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Ten female professors in Uganda were honoured last weekend for academic excellence according to Uganda’s leading daily New Vision.
Amongst them was Professor Victoria Mwaka who served for 13 years as head of the Geography Department at Makerere University.
Others recognised were Prof. Lillian Tibatemwa, the acting deputy vice-chancellor, academic affairs; Prof. Joyce Kikafunda of the department of food science and technology at Makerere University; Prof. Harriet Mayanja of the Department of internal medicine, Makerere University; and Prof. Grace Bantebya Kyomuhendo of the department of women and gender studies, Makerere University.
Also awarded were Prof. Ruth Mukama of the Institute of Languages, Makerere University; Prof. Joy Kwesiga, the vice-chancellor Kabale University; Prof. Josephine Namboze of the School of Public Health, Makerere University; Prof. Mary Okwakol, the vice-chancellor of Busitema and Prof. Maria Musoke of Makerere University Library.
father encouraged me
Victoria Mwaka who hails from a polygamous family of illiterate cattle herders said she had received a lot of encouragement from her father.
"I was lucky because I was a little brighter than the rest of my siblings. All the girls in my family failed, dropped out of school and married. The boys also failed and dropped out. They concentrated on enjoying my father's money."
Her parents were not educated. During holidays, Mwaka would read The Uganda Argus newspaper to her father and assist him to count his livestock. "Whenever a visitor came home, my father would tell me to speak English. He was very proud of me," she explains.
Her dad gave her a gift when she excelled in class but also delivered six strokes of the cane if she came 7th or above.
She completed her Phd in 1975 and worked at Makarere from 1976.
husband as babysitter
She managed to strike a balance between her marriage and career. “My husband was my babysitter and even looked after the children when I was away for further studies”.
Professor Mwaka began the department of Women and Gender Studies at Makerere to help women progress in higher education.
Makerere now has 55 male professorS and 6 female ones. Others who received the achievement award also spoke to New Vision.
Prof. Harriet Mayanja of the department of internal medicine, Makerere University, said: "My father encouraged us to speak English. He taught us how to read and write. I was playful in primary and my teachers thought that I was not serious."
But she passed in first grade and joined secondary school and even then, her teachers did not trust her. She was still playful and they thought she would fail. "But I believed in myself."
Mayanja passed O'level and joined A'level where her teachers told her to do physics, chemistry and mathematics. "I refused because I knew I wanted to study physics, chemistry and biology to become a doctor," she said.
Mayanja emerged the best in medical school with five credits, a record that stood until the system changed to semesters.
scholarships for girls
During her time, girls formed only 10% of the medical students. "When I became a lecturer, I worked hard to reverse this trend. I made sure that for higher education, girls took at least 25% of the scholarships. Some of my colleagues argued that this would create imbalance, but I assured them that the ground was levelled. Women have to strike a balance between studies and family," she said.
The awards were presented by Uganda’s First Lady, Janet Museuani who urged Ugandan women to struggle to achieve the Beijing Gender platform. |
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