I am Richard Matovu aged 23 years, currently doing a Masters program in software engineering at Makerere University. While not busy at academics, I am a freelance graphics, website designer, developer and an application developer.

I graduated from Makerere University in 2006 with a Second Class (Upper) in Bachelor of Statistics (Computing Option) and worked for sometime as an Information Engineer and System Administrator of Alam Group of companies.

Today, I live as a testimony of what SchoolNet Uganda has done and I really thank SchoolNet Uganda for all they have given unto me. Today as I live, I don’t know where I would be or what I would be without computers.

Unlike other people, I was introduced to computers at a very tender age around 10 years old. As a young person, I grew a lot of interest in computers; I always loved learning more about computers and even got a chance to start learning programming. In my Primary Seven vacation, I managed to typeset my father’s Physics book which motivated me so much.

In my secondary education, I managed to join Namilyango College, one of the first three member schools of SchoolNet Uganda. During this time, I got more exposure to computers and participated in many computer club activities and tele-collaborative projects. One of the main tele-collaborative projects, “The 21st Century Schoolhouse” projects where I participated in Waste Management project. With these projects, I was transformed and learnt a lot of real-world skills including team work, self confidence, working across boundaries, presentation skills, research, cultural exchange and through this project, we as students were able to have social responsibility to our community as the solutions we discussed, got from other students from other countries, we were able to pass it to stakeholders, decision makers in our community (like Kampala City Council) and I am happy today that some of them are being implemented. In my Senior Four vacation, 2001, I was selected as one of the students to represent the school and the country at the 3rd International Youth Environmental Summit in Japan, Toyama where we met with other participants (students) in the 21st Century Schoolhouse.

Later on, I joined Makerere College School where I participated in more tele-collaborative projects like Virtual Enterprise where we learnt the real process of how companies evolve and operate right away from identifying a business, writing business plans, job descriptions, application for the job, applying for loans etc. We were able to conduct business with other virtual companies in
California. Also I was able to attend many workshops organized by SchoolNet Uganda including Website Design, Linux Administration and many others.

I also participated in the Mtandao Afrika (ThinkQuest Africa) project where my team comprising of four students from Uganda, Egypt, Gambia, Singapore and two coaches from Uganda and Egypt build a dynamic website about “The Magic of Human Replaceable Parts“. We made it to the finals and awards ceremony which was held in 2004 in Cairo, Egypt and my team won the Platinum Award in the Interdisciplinary category.

After my secondary education, I was given an opportunity as a student intern at SchoolNet Uganda where I learnt a lot more skills and attended more ICT workshops. I later joined Makerere University where I had a lot of ease with my computer courses since most of what we were taught I had already acquired during my secondary education and internship at SchoolNet Uganda. Though I didn’t do Bachelor of Computer Science, I was always consulted by the computer students and I always helped them out. I also participated in the Mtandao Afrika project as a student coach and my team again made it to the finals which took place in March 2007 in Cairo, Egypt. My team built a website about Deforestation: African Resources in Decline -
http://library2006.mtandao-afrika.net/MAF060247/ was able to win the Platinum Award in the Science and Mathematics category and also got the overall best award “Star Award” in the contest. I am also elected as the Coordinator of the Mtandao Afrika Youth Committee of the project.

Though I didn’t do Computer Science directly at Bachelor’s level, I got employed as an Information Engineer and System Administrator in the IT department. The skills I acquired from SchoolNet Uganda helped me to compete more than favourably in the computing world. While at work, I used to streamline business processes and to develop or recommend new systems. One of the systems I developed is the Cylinder Management System which is being used by one of the companies in the Group to track
cylinders and provide timely reports to help in management’s decision making. I also managed a lot of other I.T. requirements in the company as a System Administrator.

I am also a consultant in website design, development and programming. Through professional interaction with SchoolNet Uganda’s international volunteers and my student internship at SchoolNet Uganda, I also acquired a lot more skills and today I manage my own web server where I host a number of people’s websites on top of designing them. Currently, I own a website at
http://www.matrich.net which showcase what I can do, I have done and a lot
of other projects. Through the same website, I share Open Source Applications which I have developed freely. I believe that I have learnt a lot from the Open Source Community and I would also like to contribute to it. I also run another website at http://techblogging.org where I freely share it tips, hints and solutions.

Some of the other websites I worked on include:

• TechBlogging – http://www.techblogging.org/
• Acacia Safaris (U) Ltd – http://www.acaciasafari.co.ug/
• Mukalwe Enterprises Ltd – http://www.mukalwe.com/
• New Life Christian Center Ministries – Uganda: http://www.newlifeministriesug.org/
• Uganda Digital Education Resource Bank – http://www.uderb.org/
• Matovu Richard – http://www.matrich.net/
• Kinobe Herbert – http://www.nomadroots.com
• SchoolNet Uganda website (under construction) – http://schoolnetuganda.sc.ug

And many others.