By Isaac Akugizibwe
KIU Main Campus- From a small village in Gomba, Mary
Kabaikiriza Favour, a former KIU Vice Guild President, is one of many whom KIU
has transformed into national assets. She has truly demonstrated that one’s
background does not determine their destiny but rather the ability to dream big and
make the right choices.
Mary Kabaikiriza is an enthusiastic, charismatic
self-motivated lady currently looking forward to graduating with a Master's Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from KIU. She loves serving and
empowering other people as well as making money through business.
She went to Kifampa Model Primary School from where she
joined Bukandula Senior Secondary where she spent only a year before joining Kifampa Central
SS for another one year. She then joined Luzira SS for the rest of her high
school education sitting both the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education ( UACE) there.
She joined KIU in 2015
following a friend’s advice about the international status of KIU and that she
would be supported financially through the half bursary scheme. While at KIU, Mary served in the 2017/18 Guild Union as Vice Guild President, and later as
acting Guild President in the last days of the regime then.
‘’A friend of mine convinced me that KIU was giving
bursaries to students who had performed well but had no money to proceed to
university. I had feared that KIU was so expensive given its international
standard not until she convinced me and indeed all is now history,’’ Mary
admits.
Currently serving the University as the main marketing
officer in the Buganda region, Mary admits that KIU has tremendously changed
her life and mindset. She credits the University for giving her a chance to
expose her potential at the expense of her humble background. She also works
with the Office of the President coordinating the Ankole sub-region under the
youth livelihood program synonymously known as 'Emyoga'.
‘’KIU gave me a platform that changed my life until now
especially the exposure it game me. A poor girl from Gomba, I got a chance to
be a student leader, an opportunity that saw me meet various dignitaries and
other high profile individuals in the country,’’ Mary admits.
She says the university has mentored her into a total
quality person who is admired where ever she goes. It is upon this that she was
retained to serve the university as a marketing officer after her undergraduate
degree in 2018.
‘’The university gave me hands-on skills that changed my
personality, mindset and also gave me chance to study. I got connections
through KIU, for example, I met the president and other big people while serving
as Guild President and that changed me for good,’’ she explains.
Mary also commends KIU for giving the poor a rare chance to
study. She says that the university’s bursary scheme has tremendously helped
poor but brilliant Ugandans to attain university education. Mary thinks she
would have been a mother of two or more children if KIU had not contributed
financially to her university education through the bursary scheme.
‘’KIU has helped poor
kids like me. I am being honest, in my village, one is capable of having a baby
as early as 14 years old. Who knows? May be I would be a mother of two or more
if I didn’t get the half bursary to pursue university education at KIU."
She has vowed to also pursue her PhD at KIU. Apart from
being a dexterous leader, Mary is also a distinguished entrepreneur. She has
been running business on different levels since joining KIU in 2015.
She urges students and other young people to overcome fear,
embrace every opportunity that comes by and dream big if they are to take the
same direction as hers.