Uganda

Blog Post:  Posted July 21, 2010, 7:16 am by Lisa Inks

After the bombings in Kampala, learning from survival

Country: Uganda

Topics: Peaceful Change, Conflict & War

When I prepared to come to Uganda this summer to do a peacebuilding evaluation with Mercy Corps, I prepared for danger. I was going to the northeastern region of Karamoja, where armed warriors raid cattle and ambush vehicles in a conflict punctuated by extreme poverty and marginalization. Some colleagues clucked their tongues when I told them where I was headed: “Be careful,” they said. “Always wear shoes you can run in.”

After five weeks conducting an assessment in Karamoja without incident, I came back to Kampala to write my report. I took a break from work to meet friends at the Ethiopian Village restaurant on July 11, where we settled in to watch the World Cup final alongside dozens of other exuberant football fans.

Right at halftime, a huge blast knocked me out of my chair. I was running without thinking, through a spray of particles and smoke, my eardrums throbbing to a shrill pitch. Before reaching the exit, I turned back. Where people had been laughing and cheering one minute earlier, they were sprawled on the ground or in their chairs, dead, nearly dead, or screaming.

I began to feel the burden of luck — I was completely unscathed but for several bruises — even as we checked bodies for pulses and carried out a man clinging to life through spasmodic gasps for air.

Kampala was supposed to be a respite from danger, a peaceful city far from the violence that has sown terror in the north of the country. When Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attacks because of Uganda’s troop commitment to the African Union mission in Somalia, Ugandans started speaking of a new era. Uganda is barely catching its breath from a brutal 20-year conflict in the country's north with the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army, and it is now at war with Al-Shabaab.

The particular conflict I came to examine — where tribal warriors wielding AK-47s rustle cattle and goats, burn homes and abduct villagers — seems like a far cry from terrorist attacks in the capital city. But I can’t say that they don’t share commonalities: both destroy the lives of innocent people, both bring trauma to those who should be free to live without fear.

In Karamoja, our team assessed the level of insecurity to see whether “no-go” areas had decreased since the start of Mercy Corps’ Building Bridges to Peace program. We found that people in Karamoja are freer to move about, during the day and the night, than they were one year ago. Indeed, community members can use farmland and forestland they once avoided, they can walk down roads that were once “death zones.” Things are changing, it seems, for the better.

In Kampala, however, the “no-go” areas just expanded exponentially. Fewer people venture out late at night. We are advised to stay away from crowded places. Kampala now feels like a battlefield.

In order to make people more secure, Mercy Corps goes to the places that are most insecure. That’s what makes Mercy Corps effective. And in Karamoja, I can see positive effects of a comprehensive peace program that improves livelihoods for communities that have been in conflict for decades, where Mercy Corps staff members have been dedicating their energy for years.

When I started interning with Mercy Corps in the Cambridge office last January, the Conflict Management Group fastidiously pieced together theories of change, indicators and survey questions, trying to pinpoint causes of conflict and map out a road for peace.

Truthfully, I have scant more intellectual insight now than I did sitting in that office. As peacebuilders, we can point to factors that lead people to commit violent acts, and sometimes we get close to telling the story of conflict. But there is still a gap between knowledge and understanding, and never have I appreciated that gap as fully as I did when I was looking at the half-blown out face of a man in shock.

The old adage is true: the more you learn, the less you seem to know. But there’s more still. One experience can call everything you learned into question.

What insight I have gained, however, comes in the form of a heightened emotional consciousness, a bit more dogged determination, and, ultimately, a stronger belief in the work we are doing.

Blog Post:  Posted July 2, 2010, 1:09 pm by Phil Ottum

An 'Easter egg' from Uganda

Country: Uganda

Topics: Economic Development

Staff members send me photos they've come across pretty regularly. The special ones I call "Easter eggs" because they're such a pleasant discovery.

This image from Uganda taken at a Mercy Corps Cash-for-Work site is a perfect example. Staffer Nate Oetting emailed it to me a few months ago and said it was taken by Kaarli Sundsmo, an employee of project funder USAID. I like the dreamy, painterly quality of the image. The composition is unorthodox and even a bit cluttered, but it's held together by the fact that everything is out of focus except the two workers in the foreground. Another component of the photograph's visual interest is the way the curves of the digging tools are sympathetic with the curves of the horizon line.

Posted February 8, 2010 by Jenny Bussey Vaughan

Strengthening Our Ability to Promote Stability

Country: Uganda

Topics: Citizen Involvement, Civil Society, Economic Development, Peaceful Change, Social Innovations

In an unpredictable world characterized by increasing social, economic and political complexity, good intentions are not enough to ensure sustainable peace and development. Effective, locally appropriate programming must be based on a clear understanding of the causal mechanisms behind peaceful change and a rigorous analysis of the impact of different interventions. As a relatively young discipline, the field of conflict management is still struggling to determine the best way to define goals and objectives, to measure impact, to articulate theories of change that describe why a particular program will lead to its expected outcome, and, ultimately, to identify success.

In July 2009, Mercy Corps began an 18-month, USAID-funded research project designed to strengthen our ability to evaluate the impact of programs that aim to promote stability through peacebuilding and economic development. Through comparative case studies of three country programs — Uganda, Ethiopia, and Indonesia — we will develop a set of field-tested measures of program impact and locally appropriate data collection tools, while promoting cross-community learning and problem-solving through a cooperative learning network.

This research will also allow us to examine several "theories of change" that underlie many of Mercy Corps' conflict management and poverty alleviation programs, including the theories that building economic relationships across lines of division or reducing competition for scarce resources will promote stability.

The Building Bridges for Peace (BBP) program in Uganda is an ideal testing ground for tools designed to evaluate programs that promote stability through both peacebuilding and economic development. Based on the theory that strengthening livelihoods opportunities for high-risk populations will promote stability by reducing competition for scarce economic resources, this 24-month program aims to address the key causes of conflict in northern Karamoja by engaging agro-pastoralist communities in joint livelihoods projects that build cooperation and promote reconciliation. These livelihoods projects will increase access to water and farmland through the construction of water tanks and dams and through joint farming of previously insecure areas.

Blog Post:  Posted November 18, 2009, 12:31 pm by Kate Dilley

The tenuous return

Country: Uganda

Topics: Rural, Peaceful Change, Displacement, Agriculture

Dennis, my driver and impromptu translator, and I walked through the resettlement site towards the grinding mill where we were going to talk with a Youth Empowerment Program beneficiary. We walked past so many huts and I couldn’t help but feel that the camp was too quiet for the number of homes in the area. There weren’t enough children playing or men and women working.

The camp felt eerily like a ghost town.

When we reached the grinding mill, we began to attract a crowd. Children gathered around us playing in the worn down foundation of a hut. Some of the children were naked, others in tattered dirty clothing. Some watched quietly, the curiosity clear on their faces as they crept closer to me and reached out to touch my bag or my skirt. Others played and laughed, oblivious to us, too busy engaged with their playmates to pay attention to the grownup discussion taking place.

We talked with program beneficiaries about life in the camps. Many people are leaving the camps and the resettlement sites for their home villages. The Acholi people or northern Uganda are farmers — they rely on the land for their subsistence. Life in the camps has decimated much of their traditional way of life. They long to be back in their home villages working their land with their own hands to earn a living and provide for their families.

While many people have returned home, the return is not always easy. Having spent so much time in the camps, many people may not know how to farm, or lack the tools or income to purchase tools. Others have lost their drive to be self-sustaining; they are used to the handouts from the aid organizations and are now dependent upon them for their survival.

A cease fire was brokered in mid-2006, but the effects of the conflict are still felt out in the villages. With no final peace deal, many are reluctant to say that the conflict has ended.

As people return home, most of them have to rebuild from the ground up. Their homes have been burnt, and the bush has encroached on their homesteads and gardens. Too many villagers find unexploded land mines out beyond the camps, leaving them dead or maimed. The combination of these challenges and fears creates a tenuous situation, at best, for return.

Despite the challenges and obstacles, many people are hopeful that their lives will soon return to normal. They look forward to getting back to their villages and their gardens. They hope that their children will continue studying in school. They see much opportunity for their lives in northern Uganda. I hope that those who closed the doors to their huts in the camps and have returned to their villages are safe and content to be back home.

Blog Post:  Posted November 11, 2009, 11:26 pm by Kate Dilley

What is public health?

Country: Uganda

Topics: Rural, Livelihoods, Health, Food/Nutrition, Education

One of the things that people often ask is "What is public health?" I used to say, "everything," without much conviction.

As a public health professional I have always been interested by issues that directly affect people's health. In my graduate coursework, this often meant talking about vaccination campaigns for polio and measles, vitamin and micro-nutrient supplementation including iodized salt and vitamin A, and of course access to clean drinking water and primary health care services. Coming to northern Uganda, I thought that I would be most intrigued by these topics.

Yesterday on a trip to the field, we stopped and inspected school latrines and road construction. While at the school (constructed out of tree branches and a thatched roof with UN tarps over it), I heard a little bit about the very successful child to child education campaign that Mercy Corps conducted along with the latrines. It seems to have provided the children — and, through them, their families — with impressive sanitation knowledge. As we stood at the handwashing stand, two children came to use the latrines and both washed their hands thoroughly, without being reminded. They also had to push through a big group of adults to get to the stand, which they did.

We moved on to look at the road that is being built by the livelihoods team. As we stood on one of the bridges, I was told that this road had been completely constructed by Mercy Corps — it had previously just been bush. The road is just about two cars wide, raised with channels running along the sides to drain water in the rainy season, and constructed out of murrum (gravel like soil selected for its stability). As we drove down a (mostly) smooth road for almost 20 kilometers, I kept thinking about the potential for this road — increased opportunity for jobs and trading of goods, making it easier for students to get to school, and easier to transport people and supplies for improved medical care in the area.

For people to be in good health, so many things must be in place. Without access to proper water and sanitation there is no good health. No roads means no access to medical care. Poor agriculture means no food, let alone a balanced diet including fruit and vegetables. And conflict and disaster means a drastic lifestyle change which can lead to poor mental health.

Mercy Corps is working to address all of these issues, in addition to others in its work around the world.

My view of improving people's health used to be so narrow. Like any good learning experience, my time in Uganda has helped me better understand the complexities of life and the issues and challenges that must be addressed in order to "alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities."

In northern Uganda, Mercy Corps is achieving their mission, and I am now further convinced that public health is, in fact, EVERYTHING.

Blog Post:  Posted November 2, 2009, 3:50 am by Kate Dilley

Seeing the work first hand

Country: Uganda

Topics: Youth, Sports, Rural, Peaceful Change, Livelihoods, Food/Nutrition, Displacement, Citizen Involvement, Agriculture

The work of Mercy Corps in northern Uganda has included an array of projects and activities aimed at solving many of the region's problems. We have a Livelihoods Team hard at work improving road infrastructure and providing jobs for many of the unemployed. Our Agriculture Team provides seeds, tools and trainings to groups hoping to improve their lives with agriculture. Our Water and Sanitation team provides latrines and wells to people in need. There is constant conflict resolution and peace building through a range of activities including building bridges and playing football. Our youth program is aimed at providing two crucial skills to the young people: income generating activities and lifeskills training.

While I had read a great deal about the work that Mercy Corps was doing in the region prior to my arrival here in Pader District, it really hit me on my second trip out to the field. I joined the Agriculture Team as they were passing out seeds to groups in Lira Palwo sub-county. Many of the people living in this sub-country are still living in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. Those living in the camps are particularly vulnerable to food shortages, as well as lack of opportunity for income generating activities and economic sustainability.

We passed a school where I was told that Mercy Corps built the latrines and provided sanitation trainings for the children in the schools. We drove over a bridge that Mercy Corps built in its Building Bridges for Peace program. Field after field of sunflowers was thriving; seeds and trainings provided by Mercy Corps.

We moved between isolated villages on roads constructed under Mercy Corps guidance and direction. Women walking on the side of the road carrying their yellow jerry cans now had to walk half the distance they were walking previously to get clean water. A well had been built much closer to their homes by Mercy Corps.

It is one thing to read all about the work of an organization. It is something entirely different to see it with your own eyes. It is inspirational.

Blog Post:  Posted October 6, 2009, 10:31 pm by Sonya Shannon

A once-tragic setting for peace dialogues

Country: Uganda

Topics: Rural, Peaceful Change

The village of Lampono, Uganda was recently the location of a peace dialogue between the Karamojong and Acholi communities, two ethnic groups who are formally at odds with each other. But today, they're working together to bridge the gap of misunderstanding that often leads to polarization for communities affected by war, poverty and competition for scarce resources — things that have plagued northern Uganda for decades.

Once a site of great tragedy, where the rebel Lord's Resistance Army massacred 52 villagers and caused people to flee from fear of further retribution, Lampono is now a place where people have gathered to talk about how to live in peace. Things have changed a lot here: communities experiencing conflict are now encouraged to speak out and work through their problems, as a method to overcome the apparitions of the past, as well as a way to prevent the past from haunting or overtaking the present.

This peace dialogue is an activity initiated by Mercy Corps' Building Bridges to Peace program, which is aimed at bringing together neighboring communities from the districts of Kotido, Kaabong and Pader, through the use of conflict management and reconciliation techniques. The program helps resolve conflict through community-level reconciliation activities, such as joint livelihood projects that emphasize economic opportunity, that are decided at the community level by village stakeholders. In this case, conflict mapping and livelihoods assessments were used to facilitate the process of deciding on the projects that the community both wanted and needed most.

The objectives of this peace program are to work with individuals that have been previously affected by conflict, equip them with the necessary tools to move beyond recovery and help them achieve a more sustainable position towards development — all the while empowering them by helping them engage with others. The hope is that, through strengthening economic linkages between communities, peace will become a far more attractive option to war. If relationships are founded on collaboration and shared interest, the hope is that will ultimately translate to economic benefits and growth for all involved.

Many were on hand to take part in the day’s activities, including key stakeholders such as local government leaders, peace committee members, elders, youth, women and military officials. The message of peace and forgiveness was echoed by many speakers, as well as the call for further dialogues that bring people together to share thoughts, culture and ideas.

“Give peace a chance” was the plea of one local official. “Let’s give a chance to peace and forgive.”

Blog Post:  Posted September 30, 2009, 4:50 pm by Sonya Shannon

The resilence of children

Country: Uganda

Topics: Youth, Rural, Hunger, Food/Nutrition, Environment, Economic Development, Climate Change, Children

Today I learned about the true resilience of children.

We set out to meet with villagers from northern Uganda's Kotido county, which is about three hours from where I am based in Pader. We were going there to prepare the community members in Nakeplemoru to organize a peace committee, as well as discuss with them how this peace building structure could be used as a way to handle conflicts at the community level.

But we had to get there first.

Riding along the dry rugged road, I wondered how the day would end. With each twist and turn along the road, around pot holes and washed out sections caused by heavy rains, I bobbed up and down and was tossed about with an occasionally jarring thump. I was beginning to see how poor infrastructure can create major delays in development, preventing the flow of goods from reaching markets, delaying travel and ultimately slowing down progress as a whole. I also now understand why most non-governmental organization vehicles that frequent the roads of Pader, Kotido, Kitgum and Lira carry a spare reserve of two tires on the rack instead of the usual one.

As we drove further north, I began to notice the scenery changing from rich greens and muted red browns to simply dull and dusty brown. The thriving first season’s crops that I once saw farther south, of sorghum, maize and beans were now replaced with half-shriveled fields of groundnuts, far too gone to be revived.

Upon riding farther north, closer to the Sudan border, it became evident that this area really is “where Saharan and Sub-Saharan meet.” The talk you often hear about the poorest of the poor being the most affected by climate change really begins to hit home. Headlines that read “Food insecurity rises for northern Ugandans" are evident in the failed crops that line the roads.

Uganda as a country is “food secure” but the northern parts, most affected by prolonged drought, are where the poorest and least equipped to handle it are bearing the brunt of the burden, and feeling the greatest impact. The outcome has resulted in a decrease in health, lower incomes and declining morale, leaving many dependent on food handouts in order to survive, as well as feeling discouraged about future developments.

As I shifted my focus back to the meeting ahead of us, I began to reflect on what I’d previously heard about tribunals and committees that have been formed in other areas such as Rwanda, in an attempt to achieve reconciliation. I also thought on how they’ve not been so successful, though some have been more government initiated than community driven, and I wondered what the outcome will be here in northern Uganda.

I began to notice, as we drove along, the groups of Karamojong women walking alongside the road. They strolled gracefully by, with plastic jerry cans of water and bags stuffed full of rations balanced perfectly on their heads. They stood out with their brightly colored clothing amongst the dull hues of the landscape. Their dark skin set a perfect mahogany background for the fabrics of pink, red and bright green shawls that wrapped across their torsos, tied in a knot across their backs. Their tall thin legs were partially covered down to the knee with a type of skirt made of tan and red plaid, complete with pleats that resembled a kilt. Their heads were mostly clean shaven, but some were crowned with narrow patches of hair closely cropped to the scalp.

I wondered as I watched them walk along what had inspired their tribal wear. Had it been due to previous colonial encounters or had they simply taken part of the décor from their cousins to the east in Kenya, the Masai? As we passed them, we waved awkwardly like silly tourists, yet they kindly returned the gesture.

Upon arriving in the village, we parked the vehicle and greeted the few who had already gathered under the shade of a large tree. We continued to mingle while we waited for others to arrive, as word spread throughout the village that Mercy Corps was here. After talking for a bit with some of the adults and elders, I gravitated to a group of children that I noticed were pointing at me and laughing.

I began to introduce myself to each one and shake hands (shaking hands is customary here). As I peered closer into the faces of these children, I began to notice the whites of their eyes tinted in a yellow haze. Some have a secretion that formed puddles in the corners of their eyes, and I noticed this seems quite uniform as I make my rounds. I surmise this is a sign of ill health, which is later confirmed as I’m told that jaundiced eyes are often a symptom of malaria, sickness and liver disorders in this land where illness is tolerated, due to lack of medical attention, and the fortunate simply live on.

Despite their obvious rough surroundings and lack of health and nutrition, they seemed to focus on the moment and take great pleasure in getting their pictures taken. They smiled and laughed at my attempts to entertain them as we crouched next to the closest surface to write on: a large rock. I wrote my name in blue chalk that one of the children ran to get.

As I wrote, again and again, spelling out every letter aloud, I wondered what life would have been like for these resilient children if they had access to more. If they didn’t have to haul water, herd goats, work at the market or in the fields. If they could go to school, eat healthy meals and didn’t have to grow up so soon.

Life isn't easy here. Yet the children of the Acholi and Karamojong people of northern Uganda are still resilient. They still smile.

Blog Post:  Posted September 27, 2009, 1:51 am by Sonya Shannon

Finding a voice in northern Uganda

Country: Uganda

Topics: Women's Empowerment, Peaceful Change, Marginalized Groups, Conflict & War, Citizen Involvement

Once christened as “The Pearl of Africa” by Winston Churchill, Uganda was once seen as a success story in Africa. However, more than 20 years of warring between two groups — the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and government-supported Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) — wreaked havoc over the land and its people, debilitating several generations born and raised in refugee camps, and causing a once-beaming nation to fade from sight.

Yet, along the same fault lines that once divided communities across northern Uganda, hope is beginning to surface in regions that are home to both the Acholi and Karamojong ethnic groups. It is here that the formation of “peace committees,” piloted by the Pader Peace Program (PPP), has fallen on fertile ground. It’s in these areas that people who were once bruised by conflict and battered by neglect now seem open to engaging in collaborative dialogue that allows them voice and access to power that few of their fellow Ugandans have ever known.

Much of northern Uganda was previously under LRA occupation and, during that time, human rights abuses such as killings and mutilations were frequented upon the civilian population as a method of deterrence from speaking out against injustice. But now, in this post-conflict Uganda through the peace committees that have taken shape, Mercy Corps is stepping forward to champion one of its core beliefs: to empower people to “stand on their own and live in dignity.”

With or without a formal peace agreement, the people of Uganda are becoming change agents and creating the change that they desire.

This is being achieved on several levels, from all areas of civil society — including those most vulnerable such as women, former child soldiers and the growing population of young Karamojong men known as the karachuna. It is through empowering marginalized groups like these that the capacity to mitigate conflict improves.

From conflicts that arise between neighboring communities, such as cattle wrangling and land disputes, to community-based issues like domestic disputes, the problems are discussed by all stakeholders — large and small —with the hopes that solutions will develop that are home-grown and sustainable. Resolution is not always achieved, but the practice of true empowerment has its benefits. The payoff is beginning to become apparent.

Through trust building and the forging of improved relationships, peace is no longer a utopian dream, but something that is becoming more in reach.

Today’s field visit to the village of Nakaplemoru is to facilitate the formation of one of these peace committees. As I sit waiting in the shade of a tree, I gaze out amongst the crowd that has already settled into their places. The circle is beginning to take shape and more people are slowly arriving.

Some are elders and some are women. There are karachunas and many children sitting quietly in a group to the side. As I study the faces of the crowd, I search for clues as to what they are thinking or feeling. There are a mix of expressions, some poised, some stern, some curious and some just plain tired.

There is also a definite sense of anticipation in the air from both community members and PPP field workers who will be working together in this venture. Both want success and, as the last people take their places, a prayer opens the meeting followed by greetings. "Maata” is bellowed out as each person stands and makes their introduction. This is the customary way to greet in this area of the Karamojong.

In this particular meeting, 11 peace committee members are chosen. There are rules to picking members, which encourages diversity and discourages marginalization of those who may not culturally be accepted as leaders or power holders.

The process may not be without challenges, and at times spoilers may attempt to delay peace, but one thing is for certain: the people of northern Uganda are once again finding their voice, and using it.

Maybe…just maybe…true peace and reconciliation in northern Uganda is on the horizon.

Posted September 24, 2009 by Taylor Wegner

Seeds of Sunshine

Country: Uganda

Topics: Agriculture, Economic Development, Food/Nutrition, Livelihoods, Peaceful Change, Rural

Alex Odongo is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. After decades of an insurgency by the Lord's Resistance Army — a rebel group defined by its brutal tactics, which often targeted civilians — that left the country ravaged and its people nearly hopeless, the sun is beginning to shine again in northern Uganda.

That is, with the help of Mercy Corps and his sunflowers.

Alex is part of one of the numerous producer groups participating in a program entitled Stability, Peace, and Reconciliation In Northern Uganda. Through this program, Mercy Corps has partnered with Mukwano, a Ugandan company that produces a wide array of consumer products, from soaps to vegetable oils. This partnership is providing sunflower seeds and training, along with farming tools, to help increase the livelihoods of those returning to their ancestral villages after years of living in displacement camps
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This increase in income does not come without hard work.

“I get up at 6:30 a.m. to travel to the field, and I finish for the day at 6:00 p.m.,” Alex tells me. When asked about troubles with his crops he says, “I’ve had a small problem with beetles and the drought.”

But even with these problems, you won’t hear Alex complaining. “Mercy Corps has given me the hope that I can grow more crops and buy more land,” Alex assures me.

“I’ll harvest 15 to 18 bags of sunflower seeds” says Alex, “and each bag weighs 50 to 60 kilograms.” At the price that Mukwano set, Alex may earn up to 300,000 Ugandan Shillings (more than $150).

“The money will pay for school fees for my three children, and the money I don’t spend will help me to buy more land and hire help for my fields.”

But Alex has even bigger thoughts for the future.

“The training Mercy Corps has given me has let me dream about a house, not just a hut," he says. "Without Mercy Corps, all of this would not have been possible.”

So while the daylight hours may be waning in Alex's village, his dreams are not.