Final guest post from Hugh O'Donnell MSP in Kampala, Uganda

This is it, my last contribution from Kampala, Uganda.
 
Today was a round of debriefing and formal farewells.

I've now had two farewell barbeque's and five formal speeches in seven hours.

These people are fantastic, warm, welcoming, generous of spirit and goods, but most of all they are upbeat in circumstances most Europeans struggle to understand let alone cope with! 

We took a final walk round the local markets to soak up the atmosphere for one last time.

Guest post from honourable muzunga moompi Hugh O'Donnell MSP

Hugh O'Donnell, Lib Dem MSP for Central Scotland region writes from Uganda.

Well, today brought to an end to my work activity and the project we have been working on for the last two weeks (almost).

The consensus among my Ugandan colleagues seems to be that the 'honourable muzunga moompi Hugh' (short White politician) translation from Lugandan - stop laughing please, had been useful and helpful - they even invited me back.

Workshopitis can be a problem here but it does seem to suit the very methodical approach to problem solving and team work.

Best two laughs of the day coming up.

I have been saying since I arrived that Scotland has too much rain, Uganda has too much red dust and sunshine, so we should do a swap.

The unusual scene of rain in Uganda

Today it poured from the heavens, and at lunch time my colleagues from Uganda gave me a small bag of red Ugandan dust!

I asked about the sunshine and they said we'd agreed on only one swap, and they decided that the dust they could spare better than the sun!

Score one to Uganda:-)).

All great fun.

Tomorrow is a final de-briefing day with VSO and my project team, then packing.

One more post tomorrow then home at 7.00 am on Friday.

The latest news from Hugh O'Donnell MSP volunteering in Uganda

Sometimes here in Uganda beneath the seeming careful planning a little bit of chaos is found!

Today is a great example of just such a thing.

My carefully arranged workshop plans were thrown into the bin when I was told the subject was HIV/AIDS - 10 minutes before we were due to start, talk about winging it.

Anyway as a facilitator getting the 16 attendees into groups to discuss the issue was relatively easy: workshops are a way of life here.

It's partly because local people get an attendance allowance and fed if they turn up and they desperately need both the money and the food, but it's a bit disconcerting when some of them leave half way through - usually it's because if they get to the next one they get fed again and get paid for the half day.

Today the organisers were smart, no one got paid until the end, so I had a full turnout (they were interested really), joking aside it seemed to be well received.

Chaos number two of the day came with the surprise announcement that tomorrow (Wednesday) will be a public holiday of mourning for the funeral of former Ugandan President Godfry Binaisa - now you need to pay attention for this bit.

When Ide Amin fled there was a temporary appointment for three months, then Binaisa was elected and lasted for 11 months when the current encumbant took over and put a stop to twenty years of civil war.

So basically any excuse for a holiday and we're off tomorrow - except me and the group I'm working with - ho hum.

Latest guest post from Hugh O'Donnell MSP in Uganda

Today's been an odd one!

Duly turned up at my scheduled meeting with DfID to find that the person in charge of the Dept dealing with the Equalities Agenda had only arrived in Uganda two weeks before me, and had about the same level of knowledge on the situation regarding disabilities as I did.

None the less we spent nearly two hours kicking around the issues that had been identified during last weeks workshop with the VSO and the disability network here in Kampala.

All in all reasonably useful and a good start to the engagement process.

Uganda has some of the most comprehensive disability legislation in the world, it's even part of their Constitution but implementation is a huge challenge, mostly because of a combination of finance and cultural attitudes, which to be fair are changing-very slowly.

All of which takes me to my next meeting of the day.

The Uganda Elector Commission has responsibility for delivering the disability laws in relation to elections but they have been less than successful in meeting their obligations.

After three hours we managed to prise out of them a verbal agreement to work in partnership with VSO and disability network-but they still have no money so we may make a return visit to DfID with cap in hand.

The media stuff had to be rescheduled for Thursday!!!   That's Uganda. 

Oh,  the reason there are no pictures tonight is that everywhere we went to meetings there were very big policemen with very big guns discouraging us from taking photos-sometimes discretion is the better part of valour - so here's a genuine shot of the police  barrack instead!!!!

Hugh O'Donnell MSP writes from Uganda

Hugh O’Donnell, Liberal Democrat MSP for Central Scotland is the first MSP to volunteer in VSO’s new Scottish Parliament Volunteering Scheme. Mr O’Donnell will spend ten days helping the National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU) which lobbies for the rights of people with disabilities.

Disabled rights is an area Mr O’Donnell has a real active interest in, after working for 15 years with adults with learning disabilities.

There's a cliche that says a camel is a horse designed by a committee, and sometimes it's a truism, but not here in Uganda!

22 people turned up at today's workshop; representing the alliance of disability sector voluntary groups.  Uganda was the first African country to sign and ratify the UN convention on the rights of people with disabilities and now I know why.

They have a can do attitude, a fierce determination and a genuine belief in the cause. Every one of them has a disability, or HIV/Aids, but they run the organisations themselves with some support, a lot of it from VSO and the volunteers like me.

Unlike me these 'internationals' , like Ian and Renata give up a year of their time to support local effort and expertise,: the best I can do is 10 days.

But everything is appreciated and welcomed.

Guest post from Hugh O'Donnell MSP in Kampala, Uganda on VSO’s new Scottish Parliament Volunteering Scheme

Well here I am ready to start the VSO placement in Kampala at the end of a remarkable 24 hours non stop!

The Pearl of Africa, Uganda is stunning, a place of urban sprawl contrasted with the silvery blue of lake Victoria, tribal huts side by side with high rise businesses in glass and steel.

The one constant so far is the relentless cheerfulness of the people - it's true a happy disposition can and does make all things seem possible.

As I climb under the mosquito net to sleep I wonder what my first encounter with the disability organisations will bring - to say nothing of my protocol visit to the British High Commission.

Tomorrow is indeed another day.

Notes:

Hugh O’Donnell, Liberal Democrat MSP for Central Scotland is the first MSP to volunteer in VSO’s new Scottish Parliament Volunteering Scheme. Mr O’Donnell will spend ten days helping the National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU) which lobbies for the rights of people with disabilities.


Disabled rights is an area Mr O’Donnell has a real active interest in, after working for 15 years with adults with learning disabilities.

Mr O’Donnell will be using his skills and passion to make a difference in this area by reviewing NUDIPU’s advocacy strategy, supporting the organisation in targeting the electoral commission to secure representation for Ugandans with disabilities in addition to planning and delivering a workshop with NUDIPU for a group of disabled peoples’ organisations on joint advocacy.

One in ten Ugandans has a disability and it’s estimated that over 1.4 million of these people are children under 16 years old. One of VSO’s main aims for its disability programme in Uganda is to build the capacity of disabled peoples’ organisations to engage and advocate more effectively with policymakers and organisations that deliver basic services.