Final Impressions

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the late post, as arriving home has been very busy, as I'm sure it has been for most of you. Leaving Uganda was something I feel we could all describe as bittersweet. As most of us had began to feel a little homesick and anxious to return home the last few days, we all knew we were ending one the the best experiences we have ever had and leaving some of the most interesting and kind people we have ever met. I can honestly say that going on this trip has changed some of my world views and has bettered me as a person.
This being most of our first trip to Africa it was hard knowing exactly what to expect, no matter how much one prepared. I think that no one expected to have the experience we had; whether we were learning about human rights, parliament policies, or agriculture methods, there was always something that surprised us. Still, I think what shocked us the most was the friendships and lasting relationships we have made with the MUBS students and other Ugandans we have met over our trip.
Leaving for the airport was such a surreal experience; as no one could actually believe this trip was over we all knew that we would miss all of our new friends. As everyone was leaving you could not help but to hear everyone making promises to keep in touch with each other. Though not many tears were shed, it was easy to see that everyone was going to miss their new friends as the MUBS bus pulled away.
For me, it was from these students who I learned the most from. The conversations and explanations of everyday life is really what helped me understand the culture the best. I feel that it was this aspect of the trip that makes it what it is: an immersion of cultures to create an exceptional learning experience.
Finally in relation to sustainable development, it was very interesting to see the wide variety of opinions that had been made over the course of the trip in a discussion the last night. One of the questions posed was along the lines of: "If you could choose one thing to change to better the opportunity for Uganda in sustainable development, what would it be?" Many answers from both Drake and MUBS students included corruption and primary education. Still there were many opinions and variations to the answers provided and it was interesting to see how each and every one of us had developed such strong opinions in this area. It was inspirational to see how involved everyone was in the conversation and how much this issue had become part of us.

What are some of your guys final impressions of the country and friends we have left?

Now that it has almost been a week since we've been home, have you kept in touch with your new friends?

After hearing many different opinions in our final discussion, what do you think is the one thing that can be changed that will improve Uganda's sustainable development?

Thanks everyone for an amazing trip and for the friendships we have made!!! I am so happy to have shared one of the best experiences of my life with every one of you!

Uganda Martyrs Shrine

Written by Kristin Krantz-Odendahl  reposted by Prof Root due to technical problems with the blog - (sorry the pictures were lost). 

French Missionaries came to Uganda to convert the locals and among those converted were several pages to the Buganda King. The pages were very loyal to their new faith and always took time for their prayers as well as not working on Sunday. The King became upset when they consistently defied his orders by putting their religion before his needs. He consulted a fortune teller who told the King that part of the palace burned down because of the Christians’ new faith. The King then consulted with his chiefs and decided to put the Christians to death. The Christian pages were separated from the non-Christians and persecuted. Three Anglicans were killed near the shores of Lake Victoria. Other Christians had their limbs cut off and scattered around the city to scare other Christians from the faith. The first catholic martyr was Joseph Balekuddembe who was beheaded and burned on November 15 1885 near Owino Market (Brittany talked about in her May 21 post). There is also a small shrine at that location. On June 3 1886 the rest of the martyrs were killed at the site of the church which was already a place of death – the execution site for the foulest criminals. The martyrs refused to renounce their faith so they were forced to gather firewood for their own burning. The martyrs were wrapped in the firewood and burned alive. At least one of the martyrs was unconscious prior to burning. He was the nephew of an executioner and refused to be saved. His uncle knocked him on the head to save him the pain of burning. The church itself is a cone shaped building styled after traditional African buildings. It is supported by 22 pillars, representing the 22 Catholic martyrs. Each of the wooden doors has people and scenes carved in to it such as the burnings and several bishops. The 1,000 seat church is open for prayer every day and is highly utilized. It features many pieces of religious art work including a sculpture of a martyr performing a baptism and a painting of the martyrs up in heaven with Jesus on the cross with the Ark below them.


The lawns are complete with very large lawns and an outdoor gazebo area where a mass is held every year on Martyrs Day, a national holiday commemorating the sacrifice of the martyrs. The area has several pavilions for different groups including a choir area and the stands reserved for the president and other political dignitaries. Martyrs Day is especially meaningful to Catholic and Christian Ugandans and people pilgrimage from the US and UK and some walk all the way from Kenya.

Here are some questions for reflection: Does this monument bring people together in rememberence or tear them apart due to different religions because of the significance placed on Christianity? What are the implications of a national holiday for Christian martyrs? What are the implications of having a yearly mass at the Shrine? Does the separation of church and government have a future in Uganda? What relation does this have to sustainable development? What else if anything struck you about the church, the grounds of the tour in general?

The Newspaper Industry

Uganda's largest media center is New Vision,which began in 1986 as just a weekly newspaper but has already expanded to daily news, a radio broadcast and TV station. The newspaper is printed in English and four local languages across the different regions, and they have two radio broadcasts, one in English and one in the Central Region language. New Vision also recently started a television station in the local language in order to bring TV broadcasting to the ordinary Ugandans who are not fluent in English.

When we toured New Vision, I think we were all pleasantly surprised at how nice the facilities were. Everything seemed very modern, and they just recently acquired a new printing press. We were shown the entire process of how the paper is created from start to finish.

Although the facilities were modern, we learned that Ugandan journalists are currently facing some tough challenges. While New Vision is partially private, the Ugandan government is the biggest shareholder. We were told that New Vision does not represent government views, but I don't see how journalists can report freely about the government and current politics if their jobs are basically controlled by the government. On the surface it appears that they can write what they want, but in the end, journalists have to be self-censoring themselves because their jobs could be on the line if they report something the government does not like.

This idea of self-censorship is also reflected in some Ugandan laws. While no one directly tells journalists what they can and cannot write, journalists know they have to be careful. Two laws, the law of sedition and the laws about interviewing terrorists, severely restrict how and what the journalists can report. Writing anything injurous to the government can earn a journalist a life sentence in prison. Journalists cannot report any interviews with known terrorist leaders, or they face the death pentalty.

Many journalists in the U.S. can face jail time for certain things, such as not revealing a source, but they would never be given the death penalty. These harsh laws and penalties in Uganda make me think that any political news is going to have a severe censor over it because journalists are so pressured and living in fear of being arrested and put to death.

These laws are a step backward for sustainable development in Uganda. Without a truly free press, Ugandans will not have the right information. We are very privaleged to have this is the U.S., and I think it is absolutely vital to keep the population informed. This seems basically like a type of political corruption in the Ugandan government, which creates a more unstable political environment throughout the country. If journalists are censored, no matter how indirect it is, Ugandans will be kept in the dark, making it easier for government officials to get away with corruption.

I also thought it was interesting to learn that 90% of the newspapers are sold on a daily basis, meaning only 10% of sales are through subscriptions. Since the newspapers depend so heavily on the daily whims of their customers, I feel like this would change the way the news is presented. Since they have so much pressure to market the papers well, I feel like the news will be presented differently. The cover story and headlines for the day determine the sales; there seems to be a direct relation between how eye-catching and interesting the newspaper is and how many papers sell. While this is still a driving factor for the media in the US, ultimately they have more security because of their subscribers. There will be less fluctuation from day to day in the US, make it a more stable industry.

If Uganda could establish a better system of subscribers, it will make the newspapers more sustainable, both for the newspaper and the population. The companies will have more reliable sales, and the population will be more informed because they will have access to the news every day without having to make a daily decision to buy a paper or not.

I think they can also broaden their sales by finding a way to make the newspaper cheaper, both in subscriptions and just buying an individual daily paper. Since so many Ugandans are poor, they have to make the choice between daily necessities and reading the news. If the news industry could find a way to decrease their costs for the consumer, it would increase access to the general population. They already have some success in access because they are printing in multiple languages. Now, they just need to find a way for Ugandans to more easily access the news through a lower cost.

Questions:

How do you think the internet is affecting newspaper sales now? Will this change in the future?

How do you think that radio and television stations that are controlled by the government will affect how Ugandans can access true, uncensored news?

Bujagali Falls

The Bujagali Falls were quite magnificent. There were many rapids and it was impressive watching all the water traveling through. While we did see the Bujagali Falls, we also traveled to the start of the Nile River. The river begins at Lake Victoria and travels 4000 miles through northern Africa to the Mediterranean Sea.

One surprising thing about both of these sites was the lack of tourist development. The tourism within this area could be expanded greatly. It would be profitable to have more resorts, restaurants, and shops around to increase both the amount of tourism and the length of a tourist’s stay. Expanding on activities available such as boat tours, kayaking or rafting through the falls, swimming or diving in the Nile, as well as 4-wheeling near the Nile would all increase tourism within both these sites and Jinja. However, more advertising and marketing would be necessary to ensure that people are aware of the attractions available to them. On the other hand, many people believe that activities designed to increase tourism in an area may destroy the beauty that these landmarks exhibit.

The plans to build two dams near the beginning of the Nile may ruin tourism within Jinja however. The building of the dams would destroy the Bujagali Falls, replacing them with a reservoir. Building the dams will also take several years which will help in providing work to Ugandans within the Jinja area. The dams, while increasing the amount of hydro electric power to Uganda, will destroy nearby habitat and harm local animals. The dams will also have a large impact on nations upstream. The dam will lessen the amount of water flow present within the Nile. This will decrease precious water supply upstream for both the inhabitants and any irrigation that the Nile is used for. Many people believe that this will upset countries upstream, possibly even beginning a war over the water the Nile River provides.

Questions to think about:

Would you increase tourism to the Bujagali Falls area? What impact would this decision have on Jinja’s economy?

Do you think that building the dams will help Uganda’s growth or hinder it?

What do you think are the major impacts of building the dams? Would it be a wise decision for Uganda to build them?

mulago hospital

If Uganda ever issued a FLOOD WARNING today would have been the day! Our entrance into the hospital was first stalled because of a rapid fury of rain drops. Once we finally entered the facility we walked through the assessment area where the potential patients waited to see if they would be admitted into the hospital. It was quite a sight to see because people were everywhere! They were sitting in the chairs, standing along the walls and sitting on the floor in every direction. Once we entered the board room we were introduced to Mr. Ssekabira who was the executive directors’ public relations guy. He took us through the hierarchical system of Uganda and explained to us how their health care system worked. There are 5 levels to their system, the lowest forms are titled Health Care three and Health Care four and the government primarily focuses on these two levels. The third level is distributed in every district and is called the District Hospitals. The next two specified levels of the health care system are considered referral hospitals. The 2nd most comprehensive level of health care is received at the Regional Referral hospitals and there are 11 around the country of Uganda. The most comprehensive is the one we visited called Mulago, it’s the National Referral Hospital and is the only one in the country. Mulago accepts only patients who are referred and who are in emergency situations. Mulago’s services are very comprehensive and have a range of departments and categories from acute pediatrics, to labor, to AIDS care. Mulago hospital also has an outpatient clinic for the less life threatening cases for those surgical/medical procedures that cannot be handled at any of the lower facilities in the country. We also met with Dr. Fred who is a physician of the hospital as well as an AIDS specialist and took us into depth about the services they offer to HIV/AIDS stricken individuals. They considered Mulago a tertiary institution with upper level surgical procedures, but said because of the nature of the location they use this as a primary care unit-which it is not. For their AIDS unit they have 2 comprehensive categories: preventive services and clinical care. After our discussion in the board room, a munch of medical focused students took a tour around the facility and we were able to see the pharmacy as well as a medical ward. They were both a sight to see because of the low supply of drugs as well as the overcrowding in the halls...

Questions:

The public relations guy said "that the health care system is broken down and does not work properly and says that the overcrowding is mainly due to the minor ailments that get admitted to Mulago". If the national hospital has the best of the best, do you think that it’s fair to turn away individuals for their “minor ailments”?

What role does health care access play in the sustainable development of an economy?

Do you guys think that quality health care is a necessity for development to occur?

Given the sights we saw at Mulago, if you had the chance, what range of services would you use funds towards to emphasize? Access to drugs? More technology? Training for doctors? Preventative health care? Which would be the best for the sustainable development for the country?

mulago hospital

Post by Kiconco Michelle

Hi
We went to Mulago hospital which is the national referral hospital that is funded by government and donations . We had a talk with one of the doctors who explained that mulago offers health services to ugandans and has branches in different districts: emergence services, complicated diseases, HIV care services, preventive services,clinical care and curative care, couselling and many more .
There have been irregularities in supply of drugs and people who come to the hospital have to get their drugs from a pharmacy. The key hospital departments are Accidental Emergency, Anesthesia, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Surgery, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Child Health, Laboratory, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Radiology, Radiotherapy, and Nuclear Medicine. The doctor said there has been widespread HIV, though most Ugandans don't know their status. There has been irregularities in supply of drugs, which could lead to more deaths. And Uganda is dependent on other countries for the drugs, which is a big problem. The pharmacy students from Drake said the pharmacy section of Mulago did not have drugs and patients have to be taken care of by their relatives, which they found strange and they think medicine should be supplied at the hospital and nurses should take care of the patients.
I think there should be improvements in the general services offered.

-Kiconco Michelle

Industrialization / Jinja

Being in Jinja for a few days, we were able to see many of the abandoned factories as well as the railroad which leads into Kenya. Also, we saw the source of the Nile and Bujagali Falls, as discussed in Lauren Asp’s post. These attributes all play a role in the explanation of an important industrial past that Jinja once played in Uganda.

Before Amin, Jinja was a booming industrial city. These industries included textiles, beer, cotton, and smelting (mostly copper). At one point, the textile industry alone accounted for ten percent of the Ugandan labor force. These industries chose to operate out of Jinja due to the readily available hydro-electric power resources. The railroad to Kenya also provided an excellent mode of export. These factories were run and owned by Indians during this time.

Conditions changed drastically for Jinja after Amin took power. The Indian owners were forced out and killed if they refused to leave. The factories were taken from them and became government enterprises. Amin gave many of these factories to his cohorts who quickly ran them into the ground as a result of their greed, corruption, and incompetence in managing the industry. This is why we see the vacant factories today.

After Amin’s overthrow in 1986, the NRM began privatizing these industries. Today, there is even a policy in place that if a person can prove that their family owned one of these businesses before Amin’s regime, the ownership will be returned. However, many of these factories are so run down that they are being sold at very low prices. Also, the Indians who are reclaiming their factories are generations removed from the individuals who actually operated the factories. These descendants no longer have the knowledge or the interest to run these dilapidated factories and usually choose to sell the land rather than revitalizing the factories and the area’s industrial sector. Today, re-privatizing of the Jinja industries is still taking place. For instance, large enterprises such as National Water still have yet to be privatized.

An additional detriment to the industrialization of Jinja is an industrial flight to Kampala in order to be closer to their markets. Additionally, the establishment of an industrial park within Kampala has also contributed to this industrialization failure. In Kampala’s industrial park, the government has constructed buildings, infrastructure, and utility plants so that different businesses can easily start manufacturing. This is where the Coca-Cola plant is now located.

Now, Jinja is largely reliant on tourism due to the source of the Nile and Bujagali Falls. It is unknown what the effect of the new dams will have on the area’s industrialization because of the flight of the businesses out of Jinja to Kampala. It is clear, however, that these dams will damage the tourism industry. The locals of Jinja have staged demonstrations in protest of the new dams to no avail. Government has countered protests with the industrial argument, saying that the electrical power is more important than local tourism. Locals, however, are largely reliant on tourism in and around Jinja; the rapid growth they have recently experienced and become accustomed to will come to a sudden halt. The government has compensated locals for use of their land. Despite this compensation, locals are still discontented. Some say that these people simply want to “have their cake and eat it, too,” while others claim that they were forced into giving their land to the government and they thereby have a legitimate gripe.

The countries to the north of Uganda on the Nile, including Egypt, Sudan, and the Congo are also very disgruntled with the construction of these dams. Although the countries do not mind the dam itself, which will provide clean energy through hydro-power. However, the nations fear that once these dams are constructed the water will be used as irrigation and therefore siphon water off of the Nile.

These factories have large effects on sustainable development. If Jinja is able to revitalize and regain its factories, Uganda will gain manufacturing power and expand its job market. This manufacturing power will also lead to a larger need for infrastructural improvements, such as roads and airports to export goods. This will also lead to further economic growth and diversification of the economy (instead of having 90% in the agricultural sector). However, this industrialization seems to come at a price to the environment, local communities, and foreign policy.

Questions to consider:

Where do you draw the line between environmental sacrifice and industrial improvements?

Is industrialization vital to the development of Uganda?

Should Uganda utilize the Nile even at the risk of a war over water?

Will the construction of these dams revitalize Jinja, or will the power just be exported and used elsewhere in the country?

Should these dams even be built? What property rights should the locals be able to exercise against the government in these eminent domain cases?

Note: Pictures included are of the dam, Jinja factories, a power plant, and the railroad leading to Kenya