1st day working with the Legal Aid Project, Saturday 26th of June:
After one week together with the whole AIM delegation, the work on the project got started. We were really looking forward to meet our collaborators at Kamwokya Christian Caring Community (KCCC). So Saturday afternoon, we had our first meeting with Godfrey from KCCC and Richard, working on the Advocacy. Vinesh and I had prepared on beforehand some thoughts about this meeting. We wanted to talk about KCCC Advocacy’s thoughts about the project, the status of the project now, and our ideas and thoughts about how to move the project forward. We had a good communication with Godfrey and Richard, and got written down a planning for our stay.
As the Advocacy is now, they receive clients, “survivors”, to the office. From there, the legal aid service until now has been to refer these cases on to the legal system/ the police. Most of the cases that come in to the advocacy are cases of sexual abuse, neglect, domestic violence, and child battling and abandonment. The workers here are not lawyers, but social workers. The aim now, is to move the project forward, so that the advocacy can provide legal aid services. This, will start with a collaboration with the Law students at Makerere University.
To reach this goal, we are planning to events during our stay: a meeting with relevant collaborators in this project, and an information-day, to give information about this legal aid service at KCCC.
Sunday 27th of June:
Today we met our host families, with who we’re going to stay during the next two weeks (while working with the AIM Projects). Elisabeth and I stay at Jane’s house; she’s a teacher and the head of a primary school here in the slum of Kamwokya (KCC). Olav and Vinesh stay at Carol’s house; she’s a member of Lions Club in Kampala. We are very much looking forward to get to know our host families better.
Monday 28th, Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th of June:
We are now working on organizing the activities we planned for our stay, together with Richard and Silvia who works at the Advocacy.
Monday, we had a meeting with Richard. We worked out an invitation list for the meeting we’re planning to have next Wednesday. The objectives with this meeting, will be to discuss challenges and providing legal services to survivors of sexual abuse and neglect, and to streamline the referral network to the advocacy. We will invite the different heads of the Police, and a number of non-governmental organizations which already provides legal aid services.
Vinesh and I arranged a meeting with the President of Makerere Law Society (the student organization at the Faculty of Law), Simon Kamau yesterday, Tuesday. It was a good meeting. Simon told us that the law students would be interested in working at KCCC, as a relevant experience to their studies. We proposed to him some ideas.
One is to create a student group responsible for the contact with KCCC, and for promoting this legal work in practice towards the students themselves. Then, the outcome would be a permanent communication between KCCC Advocacy and the students working there. Simon was positive to this idea, and said he will take this further on in his organization to create such group.
The other thing we wanted to talk to Simon about, was to arrange a meeting at Makerere University, the Faculty of Law. At this meeting, all the law students will be invited, and Richard from KCCC Advocacy and Vinesh and I, can all meet to talk about this project and to give information to the students about it. We arranged with Simon, that this meeting will take place on one of our last working-days with the project; Friday 7th of June. We also invited the President of Makerere Law Society, Simon, and the Guild President of Makerere University to the meeting on Wednesday. We think that would be a possibility for these student leaders, to learn more about the project, and to succeed this information to the students.
Today, Wednesday, the invitations to the meeting are going out to all invited. We are looking forward to the meeting, and to continue the work with Project Legal Aid.
- Therese
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Some “sponsor a dream” updates…
We are well settled in now with our hostfamilies. Lovely people who have made us feel very welcome. We are getting on with our work, met some of the children who hopefully we are going to be able to sponsor. We have had meetings with the people who are in charge at KCCC, to discuss our roles and expectation in relation to this project. It has gone very well, and we have had some rewarding discussions so far.
There are a lot of new impressions to take in, the food is very different, but nice. Carbs all the way!! Keeping a balanced diet is a challenge, today’s lunch: yoghurt and chocolate…
We definitely seem to stand out in the crowd.The little children are very interested in us muzongos(white people), and in general the people are very friendly! On Thursday we are meeting more of the children that are involved in the project, and very much looking forward to that!
Elisbeth :)
We are well settled in now with our hostfamilies. Lovely people who have made us feel very welcome. We are getting on with our work, met some of the children who hopefully we are going to be able to sponsor. We have had meetings with the people who are in charge at KCCC, to discuss our roles and expectation in relation to this project. It has gone very well, and we have had some rewarding discussions so far.
There are a lot of new impressions to take in, the food is very different, but nice. Carbs all the way!! Keeping a balanced diet is a challenge, today’s lunch: yoghurt and chocolate…
We definitely seem to stand out in the crowd.The little children are very interested in us muzongos(white people), and in general the people are very friendly! On Thursday we are meeting more of the children that are involved in the project, and very much looking forward to that!
Elisbeth :)
Saturday, June 26, 2010
AIM 2010, the preamble.
Hey all!
We have had an exciting and excellent first week here in Uganda! It’s been a very eventful and busy week, so apologies to those who have been eagerly aviating news and updates on the blog, but finally we are getting there. This first week was for us participants a preamble to the work we are doing the next couple of weeks in Kampala, Kasese and Busheniy. This fist week have been both very interesting, but also quite of a culture shock for those of us who haven’t been to Africa and Uganda. The experience of being in a country totally different from ours is hard to prepare for, and even though some of us has been to different continents before, Africa is something else. Kampala is very chaotic and hard to understand, we are also made aware that we are different all the time. On the other hand the country lives up to its name Pearl of Africa. The nature is surprisingly luxuriant and the people are extremely friendly. So even though it takes time to get used to the food and the culture, we are looking forward to this adventure.
The whole delegation of AIMers met at the guesthouse at Makerere University on Monday the 21st of June. We just settled in and prepared for the conference that were to take place the following day.
Tuesday we sat off to Entebbe, to the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre where the conference took place. The theme for the conference was “Sustainable aid”, there were delegates from AIESEC, Leo Clubs, Treasure Life Centre and Lions Club Bergen Student. We had loads of fun, saw zebras, lions and rhinos, and of course had some interesting and rewarding sessions on the subject sustainable aid in Uganda. The first night entertainment was hosted by us Norwegians, we served Vestandslefse and we watched the movie “This is Norway”. Next on the agenda were Hallingkast, Aquavit, and singing Norwegian children songs among other things. This was a success, but we actually had to quiet a little because we kept the lions awake, and he was grumpy. We also taught our new friends the Glow- dance which became a major hit, and the party continued into the late hours.
The next day arrived far too early, but as the Norwegian saying goes “Helt om natten, helt om dagen”(Hero in the night, hero in the day…good translation there…) we continued with sessions and getting to know each other. We learned a lot about sustainable aid, but just as rewarding maybe, were getting firsthand knowledge about Ugandan-, Chinese, Canadian-, Greek- and American culture.
In the evening we had lovely Ugandan food at the beach, with a bonfire and traditional Ugandan dancing and walked home through “ the jungle, the mighty jungle where lions sleeps at night, ahoooo…”
We finished the conference, with sessions that focused on Ugandan culture and I believe everyone was extremely happy with everything we had learned and the lovely people we had met!!
On Friday we visited the Norwegian embassy. We were met by the nice staff and given some very interesting information about Uganda in general, politics, and the very relevant issues regarding the newly discovered oil in Uganda. In the afternoon, we went to visit KCCC (Kamwokya Christian Caring community) which is the place where two of this year projects are based. Had a little tour around the area and met up with some of the people we had spent time with earlier this week. KCCC is placed in a slum area in Kampala and there were a lot of impressions to take in.
On Saturday both the groups Legal Aid and Sponsor a dream had meetings with the staff at KCCC. We got to share our hopes and expectations regarding the different projects, made more specific plans about what our role is going to be while we are here. We are in good spirit and looking forward to continuing the work on these projects.
The piggery group had some meetings with a project part and discussed the plans of our next two weeks. We are facing two challenging and interesting weeks, and have quite a lot to plan. Tomorrow we head out on a 6 hour drive to our host in Busheniy. It is to be some exiting week.
The Lions Quest group has already started their program with a conference here in Kampala before they travel to Kasese. As far as we know it’s going very well.
Our personal documentary maker, Brynhild, have also started her work in a good way, sticking her camera inn our faces all the time. She actually travelled alone through Kampala for one hour yesterday, impressive.
Our leader, Hanna our star, also does an excellent job keeping time and makes sure everything runs smoothly. She gives her all and a bit more for us all the time and have worked 24/7 the last week.
To be continued...
-Elizabeth - Sponsor a dream
-Anders - Pro:Piggery
We have had an exciting and excellent first week here in Uganda! It’s been a very eventful and busy week, so apologies to those who have been eagerly aviating news and updates on the blog, but finally we are getting there. This first week was for us participants a preamble to the work we are doing the next couple of weeks in Kampala, Kasese and Busheniy. This fist week have been both very interesting, but also quite of a culture shock for those of us who haven’t been to Africa and Uganda. The experience of being in a country totally different from ours is hard to prepare for, and even though some of us has been to different continents before, Africa is something else. Kampala is very chaotic and hard to understand, we are also made aware that we are different all the time. On the other hand the country lives up to its name Pearl of Africa. The nature is surprisingly luxuriant and the people are extremely friendly. So even though it takes time to get used to the food and the culture, we are looking forward to this adventure.
The whole delegation of AIMers met at the guesthouse at Makerere University on Monday the 21st of June. We just settled in and prepared for the conference that were to take place the following day.
Tuesday we sat off to Entebbe, to the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre where the conference took place. The theme for the conference was “Sustainable aid”, there were delegates from AIESEC, Leo Clubs, Treasure Life Centre and Lions Club Bergen Student. We had loads of fun, saw zebras, lions and rhinos, and of course had some interesting and rewarding sessions on the subject sustainable aid in Uganda. The first night entertainment was hosted by us Norwegians, we served Vestandslefse and we watched the movie “This is Norway”. Next on the agenda were Hallingkast, Aquavit, and singing Norwegian children songs among other things. This was a success, but we actually had to quiet a little because we kept the lions awake, and he was grumpy. We also taught our new friends the Glow- dance which became a major hit, and the party continued into the late hours.
The next day arrived far too early, but as the Norwegian saying goes “Helt om natten, helt om dagen”(Hero in the night, hero in the day…good translation there…) we continued with sessions and getting to know each other. We learned a lot about sustainable aid, but just as rewarding maybe, were getting firsthand knowledge about Ugandan-, Chinese, Canadian-, Greek- and American culture.
In the evening we had lovely Ugandan food at the beach, with a bonfire and traditional Ugandan dancing and walked home through “ the jungle, the mighty jungle where lions sleeps at night, ahoooo…”
We finished the conference, with sessions that focused on Ugandan culture and I believe everyone was extremely happy with everything we had learned and the lovely people we had met!!
On Friday we visited the Norwegian embassy. We were met by the nice staff and given some very interesting information about Uganda in general, politics, and the very relevant issues regarding the newly discovered oil in Uganda. In the afternoon, we went to visit KCCC (Kamwokya Christian Caring community) which is the place where two of this year projects are based. Had a little tour around the area and met up with some of the people we had spent time with earlier this week. KCCC is placed in a slum area in Kampala and there were a lot of impressions to take in.
On Saturday both the groups Legal Aid and Sponsor a dream had meetings with the staff at KCCC. We got to share our hopes and expectations regarding the different projects, made more specific plans about what our role is going to be while we are here. We are in good spirit and looking forward to continuing the work on these projects.
The piggery group had some meetings with a project part and discussed the plans of our next two weeks. We are facing two challenging and interesting weeks, and have quite a lot to plan. Tomorrow we head out on a 6 hour drive to our host in Busheniy. It is to be some exiting week.
The Lions Quest group has already started their program with a conference here in Kampala before they travel to Kasese. As far as we know it’s going very well.
Our personal documentary maker, Brynhild, have also started her work in a good way, sticking her camera inn our faces all the time. She actually travelled alone through Kampala for one hour yesterday, impressive.
Our leader, Hanna our star, also does an excellent job keeping time and makes sure everything runs smoothly. She gives her all and a bit more for us all the time and have worked 24/7 the last week.
To be continued...
-Elizabeth - Sponsor a dream
-Anders - Pro:Piggery
Saturday, June 19, 2010
AIM:2010 - tomorrow it begins!
At 06.35 a.m tomorrow morning the first 7 people from the AIM:2010 delegation leaves for Uganda! The rest of the delegation will follow later the same day.
At this point I think the whole delegation can feel it in their stomach as we check the packing list one more time, buy the last medicines and say goodbye to our friends and families. Some of us just had their last exam on thursday, so it has been busy and not easy to find time to prepare for the trip the last days. Luckily for us, we have been working towards this trip for many months, so most of the preparations have already been done.
The delegation this year is 14 eager people who will work on four different projects;
Pro: Legal Aid- Vinesh Mistry and Therese Larsen
Pro: Piggery - Anders Skorpen, Jon Halvard Bolstad Olsen, Nina Thornam and Jenny Sunde Beinset
Sponsor a Dream - Elisabeth Mohn and Olav Shewe
Lions Quest - Kjersti Lillegraven, Petter Syltevik, Ranveig Falch and Stine Mari Sørensen
Hanna Leinebø Slaatta will be the leader of the delegation, and Brynhild Mostad Ystgaard will film the whole trip, and make a documentary of AIM:2010 when we return to Norway.
We have been talking about, and planning this trip for a long time, and I think it`s exiting for everyone that the time for departure is finally here. What will meet us in Kampala? What are we going to learn on the seminar with LEO and AIESEC the first days there? Will everything we planned actually happen perfectly? Most likely not, because of T.I.A; This Is Africa! A lot of unexpected things are going to happen, and we are ready to take them on and do the best work as we can.
Wish us good luck, and keep following this blog as we are going to publish more articles during our stay in Uganda (when we can find an internet connection).
Jenny Beinset; Pro:Piggery
At this point I think the whole delegation can feel it in their stomach as we check the packing list one more time, buy the last medicines and say goodbye to our friends and families. Some of us just had their last exam on thursday, so it has been busy and not easy to find time to prepare for the trip the last days. Luckily for us, we have been working towards this trip for many months, so most of the preparations have already been done.
The delegation this year is 14 eager people who will work on four different projects;
Pro: Legal Aid- Vinesh Mistry and Therese Larsen
Pro: Piggery - Anders Skorpen, Jon Halvard Bolstad Olsen, Nina Thornam and Jenny Sunde Beinset
Sponsor a Dream - Elisabeth Mohn and Olav Shewe
Lions Quest - Kjersti Lillegraven, Petter Syltevik, Ranveig Falch and Stine Mari Sørensen
Hanna Leinebø Slaatta will be the leader of the delegation, and Brynhild Mostad Ystgaard will film the whole trip, and make a documentary of AIM:2010 when we return to Norway.
We have been talking about, and planning this trip for a long time, and I think it`s exiting for everyone that the time for departure is finally here. What will meet us in Kampala? What are we going to learn on the seminar with LEO and AIESEC the first days there? Will everything we planned actually happen perfectly? Most likely not, because of T.I.A; This Is Africa! A lot of unexpected things are going to happen, and we are ready to take them on and do the best work as we can.
Wish us good luck, and keep following this blog as we are going to publish more articles during our stay in Uganda (when we can find an internet connection).
Jenny Beinset; Pro:Piggery
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