Publication date: Monday, 1st September, 2008
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Rose Nanyonga with Dr Ian Clarke who adopted her |
BY ELVIS BASUDDE
SHE is young, vibrant and motivated. She is unforgettably humorous, with an infectious smile. Her smile is her trademark. Nobody who sees her can confuse her for somebody else.
She speaks with confidence, illustrating her points with gestures. When she starts applauding the parents who adopted her, The Clarkes (the proprietors of Internation Hospital Kampala), you could easily think it is a mere exaggeration. But there is abundant evidence and monuments in place to support her praises.
Rose Nanyonga Clarke is grateful to her Irish parents for many things. The couple struggled to take good care of the typical village girl when her father disowned and threw her on the streets.
But what Nanyonga treasures most is an education and career the Clarkes enabled her to get. Today, she is the director of clinical operations at the International Hospital Kampala (IHK), located in Kisugu, Namuwongo.
Born poor, poorly-educated, a victim of a polygamous family, forced at an early age into dull and underpaid jobs, Nanyonga recovered from those handicaps to an elite class by the efforts of the Clarkes. Her manner is one of dignity as she sits in her modest office in Namuwongo, donning a smile as she offers me a seat. She speaks with an American accent, having spent seven years in the US schooling.
“You nearly missed me. Next week I will not be here. I am leaving to pursue a PhD in health economics, policy and analysis at the Newhaven in the US. It is going to take me four years,” she says.
Then she grabs an intercom phone and calls Dr. Ian Clarke in the next office. “Daddy, I wanna come and pose for a photo with you. Spare me a few minutes. The journalist is here.”
After a photo session with her father, we settle down for an interview. She talks about her tough upbringing and suffering which became an inspiration. The administrator with a coffee-brown skin complexion reminisces about her ordeals with nostalgia.
“I was born into a polygamous family in Bamunanika village, Luweero district. Both my parents have since died. My mother was pregnant with her 10th child when she died during the war in 1982. I was a very small girl then.”
“The guerilla war had started and it was not a good time if you had a family member fighting Museveni, then heading the National Resistance Movement. I had three step-brothers who had gone into the bush which automatically put our family in danger.”
Realising that it was no longer safe, her family went into hiding, relocating to her mother’s village in Kyaggwe, Mukono district. Subsequently, her mother went into labour and died as well as the baby due to lack of healthcare.
Life became tough for Nanyonga who was eight years old. She grew up with her stepmothers in a house of about 20 children, most of them under the age of 10. They did not have enough food, as people were not cultivating because they were always on the run. That made Nanyonga and her siblings move from one school to another. Her father was a clinical officer with many wives. Nanyonga went to over four primary schools; Namakwa, Nakisunga, Mulagye and Luteete in Bamunanika where she completed her S.4. She never had the opportunity to do her A’ Level. She wanted to go to a nursing school, but had no money.
Conflict in the family
A conflict developed in her family, which resulted into her father throwing her out on the streets. Nanyonga says her father wanted her do certain things she did not approve of, so they fell out. “He gave me three days to make up my mind. He was very disappointed and angry. Then he disowned me.
After meeting the Clarkes, in 1993, she was admitted to Kuluba School of Nursing in Arua where she did her first nursing certificate course. She then went to Kiwoko Hospital where she worked as a nurse.
At that time, Dr. Clarke had been diagnosed with cancer and had returned to the UK for treatment. When he returned in 1996, Kiwoko Hospital had moved, so he started a clinic at the Kampala Pentecostal Church main building where Nanyonga joined him.
At the same time, Nanyonga, drawn to the plight of orphans since she was also one, worked as a volunteer at different orphanages.
As Nanyonga was volunteering at the Daughters of Charity Orphanage, she had the opportunity to travel with the children to the UK to raise awareness on HIV/AIDS and orphans in Uganda.
After returning, she decided to go back to the UK to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing, while working part-time as a student representative for the international community at the university.
Though Nanyonga had not done her A’ Level, she was accepted basing on her initial qualifications as an enrolled nurse. She also appeared for standardised entry exams into the university, which she scored highly.
Nanyonga did the degree in three years though it was supposed to take four. She used to study all the time even during summer and graduated top of her class. She then applied to Baylor University in Texas where she did her master’s degree in nursing. After graduation in 2005, she returned home to work with her Irish family.
“Ian had built this state-of-the-art hospital and I had acquired the necessary skills to work here. In 2005, with the support of the organisation, I started a nursing school and was in charge of it,” she explains.
The school has been updated to a university, the International Health Sciences University. It sits on the top floor of IHK. The first group of students will be graduating this November.
After setting up the nursing school, Nanyonga was called back to the company to run clinical services as director of clinical operations.
Nanyonga also attributes her success to hardwork. She is passionate about the things she does, and those opportunities have come her way because she works hard.
“I believe if given an opportunity, it is possible for me to excel. I have grabbed every opportunity that I have been given by my family and others. I have had very many people who believe in me,” she says.
“The Clarkes are my mentors and role models. Looking at what they have been able to do and accomplish in 20 years, makes me wonder how incredible they are!”
But one of the things that impress Nanyonga most is the Clarke’s ability to care for Ugandans. They have touched people’s lives and recognised potential and challenge in others and motivated them to reach that potential. They created an environment that helped Nanyonga believe in herself.
Nanyonga cares a lot about issues that affect nurses in Uganda. She cares about the future of nursing and people’s opinion about the profession. “I have put a new face to nursing in Uganda. I have started a nursing school and mentored the new breed of nurses,” she says.
Nanyonga says the Government should come up with policies that will improve nursing so that in 20 years, one can look forward to going to Mulago Hospital and having a nurse take care of him with compassion.
This article can be found on-line at: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/9/31/647423
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