Thank you for your language [pause] and that's it.

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.