By Lawrence Ssekalembe

I have always been a great observer of life since my childhood. The first thing I noted about KIU in my first semester, August 2017, is the diversity of the students community. KIU attracts students from almost every African country. My antennas immediately sensed that I was set to travel the whole of Africa without even taking a flight. I mean, the first opportunity I saw was the social capital, having like-minded peers to interact with from diverse backgrounds across Africa. 

As my antennas had sensed, I started meeting and interacting with a number of resilient students that inspired me to do my very best. 

I remember in my second year, while interacting with Allen Nakintu, the current Vice Guild President of the University, I discovered that the only time we have to work on our dreams is always "Now." In that conversation, she told me some of her hidden pains and her real life journey. It was more of a pyschotherapy (talk-therapy) than a conversation. Her story and her dreams resonated with mine. There weren't any adhesive forces between us.

This is the time I realised that I was in deep slumber. I belonged to the category of broken students and so did Allen. Students who were pyschologically affected during their early ages. This includes orphans, chronically ill, and even students raised by single parents among others.

So the vision of Allen, basing on her life journey, was to become a spongy that can absorb the pain of broken girls by empowering them to rise beyond their stressors. 

Losing my father to murder at the age of two , my dream was and still is to become the strength of the broken by raising their resilience beyond their life stressors. 

My interactions with a number of like-minded peers at KIU, awakened the dormant creativity that I had buried in the subconscious part of my mind.

Upon this realisation, I started implementing plans to achieve my dream. And in my third year, I was able to make the first draft of my resilience-building book called "Recovery of the Broken."  

Currently, the book is already on market spearheaded by my peer Allen Nakintu, at a fee of shs15,000. In addition, we founded a network of resilient students across Ugandan universities known as Life Educators Network. 

To this end, I truly believe in the philosophy of KIU: 

"KIU regards each student as a unique individual. It’s our role to assist students to actualize their strengths. We ensure that the educational experience of students culminate into productive graduates who can contribute positively to the overall wellbeing of society. Holistic development and a strong, positive intellectual development is what KIU strives to inculcate in each student."

Lawrence Ssekalembe: Graduate of the 24th Graduation, Kampala International University Main Campus. He graduated with a Second class upper degree in Bachelor of Science with Education Degree specialising in Chemistry and Physics. Contact: 0778275132/0702765129

Allen Nakintu: The current Vice Guild President and third year student at Kampala International University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Chemistry. Contact: 0759655860/0771629906