My trip to America

My daily routine upon arrival at the SIT house begins with two hours of Swahili courses. After this we would normally head over to Makereri University to attend a lecture. However, because of the lecturer strike, and the ensuing student strike, we have recently just been taking the lecturers (who were willing to teach us because we are not officially Makereri students and so SIT pays them separately from the school) and holding lectures at other locations (normally the meeting room of hotel Jeliza where we stayed the first week). Though the strike has calmed down, we still haven’t returned to Makereri, which is a bummer because we can no longer tell the locals we are here to study at Makereri. Saying you go to Makereri anywhere in East Africa is tantamount to saying you go to Harvard back in the States. Since people here really respect education, this meant major props. But I digress.

Today representatives of U.S.A.I.D., the United States worldwide aid foundation, gave our talk. The lecture was given at U.S.A.I.D.’s headquarters at the American Embassy. So technically, I spend my morning in America. The change of location gave the day the atmosphere of a field trip, even when we returned for our second session of Swahili we spend most of the class cracking jokes with our instructor. Seeing things run in an American way in the middle of Kampala is downright ridiculous. It should be noted that immigration to enter Uganda involved handing the man at the desk a stack of seventeen passports while we went and collected our bags. After immigration, customs was our walking out the door and finding our taxi. Entering the U.S. embassy was much harder. After leaving our bags at the door, we walked through a metal detector that gained us access to the hallway leading to another metal detector twenty feet further down. At this point we were required to hand our ID to a US Marine standing behind tinted bullet proof glass, any attempt to socialize with these guards was futile. Once we had our nametag, and a second tag informing everyone that we were required to have an escort through the embassy, we sat and waited. When our escort arrived she only had clearance to take six of us at a time, so we waited while she ferried small groups of us to the room where our meeting would be held. As we were used to doing things the Ugandan way (where there are essentially no rules, ever), we took liberty to sneak away while we waited for our escort in search of some American food (we were hoping for a McDonalds but the free muffins and coffee we found were sufficient). On the bright side this was the first air-conditioned building we have been in since leaving home. But, to say the least, I think we all expected a little friendlier welcome to what is essentially our emergency American sanctuary should we need it.

The actual lecture was fascinating, as we learned exactly how aid from the United States is appropriated here in Uganda. The two ladies giving the speech were the first muzungus to deliver a lecture to us. To be honest, for the first few minutes I couldn’t get over how strange their accents sounded. Talking with them was also interesting because they seemed like a ten to fifteen years older, slightly worldlier version of us. I can easily imagine almost anyone in our group having their job in some developing country at some point in the future.

As it turns out Congress apparently gets to determine where nearly all the money from U.S.A.I.D. goes. This seems somewhat inefficient to me, since I can’t imagine a US Congressmen spending much of their day worrying about Uganda, much less devoting a sufficient amount of time understanding the particular needs of every developing nation that receives our aid. Of course, Congress merely appropriates funds in general terms (this much to health, this much to stability, this much to anti-corruption etc.), and so the people on the ground here in Uganda do have the autonomy to implement programs where they, as informed aid workers, think programs are needed. I was also shocked to learn that smallest portion of the organizations funding is allocated to what they term Peace and Stability. In a country that has been at war with itself for over twenty years it would seem to me that peace should be the number one goal. This is not to say that Uganda does not have other problems. The category with the most funding was Health. Funding from this section goes mainly to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment as well as Malaria treatment. Malaria is the number one killer in Africa. These are certainly problems that Uganda must deal with, but a developed country would be better able to deal with these issues on their own, without relying on foreign aid. It seems to me that development is literally impossible so long as a country is at war. If you don’t have a sturdy foundation of a stable, peaceful nation, what hope can you have of building anything? Of course, as the lecturers explained to me, the war is not something you can simply throw money at to fix. Not only that, the things an aid foundation can do to foster peace (host peace conferences etc.) are relatively inexpensive. It seems to me that it boils down to Uganda needing to work out its own problems in the North. I don’t mean to give the impression that I was utterly disappointed with what I found today. To the contrary I was impressed by how much our government does, and how much they are trying to foster sustainable development.

When I inquired about why funding for peace was so little, the first thing the lecturer said was that it was a good point and that I should write my senator. She then quickly changed her mind saying, “actually don’t, because then I’d have to write you a reply letter that he’d sign it. People in the US, even those working for the government, always seem disillusioned by the inaccessibility of the elected officials meant to represent them. This remarkably contrasts Uganda. My lecturer yesterday saw that I was planning on doing Independent Research on the Bahima tribe (a pastoral tribe in western Uganda). He gave me the number of a woman who he said was the military advisor to Parliament, and also an expert on the tribe. He said that when I called I should just mention his name and ask for a time to meet and pick her brain about the tribe. My friend remarked that if you tried to call a congressman in the states you’d probably get some eighteen-year-old intern who has never met the congressman himself. However, in Uganda, the statesmen seem to really just be normal people (albeit better educated than most) who have no problem taking time out to have lunch with an inquisitive study abroad student.

Politicians also seem to go out and actually interact with the people here. The other night Mama took me to her favorite bar, where she remarked “big people” often hang out. I did not take her comment very serious as this bar seemed like just another local Ugandan hang out. That is to say, a small room, walls lined with chairs, where beer is served. I sat down next to a large man, and casually began a conversation. I ended up spending most of the night talking with the man, who introduced himself as John, partly because he was extremely well versed in Ugandan issues, but mostly because his English was easier to understand than anyone else in the room. As Mama and I were about to leave a man came in and sat on the other side of John. He said a few words in Luganda, and Mama explained to me that we ought to stay since he has offered to buy the entire room another round. Not wanting to be rude, I consented, and offered the man my thanks. To my surprise he gave me an awkward look and quickly shook his head. Next, to my utter confusion, a woman who had been sitting on my other side got up and knelt before John and offered her thanks (in Ugandan society it is traditional, though considered somewhat old fashion, for woman to bow before social superiors i.e. “big men”). Thankfully, John noticed my confusion and kindly asked me if I knew why people were thanking him for the round that the other man had bought them. I responded in the negative and he explained that he was in fact the Prime Minister to the King of Buganda (the central kingdom of Uganda which, though no longer politically autonomous still has its own government under their King, known as the Kibaka… I don’t entirely get what the Kibaka does, but I know that he has a lot of political pull in Buganda). He said that traditionally, whenever someone did something in the presence of the Kibaka, it was done in his name, to acknowledge that they can offer their benevolence because of the protection offered by the Kibaka’s government. He went on to explain that since he was Prime Minister to the Kibaka, in the King’s absence he his official representative, and so could accept thanks and offerings on his behalf. He said the last time the Kibaka and President Museveni met even Museveni bought a round in the King’s name as a sign of respect. Though this practice seemed foreign to me, I thanked the PM, accepted the last round and went home. This man, who I verified was telling the truth when I saw his picture and name in the paper the next day, was literally just hanging out at his favorite place, shoot the breeze with whomsoever he came across. When I initially asked what he did he replied that he was merely looking into retirement. Politicians in the U.S. would pay millions of dollars in campaign money to get this kind of PR without actually doing it.

The accessibility is of course due to a number or reasons. For one, most of these people are actually just common people, not the ivory tower elite who run things in the US. Politicians here enter into politics to become rich not because they already have money (this to me creates a paradox, in America we think it is a problem that you have to be rich in order to fund a campaign and get yourself elected to office. In this way the common man goes unrepresented. However, in Uganda people enter politics as the common man looking to make money, but this ulterior motive has made Ugandan politics among the most corrupt in the world). Another reason is that Uganda is simply a much smaller country than the US and so those in government can afford to answer letters sent to them, and aren’t continually bombarded by phone calls should they give their number out to interested observers. Of course, my position on this is also a little biased, as it seems that even the political elite hold us in fairly high esteem. They all allude to the assumption that we are going to be the next generation of aid workers, and politicians in America which means the decisions we make will have a huge impact in Uganda. So the impression they give to us may be slightly more open that the one they give to the average Ugandan.

Whatever the reason is, I think that perhaps the fact that people feel a little closer to their government may be one of the reason people here are so involved in politics. Mama has taken me on several occasions to her political club, where locals come together to discuss the issues of the day. On top of that, everyone you talk to has something (usually something fairly well informed) to say about whatever is in the news, and often even know more about our upcoming elections back in the states. Another reason for this may also be that politics actually affects people here in a way foreign to most middle class American, who are fairly secure in their lifestyle and position. Take for example the Land Bill recently proposed by M7. This bill would take rights away from landlords and grant those who have lived on their land long enough ownership. The bill something like an exaggerated version of squatters rights in the US. This bill has huge ramifications, affecting people’s ability to continue living in their homes, landlord’s security of proper rights, and development potential on the landlords land. I guess what I’m saying it is also in people’s best interest to be well versed in politics as they feel much more than we do in the states, the decisions made from up top.

Anyway, I’ve already spent too long on this post and must return to learning Swahili. Till next time.