Letter From The Diaspora : The Story Of Ugandan Students In China. The covid 19 pandemic has made us embrace a new normal. A new normal where the things we could do, now almost look like a memory from a distant past. But a pandemic that had its origins from the Ugandan diaspora and spread to cause great disarray back at home, is surely something that must talked about not only to prevent another pandemic but also expose the mishaps it has exposed in our society. Believe it or not, the Ugandan diaspora has been highly affected ever since its onset, three months before the first case arose on Ugandan soil in March. The case study of our insight will be the Ugandan diaspora in china, as they were the first to face the pandemic and their rants and compliments have times been adopted as policy for other diaspora persons elsewhere. The onset of the pandemic and the disarray. By the end of 2020, as part of Uganda students association in china, most of us were looking forward to the Uganda student’s party in Wuhan. Little did we know by February, that the party was cancelled but also that the cause was an invisible enemy that we had no information about. From my lofty perch 130km north in Zhengzhou, I got a clear description of the invisible enemy as the corona virus disease 2019 (covid 19) . Weeks earlier I had been elected as the USAC web admin and with that also into the USAC executive. Hardly had we fully grasped the roles of our responsibilities to the students when the pandemic presented itself as the greatest challenge. The pandemic first struck Wuhan, which according to records, has the highest number of Ugandan students in china and has most of the executive members. As the situation worsened, most Ugandan students decided to head back home and those who stayed uncertainty laid ahead. With cities starting to engage lockdown restrictions, many of the students started advocating for evacuation. Some countries especially western countries started airlifting their nationals with some African countries highly considering the option. The Ugandan students feeling stranded and neglected by the state started a campaign that gained significant traction back home and even brought their plight to the August house. The campaign was largely spearheaded by Mr Thomas Owishemwe a medical student in Wuhan and his fellow Wuhan compatriots. For their efforts, though they weren’t rewarded with the evacuation they asked but given monetary assistance by the government. As all this was playing out, we the student leadership, kept in close contact with the embassy officials and could send whatever information harnessed to the student body. The monetary assistance given to the Wuhan students was great, however their plight was also the plight of the 400 Ugandan students since by then all major cities and provinces had enacted lockdown protocols. There was need to cater for the other students who were in a similar dire situation henceforth the student leadership started a fund raising campaign among the students to collect funds for support. This was undertaken because the treasury wasn’t adequate and the needs for the students was on the rise. Personally, during this time and to my great dismay I learnt that the ambassador and senior embassy staff were in Kampala and not with us at our darkest hour. At the brink of normalcy, more dismay and reparation. As a little sense of normality was starting to kick in, most of our attention was the rapidly developing covid 19 outbreak at home. Some students engaged in article writing which I personally undertook while others did media interviews, either way one way or the other, the students did try to send information back home regarding the Pandemic. It’s also during this time that the racist incidents against Africans in china broke out especially in the city of Guangzhou. Fortunately, no incident regarding Ugandan students reached our desk, however in some cities bars, gyms, hotels were completely off limits to foreigners. The situation could have maybe been caused by the increase of imported cases from abroad. As months past by, now the concern was whether students were to return home especially the graduating students. Every time we got wind of the presidential address, the rhetoric remained the same ,lockdown to continue and the airport to remain closed. As the time neared, we approached the embassy on the issue and we were told negations were underway. Meanwhile, the Chinese state had extended the visa of foreigners whose visas were to expire by 2 months which was surely a great relief to students. On the other hand, the there was great anger and a great sense of betrayal, when we learnt of the planned reparation of the family of businessman Mr. kavuya. Then the enormous costs of the plane ticket and quarantine added fuel to our anger towards to the Ugandan authorities. Fortunately later, we were informed of the option of free quarantine centres in public facilities such as schools. Personally, every time I would log onto my social media feed and see the various photos of repatriated Ugandans from other countries such as U.S, U.K, Germany and south Africa and yet we in china were the first to sound the alarm bells during the early stages and height of the pandemic , it really puzzles me. However, one must note that they are negotiations between the Ugandan authorities and Chinese authorities, but the continuous delay in progress as well as the failure to agree to a joint flight with neighbouring east African countries at a lower cost for students seems to have caused great dismay among the students.
I conclude by urging the government to take up the issue of the Ugandan students in china a bit more keenly and as well as implementing the necessary favourable policies for all students in china and the diaspora. ©rugaba.
