Change the World-Eric Clapton

Many of our group went rafting on the Nile River today (that’s in our plans for next weekend-although it sounds so crazy, I’m a little freaked out about it now…) so a few of us went to Lugazi to help out with a project development program and then on to the town of Jinja.  Jinja is the second largest city in Uganda and is known for being the source of the Nile River.

Our day began back at Pastor Francis’ school.  
In the evenings he teaches classes to adults to promote various community and economic development ideas.  He currently has two classes going on-project development, economic development, and a counseling class where people can earn a counseling certificate.  While we were in town, he had all of his students come to a special Saturday training on life, administration, economic development, and program development that are all Michael’s areas of expertise, as a result, Michael had prepared materials for us to use in helping the students develop their ideas.  We spent some time going over the main ideas as a large group and then broke into smaller groups to provide more one-on-one guidance as we discussed the students’ project ideas.

Working on developing measurable objectives

Many of them needed help breaking down their big idea into manageable and realistic action plans with steps they could take to accomplish their goals.  After some time in our small groups, we got back together to hear how things went.  The students were very excited about the information we shared.  Michael had provided some handouts they could use as templates for future projects as well and they were very excited about taking those and applying them to their different projects.

Some of the projects the students were interested in starting were: building a school, starting a business of craft projects, creating an afterschool program for orphans, offering classes to teach parents about child behavior and development, starting a computer access business, offering counseling workshops to families, starting a bakery service, and starting a poultry farm.  As Pastor Francis says, “small steps make big changes” and I think we helped take some steps towards planning and accomplishing their goals.  Pastor Francis was very appreciative of the materials and guidance we provided for the students.

While I’ve spent most of my blog so far talking about Uganda and all I’m learning here, I am learning equally as much from conversations with my colleagues on our many trips to and from different places.  I’ve had some amazing conversations about paradigm shifts as a result of traveling, religion, education and social programs in Finland, education and development in Uganda and Rwanda, and much, much more.

Today’s hour long drive to Jinja was another insightful conversation about development models and philosophies, and how someone can truly make a difference when situations can, at times, seem so hopeless.  We also discussed African experiences.  One thing I mentioned is that I expected the level of development to be higher than what I’ve seen so far. 

When I was last in sub-Saharan Africa in 2002 I met a Masaai warrior living in a mud hut who gave me his email address.  Since it’s fourteen years later, and there have been so many technological advancements since that time, and I’ve seen “mobile money” stands all over, I expected the level of development to be a bit further along.  However, as we visit the slums each day, I am shocked by the lack of development, the distance that must be traveled to water, the lack of infrastructure.  Many people do have cell phones but they are very basic phones capable of calling and texting.  They are not like the phones used in Brazil that can hotspot a wifi spot for you.  As a result, most people do not have access to the internet.  Unemployment is high and wages are very, very low.  A teacher will make 150,000 shillings a month, which is the equivalent of about $50.  The majority of people’s salaries go towards food and rent and, as a result, it is nearly impossible to save up enough money to go to school, buy a house, or start a business.

We arrived in Jinja after crossing the Nile River and had lunch at a restaurant called The Keep.  They cater to Western tourists and we were able to enjoy some hamburgers, Philly cheesesteaks, Oreo milkshakes, and chips and salsa!

After lunch we did some souvenir shopping before driving back to Mukono and meeting up with the rest of the group for dinner and debriefing.