January 14, 2020.

 From my last trip to Uganda

I have known Charles for several years. He lives in Gulu, Uganda and he works hard repairing cell phones and small electronics in the Gulu Mall.  I also know he received a micro loan from my non-profit, ASA Social Fund for Hidden Peoples, to help him grow his business.  I know he is married to Ketty and they have one child.  That is all I knew when I met him again in Gulu January 14, 2020. 

I had arranged to meet with Charles at 6:00 on the basketball court.  When I got there, I was surprised to see that the basketball court was an actual cement court with faded lines and hoops hanging properly.  The netting was torn, but it was good enough.  I was surprised because here I was in Gulu, a town in northern Uganda.  The people are poor.  The town is poor.  Many people are without jobs because they are recovering from a horrible thirty-year civil war.  And here in the middle of Gulu was a very nice basketball court.

I saw Charles sitting in his wheelchair on the edge of the court putting on his red and blue striped basketball jersey.  He was talking with his teammates who were all sitting in wheelchairs too.  He told me earlier in the day that he belonged to a basketball team that played one day a week and he wanted me to see him play.  I wanted to make sure that I would not miss this. 

 I said hi to Charles and watched how he adjusted his wheelchair for playing. His wheels splay outward.  All of the other wheelchairs did too.  He was happy that I was there.  I saw pride in his smile knowing he could show me how he plays even though he does not have any legs.  His legs were blown off when he stepped on a landmine many years ago during the Joseph Kony Lord's Resistance Army civil war.

A whistle blows and that is when I noticed that there were coaches and referees around. They started to 

practice and warm up.  They passed the ball back and forth.  They had an opposing team.  Both teams were young, some in their teens others in their twenties and thirties.  And yes there were young women too!  Then they lined up, the two teams gave Hi Fives, a whistle blew and the game started.

Wheelchairs whizzed back and forth all over the court and the ball was passed at lightening speed.  I tried keeping score but lost count because the basketball was dunked many times into the net.  One team member's wheelchair fell backwards and I worried that he hit his head when he landed on his back, but someone lifted him up and the game continued.  

 

I could tell they had strong upper body strength making up for their weakened or missing legs.  It was a short game.  It lasted about an hour.  The sun was setting and darkness was coming soon.  I congratulated the team.  I think Charles' team won.  They proudly told me they played in tournaments and they were the champions

I have thought of them often during our COVD quarantine.  I hope that all are ok.  Maybe this next year, 2022, I can finally return to Gulu and watch them play ball again.

 

What Uganda Meant to Me

            

   Thanks to our 2020 summer intern, Chidinma Onuoha, we have a series of thoughts

     from our ASA volunteers as they reflect on their experiences in Uganda. 

 Why did you decide to work in Uganda and what was it like working there?

 What was the average day like?

 “I decided on Uganda, due to my interest in Africa. Unfortunately, there were not many

options for Africa, it was not until I was studying in the University’s African Studies room,

where I heard about the internship and was seeing stars! I asked my advisor about it, and

we got working on being able to get myself on a flight to Uganda.

An average day there would consist of waking up around 5 or 6 am (From Monday to Friday) , spending an hour getting ready, including mosquito repellent, sunscreen, and anti-malaria pills, then heading down to breakfast. After a small breakfast, we would attend lectures of Luganda Language courses and meet with people who would tell us about their stories and about Uganda. Then we would go to different locations to conduct interviews and have lunch. We would then be free for the rest of the day to either explore, play with the little kids, or continue to do some work and research; before having dinner and retiring for the day.”  ~Zeinab Abbas

How has this internship impacted you as a person/ how has it sculpted your goals and perspective on the future?

     “My favorite part of my days were walking through the village and sitting around for hours chatting

with local entrepreneurs at their places of business. One woman in particular really made an impact on

me (who I am still in contact with today). Despite the hardship she and her children endured, she exudes

joy, gratefulness, and positivity. Upon returning home to Pittsburgh, I found  that I was more appreciative,

less wasteful, more intentional about aligning my values with my career, and was inspired to make a

difference on the lives of others.” ~Mariah Fosnight

“I don't think it is possible to see the work of Bright Kids Uganda and other Ugandan NGOs and leave unchanged. It was an honor of a lifetime to be able to use my skills in research and writing to get them some capital investment (they received a $50,000 grant over one year to implement those four projects!). Making the connection between an organization/community's need and what it is that I am good at really helped me to refine and carve out what I want to look for in a future career/job. Currently, I am the Director of Administration at a prisoner reentry project, and I am still (even at my desk at work today) using my research, grant writing, and overall organizational skills to serve returning citizens.” ~Lindsay Angelo

 What would you say to other graduate students who are thinking of taking on this internship?

“The time you spend in Uganda will be like none other. You are in charge of what you want to get out of this professional experience and you will get out of it what you put into it. The friends and relationships you develop are invaluable.” ~Courtney Smalt

Checking in With Our Summer 2021 Interns: Matt Pribis

                     

   About Matt: 

   Matt recently graduated with a Master of International Development from Pitt's Graduate School of Public in International Affairs. His studies focused on the humanitarian- development continuum in Africa, so working with ASA's Microloan programs in Uganda is a natural fit. Originally from Butler, Pennsylvania, Matt joined the Navy after high school and studied Oceanography while in the Navy Reserve Unit at Old Dominion University in Virginia. After a failed attempt at SEAL training, Matt realize his vocational interests aligned more with the development side of the 3 D's (defense,diplomacy, and development) triangle. After volunteering with resettled refugees in Louisville, KY and in Pittsburgh, Matt did a career pivot and applied to GSPIA.

What Matt Has Been Up To:

“So far I've been busy designing an evaluation framework for ASA's microloan program.  The goal here is to collect data via interviews with loan recipients and program administrators in Uganda to assess the impact and sustainability of the program.  So far, I've interviewed the microloan supervisor, and I have interviews scheduled next with the finance manager and a prior loan coordinator.  During these interviews, I'm trying to gather as much data as possible about program shortcomings, blind spots, and opportunities for improvement.  Evaluation is a fun and interesting process that we can use to improve the microloan program and ultimately improve the lives of our loan recipients, and it's nice to see that our team in Uganda is on board with the process.  The challenge is communication though because they are living through a very stressful and dangerous time in Uganda.  With a recent spike in COVID-19 infections and deaths, the government has implemented extremely strict lockdown policies.  This has put everyone on edge and reduced much of the economic activity that allows both the program administrators and loan recipients to maintain their livelihoods.  As a result, we are expecting loan repayments to drop in August as recipients lose income due to lockdown measures.  This, on top of the very real risk of our Ugandan counterparts getting sick with COVID-19 due to low vaccination rates, combines to make conducting a rigorous evaluation quite difficult.  I was supposed to travel to Uganda in August to conduct interviews in person, but with the situation there now that seems highly unlikely.  Nonetheless, we will press on and continue to interview our program stakeholders over phone and zoom.  We're keeping all our program staff and recipients in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time, and I hope our ASA supporters in the states will too.  Stay tuned for a fundraiser to help our recipients in the coming weeks”.