Brother Tinka has served in education for six decades

Brother JV Tinkasimire in his office at St. Charles Lwanga, Kasasa in Masaka. He has been serving as an educationist for 60 years. Photo by Edgar R. Batte

What you need to know:

Service above self: From the time he was chosen by his then head teacher to join the seminary Brother JV Tinkasimire has never looked back. He has served the church as both an educator and evangelist. And this he has done for the last six decades.

He is humble, simple, warm and generous with advice. Many of the students he taught and interacted with will tell you he was the man who taught them etiquette, perhaps the father figure at school.
On his curriculum vitae, Brother JV Tinkasimire states that his mission is to make each person that comes in contact with him feel they are precious and cared for. As such, the grey-haired veteran educator needs no reason to smile to a stranger. Our first contact is at the serene confines of the St. John Mary Muzeeyi novitiate that shares a compound with St. Charles Lwanga, Kasasa in Masaka.
It is holiday time and the students are away and the silence depicts peace. With nothing much to listen to, the eyes will find beauty in the flowers that dot walkways and align different points of the brothers’ working and residence quarters.
It is with little surprise that I learn that as a child, and certainly to date, Brother Tinka’s hobby continues to be horticulture.
As we exchange pleasantries, his calmness is felt, a trait that has been part of him since childhood.
He does not recall being punished by his parents or at school. He was a playful boy who enjoyed football, a little tennis and volleyball. He is not an avid supporter of any of the international football club because he does not fancy being under pressure.

Miraculous birth
But the beginning of his life journey was one greeted with uncertainty.
When he was born, his parents were not sure he would survive because he was not as strong as many babies usually are, so they named him Tinkasimire, loosely translated ‘it’s not yet God’s will’. But God had other plans for him.
At 13, in 1951, he started admiring Catholic brothers from afar.
In Junior Secondary School, at Mount St. Teresa, Kisubi, in Kyenjojo District, religious studies was part of the syllabus. His father was a catechist. And Tinka was a prayerful, humble boy so many people expected him to join the seminary and later on become a priest. “There were three of us who had been singled out to become priests by our teachers. Two went on to join the seminary. The headmaster, Gregory Tinkamalirwe, was curious why I had not gone. I did not have an answer but as we chatted I mentioned to him that I admired brothers,” Brother Tinkasimire recalls.

Called to serve
The headmaster had been brought up by Brothers of Christian Instruction, so he invited brothers from St. Leo to come to interview those who were interested in becoming brothers. Young Tinkasimire was interviewed by Brother Dominic Kisozi and passed the interview.
Tinkamalirwe helped him join Mount Saint Teresa Juniorate, which was a training school for brothers. He studied junior school for three years and then joined St. Mary’s College Kisubi as a senior, continuing to train in pursuit of becoming a brother.
The studies included learning how to pray, what a brother’s life is about, how to live in community, catechism, reading the Gospel and learning how to work.
“In 1957, we were enrolled novice brothers at St. Charles Lwanga, Kasasa to join the novitiate for a year. I was already a teacher. As Brothers of Christian Instruction, we are professional educators, which include teaching and evangelising,” Brother Tinkasimire explains.
He had taken a two year teacher-training at Mount Saint Teresa Teacher Training College. Afterwards, he taught at St. Savio. At college, they were trained to teach a broad spectrum and many subjects.
In 1962, he was posted to teach at Nyegezi Secondary School, near Mwanza. Mid 1963, he travelled to Scotland where he pursued general studies at the Dundee Technical College.
“I felt it was because they had confidence in me to select me to go abroad, because we were many,” he says.

Life abroad
The following year, Brothers of Christian Instruction sent him for further studies at the Wash College (which is now Wash University) for four months.
The Brother then joined University of Detroit where he completed a Bachelor’s degree of Science in Physics and Maths but with a major in Physics.
He subsequently pursued a Master’s degree in Physics. During his studies, he was president of Foreign Students Association at the university.
Comparing the four countries he had been to in a space of less than a decade, Brother Tinkasimire says there were both interesting and challenging.
“It was the time when African-Americans were fighting for their rights. You would never have imagined that one day Barrack Obama would lead the USA. Blacks were not free to interact with whites in some states. It was the time when Afro-Americans were fighting for their civil rights through people such as Martin Luther King,” he recollects.
However, not all institutions were discriminative. There was a sizable Afro-American community in Detroit, Michigan State where he studied between 1964 and 1968.

Professional life
When he returned, Brother Tinkasimire started teaching at St. Mary’s College, Kisubi (Smack), for one year and then Uganda Martyrs College Alokolum which was established to train seminarians and brothers at A-Level. It later became the Alokolum Major Seminary.
“From 1973-1976, I was a full time teacher at Smack. But while teaching at Smack and Alokolum, I was also the director of formation of young men wanting to become brothers from 1968 to 1976. In 1976-77 I took a sabbatical for spiritual renewal,” he recalls. He took the sabbatical year at Angelicum University in Rome during which he also made visits to France and Spain.
He took up a teaching assignment at Caltec Academy between 1977 and 1979. He was appointed principal in 1980 until 1981. The Vatican was keenly observing his work.
In 1981, he was appointed Provincial Superior of Brothers of Christian Instruction in Uganda with special responsibility for Kenya and Tanzania, a position he held until 1986. The same year he was a member, board of governors at Nkozi National Teacher Training College.
“It was again because of confidence in me by my superiors that I was trusted with responsibilities,” he adds. His docket included the responsibility to appoint and supervise.
In 1987, he was appointed headmaster of Smack. He served in that capacity up to 1996.
Students who interacted with him say, he was a man who taught them etiquette, and many say he is a man with a sharp memory who knew almost every student by name.
When he left Smack, he went for a sabbatical again, for a year.
In his tenure at one of the country’s top schools, he says one of the highlights was being invited by President Museveni, to State House to ask him to admit his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, whom he transferred from Kings College Budo.
“He was very friendly. We interacted as parent and head teacher,” the soft-spoken educator adds.
In 1997, he became a lecturer at Scholasticate Kanywa, a formation house near University of Kisubi. In 2010, he was appointed director of Postulate, which is a two-year formation programme before one enrolls as a novice brother.
In 2013, he became master of novices, initiating novice brothers into full brotherhood, officially. He still serves in that capacity at St. Charles Lwanga, Kasasa in Masaka.

Professional journey

In 1962, he was posted to teach at Nyegezi Secondary School, near Mwanza.

From 1973-1976, he was a full time teacher at St. Mary’s College, Kisubi (Smack).

Between 1977 and 1979, he took up a teaching assignment at Caltec Academy.

In 1980, he was appointed principal of Caltec Academy.

In 1981, he was appointed Provincial Superior of Brothers of Christian Instruction in Uganda with special responsibility for Kenya and Tanzania.

In 1987, he was appointed headmaster of Smack. He served in that capacity up to 1996.

In 1997, he became a lecturer at Scholasticate Kanywa, a formation house near University of Kisubi.

In 2010, he was appointed director of Postulate, which is a two-year formation programme before one enrolls as a novice brother.

In 2013, he became master of novices, initiating novice brothers into full brotherhood, officially. He still serves in that capacity at St. Charles Lwanga, Kasasa in Masaka.

Tinka’s Brief bio

Brother Tinka was born in a simple family in Matiri, Kihuura Sub-country, Kyenjonjo District. His father, Valentino Maketu, was a catechist while his moher, Victoria Mugizi, a housewife.
At 13, in 1951, he developed admiration for Catholic brothers.
He studied junior school for three years and then joined St. Mary’s College Kisubi as a senior, continuing to train in pursuit of becoming a brother.
The studies included learning how to pray, what a brother’s life is about, how to live in community, catechism, reading the Gospel and learning how to work. In 1957, he was enrolled a novice brother at St. Charles Lwanga, Kasasa for a year. He took a two year teacher-training course at Mount Saint Teresa Teacher Training College. In 1962 his teaching career began at at Nyegezi Secondary School, near Mwanza.

What Old Students of Smack say about him

“Brother Tinkasimire was a wonderful headmaster. He commanded so much respect, it was amazing. When other teachers addressed the school assembly, boys would sometimes not pay attention. But when Tinks, as we fondly called him, stood up to speak, everyone went quiet and listened. When he found you in the wrong place, all he did was stand there and without saying a word, you would run to where you were meant to be. His mission was to make gentlemen out of us, and I guess he did a great job of us.”
Anthony Mark Mondo

“He was our physics teacher when I was in Senior Four in 1977 at St. Mary’s College Kisubi. He was excellent at delivering. I had opportunity to send a questionnaire to him in 2006 as I worked on the Smack Centenary Magazine as editor. He showed a high degree of organisation as he responded to my questions with clearly set out answers, necessary detail including photographs which greatly enriched the magazine. He had been Brother Provincial prior to appointment as headmaster, however, his approach to managing the challenges at the school show his good managerial abilities.”
William Kiwanuka-Kituuka