So quick update on our day yesterday! It was quite exciting!! In the morning, Luganda class. Followed by a lecture on Gender and Development by the Honorable Dr. Mirira Matembe. Man, was this woman incredible! She’s a lawyer who was ‘called’ to a life in politics to work for gender equality. We discussed the importance of gender equality as well as the consequences of gender inequality. She really focused on women’s political participation. Uganda has one of the most gender-sensitive constitutions in the world. It dedicates a whole article of six comprehensive clauses on the promotion and protection of women’s rights in Uganda. She discussed a lot about how the quota system has been counter-productive in Uganda. “There is clearly a missing link between women’s political participation and their influence. Participation without influence is good for nothing. Occupation of political space without power is not good at all.”
This woman was very inspirational!! She discussed a lot about how women in Uganda are very detached from politics and how there needs to be a new movement to raise support for women politicians. She was in Parliament for ten years but in 2005, when President Museveni pushed to change the Constitution to end term limits, she fought against him. He ended up prevailing (another former member of Parliament who was there for that fight told us that he bribed the parliament members) and now can run for as many terms as he desires. She resigned in protest of his actions and now is working from the outside to drum up support for women politicians!!
After a two hour lecture, she definitely became another strong female role model!
After that awesome lecture, we went on a field trip! We all split into smaller groups and I was in the group that went to Kawempe Division Disabled Communication. They were started in 2001 after the founders decided to start an association to address the issues that face disabled Ugandans. They have four issues that they fight to address:
1) Disseminate information about HIV/AIDS to the disabled population.
a. Many people do not believe that people with disabilities can be affected with the disease, but the association is working to dispel these disbeliefs. They are dispensing information among the community about HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.
2) Work to address issues of unemployment and poverty
a. Unemployment or underemployment in this country is HUGE!! There are graduates of Makerere University who are driving taxis because they can’t find jobs to use their degrees. But for disabled peoples, unemployment is even greater as people don’t give them jobs due to outright discrimination or because they don’t believe they can handle the job. So they organization is working to provide small-business training to members and then trying to help them get started. Unfortunately, a lot of their programs are limited because of finances.
3) Disability Rights Issues in Uganda
a. They are working to educate different political groups about issues facing Ugandans with disabilities. One example is the sensitization training they held recently for taxi drivers. Many taxi drivers wouldn’t pick up people in wheelchairs or with other disabilities because they believe they either won’t pay or will cause them to lose time and customers. They have said they’ve noticed a difference after the training when they travel in taxis!!
4) Sports
a. They are trying to implement a sports program for people with disabilities. We got to speak with some members and they all said that they really enjoy sports and wish they had more opportunities to partake. They said the Ugandan government in general does a poor job of funding sports, but gives nothing to sports programs for people with disabilities. They said they enjoyed ‘sitting volleyball’, weightlifting, rowing, and other sports. This discussion made me think about Eunice Shriver and the Special Olympics and how these opportunities were fairly recent in our country and are still developing in others. But ultimately, they are so worthwhile!
This woman was very inspirational!! She discussed a lot about how women in Uganda are very detached from politics and how there needs to be a new movement to raise support for women politicians. She was in Parliament for ten years but in 2005, when President Museveni pushed to change the Constitution to end term limits, she fought against him. He ended up prevailing (another former member of Parliament who was there for that fight told us that he bribed the parliament members) and now can run for as many terms as he desires. She resigned in protest of his actions and now is working from the outside to drum up support for women politicians!!
After a two hour lecture, she definitely became another strong female role model!
After that awesome lecture, we went on a field trip! We all split into smaller groups and I was in the group that went to Kawempe Division Disabled Communication. They were started in 2001 after the founders decided to start an association to address the issues that face disabled Ugandans. They have four issues that they fight to address:
1) Disseminate information about HIV/AIDS to the disabled population.
a. Many people do not believe that people with disabilities can be affected with the disease, but the association is working to dispel these disbeliefs. They are dispensing information among the community about HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.
2) Work to address issues of unemployment and poverty
a. Unemployment or underemployment in this country is HUGE!! There are graduates of Makerere University who are driving taxis because they can’t find jobs to use their degrees. But for disabled peoples, unemployment is even greater as people don’t give them jobs due to outright discrimination or because they don’t believe they can handle the job. So they organization is working to provide small-business training to members and then trying to help them get started. Unfortunately, a lot of their programs are limited because of finances.
3) Disability Rights Issues in Uganda
a. They are working to educate different political groups about issues facing Ugandans with disabilities. One example is the sensitization training they held recently for taxi drivers. Many taxi drivers wouldn’t pick up people in wheelchairs or with other disabilities because they believe they either won’t pay or will cause them to lose time and customers. They have said they’ve noticed a difference after the training when they travel in taxis!!
4) Sports
a. They are trying to implement a sports program for people with disabilities. We got to speak with some members and they all said that they really enjoy sports and wish they had more opportunities to partake. They said the Ugandan government in general does a poor job of funding sports, but gives nothing to sports programs for people with disabilities. They said they enjoyed ‘sitting volleyball’, weightlifting, rowing, and other sports. This discussion made me think about Eunice Shriver and the Special Olympics and how these opportunities were fairly recent in our country and are still developing in others. But ultimately, they are so worthwhile!
The people we met at Kawempe were so very nice and excited to host us and anwer our questions. After our discussion we went for a walk through the Kawempe Slums. They really wanted to highlight the fact that for people with disabilities the slums are the places they can afford to rent. They have very limited resources and the slums have the lowest rents. So on our walk, I walked with Paul, the accountant, who is in a wheelchair. As we were walking, I was amazed by how he was able to get around the slum. There were SO many pot holes and mud was everywhere- yet he managed it and still had a smile on his face despite the mud everywhere.
I was really happy that I got to visit with the Kawempe Division Disabled Community!! I was so impressed by their daily fight against discrimination and difficult conditions! But ultimately, their final message was that they had so many wonderful programs planned but were still lacking the finances. They asked us to keep them in mind for any future projects or if we knew of any other NGOs that would be willing to finance their projects. After my experience, I would ask of you all to also keep them in mind.
Hope you all are having a wonderful day!
<3cm
I was really happy that I got to visit with the Kawempe Division Disabled Community!! I was so impressed by their daily fight against discrimination and difficult conditions! But ultimately, their final message was that they had so many wonderful programs planned but were still lacking the finances. They asked us to keep them in mind for any future projects or if we knew of any other NGOs that would be willing to finance their projects. After my experience, I would ask of you all to also keep them in mind.
Hope you all are having a wonderful day!
<3cm
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