The Anti-Poverty Campaign

Wondering from Buenos Aires About Compassion

2007-11-18T15:30:00.000-05:00

Here's a post from APC team member Tiana living abroad in Buenos Aires

There are so many people in this world. I realize that more and more as I travel. Sometimes all the faces of a place blend into one and become unrecognizable. One more person, what are they worth? Like a piece of sand easily lost and hard to recognize. This has been my experience until the other day.

I was sitting in a café downtown Buenos Aires with my Spanish tutor. We had broken from the topic of verb conjugations because a man had burst into the café and was screaming. I do not become scared often but this was different. He had real pain. Not just another beggar, like the fifty I had previously encountered that day.

Most of what the man was screaming was lost to me, but I did understand that he had been taken to jail and his daughter had died. I have never before felt a mix of compassion and fear. The images of the wounds on his body are burned into my brain. The rage and sorrow in his voice, the cry for mercy. This all made everything so much more real. It is hard to explain this experience.

After the man had been ushered from the café by a big waiter, my tutor and I started talking about life, social realities and classcism. Sylvania my tutor asked me one question that stuck me. She asked, "What was the one thing that started the change in my life?" I thought, "What started the change from having nothing and thinking that no one cared me? What was the one moment that changed my reality?" The truth is that I have pondered a lot over this and my life. However I have not had someone ask me before. "How did you crawl out of hell?" but that was not the real point, it was because I crawled out of hell that I could not feel compassion for anyone around me.

I had become a self righteous bastard. Calloused my all the faces, years, and places that I had been. Calloused by the experiences I had. I thought that I knew it all. Seen it all and done it all. "If I can do it any one can" if I can go from sleeping in my car with no money, no job, no one that loved me, no one that would even know if lived or died, to the other side of the world working and traveling with many friends my private lesson in a café. Then any one could change their life, they just choose not to. That was my reality. So, "what did I miss?" Maybe a little compassion.

Thoughts on the road 11/13/07 TL

Sachs: Creative and Dynamic Entrepreneurship Required To Tackle the Antipoverty Challenge

2007-09-23T14:54:00.000-04:00

Economist and humanitarian

Jeffrey Sachs has a great article on Forbes entitled, "The Forbes One Billion."

Some excerpts:
"If journalists spent as much time studying the lives of the poor as they do gazing at the rich, it would help us all keep our heads on straight. We would marvel at a world economy strange enough to sustain such gaps. We'd learn not to blame the rich for the poverty of the poor, but we'd also learn not to blame the poor themselves. Blame is a primitive response. Entrepreneurship is a much better one."

"A century ago the world's richest person, John D. Rockefeller, went to work for the world's poor. Heeding the social gospel of Andrew Carnegie before him, Rockefeller felt that the lasting contribution of his wealth would be to improve the world. And nobody has done it better. He conquered hookworm in the U.S. South. And that was just the start. His foundation fought malaria in Brazil, yellow fever worldwide and even addressed the need for a new science of public health. Most remarkably, perhaps, his foundation shares credit for the green revolution, which sent food yields soaring in India, East Asia and Latin America.

Bill Gates is today's Rockefeller, taking on AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in hand-to-hand combat, with new drugs, new vaccines, new diagnostics, new delivery systems. He has persuaded his friend Warren Buffett to put his wealth to the cause. Now, with Carlos Slim Helú's mobile phone fortune pushing him into a virtual tie with Gates for the number one slot in the world wealth ranking, he, too, aims to put billions into the cause of global health. Other big philanthropists are on the wealth lists: George Soros, Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google and more.

Who else will take up the antipoverty challenge? There are life-and-death problems to occupy the best of the world's creative minds. Who will get credit to Africa's impoverished farmers by creatively linking credit with climate insurance? Who will deliver the Internet to the schools and clinics, safe drinking water to the parched lands of Darfur, solar power to the deserts of Mali, emergency obstetrical care to Tanzania and a new economic start in Haiti, 200 years after independence? These problems require creative and dynamic entrepreneurship to bring the right technologies and delivery systems to bear in a race against time."

Free vs. Fair Trade �?? Are they mutually exclusive strategies?

2007-08-26T21:42:00.000-04:00

This post is contributed by guest writer Beth Richardson--

The way the debate is framed about free and fair trade one would think that they are mutually exclusive strategies. I believe that they are not �?? that they can actually be supportive strategies.

The end goal of both fair and free trade is increased economic activity. Free trade focuses on macro systems �?? on things like tariffs, trade barriers and exchange rates. Fair trade organizations typically focus their efforts on those who are left behind or excluded from the benefits of free trade.

I worked in South Africa with a group of men and women who were in the unfortunate position of being low-skilled labor in a middle income country. In an international marketplace these men and women could neither undercut the low wage labor from low wage countries nor compete with skilled workers from high wage countries. These men and women were unemployed �?? in fact 60-70% of the people who lived in their communities were also unemployed. They and their families survived at a subsistence level only because there were able to barter and trade in an informal economy. These were men and women, who although low-skilled, had some skills, and although unemployed, desired employment.

South Africa is currently experiencing tremendous growth as a direct result of being part of its re-entrance into the international economy. The government has paid down its debt and South African companies like SAB, Investec, Old Mutual, and Anglo-American are now doing extremely on a global scale. Yet these gains are not trickling down to the people that I worked with �?? because they live in a community that operates outside of the formal economy.

So I say we need both �?? both free and fair trade - both a focus on universal systems and a focus on creating opportunities for people who are currently marginalized and excluded from those systems.

Locally, a group of individuals, non-profits, and businesses have recently banded together to form an organization called NC fair trade. NC fair trade will focus on increasing awareness about fair trade activities in North Carolina and opportunities for people to get involved in and grow the fair trade community locally. Please visit us at our recently launched website at www.ncfairtrade.com to learn more.

Tanzania: Nourish Project Update

2007-08-05T19:47:00.000-04:00

Post contributed by Nourish team member Kartik Rao

Students from Nourish Chapters at Duke University, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Ohio State University have traveled to Tanzania this summer to work on Duke's very first summer project.

The project runs until August 7 and is focusing on education, training, and jump-starting small hunger-prevention projects in the Tanga region of Tanzania.

Team member Kartik Rao has been keeping a blog of their experiences. Here is one of his recent posts. To read the post in it's original context, visit www.nourishtanzania.blogspot.com.

So, currently in most villages across the country families own "traditional chickens" which are free-range chickens that do not require coups and run around the village and return home at night. The problem with these chickens is that since they run around everywhere it is not uncommon for them to be stolen, eaten, or killed in other random ways. Also, the eggs that they lay require fertilization from other "traditional roosters," so these eggs are not necessarily laid where families can collect them or they hatch,i.e., they pose little economic utility. Therefore, the core of our purpose here has been to give families "modern chickens," which is the direct translation from Swahili, but they are basically the souped-up chickens we are used to that lay an egg a day without fertilization. Here is where the coups come in, since these are not as street smart as the free-range chickens most families have; if let out they would eat things that would harm them and probably not return home, etc. So, in building the coups we provide a place for the modern chickens to reside.

Now, another problem with modern chickens is that they are higher-maintenance, requiring expensive food and vaccinations, so our solution is to make hybrid chickens in a process called "upgrading." Basically, we stick a modern rooster with traditional hens which pop out hybrid babies that lay an egg per day and are also a little tougher than pure modern chickens. The end goal is that hybrid chickens grow to lay enough eggs per day for families to more than triple their current income by selling them. Now then, for the good news: on our last day, when David and I were distributing the last of the supplies to all the families along with instruction booklets that we made, we found out that 1 of the 5 families already had 2 hybrid eggs only a day after we had put the rooster with the hens!!! Hopefully you all share in our excitement.

Uganda: Moving On After Nut Shelling Production Shed Burns Down

2007-08-05T19:45:00.001-04:00

This post is contributed by Chaz from Nourish...

We have bad news and good news related to this project. The bad news is that the shed we were using to build the nut shelling machines burned down to the ground; it is completely gone. The good news is that the workers were able to recover all of the equipment and all of the workers are safe and healthy. Most of our effort on the project was focused on purchasing the equipment, training the workers, and marketing the shellers, so we are very fortunate that the vast bulk of our work is not lost. We have continued to correspond with Henry, the shop owner via email and he is still moving forward with the project. They need to find another workspace; however, everything else remains intact. We do not know what caused the fire. Henry suspects arson, but we have no way of knowing exactly what happened at this point. While it is a tragic loss, it will not stop us from pressing forward. Henry is committed to producing more shellers and selling many more of them during the harvest season. We are very excited to monitor the impact of the sheller over time.

In order to better quantify Nourish�??s impact, we will be performing an economic impact analysis of the Nut Sheller . At its most basic level, the study will be comparing the change in welfare of households that have access to a sheller with households that do not have access to a sheller. Welfare will be assessed with an inventory of assets, a measure of annual expenses, a measure of annual income, a household health questionnaire and a simple time use inventory. Two different distribution methods are also being assessed in this study.

Six shellers have been given to NAADS village groups through a top-down government program and four shellers have been purchased by co-ops through a grassroots community organization called WAACHA. NAADS groups in an adjacent sub-county and a random sample of WAACHA groups not exposed to the sheller will be used as control groups. By matching test and control groups in this way we can minimize the amount of bias in the sample. The total sample size for this study will be 450 households. This includes 200 control households divided between NAADS & WAACHA groups, 150 NAADS test households and 100 WAACHA test households. The baseline surveys will be conducted over the summer and the follow-up survey will begin after the second harvest in January.

An economic impact analysis of this caliber is useful in a number of ways. Its primary purpose is to provide hard data for development agencies (such as Nourish International) on the impact of particular projects. This increases the accountability of agencies and gives them feedback on what works and what doesn�??t work. Also, if a project has been scientifically proven to have a positive impact on welfare then it can be replicated by other agencies leading to a more efficient allocation of resources. The second level of the study examines the relative effectiveness of allocating shellers through a top-down mechanism versus allocating shellers through a bottom-up mechanism.

It will be interesting to see if groups who purchase shellers for themselves will take more care of it and use it more effectively than those who received them for free from the government. While results from this cannot be totally generalized, it will provide good data to evaluate studies analyzing the effectiveness of free market distribution versus the charity model. The final piece of this project will be an analysis of different welfare indicators. Since this study uses assets, income and expenditures to measure welfare, a comparison can be made to test instrument sensitivity when constructing budget functions. High sensitivity would indicate that it matters greatly what kind of instrument was used and low sensitivity would suggest it doesn�??t matter as much.

The survey is being conducted by a team of two Ugandans, John Emoru & Patrick Emorut. They have extensive experience conducting household budget surveys in rural villages and are excellent communicators. In preparation for this job, they administered over 400 surveys of a similar nature to households in the Tororo district of eastern Uganda.

If you have any questions about the survey and how it will help Nourish better achieve its mission, feel free to shoot me an email at chaz.littlejohn@nourishinternational.org.

China: When Technology Meets Antiquity

2007-07-22T19:03:00.001-04:00

Contributed by Jonathan Pourzal

For my China culture/business class, we were assigned several readings. One of them, entitled, �??China�??s Many Faces�?? was very fascinating. As with many things that are foreign to us, we in the West* definitely have a homogeneous picture of China �?? its people, culture and history. I bet when the average American thinks of China, or even of the Far East in general, they just think of Samurais and kung fu. For those who keep up on world affairs, all we really hear about is the burgeoning Chinese economy and the communist government�??s suppression of human rights. As the article states, our limited understanding of China, which is close to being the world�??s economic power, is a result of the Western media�??s depiction of China, although this in itself is not unique. What is different about the case of China is that it is likely to be the oldest remaining nation on Earth, and only because of its recent economic successes do we begin to take it seriously. A testament to Western arrogance.

According the article, China is in fact extremely diverse. We always describe (and take pride in) the US being a �??melting pot�??, when in fact China has been so for centuries.

As the article states, only 8 percent of China�??s population is considered minority; however, this equates to 96 million people and 55 distinct ethnic groups (although this number is disputed �?? it could possibly be more like 400-500). Most of the minority ethnic groups reside near the borders of China, and are made up of many different religions, such as Buddhist and Islam, and claim Iranian, Turkish and Mongolian ancestries (and many more). This reality paints a much different picture of China than I was ever exposed to. Because of this great diversity, there have historically been many independence movements within China, which is still a great concern of the Chinese Government, the most famous example being Tibet. Reading this made me reflect upon the notion of nation building.

I recently returned from Cuba where I learned about its history. Cuban nationalists struggled to promote national unity throughout its history in order to gain independence from imperialism/colonialism. This inevitably equated to diminishing the importance of distinct racial and/or cultural attachments, to strengthen national Cuban identity. This was understandably necessary to fight external control of the island, but unfortunately at times, it meant the island�??s great complexities were downplayed; although nowadays, this diversity is something in which Cubans take great pride. Similarly, in China, the national government has tried to promote national unity in order to build a strong nation, and this has equated, at times, to suppression of ethnic minority groups�?? right to be different from what is supposed to be the �??normal�?? Chinese culture.

It is an interesting dilemma. I have not studied nearly enough about Chinese history to have an opinion, but the fact that the government has been able to maintain its nationhood in the face of domestic turmoil is part of the reason that it has become an economic powerhouse growing at a fantastic pace. The irony about its economy, which I have many questions about, is that in a country with one of the only remaining communist political systems (whatever that means�?�), is also home to what might be the most capitalist system in the world. If not more so than the US, it may be on its way to being so.

Being here now, I am constantly reminded of this fact. Simply by existing in the US, it is nearly impossible for one not to support the corporate power structure unless they do not buy anything, or do not at all engage in entertainment/informational media. So far, at least in Beijing (and I would assume in all of China�??s big cities) I don�??t think China is very different. For example, communication technology has taken over our lives in the US �?? cell phones, text messaging, IMs, etc. Walking around my college campus in the US, I constantly see people using their cell phones. Similarly, my Chinese roommate is always sending and receiving text messages just like many other Chinese people I have seen walking around �?? especially students. In the US, we also are constantly bombarded by corporate advertisements �?? billboards, commercials, etc. In China, it is no different, and maybe even worse �??there are even TVs airing ads for Chinese products in the grocery stores here. Bottled water, which may be the biggest hustle I have ever heard of (3/4 of the Earth�??s surface is water�?�why do we need to buy it in bottles?) is a Western phenomenon which is prospering in China! Tap water is not potable in China (it is full of chemicals that kill the bacteria), so either one must boil it or buy it in bottles. I recently read an article about how bad this mass plastic bottle production is for the environment, and how it is causing the mass privatization of water in the US and Europe, and I am sure that this trend is taking place in China as well.

Apply to Work in Nicaragua with the Manna Project

2007-07-22T18:59:00.001-04:00

Manna Project seeks college seniors and recent graduates for yearlong community service Program Director positions beginning in September with our team in Managua, Nicaragua.

Yearlong volunteers, called Program Directors, live and work together with 6-12 other Directors. As a team, they work alongside leaders in the communities of focus to ascertain and meet the community's specific needs. Directors are called upon to use their education, passions, and interests to take the initiative to develop community projects; improving upon current projects and establishing new ones.

MPI seeks Directors who:

- Desire to use their education, passion, and interests in service.
- Have the initiative to "make things happen."
- Work well as part of a team.
- Are open to an experience that can change their lives.

Existing projects in Nicaragua include health education, music and drama classes, literacy classes, math classes, English classes, a preschool, a feeding program, girls and boys sports teams, micro-finance loans, and the construction of a community center.

How to Apply:
To learn more about this incredible opportunity to work with MPI in Nicaragua,please visit our website to read the Program Director Handbook and fill out the accompanying Program Director. The application is at www.mannaproject.org.

Questions about yearlong positions? Contact lori[at]mannaproject.org.

Guatemala Project Wrapup

2007-07-22T18:57:00.001-04:00

contributed by Nourish team member Carlos Toriello

The project is over, but development never stops

It has been 3 weeks since our last day of work at the Centro Explorativo in La Pista and Nebaj, Guatemala. Our team has split up and we have returned to our �??normal�?? summer lives in North Carolina, as well as Boston, Saint Louis, and even Guatemala. The work that 4 weeks allowed our group to achieve has concluded, but there is much left undone both on the ground for CES as well as for our Nourish team.

On our last day we successfully raised the greenhouse and had reason to believe that it would remain standing for a long time to come. With a mounted structure and around 50 square meters, the greenhouse is ready to be utilized by the Centro for food production. Pavak is developing a manual that holds all the secrets to the greenhouse so that if there is ever a need to replace something or even rebuild the entire thing, they won�??t need a new team of American students to do it for them.

Two other very important feats occurred on that day. First, the last portion of the floor was placed in the actual Centro by Miguel�??s team of masons, leaving only the painting and clean-up on the to-do list before the building was to become operational. I can say that it was an honor to work side-by-side with the masons of La Pista. And finally, David successfully interviewed 50 families from the community and obtained the data from 29 questions that will be used to cater the Centro to the community�??s specific needs and wants. Currently he is tabulating these results and will be analyzing and sharing them over the course of the summer.

Our last meeting with the CES staff left us all with a better idea of the meaning of our work and the necessary next steps. The peanut butter business that will support the Centro is still only an idea, but the needed human capital to launch it will be provided (hopefully) by Guatemalan university students through the program Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE). The English language DVD�??s will be finalized over the summer by Steve and a volunteer guideline will be developed by Nick. These materials will improve the quality of service offered by CES at the Centros (plural!) and will engage future volunteers by leveraging our experience. Finally, the hours and hours of film are being digitized and a story is being sown with them by Catarina in order to create a documentary of our endeavors.

With all of these amazing results and another successful project under the Nourish belt, I believe that it is important to catch ourselves and understand why this project was really successful. It is not because we are putting check marks to a list of bullet-pointed, poverty-reducing initiatives (especially if we are to consider the number of points we were unable to get to!), but rather it is because of the now invisible marks that Nourish left on a rural, Guatemalan community and a group of students.

It is the relationships that we built with people like Mek/Miguel, los Felipes, the staff of el Descanso (Ana, Cash, Diego and Chico especially!), the teachers of the Centro (and the kids!), and the families that took us into their homes in Nebaj and La Pista. I think that the project in Guatemala was successful because our team was, like our chosen image suggests, a bridge connecting two peoples.

We connected American and Guatemalan, we connected University and Community, we connected wealthy and poor, we connected ventures to development; we connected students to reality and through that did our best to Nourish those in poverty by Nourish�??ing ourselves.

Uganda: Project Wrapup

2007-07-22T18:56:00.001-04:00

by Nourish team member Maggie Salinger

When Matt Callahan first enlisted me to serve as a coordinator for NI�??s trip to Uganda in collaboration with Full Belly Project (FBP), I had no notion of all that I was about to learn and experience. I knew that FBP was an NGO which aimed to create appropriate technology and make it available to those in need around the world. And, I knew that NI�??s partnership with FBP was formed in order to work towards establishing a production facility in Uganda for a mechanical nut sheller.

Looking back on that January conversation with Matt, I certainly was not aware that come February I would become so deeply enthralled in this summer�??s trip that my life would begin to revolve around group travel logistics, varieties of nuts, alternative fuels, and nutrition. I also could not have guessed that NI�??s participation in the design and implementation of the project was going to be beyond that of NI�??s previous partnerships - Our involvement was such that we were able to contribute to the process of writing a business plan, submitting it into two social entrepreneurship competitions, and winning $21,000 in addition to the initial $10,000 NI members raised throughout the year!

Upon spending a semester in close communication with the NI volunteers and the FBP employees, I began to feel as if we were a family, and the five weeks in Uganda only strengthened our ties. After each day of setting up the shop; training the local workers; meeting with organizations, agencies, and cooperatives; leading demonstrations; or conducting research, I became more and more proud of every member of my new family.

Amazingly, we were able to perform all of these tasks and more in the matter of one month! I loved to listen and participate in mealtime conversations with them about everything we had learned that day and had hoped to learn the next. Observing the increase people�??s level of comfort and confidence in their capabilities to maneuver through various Ugandan obstacles was also a really neat experience.

The NI-FBP trip to Uganda encapsulated Nourish�??s idea �??service-learning�?? perfectly. I can say without reserve that my experiences with these two organizations have been my most fulfilling yet. Thank you to everyone who was involved!

Tanzania Project Preview

2007-07-22T18:54:00.000-04:00

by Roshen Sethna

Students from Duke University, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Ohio State University will travel to Tanzania this summer to work on Duke's very first summer project.

The project will take place from July 14 to August 7 and will focus on education, training, and jump-starting small hunger-prevention projects in the Tanga region of Tanzania.

The first week will be spent in the Tanga municipality with students constructing chicken coops as well as a cow pen for an entire village. The chicks and a cow will be provided along with education about caring for the animals. The eggs and milk produced from this enterprise will be sold to hotels on the beach resorts for profit.

During the second week, students will work in the fishing communities in the Pangani district along the Indian Ocean assisting fisherman with net repairs.

For the last week, students will travel to the Usambara Mountains to work on extending Heifer International's fish pond project. Several weekend excursions will also be provided, including beach camping, a trip to an animal preserve, and a cave tour.

Partner organizations include the Tanga Municipality Council, the Catholic Church of Chumbageni, the Lutheran Church of Tanzania, and Heifer International as well as local governments. The Duke team is extremely excited about its first project. Special thanks go out to Rachel Northeim and Boni Mwapule for planning the trip.

Tanzania: Tanga, Visiting the Amboni Caves, Usiku Mwema

2007-07-22T18:22:00.000-04:00

Connected once again. We finally got to our final destination on sunday night after 3 straight days of travelling. We arrived in Tanga to our much better than expected accomodations at the Inn by the Sea which is exactly how it sounds (I also lucked out and got one of the ocean front rooms).

We visited the Amboni caves yesterday which are limestone caves that are extremely massive spanning miles. After that we got to business meeting with the local officials who are aiding us in selecting the families that will be recieving aid as well as helping with logistics in construction of the coups.

It was a very enriching experience walking through the villages and meeting all the Mama's (the ladies of the house) and kids along the way. It is amazing how much delight the kids get out of having their picture taken and shown to them. Tomorrow we will begin contruction for the first few families and gather supplies for the rest of the project. Now that we are somewhat settled and learning our surroundings posts should be more frequent. I also hope to get some pictures on here assuming it doesn't take hours to upload them, I am using dial-up after all. Usiku mwema.

-tik

On the Way to Tanzania

2007-07-22T18:21:00.001-04:00

Hello people, everyone has safely arrived in Johannesburg in good spirits and high expectations. Tomorrow the four of us will be flying out of Jo-burg to Dar es Salaam to meet with Boni our guide and then drive straight to Tanga where we will begin the chicken coup/cow pen project. It may be a while before we have internet access again so it may be a while until my next post, but keep checking.

-tik

Uganda: Celine Dion is The Queen of Uganda

2007-07-22T18:18:00.000-04:00

A French-Canadian woman who sings about love of titanic proportions is the It Girl of Uganda. Next to the football-crazy Cranes, this superstar has the entire country under her spell. She is Queen Celine. Diva Dion. The woman who, on every radio in the heart of Africa, goes on and on and on.

It is hardly surprising that I have heard my fair share of Celine by now. Cassettes, radio stations, televisions. She is everywhere, coming on day and night, rain or shine. In fact, most mornings start out with Celine blasting out from the main hotel building. Uganda�??s version of a wakeup call, I suppose. Needless to say, Celine is often stuck in my head. So much so that I may leave Uganda as the crazy mzungu belting out �??The Power of Love�?? during any and every walk into town.

The woman has practically seeped into everything. My ears, my head, my vocal chords. Even my attitude. Yes, to help immerse myself into Ugandan culture, I have even learned to adopt the Celine Dion attitude. The That�??s-The-Way-It-Is view on Life. Not surprising, it has proven to be quite handy.

Take last week. I had a very stimulating conversation with a born and bred Ugandan. Over lunch, we swapped questions and answers in table talk about many a topic. By the end of the chat, I could begin to paint a distinct (though incomplete and albeit generalized) picture of what goes on inside the ordinary Ugandan mind. It is a world that I don�??t fully understand, one that has as much allure as it has challenge. Just like any other culture (including the red, white, and blue one I find so familiar), there are good, bad, and ugly things. There are beautiful and darkened sides of the cultural coin. And there are je-ne-sais-quoi pieces that make little sense to outsiders.

The picture that I was beginning to paint had humor and honesty. Parts were refreshing and quite revealing. Others were offsetting, even intimidating. It was a picture that viewed Americans as heroes for fighting the Arab world and tricksters for honoring shady marriage norms (read here: prenuptials). A picture that focused on the nurture side of the origins of homosexuality debate and posited gays and lesbians as the products of choice. A picture that had definite views on Indians and Arabs. On the all of the West (read: America). On blacks around the world. On mzungus far and wide. A picture that brought out laughter at one moment and, at another, unearthed quibbles deep down in my insides.

Of course, any picture of Uganda painted by yours truly would �?? as they say in the world of art �?? carry a perspective all its own. It would be Picasso-like, a hodgepodge of observations and puzzling thoughts. And it would certainly have the potential to showcase judgment. To emphasize my picking and choosing of what makes up Uganda rather than to portray the country in a truer light.

So instead of painting pictures, I tried to end the chat in the way I imagined Celine Dion might. After all, when in Uganda�?�do as the Celine Dion-loving Ugandans do. Respect instead of judge. Soak up information rather than dish out commentary. Recognize that differences exist.

Realize that I am me.

And Uganda is Uganda.

And that�??s the way it is.

Uganda: Cute Boys, High Fives, & Communication in Busia

2007-07-22T18:15:00.001-04:00

This post is contributed by AGRDAU team member Sandra working in Uganda...

As I sit here writing this entry, I am constantly distracted by a cute boy who has a rolled-up chapatti (really yummy tortilla-like thing we have fallen in love with here) in one hand and a scrap piece of paper we have been drawing on in the other. As I try to concentrate, he pokes me so I look at what he�??s drawing, flicks stuff at me to get my attention, throws our attempt of a paper airplane at me, and stares at me with his big, round eyes. He has become my friend and always makes the days at the office better when he is around (he�??s the 6 year old son of a woman who works here and he comes on his school break). At first, he wouldn�??t even look at me because he is very shy, but slowly we became friends and now when he�??s around its quite difficult to not have him around wanting to play. It is always interesting because as he explains things to me I have no idea what he is saying, and when I try to tell him something he looks at me like I am crazy!

It�??s always hard to communicate with someone when you do not speak the same language. Hand gestures are always helpful, as are facial expressions, but I think the easiest people to get along with when you don�??t know a language is children.
You can find kids everywhere in Uganda. Especially in Busia. Especially right around our hotel. Even when it looks like there are only a couple of kids, as soon as you give any attention to one child, many others start peeping out from houses, bushes, trees and before you know it you have an entire group of kids formed around you. I love playing with these kids and if I could, it would be the only thing I would do all day!

I decided to teach a couple of kids across the street how to give a high five. When I went the next day to see if they remembered how do it (which they did), the other kids that had joined them quickly learned how to give one. The next day I decided to sit down with them, and though they speak absolutely no English (besides knowing how to say �??mzungu, how are you?�?? and �??I am fine�??), and my Lusamia skills were limited to �??Hello, my name is Ajambo Sandra. Thank you very much for everything. Good bye!�??, we were still able to �??communicate�?? and play for over an hour. They were very good at the repeating game (ie I say �??yes�??, �??no�??, �??why�??, �??oooh�??, �??aaah�?? etc and they repeat everything I say). We also played the jumping game (everyone gets up and jumps until all of a sudden everyone decides to plop back on the floor), the tickle game (they put their hand on my leg and I tickle them), and the stare game (we all would just sit there staring at each other, not quite sure what to do or say). Austin came out and we taught them Ring-around-the-rosy, which they loved. Most of the time they would just look at us and giggle, fall over and laugh on the ground. As the days went by and Austin and I would go and play with them after work, they have taught us their names, along with how to play some local games. They have tried teaching me a phrase (which I later learned meant �??I want to go bathe�?? �?? very useful, right??), how to sing and how to dance. They find it hilarious to see a mzungu shaking her bootie�?�I just love listening to their laughter and seeing them get all excited! Playing with these new friends and any other random kid along the street we decide to stop and play with a bit is my favourite past time here in Uganda!

Work-related everything is going well. The people here are so nice and when there is not much to do we can always find someone to talk to about anything and everything. Lately they have been mentioning they are sad that we are soon leaving (I cannot believe we only have two weeks left!!) and ask when we will come back and work here permanently with them. Francis, our executive director, is already starting to plan our farewell party where he wants to include everyone we have worked with and met in the entire district! They have given us amazing opportunities to see what the kind of work they do here is like. We have gone to different event and random meetings.

Last week our task was to accompany some CCAs (Community Counselling Aides) on their visitations to the homes of HIV infected people in the community. All of the CCAs are also HIV positive, and they are trained in psycho-social support and are knowledgeable on the important places they can refer the clients to. They are all volunteers and simply commit their time in order to help other members in their community and help fight the stigma against HIV infected people. It was great to be able to go into the different areas in Busia with them, visiting people�??s homes and seeing how many people here live. Everyone is so hospitable and nice and they were all happy to have us visit them at their house.

This week we are travelling across the country to a district called Hoima which is on the Western border. We are going to see how an organization there is working on their sustainable livelihood program, which should be fun and interesting because we have been working with the sustainable livelihood program here in Busia and in the neighbouring district. I am very excited to see more of Uganda �?? it is all so beautiful! Besides our usual trips around Busia and Bugiri districts, we have used a weekend to travel to Jinja and see the source of the Nile (soo beautiful) and another one to go up to Mbale where we went to Sipi Falls and stayed in a banda (a hut) in the mountains that overlooks the amazing waterfall.

Things are going great, I�??m loving it and I am sorry to be leaving so soon! I have noticed we have started speaking English like Ugandans, using their phrases, their replies and following their train of though. I�??m even getting sad thinking that in a few weeks I will no longer be able to eat matooke! Anyways, I will try to post again next week but internet access is quite limited out here in Busia�?�.

Ajambo Sandra

Uganda: Religion, Myths About HIV/AIDS, & Nile Boat Rides

2007-07-22T18:12:00.000-04:00

On Sunday June 24th Saw, a co-worker from Foc-REV invited us all to church with him. Religion is an important aspect of most Ugandans lives. Often when they introduced themselves along with their name and age they also mention their faith. Recently I had a conversation with one of my colleges about religion in the United States. He was appalled when I told him there is separation between church and state in US and even more shocked when I told him administrators are not allowed to pray during assemblies in school.

Saw is a born again Christian and was very excited to have us join him in church. The church service was quite enjoyable and filled with song and dance. The majority of the service is praise and worship. Every choir including the young adults, youth, male, and senior has the opportunity to sing at least two songs. There is also a portion of the program devoted to dance. During this time, youth usually come up and offer praise through the latest dance moves. The service was very exciting to say the least.

Later in the week I had the opportunity to attend a meeting for the Memory Book Project headed by NACWOLA (National Community of Women Living with AIDS). The Memory Book Project geared to empower HIV positive mothers with effective family communication skills to disclose their HIV status to their children. After they have disclosed, the women involved in the program create a book filled with precious childhood memories and important family history to leave behind for their children, This project is so impressive to me, because it not only enables children to better cope and experience less trauma when their parents eventually pass away, but the Memory Project also serves a learning toll for children and adults to obtain accurate information about the transmission of HIV/AIDS.

There are still a number of misconceptions among ht Ugandan community. Many people here still believe you can get HIV/AIDS from sleeping in the same bed with an infected person, sharing toilets, and some even believe if one is to have sex after midnight the virus can�??t be transmitted because it is dormant. It is really unfortunate that so many people still believe these myths, but FOC-REV is striving to change and educate.

Since I work we was not as busy, Sandra and I had plenty of time to play with the children across the street. You wouldn�??t even know that we don�??t speak the same language by watching us and play and interact. A few of the older children know how to speak English and so we are able to communicate to the younger children through them. We�??ve learned a couple of Ugandan games from them and I hoped to learn them well enough to teach other children in the Untied States.

This past week we had the opportunity to shadow Community Health Volunteers. These persons visit with people living with HIV/AIDS and check to make sure they are taking their medication, eating nutritiously, and to address in any other problems or concerns. All of the clients were polite and were honored to have an American in there home. They are such kind people in spit of the illness and poverty they face. I too was honored to be in their presence.

Our weekends have been so much fun. During the last weekend in June, Sandra, Andrew, and I traveled to Jinja. On Saturday we visited Bujagali Falls, where I was charged a lesser entry fee because I was mistaken for Ugandan. I gave the checkpoint guard my money without saying a word, in fear he would realize his mistake. Fortunately, he didn�??t and I have kept my ticket stub because I plan to have it framed when I return home. On Sunday we took a boat ride at on the source of the Nile. It was absolutely beautiful and I can�??t even begin to describe what it was like. This past weekend Sandra and I traveled to Mbale and visited Sipi Falls. Again this place was absolutely beautiful and breath-taking. We slept at a beautiful guest house in a hut. The guest house overlooked the falls and that night I fell asleep to the sound of the falls crashing into the river. I hope to return there someday with my family and Weyling.

Next time I�??ll try not to wait so long before I post a blog. Internet access is never promised here in Busia! Until then enjoy.

Uganda: What I've Done While at CETRUD

2007-07-22T17:41:00.000-04:00

Post contributed by AGRADU team member Vesall working in Uganda

It's been a while since my last post... and so much has happened:

1. I�??ve finished my surveys on CETRUD�??s potential Microfinance expansion and presented the report to the Executive Director (hopefully I�??ll find a way to upload it online for you all to read).

2. I lived in rural Uganda�?� which means that I used a pit latrine extensively, did not have running water for showers, I slaughtered a chicken for dinner, I cycled (and drove) around in the bush, played soccer with a bunch of high school kids. I had a great time!

3. I attended a marriage introduction ceremony, which incidentally was bigger than most weddings I�??ve been to in my life. There�??s always an introduction before a wedding here where there is a symbolic negotiation for a dowry.

4. Along with the wedding ceremony, I also attended a burial ceremony. It was actually quite sad, because it was a burial for a young lady (20 years old) who died in a terrible car accident. The burial ceremony lasted the entire day, and everybody in from the village, and outside, showed up for it.

5. I�??m designing a website for CETRUD. I�??ve learned so much about web design as a result, and I only have my friend Nathan Huening to thank. Therefore, I will shamelessly plug his web-hosting services on this blog�?� so if any of you want a server and a domain name for a website you�??re designing, check out bluefield hosting.

6. I visited the future Agritourism facility for CETRUD which is right next to Rwenzori National Park. This means I had the bounty to see how the local mountain farmers operated their activities. It�??s amazing to see people farm even on very steep slopes.

7. I had an epiphany about the power of the internet. One day, a man in my office was telling me how difficult life was for the women in the mountain. They have to wake up early to hike down a couple hours to fetch water and then hike back. We decided there must be a cheap and easy way to solve the problem, but didn�??t know how. I did a quick search online and found blue prints for a hydraulic ram pump, which costs around $50 (very affordable) and pumps water without electricity. We�??re currently in the process of installing this near the Agritourism facility.

8. We hosted a conference of eight NGO�??s (all of the AGRADU NGO�??s were here, with two person delegations - no UNC AGRADU interns) funded by Firelight Organization in the U.S. It was a lot of fun, but very hectic. I learned a lot, and had the chance to network with all of the NGO�??s, so I hope to visit them during my 4 and a half month stay that I have left here in Uganda.

I�??m sorry that there�??s not much here in terms of reflections. I�??ve definitely had a lot of time to think about what I�??m doing, where I am, and the conditions of poverty, and I�??ve learned so much just by being here. Unfortunately, power is out, and my laptop battery is very low, so I won�??t be able to type anymore for this blog post. Hopefully I�??ll have time to let you know about my thoughts sometime in the next week. Otherwise, take care!

Greetings from Mukono Uganda at Kyetume, Expanding Healthcare, Technology, and Microfinance

2007-07-04T14:28:00.000-04:00

Finally! I am updating this blog! Needless to say, things have been pretty busy�??and I�??m also just getting over a bout of malaria. It has become very apparent how malaria can cause a profound impact on Africa�??s economy; you literally cannot work. Reuben , the programs director here at Kyetume, tells me that he comes down with malaria about once a month. The kind I had was only a positive +1; so they saw one parasite for the small drop of blood they tested; most of the Ugandans here could still go to work with this�??but with +2 or +3, then they�??d be out.

Where to begin? Well my first day in Kampala was a bit of a rough initiation I suppose. Essentially, I had a bag stolen in an internet cafe (containing my digital camera, cell phone, digital voice recorder, glasses�?�). It was astonishingly quick! I placed my bag on the computer desk, turned to pay (while Vesall was watching all the bags, mind you), turn around and then it�??s gone without a trace�??neither of us even saw anyone! I then had a fun time of running around Kampala, filing a police report and such (of which they made me go across the street and make copies of since they ran out of forms-- which wasn�??t too bad, though one officer kept suggesting that I should help �??facilitate�?? their search, haha. I didn�??t pay anything. I wasn�??t really expecting to ever see my bag again at that point.

The other crazy thing was the man who was helping me, from the internet café to navigate through Kampala, my one point of trust and guidance in all this, was suddenly ordered to, �??Sit on the floor!�??, �??Take off your shoes!�?? �??You are a suspect, you are a thief!�?? And sure enough they even had a warrant (with his picture) for stealing a laptop. Apparently though he had just borrowed it from his friend (who also happened to be a police officer), but had over-extended the agreed upon time, and was unable to be reached. So he had to leave with some officers to retrieve the laptop, but inexplicably gave me his bag to safeguard in the meantime. Strange indeed. Oh, and throughout all this, I was getting a rash and advancing swelling in my arms�??apparently a bad allergic reaction to my malaria medicine. It all worked out though in the end.

I suppose I should start a couple weeks back though�?? I am interning at Kyetume Community Based Healthcare, in Mukono, Uganda. Their mission statement is that, �??Kyetume CBHCP strives to improve the general health standards of underserved rural people within Mukono District and Uganda at large by influencing socio-economic behavior of rural communities using a community based involvement/participatory and human rights approach.�??

I�??ve been very impressed with the range and depth of activities that they support. Some of the big ones include: HIV/AIDS Palliative Care Project�??have over 1,000 registered HIV+ patients that they provide testing, home visits, and treatment for opportunistic infections; an orphans and vulnerable children support programme for over 4,000 orphans in Nakisunga Subcounty, including training in organic farming, heifer project, and microfinance scheme; water and sanitation projects including spring protection and pump repairs, vocational training and other income generating activities for OVCs, school dropouts and young mothers; health rights promotion for sexual and reproductive health among women�??s groups, school gardens and other food security initiatives, and a virtual army of community health workers. How�??s that for comprehensive healthcare?

My first day was a bit overwhelming�??since they were expecting three interns (with Jaymin and Adrian), their anticipated workload for me was bit large as well. We�??ve talked about things though, and I think I�??ll be able to handle it, plus a few additional things that have popped up. One of the main things I�??ve been working on is expanding their microfinance scheme. It was initiated in 2006 through 3 of the 8 parish-level orphan support groups that Kyetume works with. After receiving a government grant, each parish was allocated Shs 420,000 (USD $255). So one of the things that Reuben has suggested is investing AGRADU�??s $500 into the microfinance scheme, a funding increase of 65% overall. I�??ve been able to talk with a lot of the different parish leaders about the operational aspects of the program, as well as the limitations, and their goals for it.

Some of the other things include a proposal for equipping the new HIV/AIDS center they have built, as well as one for expanding their Information Communication Technology resource center to offer distance learning courses and IT certification. This would necessitate internet access for one, which is ridiculously expensive here--- $6,000 in initial set-up (equipment, installation, configuration, etc.), and then $350 per month for 256 Kbps speed internet. So if anyone knows of any companies/grants that support internet or technology-access in developing countries�?� that would be very helpful�?� In the same technology-is-more-expensive here vein, cell phone calls are 30cents a minute!

For more run-of-the-mill details�?� the weather has been a bit unexpected here. The last 2 weeks have been cold and rainy, and today there were 2 earthquakes while I was at work!

The atmosphere at Kyetume has been great though�??a lot of new people in and out all the time. The first week I was here they were doing massive training of community health workers in the center�??so a lot of singing and clapping was happening. The center also has a room of sewing machines, so young mothers come to work, as a means of income generating. They also bring their babies with them. So it is a pretty ideal place for free-ranging babies, and chickens, both of which are quite prone to wandering under and around my desk on a daily basis. Who could ask for more?

I hope everyone is doing well�??
Weraba (farewell),
-Danika

Two Weeks At FOC-REV, Losing My Accent and Seeing the Seriousness of HIV/AIDS

2007-07-04T14:24:00.000-04:00

This post is contributed by AGRADU team member Austin...

Today marks two weeks that I�??ve been a member of Friends of Christ Revival Ministries�??, FOC-REV, staff. Upon arriving in Busia I was greeted by a group of men in pink shirts insisting on carrying my bags and taking me across the boarder into Kenya. It was a bit overwhelming but they soon backed off when they realized I wasn�??t going to pay them to take me anywhere. Later I learned they were Boarder Men and they earn their living by riding people on their bikes to various destinations. Soon after we arrived Sandra, Andrew, and I were picked up by a FOC-REV staff member, checked into our hotel, and then dashed off to the FOC-REV office to meet the entire staff. Everyone was very kind and asked many question about the United States.

One of the most interesting conversation I�??ve had with a FOC-REV staff member occurred this week. He asked me how long I had been in the United States because I my accent was gone. When I told him I was born there he looked a little confused and then asked where other members of my family had been born. I told him they were all born in the United States and though I knew as an African-American I had descended from African I didn�??t know which country. He was baffled and expressed how unfortunate that was. He went on to encourage me to research and find out where my family had descended because it is so important to know your family. I told him I would do so.

The following week we were busy visiting various sub-counties and villages interviewing beneficiaries for a recently funded program. The interviewing process was a bit challenging at first because very few of people spoke English, but with the help of interpreters communication became less of an obstacle. The first question on the interview page asks �??Has the PHAS been tested and found positive?�?? I thought for a moment �??What have they been found positive for and what is a PHAS?�?? Almost instantly after I had questioned myself the answer occurred to me and my heart was filled with sadness. I looked around the room examining the women nursing their babies, young men sitting closely to their wives, elderly men and women, and realized that every person present was infected with HIV/AIDS. I was heartbroken and for the first time I could honestly comprehend the seriousness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa.

We�??ve been busy this week training groups for the Sustainable Livelihood Initiative. Through this program FOC-REV provides funding for local community groups in hopes they will one day be able to sustain without their help. During the training sessions we discussed leadership roles, the proper manner to run a meeting and managing finances. The people in my group were extremely polite and made me feel comfortable. I introduced myself as Nafula Austin and they loved my efforts to be respectful of their culture. In Busia all people are given a local name in addition to their first name. My name, Nafula, means born during the rainy season. Although I wasn�??t actually born during the rainy season, my Mother loves the rain and I decided if she had to choose a name for me it would be Nafula. At the conclusion of the sessions we handed out manuals containing all of the information we had discussed throughout the week. The participants seemed appreciative and hopefully they will take heed to what we discussed and become very successful. Before we leave we plan to visit the participants during one of their meetings to check on their progress. I�??m excited about what next week entails.

Week Three in Uganda: Nationalism, Cuisine, and Mzungu

2007-07-04T14:23:00.000-04:00

This post is contributed by AGRADU team member Sandra...

We have already reached week three in our stay in Uganda! When I say that, I cannot believe how amazingly quickly time has passed �?? but at the same time it feels it has been ages since I said my goodbyes at the airport in NC.

Throughout our first week in Kampala we experienced many things: Amazing nationalism at an intense Uganda vs. Nigeria football (or soccer, as Americans like to refer to it) game, traditional Ugandan cuisine, and incredibly hospitable Ugandans.

�?�But we also learned about some sad realities that are present here�?�

The nationalism we saw and felt is unfortunately quite rare. The 65+ different ethnicities that exist within the borders of �??Uganda�?? don�??t in fact generally feel �??Ugandan�??. A formation was established in 1894 when British colonizers decided to draw an imaginary line around what we now know as Uganda. This did not, however, automatically make everyone residing within those lines transform into one uniform nationality. Although English was declared the �??official language�??, more than 30 languages are still spoken by the people living inside of these national lines. Despite our efforts to learn a little bit of Lugandan, one of the most commonly spoken languages in Uganda, it was difficult to even know if the mutterings we heard all around were actually Lugandan or actually Lusamia, Kiswahili, or Lusoga. Everyone here knows at least three or four languages, a must in order to simply communicate with others of their own nationality. Some people were surprised by the nationalism shown on the day of this game, while some people joined in (and got especially excited when they saw mzungus, or foreigners, supporting them with a Ugandan jersey, as I and another AGRADU member were doing). Others thought this display of nationalism was ridiculous and told us that �??Ugandans�?? never show it because they don�??t actually feel it. It fascinates me how something as �??simple�?? as football can really bring together an entire nation of people, despite all of the extreme differences that exist amongst them.

Another thing we learned is how �??Ugandan cuisine�?? is actually quite a nice term for what is in fact a plate-full of starch. I never knew it came in so many forms: sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, rice, yams, pumpkin, squashed bananas (matooke), corn meal (posho) and bread. You then dip your choice of starch into some sort of sauce: beans, groundnuts, fish, beef or chicken stew. Although it is taking some effort to get used to eating the same thing for every meal, I am really starting to enjoy it (especially when our hotel manager cooks and actually puts spice into the food)! My main concern, however, is the nutrition of these staple foods that are everything that people eat here. Many Ugandans believe that fruit is only for children, so adults stay away from it and therefore do not have a healthy diet. You finish every meal with the sensation of being extremely weighed down by all of the heavy starch, while not really receiving what is necessary for your body. This diet is especially a problem for those who are HIV-infected, for because they become weaker without the right food. Thankfully, however, there are groups such as FOC-REV that are trying to communicate the necessity for good nutrition to people in their communities!

We experienced hospitality at one of Vesall�??s Ugandan friend�??s house. We were all invited to a delicious lunch at Billy�??s, after which we extended our invitation late into the night while watching almost an entire series of Prison Break (it is always interesting to see what shows become popular outside of the United States�?�). His house was beautiful, spacious and clean �?? a huge contrast from a large portion of others living in Kampala and elsewhere throughout the country. While many people do in fact live in concrete or brick homes, there are many who still live in mud houses with grass-thatched roofs. It is interesting to experience how development has affected various areas of the country differently.

Our week in Kampala ended with us anxious and scared about arriving at our CBO sites. Busia Town is about a three and a half hour drive from Kampala. After the worry of our tremendous amounts of luggage not fitting into the matatu that was to bring us to Busia, we made it safely all the way to the border of Kenya! It was quite an experience to get out of the van and be immediately surrounded by people trying to sell things, exchange our money, help carry our bags or simply stare at the weird foreigners that just arrived in their town. Sheddy, the program director, came to our rescue and took us back to the FOC-REV headquarters where we met the rest of the team. To our surprise, a Peace Corps member was stationed at FOC-REV and it turns out that she is a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate! It never ceases to amaze me how small this world really is�?�!

We jumped right into work the following day by going to a Youth Meeting where a video was shown to some students in the OVC Program (Orphans and Vulnerable Children), after which we did a question and answer section and then had some one-on-one interaction with them. It was a wonderful experience to get to talk to these students and attempt to get a look into what life is like for many people here in Uganda. It is definitely very complicated but they are so full of motivation and hope that it was moving. After the serious talks, the students taught us how to play net ball, and despite the language barrier we all laughed together and had a great time!

Our first week at work took us to various villages around the Bugiri district, interviewing people and determining beneficiaries for a Sustainable Livelihood Program that just received funding. Again, I thought that language was going to be a huge barrier (they speak Lusamia in this part of the country), but the few people that spoke English were very helpful in being translators for others in their village who could not understand us. Not only was it a wonderful interaction with the local people, but it also gave us the chance to see some amazing landscapes in Uganda �?? some days it took over 2 hours to get to the sites because of the condition of the dirt roads! The red dirt contrasts beautifully with the brilliantly green grass and tress. We drove by Lake Victoria, through rice fields, and past many different homesteads with people walking down the roads on the way to school, the market or to a water pump.

Everyone at FOC-REV is extremely kind and helpful! I have already had some very interesting and deep conversations about differences in religion, beliefs about marriage and behaviours manifested differently in our two cultures. People are very open, interested, and they love to laugh! Sometimes patience is required because things are not as organized and scheduled as they are in the United States, but I try to take the idle time getting to know our co-workers or read the newspaper to keep up with current events occurring here around us.

Exploring the town during our free time has proved quite fun. The kids are extremely cute, always yelling �??mzungu!!!�?? as we walk by, the brave ones running up to shake our hand. The music is great and everybody loves to dance (a couple of girls were trying to teach me today, but I definitely need some more practice)! I have already received a couple of requests from people asking to go back with us to the United States, but for now I think they can see how happy we are to be here in this wonderful country experiencing what it is like to work with a CBO in Uganda. I am sad that we only have a month left but am very excited to see what these next few weeks have in store for us!

The Life of A Malawian Pedestrian

2007-07-03T17:23:00.001-04:00

Posted by Anti-Poverty Campaign team member Michael Kelso, traveling abroad in Malawi.

Unless you�??re an Ex-patriot, a foreigner working for an NGO, or a well-to-do Malawian, you�??ll spend most of your time on foot. Walking in Lilongwe is no dull undertaking; it offers its fair share of excitement, risks, obstacles, and exercise.

If you don�??t plan on catching the bus into town, expect to walk about 8-10km a day, approximately 6 miles. Don�??t worry! If you get hungry or thirsty, there will be plenty of vendors along the way. Street vendors appear at almost every corner offering tangy tangerines, water, bananas, and roasted groundnuts (i.e. peanuts). You will also encounter men on vintage bicycles totting large bags of charcoal, stalks of sugarcane, or firewood. In the morning, you will see bicyclists riding to market with about dozen or so live chickens bound at the feet and hanging upside-down from the handlebars.

Walking in town can also be overwhelming and treacherous; definitely not for the faint at heart. Hundreds of pedestrians crowd the streets. Minibuses and large trucks come dangerously close to sideswiping unsuspecting individuals.

Be sure to always look both ways before you cross. If you�??re used to vehicles driving on the right side of the road like I am, you�??ll find it very difficult maneuvering across the street. There are no crosswalks and very few street lights, and traffic is a beast.
It is not uncommon to encounter someone driving recklessly on the right side of the road, or even in the emergency lane, while overtaking another vehicle at a busy intersection. While the Malawians glide through traffic almost effortlessly, it takes me several attempts to make it across.

Air pollution restrictions seem nonexistent here. Smog billowing from the tailpipes of poorly maintained buses and diesel trucks can be suffocating. Smoke from trash burning in nearby gutters leave your clothes smelling like you just came from a barbeque.

The locals, well, they go about their business as usual. While you find many men riding bicycles up and down the street, the women are usually walking. It is common to see a middle-aged woman carrying a bag of firewood in one hand, groceries in the other, a pail of bananas on her head, and a small infant strapped to her back in a sling.

There aren�??t any sidewalks, so you either walk on the unpaved emergency lane or walk on the edge of the road. It is amazing how the local women can to do all this and still manage to keep their skirts looking like they just got them out of the cleaners. Red dust is everywhere.

Walking at night is not recommended, but it�??s difficult to avoid. You don�??t want to walk alone at night. It can be very dangerous. Besides the possibility getting mugged by a group of young hoodlums with panga knives, you may come across a large pothole or a 3-foot deep gutter along the side of the road. There are no street lights. So it is pitch black at night. Most pedestrians rely on the headlights of commuting mini-bus to light their path.

I don�??t know which is worse, riding the minibus or pounding the pavement.

I have hiking boots�?� now imagine doing all this in flip flops like the locals do.

Global Giving Film Festival - Vote Now for Your Favorite Development Project Film

2007-06-24T17:40:00.000-04:00

From now until June 29th, GlobalGiving.org is hosting The Global Giving Film Festival.

They want you to cast your vote for videos that make you feel the most connected to a grassroots human or economic development project.

GlobalGiving gathered raw footage (photos and video) from more than twenty high-impact projects around the world. Film makers used this footage to create compelling and interesting videos that tell the stories of these projects and the people who are helped by the work they do. Each video tells the story of a project from www.globalgiving.com and will help to connect these projects with support and funds.

Voting will determine which videos do the best job of telling the project�??s story. All of the finalists�?? videos are available at http://www.karmatube.org/ff.

According to Global Giving Marketing Intern Elissa Goldberg, "The more people who get to know these projects, the more positive change we can create around the world."

A Political Discussion in Malawi

2007-06-24T14:00:00.000-04:00

Post contributed by Anti-Poverty Campaign team member Michael Kelso traveling in Malawi...

Around noon, I again found myself at the table eating Nsima and fried chicken with George, John Banana, and Frederick. Our older friend, Frederick didn�??t waste any time turning this small dusty shack into a place for political discussion and reflection.

�??You know, here?�?? Frederick opened while looking off in the distance as if images of round bellies and open sewers came to mind. �??Malawi is a very very poor country�?� um�?� Yes.�?? I could sense a bit of helplessness in his tone as he spoke about his homeland.

However, in the same breath he spoke with pride about the freedom that exists in his country. �??We are poor�?� but free! You can walk here and there and no one will molest you. This is a free country; the warm heart of Africa.�??

�??No one will ask you for a passport while walking down the street,�?? He continued. �??You know those foreigners were here, the Dutch, stopping people in the street asking, �??Let me see your passport! Where are you going? Where are you from?�??�??

�??Now is that fair?�?? he asked me. �??Do you think it is fair for a foreigner to ask you for papers in your own country?�??

Feeling a little apprehensive with his bluntness and passion for the topic I answered, �??Yes, it�??s not fair.�??

�??But you know,�?? Frederick continued without skipping a beat, �??That Mugabe; he is a wise man.�?? �??Yes, his country maybe poor and his regime not so good. But he is a freedom fighter like Banda and the president of Libya. He will not let foreigners to come and steal from his country�??

As Frederick continued to go on his rant about the affect of Western policies in Africa, I couldn�??t help but examine his appearance. He looked quite different from most of the Malawians I�??ve met. Frederick is an older gentleman, probably in his mid to late fifties. He owns a hardware shop in Area 3 and he keeps to a pretty set schedule. Everyday at 12pm, he comes to the market to the same restaurant to have the same dish: rice, relish, and either chicken or steak. Most Malawians are considered quite lucky to have a meal like this more than once a year. So, Frederick is relatively rich in Malawian standards. His physique even reflects his high standard of living. Here in Malawi, a man is considered rich if he is overweight. If a person can afford to eat anything but Nsima everyday, he must be wealthy.

I could tell the younger guys John Banana and George hold much respect for this man. They sat there while eating, listening quietly but attentively. It was as if they have sat down and had this conversation a thousand times.

�??You know, you have heard about forming a United States of Africa, huh?�?? Frederick asked with a big smile on his face. I remembered reading an article about the Libyan President holding a conference with leaders of several African countries about this issue in the coming weeks.

�??Then there will be two USAs,�?? he proclaimed. �??It would be very good for Africa. You know Africa is a very rich country. We have oil, gold, copper, diamonds and land. If we can unite under one government we can take back what the foreigners have been robbing from us. We won�??t need donors. Donors are a very bad thing.�??

Thinking that maybe I have had enough of the conversation, he changed the subject. �??You know, I am glad you have come to Malawi. We don�??t get many people [Black Americans] like you here. I want you to come to my home in Area 25 and visit a nearby village. I want to show you how we, Malawians, live.�??

�??When do you want me to come?�?? I asked. �??I am free on Saturday.�??

In Kampala, Uganda

2007-06-20T22:16:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody. All of us are in Kampala right now and we've done a number of pretty fun and exciting things. Probably the most exciting day so far was Sandra, Austin, and Andrew's second day, the day of the Nigeria vs. Uganda FIFA Africa's cup qualifier match. Everything about it was exciting:
- Sandra and Danika wore Uganda jerseys, and caused everybody to stare at us all afternoon (in a really fun and friendly way... as if to say "thank you for supporting Uganda!")
- The taxi driver had to lie his way around police officers by saying that he picked us up from the U.S. embassy. We were running a bit late to the game.
- Uganda won the match... starting riots because it was the first time they won against Nigeria in any international competition.

Simply put, it was an amazing day.

On Sunday we visited the Baha'i temple and the Ndere cultural center. This was a lot of fun as well, but I'll let the other interns tell you about these experiences personally.

In the meantime, we're all anxious to leave Kampala so that we can go serve at our internship sites. We'll keep you posted as much as we can! There's not too much internet access in Uganda. Thanks for reading!

Read original post at the AGRADU blog

Microloan Programs at the Ugandan Center for Environmental Technology and Rural Development

2007-06-20T22:12:00.000-04:00

Post contributed by Anti-Poverty Campaign and AGRADU team member Vesall, working abroad in Uganda at the Center for Environmental Technology and Rural Development.

Hi everyone. We've left Kampala (although this photo is a photo of the group in Kampala with a friend of mine. I thought maybe some people would like to see it), and I'm in Kasese, a city on the western border of Uganda (near Congo), and I've started working at the CBO, Center for Environmental Technology and Rural Development (CETRUD). Everything here is quite laid back and there is no schedule here that compares to the type of work schedule we expect in the U.S. To put it simply, you work when you have work to do and you relax when you don't.That said, there's a couple of projects that I'm working on.

The first is that I'm updating the CETRUD website, but this will take a while to complete. I'm not too familiar with the website interface, so I'm trying to get a good grasp of it before I make any real changes.The second project is a project I'm more excited about. They have asked me to set up a microlending program for the farmers in the nearby village that CETRUD works with. I have read a good deal on savings programs and microlending, but I've never actually thought of establishing one myself.So, I'm finding myself reading up on different case studies (some in Uganda) and asking various people that work and do research in the microlending field about different methods that have been most successful.

I've found that the most successful microloan programs are organically initiated groups of people that lend to themselves. How do they lend to themselves? By saving money over a period of time (30 people contribue 1$ a week for four weeks), and then lending the money to a group member to use to buy capital for their business.I had a conversation with the leader of a group of women here that has a business catered around making clothes. This group has applied for numerous loans from the local microlending bank, but the interest rates and the return deposits are too much and too frequent for them to be benefiting from any of the profits of their work. I suggested that instead of making a saving deposit with the bank (that the bank can take if they default on their loan), they could save money within the group for about 2 months and they would have the same amount of resources to lend money to themselves.

She was very excited about the idea and she said that she was going to her group right away to discuss with them this idea. This likewise made me excited!I had a conversation with a Kenyan man who is staying at the CETRUD compound (see picture), who just happens to be a microfinance expert who works with over 1,000 coffee farmers in the region. He says, "the difference between you and a peasant is that you are able to save money. If they knew the benefits of saving, they would not have the problems they have today."

I've learned that the fundamental purpose of microlending is to train people about the importance of saving money in order to eventually earn an income. Tomorrow, I will be going to the village near Kasese to talk to various groups about savings options in their village (via savings groups, microlending, etc.). I'm excited to hear what they have to say! I'll keep you posted. Where are the other AGRADU interns?Finally, a picture of me with Godfrey, the executive director of CETRUD.

Uganda: What is My Name?

2007-06-20T22:11:00.001-04:00

This post is contributed by Anti-Poverty Campaign and AGRADU team member Andrew, currently in Uganda

Names are revealing. Take mine: Andrew. In the States, it consistently ranks as one of the top 10 baby boy names every year. In the Land of Bibles and Saints, it conjures up the twelve disciples and stories of fish. And in Uganda, it is a name easy to understand if and only if said in the British way. Awwwndrew�?�as if coming out after one big yawn. Whenever greeting people (many of whom have little to no mastery of English), I look like the one learning my name (and English) for the first time. Gone is the familiar short �??a�?? at the beginning of the name I have grounded into my center for twenty years. Instead, I am left with an awkward introduction of broken English (usually on my account) and weak translation (again, my bad).

Even when I am not stammering out Awwwndrew, the issue of my name is hardly at rest. There�??s my Ugandan name: Bwire. But the fact that I can�??t quite link the �??b�?? and the �??w�?? together pretty much leads to confusion of Awwwndrew proportions. The only name that I have even begun to master really isn�??t mine at all. Or at least mine alone. Mzungu. The Ugandan word for �??white person�?? or �??foreigner.�?? It is the name the local kids call out whenever I walk into Busia town, take out my camera for a �??snap,�?? or pass by in a matatu on any and every dusty Ugandan road.

Of course, names aren�??t just the nuts and bolts of greetings. They are the windows into personalities, gateways into relationships, and trapdoors hiding emotional worlds. My name �?? Awwwndrew Bwire Mzungu Daub �?? means much more than the baby name dictionary�??s definition of �??strong�?? and �??manly.�?? It carries more weight than any baby name book or Bible. Here in Uganda, it means answers. Help. Hope.

Uganda is a wonderful country. A land of perpetual friendliness with the charm and inner workings of a truly Southern town. Sweetened but not iced, tea has its time here. Rocking chairs and porches though rare, people sit outside looking at passerby. Everyone knows everyone, and everyone�??s business is hung out to dry along with the day�??s washing. But Uganda is also a country stuck. Stuck, stuck, stuck. Many things fall here. The schilling to the dollar. The livestock and crops to disease. The people to fatal epidemics. The nation to terrorizing, paralyzing Western clutches.

So there is reason to have answers. To help and to hope. And there is sense behind why a name like Awwwndrew Bwire Mzungu Daub is instantly attractive. It is a Godsend for some, a sense of relief for many. And though humbling it is to have people rush to my side and treat me with such genuine admiration, there is considerable expectation. And pressure. With a name carrying so much possibility, there also comes the heavy baggage of producing this answer, that answer, some help, such glowing hope. That baggage becomes even more overwhelming when all that rushes through my head is an I-don�??t-know-where-to-even-begin stream of consciousness. How do I grapple with such demanding responsibility, responsibility that came into my lap when I �?? however poorly �?? uttered my name?

Yes, names are revealing. But they do not just expose the person inside. They open up questions, fears, and harsh todays. They imply solutions and better tomorrows. However, no band-aid, no recovery, and no future can rest in just a name. Answers, help, and hope are too complicated of recipes for a name to be the sole ingredient. I don�??t know where to begin and that is the only beginning I know. It is the only way I can move beyond my struggles to get Awwwndrew Bwire Mzungu Daub out of my mouth. The only way to then build and build the living-breathing-feeling search for answers, help, and hope. The only way to keep my Ugandan conversations flowing.

View original post at http://agradu.blogspot.com/