Fourteen University of Notre Dame students and one staff member serving and working in Uganda this summer are accounted for and safe after the terrorist bombings that killed scores of people Sunday in the capital city of Kampala.
“We are relieved and grateful that our students and staff are safe,” said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s president. “At the same time, our prayers are with those who have lost loved ones and those who were injured in this senseless attack.”
There are seven Notre Dame students participating in the Center for Social Concerns’ International Summer Service Learning Program in the cities of Gulu, Jinja, Kyarusozi and Nkozi. The students teach and provide business consulting and other services in the country.
Seven students and one staff member associated with Notre Dame’s Kellogg Institute for International Studies are in Nkozi, Jinja and Bumwalukani. The students are engaged in independent research or serving as interns on projects related to health, education and agriculture.
One student is in Kampala participating in the School of International Training program there. Another student studying in Kampala this summer had left the country prior to the attacks.
In addition, four participants in the Congregation of Holy Cross’ Overseas Lay Missioners program in Jinja, three of whom are Notre Dame graduates, are accounted for and safe.
Priests and brothers from the Congregation of Holy Cross, Notre Dame’s founding religious community, have served in Uganda since 1958. There has been no indication that any members of the congregation were injured in the attacks.