Beneficiaries give back to Madhvani

Jun 14, 2011

FOLLOWING the death of her parents who were her sole providers, Lois Bayigga had lost all hopes of ever completing her Biomedical Laboratory Technology degree at Makerere University.

By Arthur Oyako

FOLLOWING the death of her parents who were her sole providers, Lois Bayigga had lost all hopes of ever completing her Biomedical Laboratory Technology degree at Makerere University.

“After my parents’ death, life changed. There were lots of uncertainties. I was worried about how the next day would be, how we would get along, how we would continue with school,” she says.

At the time of her parents’ death, she was remaining with one year to complete. She had always been so brilliant that even the death of her parents did not deter her performance, but the future was certainly bleak. Then a saviour, in form of Madhvani Foundation, showed up.

Bayiga now works with the Women’s Hospital in Bukoto as a laboratory technician.

She is one of the hundreds of students who have benefited from the Madhvani Foundation scholarship scheme that recently announced a sh550m package, the highest so far in the foundation’s history. “I encourage all the needy students, not to lose hope. Hard work and perseverance will always see you through,” Bayiga advises.

Most of the beneficiaries have similar backgrounds.

“In my first year at university in 2005, the academic registrar advised me to take a dead year to sort out my financial problems,” says Philly Mpaata, another beneficiary.

Just as he was about to pack his bags and head to the village, Mpaata thought of approaching the Madhvani Foundation and he has never regretted the decision.

“I was hopeless. I used to spend a lot of time out of class trying to make ends meet,” he said.

Students from science, business and technical backgrounds and those who who cannot afford to pay tuition are encouraged to apply for the scholarship. The Foundation recently increased its funding from sh540m to sh550m.

Now, a big number of the beneficiaries has formed an alumni association through which they support the cause of the foundation.

“Giving back to this association is not mandatory; we do it as a token of appreciation,” says Mpaata, a quantity surveyor, who is now the association’s finance secretary.

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