Another morning at the Ruwenzori View Guesthouse. For breakfast I had been enjoying Dutch pancakes, which are similar to crepes as far as consistency goes. However, this morning I opt for porridge with cinnamon and dried fruit. My body is happy. If only I'd known sooner that they could prepare this!
After breakfast we head to Mountains of the Moon University (MMU). This community focused university is managed by 5 different districts.
Their motto: "Serving the interests of the Ruwenzori Region."
These photos are courtesy of Dr. Richard White
MMU actually has a community development program as well and their first graduates are about to be honored. There are currently 50 students enrolled in their community development program.
After a brief introduction...
*Above photo courtesy of Dr. Richard White
We split into groups to speak to the students one on one... or, more realistically, 2:6.
The students are amazing - very knowledgable, enthusiastic, and armed with great questions. We exchanged ideas, issues, program notes, and aspirations. Definitely a great learning experience.
They mentioned the following as some of their biggest challenges:
- Poverty
- Limited education
- Growing population
- Corruption
- Ignorance & rigidity to change
- Lack of access to textbooks and information in general
They started a student group called the Integrity Club that promotes anti-corruption campaigns. They mobilize students in other schools as well.
It's important to note that corruption goes far beyond the governmental and regional levels. The students informed us that many use bribes to secure employment, making it even more difficult for students to find meaningful work after graduation.
Overall, we had very thought-provoking conversations with these students. I think we all greatly benefited from this cross-cultural experience that highlighted the various issues we face as community developers, regardless of country.
Above photo courtesy of Dr. Richard White
MMU served us lunch as well at their student canteen.
Above photo courtesy of Dr. Richard White
Afterwards, we head back to the guesthouse, which feels more like home at this point. We freshen up a bit and then head outside to welcome our guest speaker, Chris Businge of the Kabarole Resource Center (KRC).
We are fairly tired at this point but Chris delivers a lot of interesting information, which we try our best to absorb.
Chris Businge
KRC has been an operating NGO since 1996. At their core, they strive to understand the drivers of poverty and attempt to find solutions. Simple, eh? Through community outreach, research, and much analysis, they ascertain what methods are most helpful in achieving sustainable and equitable socio-economic development.
They serve the Ruwenzori region. This equals 6 districts and ~2.2 million people, comprised of 5 major ethnicities. The average family size is 6.5.
(That's a lot of analysis)
KRC 'lobbies for locals' and have organized close to 2,000 community groups.
They have developed radio programs to educate the public on famine, politics, education, and how to become involved as an individual or community.
They also create platforms for members, on many levels, to meet. They host retreats that bring local leaders together - from the Local Council (LC) and parliament - to discuss, debate, and have open dialogue. These retreats are held over several days requiring participants to share room and lodging. Often times this means that people from differing backgrounds and opinions stay together. Fabulous!
In addition to all this info, Chris also gave us some background on the kingdoms in the area and their role in local government. So complicated, so unbelievably interesting. I won't even attempt to go into detail regarding this here.
Chris could have spoken to us all night, but he eventually left which gave us just enough time to drink some coffee and let our brains attempt to sort out all of this information.
Dinner time was fast approaching and we were hosting Prof. Rugabayo, the Vice Chancellor of Mountains of the Moon University, and his wife.
Our guests arrive and so does dinner.
The funniest part of the evening, by far, is when the chancellor's wife tells Ashley (after much scrutiny) that she has some food on her lip. It's actually a lip piercing, which causes a slightly horrified and concerned look on her face but results in much laughter from the table.
Dinner and conversation go late into the evening, until our guests leave and we promptly collapse.
No comments:
Post a Comment