Leaving Uganda

I am leaving Kampala on KLM at 11:30pm bound for Amsterdam; then Delta to Atlanta and again to San Diego. Uganda has been a wonderful assignment. I was part of the US Aid Farmer to Farmer (F2F) contract which is now under Catholic Relief Services (CRS). CRS has been in Uganda since 1965 but primarily in relief and health issues. This is the first contract for CRS under the F2F. I met with the Country Director, Liz Pfifer, the F2F Coordinators, George Ntibarikure and Emmanuel Mukama, and the other CRS staff who work on different projects. I spent most of my time outside of Kampala in Iganga which is near Jinja. Jinja is considered one of the sources of the Nile and I am told that a boat ride will show the visitor the “spouting of the water”. Iganga is a municipal town of ~40,000 and serves as the commercial/government hub for the region. I stayed in Mum Resort Hotel. As with many African guest houses, there is new construction along with the old building so “deferred maintenance” takes a back seat to the new project. I was finally able to have a functioning bathroom! The staff is very nice though not promptly responsible (except when my sink faucet did not turn off!) I was working with a large cooperative - Namungalwe Area Cooperative Enterprise (NACE) which has 6 RPOs (Rural Producers Organization) and more than 500 members. The NACE is managed by a very competent business man, Badru and has computer facilities which produce excellent reports. Badru also acted at times as my interpreter when Peter (a university student) was in class. Both were great. The Board of Directors of NACE set the agenda for the training: I would travel every day to a new RPO and present a one-day Business of Farming class. On 2 days, I met with the RPO members in a school room but the other 4 days I was outside under a tree. Farm animals became part of the program with a Tom Turkey very angry that 30+ humans were in his space. Over the 6 days, I met with 160+ members. The second part of the assignment was to conduct a Training of Trainers (TOT). Each RPO “volunteered” 3 to 4 members who agreed to conduct future training. I developed 10 short (30-60 minutes) training modules. For 3 days, the 24 “Trainers” met with me and learned how to train the material. I am confident that each RPO has at least one or two people who can continue the training. Each RPO made a commitment to begin ASAP and will report these efforts to the NACE and CRS. My hotels have ranged from just ok (Mum Resort in Iganga) to great (Apricot Hotel and Fairway Hotel Kampala). The people are wonderful and eager to learn/change/proper. I write this on St. Patrick’s Day so Erin go bragh!