Joy as Mother and daughter graduate

Ms Truphina Nakiru, 59, (R) with her daughter, Ms Patricia Ezakiru
after graduation at Islamic University in Uganda

For many a student, graduation day largely means having your parents or guardians cheer you as the faculty dean announces your name.

But in the case of Ms Truphina Nakiru and Ms Patricia Ezakiru, it was a case of mother and daughter cheering each other as they graduated from Islamic University in Uganda. Ms Nakiru, a 59-year-old teacher, who is now contemplating retirement, received a degree in primary education last week, the same day her daughter Patricia received a degree in business administration.

For Ms Nakiru, the degree was a climax of a journey against cultural and domestic odds. Born at a time when education for girls was frowned upon by her Karimojong tribesmates, it was a miracle that she made it to Primary Seven in 1974.

With no hopes of secondary education, she enrolled at Moroto Primary Teachers College. “After the PTC, I got married and started producing children but the desire to read remained alive in me,” said Ms Nakiru, with a wide smile.

Luckily for her, her husband, Mr Godfrey Atiba, a police officer, supported. “He encouraged me to further my education and in 1992, I enrolled for a diploma in primary education at the Institute of Teacher Education, Kyambogo,” said Ms Nakiru. “After I graduated, I was made a headmistress.”

However, 17 years later, the pressure to better her qualifications would come from another quarter—her children. “In 2009, my children encouraged me to go back to school. They wanted me to get a degree. I listened to them and enrolled for a degree in primary education at IUIU. The funny thing was that I was enrolling at the same time my daughter Patricia was joining the university too.”

Ms Nakiru says hers is a story of resilience which should serve to encourage other adult learners. “My target was to tell other women out there that even in old age, you can enroll for education at any level. I also wanted to send a message, especially to my fellow Karimojong women, that our emancipation lies in education.”

Enrolling for school with Patricia turned out a blessing, as she became the pillar Ms Nakiru would lean on whenever the going got tough. “Patricia is the fourth of my six children. She has been very supportive. Whenever I thought the course had become too tough to handle, she would tell me: Be strong mummy, you will make it.”

Patricia, 28, was full of praise for mum. “She has been a great pillar. Seeing her in school with me also pushed me to read hard,” she says.

Mother and daughter were among the 1,867 students who graduated at the university’s main campus in Mbale. Of these, 837 were female, the highest since the university started.