Uganda, the highs and lows......
on Lynn Sellwood (The Gambia), 30/Mar/2012 18:13, 34 days ago
Well, I knew it would be fun to visit another African country but truth be told I wouldn’t have chosen Uganda had it not been for the project. For people of my generation, all we think about is theIdi Aminregime. I can remember seeing plane loads of ejected Ugandan Asians arriving and walking across the tarmac carrying very little with them as they arrived in our little grey country. I remember reading about atrocities and abuse of power withLord's Resistance Army, (theJoseph Kony Videohas just been released to much debate) and the fear of Africa became established. Uganda, in particular, was definitely not on my list of“must-visit before I die” countries.Stuart, Elisabeth, Lilian from VSO and derek from LINK and usThe decision to go was based on the project I am working on in The Gambia. I had heard that Uganda had established a community based project to get parents and local“movers and shakers” involved with their local school and we wanted to see how it worked to see if there were lessons to be learned before we went live in The Gambia. I made the application to the Ministry and it was approved. Three of us went; me and two colleagues from the Ministry, Kawsu, a Senior Education Officer and Matarr, a head teacher from the provinces. In Uganda were two VSO friends whom I had met during VSO training; both had been in the Scottish Inspectorate and were my contacts with the Ugandan Ministry and an NGO calledLINK Community Development  which had the mandate to roll out their version of Participatory Performance Monitoring in several Districts in Uganda.Training the Inspectors/data collectorsThe professional reason for the trip went extremely well and will be the subject of a report and presentationwhich you don’t need to hear about here but it proved money well spent and lessons learned....................It was the rest of the trip which was so fascinating: two Gambians who had never left their country was interesting to observe; the Ugandan countryside, staggeringly beautiful; Kampala, the capital with its roads, trees, shopping malls and vibrancy and rural poverty which made me cry.Travelling with my two colleagues to another country by four airplanes (Banjul-Dakar, Dakar- Abidjan, Abidjan-Nairobi, Nairobi-Entebbe) and back (Entebbe-Nairobi, Nairobi-Ouagadougou, Ouagadougou-Dakar, Dakar- Bissau-Banjul) threw up some interesting dilemmas. Should I show these grown men how to operate the toilet or leave them to their own devices? Should I be in charge of the passports and luggage papers to secure our smooth passage? In answer to your question I was true to my nature, Mrs Bossy-Boots prevailed and I did my Miss Jean Brodie impression as we went up and down stairs, through countless security checks, demanding transit status and visas. And I wonder how many of you can match the airports with the right country?When, at last in Uganda, the two men were faced with a busy and thriving African capital with proper roads and shops, clean, well-manicured streets, golf clubs, a Christian tradition (Moslems make up about 10% of the population) and different food. It was all too much at first and we had long chats about the differences and they did agree that they had more respect than ever for VSO volunteers giving up what they know to live and work in another country. Everyone wanted to discuss polygamy with them which was mostly their fault for chatting up the Ugandan ladies that crossed their paths with a view of enticing wife number two.Elisabeth and Stuart's flat in Kampala!!!! After briefings at the DES (Directorate of Educational Standards) my trip really began. Getting out of Kampala was not unlike getting to the M4 on a Friday night and eventually the traffic thinned and Stuart started the long haul to Kamwenge and Kenjojo. The constant accompaniment were UN lorries taking food to the Congo(DRC)which borders the part of Uganda we visited. This was UN relief work in action and nothing really prepares you for the reality of seeing the physical provision of stuff to post-conflict, fragile communities.A crater lakeBy Lake GeorgeThe landscape became staggeringly beautiful. It is very hard to capture but the vista of green which includes eucalyptus trees, banana trees, grass, tea plantations, coffee plants and pines, with regular glimpses of water from lakes and streams (Lake Victoria and Lake George, what is it with these colonial names?) on rolling hills with a backdrop of the mrenzori mountains made it look at times a bit like Wiltshire, Scotland or the Lake District. For all our embarrassment about colonialism you could see why the British loved it there.A Marabou Stork We got stuck in the mud at Lake George, which is not on the tourist trail but which has just a small fishing dock with people mending nets, looking after boats and cleaning fish for sale. We “mzungus” were of interest, obviously not many of us white folks had been seen very often. One smallgirl cried and hid in her mother’s apron, she was terrified of us. Apparently the word mzungu implies “a ghost” so you can see why!Tea pickers, early morningStuck......Up a small mountain we visited a school which was having its meeting with the local people about the school. It was there that I lost it. I have seen my fair share of poverty in The Gambia and can recognise my privilege and advantage but there was something about this school which clawed my stomach.These children were so poor..... Set on a mountain, surrounded by hills and the distant mountains, driving up through coffee, avocado and banana trees we came to the school. It was tidy and orderly, but many of the classrooms did not have finished walls, the mud had disappeared from the pole structures; the children, their heads shaved to prevent the passing on of lice, were in part terrified and fascinated with their visitors.This is one class The school barely had a book and in many classes there were over 100 pupils. The drop-out rate was 70% which meant that the school lost 70% of its pupils before the 7 years of schooling was finished. Many girls go for early marriage and the boys are needed in the fields. All that potential lost...................In another school, the problem of“defilement” was discussed openly. I misheard at first and thought they were discussing filing systems but no....defilement whereby young girls lose their virginity to teachers who take advantage of the competitive nature of getting secondary school places.The ClassroomsThe community meetingThe school choir performed a welcome song (I hope you can see it) and that is when the lump in the throat came and my tears fell. I just haven’t developed a protective shell, and I can’t bear the fact that this is the 21st century and children have this experience. At the time the Ugandan press was full of stories about corruption at the highest level. The Permanent Secretary was under investigation for serious misappropriation of funds. Certainly the money available at school level was not enough to provide decent schooling for these children. This just makes me despair. Here we are, trying to support good practice and yet others seem to be taking state funds for themselves and all the while children suffer. We were introducedto a district senior official in one place who was only interested in whether he could have use of the NGO’s vehicles. There is little shame.This is a coffee plantElisabeth and Stuart wearing their Gambian outfits So, there are the highs and lows, geographically and economically, which encapsulates Uganda. It has been voted the top destination byLonely Planetand I can see why. I would love to go back and travel more extensively and try to see the mountain gorillas which live on the border with Rwanda and The DRC. But this development lark is very taxing and the answers are elusive. Not easy for a trusting idealist like me.......just as the guys from The Gambia were having to constantly readjust their expectations to cope with their experience, so did I, and it was exhausting.