A few members of the community lifted him high as they ululated. The little children cheered louder even if they never knew what they were celebrating. It was enough that the aura of their home area that day was celebratory. Deos Chebet was the star they held high, the spark that had brought hope to that small village in Bukwo District, Eastern Uganda. He had scored aggregate 9 in 8 subjects in the Uganda Certificate of Education Exams. He had attained the 2nd best mark in this ordinary level examinations from his school, Namirembe Hillside High school miles away in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda.
A place neither he nor his parents and relatives had imagined he would go to school. But as fortune would have it, Chebet’s brilliance at his Primary School Sosiyo Primary School, in Bukwo saw him win a scholarship from Nile Breweries Limited. One he never even knew about at that time. “It was just a normal day and my parents were going about their work around home when the headmaster of my former school came to tell them that I was going to be sponsored by Nile Breweries. We were very excited,” Chebet says. It is no wonder that one of the key things he attributes to his good grades is “Nile Breweries for paying my fees and providing for my welfare needs at school. Not lacking enabled me concentrate and fit in with the other students from well to do families.” He also thanks God, his parents, teachers and friends for the moral support and encouragement.
The annual Equality Scholarship (ES) programme has since 2011 benefited the best PLE performing pupil in selected districts, largely in areas that grow sorghum and barley for NBL.The students are supported in tuition and welfare expenses from Senior One until university, with the currently enrolled students numbers standing at 72.
“The selected pupils are enrolled in the elite Ugandan secondary schools, thus breaking the financial barrier between poor rural farmers’ children and their counterparts from privileged urban families,” says Onapito-Ekomoloit, the NBL Legal & Corporate Affairs Director. “It is why we call it the Equality scholarship,” he adds.The ES is line with the commitment of NBL mother company, ABInbev, to create a Better World.
“I want to serve God’s people as a doctor,” Chebet reveals, rightfully. So Onismas Chemutai too, wants to be a doctor, a neurologist. The teenager from Kapchorwa scored 8/8. From his calm demeanor, one cannot easily tell that he was the best of the 12 students under the ES who sat for the UCE examinations in 2019. “We were very excited when his former head teacher told us he had won a scholarship from Nile Breweries, and today we celebrate his performance because we know for sure that this wouldn’t have been possible under our normal circumstances. We really appreciate,” says Annet Chemutai, his mother who accompanied him to NBL offices in Luzira to revel with the management team.
“I concentrated and read my books since I had nothing much to worry about. I need to do my best and excel so that I can achieve my dream of being a doctor like one of my relatives. I really admire him and his way of life,” says Chemutai, a former student at Seeta High School. The experiences of Chebet and Chemutai are similar to the other students as well. James Mugaria from PallisaDistrict who scored 10/8 believes that his path for a good life as a surgeon is clear with the support of the ES. “Having the opportunity to compete with students from the city is a challenge that encourages me to work hard. The scholarship means my life, my future,” says Mugaria, a former student of St Mary’s Kitende. When he got his news he had already studies for 3 days in a rural secondary school.
According to Pamela Bayenda, NBL Sustainability Manager, programmes such as the Equality Scholarship enable NBL give back to communities and empower them. The ES is made possible with the partnershipof A list schools where the students are enrolled, including Gayaza High School, Mt St Mary’s Namagunga, Nabisunsa Girls School, Uganda Martyrs Namugongo, St Mary’s Kitende, Seeta High School, Kings College Budo, Ntare School and St Marys’ College Kisubi.
Last year, NBL paid up to Shs 303 Million to secondary schools and universities towards school fees and welfare expenses for the 102 beneficiaries, who comprise 42 secondary school students; 20 university students; and 45 orphans who lost their parents in the July 11, 2010 bombing. “In 2011 NBL committed to educate the orphans of the victims of the 2010 twin bombings in Kampala. The company entered a 10-year partnership agreement with St. Mary’s College Lugazi (SMOCOL) to admit the orphans free of charge,” explains Onapito. It takes a village to raise a child, and NBL is proud to be part of this village. Like Nelson Mandela said, Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.