Emmanuel
Tumuhimbise is a humble, hospitable and ambitious teacher. Little did he know how much of an impact the
KiBO programme would have on his life. “After all, I was just a primary school
teacher whose future only lay in the classroom”, he narrates. With a warm smile, he recounts to me his life
during and after KiBO. Although his biggest challenge was balancing the duties
of a teacher and attending the KiBO program, he managed to do both because of
his unquestionable commitment. He currently runs a business and is in charge of
the Ministry of Education Information System Program at his school.
Emmanuel was a primary school
teacher who gave so many excuses for not doing more than just teaching. He
cited lack of finances as the reason for not progressing further with formal
education. He talked of how closed his mindset was and how life was such a boring journey. Fortunately, he was
sponsored for the KiBO Programme by Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) and
that was his turning point.
KiBO
Experience
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| Emmanuel Tumuhimbise (in black jacket) at an ICT training organized by Right To Play and KiBO Foundation (Photo by Timothy Lutwama) |
During his time at KiBO, he was
the class coordinator. Being a leader allowed him to discover other qualities such as his ability to coordinate teams and organize events. It gave him the chance to grow while interacting with the
different stakeholders within and outside KiBO. After his class raised over four million
shillings for their project (buying items for Kiswa Health Centre), he
discovered that nothing was really impossible to achieve. The speaker series
was what he always looked forward to. “It gave me the opportunity to see things
through someone else’s perspective”, he said. Through these talks, he
realized how much he could do with his life and discovered tips on how to make use of the skills he had gained while at KiBO. “It was at KiBO that I was introduced
to and saw an opportunity in using computers as a source of earning”, he concluded.
After KiBO
Upon realizing that life is about
making the best out of one’s skills, he got a second job as a sales person with
Sanlam (an insurance agency). Interestingly, he performed excellently at both
sales and teaching. For his hard work and performance in sales, Sanlam gave him
a shopping voucher worth 150,000 Uganda shillings. He went back to school for his Advanced
level and scored four principal passes which allows him to join any university. His progress was tracked by IDI and for all his achievements, he was again
sponsored for an advanced certificate in audio-visual production. To top it
all, he received a laptop and a digital camera after completing this course.
With these two equipment, he
started a company- KE-RITE Media which he runs with a colleague. KE-RITE Media
trains people in computer basics and Microsoft Office Packages, offers secretarial,
internet, still photography, video games and video editing services. In the process, he has so far created jobs for two people.
Furthermore, Emmanuel has become
a Right To Play Volunteer. In his capacity as a coach, he trains children in
sports and games. For those who love cakes, Emmanuel runs a bakery as well. He
concludes by saying, “KiBO Foundation gave me the opportunity to think like a
leader and to live like a winner”.
2014 Goal
In September this year, Emmanuel
will be starting a degree course in Information Technology. He wants to get a Bachelors
Degree in Information Technology in order to make himself more marketable. “This
is important for my business because people at times look at one’s
qualification before entrusting them with their work”, he said. "Going through the KiBO ICT and Leadership program helped me think beyond the NOW", he continued.
Message to the youth
“The youth should value education and aspire to be self employed. They should not fear to start up businesses.”-Emmanuel TumuhimbiseHere's to Changing Lives, Changing Communities........
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