Some short stories from the field

One of the best parts of doing research abroad is that it gives you opportunities to travel to “the field” a lot. We’ve spent at least a quarter of our trip outside of towns in the villages. Its an important experience, especially in a country like Uganda where over 75% of the population still lives in villages.

The war disrupted village life greatly as people were forced into Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camps by the government. This continues to be one of the most controversial strategies of the war, as the practice of displacement seems to have caused many of the most rampant post-conflict issues, especially high rates of alcoholism, domestic abuse, and a changed attitude toward hard work. However, since the IDP camp strategy was a government strategy, it has gone largely un-criticized by both national human rights structures, as well as international groups. 

The majority of Northern Ugandans have now resettled back to their villages. Some have been forced to stay in camps due to land-mine and IED use around the Sudanese border. Others have been unable to return to their original villages because of land conflict and stigma. Unlike in Canada where people move regularly, land in Uganda is owned communally and the clan-structure is very important for traditional structures therefore displacement away from your own village has many consequences. The majority that can’t find their way back into their own villages, especially those stigmatized youth who returned from the LRA, find their way to towns. Unfortunately, town life is more expensive and especially difficult for someone with an incomplete education, so many become street kids, thieves, and (for the lucky ones) boda-boda drivers.

Going back to the field stories, we like to go as often as we can, so when we heard that our friends at AYINET would be traveling to Barlonyo, we got on the earliest bus to Lira and met them. Barlonyo was the site of the largest IDP camp and one of the most brutal massacres by the LRA. We had visited before, but since this place is so symbolically important to the Lango people, we thought we’d go to learn more. Although we weren’t able to do our research, we ended up seeing something incredible that helped us understand what one aspect of IDP camp life must have been like. Three weeks ago, a very big storm hit Barlonyo; hail fell for hours destroying the majority of the crops in Barlonyo and one other village. Luckily the storm was localized, but for the hundreds of people in these two villages, they were left with nothing.

Seeing the level of destruction, AYINET (African Youth Initiative Network) paired up with ICRC and got funding to do a large scale seed distribution. On Sunday, we traveled with them with 2 large trucks full of seeds. The amount of aid that was mobilized for just two villages is pretty incredible - I’ll load pictures as soon as power comes back! It was also incredible to get to the village and see the number of people gathered for these free seeds. ICRC explained that they had a lot of experience with seed distribution from the days of the World Food Programme in the camps. The level of organization necessary to prevent chaos was incredible, and even after all the coordination with the local government, some people were still left seedless and unhappy. The fact that one storm could completely destroy a village’s livelihood is a sign of the level of poverty in the villages. Although these individuals may have benefited from a dozen different aid programs, they continue to survive on a day to day basis.

Going to the field therefore shows you the major problems that exist with aid work at a number of levels. First, it has made individuals very dependent. This is not only a dependence on continual support, but even just a dependence on the perks that come with aid workers presence in the villages. For example, during the days of the IDP camps, NGOs used to give people a bottle of pop and biscuits or even lunch to attend meetings. At that point, no one had food, so this may have even been a measure of necessity. But now, NGOs find that unless they provide these allowances, people will either not attend, or be very upset at the meetings conclusion. Second, one sees the level of corruption when you go to the field. Villagers will tell you that they know NGOs received funding on their behalf, but only a portion of it will ever reach them. In addition, many NGO staff are given generous allowances, despite the fact that traveling to the field is a vital part of their job description. However, the most distressing issue is the lack of sustainable development and results you see in the villages, despite the millions (and potentially even billions) of aid money the region has received. This is not to say that all organizations are inefficient and corrupt. We have met some very good and smart people doing amazing work with little support. But unfortunately, we have met many more just working in the NGO industry for the generous salaries and forgetting that the support they’re given (largely from people in the west) is meant to make real change. One problem is that there is so little coordination amongst NGOs. Another is that much of the work was targeted, further stigmatizing some populations and not bringing comprehensive solutions. Another reason could be that aid strategies continue to be developed outside the region. Although there has recently been a big push for organizations to only hire locals so that the work is representative of the wishes of the community, funders are the ones defining NGO priorities and strategies. Time and again we’ve heard NGOs tell us, we know this program does not address the root causes, but funders will not support x, y, z approach.

Whatever the reason, going to the field is proof that many aid programs are just not working in Northern Uganda.