::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::

NGO Internal Jokes

'World Vision' is nicknamed Blurred Vision, the 'Norwegian People's' Aid are often referred to as Norwegian People's Army and the abbreviation of the 'Danish Refugee Council (DRC)' is confused for the Democratic Republic of Congo.

MS Uganda (which makes absolutely no other sense in African English) is taken for Miss Uganda!

If you can do the party you can also overcome the day after...

Another rule applying to this kind of world is that if you can do the party you can also overcome the day after - including any kind of hangover, pack your stuff, deal with the world's most annoying and inconsequent border patrol, drive on to the next destination, and get ready for work.

Sunday I drove us out of Kajo Keji into Moyo on the Ugandan side and then half way to Yumbe, then my colleague Peter took over to Koboko. Then we both drove from Koboko and then back into Southern Sudan reaching Yei just before dusk.

Today I had to facilitate a workshop which I actually thought was sceduled for tomorrow with the same group I found myself with this morning, having completely lost track of dates matching with what days. However, I think I sort of got away with it. At least, my colleague Peter expressed a thank for good facilitation at the end of it. Thinking twice he might as well have referred ironically to the my personal rule above. I might have to ask. I am not 25 any longer.

Sometimes things actually complete...

I have been working on this pamphlet for our civic education programme 'Education for Peace'  (for what has felt like a 100 years). But now it is here and to be distributed. I love concrete results!

I work for a Danish NGO which doesn't allow jerry cans...

Our MS Uganda administrator keeps texting us development workers SMSes which i.e. go like this one; 'Bukoto, Entebbe, Gayaza Rd., Gulu, Keyfuel, Kibuli, Masaka Centre, Mbarara will get some diesel 2day. Keep checking there...'

Ugandans know why. Uganda has had a shortage of fuel for weeks. It is said that the major cause of the current low supply of fuel is caused by technical constraints on the Kenya pipeline system, which is facing frequent shutdowns due to lack of power.

Wednesday morning I was in Gulu, spending most of my morning searching for diesel. I finally located a Delta Petrol station which obviously had fuel, and so had the rest of Gulu. A fight for being first in line had begun.

Fine. This is Africa. Those are the conditions. But I almost turned violet violent when I realised that people can walk straight up with a couple of drums and eight 20-liter jerry cans, and get them filled. Meaning that the drivers behind wheels don't have a chance (unless they carry jerry cans, too - which everone else except I did). But it also means that the majority of jerry can carriers most likely will walk off and sell the fuel for a convenient profit around the next corner.

I had only waited in the line for few minutes when a guy approached me with an offer which could have lowered my irritation of the hassling of pushing cars in front of each other. I did say no, though I have to admit that I felt tempted to ask for his telephone number - just in case. Incidents like this make me pick up on something which doesn't cling well with being a decent Danish development worker working for anti-corruption and good governance. I push my car persistently forward every possible inch, I use the space someone else was forced to make to get another truck out, and I make it to the pump where the woman fills my car. Call it adjustment to African standards.

And wish me luck - today I have to locate diesel in Arua...

Uganda's Black Conscience

Yesterday I visited Willy Akena from the Diocese of Northern Uganda in Gulu. We went to Amuru IDP Camp anout 40 km North of Gulu. I will write more about it, when digested. It is heavy stuff.

Don't let yourself fool by the Ugandan friendliness and the so-called progressive president - Uganda still has one big problem: the about 1,6 mio. internally displaced persons in the camps in Northern Uganda, the abducted who are now returning, trying to integrate, and too many governmental representatives benefitting from a drag-out of the Peace Talks in Juba.

And for the record - for these people in the IDP camps there isn't a touchable outcome from the peace talks yet, though they have been going on since August 2006.

See more photos here.

 

Practice What You Preach!

It happens all the time. I sit in a meeting,  I loose track of what the presenter says and what the plenary discusses. But then suddenly someone says something interesting. And during the next break it turns out that what made the most sense to me, didn't to the rest.

It happened again today. I participated in a workshop for MS Uganda, where we are supposed to generate inputs on the theme of local democracy and empowerment.

Professor Olum from the Faculty of Political Science at Makerere University gave a presentation on empowerment from an HR and psychological approach. Basically, he said that instead of looking out, blaming other actors for your failure at not making enough impact, you should look internally and ask how good your organisation is at empowering its own employees. Because without empowered and motivated employees you will never be able to empower others.

I couldn't agree more. In our case, I'd say that it counts for all levels within MS, Danish, Global, Uganda, DWs, country office and partners. I mean, MS doesn't make tarmac roads, build schools or provide other easily measurable hardware. We are using democracy as a tool to eradicate poverty (and we are still in the process of identifying what that exactly will be). In my eyes that process will need endless conviction and motivation which somehow has to derive from involved stakeholders who are psychologically satisfied. People must believe in the cause, and you only do so if it makes sense to you on a personal level, too.

The reason why this made so perfect sense to me, is that I think MS has a problem in the way it is going about the democracy theme at the moment. MS has sort of forgotten that its employees and partners also have to be empowered and feel psychologically satisfied in order to perform. In practice it means that MS sometimes forget to apply the democractic principles on its own internal procedures, while it still asks it from everyone else.

I mean, you don't want the hair dresser with the ugly hairstyle to cut your hair, do you?!

The man with the key is gone - or why you should blog instead of using a website

What a nice surprise! One of my colleagues from MS Uganda - our Editor for the MS Uganda News Letter, James, started to blog. We talked a little bit about it a while ago, but he didn't get around to do it. Two weeks ago he borrowed my old camera, and now he is operating. Check out his Punta Malia here. Zebra in swahili.

I am a passionated blogger, and I really, really like to share it with others - teaching people to use the tools, and I get really happy when I see they make it work. Or even if they don't, and then call me from Gulu, as Willy Akena sometimes does, when the blogspot.com isn't operating the way it should. I went to Gulu in November 2006, and the Diocese Of Northern Uganda has been blogging since. Check them out here.

Finally, one of our partners in Education for Peace has taken up blogging, the Sudanese Human Rights Association - and they are really good at posting short, frequent posts about their work and activities. Well done. Read it here.

Also there is a growing line of Danish development workers blogging - however most of them in Danish. Check my Danish blog here for a list).

What I want to underline is that the majority of the type of partner organisations MS Uganda works with has a need for an electronical way of communicating their activities and visions - beside they should think of using it as a tool for advocacy and fundraising - documentation. A lot has chosen the traditional homepage, but often it never works. Either the webmaster is 'lost', or it is too difficult for others to change, post etc. Resulting in an idle website (which no one is interested in) Sorry, but that is a complete waiste of time!

The blog is a good alternative, because everybody can work it out easily (or with a bit of introductory assistance). Just take my examples from above. When people have the password - and access - themselves - the power is in their hands. Also they don't need a specific programme - just Internet access. I think the personal power and direct access is essential, and I have experienced with the people above that exactly is part of the motivation.

Is it possible?!

Yes, it is possible.

The answer is always the same, when I have doubted that I can transport anything on the back of my car when going to Arua from Kampala.

I left MS Uganda in Kampala at 8.20 am this morning, and arrived 7 hours later in Arua. My best time to date. But still, I could fly to Jozie in less hours. Or Europe.

Another Annual Meeting

Next Wednesday I'll be going to Arusha in Tanzania to present MS Uganda at MS TZ's annual meeting.

In practical it means physical participation in another annual MS meeting. Nema problema. I can do that. But it also means that I am supposed to give a 10-15 minutes report to the assembly of MS TZ staff, partners and development workers. And honestly; these types of reports are never the huge attraction a long the line with other formal stuff in an annual meeting. It is standard part of the agenda, that's that.

Theorethically, of course, I could be wrong. Anyhow, - I have been trying to figure out what exactly I am going to report - I mean what is the real story from Uganda!? Someone advised me to talk about something the Tanzanian assembly will be interested in. An advice which never seems to fail. However, I haven't got the clue what the interesting part is going to be.

In the name of democracy

MS Uganda's Annual Meeting 2007 in Jinja is all over now. I managed to drive back to K'la, and now my only problem is that I can't find my pain killers...

About 140 people under one roof - Africans and Europeans, black and white, and quite a few children with a skin color in between black and white (apparently things happen when you put MS people together).

A lot of Danes who still haven't learned to pronounce poverty correctly. The Danes keep saying powerty. Which is a bit of an interesting issue when the goal of our work is poverty reduction, and hence repeated throughout the meeting.

A means - or a tool - to get there is democracy, which is another concept with an interesting effect on development workers and partner organisations. It is now being used as an argument to sustain processes where you seek to promote a cause, retrieve benefits, or improve conducts. You would hear development workers say with a bit of indignation; 'If MS wants to promote democracy for the poor, its own internal procedures as i.e. transperency of priviledges for its employees and their right to negotiation of their conditions must be absolutely clear'. Or you would hear partners describing the process of introducing a new theme as 'top-down' and hence conflicting with the idea of participation.

The question is if the committment to working for and with democracy demands a bigger responsibility from MS as an organisation (than if MS had only decided to focus on trade or women?). If you dont practice what you preach, it is difficult to convince someone else about the impact of your mission. It is difficult to mobilise, motivate and develop.

On the other hand, people forget that this traditional Scandinavian way of working with democracy is draining and time-consuming. That we like to talk hours before acting. That kind of thing works best where people don't have to think of how to get their next meal. Too much talk and too many people to turn around all issues leaving their foot prints. Sometimes you just have to do it. Focus is good. But I just want some action now.