KIU, Western Campus – KIU Western Campus cultural associations have played a big role in uniting students through the different joint activities they carry out.

The campus has a number of associations including Abasoga Nseete Students Association, Teso Students Development Association, Lango Students Associaton, West Nile Students Association, Bakonzo Students Association, Acholi Students Association, Bagwere Namani Students Association, Rwandese Students Association, KIU Congolese Students Association, KIU Somali Students Association and Nkoba Za Mbogo, among others.

These have some very catchy mottos like “Habwakayingo N’obusinga” for the Bakonzo association, “Ber Bedo Ber” for the Acholi association, “Owu Umo Niye’Eisana Ly’ebika” for the Bagwere association and “We strive to build Busoga our motherland”, et al.

Cultural associations help students find their unique identities because they can surround themselves with others who are able to talk about shared cultural struggles with people who they fully understand and who understand them.

Students can also share their challenges, trials and tribulations, goals and aspirations and also easily share their problems, which helps them get help from their peers as well as encouragement to thrive in the tasking university environment.

According to Simon Binezero Mambo, a member of the KIU Congolese Student’s Association (KIUCOSA), as international students, coming together in their association has been of huge importance to them.

“Realizing the challenges that international students go through during their time at university, and considering that the promotion of cultural and intellectual values can be achieved efficiently when we come together as an association, we strived to promote the academic and cultural thriving of KIUCOSA,” Mambo says.

Frank Okello, a former member of Lango Student’s Association, says creating their association helped them come closer and solve their individual and combined challenges.

“As students from Lango, we helped each other through sharing our challenges and collectively look for solutions to help our members with their personal issues as well as coming together as a group to promote our cultural values and come up with ideas to develop our association and members,” Okello notes.

It is in light of all this that the KIU Western Campus management has always strived to support these associations through offering guidance and any other support that they may require.

Photo: Collins Kakwezi