All the roads lead to Uganda

Aalto Design Factory and Unicef started a long term collaboration in 2010. UNICEF Uganda Country Office was identified as a key initial partner, both because of the Technology for Development work currently underway and because of the richness of challenges and partners for this type of engagement.

Last summer after the 2 months work with John, Melih, Goncal and Federico I started an internship at Aalto Design Factory but was based at Unicef Uganda for the first one and a half months.

During the academic year 2011-2012 two courses from Aalto were selected to address real life cases for UNICEF. PdP and IDBM will have a joint project dealing with hygiene and sanitation. The students from PdP will consist of students from Aalto and Makarere University.

As the saying goes "All the roads lead to Rome" but in my case the roads lead to Uganda. At the moment I am managing a product development project at Aalto University, but am still also working with Pamoja the little I can.

In case you wan´t to follow my other project you may follow us at http://aalto-uniceffinland.idbm.pdp.fi/

Wrapping up the 2011 work in Uganda

During my work last spring with Pamoja Cleantech in Uganda I was concentrated on looking at the biomass chain as well as the environmental impacts of the system. The focus of my work shifted once we started to collaborate with local research institute CREEC (Center for Research in Energy and Energy Conservation) and got a chance to get a pilot project. After getting our hands on a big possibility, my job with my colleagues was to find the right location for the pilot project. With the research institute we identified many criteria’s for the site and of course the access to right kind of a biomass was essential. At that time we were also looking at the biomass chain and especially the long term planning that included woody biomass. While figuring out how to use wood in a sustainable way for electricity production we were meeting with different NGO´s that are working in the field of agroforestry, agriculture and renewable energy. After meeting with a Swedish NGO Vi-Skogen that has been working in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya for 25 years we found the right partner on the grass root level to work with. The NGO works in different districts in Uganda and since the pilot project will include research on behalf of the research institute and Pamoja, we decided to target the district closes to Kampala, the capital of Uganda where CREEC is located. As a part of their activities VI-Skogen is working with farmers and helps them to form farmers groups and co-operatives. After visiting few groups and looking into their production and group dynamics we ended up on concentrating on Magara farmer’s co-operation witch has 70 farmers and 120 households. The main product of the co-operation excluding the crops for domestic use is coffee and coffee husks can turned in to electricity in the system that uses gasification for treating the biomass.

Part of my job was also to strengthen the link and cooperation between the European and Ugandan team and support them. Pamoja cleantech in Uganda is operating under Ugandan industrial research institute UIRI and the facilities for example office space, IT and laboratory services are provided. UIRI also accommodated my self and the other members of the team from KTH Royal Institute of Technology of Sweden.

Every day in Uganda was different both at work and at free time. Due to the liberal nature of my work I defined my own work tasks and timetables quite freely and worked quite independently. I got many contact information’s beforehand and in the beginning I mainly organized meeting with different organizations, companies and Universities. In my opinion networking has never been so easy. Making appointments was so uncomplicated and making appointments in short notice was always possible. People in Uganda, the locals and expats were really helpful, friendly and happy to share their contacts with me. Even though I was learning a lot by working I think that the biggest learning happened just by living a “normal” life in Uganda, experiencing new things and exposing my self to unfamiliar situations. Having the right attitude and open mind helped me a lot at work and out side of it. I felt comfortable and confident most of the time and especially my self-confidence grew a lot since I got responsibilities and quite free hands to suggest new ideas. Life in Africa is so totally different from any more or less developed European country and even though I enjoyed every second of it, it wasn’t easy. People in Uganda live a harsh and hard life. And everyday life really is a struggle for most of the people. One really learns to appreciate being born in a privileged position, in Finland

My future plans didn´t change so much after going to Africa for the first time since I´been really interested about Africa and wanted to work in the developing countries my whole life. Actually I became surer about my future plans. The work with Pamoja also opened many new doors for me. I also got involved in Aalto University’s future projects in Uganda, so it seems that the next year (and hopefully the upcoming years as well) will be tightly connected to Uganda.

Jinja

We spent the Saturday afternoon at the riverside with local kids. At the moment the children are on holiday from school. Most of the kids have up to 10 siblings, so during their holidays they are more involved in their household activities. Every morning the girls work at the garden, once a week they wash the laundry of their families and 3 times a week they go collecting firewood in the forests and on a daily basis they take care of their younger siblings. Although it is hard work it seemed to be a social happening for the kids. The girls wash the laundry in the river, swim, sing and play together. The boys were fishing in the opposite side of the river bend or taking the cattle to the drinking point.

The language used at schools is English even though their home language is Luganda . These lovely girls told us about their favourite subjects math and social science. But after hearing their songs, I guess the subject they enjoy the most is music. Some of the girls wanted to change to another, better school. The reason for changing school was the incompetent teacher who maltreats the children by hitting them for when they don’t know the answer. These Jinja-girls have ambitious dreams for their futures! They’re dreaming about becoming lawyers, engineers, musicians and accountants. (it felt really awkward to be enjoying the day, doing nothing, while the girls were working hard)

Urban Agriculture

The economic structure in Uganda is similar to most of the developing countries, especially in Africa. Characteristically most of the Ugandans get their income from agriculture. Uganda is no exception either when it comes to migration to cities. People move to towns in order to boost their income and to get better education. As a souvenir they bring the agriculture along their families. As soon as you exit the heart of the city, you’ll find agriculture even in the most unexpected sites.

The crops are cultivated for home use and for extra income. The livestock has a great value for money so they are mainly sold in the markets. This way the families have better food security when the incomes are unstable. The food prices are problem in the whole country. Last years drought combined with the rising oil prices have driven many families in to problems, poverty and hunger. The latest instabilities in the country originate from the nations dissatisfaction of the governments actions solving these problems that affect tens of millions Ugandans daily life’s. Of course the opposition have not been quiet in this topic either.

Mount Kenya

Since the early days of planning the trip to East-Africa we were sure that we wanted to go hiking. The first option was Kilimanjaro, but since it seemed to be a lot more expensive, due to the distance from Nairobi and more hiking days. So we ended up choosing the second highest mountain in Africa, Mt. Kenya for our destination. The rout we took was Sirimon- Point Lenana- Naro Moru. The hike took us 3,5 days. On the first day we gained about 900m of altitude. I had some symptoms from the altitude on the second day, but luckily in the end my body got used to the 4200m. altitude. Day 3 was the best and the hardest, in total 14 hours. We started the day at 3 am. In order to experience sunrise at the summit, point Lenana 4985m.

I felt really lucky having the possibility to experience Mt. Kenya and the national park. What made the hike even more interesting were the different vegetation zones in different altitudes and opposite sides of the mountain. But nothing was as breathtaking as the last 20 minutes of climbing and reaching to the summit while the sun was rising. And finally, you reach the top! Breathtaking!

After the euphoric feeling vanished, I realized that how privileged we really are. Mount Kenya and the surrounding national park are the wonders and richness of Kenya, but who are the people that can afford to experience that? Entering the national park was 50€ per hay for foregners and 27€ for residents. During the whole trip, we saw one Kenyan group and all the others (excluding the guides etc.) were foreigners.

-Irena

Kenya 6-17.4

Travelling in East-Africa can be affordable if you do it the local way – by bus. Compared to flying which is around 150 dollars, I paid about 25€ . I took a night bus from Kampala to Nairobi. I must admit that I felt a bit suspicious about travelling by my self during the night, but the ride was great and crazy. I had the front row seat and was able to experience the driving culture from the driver’s perspective. The way different vehicles communicate with each other by winking head lights and blinkers. What a light show. And a lot of exciting moments (and at moments horrifying moments) While the bus was bypassing cars and lorries. After 12 hours I arrived in Nairobi.

-Irena

Kenya Reflections

http://vimeo.com/22384128

By: John