U.S Embassy Visit - Julien Lamberto

After our interesting visit at the coffee processing plant our journey took us to familiar territory at the U.S. Embassy in Kampala, Uganda. Once we arrived at the U.S. Embassy I immediately noticed a difference in the security measures as well as the building architecture. There were multiple security checkpoints, which was something many areas of Uganda lacked and the architecture was very well assembled. After traversing the multiple security checkpoints our class was greeted by one of the Foreign Service Officers stationed at the U.S. Embassy. One of the first things I noticed after entering the building was the air conditioned rooms - something that had become foreign to me after weeks of the natural heating and cooling provided by African nature.
All of the funds that are used by the U.S. which go towards sustainability are brought to bear by agencies such as U.S.A.I.D. and the C.D.C. and so the U.S. has no direct say in how the funds are allocated. Because of the effectiveness of this model, several other donors that wish to contribute towards Uganda's continued growth and avoid the risk of misallocation of funds have turned to the U.S. and their model of aid that has worked quite effectively in distributing foreign aid while avoiding the misappropriation of these funds. The projects that the U.S. currently focuses on are many and widespread all of which share the same end goal of promoting sustainability within Uganda. For example, the U.S. through U.S.A.I.D. has invested significant funds to develop HIV/AIDS awareness and treatment centers, other areas of support focus on development of Uganda's rich agricultural resources that can be used more productively if sold in foreign markets. The health measures that the U.S. is implementing through agencies such as the C.D.C. and U.S.A.I.D. promote the development of a more equitable social and economic atmosphere within Uganda because people can focus on more than just surviving their illness, they can start businesses, they can farm, in sum, they can become self-sustaining. This also ties into the viability aspect of sustainability because if a population is plagued by illness, preserving the environment will likely be on the bottom of their priority list and so by addressing the issue of HIV/AIDS within Uganda you also strengthen economic and environmental viability. This also ties into bearability because if someone is sick with illness they cannot farm which is a huge part of Ugandan culture and lifestyle and is an inextricable part of their everyday lives, but if an individual is sick they will be unable to farm properly and so the social and environmental situation becomes unbearable. All of these are addressed by U.S. efforts within Uganda, but there is still much work that needs to be done as the Ambassador himself claimed.