Time has flown by since my last post. Today was the very last day of training, and tomorrow I am headed out to my placement. I have a lot to share about the training experience.
Training has been very intensive. As a "Livelihoods" volunteer, my focus is to give young people skills and knowledge so that they are able to start their own businesses and become self-sustaining. Youth unemployment in Uganda is as high as 80%! In a country where over 75% of the population is under the age of 30, this is a huge problem. So, in training, we learned to conduct sessions in basic entrepreneurship skills and life skills, project proposal writing (so that young people are able to access loans and funds from banks, government programs, and savings and credit cooperatives), and even things like group management. As part of livelihoods training, we also got to practice some organic farming methods, and we visited a local organic farm to see just how it is done. The farmer we met, Dorothy, even generates her own electricity using biogas from cow manure! It was really really cool.
Beyond supporting youth livelihoods, another one of of Restless Development's goals is to increase young people's civic participation. To this end, we discussed things like gender and advocacy, and learned how to manage the youth resource centres we will be setting up and supporting in our communities. Finally, our training included some sessions more relevant to the administration part of our work, like finance or monitoring and evaluation. These things are really important, because they provide the organization with data so that they can show impact and further advocate for young people based on our results. As part of this, we learned about Participatory Rural Appraisal techniques, which allow us to collect information from our communities so that we are using people's existing knowledge and skills to design our sessions and programs. I know that I am getting into the more technical side of things - so I promise to dedicate a whole post to this at a later point. (For those interested in PRA, look up Robert Chambers from the University of Sussex' Institute for Development Studies. While I was at LSE, my department was lucky enough to have a whole day's workshop with him, learning about PRA and rural development work).
Besides training, I have also been having some fun. So far, I have been to Kampala twice on the weekends. The city is unlike anything I've ever seen before, but is really cool. We went to Owino market, which is much like the rural trading centres but on a massive scale. There are people everywhere, selling goods of all kinds. I also had the chance to try some Indian food in Kampala, which was really amazing. There is a very large Indian community in Uganda, and they have a long and tumultuous history here as Idi Amin (Uganda's infamous dictator who ruled in the early 1980s) forced them out of the country and appropriated many of their assets. Ugandan cuisine itself has been partly influenced by Indian food - you can get a chapati at any street market, for instance. Overall, it has been really fun to see Kampala, as it is quite different from rural life. I hope to be back on some of my weekends off.
As training is winding to a close, I am getting more excited and a little nervous about placement. I will be going to Busaana sub-county, in Kayunga district. I am working in a team of five - it will be myself, Clare (a national volunteer), and Agnes, Alex, and Fred (all community volunteers). Clare and Agnes will be focusing on sexual and reproductive health, while Alex, Fred, and I are doing livelihoods. All of us will be working together on civic participation and ensuring that our events, lessons, and sessions are a success. I don't really know what to expect, but the community volunteers have told me that I will really enjoy living in Busaana. There will be some challenges for sure - continuing to learn Luganda, having to cook and fetch water - but I am really looking forward to the work. I think that we will make a good team!
I move out tomorrow! I will once again have to find the nearest place for internet access, but I promise to update as soon as possible. We all get two weekends off per month, so I will be able to go into town at least a bit regularly.
I hope that everybody is doing well, and that 2012 is off to a great start.
Cheers,
Lauren
Training has been very intensive. As a "Livelihoods" volunteer, my focus is to give young people skills and knowledge so that they are able to start their own businesses and become self-sustaining. Youth unemployment in Uganda is as high as 80%! In a country where over 75% of the population is under the age of 30, this is a huge problem. So, in training, we learned to conduct sessions in basic entrepreneurship skills and life skills, project proposal writing (so that young people are able to access loans and funds from banks, government programs, and savings and credit cooperatives), and even things like group management. As part of livelihoods training, we also got to practice some organic farming methods, and we visited a local organic farm to see just how it is done. The farmer we met, Dorothy, even generates her own electricity using biogas from cow manure! It was really really cool.
Beyond supporting youth livelihoods, another one of of Restless Development's goals is to increase young people's civic participation. To this end, we discussed things like gender and advocacy, and learned how to manage the youth resource centres we will be setting up and supporting in our communities. Finally, our training included some sessions more relevant to the administration part of our work, like finance or monitoring and evaluation. These things are really important, because they provide the organization with data so that they can show impact and further advocate for young people based on our results. As part of this, we learned about Participatory Rural Appraisal techniques, which allow us to collect information from our communities so that we are using people's existing knowledge and skills to design our sessions and programs. I know that I am getting into the more technical side of things - so I promise to dedicate a whole post to this at a later point. (For those interested in PRA, look up Robert Chambers from the University of Sussex' Institute for Development Studies. While I was at LSE, my department was lucky enough to have a whole day's workshop with him, learning about PRA and rural development work).
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| An amazing session we had with the TASO Drama Group. (TASO = The Aids Support Organization. All of the performers are living with HIV). |
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| Kampala. |
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| The Ugandan Parliament building, in Kampala. |
I move out tomorrow! I will once again have to find the nearest place for internet access, but I promise to update as soon as possible. We all get two weekends off per month, so I will be able to go into town at least a bit regularly.
I hope that everybody is doing well, and that 2012 is off to a great start.
Cheers,
Lauren
So excited to read about your month of training with Restless Development! The livelihoods program sounds like it is really tackling some serious local development issues -from youth unemployment to micro finance! Good luck with the move to your placement! :)
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