PROFILE: HEAD OF ART & DESIGN DEPARTMENT, KYAMBOGO
UNIVERSITY
Kekimuli Joane Arinaitwe
The busy schedule surrounding Kekimuli Joane Arinaitwe, the head of art and design at Kyambogo University, spells out that she is not a woman to be taken for granted. “My friends say I am assertive,” she starts off in a perfectly reasonable tone. “But I am also empathetic. I feel for people and try to understand what they are going through.
Arinaitwe is also doing a PhD in art therapy at Makerere University. Art and design is a passion she has had since childhood. She likes the feeling of satisfaction of adding touch and color to something.
“While our first-born was so concentrated in the kitchen, I was into decorating the house,” she says. She is also grateful that she studied in Kitante Primary School, where she was equipped with skills to discover the world of art.
Her roles entail hoping from one departmental meeting to another, while also teaching interior design and painting. She studied at the Institute of Teacher Education in Kyambogo. Armed with a first-class diploma, she enrolled for a bachelor’s degree in industrial and fine art at Makerere for three years.
Her passion pushed her into enrolling as a teaching assistant at the Institute of Art and Design in Kyambogo.
While at the department, she enrolled for a certificate of interior designing. After teaching for four years, she was promoted to assistant lecturer. She first served under ITEK before it was recognised into Kyambogo University. She has seen a lot of improvements in the university. Recently, she was appointed to the post of full lecturer, paving the way for her promotion to head of department.
Her drive She has also worked as a moderator in affiliated institutions and an external examiner. “I think they judged me from my previous performance,” she says. Arinaitwe had been the head of the interior design section prior to her promotion.
She says she never saw her promotion coming, and was first reluctant to take on the job. Working in a male-dominated field presented many challenges to her but with time, she found the courage to face up to the challenge. Respect from her colleagues began to grow.
In the course of her work, Arinaitwe has learnt to appreciate team work, she does not believe in isolation. “I acknowledge any positive contributions to the development of the department as a motivation method,” she says.
Her work has also taught her to believe in people and try to bring out the best in them. This is evident in how she deals with her students. She looks out for the best in them, identifies their strengths and encourages them to pursue them.
According to her, art is not like any other subject, it is quite adventurous, what you may see as bad art is cherished by another person. Besides her daily teaching routine, she loves pictorial painting and interior design. She owns an interior designing company, through which she has participated in a number of exhibitions. She has also sold her paintings abroad.
Family-work balance She is married and has a four-year-old child. Despite her busy work schedule, she makes sure that she leaves office at about 6:00pm to find her husband and child. “If you are to nurture a child, it is good to be highly interactive with them,” she says.
She has a diary on the table, where she keeps all her appointments for the day. Before leaving office, she prepares in advance for the next day’s work, keen to avoid carrying work home.
“I never carry work home so that I give my family attention. I devote my time to my husband and child,” she asserts.
Challenges In all her work, she has learnt that not everything is clear: Sometimes people come telling you something about a colleague which may not be true. So before you can take in anything, you think twice and give the other party a fair hearing so that they can defend themselves.
“If something has to be done, it has to be done and I am always upfront with people,” she says.
With a determined attitude, she knows the art and design department will progress. Since she joined, more bachelor and post-graduate degree programmes have been introduced and the teaching approach has changed.
ARINAITWE’S WORK ETHICS:
1. Feels for people and tries to understand what they are going through.
2. Appreciates team work. Does not believe in isolation. Acknowledges any positive contribution as motivation.
3. Believes in people and tries to bring out the best in them.
