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Graduation Day

After working on my dissertation Challenges and Enablers of eLearning Policy Implementation in Vocational Colleges in Zambia for almost 3 years at the University of Cape Town, it was time to graduate on 9th June 2016. The graduation was the biggest at UCT due to the Faculty of Humanities being the larges faculty at the varsity.




I was accompanied to the graduation by my wife Judith and first born daughter Twalumba. We left Lusaka on 6 June 2016 at 09 00 hours by a Johannesburg bound bus. The bus passed through Zimbabwe where we had a taste of an overzealous cop who slapped a heavy fine on the bus driver for an imaginary fault on the bus. The back and forth negotiations set us back by 45 minutes with a further 2 hour delay on the Beitbridge border due to lengthy border formalities. It was my first time to use this border. I experienced for myself why many complain about the very lengthy border formalities. We arrived in Johannesburg at 11 00 hrs the following day where we took the Gautrain to the O R Tambo international airport in time for our flight to Cape Town using Kulula Airlines. It was a smooth and enjoyable flight.



Back to the Graduation, technically I was supposed to graduate in December 2015, but I was not able to do so due to financial constraints. I was allowed to graduate in the June 2016 Graduation along with Tari Mukabeta my classmate from the 2011 Postgraduate Educational Technology class. One of the highlights during the graduation was the colourful Zulu traditional attire as opposed to the western suits that some graduands were clad in. One studnet made some dramatic dance moves before being capped by Dr Mike Price the Vice Chancellor. Another highlight was a speech made a graduating professor who reminded us how privileged we were to attain our various qualifications which many in Cape Town especially those living in the townships could not think of as they had to struggle for basics such as their next meal. Off course me being capped by the Vice Chancellor was a very joyous moment after years of working on my Master of Education degree.


Later we had some refreshments that were served to all graduates in the Humanities quad. The days after the graduation were spent sight-seeing, shopping and visiting with friends. It was a joy to be hosted for a meal by Professor Dick Ng'ambi and the wife and by Tony Carr. On the Sunday beforw we travelled back home, we attended church at Mowbray Baptist Church where Pastor Williem and Joshua Lungu preached in the morning and evening services respectively. Pastor Williem preached about Humility in the morning and exemplified his sermon in the evening service when he volunteered to serve tables during the Lords Supper. It was a joy for my family to meet some of the brethren who had been.supportive to me during my studies.

As we flew back to Lusaka via Windhoek using Air Namibia, and said bye to Cape Town in general and bye to Forest Hill residence which had been our home for a week and incidentally my home for close to 2 months when I camped to finalise  my dissertation, I had the following thoughts:
  • Gratitude to God who had given me the knowledge, wisdom, finances and strength to complete my studies.
  • Gratitude to God to Judy, my children, relatives, friends and classmates who had supported me as I undertook my studies.
  • Gratitude to my supervisor Dr Cheryl Brown who provided excellent supervision to me.
  • Gratitude to the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching for the excellent teaching and financial support that went a long way in me completing my studies.
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