By Isaac Akugizibwe

KIU Main Campus- From a small village in Gomba, Mary Kabaikiriza Favour, a former KIU Vice Guild President, is one of many whom KIU has transformed into national assets. She has truly demonstrated that one’s background does not determine their destiny but rather the ability to dream big and make the right choices.

Mary Kabaikiriza is an enthusiastic, charismatic self-motivated lady currently looking forward to graduating with a Master's Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from KIU. She loves serving and empowering other people as well as making money through business.

She went to Kifampa Model Primary School from where she joined Bukandula Senior Secondary where she spent only a year before joining Kifampa Central SS for another one year. She then joined Luzira SS for the rest of her high school education sitting both the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education ( UACE) there.

She joined KIU in 2015 following a friend’s advice about the international status of KIU and that she would be supported financially through the half bursary scheme. While at KIU, Mary served in the 2017/18 Guild Union as Vice Guild President, and later as acting Guild President in the last days of the regime then.

‘’A friend of mine convinced me that KIU was giving bursaries to students who had performed well but had no money to proceed to university. I had feared that KIU was so expensive given its international standard not until she convinced me and indeed all is now history,’’ Mary admits.

Currently serving the University as the main marketing officer in the Buganda region, Mary admits that KIU has tremendously changed her life and mindset. She credits the University for giving her a chance to expose her potential at the expense of her humble background. She also works with the Office of the President coordinating the Ankole sub-region under the youth livelihood program synonymously known as 'Emyoga'.

‘’KIU gave me a platform that changed my life until now especially the exposure it game me. A poor girl from Gomba, I got a chance to be a student leader, an opportunity that saw me meet various dignitaries and other high profile individuals in the country,’’ Mary admits.

She says the university has mentored her into a total quality person who is admired where ever she goes. It is upon this that she was retained to serve the university as a marketing officer after her undergraduate degree in 2018.

‘’The university gave me hands-on skills that changed my personality, mindset and also gave me chance to study. I got connections through KIU, for example, I met the president and other big people while serving as Guild President and that changed me for good,’’ she explains.

Mary also commends KIU for giving the poor a rare chance to study. She says that the university’s bursary scheme has tremendously helped poor but brilliant Ugandans to attain university education. Mary thinks she would have been a mother of two or more children if KIU had not contributed financially to her university education through the bursary scheme.

‘’KIU has helped poor kids like me. I am being honest, in my village, one is capable of having a baby as early as 14 years old. Who knows? May be I would be a mother of two or more if I didn’t get the half bursary to pursue university education at KIU."

She has vowed to also pursue her PhD at KIU. Apart from being a dexterous leader, Mary is also a distinguished entrepreneur. She has been running business on different levels since joining KIU in 2015.

She urges students and other young people to overcome fear, embrace every opportunity that comes by and dream big if they are to take the same direction as hers.