Dr. Chapman of effumbe clan

For some Ugandans, speaking their local language is a hassle. However, if they met Dr. Ken Chapman Kigozi, they would be embarrased. The America-Ugandan speaks Luganda with so much ease, you can't help but pick up your jaws when you hear him speak. Our reporter had a three-hour conversation in Luganda with him. Dr. Chapman is a missionary dental surgeon at Mengo Hospital.

Forget the white priests who ‘killed' Luganda in a bid to put their message across. Chapman speaks fluent Luganda, punching it with proverbs and idioms. No doubt, some native Baganda who cannot sustain a conversation in Luganda would be envious on hearing Chapman's flow.

Chapman was born on July 16, 1950, in a family of three. His father was an engineer and mother a school teacher and choir director at their local church.

Although he had gained interest in giving his life to Christ, it was only in 1971, as a first year student at dental school, that he wholly surrendered to Christ. He joined Campus Crusade for Christ, an international fellowship based in the US.

In 1974, he went to South Korea, but soon returned to the US after only six weeks and worked as a private practitioner in dental surgery for three years. But his heart and mind were drawn towards Christian missionary work. In 1978, he joined the Missionary Dentists Association, with his fi rst posting in Liberia for seven months.

 COMING TO UGANDA 

"I was posted to Uganda in 1979. Idi Amin had just been overthrown and Godfrey Binaisa was the president. Due to fear of Amin, the Christian fellowship that I belonged to had been working undercover and they had even changed the name to Life Ministry 
International," he recalls.

"Amin hated Christians, especially bornagain Christians. You can imagine what he would have done to them with such a name (Campus Crusade for Christ)," says Lian, Dr. Chapman's wife, also a missionary nurse.

That same year, Bishop Bugembe, then Bishop of Luwero Diocese and leader of Life Ministry East Africa, arranged with Mengo Hospital to have Dr. Chapman set up a dental clinic.

"We started with only two chairs, very little equipment and a Ugandan assistant. Dr. Mawano, now in private practice, joined us in 1981," Chapman says.

With funding from Friends of Mengo Hospital, they were able to acquire the necessary equipment. In 2005, they opened a fully stocked stateof-the-art dental department.

INTEREST IN LUGANDA

It was during his work at Mengo Hospital that he picked interest in learning Luganda. His fi rst interest was in Kiswahili, but he realised few Ugandans spoke the language. So, he settled for Luganda.

"I wanted to preach the gospel in a language people understood. Secondly, I wanted to effi ciently execute my work and this had to be through talking with my patients. Thirdly, I wanted to build rapport with my patients and staff. When people realise that you know their native language, they automatically become friendly to you," he says.

Chapman admits that learning Luganda was not easy, but through constant practise, he was able to master it. "I would ask my staff how to say certain words in Luganda and I would practise them with my patients. I would ask them ‘owulila otya (how are you feeling), kiki ekikuluma? (what is the ailment?), yasama (open your mouth)'. With time, I mastered almost the whole Luganda vocabulary," Chapman says.

In a bid to become a pure ‘Musajja wa Kabaka', he went on to adopt a clan (effumbe) and the name Kigozi, which he cherishes.

Indeed, the staff at the dental department fondly call him Dr. Kigozi. Chapman says he got the name from his good friend, the late Simon Peter Kigozi, a former leader of the East African Revival.

"He was my very good friend, and I had immense admiration for him. He was like a father to me, hence taking on his name and clan as well. Nze ndi wa ffumbe (I am of the ffumbe clan)," Chapman says.

Kigozi later named Chapman's wife Nampijja and their daughters, Nanteza and Nakimuli.

FAMILY

Dr. Chapman is married to Lian Chapman, a missionary nurse who worked for several years in Bunyoro. Just like her husband, Lian also developed interest in Lunyoro.

"Though I am not very fluent, you cannot backbite me in Lunyoro," says Lian, who is currently the health director of Life Ministry International.

She too left Bunyoro with a name for herself  — Ateenyi. She also knows some basic Luganda. As we depart, in a true African spirit, the Chapmans walk us from the house up to the gate.

My colleague quips: "Thanks for escorting us, that is the true African spirit," only for Chapman to reply: "No, the true kiganda spirit," throwing us into bouts of laughter.

This story first run on August 4, 2013