Today is my last day in the VSO Uganda office, and so far the internet is down. Technology here is pretty basic, and very unreliable. Just when you urgently need to send an e-mail or get some stats from a website, the whole system will seize up. Between the internet and the traffic situation, I have had ample opportunity to develop my levels of patience over the past 10 days. Oh, and my problems with 02 and my mobile ‘’roaming’’ network have also contributed significantly to my patience levels. I will take that matter up when I get home!

I am glad to have finished all of my meetings, and finally have some time to sit and reflect on the progress made and the challenges which lie ahead. It has been such a fascinating process and I hope that I have helped VSO and the National Alliance for Volunteering Efforts in their ambitious agenda to get Government to commit to introducing a strategy and a legal framework for volunteering. (more…)

Busy week so far with lots of productive meetings and some frustrations! I have learned so much about Uganda and the whole sphere of development aid in the past week – most of it from speaking to both Ugandans and Mzungu informally, rather than in the formal meetings which have been arranged. As is always the case, especially in politics, people will always speak more candidly in an informal environment.

I mentioned that I moved in with Charlotte on Sunday when we returned from Jinja. She is volunteering with the Uganda Wildlife Conservation for two years and the office is in the house she is staying in. I am really enjoying living in the volunteer environment because of the opportunity it affords to find out much more about the country, development work and of course the local knowledge comes in handy too. (more…)

Monday August 30th 2010

Three years ago I visited Kenya and Tanzania with a friend of mine. I immediately fell in love with East Africa – not just the climate, the glorious African skies and the amazing wildlife, but most importantly the people, the culture and the unswervingly positive attitude. So when VSO asked me to travel to Uganda, the other large East African country, on an advocacy mission for volunteers and NGOs, I really didn’t have to think twice.

I left Dublin at 6am last Wednesday and arrived in Entebbe airport at 8pm that evening. I was greeted by Benon Webare, VSO’s Country Director, who drove me to my lodgings in Kampala, a guest house called the Banda Inns. The hour-long journey seemed a lot shorter, as we chatted about everything and anything and Benon filled me in on some of the objectives of my stay and the meetings which he had arranged for me. I had received my final itinerary the previous evening, and it was clear to me that Benon meant business! I was to begin with a tour of the VSO office on Tank Hill at 8.15 in the morning.

On Thursday morning I was collected at 8am by VSO’s logistics assistant Sam, who drove me to the office. I was met with a genuinely warm welcome by the VSO staff. Daniel Walusaga showed me around the office and set me up on my computer. I was delighted with the prospect of catching up on some home news on the internet, as well as my ever-expanding bank of work e-mails. However, the opportunity was short lived. Ten minutes later Sam informed me that it was time for Benin and I to leave for meetings in Kampala city centre.

This was my first experience of driving in the city, which was not unlike my experiences in Nairobi and Dar Es Salam! The driving is pretty unruly in Kampala, and the roads are generally in shocking condition. I was assured by several people that the road conditions are the direct result of corruption, with contractors winning government tenders on foot of bribes. (more…)

To put my role and the role of VSO in context, (in short) we are lobbying to convince the Ugandan Government to adopt a formal strategy on volunteering in the country and to put in place a legal framework to protect and promote volunteering. This is something that has already happened in countries like Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique and is currently happening in Tanzania. The importance of such a development is critical for a number of reasons. Many volunteers in Uganda are exploited and essentially used as slave labour. This is something that gives volunteering a bad name and turns off potential volunteers. Additionally, the labour laws in Uganda actually seem to punish volunteering. If a Ugandan national volunteers his or her time in a hospital or school, for a certain number of hours a week, they are considered to be employees and therefore fall within the terms of the Employment Act. This means that they must be paid the minimum wage and avail of all of the usual benefits. This of course defeats the purpose of volunteering. Hospitals and other institutions are forced to give up essential volunteers because they cannot afford to keep them on.

Another important issue is youth unemployment. Currently 470,000 young people are graduating from second or third level education according to the Ugandan Government. Of these only about 70,000 can secure jobs. The rest of these bright young people are destitute, frustrated and without hope. A concerted and strategic approach by the Government could see thousands and thousands of these young people placed with NGOs, public bodies and corporate entities in a formal volunteering capacity for a period of time after graduation. Such a programme could lead to the development of new skills, the acquirement of much needed experience for job seekers and could assist young people in preparing for future employment. This would foster a greater sense of self-confidence in young Ugandans, develop a sense of optimism and hope and would contribute enormously to the local community and the local economy.

Over my twelve day period in Kampala, I will be meeting with NGOs who benefit from volunteering to hear their experience. Many of these are members of NAVE (National Alliance for Volunteering Efforts) an umbrella body set up in 2008 to coordinate the agenda of these organisations. I will meet with donors such as JICA, (the Japan International Cooperation Agency), Irish Aid and the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) in order to impress upon them the need to factor in the volunteering agenda in all of their discussions and meetings with the various Government Ministries. I will also meet with the Minister and officials in the Department of Gender, Labour and Social Affairs as this is considered to be the key Department in the quest to advance the notion of a national strategy for volunteering.

24 hours is a long time in politics. Yesterday morning as I finalised my speech for the MacGill summer school, I anticipated some media interest in what I had to say. I figured that my comments in relation to the FG fundraiser in the K club might be picked up. I also hazarded a guess that sadly, the core point of my speech would be largely ignored by the press. I was right to a point. I certainly did not expect that the media would jump on my criticism of the presence of a NAMA developer at the K club as simply taking a “swing” at Enda Kenny. That really is so simplistic an interpretation that I genuinely expected more from our political commentators. Perhaps I am turning into an optimist!

My comments on the K club event, as well as my remarks about Michael Lowry’s mooted rehabilitation into Fine Gael were not about taking a swing at Enda. They were an attempt to inject some straight forward honesty into the national political discourse. What’s wrong with our political commentators? They demand straight talk from politicians and condemn the mealy-mouthed ‘political speak’ to which we have all become accustomed. However, when a politician tries to speak openly and honestly about the serious matter of standards in public life the media going scurrying for cover. They are also forced to resort to bland clichés about “blonde ambition”. Perhaps they should try and play another tune. The stiletto metaphor gets a little tiresome!

I’m glad I made my speech and in particular those specific comments. They are borne out by the remarkable response I have had from members of the public all over the country since yesterday. The vast majority support everything that I said and want to hear more political figures say it. A small minority believe I should shut up. That’s fine. Silent politicians are what we have had for the past 15 years (and arguably a lot longer) and we are reaping the rewards today.

I’ll keep saying what I feel needs to be said. I don’t expect thanks, praise or promotion. But I will be able to look myself in the mirror and feel that at least I am not a fraud. That’s good enough for me.

I am very pleased that Dr. Garret FitzGerald endorsed the content of my speech yesterday in Glenties. He is a man who tried to promote high standards while serving in political office and coincidentally representing Dublin South East. I am proud that he saw fit to share my sentiments in front of the assembled summer school.