David Ssejinja

As a child growing up in the small Ugandan village of Bira, David Ssejinja ’06 learned from his father, Edward, the importance of education. Edward scrimped and saved to send his family to school and became a vocal proponent of education in the community, helping to fund a Catholic school.

When Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni came to power, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) began their radical opposition of his regime, and David and his family found themselves embroiled in the conflict. LRA soldiers attacked the bus on which David and his mother Elizabeth were traveling, separating David from Elizabeth and brutally killing her. Soon after, Edward was also killed in a conflict.

Determined to keep his father’s mission of education alive, David established the Ssejinja Children’s Foundation in 1999 to further education and community development in Uganda. When a friend from Utah encouraged David to come to come to the U.S. for a college education, David applied and was accepted to the University of Utah, Brigham Young University and UVSC. But it was UVSC’s friendly atmosphere and supportive Multicultural Center that prompted David’s decision to attend UVSC.

“UVSC is where I felt a sense of home,” said David. “The classes were small and the professors were willing to work with me one on one and go the extra mile to help me gain the knowledge I needed to achieve my objective of helping my fellow people back home. UVSC has been a stepping stone for me to spread my wings to even greater heights.”

Now a 35-year-old UVSC graduate with a bachelor’s degree in history, David continues to work tirelessly to further the reach of the Ssejinja Children’s Foundation, whose mission is to protect and heal women and children from the effects of war and HIV/AIDS. In April 2007, David will host the grand opening of the foundation’s children’s clinic in Uganda where direly-needed medical services will be provided to villagers free of charge through donations and medically-trained volunteers. David’s foundation has also begun offering micro finance credit to the village’s poverty-stricken widows.

“I like to live by the motto that we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give,” said David. “One of my greatest satisfactions in life comes from giving back, regardless of what I receive. When a 12-year-old boy writes me a letter saying he is so thankful for the pens and pencils and the toothbrush and the pair of shoes that he never dreamed to have – that is where my happiness comes from.”