Forsaking a lifetime of subsistence labor in Uganda, Kasigwa studies at Brandeis and lobbies hard for poor back home
By Dennis Nealon
By his own estimation, Jeremiah K. Kasigwa could be "fishing his life away" back home with thousands if not millions of others in his native Uganda. He'd be leading an acceptable, normal life that way.
But instead he is being classically educated at Brandeis, which doubles for him as a base to help promote learning for the children and young adults in villages of his far-away home.
Noticeably poised and articulate, Kasigwa last year got Brandeis to give him eight used computers, which he shipped to Uganda for use in village schools. He initiated the project all by himself and took three months shepherding it through stages ranging from working with supportive University administrators to getting the Student Senate to allocate $2,100 to transport the computer equipment to Uganda.
Kasigwa, who is majoring in economics, said he had three goals: to show villagers what a computer really looks like and what it's like to use one, and to inspire them to pursue learning as an alternative to a life of farming and fishing, devoid of formal education.
"Through that, I hoped, they will go back home and encourage their parents to send them to school," said Kasigwa. During the most recent semester break this past December, Kasigwa was back home to ensure the computers arrived safely and to plan their distribution. He said one or two will be used for administration while the remaining ones are housed, one each, in separate schools. That way, villagers young and adult alike will be able to share them.
Kasigwa expressed gratitude to Brandeis for helping to make that happen and singled out Richard Brabander of Information Technology Services especially, along with Rick Sawyer, dean of Student Life, and Susan Reynold of Information Technology Services.
Unlike a great many others in his country, including his 10 aunts and uncles on his father's side, Kasigwa went to some of the best schools in Uganda and received a terrific education, thanks to his parents' hard work and persistence. "I've been lucky in life," he says. His father is a printer and his mother works as an assistant in the prime minister's office. The couple has five children including Jeremiah, three of whom are going to college.
Kasigwa's father was one of 11 children and, according to Jeremiah, kept a small field of cotton to help pay his own school expenses.
"For all I know, said Kasigwa, "I could be fishing my life away. Now I am at Brandeis, and I can't tell you how happy that makes them (his parents)."
But while his intellect is engaged here, Kasigwa says his heart is back home, and he is hoping to do much more there than send a few computers to schools.
Together with other volunteers in Uganda, Kasigwa has drafted a proposal titled "Educating the Disadvantaged Poor in Bugungu Region," that aims to raise $25,000 in one year. The group is looking for donors in the United States and abroad.
Kasigwa said the group he is working with in Uganda is hoping for sustained fundraising over the next five years, with a goal of ultimately raising $250,000.
He hopes that others might have the opportunity he's had to learn at institutions like Brandeis, one of two schools recommended to him by an education councilor at the U.S. Embassy in Uganda.