“God bless Watipa for reaching out to us and making a difference in our lives, it has been a huge struggle on my side but I pulled myself through and thank Watipa for the moral and financial support”

Aisha Bukenya will use her education to give back to her community and be a “strong and influential woman.”

Bukenya has completed three years of her four year pharmacy degree at Kampala University. She has received support from Watipa over the last year and in that time has achieved excellent grades as she continues her “journey to success”.

Bukenya wants to be a leader, not just as a “great pharmacist” but as a “strong and influential woman” who gives back to her community. This year she has taken a big step toward this goal by taking on the role of Campus Director for the university’s entrepreneurship competition. Through this she aims to mobilise students to put their “minds together” to resolve the “common challenges” in their community.

The past year hasn’t been without challenges for Bukenya who has had to keep concentrating on her work while experiencing some financial challenges but she has remained resilient. With the Watipa scholarship covering her fees, the finishing line of her bachelors degree is now in sight – though she hopes a masters degree or doctorate will come next!

For Bukenya, being part of the Watipa scholarship programme “is not just about finances” but the moral support and encouragement she has received from the organisation and her fellow scholars who “feel like family”.

As she enters her final year of study, Bukenya has some great ideas about how to give back to the programme and encourage more people to become influential leaders through education – she proposes an alumni group of mentors should be formed when the inaugural scholars complete their education. This is a great idea and brilliant way of sustaining the “huge light” she says Watipa has shone on her.

Isaac Barry