Vivian Birchall
Vivian was inspired to run for State Representative by the people she has met and listened to in her roles of; past employee in the Town of Acton Land Use Department, Board Member of Acton-Boxborough United Way, Corporator for Emerson Hospital and currently; Producer at Acton Community Television.
Vivian’s Lifestory.
Vivian Kobusingye Birchall was born in western Uganda, near the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her mother, Prossy, worked as a nurse, and her father, Charles was a teacher.
Vivian earned a Bachelor’s degree in Development Studies from Uganda’s Makerere University, the oldest and most prestigious university in East Africa. She also has a Graduate Certificate in Good Governance from the University of Pretoria in South Africa, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Media and Medicine from Harvard Medical School.
Early in her life, Vivian learned the power of community, mobilization, advocacy and legislation, through her work with non-profits, national government and partnerships with regional bodies and international organizations. She volunteered as a student with Action for Development (ACFODE), an advocacy group for women’s political and economic empowerment, and afterwards, she researched with the youth reproductive health NGO Straight Talk. She then joined the African Parliamentarian Network Against Corruption (APNAC), serving as Uganda’s first country coordinator, and mobilized members of Parliament to pass the Access to Information Act, encouraging transparency and discouraging corruption in lawmaking and other areas of government.
“In the dialect of Vivian’s home village, Kobusingye means ‘The Peaceful One”
Vivian’s Life
When Vivian was three years old, her parents moved to the city of Kampala. At that time her family included her parents, Vivian, and her baby brother. The family rented two small rooms in the sprawling slum of Kamwokya, sharing latrines and a shower room with over a dozen other households.
When Vivian was 13, her mother suffered a broken back in an automobile accident. Vivian’s father died two months later in another auto accident, leaving his widow with seven children to raise. Since her mother could not do most work due to her injuries, her parents’ friends fund-raised to build a frame for another small house that the family could live in, this home had no windows or running water for years.
Left with no stable source of family income, Vivian was sent back to rural Uganda for most of her secondary schooling. The school farmed its food on land tilled by hand, and students had to get water each day from a hand-pumped well, or a spring approximately two miles away. When she was home from school, Vivian helped her mother raise her six younger siblings, and worked to supplement the family’s income. She earned $1 a day selling freshly-cooked french fries from a makeshift roadside stand or would carry and sell and carrying crates of drinks to vendors in the Banda slum.
Vivian was determined to better her circumstances for herself and her family.
After completing secondary school, Vivian applied, and was accepted for a degree program in Development Studies at Uganda’s Makerere University. By paying semester by semester, and by saving money by eating frugally and not traveling to see her family, Vivian achieved a Bachelor's degree from Makerere University and leveraged her accomplishment into a position with the Ugandan government.
Vivian visiting her home in Uganda.
Vivian’s Family
At the 9th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Vivian met and fell in love with her husband, Dan. The relationship changed her life, and Vivian left her work and her homeland to build a family with her husband. They first settled in Hawaii, where Vivian worked with:
Hawaii Community Affairs, doing research and youth outreach for the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) still in development
The Visitor Center for Mauna Kea (mountain) - setting up telescopes for star gazing
Prosecuting Attorney’s office where she worked in Special Projects that included Truancy, Domestic Violence, Immigration, Environmental Courts and one Cold Case.
In Hawaii, Vivian’s two beautiful daughters were born.
In 2016, wanting to be near family, Vivian’s family relocated to Acton, where she immediately immersed herself in the community. In addition to her positions with; Hagar’s Sister, the Land Use and Economic Development Department of the Town of Acton and her current role at Acton community Television, Vivian has volunteered as:
Executive Director for Africans in Boston
Research Trainee at Brigham and Woman’s Hospital (Radiation/Oncology Lab)
Producer and Host for Africa2U (www.africa2u.org) and Wide Field
Corporator for Emerson Hospital
Volunteer with Acton Boxborough Culture Council
Member of Acton Boxborough Rotary Club
After years of Community Building and making connections in every place she has lived, Vivian is running to be State Representative of Middlesex 14 to fight for policy that makes the lives of working people better. She has seen firsthand how carefully crafted legislation can benefit working people and how restorative justice and building a community's infrastructure can make a stronger, more resilient society that supports ALL its people.
Vivian is running to be State Representative of Middlesex 14 in order to ‘Lift All Voices’ in our district.
Vivian’s Elementary School
Vivian visited her childhood school (Kitante Primary School), to reflect on her education and life’s journey