Henry Mugisha, lecturer at Ugandan Christian University in the department Business and Administration. Participated in the summerschool in Groningen in 2018.
“The learning environment was very exciting, we had a lot to learn in terms of new knowledge, but also in terms of ways of delivering that knowledge. After the experience, we reviewed the way we are transmitting knowledge to the students here and we now put emphasis more on the practical teaching approaches, so that after graduation the students can be self-sustaining and be able to create jobs for themselves. The professors we met exposed us to a whole lot of knowledge that we could not imagine. We learned the action research approach and that is what works in the modern world, because it emphasizes research that leads to solutions of practical problems in society, which is now what we are trying to implement here. Personally, as someone engaging in research, we got new ways of collecting data and doing research in general, which has been very, very helpful.
The summer school experience was a very exciting one, we had a culture shock in as far as bicycles are concerned, but we picked up very quickly and we enjoyed the whole exercise. Overall, I was very positively surprised, and I wish my daughter could grow up in a society that is as free and accommodating as what I saw in the Netherlands.
I think the work the HUF is a step in the right direction. From the testimonies that I have seen on Facebook and seeing how people have gone through the HUF sponsored summer school, I think that this program should be fully supported, because it is changing lives in the African society. Many people have been to the Netherlands and Hanze University and been able to start their own projects and we as lecturers have also been able to change the way we teach and eventually students are beginning to start their own businesses which would not be possible if we didn’t have the support of the Hanze University Foundation.”