Valentine's Day meeting - Be a Karimojong for the day

So I am in office today. Well where I have been the last few days. The KDF meeting on the 14^th of February is coming up now, so lots of organization to be done. Reminiscing of my days at the UN organizing for the Meeting of Experts in August, definitely a completely different experience, but have to say I do think I prefer this. Not running from C building to E building in the Palais des Nations with my Velcro tape that I was to guard with my life, and my close to giving up on life due to the many days and nights spent dealing with registration, visas and fax machines. Extremely thankful I have not seen a fax machine since I left the UN.    

Office life I have come to realize is equally as thrilling wherever you are in the world ;) At least here I can put my thoughts on the wall! 

The meeting here is based almost exclusively on volunteers, and it’s amazing to see so many people willing to step up and give up their Saturday to make this meeting a success. Every time I meet with a new person interested in KDF I’m struck by how passionate people become about it. I was asked by my dad the other day what I am actually doing here and who I am working with, so I realized as I hadn’t properly explained it to him I probably haven’t here either. So a little introduction to KDF for those of you who are interested.

KDF or Karamoja Development Forum is an NGO, but from my experience it acts more as a social movement within Karamoja. KDF is for Karimojong by Karimojong (well except for me luring my way in here). To understand why this is a crucial statement, a few facts about Karamoja are needed. The region here is said to be the ‘least’ developed in Uganda, it has the highest illiteracy rates and the highest infant mortality rates, poverty levels are high and job opportunities far between. So from the outside Karamoja looks like a place in dire need of attention and support, and the international NGO community has stepped up to that role. However Karamoja is not what most people perceive it as. Their performance within education and healthcare are far lower than they should, but this has more to do with failed government policies and development initiatives rather than the ‘backwardness’ of the people as it is often referred to.

The NGO’s working here do some great work, but the majority of them are foreign NGO’s who are coming in to supposedly fill a gap that the local community cannot. This has caused the town that I live in to become a sort of endless vacuum for NGO’s, they come, they set up projects, projects finish and they pack up and leave. The community gains a bit from this process, but the majority of projects I have witnessed are not the most sustainable. KDF wants this to change. They see the necessity of NGO work in the region, but this work needs to be with the consultation of the local communities and most importantly it needs to have a sustainable outcome.

KDF is working within three areas; Pastoralism, Land and Governance. They are now in the starting up phase after being funded by OSEIA to open a Pastoralist Information Centre as well as conducting research and producing papers on controversial issues in the region such as the human rights abuses connected with land grabs and the incoming mining industry.

So what makes KDF different from other NGO’s and projects here? Well in my mind it is different because the people I work with are not here on a temporary basis, this is their home, and as such they have every reason to see their projects succeed. They are proud and they believe in what they are working for. This is not another NGO setting up a WASH program or Food for work, the activities KDF will conduct within the next couple of years are directed at interacting and learning from the communities within which they work. KDF wants to give a voice to the communities who have given their voice away to simply become silent listeners to what NGO’s or government are telling them is the best way to go.

So KDF is essentially an organization advocating for the rights of the local people to have a say in the ‘development’ of their region. The hope is that the work KDF is doing will help bridge the gap between the local communities, NGO’s, government and incoming companies. Karamoja since disarmament is a rapidly changing region, and I hope KDF is successful in their mission to help Karamoja develop in the Karimojong way. This region is unique in many ways, and in that lies its beauty, hopefully it can contain that beauty through the coming years.

I am not sure if that made it any clearer what KDF is doing, it is a bit abstract, but that’s what makes it interesting and for me worthwhile being here.  The 14^th of February, Valentine’s Day, will be KDF’s first big meeting. This meeting will bring together young people, elders, academics and politicians from the region and beyond. The meeting is a ‘Food Security’ conference that as I mentioned in my previous post will discuss the impact of mining, land grabs as well as the survival of pastoralism, but it is also a meeting to set the agenda for what KDF will be doing in the coming years. KDF doesn’t just want to make plans for the next years without consulting the community, and so hopefully the outcome of Valentine’s Day this year will be that KDF will learn more about how 

they can do their work in a productive way that is beneficial for Karamoja in the long run.

The meeting will hopefully be online via skype, as well as with updates on Facebook throughout the day. So anyone who is not busy on the 14^th  I urge you to take a bit of your time and join our online part of the KDF meeting. Karamoja might seem a world away for many of you, but for a day put yourself in their shoes, be a Karimojong for a day.

Take a day and experience life from the Karimojong perspective

Any ideas on how to make this meeting more interactive and successful in any way is more than welcome! 

Volunteer your time or knowledge to a worthwhile cause this Valentine's Day

For those in Uganda we are still looking for volunteers for registration, ushers, media team and note taking on the day! – come sign up and be part of the best volunteer team there is at KDF, and help us make a difference J