Uganda Day Report Book

In May of 2011, 18 Drake students met a group of Ugandan students. They learned, laughed, and made life-long friendships all while studying...

sustainable development

Drake/MUBS Uganda Seminar 2011

Today was our first day in Uganda. Since we arrived here late at night, this morning’s bus ride brought with it reality: We are finally here! As we drove to MUBS at 8:30 this morning, we all got a glimpse of Kampala in the daylight. Everyone scrambled for a window seat, eager to look out on a culture so different from our own. We were in awe of the juxtaposition of the mountainside on our left and the hustle-and-bustle of the capital city on our right. It was a truly a beautiful sight. Our welcome at MUBS could not have been more warm and friendly. We were greeted by smiling faces with a breakfast of fresh fruit and toast. In speaking with the MUBS students, I realized how much we’ll learn in these next few weeks. The students here really aren’t much different from us; they are all eager to share their culture, learn about ours, and meet new friends.

day 1

We got a chance to meet with the principal of MUBS, Wasswa Balunywa. He told us that this trip will impact how we relate to others and how we view the world. He said one thing that really stuck out to me. As he spoke a bit about the country, he said, “There is not much wealth around, but people are happy.” That is beautiful. In the United States we put so much emphasis on money; your income determines your success. I love being in a place where the emphasis is on happiness rather than wealth.

The people here love their country. They are proud of its beauty, its people, and its traditions.

The issue of wealth has caused a few barriers in the MUBS program. They wish to travel to visit us at Drake, but finances have kept them from doing so. Thankfully, they hope to be able to put together a program for next year. They would also like to have more online education opportunities, but their computer to student ratio is one to every ten. This differs completely from our schooling in the United States. Each student at Drake has his/her own computer, and almost everything is online. We use BlueView for nearly all student affairs, and many of our classes use online resources. This technological barrier would completely alter the way our education system operates. As they gain more technology at their university, they will be able to expand their online resources. Expanding resources brings about new opportunities and discoveries, which provides a chance for change and improvement. The administration at MUBS has goals and a vision for the program. They are working towards sustainable development by seeing flaws in the system and finding ways to improve it. We have already seen the mature and intelligent young people that attend this university, so I can only imagine what their students will be like as the system continues to improve.

After a delicious lunch provided by our gracious hosts, our next stop was the Ugandan parliament. Their overall governmental system is much similar to ours, with three branches: judicial, legislative, and executive. I learned about their political parties from some of the MUBS students. They said that there are around eight major political parties, making elections very hectic. The National Resistance Movement is the ruling party and is most greatly represented in Parliament. The students were talking about their frustration that since there are so many parties, no one is able to compromise. If each party had a broader platform, they could cut down the number of parties competing and work toward a common goal within the government. Having so many different viewpoints is detrimental because time is spent arguing and not acting.

Parliament is lead by the Speaker of the House and is similar to our House of Representatives in the sense that each district, like each state, votes on their representatives. One main difference, though, is that each district votes for a male AND female candidate. I love the idea of an almost equal representation of males and females in their legislative branch. Another big difference is the high number of members of Parliament. There are 112 districts with two representatives each (male and female), along with representatives from other special interest groups. These groups represent things like the youth, women’s rights, or the disabled.

The members total around 350. While the benefit of this system is that so many people are represented, a problem is that there are so many members. Much like their political parties, having so many different members with different viewpoints can lead to long discussions with little conclusion.

On the topic of sustainable development, the government is a vital place to start. Narrowing down the number of representatives or trying to combine political parties may help create more effective debates. The man who gave us our tour of Parliament was talking about riots that break out occasionally. He discussed the difference between a demonstration and a riot, stating that demonstrations can get a point across respectfully, while riots result in chaos. The best part of the Ugandan Parliamentary system is that they listen to the people. Each group has a voice in legislature. While this is commendable, sometimes so many different voices drown each other out and result in a stagnant society. Change is what sustainable development is based on. The development of a society that adapts to what the people need and improvement of things that are unsuccessful. Providing civil education for citizens and modeling how to inspire change and express differing viewpoints would be extremely beneficial. If people know how to argue respectfully and effectively, more will be accomplished and improvements can be made.

Evelyn Lashley

I think it goes for everyone when I say that today was a culturally intense experience. We had a day packed with entrepreneurship, matoke, batik paintings, crowded marketplaces, martyrs, and Chinese food. Sounds like a mix, right? Well, it all came together quite nicely. We started out our day at 8:30 with a bus ride to MUBS to meet up with the Ugandan students. We enjoyed a breakfast of toast, juice/coffee/tea, cereal, and fruit. Conversation with our Ugandan peers has proven to be the best way to start the morning. After a quick bite to eat, we headed over to the Protea Hotel, owned by the extremely successful entrepreneur, Patrick Bitature.

day 2

To us, illegally transporting sugarcane from Kenya to Uganda to sell to neighbors would not be a good start in the world of entrepreneurship, but Patrick Bitature took the world head-on with this strategy. After realizing that “where there is a need, you can provide a service,” Mr. Bitature moved on to selling shoes, electronics, owning parts of the Money Transfer Network (MTN), and finally owning several luxury hotels in Uganda. Although the beginning was tough with multiple loan denials, he has realized that being who he wants to be is the most important attitude to maintain. His presentation discussed grabbing opportunities, creating a strong business base, the importance of entrepreneurship in a country, and how to be a successful entrepreneur.

He had a great analogy when it comes to getting ahead and becoming a successful entrepreneur. “You almost get out of the cockroach jar, but then you are pulled back down. Getting out of the jar isn’t the success, helping your economy is.” A successful entrepreneur caters to the economy. He or she attempts at creating a sustainable process for future development. Mr. Bitature has given out micro-loans to many Ugandans. Not only does this help create a stronger economy, but the presence of a loan tax creates a professional habit among small business.

When it comes to Uganda, three percent of the population is made up of entrepreneurs. Mr. Bitature believes that every country’s population should house at least 2-3 percent of entrepreneurs. Uganda is a developing country, and Mr. Bitature discussed many issues preventing entrepreneurial practices within the country: · · · · · · ·

Poor/weak value system Lack of creativity Absence of a savings culture, more focused on instant gratification Absence of institutional memory/generation transition Absence of contractual commitment Lack of preparation, tax is never factored in to business plans Hostile media environment

When these aspects are worked upon, more small loans ($100-200) can be given out, and these entrepreneurs can grow to own and contribute to larger markets, thus creating a more sustainable means of business and economy. In the words of Mr. Bitature, in a world of globalization, you have to “adapt or die.” Finding a stability that allows the flexibility to improve as a country is the success in entrepreneurship.

After all of this food for thought, our stomachs quickly found themselves empty, and we headed back to MUBS for a lunch at the canteen. We enjoyed a traditional mashed plantain dish, matoke, and fish among many other things. A student also came over to sell his gorgeous batik art. We headed over to the Owino Market after filling up, and none of us had any clue just how chaotic it would be.

The bus dropped us off on the edge of the market, and after fighting our way through the traffic mess without injuries we headed off into the marketplace—which is supposed to hold up to 50,000 people—in our groups. There are products everywhere— clothing, food, electronics, books, and shoes among other things. It’s a sensory overload. There are people calling out prices, products, and “muzungu” (white person), in an attempt to get you to their items. Despite the nickname, everyone is very inviting,

Erika Owen

especially if you reply to his or her calls and hold a quick conversation. I quickly learned a few phrases—“odiatia”: How are you and “jendi”: I’m fine. I was also asked how Obama was quite a few times—like we’re best friends, or something. The most shocking thing to me was the variety of goods at the market. You can find a live chicken in one area, and Converse All-Stars twenty feet away. And the prices are incredible—for Americans, at least. Sustainably, this market is a prime example of the practice. The food that is sold at the market comes directly from the fields—with no interference from pesticides or other chemicals. Grown food in place of produced food sets the path for a very sustainable country that will always have access to food—as long as the know how to grow it.

Our last stop of the day was to the Uganda Martyr Shrine. This holy area is the place in which 14 of 22 Ugandan martyrs were burned alive because of the resistance to adhere to the laws disabling religious conversion. The building is gorgeous. The cone-like structure consisted of maple wood on the inside and copper on the outside showcasing a large cross. The overall image was to be one of a hut.

Besides the building itself, the structure expanded out to a lake with an additional platform surround by water for larger congregations.

This area will be used on Martyr’s Day (June 3). Judges, the president, MPs, elected officials, Ugandan citizens, and believers from far away will congregate to celebrate and remember the suffering and mission of the martyrs. People walk from as far as Kenya to be at the martyr shrine on June 3. They walk instead of driving, because the wish to pay tribute to the martyrs suffering. Speaking sustainably, when people have a strong belief, it gives them trust and faith to answer the “unknowns.” This helps create community, and with community comes unity.

We ended the day at Fang Fang Chinese Restaurant to enjoy some food closer to our American diets. Although exhausted, we had some great conversation before heading back to Red Chilli for the night.

Today, our group traveled to the Entebbe Botanical Gardens and finished the day with a trip to southwestern Uganda to visit the Equator—a significant global point at which the northern and southern hemispheres are separated by an invisible division. The day’s activities played into everyone’s tourist side as we took pictures at the gardens and visited the village shops at the Equator, which was a nice change of pace to start the week off with. After breakfast at the MUBS canteen, we took time to discuss some of things we had learned about life in Uganda and some of the issues the country faces.

Drake and MUBS students and our professors took time to reflect on the differences between our education systems, the election and operation of the Ugandan Parliament in comparison to other legislative systems including the United States’, our experiences from the Owino Market, and the concepts and issues Ugandan entrepreneur Patrick Bitature discussed. This open dialogue helped us answer each other’s questions and relate each activity to either helping or hurting Uganda’s path toward sustainable development.

day 3

After the discussion, a bus ride took us to the NARO Entebbe Botanical Gardens tucked into the countryside outside of Entebbe.

Many of us were surprised to learn that the gardens were located in a park in an outside, open area. This falls in stark contrast to the Botanical Gardens in Des Moines, where they are located within an artificial environment in a large bio-dome. Here in Uganda, we were surrounded by the natural beauty of the country’s flora in its native environment.

We toured the park, observing the fragile ecosystem that exists in the country. There were 5-feet-tall termite hills and we were constantly surrounded by a swarm of two or three species of dragonflies. Our tour guide explained that when visitors walk through the gardens, it helps the dragonflies survive by stirring up flies from the ground, which they then consume. This is one of the few places in Uganda where humans are not considered a negative intrusion.

When talking to the tourist guide, he told us that he was not paid for his job and only received tips from visitors as payment for his work. I then wondered where the funds went from the admission we paid to enter the gardens. If they’re not paying their employees, where’s the money going to? Is it going back into the gardens, which would be a positive contribution to sustainable development, or is it “disappearing?”

We saw many different species of flora including eucalyptus and camphor trees, which leaves are used to help treat illnesses like the flu and the cold. Many of the trees were most commonly known by their nicknames, usually due to their appearance or the features of its leaves or fruits. We encountered the Alligator Tree, whose roots look like giant resting alligators on the ground; the Rabbit Fur Tree, whose leaves are covered in “fur” and when dried look like a rabbit or mouse skin; and the Sandpaper Tree, whose leaves are rough and are used by rural women to file their nails.

We also found a flower called the Angel’s Trumpet, an Arizona Cactus, and a ground plant whose leaves close when touched just as a Venus Flytrap’s do. We walked on a path and climbed up a stairway through a natural canopy featuring swinging vines where the original 1930’s “Tarzan and Jane” was filmed. As some of us were not excited about, we also managed to find a couple dragon spiders, one of which had caught a dragonfly in its nest—a feast conquered for the day.

As I was walking through this beautiful landscape of natural plants and wildlife, I was reminded of the fragility of the country’s ecosystem and its need for protection. As the population has shot up dramatically, the people of Uganda have shown a general disregard for the protection of this ecosystem. Housing developments have cut into the areas where wildlife once thrived, and poor waste disposal has contaminated the water and soil that can be used to support not only the Ugandan people themselves, but also to enable producers to increase exports. Policies to support the preservation of the country’s ecosystem as well as building a solid infrastructure to support proper waste disposal will help Uganda reach their sustainable development goals.

After this visit, we took a long bus ride to the southwestern region of Uganda to visit the Equator. Most of us had never even stepped foot into the southern hemisphere of the world, so this part of our trip was a moment that will never be forgotten. When

Chantelle Mathany

you reach this point, it is clear that it is a significant tourist attraction because there are shops along both sides of the road for a city-block-long stretch.

These shops feature gifts and crafts that tourists look for when coming to Africa—small and large animal figurines, painted and carved wooden crafts, jewelry made out of natural materials, animal hide drums, scarves, bowls, and other trinkets. As we started to walk through these shops, it was easy to tell that the majority of them had almost identical merchandise. Little differentiation existed between one shop and its neighbors (beside the price), so we had to go in and out of each shop to figure out which were the best things to purchase.

This undifferentiated selling method perplexed me. In the United States’ capitalist system, one business prospers above the others by providing a competitive advantage for customers in order to ensure business. The only reason for a customer choosing to buy from a certain shop in this system was because one of the similar products was slightly different or its characteristics better suited to its purchaser. There is no potential for sustainable development with this undifferentiated strategy.

In addition to their unsustainable selling practices, these business owners also base their livelihood on the fact that tourists will continue to regularly visit this site year-round. As any business person can tell you, when the economy goes down, tourism goes down.

Tourism is an industry based on the expendable income of the population. When the economy goes down, this expendable income decreases or, in some cases, is even depleted, leaving less or no money for people to travel and visit these attractions.

These business owners cannot base their livelihood off of tourists, because they may or may not come. Since this tourist attraction is buried deep in southwestern Uganda in a continent that is expensive to reach in the first place, this income from tourists cannot be guaranteed. These owners also do not possess any resources to provide any leverage for them to counteract their decreased income during these slower times.

Their undifferentiated selling practice and the instability of the income they base their livelihood upon leads me to believe that these Equator shops do not positively contribute to sustainable development. Sustainable development can only be achieved when these business owners figure out a way to ensure a steady income for their family through leveraging these slower times. In order for Uganda to reach a level of sustainable development, people like these small business owners must use business practices that ensure continued growth instead of focusing on instant gratification.

day 4, part I

As we pulled up in the bus to City Secondary School, a private boarding school, we were greeted with a sign that said, “City Secondary School Ssenge Welcomes Students of Drake University of USA to the Interact Day.” Next we started hearing music that was played by the brass band of the school, which was such a very warm way to be welcomed. Many Drake students felt moved and touched by the welcome, some even said they got a little teary-eyed. After the band escorted us to the main room of the school, the Drake students sat in the front where we were introduced and welcomed again.

Next, the Head teacher of the school made a speech and started it off by saying, “Next time you come, don’t call, and just come!

We love having extraordinary people of your caliber.” He then proceeded on giving us a brief background of the school and education in Uganda.

Some things that he touched on was that they have a primary level which is ages 6-12, and then the secondary level, ages 12-18 within their education system. At the secondary level, they have 16-20 subjects, but the required ones are: math, English, biology, chemistry, physics, and geography. There are two different levels in the school, A-level, which is the advanced students, and the O-level, which is all of the other students called the Ordinary level. He later discussed how they are trying to improve their sustainability by the topics that they’re teaching the students. Without this they would not have an education, so they are able to sustain themselves in the future as well as educate their future children. In an education where students are embedded with sustainable themes within the curriculum, and in the life of the school, it develops the children as global citizens and equips them with skills, values and attributes for learning, life and work.

After that our professors from Drake University were able to speak a little to the students. One thing that Professor McKnight said is that they all call us extraordinary people, but we all agreed that it was the Ugandans that are the ones that make us feel like extraordinary people, like today when the band came out to welcome us. After that we were then able to watch two of their native tribal dances. The first dance was from the Buganda tribe, where they sang and danced to the rhythm of the drums. The next dance was from a tribe in the west, and we noticed that it was more of a story they were telling with their dance. All of the outfits were extremely beautiful and unique to each tribe. They all had more material around their hips so when they move their hips it is more dramatic. Talking with the Drake students after, a lot of us discussed how we have nothing like this in America and how much we love that their tribal dance is a tradition that has and will last for a long time.

After the dances, a group of students put on a small skit about HIV and AIDS. All of the Drake students and the Secondary students really enjoyed the skit that they put on. There were a lot of parts that were very funny and creative, but the message in the end was very strong. In the skit a young girl hangs out with a friend that is not a good influence. This friend ends up taking her to a club where she gets drunk off of red wine and starts dancing with a guy. Throughout the play the young girls sisters is very upset with her sisters actions and how she had been lying to her mom, but in the end the sisters words were not enough to keep the young girl away from the negative influences. She ended up having sex with the boy she was dancing with that night. Later on in the skit she went to the doctors and was tested for HIV and AIDS. They also showed her sister and the girl that was a bad influence getting a test too. In the end the young girl was two-months pregnant and was HIV positive, and the girl that was the bad influence was also HIV positive. The good sister ended up being HIV negative because she made smart choices throughout the skit. In the end the skit had a powerful message for the students so they realize how important it is to practice abstinence so they do not end up in situations like the young girl. It was also interesting as a Drake student because a lot of us in school preformed similar skits at the secondary level. A lot of our schools would put on skits about alcohol and drug abuse, which is more of a problem in America. So I enjoyed seeing how we both have the similar approaches of teaching and creating skits to help the students understand how important these topics are.

After the skit we were able to go up to the art room and look at some of the art projects that the students have done. A lot of us were very impressed with the quality of the artwork and you could see how much time the students put into it. I really liked seeing that they still encouraged a lot of fine arts in Uganda, something that we are struggling to keep alive in America right now.

Not only was there the artwork, but the skit, the dancing as well as the students singing all exemplified the fine arts. After that

Jen Field

we were able to participate in doing a traditional art project that a lot of people do in Uganda. The project was something very similar to tie-dying in America, but the process was very different. We got our pieces of cloth wet and then scrunched them together and used a dye that they mixed together and randomly poured it onto the cloth. Some students used a variety of colors, while others just used one color. After pouring on the dye we washed the cloth again and then let them out to dry, and they turned into beautiful cloths of art. Talking to some of the students from MUBS they said that some people are so talented that they use this process to make designs and animals on the cloth, which a lot of us believed would be very difficult.

After we did out artwork we got into groups and headed to lunch, where we were able to connect with a group of secondary students. They were able to ask us a lot of questions about our background and America, while we were able to find out more about them and their culture. A lot of the students loved getting to know us and wanted to take picture after picture with all of us, which none of us really minded. Overall, I think a lot of people enjoyed this day the most so far because of the connections and friendships that we made with the students. All of the students truly touched our hearts and I hope we did the same for them.

day 4, part II

The students gave us a whole new perspective on what life is like in the Ugandan school systems.

During lunch, we were given the opportunity to talk with the children and young adults about school, their life and culture, and social norms. The students of the secondary school had a lot of questions, and we shared with them what we knew. They asked questions that ranged from what music we liked, to what relationships were like in the U.S., to what kind of food we ate. They were eager to learn about our lives, as we were eager to learn about theirs and about the atmosphere of a school surrounded by walls with sayings such as “No Gain Without Pain” and “Think Twice, Life is Precious” written on them.

After lunch, we engaged with the students in discussions about what we believe are the issues that the youth of our culture deal with. Issues such as the pressures of sex, homosexuality, and Internet usage among others were discussed, and the students seemed to enjoy realizing that there are similarities between these two cultures that seem so different. After discussions, we were given a tour of the grounds, including the chickens, piggery, crops, and the fish pond. You’d think that what with our school being in Iowa, all the pigs and farm animals would have been no big deal, but we still took pictures and cooed at the piglets.

The school seems to have a good handle on the idea of sustainable development within their own compound. The whole system seems well thought-out—From feeding the animals to feeding the students, each process uses as little as possible. The fish are fed chicken droppings and the fish, chickens, turkeys, and pigs are used for food for students as well as the eggs and other such products gained from animals. The cows, chickens, and turkeys wander freely on campus, which makes for an interesting view as you look out the windows.

After the tour, students from all three schools (Drake, MUBS, and the secondary school) were invited to play volleyball in a friendly match. Drake won one set, with the secondary school team squarely winning the rest and therefore winning the match, but all in good fun and with a wonderful sense of humor and friendship. After the game, we were taken around to view the female dormitories, where a bunk bed with small amounts of personalization to each bed distinguishes the beds from each other. With no air-conditioning, personal space, privacy, or attached bathroom, I believe that some of our students may be rethinking complaining about the on campus housing we lived in our first two years at Drake. After the last dormitory, we were taken to a building on campus where the school presented us with a small statue showing their gratitude in being involved with our education and allowing them to be the representation of Uganda’s educational system. After signing the guest book for the school, saying our last goodbyes to those students who we had made especially good friends with, and marching our exhausted bodies to the bus, it was time to head back to Kampala.

By the end of our school visitation, the Drake students had experienced another culture’s school system and learned about a child’s view of Americans. The questions were shocking, the children inquisitive, and the experience unforgettable. Overall, I believe that the opportunity is what most people in our group would describe as eye opening.

If you think our day ended there, than you, my friend, would be quite silly. After driving back through the traffic (that always seems to be jammed in just the direction we are going), we all rushed back to our cabins and hurriedly changed into dressier clothes (or what was called “smart casual,” which turns out to be about business casual) and headed to the opening dinner of the Commonwealth Association of Polytechnics in Africa (CAPA), a convention which allows five different African countries to join together over issues of education and discuss. This year, it was held in Uganda and the principal of MUBS invited us to join in the dinner. Due to traffic and staying a little late with our secondary school friends, we arrived at the dinner later than we expected, and it was a tough shuffling in without causing a scene. But we were all seated and enjoyed delicious food, beautiful music, and dancing performed by MUBS students. We were separated among many different tables fill with people from some of the five participating countries including Kenya and other parts of Uganda, and even Scotland! There were also students from a college in India there as well, and both groups were invited by the principal of the college to enjoy the diversity and entertainment of the night.

Moriah Renner

The excitement and exuberance of the young students made us feel like we were more than just college students at what would equate to a middle or high school in the United States. We felt more like ambassadors of a far away and mysterious country that everyone wanted to be part of. Many students expressed interest in coming to the U.S. whether to study or explore. Before this trip, I doubt many of the Drake students had thought of Drake, Iowa, or the U.S. as a curiosity to be marveled at, but the young adults at this school made us realize that we were just as strange and foreign as they were us.

I think I speak for all of us when I say that as long as today was, it was a richly rewarding experience full of new people, laughter, and discoveries that will alter how we see our own education system and culture as well as those of Uganda.

day 5

The day started on a bright note with everyone being able to sleep in until 9:30—what a treat. The first activity of the day was a personal choice between a fire department, museum, and the Uganda Stock Exchange. When we split up, I traveled to the local Kampala fire department with Nate.

At the fire department we met with the Inspector General and Assistant Inspector of the department, Mr. Egwedu and Mr. Munguacel. In Uganda, their department is part of the police force.

They firefighters must first go through nine months of police training and then an additional three months of firefighter training.

This is very different from the U.S. where our firefighters are not a part of the police force. Since they’re a section of the police, they have the same power to enforce laws, but mainly they will only testify in court. In addition to having firefighters on the grounds, there were also armed police officers and officers in riot gear.

To alert the fire department of a fire, citizens must call 999, but many are unaware of this number. When calling this number, people first connected to the local police department, and then must be transferred to the fire department. This process can be time consuming, and when they are contacted it can be hard to locate where the fire is because not all the streets have names, and most buildings are not numbered. To try and accommodate these problems the department has many maps of the city showing unmarked streets, and also the locations of the fire hydrants. They have maps of the fire hydrants because they are underground and in certain areas be hard to find, if the area even has one.

Once the fire department is informed of the fire they then start their process of getting ready to leave fore the fire. This is very different from the U.S. where most fire departments where they try to arrive at a fire with they try to reach 80 percent of the fires within eight minutes. In Uganda they don’t have a standard timeframe in which they try and reach the fires. They didn’t mention a reason as to why they do not have their uniforms laid out like they do in the U.S., but to my knowledge it would be because that is not how they’re trained. There is a noticeable difference between the training in Uganda and the training in the U.S. because in the U.S. they have training on a regular basis, usually monthly, and in Uganda regular training is rare.

Once the department leaves for a fire they face more problems with traffic and road names. In Uganda, they lack many road signs and traffic lights are usually ignored because during the day traffic officers are used to direct traffic. When going to a fire the officers must look at many maps to locate the fire, and the hydrants underground. The street sizes and composition also pose a problem, because many are very narrow and lined with businesses and people are all over the street. Also most streets are made of dirt and gravel rather than concrete, and are covered in potholes that drivers try and dodge because there are no designated lanes.

To be a firefighter in Uganda means you’ll be working in a very unsustainable environment because it changes day to day and they have little regulations. I think it could become a successful part of the economy if it was separate from the police because too much time is spent on focusing on the police, and little funds go toward the fire department.

During the day, students also visited the largest Ugandan museum. The museum opened in 1908 and has had two previous locations. There are only three museums total in Uganda today. While at the museum students were able to learn about six different sections of Ugandan culture: history, culture, nature history, ethnography, science and industry, and exhibition.

Students received a personal tour from a knowledgable guide named Adolf and learned about fumigation. Which is a process of burning grass over milk in order to make the milk smell and taste better.

Students who visited the Ugandan Stock Exchange learned about how the stock works, and how stocks generally work in small, third world countries. In Uganda they only have 14 stocks, the first which opened in 1998. One special trait about stocks is that the brokers have to wear red in order to make a stock exchange, and the employees must wear green to make the stock exchange.

Ashley Thompson

This proves how Uganda is still very much developing, because of the low number of stocks that are available. In the U.S. there are tens of thousands of stocks that people are able to invest in with help from brokers.

The stock exchange showed how primitive this department of the economy was and how much more development can take place. I think it is possible to make the stock market a sustainable market in Uganda, but they need to be very analytical about where they advance from here and what fields that they invest in from this point.

In the afternoon, the class attended a meeting with the Ugandan Investment Authority and learned about how the Ugandans try to attract many people into their market to create industry and jobs. They try and attract them in many fields: manufacturing, agribusiness, transportation, ICT, energy, mining, petroleum, services, and tourism.

They work as the main agency for the country trying to attract investors from Uganda and the world to invest in different markets. They try to attract them by highlighting how many natural resources are here, how much land is available, how malleable the people are to learning new jobs, as well as highlighting the youth of the market.

The company’s goal is to increase jobs in the market place fore Uganda and increase the sustainable development. They do a good job in many ways by attracting new businesses to the country, but they are not able to attract everyone to the country.

I do feel that they need to be more environmentally aware with their projects, and make sure that when they open these new factories and business that they are environmentally friendly. Many of the people would tell us that they are taking environmentally friendly practices, but until they are seen in the country it is hard to trust anything that people tell us when we see so much pollution on an everyday basis.

day 6 Register.

Slums, food, marketplaces. We have instantly recognized many of the sights in Uganda as very different from those we see on a day-to-day basis in the U.S. But our visit this morning to the headquarters of Monitor Publications Ltd. in Kampala included a lot of scenes similar to newsrooms back home.

This may seem surprising because in contrast to the United States, the Ugandan media faces a lot of government intervention and interference. But as we made our way upstairs to the conference room where our meeting took place, the view looked very much like that of walking through the Des Moines

People were talking on phones and taking notes as we moved past. Computer monitors around the room displayed Facebook newsfeeds and the websites of other news organizations, such as BBC and The New York Times. There were HPs, Dells, and the graphic designers were all working on pages using Macs and Adobe InDesign software. However, we also learned more about the significant differences between the Ugandan media and the environment in which The Monitor operates, and that of the U.S. The Daily Monitor newspaper is an independent publication and the majority shareholder is the Africa-based Nation Media Group. In contrast to its main competitor and mostly government-run newspaper The New Vision, The Monitor is known for its reporters’ investigative pieces and for publishing things as they really are, as opposed to how the government would like to present them. We heard from Monitor news editor Alex Atuhaire and weekend edition managing editor Fredrick Masiga about receiving calls and letters from government officials demanding certain photographs be removed from the website or an article is not published. But they print it anyway.

“Independence is one of our core values,” Atuhaire told us, adding that he keeps the Monitor’s editorial policy book on his desk at all times.”

During the current “Walk to Work” protests Ugandans are conducting to voice disapproval of raising food and gas prices, The Monitor has not been shy in publishing photographs of the riots and reporting on leader of the opposition Kizza Besigye’s arrests, Masiga told us. He said some Monitor reporters had been denied access by the men guarding Besigye’s house and had their equipment stolen. He and Atuhaire also mentioned the government has tried several times to persecute The Monitor in the Constitutional Court for some its work. But Masiga said the Court has always ruled in favor of the media because the Ugandan Constitution assures freedom of speech and of the press “We always find a way of winning our cases because we do everything within the law,” Masiga said. “People should be able to express themselves across the board, whether online or whatever.”

The Monitor’s market is also small in comparison to American papers and its circulation is based mostly on street sales rather than subscriptions. Atuhaire estimated that 25,000 to 35,000 copies are distributed each day, making the paper the second most read in the nation behind The New Vision.

Atuhaire and Masiga demonstrated a real passion for truth seeking and investigative reporting as they talked with us and described what they saw as the responsibilities of The Monitor and its staff. This discussion tied in well with our course theme of sustainable development. A society must have stable government the people trust to thrive, and its assets must be used in reasonable and effective ways. Even with a government that gives them only “relative freedom,” the paper sees it as its duty to ensure government resources are allocated and used according to agreed proceedings, Masiga and Atuhaire said. Reporters and editors work to make certain that’s what is happening by exposing any corruption and giving people in the knowledge they need to fight it.

A sustainable society includes a mechanism that serves as a check on the government and elected officials and allows people access to reliable information about their community and its people. The Monitor representatives we met today certainly illustrated dedication to those goals.

But people also like to be entertained, right? After talking to Masiga and Atuhaire, we were shown another one of Monitor Pub-

Ann Schnoebelen

lications’ mediums, KFM Radio. A guide took us through the recording studios and explained that the station played “a little bit of everything” in terms of music. The DJs also read news bulletins regularly, but she said the stories are not necessarily those found in the pages of the newspaper because the radio has a different editorial board. She also commented on the timeliness of the news shared on the radio, a medium that is extremely popular with Ugandans. While the newspaper staff might have hours to work out the details of a story, she said, the radio relays much more instantly relevant information.

On our way out, we also stopped to examine the printing press. Many of us took photos and videos as the huge machines roared and dozens of printed Monitor sections rushed past us on the conveyor belt.

After a busy morning, we headed to Ridar Hotel for an afternoon of fun. We spent the hours after lunch at the mid-sized resort on the outskirts of the city laying in the sun by the pool and using the hotel gym. It became clear how close we’re beginning to get to our new friends from Makerere University Business School when we realized how happy we were they were able to join us. The relationships we’re developing with them are one of the most valuable parts of the trip so far.

The pool area at Ridar Hotel was fairly congested for a while when a large group of local school children joined us. Dozens of them ran around the deck laughing, screaming and splashing. They definitely added some amusement to our day as we watched them have fun and receive swimming instructions from a couple of their teachers. After they left, Evelyn (who is a lifeguard back in the States) even taught a few of our MUBS friends a bit about getting around in the water. Hopefully, her impromptu swimming lessons and back float tutorials paid off.

We’ve also been receiving some instruction from them as they teach us some phrases in Luganda, the local language. Even though they giggle at our horrendous pronunciation errors, they’ve been helping us learn basic phrases and fun words.

We made use of one of these tonight as we left the bus to go to bed back at the hostel: Sula bulunge! (Good night!)

day 7

Today started like many of the other mornings on this trip with breakfast at the Markerere University Business School (MUBS) canteen with our Ugandan colleagues. After finishing breakfast, the class moved from the MUBS canteen to a building on campus for our second formal class discussion session while in Uganda. The professors left time after our discussion to allow the MUBS students to lead MUBS campus tours.

On my tour of the MUBS campus, I saw the library, the administration building, many lecture halls, and the women’s dormitory.

The current library is cramped and overcrowded with stacks of books extending almost to the ceiling, but a new library building is under construction on the campus. The new library building will be four stories tall with a huge dome roof. When this building opens, it will house the library, the reading room, and information technology services including computer labs.

The women’s dormitory was striking in its similarity to the student housing at Drake University. In the women’s dorm, four women share a room with two bunk beds, two closets, and two small desks. While the rooms in the women’s dormitory were slightly smaller than the rooms for first year students at Drake University, they would still be immediately recognizable to American university students—right down to the pictures of friends, families, and celebrities posted on the wall next to the beds.

We returned to the MUBS canteen to eat lunch before heading to downtown Kampala to visit the Inspectorate General of Government. The current Acting Inspector General of Government for Uganda, Mr. Raphael Baku, was out of the country and unable to meet with our group, so we met with Mr. Muzamil Abon, Director of Regional Offices and Follow Up for the Inspectorate of Government (IG).

Mr. Abon gave the class a 30-minute overview of the work that the IG does to combat corruption in Uganda. The IG was established by the NRM (National Resistance Movement) in 1988 with a mandate to “eliminate corruption, promote and foster the rule of law and principles of natural justice in public offices and enforce the Leadership Code of Conduct.” Ultimately, the IG is charged with preventing, investigating, and prosecuting allegations of corruption at all levels of the Ugandan government.

In order to fulfill this mandate, the IG is given unique powers within the government. The IG has the power to investigate instances of corruption, arrest suspects of corruption, prosecute corruption cases, issue orders (e.g. stop work on a project that has been affected by corruption), access and search any property (including safety deposit boxes), seizure of property, freeze bank accounts, and clarify the declarations of assets made by Members of Parliament and other government officials.

The IG’s attempts to end corruption in the Ugandan government are hindered by many challenges. The chief challenge facing the IG is an inadequate capacity to fight corruption. The IG lacks the human resources needed to investigate corruption; the number of people fighting corruption pales in comparison to the number of people engaged in corruption. The IG also needs better training for its personnel. With rapidly changing technology and a high burden of proof in the Ugandan court system, the current personnel at the IG are struggling to keep up.

Finally, the IG lacks the necessary technological resources to conduct modern investigative work. Mr. Abon explained that it is typically necessary to catch a public official in the act in order to prosecute a corruption case, but the IG currently lacks the technology to record these acts.

Corruption is a direct obstacle to sustainable development in an economy. Emerging economies rely on quality infrastructure to attract investment and business development, but corruption contributes towards failing and insufficient infrastructure.

Mr. Abon described two main causes of corruption in Uganda. The traditional cause of corruption was low salaries. In an attempt to eliminate this cause of corruption, the government increased workers’ salaries, yet corruption continued. The new cause of corruption, Mr. Abon explained, is greed. Workers are paid well, but corruption persists because government officials want big

Nate Baggett

houses and expensive clothes. Corruption is now used to support the lavish lifestyles of some government officials.

Many Drake students were surprised to find out that it is illegal to investigate a sitting president in Uganda for corruption. As children, we grew up in the age of Monica Lewinsky and televised political scandals, so to hear that it’s illegal to investigate a president seems insensible.

After our visit to the IG, we stopped at a market near the Ugandan National Theater. We browsed through the shops, and some of us purchased gifts, clothing, and other handmade products.

Tonight we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant, which was an entirely new experience for our colleagues from MUBS. Our MUBS friends tried chips and salsa, enchiladas, fajitas, chimichangas, and tacos. The MUBS students had mixed reviews of the Mexican food, and most were ready to return to traditional matoke after tonight’s meal.

Learning about corruption in the Ugandan government is an important part of understanding the process of facilitating sustainable development in the country. “Corruption is an evil we can combat successfully,” Abon said. “We cannot afford to lose this fight. If we do, our country loses.” Until corruption is eliminated, efforts for sustainable development will be hindered.

International aid will be embezzled, money for infrastructure improvements will be misspent, and businesspeople and consumers will continue to accept bribes as a way of doing business.

As Mr. Abon explained, if the corrupt win, Uganda loses.

Our early morning began in a scurry to finish our samosas, hard-boiled eggs, and warm milk tea.

Coaxed by our elegantly dressed professors, we made our way to Makerere University Business School’s 6th graduation ceremony. The ceremony began promptly at 10 a.m. “Ugandan time,” although all of the Drake students noted that it started almost an hour behind schedule. Drake University was personally recognized and welcomed at the beginning of the ceremony by the Master of Ceremony, as well as the Chancellor. We again saw the hospitality and sincere welcome we received when we visited the Secondary School. The graduation procession was lead by the MUBS choir, dancers, drummer, Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, faculty, and our very own Drake professors.

day 8

In total, 1078 students graduated, including 32 from Luzira prison. Among those graduating, 579 were female, and 499 were male. This ratio says something about the minimization of the gender bias and inequality women faced not too long ago. MUBS has over 20 undergraduate programs, 10 masters programs, and doctorate programs. MUBS leads in business and management education and in its quality of students, programs, and other activities. The staff, students, and facilities have had substantial growth since its start in 1997, and MUBS has plans to maintain the quality of education they currently provide long into the future.

I thought it was interesting that at the graduation ceremony they did not announce the names of the graduates as diplomas were presented. Other differences I noted, as compared to Drake specifically, was that prayer was incorporated, there was no student speaker, and students do not officially graduate until at least 6 months after their last semester.

In the afternoon, we raced the rainy, Iowa-esque weather to the Movit Manufacturing plant just outside of Kampala. There, we learned about the history of the company, the mission, vision, and different marketing and advertising strategies used. Movit Products Ltd. began work in 1999 selling cosmetic products, and has become the No. 1 ranked business in the cosmetic industry in Uganda in just 10 years. Movit sells 57 different hair and body products for men, women, and babies. The company sells to individual customers as well as businesses in both the rural and urban areas. Movit’s original vision was to become the leading cosmetic manufacturer in the Great Lakes Region. This goal must now be updated because Movit has already dominated the market share in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Sudan, and the Congo.

A majority of the conversation today, led by the director for marketing and sales, Bruce Mpamizo, was on the disparate marketing strategies used. Movit uses an integrated marketing mix approach, which is a combination of many different marketing styles that change depending on the target group. Many Ugandans in rural areas do not have internet or television, so they rely on other promotional tools, such as visiting schools and churches to get the message out. Bruce Mpamizo coupled what Patrick Bitature said last week in that to be a successful entrepreneur you must have integrity, honesty, a hard work ethic, and the willingness to take risks.

Education and entrepreneurship are arguably the two most important facets to a thriving and sustaining economic environment, and are closely interlinked. A proper education, especially from MUBS, allows students to identify an opportunity and act quickly, becoming successful entrepreneurs in the process. Entrepreneurs create jobs, pass down knowledge to future generations, and demonstrate the value of social responsibility. Although as many speakers we have heard made clear, it is not just about academic work, but about learning to be a good citizen. These values have been instilled in the graduating MUBS students, and we wish them the best of luck in their future aspirations. Uganda has been taking the right steps in ensuring a sustainable future by attempting to make school more affordable and more practical option for kids and families. As said in the previous blogs, with education, students are able to sustain themselves in the future as well as educate their future children.

Now it’s time to put on our Movit cosmetic products and have a good night!

Katie Murphy

day 9

Agriculture is the backbone of Uganda, so today was a very important experience for our group. We piled onto the bus with bags of clothes for the village children and of course, a large supply of candy.

We also came bearing gifts for the host family—cooking utensils for the women and multipurpose knives for the men. We had the privilege of meeting Professor Senteza’s father, James, who plans the entire rural visit every year.

Once we arrived to the ten-acre farm, we were introduced to the owner, Robert; John, his brother who received us for lunch and discussion at his house; Abraham, their community elder; and Henry, an expert in farming methods and a representative for NAAD, National Agricultural Advisory Services. NAAD is a farmer based program throughout villages sponsored by the government that looks for farmers’ input and helps provide seeds for crops, such as maize and beans, and funds for expensive pesticides and herbicides.

We were then led on a tour of the farm and informed about the farming practices. Fruit trees such as mangos are grown on the edges of the property in order to mark the borderlines. There is a system of ditches throughout the farm creating an irrigation system that prevents the land from flooding and to keep the soil as fertile as possible. Agro-forestry is widely practiced throughout Uganda—it allows the soil to remain rich with nutrients and enables Ugandan farmers to have successful harvests. An example is how coffee is inter-planted within banana trees so that the nutrients are spread. Mulch is made out of dried grasses and leaves and used to prevent weeds as well as hold nutrients and water. Herbicides such as Round Up and Weedmaster or natural pesticides such as hot peppers, ash, or tobacco are used to control weeds. The farmers use the technique of crop grafting especially for coffee and banana trees, which is very sustainable and allows them to expand their farm easier and more quickly.

The main crops for Ugandan farmers are coffee, cocoa, and bananas. Uganda exports about 90 percent of all of the coffee beans that it produces, but does not process it locally. The main type is Robusta coffee. The farmers manually prune the coffee trees to make sure that only four branches grow, which helps spread the nutrients and create better and bigger beans. Bananas are also a very special crop to Bugandans, and they mostly grow a “dessert banana.” Some other crops grown were Tenjera Tomatoes, which are a bacteria resistant strain. There were also yams, ground nuts, green beans, cabbage, and maize. A big difference from Iowa corn is that the maize is planted quite far apart, about 3×3 feet, which allows the crops to produce bigger cobs and taller plants than we have in Iowa. The Ugandan farmers focus more on quality instead of quantity like the U.S. when it comes to produce.

Ugandan farmers have many techniques in place that promote sustainable development. They are very big on crop rotation, which allows the soil to stay more fertile than Iowa soil. Cabbage, for example, is grown in continuous production, so that planting and harvesting different sections happens at the same time. This prevents all produce from being sold at one time and helps the farmers have a continuous income. Robert also rents out some of his land, allowing a new farmer to get off his feet and have someone to turn to for guidance. However, they are very behind when it comes to machinery though, and they actually do all of the work by hand between only seven people.

After the tour of the farm, we were able to try Jackfruit for the first time and it was delicious! It was sweet and tasted very similar to Juicy Fruit gum. We also feasted on some fresh mangos and bananas that were home-grown. We then travelled to the town of Kasawo to John’s house for refreshments, including more mango and juicy pineapple.

Next, we began our service project which was painting the inside and outside of the town hall building in the village. The building is the village hotspot for meetings and workshops. We were greeted by a representative sent by the Bugandan King to thank us for our hard work. We had a lot of fun getting messy and working together to really make a positive impact on the entire village. We travelled back to John’s house for our homemade lunch, and we were blessed to have some of his children entertain us with cute songs and choreography to welcome us. We returned the favor by singing two traditional American songs: a song about freedom sung by Patrick, and a group sing-along of “This Land is Your Land.”

Our post lunch group discussion contained a variety of comments and questions about the farming techniques. The farmers ex-

Alex Hendzel

plained how, due to the population growth, their plots have been decreasing each generation. Although the farming techniques are the same as in the past, the main change has been the type of crop due to disease outbreaks. Although food prices have been increasing recently, the farmers have not seen any benefits. They don’t have a say in the prices because they are forced to use private country buyers, or middle men, who also want to make a profit. The price of gas is equal to about $9 a gallon, so the cost of transporting their goods to Kampala is quite pricey. The farmers are also unable to dry or store grains, so they are not able to sell them during dry season and sell them for higher prices. Right now the methods are too expensive for the average farmer. Another problem with the huge agriculture industry is that it is lacking youth that want to get into the business. There is a very high rate of migrating to cities leaving rural areas as soon as they can, even though the agriculture industry is the biggest in Uganda and the most important.

After the discussion was concluded, we were given free time to wander about the village in small groups and explore what rural living is really like. We were very quickly swarmed by children shouting “Muzungu� with extended arms awaiting our candy. We quickly had large packs of adorable children following us around wanting to hold our hands and give us endless high fives.

Some of us were able to explore a local health clinic and experience some of the differences in health care we have all been learning about. It was very small, run by nurses and a midwife, and we even spotted a few chickens running around inside.

We were informed that most children do not get the six main vaccines (Polio, Measles, Tetanus, Tuberculosis, Diphtheria, and Pertussis), which are all available for free at government hospitals. This is an incredibly easy way to prevent disease and create a sustainable future generation.

We stopped for Italian food on our way back to Red Chili. As usual, it was an adventure while the power went off in the restaurant for a few minutes as we were waiting for our food. The pasta and pizza was great and gave us a nice taste of food from home. We all ended our meals with some delicious gelato and then headed home after a very educational day.

day 10

This morning started like most others—we headed to breakfast at MUBS. This morning’s breakfast was pretty typical with the exception of a new item added to the menu: Ugandan doughnuts. They looked like the doughnuts in the US and were most similar to cake doughnuts, however they aren’t very sweet.

On the way to visit SURE Prospects Institute, there was a lot of conversing between the Drake and MUBS students about what the Drake students had experienced on our rural visit yesterday. We also sang the songs that the children performed for us at the village the previous day.

When we arrived at SURE Prospects Institute, Francis, the principal, owner and founder, gave us an introduction. He explained that SURE is an inclusive school with three sections: nursery, pre-primary & primary, and special needs. Francis started the school in 2002 after he competed university. The actual idea was conceived in 1998 while attending university. He decided to focus on youth and children with disabilities. Upon graduation, Francis spent time on the land where the school was going to be and pondered his idea. He also went out into the community and asked what others thought of the idea. He wanted to get the community’s view of disabled persons. In Uganda, people don’t care for the disabled. They don’t even refer to them with “politically correct” titles such as blind or deaf in their language—they simply refer to them as stupid. Numerous of the disabled are disowned and become beggars on the streets. Many of the people in the community thought he was going to get them in trouble with the law for abandoning and mistreating their disabled children, so he had to work very hard to convince them that he only wanted to help. Francis had a desire to help disabled people become educated, productive members of society rather then becoming beggars on the streets. This makes this institution sustainable, as well as the economy.

When the school started, children were taught skills to go straight into the work force. They were trained to use sewing machines and computers. The cost of education, especially those who are disabled, is very high. Nearly 90 percent of disabled children born in Uganda are born into poor families. To compensate for the high cost of education and the little money that the disabled parents and guardians had, SURE became an inclusive institution. This meant that disabled and abled persons were educated together. The ratio started out as 10 abled children to 1 disabled child. That ratio is now down to 3:1. The 10, now three, fees of the abled children would help to cover the costs for the disabled child. This means that the disabled children could go to school for free. Nearly all the subjects covered in the school you attended are taught at SURE Prospects Institute. There are currently 302 students at the school. Nearly all classes are a mix of abeled and disabled children.

Many people in Uganda have the conviction that disabilities are contagious. This was another barrier that Francis had to work through. Now, SURE is known as one of the best schools in the area. He really had to show others what they were doing at SURE Prospects Institute. They have a strong emphasis on education so that these children can become productive members of society. It is engrained in these children’s brains that even though their arms or legs or eyes don’t work, their brains do. Francis and the other 24 teaches have to show the children, their parents, and the community the potential the potential these children have. Some of the teachers are also disabled. Francis has also tried to show businesses the advantages of employing disabled people. One of the advantages is that they are SUPPOSED to get a tax break.

The people that have gone through this school have been successful in the workplace. There have been six children that have graduated from SURE. One of the six is even attending university.

One of the other challenges that Francis faces on a daily basis is being patient. Teachers at SURE have to learn about the children and be creative. Something that Francis taught me was that learning disabilities are difficult, but not complex. At SURE instead of calling the intellectually challenged “slow learners,” they call them “time takers.” This is very true—if you are patient with these children, they are often very accurate in their work. This school is very sustainable and very beneficial for Uganda.

Francis has a passion for what he does. He is educating the disabled to become useful members of society rather than becoming beggars on the streets. He cares for these children as they were his own.

Leslie Sabick

Then we had some time to walk around the school on a short tour, as well as spend some time with the kids. We gave them some “sweeties,” talked with them, and some even played football (what we know in the U.S. as soccer) with them. Many of the disabled children seemed to have a buddy that helped them. There were two boys, one of them blind, and the other boy led him around all morning making sure he was not left out. They were all very cute and touched our hearts.

Next we went to a park on the shore of Lake Victoria for a light lunch. It was so beautiful out! It was nice to put our feet in the sand and take a few pictures.

After we were finished with lunch, we headed to the Chairman of the MUBS Board of Trustees country home. We had to take a smaller bus up to his house because the road is so rough and narrow. As we were driving up, everyone in the cramped bus was being thrown from side to side. At one point, many of us had to get off the bus so that it could make it over the roughest part. It had a gorgeous view of Lake Victoria. We just spent some time out in the yard talking and enjoying drinks. We also went up on the balcony of the house and took some pictures. What a breathtaking view of Lake Victoria and the countryside of Kampala.

We had a wonderful dinner and spent some time chatting and playing cards. After awhile, The Chairman gave a short speech.

He talked about sustainability differences between Uganda and the US. With the one-acre of land that the Chairman’s house is on, they try to grow everything they need to survive. The goal of the Chairman, as well as many other Ugandans, is to be able to survive on their own land, without going into town to buy anything for a month. This kind of life style is sustainable. If you take care of your crops, you can survive on all the food you grow.

The night was wrapped up by saying that we as students and ambassadors had to decide the value of this experience. We have to take advantage of the opportunity we have with our time left in Uganda.

Finally, as we were getting ready to leave, all the students took part in African children’s games, the equivalent of our “Duck, Duck, Goose” in the U.S. It was such a fun way to end another wonderful day in Uganda.

day 11, part I

This morning we went to the Foundation For Human Rights Initiative. Needless to say, this was an interesting and enlightening visit and experience. Those who facilitated the lecture and discussion were knowledgeable, passionate, and willing to answer our questions to the best of their ability, which I thought they handled well. This was a change from our visit to parliament whose representative dodged our questions and giving us the runaround, mainly on issues regarding human rights.

In Uganda, as far as human rights are concerned, there is much to be desired. One of the major problems in that the military is at the back of everything in Uganda and is left largely unchecked by the people. But one of the biggest challenges to human rights is a lack of effective and sympathetic leadership. For a true democracy to exist the people need to feel that their leaders are elected fairly by the people without tricks or coercion. Throughout Uganda’s history as a nation leaders have come to power through military coups, rigged elections, or from the barrel of a gun. When the NRM came to power in the mid ‘80s, they talked a lot about human rights having just overthrown an aggressive and abusive dictator and created a rather progressive constitution as a result, creating such institutions as the Inspector General of Government’s Offices and the FHRI. According to Livingstone Sewanyana, the executive director for the FHRI, these progressive actions have largely been done in theory, rather than practice and are not as effective as they should be. One of the reasons for this is the drain of national resources by high public expenditures. Rather than passing legislation that provides people with more rights, the Ugandan government is quick to implement restrictive legislation such as the anti-terrorist and the deeply contested Anti-Gay bill.

Some of the main issues that the FHRI deal with are the general right to healthcare such as access, quality, and affordability.

They also deal with labor rights working to establish a minimum wage. Most workers do not make enough to live off of and support a family. The FHRI works towards establishing women’s rights, advocating against domestic abuse and female genital mutilation. One of the issues that they deal with which caught my attention was juvenile rights. The problem with this is that children are incredibly vulnerable. One of these violations of their rights is that children are being kidnapped and taken to a witch doctor for sacrificial reasons. The purpose of these sacrifices is for superstitious reasons as the witch doctor claims that by sacrificing a baby and placing its skull under a newly built house he can make the recipient rich.

FHRI also advocates for an improvement of prison conditions and justice for the accused. In Uganda the accused are guilty until they prove their own innocence. The prisons are extremely overcrowded and 65 percent of all inmates have not gone to trial. The poor are the greatest victims of this system, as they cannot afford representation, and therefore are at the unsympathetic mercy of those who seek to imprison them. And of course the FHRI deals with the rights of homosexuals who are in jeopardy right now mainly due to the anti-homosexual bill which seeks to imprison and execute those who are accused and convicted for being homosexuals.

Some of the avenues that the FHRI uses to advocate are providing legal representation for persons accused. They monitor human rights and submit periodic reports regarding violations. They launch these reports publicly and use them as tools for lobbying government to protect the rights of its citizens. They study bills and submit their views about the bills in an effort to influence the outcomes and decrease or eradicate the potential for loss of human rights. If legislation does get passed that is restrictive they go to court to fight the bill and deem it unconstitutional. Another way they advocate, especially in regards to restrictive bills such as the Anti-Gay bill which is largely accepted by the Ugandan population, is by advocating against its provisions such as the death penalty which the population seems to be against. In my opinion one of the most effective forms of advocacy is through education. Educating the population that all persons, regardless of who they are or the lifestyle they chose to live have basic human rights, including the right to privacy and the right to life, and that people need to learn how to co-exist.

The abandonment of human rights is not sustainable. When people are threatened either by the loss of privacy, the threat of imprisonment for being who they are, or the absence of a minimum wage adequate enough to support a family they do not perform to the best of their abilities they are in a constant state of fear and vulnerability in which a nation cannot be sustained or advance.

In fact in this state the opposite happens as it begins to regress into tired old practices that leave much to be desired as sustain-

Patrick Brennan

ability and human rights go hand in hand. The beauty of the FHRI is that they give a voice to the voiceless and a face to the faceless. They fight to insure against a “majoritocracy,” as Tommy Sands the Northern Ireland musician calls it, in which the majority tramples the rights of the voiceless minorities of a society. They are important and the only outlet that the minorities have for fare treatment and justice. In Sewanyana’s words “We have a dream, that one day Uganda will be free.”

day 11, part II

This afternoon we went and visited the Buganda Parliament where we got to learn about much of the tradition, culture, and history of the biggest kingdom in Uganda. Today, the Buganda Kingdom makes up about 25 percent of the country and has an approximate population of 7.5 million people. The Buganda Parliament does not yield any real power, but they have a large amount of influence over the Buganda people.

Uganda is filled with a rich heritage that dates back over 800 years. When the British came to Africa in the 16th century, they made Buganda a “protectorate” instead of a colony because of the sophisticated political and social structure that was in place.

It is headed by the Kabaka, or king.

The system of governance is broken up into two different parts: civil and lineage sections. The lineage side is more cultural, and is broken down into clans. The most basic system is the household. Moving up goes to sets of families that govern each other, to sub-sub clans, to sub clans, and then finally the clan heads. The kingdom is broken up into 54 clans, and every Bugandan keeps their clan name, which is passed down through the father.

Administratively, the kingdom is broken down into 18 counties. The most basic structure of a county is the village council, which would then report to the Miruka Council, which is a set of villages. From there they answer to a sub county council which then reports to a county council. From there, both the 54 clan heads, and the 18 county councils answer to the Katikkiro, who is the prime minister, and his cabinet, who then answer to the Kabaka.

The kingdom of Buganda came up with many inventions that they are proud of, and led the British to believe that they were a sophisticated society. Such inventions include turning tree bark into a cloth, special treatments for animal furs, a rich musical history, a unique style of housing to keep themselves cool, pottery, and metal work. They also have a long history of sport, including wrestling tournaments and regatta canoes.

Some of the important ceremonies in the culture are the Okwanjula, and the Okwabya Olumbe. The Okwanjula is the introduction ceremony when a couple decides they are going to get married. This is where a woman of Buganda must introduce her fiancé to her family, and members of the clan will bring gifts in celebration, almost like a coming out or engagement party. Another ritual or ceremony the Buganda people celebrate is the Okwabya Olumbe, it is done a few months after a funeral and symbolizes the end of the grieving period. It is a ceremony to install the new heir of the family, which goes to the oldest male. They are often given a spear and a shield to show manhood.

There are also a few annual ceremonies of the Buganda people. One is the coronation of the Kabaka, which is done on the 31st of July. This gives the king a chance to head out to another county and see the people. The birthday of the Kabaka is also a big holiday for the people, which the Kabaka will hold a large party of all of the ministers and clan heads of the kingdom. They also celebrate Bulongi Bwansi, which is a community outreach day where they all get together to make Buganda a better place. This is done on October 8th of every year. In addition to this they also have the Ekitoobero festival, which is a large musical festival.

It has not always been peaceful times for the Buganda kingdom. During the reign of Idi Amin, the king had to flee into exile until they was invited back in 1993 by the NRM government. This was a large moral boost to the people, but the relationship between the Kabaka and the government has been strained because of the people’s allegiance to the Kabaka.

Although the Kabaka does not have any real power, many of the Ugandan Parliament Members have pledged allegiance to him.

They also have a radio station where they can express their views and have received much of their funding through renting out the Kabaka’s land for farming and contributions from richer members that support the king.

After we got done learning about the history and the culture of the Buganda people, we received a tour of the parliament building. It was an old beautiful building, which in size was bigger than the national parliament building. We also tried to connect the Buganda Parliament to sustainability. The rich culture and heritage is something we don’t have in America, but tradition is something that is very sustainable. It gives the country unity, pride, and a sense of where they come from. On the other hand, if the Kabaka disagrees with the president, the people will be divided, and the culture will be one that is unsustainable. So as long as the Kabaka and the president can work together towards common goals, the rich Heritage of the Buganda people will add towards the sustainable effort of the country.

Mike Schmidt

As our trip is heading into its last full week, this morning found us all traveling to different places to pursue information on either our major or specific research topic. Three girls interested in education spent the morning at a daycare observing the similarities and differences between those in the United States while the rest of us enjoyed yet another breakfast at MUBS. While the rest of the group awaited a presentation from The New Vision, Uganda’s government sponsored newspaper, the five pharmacy students on the trip ventured to the Pharmacy Society of Uganda (PSU) to speak with the secretary of the organization about the practice of pharmacy here in Uganda.

day 12

The secretary was extremely informative and walked us through the education, areas of work, and problems facing pharmacists in Uganda today. Pharmacy is a rather new practice in Uganda. The Pharmacy and Drug Act of 1970 was the first law created to govern the profession. It established the PSU and brings together all of the pharmacists in the country. This act also establishes the National Drug Authority which regulates the distributing of pharmaceuticals in the country. A Bachelor of Pharmacy degree began being offered in three Ugandan universities in 1989 with the first class graduating in 1993. Prior to this, people had to travel to other countries to get their degrees and then return to Uganda to practice pharmacy. This led to a huge shortage of pharmacists in the country since they are needed in many fields including community (where 95 percent work), hospital, industry, and research. Currently there are only 319 pharmacists in the entire country. This is not nearly enough to meet the demands of the population of nearly 3.3 million. Although all pharmacies are required to be owned or employ a pharmacist, many times they operate without a pharmacist present. This leads to poor quality of care for the patients as well as compromised services. However, with the number of people interested in pharmacy due to its high social status and pay this problem is expected to greatly improve in the future.

Currently the pharmacy industry in Uganda is dominated by businessmen rather than pharmacists themselves. The businessmen are in charge of importing the drugs from foreign manufacturers, and there are no regulations in place that ensure the drugs entering the country are manufactured correctly. In fact, due to the recent HIV epidemic, latex gloves and condoms are the only products that are tested for quality before entering the country. This leads to a huge problem with counterfeit drugs being sold in pharmacies, many times without the knowledge of the pharmacists at all. The NDA has a lot of work to do to ensure that regulations are enforced regarding the importing of drugs. Another problem with the Ugandan pharmacy industry is the fact that prescription medications are dispensed without a written prescription from the doctor. I was shocked to hear this with all of the strict regulations in place in the United States for getting a prescription. This has lead to a large amount of antibiotic resistance as well as drug abuse in the country. Although laws do exist to regulate this, they are not enforced, and people buy pills whenever they are feeling even slightly sick because they don’t understand the proper way to take medications.

Despite the obvious problems that exist in the pharmacies of Uganda, I feel that they have great potential to advance within the coming years. They are aware of the most in-demand services and have started a HIV medication factory so that they will not have to import the ever important Anti-Retroviral Drugs. Also, every pharmacy always has some type of malaria treatment in stock as well as bed nets for sale. This shows that pharmacies are working to serve their population and will hopefully continue to advance forward in the future. All of the necessary laws and regulations regarding the filling of prescriptions do exist, so they just need to be enforced more strictly in order for change to take place. Quality pharmaceutical care will greatly aid the country on its path towards development. If citizens are able to access the proper medications and receive information on their illness, they will be healthier and able to work. Also, society will begin to gain a sense of trust in pharmacists, thus furthering their ability to act as a change agent to alter the current mindset of the entire population and focus efforts on prevention of disease rather than treatment.

Our day continued with lunch at MUBS and we then began the second half of our day, which included a visit to TASO (The AIDS Support Organization). This organization was founded in 1987 when the current government came into power. TASO works to improve the life of victims of HIV/AIDS by providing them with the services they will need to battle their relentless disease. Upon entering TASO, we were welcomed with a song from their drama group with is composed of clients of the organization. The goal

Rachel Duffield

of this group is to ensure people that even if your test comes back positive, you can still do something positive, so they compose and perform songs based on their life experiences.

While at TASO, we spoke with both the public relations employee as well as two medical professionals. While we only visited the Mulago branch of TASO, organizations are located in various regions around Uganda. These centers provide medical care, psych-social counseling, and social support for those testing HIV positive. Donors fund about 95 percent of the facility which serves over 20,000 clients throughout the country. Funding only allows for 400 clients to receive ARV drugs (used to stop HIV replication and allow blood cells to multiply), so only those with CD4 (white blood cells that make up the immune system) levels below 250 get put on the regimens. Those selected for free drugs are carefully chosen based on interviews and home visits to ensure that they will keep up with the medication and take their treatment seriously. This is extremely important in order for TASO to ensure that it is not wasting any of the valuable ARV drugs on people who do not even care about their treatment. In addition to starting people on medication, TASO also sets up a specific counselor for each client that meets with them to discuss their possible steps to overcoming HIV/AIDS and encourage continued work despite the judgments that may be passed. After the client has returned to TASO for two months and has no complication with their medication, they are able to get check-ups in TASO centers in the community rather than coming back to the center. TASO’s ability to extend into communities throughout Uganda shows their extreme dedication to the support of those with HIV/AIDS. I feel that TASO is an excellent organization in Uganda.

It provides those suffering from HIV/AIDS with a place they can go for help where they know that they will not be discriminated against. In addition to this, its free services allow treatment for those who may not have been able to finance it themselves. It is greatly helping the country’s development by promoting practices that will stop the transmission of HIV as well as treating those who have already contracted the disease, thus allowing them to live a longer, happier life than they would have without treatment.

The TASO presentation concluded with another song by the drama group. This piece included African drums and at the end of the song all of the members of the group came into the crowd and held our hands to illustrate the world uniting in its fight against HIV. We then did some shopping at booths set up by clients of TASO to raise money for their organizations and took a brief tour of the facility. The tour guide informed us that TASO Uganda offers scholarships to students to come to Uganda and learn about TASO in hopes of starting something like it in their country. This reinforces the fact that TASO is a great organization that touches the lives of thousands of Ugandans, giving them hope in this time of great hardship in their lives.

After leaving TASO, we exchanged some more money and set off to purchase Ugandan football jerseys. It took us all about an hour to finally select the jerseys and correct size as well as barter with the store owner for a good deal. In the end, most of us ended up with jerseys whether they were the right size or not and are very excited to wear them when attending the football game later this week. The day concluded with a dinner at an Indian/American restaurant and we then returned back to Red Chili to pack for our exciting three-day journey to Murchison Fall, which we will embark on tomorrow.

After a day of traveling north from Kampala, with only one van breaking down, we made it to Murchison Falls National Park late Wednesday afternoon. We stayed at another Red Chili that was made up mostly of tents. There were also small cabins. Upon our arrival, we were briefed about the area. We were told each tent had a lantern outside of it to keep the animals away since they’re afraid of light.

They also told us that hippos and warthogs like to sniff around the tents and graze at night, so if we heard them we were to stay inside our tents. We woke up really early this morning in order to try to be the first to pick up the breakfasts we had ordered the night before. We grabbed our breakfasts and left to meet the ferry around 6:30 a.m.

day 13

While we waited for all of the groups to arrive, we got to watch a beautiful sunrise. Some of the Drake students started singing “Circle of Life” from The Lion King. After a few group shots with the rising sun, the vans drove on the ferry, and headed to the other side of the river. There we climbed back into our respective vans, and we were off on our safari for about 4 hours. The roofs on the vans all lifted so that we could stand in the vehicles and poke our heads out to get better pictures. We were also allowed to have people sit on a ledge at the front and back of the van. This was wonderful because there was nothing to block our view, all we had to worry about was staying on the van and taking pictures. Each van took a different path, and each van saw some of the same and some different animals. The view alone was breathtaking. There was lots of green grass with bushes and trees everywhere. Plus, there was the massive blue sky, with the fluffy, white clouds. It was absolutely gorgeous. Add in all of the animals we got to see in their natural habitat, and it was like a dream come true. We got to see gazelles, water buffalo, water deer, antelope, giraffes, warthogs, lots of different birds, and hippos, among other animals. The van I was in was lucky enough to see three female lions and a male lion as well. They were probably within 30, if not 20 feet of us at one point! In order to find the lions, we had to do some off-roading, which was extremely bumpy. However, it was completely worth every bump, bruise and sore muscle or body part that I have. It was definitely an experience that I’ll never forget and never regret. My van was also lucky enough to get to see a python that had eaten lunch quite recently. We saw the python right before a few of us got to glimpse a leopard descend from a tree. Luckily, one of the other vans had been right by the tree, and they got a lot of photos of the leopard. We also had another van see a lioness with her cubs. There was definitely a lot of variety among the different vans, which made the experience unique for each of us.

At 11 a.m., we left the safari to head back across the river for lunch. We all ordered, ate and played some games before we left for the boat tour at 2 p.m. The boat tour was absolutely gorgeous, and our tour guide David did a great job. He also had amazing eyesight. I’m still not sure how he was able to see half of the wildlife we saw. After we took off on the Nile River, we spotted a baby crocodile almost right away. We also passed by a house that was constructed for Queen Elizabeth’s mother. We quickly made our way along the river spotting lots of hippos. We learned that they spend over half of their lives in the water, spending only nine hours a day on land. Their time on land is spent grazing and traveling around six kilometers when they graze. David also told our group that hippos and elephants only go to the water if it isn’t raining. If it rains, they stay on land because there is no need for them to get into the water to cool down. We also saw water buffalo. David pointed out that once water buffalo reach about 18 years of age (they live to be about 20), they are kicked out of the heard because they tend to lose their eyesight and are seen as weak. Then they spend most of their time on the edge of the water. They strategically face the land and have their back to the water. This makes predators believe that they can see them approaching, and it makes them less vulnerable because there isn’t anything that will attack them from behind.

As we moved down the river we saw waterbucks, warthogs, birds, baboons, monkeys and elephants! The elephants were really amazing, and we even got to hear them make their trumpeting noise. Of the birds we saw, the Red-Throated Bee Eater was by far my favorite. It contains all seven colors of the rainbow! We also saw two different kinds of Kingfishers and African Eagles, among others. They were all gorgeous, and it was hard to capture their true beauty on the camera. We continued down the Nile seeing all of the animals previously mentioned, plus we added more crocodiles. Especially when we got to an area they call the Crocodile Bar. By the time we got there it was sprinkling and the crocs were slowly moving towards the water. We continued our journey until we reached Murchison Falls, the waterfall the park is named after. It was absolutely stunning. Looking into the river

Megan Sherburne

seeing the strong current, was absolutely unreal. When we arrived at the falls, David shared a little of the Fall’s history. He told us that it was originally named after a king of a tribe. This king would jump across the waterfall in order to get supplies from the other side. They also switched men and women because the men were dark skinned, and the women were fair skinned. The kings did this to form more of a medium skin colored baby. We also heard the story of Hemingway. Hemingway had done lots of traveling in Africa, and he was working on writing a book about African safaris when he decided to fly over Murchison Falls.

However, his plane came upon a flock of pelicans and in the pilots attempt to avoid them the crashed into the surrounding cliffs.

Hemingway, his wife Mary, and the pilot all survived without serious injury. They were rescued shortly after, but that plane also crashed. The plane caught on fire in this crash. Hemmingway suffered a broken shoulder and a cut on his forehead. While he was trying to escape from the plane he got stuck because of his size, but he got out and survived. His wife and him returned to the U.S., where he later committed suicide. On the way back to where our tour had began, we met the big tour boat the rest of our group was on. My group, plus everyone else, went to back to see Murchison Falls. It was just as beautiful and amazing. We continued to point out animals that we saw. We even got to see a crocodile go into the water. I have never seen anything move so fast. Then we went back to Red Chili for supper. After supper, we played card games with the MUBS students. Some of us taught a few of the MUBS students how to play spoons, using straws. They loved it, and in turn they taught us to play a game similar to UNO. While getting ready for bed, I looked up at the night sky. I have never seen so many stars. There was no light pollution to spoil them. We ended the night with a campfire, songs, and Patrick also played his guitar. In order to add a little more spice to our evening, we were visited by a hippo around 10 p.m. Tourism is a huge part of sustainable development for Uganda because there is so much to see. The national parks are gorgeous, and I don’t know how someone could come to Africa and not go on a safari. However, in order to make tourism sustainable they need to attract the tourists to the area. Therefore, I think a little more advertising could be done. There weren’t any gift shops around, but I found that refreshing. It was nice getting to see everything naturally as it was meant to be. Sometimes having something that man hasn’t over commercialized is extremely satisfying. Based on the number of people staying at Red Chili, I would say tourism in the area is doing well. Because tourism is a big part of the economy, I would say Murchison Falls is definitely helping with sustainable development.

It was also refreshing to see the area had “No Littering” signs. Hopefully, this can lead to the rest of the country following in the parks footsteps. Last night I got to fall asleep listening to my classmates, friends and professors singing “This Little Light of Mine.” It was beautiful, and after starting off with the sunrise we had this morning, I couldn’t picture a more perfect day. It also made me realize that Elton John nailed it with “Circle of Life.” There is definitely “more to see, than can ever be seen” and “more to do, than can ever be done.” But I’m extremely grateful for the experience and the chance to try.

Today was a laidback day filled with recreational activities for the Drake and MUBS students. The group was excited because we were able to attend the Nations Cup Qualifier soccer game with the Uganda team taking on Guinea Bissau in the late afternoon. The United States and Drake students refer to the sport as soccer, while the MUBS students and the rest of the world call it football.

day 14

It was a slow morning—we were able to sleep-in and eat breakfast at Red Chilli with fresh fruit, vanilla pancakes and omelets as some of the choices. After a quick breakfast, we hopped on the bus and headed to a small craft market to do some shopping for our last minute gifts. On our way to the craft market, the streets were already filled with people wearing Uganda Cranes jerseys, honking, making loud noises with whistles and the large horns called vuvuzelas. It was only 10:00 in the morning, and the city was already buzzing with excitement for the big game. When we finally arrived to the market, we spread out and started to do our shopping. We had about an hour to shop and each student had a list of items to purchase, such as picture albums, dresses, jewelry, fabric, and other gifts. At this point in the trip, we all knew the tricks of the trade when it came to bargaining and making deals with the Ugandan vendors. Shopping was a piece of cake! This market had a mixture of items for sale. Most of the vendors had very similar items to what we had already seen in past shopping trips, but there always seemed to be something new. As we walked through the market sporting our Uganda Cranes jerseys, the shop owners asked if we were attending the game and thanked us for our support for their country’s team. They were just as thrilled as we were, and hoped for a win for their Cranes.

After finishing up our shopping, we made our way back to Red Chilli to drop our items off and then head to MUBS for lunch.

Lunch went by quickly and we jumped back on the bus to be dropped off at the stadium. As we were weaving in and out of traffic, the city was booming louder with cheers of anticipation and excitement for the game. When we reached the parking lot of Mandela National Stadium in Namboole, it wasn’t what most of us had expected. People were crammed together waiting to get into the stadium as cars were driving up to the gate. There were comments from our group comparing the situation to professional games they had attended in the United States. The reoccurring theme was that professional games in the United States were much more organized and regulated than what we had seen so far. While we were waiting in line we witnessed the stadium officials and the Uganda Police doing their job by controlling the crowd. However, our thoughts of crowd control in the United States are very different than what we saw. As the crowd started to push and shove through the gates, a line of police officers came out and pushed back with force. They used their nightsticks to fight the crowd and one fan was even hit. It was a dangerous situation for everyone, and it was all due to the inefficient infrastructure of the stadium gates, which were lacking in security measures and control. We were very surprised that our bags were not checked and that we did not have to go through metal detectors like we do at professional games in the United States. Another type of control that we all thought was lacking was turnstiles and proper ticket collection. With turnstiles only a certain amount of people may enter the stadium at one time while also keeping track of the number of people entering with tickets. The stadium needs to be updated to account for these issues, but this can be difficult to do in a developing country where other needs for the country as a whole trump needs for the stadium.

For the time being using the stadium and resources they have, security should be increased near the gates to help control the crowd and increase organization so everyone can safely enter the stadium and enjoy the game.

The stadium was packed and an estimate of about 70,000 people attended the game! Fans flooded the aisles and the outer sides of the field with police supervision. It was interesting that the seating was first come, first serve. This caused some chaos that required a large amount of officials for crowd control. It was apparent that the stadium did not have the proper infrastructure capable of holding such a large amount of people. The Mandela National Stadium was built in the late 1990’s with the intention of holding a capacity of 45,000 people. However, with the Cranes becoming more successful and popular, the stadium seems to be incapable of holding the amount of people who attend the game and outdated when it comes to means of security. Fans come from all over Uganda, and even from surrounding countries to support the team, especially since the recent rise in popularity and successfulness of the team. Overall, we observed that the security measures were lacking despite the numerous police officers.

There could be a possible increase in revenue if this system was more organized and controlled. This would require fewer paid police officers and demand a strict form of security. Also, having the tickets correspond to a specific seat could greatly reduce

Claire Williamson

the chaos and allow for increase ticket prices. Along with this, concession stands and spirit wear sales could also make for a more sustainable system such as the ones we have in the United States.

As we found our seats and the game started the level of noise increased to an overwhelming amount. One of the Drake students said that the vuvuzelas and whistles sounded like a swarm of bees. Eventually we became accustomed to the buzzing noise and even joined in with our own cheers and gave the vuvuzelas a try. The Cranes dominated the first half with multiple shots on goal, but it wasn’t until the 39th minute that they scored the first goal. The fans cheered and sang their national chant and we all joined in. During half time an unruly fan ran across the field with his shirt off. As the police escorted him off the field he raised his hands in triumph and the fans went wild. The second half started and the Cranes were at it again and scored another goal. Before we knew the game was over and Uganda had won and qualified for the 2012 Nations Cup for the first time since 1978. The fans were celebrating the win by dancing and cheering while the sprinklers were going off on the field in celebration. This seemed to show true nationalism and support for the country of Uganda. As a group however, we had discussions on whether or not we thought that the Cranes played a role in uniting the country. The discussion went both ways, some thought that the Cranes are a great way to unite the country because they are all coming together as one supporting the same team. On the other hand, some thought that it is only a temporary way to unite the country, and we could have seen a completely different side of the fans if the team had lost. After the crowd died down, we gathered our group and made our way towards our bus. We waited in thick traffic for about two hours before we started moving back to Red Chilli. The city continued to celebrate the win for the rest of the night, and the sounds of vuvuzelas could be heard as we were going to sleep after an eventful day.

We started the day bright and early! We made it to MUBS on Ugandan time at about 7:30 am—approximately 45 minutes behind schedule. Once we finally made it to MUBS we ate our last breakfast at the canteen. When we were done eating we left for Jinja with the MUBS students.

day 15

Once we were on the bus we heard some basic information about our bus ride to Jinja. Fred told us that Jinja is the second largest city in Uganda. He also told us that we would be passing the Owen Falls Dam. After we crossed the bridge over the source of the Nile, we entered into the Busoga kingdom. We had previously been in the Baganda kingdom. On the way to Jinja we also passed the Mabira natural forest, sugar cane plantations, and tea plantations.

Local people greeted us with music for the microfinance lesson. After we were greeted they started the presentation with prayer and the Uganda national anthem. We made introductions and got a very basic overview of the microfinance situation in the rural village. After that we took a musical interlude, which included traditional dancing and music. There were songs about how grateful they are that people are able to form groups and the groups help them to save and link them. In the next song they referenced how they used to save money by keeping it in the house and hiding it in pots or roofs of houses, but now they know how to finance.

After the music, the Kugumikiriza V.S.L.A. group used a skit to teach us about how they were using microfinance in their village.

The first skit basically showed how a mother hid money in pots, the roof, and in the dirt. The money in the pot and dirt were stolen and the house burned down leaving them without saved money. This skit showed how saving money used to be a problem in Uganda because people could easily steal it.

The second skit showed the new microfinance system that a rural village outside Kampala is using. It started with a girl listening to music on a radio and having her father take it away from her and listen to the news. He heard an ad about an organization that teaches people how to save. In the next scene people come to the seminar to receive training that will help them keep their money safe. The trainer asks how people have been saving and they say that they have been keeping their money hidden in pots and other places. The people had been treating their savings like leftovers. The instructor introduces them to new methodology called V.S.L.A. (Village savings and loan association). V.S.L.A. could allow them to save money and accumulate it.

In order to save money with the V.S.L.A. methodology the locals needed to be trained. They would need to go through 5 training phases. The first phase was group formation, which helped them to form their group. Each group would need to agree on a minimum amount to share. The next training phase was saving, loaning, interest, and social fund training. The last three phases that were taught were records, bylaws, and procedures. The skit then went into how it is easier for locals to pool their savings because it makes it easier to save and also easier to borrow.

The skit also addressed the fact that the savings meetings are gender sensitive. There needs to be at least two women out of the five minimum people who need to be there. This program is helping women to take control of their finances.

The next part of the skit had to do with what happened at a meeting. The members would ask the previous balance and count the money. There would be three key holders that couldn’t be related who would open the box. There were four different areas the money would be separated into including finance, welfare, savings, and repayment. Roll is called at the meetings and each person has a number to ensure they are present. At the end of the meeting all members witness the box being locked by the key holders and the treasurer takes the box home.

If someone wanted to borrow money all the members would equalize the loan. The loan would need to be paid back in 3 months time. The interest could be between 5-10%, but it’s usually 10%. The person taking out the loan must pay interest back monthly.

This program is a huge benefit to the community because it helps them set up loans and maintain savings.

Naomi Digi

Everything that has happened up until this point was in the local language and had to be translated into English for us. It was challenging at least for me to pay attention to the skit and also the translation. They did have a closing poem that was in English.

It summarized the fact that before the V.S.L.A. methodology the situation was poor, but after V.S.L.A. people feel more empowered. It stressed that all of society was improved.

One of the most important impacts this program has made on the rural villages is that is teaches people how to save. It also allows women to run their own finances. The program teaches people how to be financially independent and helps bring people together. We don’t have the community feel that these people have because in the U.S. we just walk into a bank or ATM to get money. The people are able to form more of a community because they are saving their money together. After many thanks in both English and the native language we left the village.

V.S.L.A. is definitively having a positive impact on sustainable development in rural areas. It is teaching people how to save their money. It also allows people in these villages to have more access to a loan. It is important to give people access to loans because they are more willing to start a business, which in turn will create jobs and stimulate the economy. It also gets women involved in keeping their finances. To have a sustainable society Uganda needs more entrepreneurs and opportunities for men and women to start their own businesses. V.S.L.A. gives people the access they need to take advantage of these opportunities.

We went to the chairman president’s mom’s house after the microfinance presentation, where we had been invited to lunch. We were greeted with a few speakers. After all the greetings we ate some traditional Ugandan food and fruit for dessert. All of the food was very delicious!

We were able to enjoy an acrobat after we finished our meal. He did some tricks like riding his bike backwards and putting pants on while he was on his bike. He also made tea and drank it in less than four minutes while still on his bike. He also did some spinning wheel tricks. He was going to do tight rope walking, but the rope was too wet due to a brief, afternoon thunderstorm.

He did promise to send us a YouTube video to make up for it. Once the acrobat was done we thanked our hosts and left for the Kingfisher resort.

The Kingfisher resort is so beautiful. We made it just in time for the sunset. We have a great view of Lake Victoria. I know a few of us went down to the beach to admire the view and the sunset. It has been a great first day in Jinja!

day 16

Today, each of us awoke in our personal suites at Kingfisher Resort. After a buffet breakfast, we rounded a corner to find ourselves in a conference hall with Judge David Batema, who had come to give us a lecture on gender equality in Uganda, despite a personal loss that had recently occurred within his family. We were all grateful that he was still able to share his presentation with us, because it was extremely enlightening and inspirational.

His Worship David Batema graduated from Makerere University Law School in 1989 only to realize that the laws in Uganda had male standards and came from male perspectives. He began preaching gender equality to magistrates before he even became one. He lives with the belief that “All human beings are born free and equal,” and he continues to spread this message to anyone who will listen, as well as some people who try not to.

To us, he stressed the difference between “sex” and “gender,” stating that sex is biological and natural while gender is the social construction of the differences between man and woman. These differences are created in our minds and often have to do with how we were brought up. These differences in upbringing became apparent when students from MUBS and Drake were posed with a simple question: “Whose daughter are you?” Students from MUBS replied with only one name, that of their father, while Drake students included the names of both parents.

His Worship David Batema also commented on the religious aspect that leads some people to justify patriarchy. He explained that in the Bible, God created man first and gave him the Universe, which is why many believe that God gave all of the power to man. However, woman was not created until after this happened, which would mean man’s rule does not go as far as to include woman. I found this to be an extremely profound interpretation of the Bible’s teachings. Christianity is prominent in the Ugandan culture, and often leads people to believe things just because it says so in the Bible and without any additional education on the subject. I am glad that there are people who are forward-thinking enough to analyze the Bible and find the messages within rather than taking everything at face value.

I think that gender equality is an important aspect in the sustainability and development of any culture. For an economy to grow, all of its citizens must be respected. The fact that one man is working so hard to improve gender equality in Uganda is inspiring.

In a culture like Uganda’s, women can preach against domestic abuse and sexual harassment all they like, but men will pay no attention to them and things will never change. For a man to try and change the perspective of other men is very important and will be the best way to move this society forward.

After our gender equality presentation, we all climbed onto the MUBS bus to take a trip to the source of the Nile, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Jinja. It was incredible to see the beginning of the longest river in the world. The force of the current at the source was astounding, as would be expected for the only river that flows South to North. We all got our fill of picture-taking before heading back up to the bus, stopping to do some last-minute souvenir shopping at the variety of stores along the way, of course. We boarded the bus with all of our new items and memories and back to Kingfisher Resort we went, for an afternoon full of relaxation and fun.

Rachel Clemens