The Village Boy
Who Refused to Die

Joseph’s life began like any other ordinary Ugandan youth. He was born in Lwabenge, a small sub-county of Kalungu district. Deep village. His father, Jjuuko Joseph Namuyimba, grew sweet potatoes on borrowed land. His mother, Nakintu Joyce, had divorced when he was still an infant. There were over ten children at home. Subsistence farming was their only heartbeat.

Joseph studied only in public schools , not by choice, but because his poor father had no other option. He remembers being hungry at school. Being chased out of class because he couldn’t pay fees.

“I still shed tears when I remember those moments,” he says.

After high school (Senior 6), he tried everything to go to university. But there was no way. His father tried to sell their garden of sweet potatoes — but no one would buy it. Joseph applied for every education sponsorship he could find. Every door closed.
Everything turned dark.

“I vowed to die trying, rather than live the rest of my life uneducated.” he says.

So when university intake dates came close, he left home. He survived on his own. He had faith, raw, bleeding faith, that he would succeed. He started looking for any work to raise school fees.

The beginning was not easy.

He was once chased away from a building site for no reason at all. He wrote more than ten job applications. All rejected. He hated himself. He wished his life would end. He had nothing to eat. No coin in his pocket. Rent had taken everything.

Joseph spent days without eating. He once admired eating from a pig’s pit — just to stay alive.

Then came the moment he will never forget: He tried to sell a pint of his own blood at Byansi Clinic in Masaka for 25,000 UGX (about $6), just so he could eat.

He woke up early every morning and walked door to door, person to person, begging for any work. People ignored him. Some said he was bewitched. He kept crying for help. No one came.

His life was not worth living. He often slept just to forget the misery of hunger. He drank water to keep going. Once he mopped a neighbor’s floor and swept their compound, just to survive.

Every day, things got tougher.

After two weeks, he got his first job: lifting and arranging poles for a fence in a market yard. He never earned more than 2,000 UGX per day, not even enough for one meal. But he did his best. He left that job for portering at a building site. He got many injuries there. But he worked very hard.

The most hurtful thing Joseph can never forget:
He portered at a building site for a full week, and was paid nothing. He demanded his money for almost a month. Payment came only after lots of tears.

But Joseph learned something deep: No person is beyond God’s help. No tragedy is so great that God cannot comfort us. Always try your best. Even if you fail, keep trying. God sees your passion and persistence.

The Morning That Changed Everything

It was like any other morning. He was at the building site. On the other side of the site, a family from Sweden was having breakfast.

Joseph approached them. Kindly. Humbly. He asked if they could connect him to any education sponsor in their country — if possible.

About an hour later, he was called back. By a man named Mr. Christer Ahlnér.
They asked for his contact. Then they promised: We will pay all your school fees. The photo of Joseph was taken on his first day at university

Joseph joined Kampala University in 2016 to study BSc in Computer Science and Information Technology. He gave it everything. It was the only good gift he had ever received. He even did coursework for other students to earn small savings.
He spent most of his time programming. He tried anything on a computer. He built a School Report Card System, six months of work. It was rejected by St. Gerald Vocational SS Masaka.

But Joseph never gave up. He upgraded it. Then he sold his first prototype to Lincoln SS Masaka for 20,000 UGX and to St. Jude Bukoto SS Masaka for 100,000 UGX. He also built his first computerized Attendance System and sold it to Kampala University for 250,000 UGX.

He graduated in 2019.

Then he hit the streets again, walking his shoes out looking for jobs. He became a self-styled computer teacher in two schools. But again,payment came only after lots of tears.

“In Uganda, when you are a graduate, everyone expects you to have a car and dish out money like you own the machine that makes it. But my story was different.”

He realized: I am a software and website developer — but I don’t know how to turn that into success.

How Emetack Began

On June 1st, 2019, Joseph set up the first physical office for Emetack in Masaka District. He had only $695 — $278 from friends and family, and $417 from his own little savings doing small projects. His dream was simple: Start a company and help other people not to face the hard life he had faced.