Where is he now - Jjunju Fred!

Jjunju Fred was one of the first to be supported by River of Life Uganda back in the 1990s - his is an exciting tale! We wrote about his fabulous wedding to Liz last year, so what's he been up to since..?

In October 09 Jjunju, after studying for a BSc in Computer Science at Makerere University and working for the British Council's Commonwealth Business Solutions on their ZIPP Program, was one of only six people to be accepted by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) for a fully-funded PhD in Electrical Engineering - rock on Fred! He's found studying there pretty demanding, but has risen to the challenge. I caught him on skype today, and asked him what he thought of KAUST:

KAUST is a house of wisdom where minds from all over the world meet and interact to apply science and technology to solve global problems... Sometimes (to be honest) it's a little boring, because we only are studying and eating (!) But all I can say is I thank God for giving me this golden chance to part of KAUST - it is a global community with a diverse culture.

So in one breath he's solving the world's problems, and in the next he's saying it's a little boring...! Anyway, Jjunju is working on a research project on Visible Light Communication and will become a Visiting Scholar at Oxford University this summer!

He was orphaned at the age of 14, but through the love and care of Duncan and Mary, and all the people who gave so generously to get him through school and university, his is a real rags to riches story. A man of many words, but little punctuation, he has this to say:

First and foremost I would like to thank God for giving me all these opportunities and then helping me through out this journey till this point to be successful in what ever I do and I would like to really thank all who sponsored me through my studies up to this point - thank you very much for giving me so much and for your immense faith and confidence you entrusted me with for this continuous unfathomable support you gave me through out my studies and my research work!

And we'd like to add our thanks to everyone that has supported Fred over the last 15 years! He's now not only standing on his own two feet, he's standing on the shoulders of giants...