Africa-Press – Uganda. In a touching recollection, Fulbright scholar Elizabeth Rwabu shares the pivotal moment when she was saved from becoming a househelp, two weeks after her father died.
Ms Elizabeth Rwabu, a recipient of the outstanding Alumni in Education Award 2023 by the United States Mission, says when their dad died in 1993, she was a 12-year-old Primary Six pupil at St Agnes Naggalama Boarding School.
“My dad passed on about two weeks into third term in 1993. He had just taken me back to boarding school and then I was picked up. I didn’t know why I was being picked up from school when the term had just started,” she said in an interview.
Upon arriving, Elizabeth was confronted with the heartbreaking sight of her father’s coffin and her grieving mother. The loss left the family in dire straits, and Elizabeth faced the grim prospect of becoming a househelp.
“As I sat there without hope, a certain family quickly booked me to become a house girl,” she disclosed, adding that her mother was okay with the suggestion.
Just two weeks later, John Richard Isabirye, the former headmaster of Kiira College Butiki, intervened with a life-changing letter. He pledged to support Elizabeth and her siblings, allowing them to continue their education.
“That meant I would go back to my school and study up to Primary Seven, and the same applied to my siblings. This news of hope changed everything in my life and I was determined to keep in school,” said Ms Elizabeth.
Ms Elizabeth, a Fellow-Fulbright Teacher exchange Programmes, currently works as an e-learning Special Needs Education expert at Makerere University and e-learning consultant Africa for the JDO Foundation.
She added: “We got a second chance at life because of him…When you educate a girl, you educate a nation; but for me it’s beyond Uganda.”
Isabirye, whom Ms Elizabeth fondly calls “a global education icon,” died last month following a stroke.
He had a profound impact on her life and that of her siblings, including Davies Rwabu, now an assistant lecturer at Makerere University and Secretary of the Kiira College Butiki Old Boys’ Association.
Isabirye died on May 18 and was laid to rest on May 22 at Itakaibolu Village, Busedde Sub-county, Jinja District. His widow and wife of 41 years, Phider Aida Naigaga Isabirye, shared that he suffered two fatal strokes after returning home from a haircut.
According to the family source, his health had been fragile since a 2020 goitre operation, which weakened his heart, but he remained active, often engaging in walking exercises.
“He used to receive medication from the Uganda Heart Institute in Mulago, but he was strong and kept doing walking exercises,” our source said.
Isabirye left behind nine children, including Mr John Ronald Isabirye, who works with MTN Uganda, and is a director at Nakanyonyi Girls’ Secondary School; Michael Isabirye, a government contractor; and Ms Racheal Namakyika, a businesswoman.
Others are Ms Annet Nakizibu, a health practitioner in the Netherlands; Ms Loy Nakaziba, a teacher; Mr Richard Kamanyiro, a health specialist in Abu Dhabi; Mr Joshua Wakabi Isabirye, a lawyer; Mr Joseph Dhamusanga Isabirye; and Mr William Kafuko Akisoferi.
impact on education
Mr Daudi Migereko, a former Lands minister, commended Isabirye for ridding Butiki of the perennial students’ strikes and uplifting the academic performance of the school.
Mr Migereko said he had attained a stature that was only comparable to that of Rev Coates of Busoga College Mwiri or Fr Grimes of Namasagali College.
According to Mr Migereko, Isabirye took advantage of the National Resistance Movement liberalisation policy in the education sector to start Nakanyonyi Girls’ Secondary School to address the plight of the girl child through education, but also to provide himself a fallback position for retirement.
“The school is one of our best and is also producing leaders who are serving the region and country. Isabirye took the rare decision of involving his wife and children in the business of running this school,” he said.
“We are, therefore, convinced that this school should be able to continue running normally for many years to come, despite the departure of the founding chairman,” Mr Migereko said.
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