from their jobs and families and spare two to three hours trying to learn English for the most heartwarming reasons.
Redefining Narratives: Celebrating the Resilience and Brilliance of Nakuwadde
African stories are often misconstrued and misrepresented, rarely highlighting the grit, persistence, and brilliance that people in our communities have. I am glad that I get to share the true experience of the people of Nakuwadde. The best part about writing the Action in Africa stories for me is the opportunity to see firsthand the impact of the work of AIA.
