I just published a short article in Toward Freedom on an initiative called “Villages in Action.” The full article is available here and a short extract below:
On January 14, 2012, enterprising students, small business owners, rural farmers, and Uganda’s technology community – among other panelists and attendees – took part in an annual event called “Villages in Action” (VIA).
VIA was first held on November 27, 2010 in a small village called Kikuube, about five hours from Uganda’s capital city, Kampala. Kikuube is like most rural villages in Uganda: a short, dusty strip of shop fronts located along a potholed dirt road. The village is not even marked on Uganda’s map.
The conference was initially designed to give voice to those directly concerned by the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) – the ‘poor’ in Kikuube. In September 2010, major international players met to review progress on these goals. Those targeted by these efforts were not invited.