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By Emmanuel Kizaale
Kareem Nasasira’s ability to beautifully work with granite, paint, wood, marble and board is striking. He does not just throw his energy willy-nilly. The level of concentration he puts in the art he is developing is usually seen in the quality of work he puts out. 

Perhaps, that explains his choice to concentrate on interior art. Despite his finesse in many fields, gypsum walls and ceilings seem to be his calling. And he creates them with so much ease, giving out exquisite results.

The 24-year-old says he always cultivates a relationship with whatever art he is engaging with. “I have loved art since I was a child. Even when I am on a break, I just love to sit down and draw sketches of things, just anything,” he says.

The idea of venturing into interior design has been in Nasasira’s mind since secondary school at Namirembe Hillside High School in Kampala. His gratification comes from the smiles on people’s faces. 

Little wonder that in 2017, he chose to pursue the Bachelor of Industrial and Fine Art at Uganda Christian University (UCU). He felt it was the only way to give his God-given talent a professional training.

“When I was still at UCU, we used to go to other universities to attend exhibitions, and I discovered that the kind of art that was being taught in many universities was limited in scope,” Nasasira says. “UCU gives you a variety and it is up to you to choose where your passion lies.” 

According to Nasasira, UCU offered choices in ceramics, sculpture, pottery, fabric and several others. “So, the options gave me an avenue to explore and understand where my strength was,” he says. 

Now that he had chosen interior design, how would he launch himself into the self-employment world without any startup capital? Nasasira was battling with finding answers to that question. It kept him awake at night. 

One particular sleepless night in his second year of studies, he determined to save some of his money he had to live as a student. Since he now had limited time, as well as money to save, Nasasira made a drastic decision to spend only 20% of the pocket money he was given. The rest went into the penny bank.

When he completed his course, Nasasira had his work cut out. He had to buy the essential equipment he needed for the kind of art work he felt he was industrially ready for. That is how Nas Interiors company, the brainchild of Nasasira was born.

The company employs four other youth who work as electrician, painter, carpenter and fixer. He, however, dreams of employing more, when his business portfolio grows.

Nasasira was never afraid to jump in at the deep end as he launched his business. It was around the time when the whole world was shutting down to limit the devastating effects of the Covid-19. 

And businesses were folding as a result of the lockdowns.

But he is grateful to the friends he made as a student. It is through their referrals that he has been able to keep in business. 

“You come to UCU as strangers at the beginning of the course but, at the end, you leave as a family,” he said, as he enumerated the many people who have helped to advertise for him his business. 

Story and photos by Jimmy Siyasa
Two tragedies occurred in the early life of Simon Mwima. One, he lost his sister to AIDS. Two, the son of his departed sister succumbed to the same scourge. Those two deaths left an indelible mark on Mwima that later determined his career path.

“Due to structural and institutional barriers, poverty and stigma, my sister, Alice, could not access the care that she needed, leading to her death,” he said.

After watching his sister and nephew die helplessly, he made it a mission to fight against HIV and AIDS. And he is now a medical social worker, as well as an academic at Uganda Christian University (UCU). 

Mwima recently won a four-year, merit-based scholarship worth $70,000, including tuition and stipend, with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s School of Social Work. According to the Times Higher Education world university rankings, the university ranks number 48.  

The offer did not come on a silver platter for the 36-year-old who is the first person to pursue a PhD program in his family. 

“I applied to five PhD programs and I must thank God that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was impressed with my academic credentials and my research interests,” he said.

Looking back at the path of material scarcity that Mwima has trodden since his birth in the eastern Uganda district of Budaka, he cannot be more grateful for where he is now. 

Mwima also earns his daily bread working for the Ugandan government in the health ministry. He has been a medical social worker for the National AIDS Control Program since 2016. A celebrated national trainer for the Ministry of Health, Mwima has so far educated over 500 social workers, as well as spearheading various HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns.

He is a cog in the wheel of the COVID-19 Mental and Psychological National Taskforce. Here, Mwima has contributed to the development of the national psychosocial plan for COVID-19, as well as serving as a social epidemiologist.

Mwima, a son of retired primary teachers, Simon and Agnes Mukubba, previously worked as a clinical social worker at the Mulago Most At Risk Initiative (MARPI) clinic in Kampala. At the clinic, he managed cases of vulnerable adolescents. He is a research fellow for the Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) implementation program, a new HIV prevention intervention. 

He holds two master’s degrees – the first in public health, from Lund University in Sweden (2015) and in sociology (2020), from Makerere University. His undergraduate degree, which he obtained in 2009 at Makerere University, was in sociology. 

When one knows what they are doing, they will not need to chase after opportunities. Opportunities will instead chase after them. Indeed, prospects sought Mwima, for him to start teaching at UCU.

Five years ago, he was invited to the university as a guest speaker. Kasule Kibirige, Mwima’s head of department at UCU, said the guest lecture excelled that they were left with no option but to ask him to join the institution. And he said yes to the proposal. 

From then, Mwima has been lecturing in sociology, anthropology and social works. He also supervises students conducting research at both undergraduate and master’s level at the institution.

“He is quite resourceful. He has come to the department with a wealth of practice experience because of his work and rich networks from the Ministry of Health and its partners,” Kibirige said. 

As a result, Kibirige said, Mwima took into the department consultancy work that has “helped advance some of our interests in the external world, as a department.”

Mwima considers his employment at UCU a blessing because it has offered him opportunity to translate knowledge through lecturing, an experience he believes has afforded him friendships with fellow academics and students. 

The teaching job also came in handy during his PhD application. 

“The teaching experience is critical and matters while PhD programs are assessing applications for admission,” he says. Mwima intends to invest plenty of his post-PhD time conducting research to inform sexual health policy and practice. 

Fiona Niyijena, a third-year student of Bachelors of Social Work and Social Administration at UCU said of Mwima: “He is an understanding lecturer. He often shared with us his personal story and encouraged us to pursue further studies. I look forward to pursuing a master’s course.” 

Dustan Katabalwa, another student, said Mwima gives them audience when they have issues they want to share with him.