Ugandapanda

There’s a popular anti-government Facebook provocateur/s who aptly nicknamed themselves Tom ‘Voltaire’ Okwalinga (TVO)

They comes up with all kinds of conspiracies and rumours many times a day and have over 150,000 followers. Most of these conspiracies turn out to be to be false, but that hasn’t seemed to halt their notoriety or popularity. The 2 most recent reviews sum up well the range of opinions about TVO.

Anyway… a few days ago TVO displayed a US embassy condemnation of the horrendous crackdown on a rising star opposition politician Bobi Wine, who was recently tortured by the government. Ugandans’ responses to the US statement are a fantastic insight both into the sad reality of the situation, and the mood of the people towards foreign powers like the US which love to make statements with no teeth to back them up. I’ve displayed a series of comments after TVO posted the statement, many of which echo two sentiments. First, the US have their own issues and are hypocrytical, and second frustration at the lack of US action over the years.

1 – The US is hypocritical

Lema Mike: “Still waiting for USA to condemn police brutality in America eri abadugavu”

Leny Jaspher: “There is nothing much that I expect the administration of Deborah Malach (US Ugandan ambassador) to do apart from only making that statement… After all she dines and wine with the sycophants and tyrants together

Muwonge Marvine: “But they killed LutherKing while preaching for freedom”

Rahman Bin Issa: “Double standards”

Luryama moy: “The US is in bed with Museveni lol”

2 –  Frustration at the lack of action – Do something!

Hon Aogon Silas Cyril: “Just barking , come-on bite bite and bite”

Fauza Mutera Omukaka: And it ends there. What can the western do when M7 is helping them kill Muslims in Somalia?

Mbabazi Joan:“WE ARE TIRED OF USA BOGUS WARNINGS WHEN THEY ARE ACTUALLY RELUCTANT TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.WE PREFER THEIR SILENCE.JUST DECADES OF WARNINGS MINUS DOING ANYTHING”

Patrick Othieno: “There’s nothing any outsider can do to help Ugandans. Those guys are in bed with M7. It’s a waste of time to say that USA has spoken against human rights mistreatment in Uganda”

Michael-west Obin: “What help will that statement do to Ugandans”

Samuel Muriisanganda: “Who cares about what the US says, that’s a mere barking dog”

I tend to agree with them!

On a self-fashioned holiday, I spent half of today listening to music, and thought there might be something useful there for someone else. These are some of my favourite ‘faith laced’ songs, that met both of these somewhat cheesy criteria.

1. Force me to reflect
2. Inspire me to change, either internal or external

I’ve called them ‘faith laced’ and not ‘Christian’ songs because…

“It is possible for music to be labeled Christian and be terrible music. It could lack creativity and inspiration. The lyrics could be recycled clichés. That “Christian” band could actually be giving Jesus a bad name… Christian is a great noun and a poor adjective” – Rob Bell

These are definitely not the best songs ever written, but they do hit the spot.  They’re all catchy, easy listening and range from from indy-folk to rock. Most are pretty mainstream and often some of the biggest hits of the respective artists. Four were top 10 hits in at least one country. I’m also a product of my time and place, so there’s nothing from the last 5 years. Music enthusiasts feel free to roll your eyes. Click the title to hear the song!

Switchfoot – Dare you to move
This pick-me-up softrock anthem hit top 10 in the USA. If you fancy it, Switchfoot have a lot more where this came from.

“The tension is here, between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be”

Vertigo – U2
One of the few songs that describes what it’s like to touch darkness, and hint the way out. It even quotes the Devil. And all in a 3 minute chart-topping banger.

“It’s that woozy, sick feeling of realizing that here we are, drinking, eating, polluting, robbing ourselves to death. And in the middle of the club, there’s this girl. She has crimson nails. I don’t even know if she’s beautiful, it doesn’t matter but she has a cross around her neck, and the character in this stares at the cross just to steady himself.” –
Bono, about Vertigo

Babylon and Zion – Josh Garrels
A clever song of 2 halves. First, the world as it too often is. Second, the world as it should be.

“Misappropriation of funds. Protect my ninety percent with my guns.
Whose side am I on? Well who’s winning?”

“First will be last when the true world comes. Livin’ like a humble fool to overcome”

Albertine – Brooke Fraser
An incredible reflection on her experience meeting ‘Albertine’, a girl orphaned in the Rwandan Genocide.

“Now that I have seen, I am responsible. Faith without deeds is dead”

My life be like – Gritz
Made famous (surprisingly) by the Fast and the Furious Tokyo drift, this silky smooth rap track hits the spot. The first 20 seconds might be one of the catchiest intros ever.

“The joy of new birth, and the pain of growing up
The bliss between giving my all, and giving up”

After the storm – Mumford and Sons
This addresses our fragility, evokes eternity, and helps us look to a better future.

“And there will come a time, you’ll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair”

Oceans – Hillsong
Although it pains me a bit to include a somewhat cliche church song, it’s a gorgeous, evocative song and now a standard at church services across the world. This acoustic version is a gem.

“You call me out upon the waters. The great unknown, where feet may fail.
And there I find You in the mystery”

As-salaam Alaikum 

Our thoughts and prayers remain with the victims of this horrendous terrorist attack. We are only a week on, and the soul searching will continue. I share these thoughts only to deepen a conversation, and perhaps help us to realise that some of us are more together than we might think.

Jacinda’s “This is not us” slogan has polarized my left wing bubble at least. Everyone agrees it is well intended, but my facebook feed has been smothered with friends voicing both support and criticism.

A number of people have criticised the slogan, including Maori leaders and many journalists. I think that whether the phrase rings true or not, depends on how we define two words. The “this” and the “us”. How we feel and think about “this is not us” perhaps reflects our thoughts, beliefs and agendas, more than than whether the statement itself is ‘true’ or ‘false’. I’m not sure it really can be true or false. Many people who have different interpretations of the statement, may actually agree on the same core truths. I’ve suggested two ways ‘this is not us’, and two ways ‘this is us’, which might take us a bit deeper into the issues that confront us as a people and a country in the wake of this tragedy.

This IS NOT us: 

This: White supremacist Violence
Is not Us: Who we are as a country or a people

“These are people who I would describe as having extremist views that have absolutely no place in New Zealand… You may have chosen us, but we utterly reject and condemn you”
 – Jacinda Ardern

This is perhaps the most straightforward interpretation, and a large part of what Jacinda meant. She condemns extremism and violence in the strongest possible way, and disconnects our current and future national identity from this terrible act. People across the generational spectrum need to hear that this kind of attack is abhorrent, and in no way part of what we want our identity to be as a people.   

This: Extreme evil
Is not Us: The core of our humanity

“I don’t think I’m displaying leadership,” Ardern replied. “I just think I’m displaying humanity.” 

Perhaps this isn’t a big part of what Jacinda meant, but I think it is a positive and helpful way to look at ourselves and humanity in the face of extreme evil. The idea that love, kindness and acceptance is at the core of what makes us human, not evil, hate and violence. I believe that humans are inherently good, made in the image of God, and when we do bad things it is a corruption of our core selves. We are often however often pulled away from this goodness. This is an everyday struggle, but let us become who we really are, and reject the evil that we have seen can corrupt and distort in unimaginable ways.

“Each day we are becoming a creature of splendid glory or one of unthinkable horror.”
– C.S. Lewis

This IS Us:

This: A place with racist systems and ongoing interpersonal racism.
Is Us: New Zealand Society

Although we may do better than many other countries, our systems remain racist.  Maori over-representation in prison and their treatment in the justice system is just one example of this. On an interpersonal level, a prominent study showed that 1 in every 7 people who identified as Asian in 2012, experienced racism in the previous 12 months. That’s about 50,000 people experiencing racism over a 12 month period. That’s not OK.  It pains me to admit that I’m still part of this. Although I’ve left behind my teenage years of cringe racist jokes, I still notice subtle racist tendancies in myself, and I’m still trying to drive them out completely. 

It’s interesting that Taika Waiti, who described New Zealand as “racist as F#%@” has also expressed “this is not us”. He doesn’t seem to ascribe this meaning to the phrase.

This: A country built partly on White Supremacist violence
Is Us: Aotearoa (New Zealand)

“Our colonizers regarded our collectivism as beastly communism, our language as inferior, and our spiritual beliefs as heathen. All had to be destroyed and replaced…”
Ani Mikaere – The ongoing Colonisation of Tikanga Maori

We can’t deny our roots. New Zealand was partly built on white supremacist violence.  We even have a European name! The colonial settlers oppressed Maori, and stole their land. During the New Zealand wars, thousands of Maori were killed to take over land that was rightfully theirs, and this is only one example of violence. Our history has taken positive turns through reinstating Te Tiriti o Waitangi, but the consequences linger, manifest in disconnection, disempowerment and inequality  We need to continue to own this, and continue to rectify it.

There are endless ways to interpret “this is not us”. Ask yourself what you consider the statement to mean? What truths, realities and emotions does it evoke in you? I believe that many of us who have different interpretations of the statement, may  agree with each other more than we realise. Let’s continue the discussion with sensitivity and grace, as we work through this tragedy together.

kia kaha
aroha nui.

Nick.

I recently got off the plane from an epic long haul return flight to England. I had the most amazing time in New Zealand but………..

The carbon I released taking this one 24 hour flight is about 10 times what the average Ugandan releases in an entire year. I’m already feeling the guilt set in. Yep, there it is.

I like to do some amateur research from time to time, to see what we can do make the biggest dent in my carbon emissions. Although there are a million other articles talking about this that are better written I thought I’d write my own. Go figure. This graphic illustrates it pretty well. But if you like words keep reading.

The best things we can do

1) Stop driving a car. Or use it less. Or lime scooter everywhere… This is the MASSIVE one. How do you transport yourself everyday? Could you change that, even if it’s hard? Besides the awkward having less children thing (see below), reducing car usage has the biggest impact on your emissions. Nothing else comes close.

My friend who used to drive everywhere, recently sold their car and gave the money to charity. Amazing true story. They now bike most of the time. I bet you can’t be as awesome as them. (Guilting people into positive change like this doesn’t work, for the record)

2) Eat less animal products. I really struggle with this, because meat and dairy are soooooooo tasty, but we’ve got to get serious right? In New Zealand dairy might be as bad as meat, but I couldn’t find numbers on it. Veganism is the best option and has a huge positive impact. And think of the health benefits too…

3) Fly less. See my hypocrisy above. We may well have not seriously considered flying less, but it’s a real problem. We don’t usually put carbon emissions on a list of pros and cons before going on holiday or to a conference, but maybe we should.

You may wonder why I haven’t listed the biggest impact action from the graph. Unfotunately I’ve still got some intellectual/ethical qualms about it. Having one fewer child than you planned to have, smashes all other lifestyle changes out of the water. It’s over 25 times more effective than never driving a car ever again. If you’re up for it, have a think…

Less useful (but still do them, if you can like, be bothered)

1) Turn off lightbulbs. Obviously we should turn off lightbulbs, but obsessing over this is a waste of time and energy. Replacing all your light bulbs with LEDs will help more than obsessing about every minute they are on.

2) Recycle. Not that effective on the climate change front I’m afraid. As you can see on the graph, hang drying rather than machine drying your clothes has the same impact as recycling everything. Surprising!

3) Have cold showers. Ok, that’s mostly a joke. Great in Uganda, less great in New Zealand. My crazy father has done this every day for the last year. I tried once and nearly died. New Zealand mostly produces power from renewable sources, but 20% of it is still fossil fuels, so it’s not all rosy.

There we have it. The most useful and useless ways you can reduce your carbon footprint. Back yourself this year, and make a change!

A couple of weeks ago, some of our Gulu Friends were among high school students who sat their first set of big exams in their 4^th year of high school. The senior 4 exams. These are kind of equivalent to GCSE (England), and NCEA level 1(New Zealand). Americans can fill me in if I’m wrong, but you don’t seem to be any equivalent. These exams are important, as if you pass, you can become a nurse, or primary school teacher. I wish the candidates all the best!

Unfortunately though, many Gulu students won’t have great resuts. Inequality is obvious in Uganda, and nowhere more so than in education. Gulu high schools perform poorly compared with other parts of the country, especially Kampala. It’s a well known phenomenon that as soon as anyone gets enough money in Gulu, they send their kids off to school in Kampala. We’ll see why below.

Early this year, The Observer newspaper made a great summary of the Senior 4 results from 2017.  I’ve used that for my analysis. Keep in mind that this analysis only considers last year, only considers ‘first grades’, the top level of performance, and doesn’t consider other holistic education that isn’t measured in tests. I’m not saying that test results are the only thing that matter. But they do matter.

31,000 students achieved first grade in senior 4 across the country

Only 220 students from Gulu, Nwoya, Omoro and Amuru districts achieved a first grade

I’ve made 5 observations/opinions from this table below. I hope they will be useful  those training teachers and uplifting schools, as well as those who are considering where to send their children to school, or suggesting schools for sponsorsed children.

These are ONLY the schools that got any first grades at all. 15 other schools which are not listed here in Gulu and Amuru Districts got no first grades at all.

1. To give your child a decent chance of achieving high grades it’s only worth sending kids to one of about 5 schools which are all in Gulu town.

The top performing school in terms of gross number of first grades was St. Joseph College Layibi with 67 students getting a first grade. It may surprise some that Ocer Campion College North of Gulu did very well too, with 46 first grades from only 70 sitting students. Other well known schools like Pope John Paul and Sacred heart performed much worse, with 35 and 22 first grades respectively. I find it especially sad that the top Girls school Sacred Heart produced so few top performing students. Only 5 schools produced over 80% of the 217 first grades achieved.

2. If you live more than 10km out of Gulu, there is no ‘local school’ where your child can perform well. Your only good option is to send them to town.

Out of the 220 first grades earned, only 5 were achieved in schools more than 10km from Gulu town borders. There are two inequality divides. Both the Northern Uganda/Central Uganda divide, and the Urban/Rural divide. Over 80% of the population in Northern Uganda lives outside Gulu town, but there are no good high schools in ‘the village’, as Ugandans would say.

Out of the 4 high schools with students sitting senior 4 in Amuru district (an incredibly low number given the population there), only one school achieved any 1st grades. This is Restore high school. with 5 out of 31 students passing the exam. Nwoya district was similar with only 4 students from their schools achieving first grade. If you are a farmer anywhere in the rural expanse of Amuru or Nwoya district, there is nowhere close to home to send your kid to high school.

3. There are many schools, even in Gulu town where children have close to zero chance of getting a first grade. Don’t send kids to these schools.

Around half of the schools in Gulu, Nwoya, Omoro and Amuru District got no first grades at all. Even some Gulu Town schools suffered this fate. Large city schools like Gulu College, Gulu Secondary and Gulu High were notably poor with only a handful of first grades between them.

4. The best way to get a first grade, is probably to go to a top Kampala school.

Unfortunately the best bet currently is to send your kid to a ludicrously expensive, distant high school in central Uganda. 24 out of the top 25 ranked schools were from the central region, and 20 of those were from Kampala itself. No Gulu school was ranked in the top 80 by the Observer newspaper. We need to drastically improve our schools here in Gulu, to reduce the inequalities and make life easier for all the parents who want the best for their kids to access quality education.

5. Few kids progress from primary school to sit high school exams
   

Around 9000 kids (I think, can be corrected) sat Primary Leaving Examination last year across the districts of Gulu, Omoro, Amuru and Nwoya. We only see 1900 kids sitting senior 4. For every 5 kids that sit primary leaving examination, only 1 sits senior 4. Some of this discrepancy will be accounted for by movement to Kampala high schools after primary school, but not most of it.We need to do to better at keeping kids in school. The barriers to progressing are obvious. Poor performance in primary school leaving exam, money for school fees, and poor high school teaching which leads to dropout before Senior 4.

I believe that things will get better, and in 5 years time things will be looking more rosy for students both in Gulu town, and more importantly in rural areas. But there’s a lot of work to be done!

“Every day for nearly a year, an average of about 2,000 refugees have entered Uganda from South Sudan… Luckily, their new home may be the best place on the planet to be a refugee.”
Washington Post

Impossible. How can reputable news outlets like the Washington post, the Guardian and the BBC make such ridiculous statements? There is no universe where Uganda is the “best place on the planet to be a refugee”.

In New Zealand, I spent some time with an awesome refugee family. They were given a house with electricity and running water. Free education. Top quality healthcare. Mentors to guide them into the country. Money every week to buy food, clothes and other necessities. Life wasn’t easy, but it was possible for them to become well educated, get good jobs and they now live fully fledged ‘first world’ lives.

That dream is impossible as a refugee in Uganda. You live on a tiny plot of land. You have no money. Your kids go to a low quality primary school, and there is usually no chance of secondary school. Would you really rather be a refugee in Uganda than New Zealand? Uganda is not one of the best countries to be a refugee. It’s not even a good place. The claim is ridiculous. So why do reputable newspapers spout this rubbish?

Because they have bought into the misleading narrative created by the UN and Uganda. We have been fooled by this unholy alliance. The UN lauds Uganda a model refugee country and a world leader. They paint Uganda as sacrificial angels because Uganda is apparently so ‘generous’ and ‘welcoming’ to these refugees.

Except it is a lie. Uganda has sacrificed exactly nothing while taking in 1.5 million refugees. They have only gained a huge amount of money, jobs and political leverage. Uganda only benefits from refugees. It is inaccurateto label both the Ugandan Government and the Ugandan people ‘generous’ and ‘welcoming’, when they are reaping massive benefits. Uganda and the UN however have managed to sell the ‘generous poor country’ fairy tale to naïve onlookers, including international media. There is no significant downside for Uganda, and the benefits are enormous.

No down side
Uganda pays for none of the services provided for refugees. Food, education and healthcare is 100% paid for by foreign aid. Developed countries are Paying the Ugandan government and NGOs to house refugees, and provide essential services. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, I think it is a reasonable solution. But we should see the reality. Uganda is being contracted by the UN as a service provider for refugees, and they are being paid very, very handsomely.

But what about all of the land Ugandan people have ‘given’ refugees? Isn’t that a sacrifice? In Northern Uganda well over 50% of the land remains completely unused. It might surprise many readers that nearly all of the land ‘given’ to refugees had no-one living on it, and with few exceptions was not being farmed by local people. It was dead, unused land of little to no value. Also the land is not being given, but temporarily loaned. Refugees or the UN don’t own it. In the West Nile region, where most refugees are housed, most land loaned to refugees was owned by the government, but lay useless and idle. Here is Pagirinya refugee camp, where you can see on google maps that no-one has ever occupied or farmed the land where the refugee camp is now located. See especially the top section, where the photo was taken after roads were made, but before refugees  settled. Loaning useless land is not a sacrifice, but a win-win business decision.

Pagirinya refugee camp

Benefits to Uganda

Money, Money, Money
Western aid money floods into the country, not only for refugees, but also into the pockets of the government and corrupt officials. There is a strange Ugandan government body called the ‘Office of the prime minister’ (OPM), which helps ‘administer’ hundreds of millions of aid money. Much of this is swindled away to line the pockets of the mega rich Ugandan elite. This was highlighted by one obvious heist, but this uncovered scandal will just be the tip of the corruption iceberg.

Local refugee ‘hosts’ also reap enormous benefits. A staggering 30% of all money given to refugees must be spent not on refugees, but on the surrounding ‘host’ community. New boreholes are drilled, schools are built. “Youth groups” are given cash, goats and cows.  The idea that the local community generously welcomes and accepts refugees is a bit rich, when they are benefiting enormously from refugees housed on unused land. This is illustrated well by a comment made by a settlement commander in BidiBidi camp, one of the biggest in the world

“They (local people) contribute land for free, but of course they expect something in return”

Tens of Thousands of Jobs
Uganda has an unemployment crisis. Up to 8 in 10 university graduates are unemployed . Looking after 1.5 million refugees is a lot of paid work. Ugandans don’t volunteer to look after refugees. They need teachers, doctors and food distributors. NGO managers, nurses and borehole drillers. Refugee camps add tens of thousands of much needed jobs for Ugandans, 100% funded by foreign aid money. I have two friends who couldn’t get jobs in Gulu town, but got lucrative NGO jobs in refugee camps. This helps alleviate the unemployment situation and subdue the disenfranchised educated population.

A local Maadi Man charges phones for refugees. His shop is made from UN donated tarpaulins

Political leverage
As long as Ugandan maintains their important role as a refugee host, the world turns a blind eye to atrocities perpetrated by Uganda’s authoritarian regime. In November 2016, Ugandan Police and army ruthlessly massacred 100 people in a Western Ugandan Palace. The government then arrested 200 people who have not yet had the dignity of a trial. Beside some weak ‘condemnation’, the world turned a blind eye.

This year Ugandan Government agencies burned more than 800 huts in Apaa, Northern Uganda. Some of these huts are less than 30km from refugee camps. There is a sick Irony that Uganda is creating their own refugees in the shadow of refugee camps. These local people who’s huts are being burnt by their own government, have stormed the UN human rights office in Gulu, desperate for some kind of change. The response of the UN is pathetic, even weakly supporting the government, partly because they want to keep the ‘refugee host’ happy, otherwise perhaps rich countries will have to take in more refugees.

When a country institutes a policy that brings them massive benefits, with almost no downside, they should be considered astute, but they shouldn’t get lauded as good and benevolent. The narrative should be accurate. Rich countries pay for refugees to stay in Uganda, while Uganda’s corrupt government milks the situation all the money and political favour they can. The rich countries then don’t have to take refugees themselves. Win for rich western countries. Win for Uganda. At best, Ugandas refugee policy is a smart, mutually beneficial arrangement between the UN and Uganda. At worst it’s an unholy alliance between the UN and Uganda. It’s time the mainstream media ditch the false narrative of a sacrificial and noble poor country opening their arms to their poor brothers and sisters.

Ugandas refugee policy might be a reasonable option for all involved. Bt it doesn’t come from the ‘good hearts’ of the Ugandan government or people. If international money dries up, the refugees will be thrown out of Uganda just as quickly as they were let in. Uganda’s ‘open and generous’ refugee policy doesn’t come from the heart, but from the brain and perhaps more importantly, the stomach.