Top 40 under 40: Dr Garvin Joseph Nyanzi, 36, medicine & tourism

Dr Garvin Joseph Nyanzi owns and runs Waa Safaris Ltd, a tourism company he founded with inspiration from his mentor, Amos Wekesa of Great Lakes Safaris.

Nyanzi offers safari services to foreign and domestic tourists, as well as airport drop-offs and pickups.

He also organises international trips.  Nyanzi also founded Selmek Medical Services, where he does pre-travel medical check-ups, vaccinations and treatment of different ailments.

"I also head publicity and mobilisation at the Uganda Medical Association, which brings together over 6,000 medical doctors in Uganda and abroad," he says.

He is a life coach and motivational speaker. He has coached many in corporate companies and other institutions in customer care.

What makes him tick?

Nyanzi loves networking, trying out new things and reading books.

 "I am currently reading The Richest Man In Babylon by George Samuel Clason and Discover Your Purpose by Lawrence Namale," he says.

The doctor also believes in Martin Luther King Jr's quote: "Whatever your life's work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better."

"I am passionate about inspiring and motivating young people to discover the greatness locked inside of them," he says.

Education background

Nyanzi went to Bat Valley and Happy Hours primary schools. He later went to Uganda Martyrs SS Namugongo for O and A'level, before graduating with a bachelor's degree in medicine from Makerere University in 2009.

Career ladder

At 17 years, while in Senior Four vacation, Nyanzi was hired to teach at a primary school in Kawanda, Wakiso district.

Later in 2003, during Senior Six vacation, he was appointed to head Light of Life SSS in Luwero district.

Upon completing medical school, Nyanzi did his internship at Mengo Hospital, while working parttime at Alive Medical Services in Namuwongo and International Medical Centre in Jinja till December 2014, when he took a break from medical practice.

He resumed in November 2019 and worked with Cherish Uganda until September this year, when he started Selmek Medical Services.

Inspiration

Nyanzi would want to meet Dr Strive Masiyiwa, Zimbabwe's weathiest and founder of Econet Global, a privately held pan-African telecommunication, technology and renewable energy group focused on digitally connecting customers in 28 markets-mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the firm operates and invests.

"I had never seen a Born-again Christian with such wealth," Nyanzi says of Masiyiwa, whom he follows on Facebook.

In 2015, Nyanzi enrolled for an online course in website design and management, after which he built his first website.

Prospects

Nyanzi looks at building Waa Safaris into Africa's top brand and also representing Njeru Municipality in Parliament. He also wants to be a good husband and father.

Effects of Covid-19 lockdown

"The COVID-19 locked my businesses. For the first time, I dealt with patients who bargained to be treated at a discount," he says.

Impact to community 

"On my 35th birthday, I launched a blood drive and raised 16 units," he says. n On his mother's 70th birthday on July 31, Nyanzi re-launched the drive in conjunction with the Rotary Blood Bank and collected 151 units of blood at Mengo Hospital.

"Blood is crucial in saving lives, but there is no blood factory. I made this my social responsibility. I also mobilize family and friends for the cause," he says.

Nyanzi's target is to collect 240 units of blood every three months.