KIU, Western Campus – After President Yoweri Museveni announced the second COVID-19 lockdown on June 18th, which also closed educational institutions, many students rushed back home, uncertain of the future.

But Evisa Visagrad Natukunda, a Bachelor of Education student (English and Literature) had made up his mind to join the agricultural sector, unwilling to be sentenced to the never-ending worries of the first lockdown, which was imposed last year.

“Being someone who is open-minded, I started a piggery project. I have also started a nursery bed for coffee from which I hope to get coffee seedlings for planting when rains come,” Natukunda says.

Having recently completed his final exams, Natukunda says he now spends most of his time in his agricultural projects because he is uncertain of when COVID-19 and its related disruptions will come to an end.

“After having a short prayer in the morning, I go and feed the pigs and then till the land. After lunch and a short rest in the afternoon, I water my seedbed. This is my daily routine,” he says.

He blames the lockdown for delaying his career as he doesn’t know when he will graduate because there has been no time to do his school practice because of the lockdown.

He calls the COVID-19 pandemic “a war”, which he says we don’t know when it will end but he says the lockdowns are necessary to keep ourselves safe.

He quotes the Catholic dogmatic adage which goes, “The first role of every Christian is to save himself,”

He also calls upon his fellow students and everyone else to use the lockdown to meditate about their lives and God’s love for them.

Natukunda adds that every time he is in danger, he calls upon Jesus to save him and forgive his sins and those of everyone else in the world.

Courtesy photo