March 2022 - An exciting welcome to Uganda

Hey there! My name is Ambra and I have just joined the MONDO team as an EU Aid Volunteer in ICT and Communication in Kampala, Uganda. 

I’m supporting the team in the areas of Education and Livelihoods, with the implementation of the Mondo Digital Competence Program (DCP) with various partners across the country. The program is aimed on the one hand, to train ICT instructors to pass on the knowledge to their students, on the other, to involve and empower vulnerable communities such as Refugee Populations across the country, to increase the income opportunities and accessing education, by bridging a skill gap in information technology, which has become more visible after COVID-19. 

I am lucky enough to have an amazing team already: the other EUAVs Clarisse and Sophie, Mondo Uganda’s team and Uganda Pioneers Association, our hosting organisation. 

In my first and second week I was already hitting the road to do a needs assessment and monitoring field visits. Throwing myself straight to the deep end actually helped me having a wider perspective on the projects implemented, and ultimately let me appreciate the stunning nature of the northern regions. I filled my eyes with the green of the tropical plants, the brown of the huts, the red of the dusty road, the yellow painted shops, the pale blue almost foggy sky, the bright detailed patterns of the fabrics worn by the people, the multicoloured uniforms of the children running to their remote schools, as we passed by village by village. 

Gulu

The 8 hours journey was worth it - not only for getting to know my amazing team better - but also because UPA members of the Gulu branch met with us to understand whether there should be scope for organising ICT training. The group was really friendly and really committed to learning. Clarisse (my colleague EUAV who works with me on the Digital Competences Program) and I will be discussing the findings and try to prioritise the most urgent upcoming training, and maybe we’ll be back to Gulu soon! 

Nakasake

Not too far this time, this one day trip to a beautiful green and peaceful school, was aimed to monitor how the DCP was implemented in a teacher’s school in Nakasake. I’ve learnt how delicate the balance is between understanding the several limitations for teachers not to be able to follow time schedules in the teaching, but also the priorities that us, as an organisation must follow, with time and resources being definitely some of these. 

West Nile

Once again travelling towards the North of Uganda, close to the borders with South Sudan. Here, two of the largest Ugandan Refugee Settlements are based. Mondo DCP has been integrated in the vocational training courses implemented by Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Yoyo (Bidibidi Refugee Settlement in Yumbe) and Ocea Zone (Rhino Refugee Settlements in Madi-Okollo and Terego districts).

Some background information on these settlements:

Bidibidi Refugee Settlement hosts over 270,000 South Sudanese refugees fleeing the ongoing civil war, and as of early 2017 it was the largest refugee settlement in the world 1.

Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement was opened in 1980 and expanded in the wake of the South Sudanese civil war to host the sudden influx of refugees into Northern Uganda 2. As of January 2018, the settlement had 123,243 registered refugees, mostly South Sudanese, and continues to receive new arrivals.3

Here we conducted monitoring of the current projects implemented with NRC, where the ICT instructors we’ve trained are carrying out the Digital Competence Program to the locals and refugee learners in the settlement. Despite the obstacles they faced, namely network issues,  language barriers and learners’ family duties (especially for young mothers), both the instructors and the learners were fully committed and eager to learn. Based on their feedback, it seemed like learning to make optimal use of a smartphone was enabling them to broaden their knowledge and ability to research on various topics, to connect with others and ultimately to become more independent.  

Finally, I was particularly stunned by the resourcefulness of the members of Creativity 4 Development , a small grassroot organisation, funded by refugees who opened a repair cafe for electronic devices and offer skill based workshops to the members of the refugee community in Eden Zone, in Rhino Camp, with a focus on youth and gender. Also, their aim is to enable a sustainable way to dispose of e-waste. With them, we discussed the opportunity to collaborate in the future and assessed their needs.

I’m looking forward to the next adventure, enjoy Kampala and to get to learn about this wonderful land!

Watch this space ⭐