A range of hats, activities and meetings in Rwanda and Uganda

I don’t know that there is going to be much of great profoundness in this blog, it’s more a writing that will help to update any who are interested on what I’ve been up to over the past few days.

It’s also a way to help fill some time as I journey back to Kampala from Gulu – a journey that takes 5 hours if we are lucky, but is probably closer to 6 hours, and that’s a long time to sit still!!!

So, last time I wrote I’d been doing some teacher training for the staff at Comfort Primary School in Kigali, a school that CRED Partner GNPDR has been linked with since its inception due to its focus on providing access to mainstream education for children who have found themselves living on the streets.

Since then, I’ve had a whole bunch of different meetings, and I have to say that each of them in their own right has been a real pleasure and honour to be involved in.

I met with the deputy CEO of another non-profit, ‘Never Again Rwanda’, and heard about the advocacy and empowerment work that they are doing across a range of sectors as well as having the chance to share about one of the training programmes that I have been delivering to the GNPDR staff. 

I met with the chair of the GNPDR board, another fruitful conversation that included me drawing on my back history of chairing and sitting on various committees, to help him with exploring new solutions to some of the challenges that he is experiencing.

I had a lovely time chatting with four folks who want to become local trainers for 360Life, and so be able to deliver the training themselves, rather than having to wait for me to travel to the country. This will really help to expand the work, and provide presentations that are contextually relevant in a way that I am unable to do, despite my best efforts at being culturally sensitive.

two of the four local trainers

I had two days facilitating a Theory of Change workshop for the GNPDR team and together we explored what is their ultimate goal, what does their vision of success look like, and what does the change pathway look like to reach that. Lots of new concepts and ways of thinking for the GNPDR team in that workshop, but even so, by the end of the second day, a lot of progress had been made.

Then I travelled to Uganda and spent the first day just catching up with John and family, and hearing how all the different projects have been progressing since I was last here. That was the Saturday, and on the Sunday I treated myself to a morning a local ‘country club’ (in the heart of Kampala, so not very ‘country’), where I enjoyed using the gym, and having an outdoor swim.

Then it was a delightful afternoon catching up with Harriet, Miriam and the rest of the ladies at Acholi Quarters. I didn’t see many of the youngsters as they were all off to a sports afternoon organised by a local NGO, but I did see many of them running for the bus that was to transport them to the sports facilities, and they waved at me excitedly as they charged by. So good to see their smiles and happiness at the thought of an afternoon of tennis with their friends.

It was good to see the Acholi ladies again. This was the first time of seeing them since the children had returned to school after a covid-induced gap of 2 years, and they told me with delight how well the children have adjusted to being back, and are enjoying being able to do their lessons again. The ladies also shared how this was the first time that none of them had struggled to pay their portion of the school fees for the children, thanks to a savings scheme that they set up after I had done some small training with them in March 2021. As a result of that savings scheme, they all had access to some money that they could draw on, and all the children had the joy of being able to go to school and not worry about the teachers sending them home due to non-payment of the balance.

Just an aside at this point – all of these children are ones that have some support with their educational fees from UK donors. But it was the request of the group leaders in Acholi that we don’t pay the full amount – which would lead to a culture of dependency – but leave some small percentage for the parents to pay, so that they have the dignity of knowing that they are personally supporting their children. In principle this is a good way to go, but until this year it’s been a struggle for that top up to always be found. It was therefore a wonderful bit of news to hear that this term none of the parents had had that struggle, despite all the ups and downs of Covid. Praise the Lord for that.

Whilst at Acholi I also placed an order for some beads, covered the medical cost of a girl we support who has had 6 weeks of cough and some chest tightness, and prayed for an elderly lady who is probably not long for this world. It was a privilege to be able to sit with her and her family at this time.

The past two days have been spent in Gulu – well, 24 hours in Gulu, plus 12 hours of driving. In that time I’ve met with more potential 360Life trainers, discussed possible future training for friend involved in a new ministry, heard updates about some of the programme work that CRED Partner ILA is doing, and had some very useful conversations about my PhD research. And I was in the right place at the right time to watch a Women’s Day parade pass by, on this International Women’s Day, which is so esteemed in Uganda, that it is considered a public holiday.

My research is going to be based in and around Gulu, and so I’ve had to get ethics clearance from the local university. One staff member has been particularly helpful in navigating the process, and it was so good to be able to sit with him this morning and actually chat face to face about progress made so far, and what hoops are still to be jumped through. Technology is wonderful for keeping in touch from afar, and it has really come into its own since covid and not being able to meet in person, but there really is nothing like being able to meet face to face, at least sometimes.

So, there you have it – a catch up of my activities over the past week. As I said, nothing profound, but a little insight into variety of interactions that have certainly made up the spice of my life.