Namuwongo Final Party/Presentation of NACODO

P7070091, originally uploaded by ficubc.

This past Friday, PEMO and FICUBC in cooperation with Namuwongo community representatives held a final party to present the Community Action Plan that is the result of our program thus far, as well as to introduce the 12 member executive of the Community Based Organization (CBO) Namuwongo Community Development Organization (NACODO) that his been charged with carrying out the plan.

The members promised to take action on the proposed solutions to the problems that Namuwongo faces, especially the sanitation challenges. The executive was congratulated for their hard work by PEMO, FICUBC, GFIC, and City Council officials. We hope that NACODO will serve as the driving force behind new community initiatives in Namuwongo.

Gulu

P7030472, originally uploaded by ficubc.

This past weekend GFIC members from Canada and Uganda travelled up-country to Gulu, which has been at the centre of the civil conflict in Uganda that has lasted the past 20 years. We visited a local NGO funded by WarChild and UNICEF (GUSCO) that operates a rehabilitation facility for former child soldiers, Koro IDP camps, as well as Te Okono Night Centre for displaced youth. Some of our members also travelled to Patiko IDP camp next to Fort Barber.

The idea of the trip was the ensure that members could make a connection between the work they do in Kampala with Acholi people from Gulu, and the situation that has brought them there. It was also important to see the situation on the ground and speak with local people, NGO leaders, and government leaders, in order to speak on issues related to the conflict with some authority when we return to Canada.

Further work will be done by GFIC in Gulu, with preliminary assessments currently being done to determine the feasability of future projects in partnerships in cooperation with a local youth NGO, United Youth in Action For Progress.

SOS Children’s Village

P6220134, originally uploaded by ficubc.

It’s been a busy week here in Uganda! This past thursday some of our members travelled outside Kampala to the village of Kakiri, which is home to one of three Kinderhoff children’s villages in Uganda. They are basically model villages with housing, sports facilities, health facilities, and schools for orphans. There are approximately 160 children and 60 youth staying in the village currently. We had an excellent day hanging out with the kids and playing some football, especially exciting with World Cup fever here in Uganda! SOS is actually an important partner of our group, as the volunteer abroad program at Concordia University that many of our FICCU members lobbied to create is working in partnership with SOS in Gulu to build a new chldren’s village for orphans affected by the conflict in the North.

For more information on SOS visit: http://www.sos-childrensvillages.org

Participatory Appraisal aspect of the project is over…almost

P6160405, originally uploaded by ficubc.

After almost a month of implementing a community development program in the urban slum of Namuwongo, in Kampala, Uganda, we are finally wrapping up the participatory appraisal aspect. Following mobilization of the community for the project, which included electing representatives from each of the four zones from varying interest groups such as youth, men, women, the elderly, landlords, the disabled, and local chairpersons, we have used a number of tools to better understand the nature of the community.

The tools are as follows:

1) Community Resource Map
2) Transect Walk
3) Demographic Survey
4) Daily Calendar
5) Seasonal Calendar
6) Historical Profile
7) Income/Expenditure Analysis
8) Gender Analysis
9) Problem Identification/Prioritization
10) And we are currently in the process of doing pair-wise ranking of problems and creating a problem tree

Following the use of these tools, our group (which includes FICUBC, the Practicing Environmental Managers Organization (PEMO), and the elected community representatives) will have the necessary information and knowledge to produced a Community Action Plan (CAP). The CAP will outline all the necessary background information for development work to be carried out in the community by our group, local residents, government agencies, or other NGOs. Once we have identified the problems and opportunities faced by Namuwongo, we will be in a position to take further action through long-term projects and/or our peer education program that should begin next week.

It has been a long and stressful month (with some exciting and fun moments along the way) but things are finally coming together. To witness the empowerment and energy that pervades our meetings these days is truly a wonderful experience!

Skipping in Namuwongo

P6120310, originally uploaded by ficubc.

Despite the conditions, there’s always time for fun in Namuwongo and you’ll always be greeted with a smile!

Historical Profile Panel

P6160405, originally uploaded by ficubc.

In order to better understand the history of the community of Namuwongo we gathered longstanding residents to help narrate their story for the last 50+ years. It was very interesting to learn the patterns of migration, which came in waves from Western, Eastern, and Northern Uganda. The historical profile is one of the tools of participatory appraisal that allows the community to better understand the source of its problems and identify where opportunities lie.

Drawing the community resource map

P6120267, originally uploaded by ficubc.

Namuwongo representatives constructed a map of their community using locally available materials, in order to identifty resources, problems, and opportunities.

Namuwongo Community Resource Map

Namuwongo Community Resource Map, originally uploaded by ficubc.

This is the map as drawn by the community. The original was created by the representatives and measured approx 15 x 5 feet. It was constructed using ash, maize, reeds, jerry cans, bottle caps, and other materials. You can see the close proximity of the railway on the one side of Namuwongo, many people including children have been killed by passing trains. You will also notice the lack of wells, considering we estimate the population of Namuwongo to be between 10 and 20 thousand. The blue river at the bottom of the map is Nakivubo channel, which is fill with industrial waste from upstream, raw sewage from namuwongo and the community elevated above namuwongo, and other contaminants. It is freuqnetly crossed by Namuwongo residents, and many have died when it becomes a raging river during heavy rains.

YouLead House

YouLead House, originally uploaded by ficubc.

Here is the YouLead house in Masaka, mentioned in the previous post about our weekend, for those interested. It has 6 rooms and will be home to a resource centre as well as YouLead’s “Man on the ground” Daniel, the Kitengesa community librarian.

Namuwongo Project Update

Wednesday June 7, 2006

Mobilization in Namuwongo has begun in order to carry out our participatory rural appraisal program. Individuals and groups throughout the community were mobilized for elections to select representatives from certain population sectors, including men, women, youth, elderly, and the disabled. Despite some setbacks, we are moving forward and will be holding our first all zone meeting this coming monday to discuss the tools of PRA.