{"id":926,"date":"2013-05-02T22:35:24","date_gmt":"2013-05-02T22:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/?p=926"},"modified":"2013-05-14T14:27:20","modified_gmt":"2013-05-14T14:27:20","slug":"helping-to-build-a-nation-ucu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/helping-to-build-a-nation-ucu\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping to Build a Nation: UCU"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Me<\/a>

Me and Dr John Senyonyi of UCU<\/p><\/div>\n

The Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi is the first Ugandan Vice Chancellor of Uganda Christian University. \u00a0I have always wanted to meet him, but two years ago, when I was last in Uganda, he had just been appointed and I couldn’t get in to see him. \u00a0But now, with Teso University looming closer and Pilgrim having to solve the real logistical issues of building a campus and launching a school, I have an even better reason to meet with him. \u00a0So, at dinner with the board on Tuesday, I wonder aloud what the odds are on making that happen in the narrow window I have Wednesday morning. \u00a0It was an abstract question; I had written it off. \u00a0Next time, I think.<\/p>\n

Hellen gets up from the table with her phone and goes outside. \u00a0Five minutes later, she walks back in and says, “My Lord Bishop, you have a meeting with Dr. Senyonyi tomorrow morning at 9:30. \u00a0Is that all right?” \u00a0My jaw drops. \u00a0Turns out she and he were in grad school together. \u00a0Whom does this woman not know?<\/p>\n

Hellen, Francis and I turn into the modest yard of the Vice Chancellor’s residence in Mukono the next morning at 9:30 sharp. \u00a0Dr. Senyonyi greets us and ushers us into the house, and for the next 40 minutes Hellen and I coax him with questions related to the founding of a university. \u00a0This place has been going since the old Bishop Tucker Theological College was expanded sometime in the late 1990’s. \u00a0The development here has been exponential. \u00a0They now have 8,000 students in all programs, including the Ph.D. \u00a0Only 200 of them are candidates for ordination.<\/p>\n

The vision is consistent with, though different from, what we hope to accomplish in Bugondo. \u00a0The Vice Chancellor is a realist. \u00a0This is hard work. \u00a0They are always broke, or near to it. \u00a0They march on their stomachs, as the army used to say, and pay half to a third what professors could be making in other institutions. \u00a0 But they offer “other rewards” as he puts it, from a motivated student body with lively Christian faith, to a collegial faculty sharing common values. \u00a0And they always meet their payroll, every month. \u00a0Always have. \u00a0This is a huge sign of an institution\u2019s integrity in Uganda, where enterprises of all kinds regularly ride on the backs of their employees. \u00a0It’s among the values Pilgrim shares with UCU. \u00a0We’ve always done the same thing.<\/p>\n

We have open conversation, fairly general, but the places where we clearly connect are in the areas of agriculture, teacher training, and health — the three target areas for the first phase of Teso U. \u00a0We talk about financing, about UCU\u2019s experience with loans from the East African Development Bank. \u00a0Dr. Senyonyi emphasizes that as much as possible, the university should be in a mode where it intends to pay for itself from the outset. \u00a0UCU generates 95% of its income from tuition and fees. \u00a0And when I mention that we hope to begin aquaculture (fish farming) and the commercial use of our agricultural land grant to help train students and fund the institution, he nods vigorously. \u00a0“It isn’t that you are trying to make a profit,” he says. “But you do have to break even. \u00a0Endowments generally are not a good idea for operating funds. \u00a0If you need an injection of seed capital at the beginning, ok. \u00a0But it’s a terrible thing to depend on, and that can happen very easily.”<\/p>\n

That’s when it occurs to me, of course, that we need to be the very example of empowerment that we want to instill <\/b>in Teso. \u00a0In other words, we are hoping that through the inspiration of Pilgrim, local communities will become self-sufficient and self-sustaining. \u00a0How can they do that if we’re not doing it ourselves? \u00a0I know it seems obvious, but suddenly, I actually get it.<\/p>\n

Dr. Senyonyi has to run to help his kids and grandchild move, but we are very grateful for his time. \u00a0He is open to a future partnership and indicates he is available for much-needed advice and counsel. \u00a0I couldn’t be more encouraged. \u00a0By the grace of God, I expect we will be hearing a lot from each other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi is the first Ugandan Vice Chancellor of Uganda Christian University. \u00a0I have always wanted to meet him, but two years ago, when I was last in Uganda, he had just been appointed and I couldn’t get in to see him. \u00a0But now, with Teso University looming closer and Pilgrim […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pilgrim-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3rrkF-eW","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=926"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":946,"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926\/revisions\/946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.episcopalpgh.org\/bishopsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}