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Uganda is SO GREEN: Annie Ashmore



We are staying in Namagoma village, at the top of a large hill in a lovely guesthouse. The sound travels far from the other hills, so we can hear people singing from miles away! With the exception of some rain last week, the weather has been sunny and perfect. 

Some of our team members are working to provide extra after school care to students at Summer Junior School. They entertain the kids and teach them games and songs. So far, their favorite songs are “What’s Up” by Four Non Blondes and “Twist and Shout” by the Beatles. The kids learn songs and dances very quickly! 


Every day I realize more and more how important it is for RAVT to come as close to decolonized aid as possible. It is frustrating to see projects that have been essentially forced into dependence from foreign aid and projects with a foreign administration that do not fairly compensate their  on-­‐the-­‐ground native   staff. I  see  internalized racism  in a lot of people too, from centuries of being told by colonizers that they aren’t good enough to run their own country. Even though we are still small, I hope that RAVT is doing its part to promote social change with its entirely Ugandan administration and its commitment to decolonizing aid by empowering the ideas and projects of local social service leaders. 

From left to right: Priscilla, Micheal, and Richard. Priscilla and Micheal lead the administration at Summer Junior School and are committed to sustainability and independence. Richard is RAVT’s founder and project coordinator. He is responsible for RAVT’s mission, vision, goals, and day-­‐to-­‐day administration.


It has been a tremendous honor to work with a number of ambitious project leaders. At our other partner project, the Workshop, we did most of our work prior to leaving for Uganda. At their request, we used the funds from our Davis fundraisers to give them money for sewing machines for their vocational school. They then invited some of our team to take a small manual sewing machine lesson and learn about Ugandan language and culture. It was rewarding to see the sewing machines and to get more education about the region.

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