NEWSNEOCOLONIALISM

I heard a joke last night. A Ugandan man speaking to a group of men and women from England. The Ugandan man, laughing hysterically, said: “Thank you for your language [pause] and that’s it.”

Arbitrary lines drawn on the map of Africa during the late nineteenth century Scramble for Africa was not only a race between European nations to colonize Africans, but also a formation of artificial boundaries that “scrambled” African ethnic groups by dividing and combining communities. The lasting legacy of European influence in Africa today illustrates the longstanding consequences of colonization. The present environment and culture of Uganda is formed by history and therefore to successfully effect change, the history of colonization must be remembered in any conversation about the future. While it should be part of the conversation, it should not be a limiting factor because. As Obama said in his recent address in Ghana, “Africa's future is up to Africans." While the definition of  community is dynamic, a few things remain consistent. Because community is simply a word to describe the relationship among a group of people, when populations develop a new personality, it is the people themselves who dictate that personality.A nonprofit hot-spot since the 70s and 80s and the era of Ida Amin, this country has been an easy place for English speaking do-gooders to come and give the non-profit world their best shot. This influx of a population of westerners “solving the social problems of Ugandans“ is, in a sense, another form of colonialism. Yet the ex-patriot community here is largely comfortable and kindly accepted. As the social sector turns more toward social enterprise, and as models of dependency are slowly diminished, the presence and role of ex-patriots should evolve as well. With that in mind, a successful development project should be defined as such: when a project, program, or organization has fulfilled it’s mission, the external aid should no longer be a necessary component of the community. And this is the necessary future for the relationship between Uganda and western countries: a future of appropriate design, innovative infrastructure, competency building and job creation.

It’s really exciting to be among a group of innovative, practical, and change focused individuals. Professor Musaazi, his two sons, a few interns and the rest of Technoloy 4 Tomorrow, are an invigorating bunch. They see a problem, and look for a solution. Their solutions embrace concepts of “Design for the other 90%” (read this book) and are realistic, simple, and accessible. MakaPads is only one of their many solutions. Interlocking bricks, efficient mixing contraptions made from recycled materials, incinerators, and much more in the incredible innovative minds of these individuals at Makerere’s Faculty of Technology (click here to see more of their products).

Their minds are always working on the next practical solution. Nonprofits alone will not save the world. They have an important role, but keeping a critical eye is important to ensure practical, measurable, and significant change…remembering to avoid into the pitfall of some nonprofits: “the need to be needed” and instead to strive to be essentially unnecessary.

I have been in Uganda for a little over three days now, and while I have yet to begin my work with ORUDE, the local microfinance and community development NGO in Jinja, one facet of Ugandan life already stares me in the face, shaking my core.  Tragically, many Ugandans perceive their identity as inferior to the buzungs (white people/foreigners) because they have dark skin.

Before I continue, let me be clear, I am not making any racially charged accusations throughout the rest of this post, but trying to accurately report what I witness on a day-to-day basis while living in Jinja.

The children on the street shout "Muzungu!" as I walk by.  The men and women not-so-discreetly whisper "muzungu" while I pass their store fronts.  It is enough to make any individual stand out, but interestingly, I am not isolated, but greeted because of the color of my skin.  Despite years of racial subjugation by the British before Ugandan independence, children hold my hand just to feel the "whiteness."  Many view me as holistically superior because I say, "Nza America" (I come from America).  Would you not expect a dislike or even distrust of whiteness?

The most outstanding example I can provide relates to a comment by my teacher here in Uganda.  While I would prefer she remain anonymous, she is a very well respected and admired woman on Jinja.  With many degrees, and incredible local knowledge, she does amazing things for the FSD staff and people of Jinja.

In a recent training session, we were in small groups attempting to create sample work plans in preparation for our real projects.  Admirably, my teacher demonstrated the importance of including the community in all development work through an interesting example.

She roughly proclaimed that it would not be sufficient to provide her with bleach to turn her skin white.  She said this would not fix the problem, for once we left, she would run out of bleach and then her skin would turn black once again.  Instead we must provide the tools to build capacity and development.

While I agree with the importance of capacity building of local members so that they can grown themselves, and the sentiment was certainly judicious, my stomach turned upside down when I heard those words.  Coming from a friend and admired elder, how am I to react as a 21 year student?

I leave you with this to ponder.  How do race relations in the US, especially between black and white relate to this example?  In many ways they are almost diametrically opposite. In some ways, they are oddly similar.

I encourage you to discuss.  Have you been abroad where your skin color greatly affects your identity?

Note: note everyone here in Uganda feels this way.  This may seem obvious, but I want to note it.  I met several students studying in Rochester Hills, MI (very close to my home), a few days ago in a local library.  I know they do not feel this way.  But the fact that someone so intricately linked with the community, with such a position of responsibility consciously/subconsciously does, speaks loudly to the role of race in Ugandan society.

Consider this:

Throughout the next ten days, I will be studying the processes of economic and political development in developing nations at Northwestern University’s Chicago campus with a clear focus on the past and current state of Uganda. With this training and background knowledge, our efforts will be better informed and prepared to have a direct, immediate and positive impact on the people of Ugandan during out seven week stay. Since we will be working at the grassroots level, our work will focus on developing community, local institutions and infrastructure, meaning that my posts will tend to be micro examples of the role of either single individuals or small groups with the support of larger NGO’s on international development. I expect to have little experience with governmental influence, despite the tremendous role foreign aid currently plays in the Ugandan economy and political structure. Therefore, I would like to take at least this post to discuss the role of the international-state community in international development.

In the course of my preparation, I read “Foreign Aid and the Weakening of Democratic Accountability in Uganda” by Andrew Mwenda, originally a Ugandan citizen, currently serving as a John Knight Fellow at Stanford University. The article critiques the conceptual role of foreign aid in all African nations with Uganda as the case study.

Using a vast variety of statistics and intuitive reasoning, Mwenda concludes that in order to “promote democracy and accountability, the West should discontinue aid flows.” While this is a polemic statement, the notion firmly asserts the issue of Africa’s Western dependence created through the international community’s, the IMF’s and the World Bank’s good natured policies of debt forgiveness and governmental aid packages. Foreign aid ought to be renamed foreign relief to indicate the temporality of its presence. “Aid” creates dependence and destroys government’s accountability to its citizenry, derailing the democratic process.

In order to understand how drying up foreign aid might induce stronger and more sustainable growth, let us look at a few key statistics.

Foreign aid currently makes up “50 percent of the Ugandan government’s budget.” 12.5 percent of that same budget is spent on “political patronage” i.e. corruption. And with the 2005 G8 agreement to cut Africa’s debt and double foreign aid, erasing “80 percent of Uganda’s total debt,” administrative districts increased from “56 to 80” while public administration expenditures increased by “$120 million” out of a $8.5 billion GDP. These statistics combine to demonstrate that when large components of the national budget come from “unearned” sources, the government can rely on those external sources for purely political practices such as increasing the bureaucracy through fragmentation and creating more political positions for further patronage, meanwhile eschewing the needs of the citizenry.

While neither I nor Mwenda would argue that aid cannot have some significant short term benefits, such as providing “free primary education, basic health care, infrastructure rehabilitation and maintenance,” we assert that it simultaneously undermines the democratic process by attributing unearned development and accomplishments to the party in power, thereby distorting the political system. In Uganda, foreign aid disincentivizes important internal reforms in tax code, crucial to long term development, by forcing politicians to avoid losing elite patronage. Debt forgiveness only leads to future borrowing, like lax parenting of whiny children encourages further whining.

Overall, the argument against foreign aid draws strong parallels to the popular arguments against the American welfare system. It creates dependence by disincentivizing stricter self-governance and allowing individuals and governments to avoid personally and politically difficult issues.

I will return to this topic in next week’s posting, hopefully with some concrete answers into how governments, NGO’s and concerned individuals can continue humanitarian efforts but focus them towards more productive results.

Think about it.

- Aaron J.

Hello,

My name is Aaron Jacobowitz

This summer will be my first foray into International Development.  I have worked tirelessly to make the communities in which I live better places.  Now, I want to help the rest of the world.  I will be working with a microfinance firm, Organization for Rural Development, (ORUDE) through the Foundation for Sustainable Development, located 10 minutes outside Jinja, Uganda to enhance local savings and credit access.  I will be working alongside the employees and volunteers of ORUDE and my four student partners.  Our tasks will include:

• Empower groups and associations in Jinja and Bugiri Districts to effectively manage credit
• Assist groups with leadership development, financial management structures, and effective service-delivery mechanisms
• Facilitate established groups in Nankoma, Butagaya and Busedhe Sub-Counties of Jinja and Bugiri Districts to access credit from microfinance institutions
• Strengthen the Mechanism for Groups and Association in Bugiri and Jinja to network with different stakeholders
• Link the newly-recruited groups to the existing microfinance institutions.

But, these are mostly generalities.  As we progress throughout the summer, I will provide many more specifics on what we are doing and how we are doing it.

I will be contributing posts twice weekly, once on Tuesday and once on Friday.  I plan to discuss the issues of micro credit, poverty, post-colonialism, and international development.  I hope to let you peer into the life and culture of my Ugandan counterparts, while doing my best to demonstrate both our similarities and our differences.

This is a new chapter in my life, and I am thrilled to see that you are along for the ride.

Until we write again,

- Aaron J.