Meet Paddy: Action in Africa's First Scholar Gives Back as a Civil Engineer

We are delighted to extend our heartfelt welcome to Paddy Kimbowa, who joins our staff as the Construction Projects Coordinator. After many years in the Action in Africa community as a scholarship recipient, he now brings his expertise, skills, and dedication to AIA.

He earned both a diploma and a degree in Civil Engineering from Muteesa I Royal University. His pursuit of education didn’t stop there; he also studied abroad. Between 2021 and 2023, he obtained an International Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety (NEBOSH IGC) in Qatar and a certificate in Lifting Operations from the Vibrant Industrial Safety Training Academy in Qatar.

“From that level, my goal of becoming an engineer was achieved. Proudly, I am a civil engineer who operates on a personal basis and an expansion project consultant for my home, Action in Africa, since last year in November,” he said.

Paddy’s father, John Sembatya, was a dedicated volunteer to AIA and friend to AIA’s Founder and Executive Director Sarah Nininger. His father played a crucial role fostering relationships, translating for the community, identifying needs, implementing strategies, and coordinating development activities.

When John passed away in 2012, Paddy struggled to pay for basic needs and school fees. And so, he became Action in Africa’s first scholarship recipient.

He shared, "Sarah was nicknamed after my father; maybe that is why she loves me so much. Up to date, she owns my father’s name, and she is Sarah Elizabeth Nininger Sembatya, the name she gained in remembrance of my late father.”

He added, “She has done what my father would have done—empowering his son to grow professionally and academically if he were still alive. Indeed, I have nothing to pay her apart from promising full dedication and commitment while supervising her construction projects to the best of my ability, especially the Sentema campus, which has been her dream for years. Sarah’s projects are mine. Therefore, the way I work, operate, and handle AIA projects is quite different. I operate them with care, love, and passion because I know it is my sister’s project. And if her goals are achieved, I win too.”

Since joining AIA as a consultant, Paddy proudly shared his accomplishments:

“As soon as I came to The Center, I noticed the need for a new eco-friendly stove to replace the local one, which had created a risky environment for both the porridge chef and the kids. The modernized kitchen is now completed. I also requested to repaint and redesign the Center, which is now high-standard and charming. The pavilion and the Sentema project are at promising levels, and many other projects to beautify The Center are in the pipeline.”

He concluded with deep gratitude for Sarah:

He praised the “big-hearted iron lady” for acknowledging the needs of vulnerable children in Uganda and implementing a vision that has transformed lives for over a decade.

In his final reflections, he made a heartfelt plea to donors to continue supporting Sarah and her vital programs—Women to Women, the Scholarship Program, University Program, Primary Partnership Program, Internship, Special Needs, and the Teachers’ Program—as well as her most ambitious undertaking yet: the Sentema campus, which he believes can be completed by 2027 with combined effort.

“Thank you, my sister, for the unwavering commitments. Thanks, Action in Africa, because I was stuck—I was in the jungle and hopeless when my father died. I used to meditate, ‘What’s next?’ But a miracle dressed me. Sarah never abandoned me—she made me into something, and my aspirations are now in process.”