Irony in Government

Ah, the Ministry of Health. Uganda is currently fighting for disability rights. The first week I was in Uganda, Fatuma and I went to the MOH for a meeting, but she was unable to get up the disability ramp because it was completely blocked by motorcycles, cabinets, and other random stuff. All said, Fatuma couldn't get by. She would have had to had a wheelchair that was about 10 inches wide to pass by. The people assured us it was temporary and would be moved soon.

My last day in Uganda, we went back.



While there was more room cleared, Fatuma's wheelchair was still a few inches too wide to pass.



There's the respect for the disability issues in Uganda...

There are always challenges you don't anticipate. There is a law that buildings should be accessible, but most of the time, there is no funding for it, and the government doesn't have the resources for or want to pay for it. When the ramp exists, it might be blocked. If anything, it's a lesson in remembering that there is far more to a story that what is on paper. There are challenges in policy, sure, but there are more in attitude, implementation, and sustainability.

Home Visits: Zenab & P5 boy

The first person we visited was Zenab who has a small business selling tomoatoes and other vegetables in the Kalerewe Market (picture on the left). She is in a wheelchair because she had polio and has had a wheelchair for six months. Since she lives in a swamp area it's difficult to keep her wheelchair clean. Although she has a business and at first glance you may not notice that she is disabled (she scoots around while working), she is segregated from the other sellers. Her area is a blanket clearly distinct and in front of the line of vegetable sellers. Although many of them have shade and a table, she does not. While we were there Fatuma had a chat with the manager (apparently there is some organization to the chaos?) about that. She encouraged him to think of people with disabilities as a responsibility of the community. A very active lady, she would be interested in going into a group with some of the others and expanding her small business.

After visiting Zenab, Fatuma, Steven (Fatuma's driver) and I went to St. Jude Primary School to visit a boy who was in a wheelchair at the school there. Right now the place is completely unaccessible.


In order to even get up the step to his class he needs a bit of assistance. His chair also isn't very fitted. The cushion is good, though, so I suspect he's using that so that he can grow in the wheelchair. He's in P5 right now and seems to be doing pretty well for now, but his classes in P6 & P7 aren't remotely accessible. Fatuma talked to the headmaster about everyone contributing and helping.


Here he is with his class. He generally sits in the back with some friends, but when the kids crowded in the front I insisted on being able to see everyone. The kids were super cute. On the way out we moved at a snails pace with the car because all the kids wanted to wave bye and Steven was driving very carefully.

Fatuma is of the mind that disabilities must be supported by the community and it's admirable that she makes that effort. She was telling me today that she wants MADE to expand to also focus on advocacy in the times where it doesn't have a lot of wheelchairs to build. She had a meeting with the director of Disability Rights Fund. (ironically, located in Boston!) The advocacy would be for making private schools accessible. Public ones are mandated by law to be accessible (although law and reality are completely different), but there is less regulation on the private ones. Here's hoping Fatuma's application is successful! =)


And random: I saw this little guy outside my hostel when I got back from the home visits. I think he was greeting me. Now I just need a banana so we can be friends...

The Aid Debate

On the way back from Fort Portal this weekend (more about that later!), I borrowed a newspaper from a fellow passenger and read this article by Dr. Ian Clark, The Aid Debate. It was an interesting article to be reading and made me think about several things.

Definitely read through, but the summary in a sentence: Aid by foreign governemts to Uganda is having little effect on the daily lives of the people.

I was interested that Americans were mentioned as primarily giving aid through their own organizations. Yes, it's more difficult, but real benefits can be measured.

"Donors put money in at the top, in the hope that the ministry will deliver results out the bottom, but sometimes all that can be measured are more four-wheel drive vehicles in the car park."

The article encourages the use of results and measurements in order to determine whether to give more aid.

Here in Uganda I've met with both the Ministry of Health (mentioned in the article) and smaller NGOs and I'm glad to see support for my decision to pursue the NGOs as a better option for donations. In addition to cutting the bureaucracy, it's more transparent and more possible to trace the money flow.

I also remember some outrage about the US cutting aid to Africa. Let me propose a different solution: instead of our government donating to the Africa governments, have that funding be donated to the local grassroots non-profits.

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Extra credit: Desist from Racist Tendencies by Deo Kabwende

A very interesting article to read from the Uganda standpoint. While I do sympathize with the woman somewhat because she may have genuinely been concerned that she was a muzungu being ripped off (probably wasn't the first time), her behavior didn't help the situation in the slightest and displayed racist tendencies that could have easily been avoided.