wfn.org | Episcopalians: Development in poverty-stricken Uganda begins at local level

[dmack@episcopalchurch.org]

June 24, 2003

2003-150

Episcopalians: Development in poverty-stricken Uganda begins at 
local level

by James Solheim

(ENS) Uganda, called by Winston Churchill the "pearl of Africa," 
is more often regarded as a blood-soaked pearl these days. A 
brutal civil war in the north has displaced hundreds of 
thousands, deepened the grinding poverty and the HIV/AIDS 
crisis, creating a whole new generation of orphans. In the midst 
of the turmoil the Church of Uganda is doing its best to address 
the desperate needs of those struggling to survive.

The fighting in the north has created a very unpredictable 
situation, and "directly affected our program," according to 
Frank Rwakabwohe, deputy coordinator of department of Planning, 
Development and Rehabilitation (PDR)  for the Church of Uganda. 
"And we don't see any end to the fighting in the near future." 

Sam Sakwa, PDR's director of planning and program, estimates 
that about 75 percent of the people in the northern dioceses 
have been displaced during 17 years of fighting. "And there are 
271,000 refugees from Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and the Congo--with 
a new influx of about 200,000," he said. "The church provides 
some immediate assistance, counseling services, scholarships for 
students, but it is difficult to attract international help 
because partners are often distracted by other issues," he 
added. A recent appeal for $200,000 in emergency help drew a 
"very disappointing" response of only $10,000.

"Now children are reaching adolescence without ever having known 
a normal life," Sakwa said. "There is a breakdown in family life 
and morality and HIV/AIDS has become an increasingly serious 
problem."

"Poverty is our deepest enemy," said the Rev. Tom Tuma, 
coordinator of PDR. "But Anglicanism is a people church so 
ordinary people hold the key."

Beginning at local level

PDR's strategy, according to Tuma, is one of "participatory 
rural appraisal. We go into the villages and talk with the 
people for a week or so, making a list of their most important 
needs. After that original assessment we look at local resources 
that can be used to support the work and move them towards 
sustainability and self-support. If they need help, we formulate 
a plan to provide that help," he said in an interview during the 
week-long visit of Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold and his 
wife Phoebe at the end of May.

"When the local resources are not sufficient, the village may 
seek government help or the church may offer assistance," added 
Sakwa. "The leaders are already there because of the clan system 
but they need to be empowered. The church offers credible 
leadership to help mobilize people and implement strategies--and 
they are often the key because they have had skill training. The 
local village councils provide political leadership--and there 
is always a high degree of accountability," he said. 

"We are one of four provincial offices with a staff of 32 people 
and eight field offices with links to all 29 dioceses," 
Rwakabwohe added. He said that the priorities identified by the 
local villages include improved agricultural production; 
livestock improvement; micro finance; school enhancement; health 
support services (including HIV/AIDS); rural water and 
sanitation; and land resource management.

Peace and human rights

"When the community is living in conflict, the people can't work 
together, as a team, so that conflict undermines all the work," 
said Joshua Kitkula, who runs PDR's peace and human rights 
program. "We can't build peace, we need partners and 
stakeholders at all levels. So we begin by creating an awareness 
of the conflict and its causes. We define the issues."

Originally the government looked at the war as a northern 
problem, he said, "so we had to show them that it is a national 
problem--even an international problem with the Sudan's 
involvement and easy access to arms from Somalia through Kenya." 
He said that they also lobbied the Ugandan government to abandon 
its support for rebels in the Congo. 

"There is also plenty of conflict within the church so the 
program tries to focus on those conflicts as well," Kitkula 
said. 

The war has made work in the north very difficult but "we should 
not run away from the immense obstacles," said Tuma. "The 
greater the obstacles the greater the determination to overcome 
them." He admits that some disagreements with bishops on the 
role of PDR are on that list of obstacles. 

"There is some disagreement and discussion about how we should 
operate because dioceses have wanted to control their own 
resources," he said. To address those issues, PDR convenes a 
colloquium of bishops where they report on what they have been 
doing in each diocese--and what they are planning for the coming 
year. "We depend on patience and understanding in our work and 
they began to see the effectiveness of the program," Tuma said.

Changing patterns of support

When asked about sources of support, Tuma said that "almost all 
the initial support was from churches in Germany and 
Scandinavia" and even today about 90 percent of the $1.5 million 
of annual support comes from the same international sources. Yet 
now that source is more often the government, rather than the 
churches, and that has changed the dialogue and the partnership. 
"Now other non-governmental agencies have introduced new levels 
of competition for aid and less money comes directly from the 
churches," he said. "So those seeking funds end up fighting over 
less and less money as governments supply funds with new 
conditions and restrictions."

The result, Tuma said, is that "we have learned a new language 
while still conversing with traditional sources of funds. But 
that complicates and even threatens our work. We have moved from 
a climate of trust to one of more and more accountability, with 
reports for each and every project."

PDR has also tried "to be sensitive to what is happening in our 
own working environment in the province." For example, with the 
province facing financial difficulties, the PDR board decided to 
share some of its own resources, balancing salaries on the 
provincial staff, for example.

PDR meets with its ecumenical partners every two years in a 
Round Table where the program is reviewed and additional pledges 
of support are sought. Tuma said that Episcopal Relief and 
Development (ERD) joined that meeting in 2000 "with substantial 
support, enthusiasm and a lot of energy--qualities which are 
indispensable to any development program," he told Griswold 
during a conversation at the PDR offices in Kampala.

ERD supporting major initiative

Janette O'Neill, project manager for ERD, attended that meeting 
and said that she was impressed not only with the programs and 
projects, but PDR's abilities to monitor its work and learn from 
mistakes. She is also impressed with the PDR process of going to 
the village elders and asking about the needs of the community, 
"giving voice to the entire community by creatively helping them 
identify and prioritize their needs--and then look for solutions 
that they can achieve together." She said, "It is well accepted 
that the success of development work is closely correlated with 
'ownership' of the goals and the methods used to implement the 
project by the benefiting community."

In 2000 ERD broke its pattern of small grants and decided to 
grant $200,000 a year for five years--a total of $1 million--as 
its part in a $15 million project to aid five of the poorest 
parishes in each of the 29 dioceses. "PDR is a mature 
organization with a 20-year track record," she said. "And this 
is our only partnership with a provincial development office so 
it's a sign of our respect and trust."

------

--James Solheim is director of Episcopal News Service and 
covered the presiding bishop's visit to Uganda.