KI B 0 Emering the first year of college was somewhat of a shock to many students. freshman Mark Sekimpi was fromjinja, Uganda, and not only was this his fir. t year of college. but it was also his first year in the U.S. SeJ...'lillpi was ill\'Ol\'ed with the Kibo Group i..ti.itiaci\·e injinja for many vcars. According to their website, Kibo is "a faithinspire<l nonprofit that partners with East Africans to pursue local solutions for poverty and injustice to help communities flourish.'' He grew up with several students who attended Harding. who were missionary children with 11..im injinja. ·'A bunch of my American friends that I grew up with said, 'Hey how would you KID By Lexi Ferguson Ben said. "The whole time I droYe around with [Sekimpi] and we went out to villages that he'd been working in. Now that he's here [in Searcy] I go to church 1vith him on Sundays, and I see him about three times a week. He's doing pretty well." Jwi.ior Lauren \ an Eaton was an intern for Kibo in summer 2016 and got to spend some time working wid1 Sekimpi. She aid that she was able to \'isit with him quite a few times since he has been here at Harding. 'The first weekend [back at school], a lot of us went to Heber Springs to do cliff jumping and ~fark went with us," Van Eaton said. "[Many studen ts] from Harding [were] there because it was great weatl1er and it was the first weekend. like to come to Harding?' and I thought, ·\ Vell that would be good. but how will l get there?" Sekimpi said. "I n \·er even had Lhe hope of coming to Harding. It's not easy getting there. You have to get a Visa and all the paperwork done, which is e:Kpensiw. I thought there had to be something to raise up my hope a little bit." "I never even had the hope of coming to Harding. Ifs not easy getting there. You have to get Everybody wa5 like, '~1lark! \ /\/hat's up?' I was thinking;' [He knows] more people [than] I do.' He is already adjusting and making fiiends, and that is \ ·e1y cool. I I va5n't smprised because that is definitely in his naLw-e - getting to know people and adjusting to his surroundings well." a Visa and all the paperwork done) which is expensive. I thought there had to be something to raise up my hope a Seki.rnpi, a finance maj01; said receiving a degree from an American university\vould benefit him vel)' much when he returned toJinja. A few months later, Sekimpi received a call from little bit.)_, fark Nloore, an alumnus of Harding and one of tl1e original founders of Kibo, -Freshman .Alf ark Sekimpi who told him that there was a spot for him at Harding if Sekimpi was ready to come. "I chipped in to do Kibo as part time as I went on this process of getting the paperwork done and sLufflike that so that 1 couldjoi..t1 H ardi..t1g," Sckm1pi said. "It is a great oppo rtu1 ity" Junior Ben Moore, Mark Moore's son, said he grew up v.~th Sekimpi injinja. "I spent the ummcr in Rwanda this past summer, and at the end of my u-ip I got to go throughJinja for about a week," "I'm looking at doing real estate," Sekirnpi said. "It's very popular [mjinja]. It's becoming high demand, so they want people who\·\~ be managers." Since being at Harding, Sekimpi also joined men's social club TNT "I'm looki..t1g for a club that has many people so tJ1at I can get really good connections and make my stay here at Harding profitable," Sekimpi said. Sekimpi said he was very excited to be at Harding and looked forward to what the next few years had in store for him. Freshman Mark Sekimpi, from Jinja, Uganda, is spending his first year in the US. at Harding. Sekimpi grew up with several other current Harding students who were missionary children surrounding the Kibo Group initiative, which Sekimpi also worked withfor many years. I Photo by Julia Reinholdt FHF.\ 11\1.\\ IT.\Tl nr <( l '-j/
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==