Service Spotlight: Brother Patrick Tumwine Teaches and Serves

Brother Patrick Tumwine, CSC, is a Ph.D. student in Education at UIW. He brings a rich background to the program, having been a teacher and principal at Holy Cross schools in his native Uganda. But focusing on classes does not keep him too busy to serve. Just the opposite, it has given him a heart to serve both in Uganda and in San Antonio through the Young Women’s Global Leadership program.

“As we are already aware, the cultural transformation that is geared toward women’s emancipation starts with you," said Tumwine. "Nevertheless, our silence on cultural prescriptive roles that reinforce gender inequality and the fear of being the first to voice it out continue to erode humanity, a critical fiber of our society. How well can we face and change gender inequality where we are able to say with confidence: One Girl at a Time?”

During UIW Peace Day on Oct. 27, 2021, Tumwine spoke during a presentation titled, "Young Women’s Global Leadership Program - Facing and changing gender inequality one girl at a time." Though the doors of the Women’s Global Connection Office, home of the Girl’s Global Summit, closed as a result of the pandemic, the work has continued and is deepening. Dr. Joan Labay Marquez, Graduate Studies coordinator in the Dreeben School of Education, along with a team of doctoral students and a few other faculty encouraging, have had monthly interactive meetings with young women from different countries such as Uganda, Kenya, Kosovo, and America, among others.

The Young Women’s Global Leadership Program and Summit is an international citizenship leadership training program that provides girls and young women the opportunity to discover how they can influence and create positive change at home and abroad. Many of the young women participating are from high schools in Uganda, who were invited by Tumwine.

“Our call in the Young Women’s Global Leadership Program is to not only raise awareness of how important the girl-child is, in our midst, but also to reinforce her voice as a key player in inclusion, diversity, and social justice as we collectively transform the world into a platform of equal participation,” said Tumwine. “The program is focused on amplifying young women’s voices through intercultural and intercontinental interaction that crosses borders of every sort.”

This leadership program supports UIW’s Mission by teaching young women about the University’s commitment to service, the responsibilities of global citizenship and how entrepreneurship can create social change. Young women can join here on the ground or on Zoom to be with students in Uganda, Kosovo, and Kenya on the last Saturday of the month.

Marquez and the group are seeking other students to help mentor, particularly students interested in Service Learning. Participants can register on GivePulse.