Field tripping through Lira
Hello from Lira!
We returned from Atiak exhausted. But we knew we had to continue with our research so we spent the next day walking around Gulu and interviewing staff from different NGOs while planning our return to Lira. In Gulu, we met a wonderful lawyer at a women's legal clinic, who told us about how she attempts to use the law, and cultural norms when necessary, to improve the lives of women and children in Uganda. It was nice to see how ingenious some institutions and individuals are and we could tell that she was truly helping many people.
The next morning, we ran to the bus park at 7 and caught the earliest bus. In Lira, we spent an exhausting day trying to talk to as many organizations as possible so we could find ways to the field. Getting to the field can be a complicated process and you can’t just take a car and drive to a village. Normally we try to get in contact with a local elder from the village, parish or sub-county councils and be invited to come for our research, or we accompany an NGO while they do their own fieldwork. We got really lucky this past week in Lira and including tomorrow, we will have managed to get to the field three times this week and collect data from almost 200 individuals in the Lango sub-region. Its really important for our research to be useful in Uganda to get opinions from not only the Acholi, but also those in Lango. Thankfully our work paid off.
We traveled to Alito and Aromo and will go to Apala tomorrow. We’ve had a really interesting experience because we’ve also been meeting with many different groups of individuals. In Aromo, we traveled with Concerned Parents Association so we met with a parent support group established for the war affected during the war. We also got to hear a community dialogue then which was I would argue was probably counter-productive, but community members seemed to enjoy it greatly. When asked what the biggest hindrances to peace were in their community, the women responded that the men drank too much and therefore families were left in poverty and domestic abuse ensued. The men responded that their wives’ (note the plurality) were too jealous of each other and should learn to get along. Although to was good to get the problems into the open, nothing further was provided to teach the community ways of fixing the problems.
One problem we’ve had with our field work is the expectation many communities have because we seem to have a lot of money. Before we go to do our research, we always talk to a field staff and explain the project, as well as the fact that we will not be provide aid or compensation for participation. We tell them that they should invite anyone who is interested in taking part, but that they should emphasize that we are not an NGO and therefore this is not a link to aid. Unfortunately, this message seems to be lost on most. At the beginning of the session, we like to ask people whether they have any questions before we start interviews or hand out surveys. Although this is the right thing to do, we are always asked for aid and I find it really hard to explain that we are only here for research and although we hope the research will amount to help in the future, we can’t promise anything. I also always have the feeling that aid has not been the right solution in Uganda and unless it undergoes serious reform, will probably not amount to many significant changes in the North.
Back in Lira, we also met with Child Protection Committees. From them, and a further discussion with a Youth Representative of the district counsel, we learned how youth have really been forgotten in post-conflict reconstruction. We noticed a similar problem as NGOs love to emphasize children’s problems but seem to forget the war’s most affected demographic, those between the ages of 15 to 25.
While in Lira, we spoke to many different organizations, one of which worked on issues related to street children. As we’ve learned that many former child soldiers of both the LRA and government army are now living on the streets, we thought we’d try to learn more about the work of the organization. They invited us to join them on a “night survey” to provide a bi-monthly documentation of children living on the streets. We set off last night after dinner with a group of ten people and accompanied by the police in case any problems occurred. But we soon realized that there would be no danger, as the street children seem to be one of the friendliest groups of children in Uganda. They were neither shy nor impolite and quickly greeted the staff and provided the necessary information for their documentation. We found a number of them near the disco, but very few elsewhere. The children we talked to explained that the rest of the street children had decided they wanted to go to Kampala and had boarded buses the night before. The staff member in charge explained that many kids think it will be easier to beg in the capital city, and also like to visit Kampala, but most usually return in a few days. We were surprised the children could afford the trip. Although its only 20,000 USH by coach bus - which is the equivalent of $8, that's no small sum of money (you could get 10 full meals at some restaurants for that amount of money).
But she explained that these children are very smart, and work, or steal, in order to get what they want. One thing that had the greatest impression on us was the fact that these street kids actually looked a lot healthier than the children we’ve seen in the villages. Its incredible to see the different between even the undeveloped urban areas and those villages we have visited. The problem seems to be that there are just very few opportunities to make money in villages, besides doing the hard work of tilling, seeding, and harvesting in the fields. Unfortunately, most aid work continued to help those living in the towns and cities.
We have an exciting couple of weeks planned. We’ll be going to Apala tomorrow and then probably boarding a bus for Soroti in the Teso sub-region. The Teso region has not only been plagued by “Kony’s war” (as it is known in Uganda), but also by a group of violent cattle raiders known as the Karamojong. So we are sure to hear about different issues. From there, we’ll travel to Eldoret in Kenya where my dad is currently volunteering and training individuals at the regional hospital. So excited!
Will try to update more frequently but the internet stick has been acting funny recently.
Hope everything in Canada is good!
- Sima
We returned from Atiak exhausted. But we knew we had to continue with our research so we spent the next day walking around Gulu and interviewing staff from different NGOs while planning our return to Lira. In Gulu, we met a wonderful lawyer at a women's legal clinic, who told us about how she attempts to use the law, and cultural norms when necessary, to improve the lives of women and children in Uganda. It was nice to see how ingenious some institutions and individuals are and we could tell that she was truly helping many people.
The next morning, we ran to the bus park at 7 and caught the earliest bus. In Lira, we spent an exhausting day trying to talk to as many organizations as possible so we could find ways to the field. Getting to the field can be a complicated process and you can’t just take a car and drive to a village. Normally we try to get in contact with a local elder from the village, parish or sub-county councils and be invited to come for our research, or we accompany an NGO while they do their own fieldwork. We got really lucky this past week in Lira and including tomorrow, we will have managed to get to the field three times this week and collect data from almost 200 individuals in the Lango sub-region. Its really important for our research to be useful in Uganda to get opinions from not only the Acholi, but also those in Lango. Thankfully our work paid off.
We traveled to Alito and Aromo and will go to Apala tomorrow. We’ve had a really interesting experience because we’ve also been meeting with many different groups of individuals. In Aromo, we traveled with Concerned Parents Association so we met with a parent support group established for the war affected during the war. We also got to hear a community dialogue then which was I would argue was probably counter-productive, but community members seemed to enjoy it greatly. When asked what the biggest hindrances to peace were in their community, the women responded that the men drank too much and therefore families were left in poverty and domestic abuse ensued. The men responded that their wives’ (note the plurality) were too jealous of each other and should learn to get along. Although to was good to get the problems into the open, nothing further was provided to teach the community ways of fixing the problems.
One problem we’ve had with our field work is the expectation many communities have because we seem to have a lot of money. Before we go to do our research, we always talk to a field staff and explain the project, as well as the fact that we will not be provide aid or compensation for participation. We tell them that they should invite anyone who is interested in taking part, but that they should emphasize that we are not an NGO and therefore this is not a link to aid. Unfortunately, this message seems to be lost on most. At the beginning of the session, we like to ask people whether they have any questions before we start interviews or hand out surveys. Although this is the right thing to do, we are always asked for aid and I find it really hard to explain that we are only here for research and although we hope the research will amount to help in the future, we can’t promise anything. I also always have the feeling that aid has not been the right solution in Uganda and unless it undergoes serious reform, will probably not amount to many significant changes in the North.
Back in Lira, we also met with Child Protection Committees. From them, and a further discussion with a Youth Representative of the district counsel, we learned how youth have really been forgotten in post-conflict reconstruction. We noticed a similar problem as NGOs love to emphasize children’s problems but seem to forget the war’s most affected demographic, those between the ages of 15 to 25.
While in Lira, we spoke to many different organizations, one of which worked on issues related to street children. As we’ve learned that many former child soldiers of both the LRA and government army are now living on the streets, we thought we’d try to learn more about the work of the organization. They invited us to join them on a “night survey” to provide a bi-monthly documentation of children living on the streets. We set off last night after dinner with a group of ten people and accompanied by the police in case any problems occurred. But we soon realized that there would be no danger, as the street children seem to be one of the friendliest groups of children in Uganda. They were neither shy nor impolite and quickly greeted the staff and provided the necessary information for their documentation. We found a number of them near the disco, but very few elsewhere. The children we talked to explained that the rest of the street children had decided they wanted to go to Kampala and had boarded buses the night before. The staff member in charge explained that many kids think it will be easier to beg in the capital city, and also like to visit Kampala, but most usually return in a few days. We were surprised the children could afford the trip. Although its only 20,000 USH by coach bus - which is the equivalent of $8, that's no small sum of money (you could get 10 full meals at some restaurants for that amount of money).
But she explained that these children are very smart, and work, or steal, in order to get what they want. One thing that had the greatest impression on us was the fact that these street kids actually looked a lot healthier than the children we’ve seen in the villages. Its incredible to see the different between even the undeveloped urban areas and those villages we have visited. The problem seems to be that there are just very few opportunities to make money in villages, besides doing the hard work of tilling, seeding, and harvesting in the fields. Unfortunately, most aid work continued to help those living in the towns and cities.
We have an exciting couple of weeks planned. We’ll be going to Apala tomorrow and then probably boarding a bus for Soroti in the Teso sub-region. The Teso region has not only been plagued by “Kony’s war” (as it is known in Uganda), but also by a group of violent cattle raiders known as the Karamojong. So we are sure to hear about different issues. From there, we’ll travel to Eldoret in Kenya where my dad is currently volunteering and training individuals at the regional hospital. So excited!
Will try to update more frequently but the internet stick has been acting funny recently.
Hope everything in Canada is good!
- Sima
great post.Must be hard to hear and see part of the problems there and not being able to change all that with one solution.
ReplyDeletekeep up the good work and stay safe.
PS
did you guys calculate the miles traveled ?
I can't believe how much travelling you are doing. Have you distributed all your gifts yet? How do you stay so positive seeing firsthand so many issues involved to try to solve basic problems.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the photos when you finally get a chance to download.
We miss you so much.
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