To the (imagined) great pleasure of my mother, the connection between our first house in Southern France and the Cathedral hostel I am living at in Northern Uganda has clicked. There is a small black and white cat sleeping on the hot stones on the back steps, turkeys clucking in a mesh pen, half a dozen white rabbits grazing, a vineyard of sorts out back and a small planted garden. Grasshoppers singing at dusk and permanent – perfect in the early evening – Provencal summer heat.
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I am now listening to the evening choir practicing. I do not think I will get tired of this music as I did of the men banging on drums in the Museum Park behind my apartment in Nairobi. The percussions are beautiful, each voice is unique, and the build of the church wings amplifies all sounds into a beautiful chorus. My neighbour next to me, a very interesting American professor writing about Christian responses to the war in Northern Uganda, is doing yoga. The sun is setting in streaks of pink over the jungle. Children laughing in the background as everyone prepares for dinner and bed. A run earlier, was successfully sweaty and embarrassing. I drink water out of empty bottles with labels like “Bond 7, Extra Smooth Whisky.” I might attempt to venture into Gulu Town for the Northern interpretation of quiz night, originally started at a mostly foreigners-hosting bar called Bubbles in the capital. La vie, c’est pas mal.
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While on the topic of ICT+, i.e. ICT with added social value, please vote for BOSCO-Uganda’s entry on Africa Rural Connect: Achieving rural literacy through innovative Web 2.0/ICT use in Northern Uganda!
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Having a fun day digesting all the information (and questions) BOSCO-Uganda has to offer. Here are a few shots from yesterday’s field training on GPS mapping and water testing through our Classroom to Classroom initiative. The Lead-Deadwood High School in South Dakota has fundraised for GPS equipment to bring to Uganda. Teachers here are receiving training in how to use this equipment, map water sources on Google Maps, and do some basic testing on water. The point being to engage students in both science and ICT at the same time, while teaching collaborative skills like wikispace use and Google Forums. When teachers train their students, there is the added opportunity of students learning about gathering, analyzing and sorting data.
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Project Diaspora skillfully responds to OLPC. Their response makes me think of a discussion we are having at BOSCO (see a reply to PD’s post with some thoughts in the comment section): How to provide more than computer skills and the Internet? How can we engage people to use the Internet, for example, as a tool of learning or economic empowerment?
Let’s call this, for a lack of anything catchy, ICT+. Going beyond the basics of operating a computer to really engaging on the Web and creating content. I constantly refer to the “knowledge of power” concept and the fact that the Internet allows for a distinct reversal of this imbalance. How do we both provide access to the Internet while encouraging users to contribute?
Thus far, BOSCO has used a Web 2.0 training curriculum which is available here. I haven’t been around long enough to know what kind of an impact we are having through this program, but feel free to contact long-term BOSCO staff via myself for an idea of how we do it and what developments we’ve seen thus far.
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Being a supremely non-religious participant of this world, I never thought I would live on Church grounds. However, it’s the easiest place for me to live while working with BOSCO, as we share facilities (but not beliefs, as it is a non-denominational organization) with the archdiocese, an establishment based out of “the Cathedral,” a massive beautiful church a few kilometres outside of Kampala. The Cathedral, in turn, has a hostel with regular meals, free water and what seems to be a few Club beers in the refrigerator.
I finally arrived yesterday morning after taking the bus from Kampala. A quick round of introductions and the Board Members visiting from the USA went around to visit Invisible Children (just as bizarre of a place as I imagined) and World Vision. I tried to remain fairly neutral, but I have my qualms with marketing poverty and quoting the Bible.
In the evening, we went out for dinner at a restaurant owned by the Minister of Energy. Humorously enough, the lights went out several times. The group here is quite fun – there’s limited restrictions on the consumption of alcohol (which I found highly surprising) and a lot of camaraderie. Following this, a co-worker, a visitor and myself went to BJs where I met up with a friend.
I spent most of that time wondering about the rape warnings on boda-boda drivers transporting single foreign women. I managed to find someone to take me back without incident, but he also told me that he hated driving on the long stretch of empty road between Gulu and the Church as people sometimes throw rocks, knock you off your bike, kill you and take your possessions. Living in Nairobi, I have an easy mind for believing these stories.
Gulu has grown massively. Lots of new shops, beautiful women in flowing dresses on bikes, a significant increase in wazungu presence (the guys in the MTN shop tell me that the wazungu don’t seem to like Acholis, which I blame on A. US government restrictions that might include limited interaction with non-foreigners, and B. economic disparity, it’s hard to combine activities like going out for food and beer).
Well, we wake up here to the sound of a huge bell clanging around 6. This is followed by a smaller bell for breakfast. Lots of footsteps and activity. We also live next to the Catechists Training Centre, so there is the most beautiful music around 7 am, as well as in the evenings.
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Waiting at Logan Airport to catch a flight out. Wrapping up a fantastic weekend in Boston with fellow Insight Collaborative (IC) Finalists. IC has managed to make being a “finalist” great fun, regardless of the outcome.
After a pretty straightforward interview with David Seibel, Founder, and one of their consultants, Larissa McWhinney, I spent a lovely couple of hours walking through Boston Commons up to Beacon Hill and dining at the Paramount Cafe (delicious servings of waffles, spinach & feta omelettes and diner coffee). We were also put up at the Omni Hotel, which is both glamarous Old Boston and haunted. I also met up with Apolo Ndyabahika, fellow Project Diaspora team member, and his sister and uncle. We drove around rainy Boston while I drooled over MIT and Harvard.
Dinner at the Omni. A bit of a gruelling round table situation & a lot of running through CVs in three-minute soundbites while trying to remain interesting. Always good practice, regardless, for similar situations in the future. Followed by blueberry pints at the Bean-something Irish bar down the street. St. Patrick’s Day starts early here.
Today was definitely the highlight of the weekend. We did a three hour workshop with Seibel and two of his consultants. The focus was Alternative Dispute Resolution and we used a fun, yet slightly stressful, Harvard Mediation Program devised system. Human nature revealed in a hypothetical situation of WinBells, a mango-papaya-kiwi-tasting-fruit. The theory following this exercise was a little embarrassing in the sense of how it revealed our personal and cultural priorities.
Basically, we can look at two types of conflict resolution. One is the common form of haggling. In Uganda, this takes the clear shape of: “What’s your best price” – “(enter over priced mzungu cost”) – “No, I give you X. That’s ridiculously too expensive and that’s the best I can do.” – “You are my first customer, so I’ll give you a better price. Promote me. Enter slightly lower number.” – “What?! That’s insane! I’ve been living here for months. Come on, give me a local price. Enter lower number. And walk away if you get a no (bluff).” You get the point.
However, there appears to be a whole other format for conflict resolution. This doesn’t apply to haggling in Ugandan markets, but for high-level business interaction or even personal disputes, there is some serious wisdom in this model. The process, which is better described in Getting to Yes, is focused on discussing the other person’s interests (the why?), options (ways to meet the person’s interests), legitimacy (objective criteria to evaluate options. Like the going price for X or Y) – instead of the typical, “my choice or the highway.” Apparently it works in all regions – from Oslo to Baghdad to Boston.
I can’t do the workshop any justice from over here, but I strongly recommend applying for the fellowship next year simply for this portion.
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Practicing what I preach (or trying to address what I complain about), I have recently joined an international team planning for the Global Youth Participation Week.
The Global Youth Participation Week (GYPW) is an opportunity to help bridge that gap. The GYPW will be a globally coordinated campaign shining the spotlight on youth participation. Imagine:
- a week where not only young people and youth organizations, but also media, policy-makers and civil society will align their attention and efforts for the cause of youth participation;
- a week that will act as a catalyst for funding, mobilization and capacity building;
- a week that will serve as a container for ideas and projects by the young people who want to address some of their existing needs with the opportunities provided by this initiative;
- a week of reflection and action on the context-specific critical challenges that can be addressed by global cooperation;
- a week where local activities are coupled with a global outreach campaign that relies on new and old forms of media;
- a week that practices what it preaches: all efforts will be led by youth, in equal partnership with older generations.
We’re still looking for a few more members to round-out the team. As an international effort, (all) we’re looking for is 8-10 hours a week for a year, as well as a somewhat functioning Internet connection for Skyping.
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I posted a link to a book review on “You are Not a Gadget” a couple of weeks ago. There’s more. For once, I think the comment section of the Globe and Mail got it right. Jaron Lanier comes across as an alarmist. The overwhelming good of the Internet and technology in general far outweighs the wrongs (that can probably, with hard work, be righted or better controlled). Boston is rainy and windy.
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Created by Philip Norton
