UC Davis Blum Center for Developing Economies

Figure 1: Taken on a boat on the River Nile. For the past 5 ½ years I have lived in four countries; Uganda being one of them and Uganda being my favorite. Being back this summer was an enjoyable and nostalgic 8 weeks. In this blog post, I will briefly share some of the experiences(both good and bad, but all memorable) that left me in deep thought during and after my project. The first experience was in the first week, during my school visits and surveys when I noticed that some students were literally sharing and drinking from plates (yes plates) when using the filters because they did not have cups. When I asked the school administration why they did not provide cups for the students some said: “it was not in their budget” (this came from the same head teacher that offered me bottled water when I entered his office!). Others explained that cups were a luxury and if the students were given them, their parents were likely to take them away and keep them in their homes for visitors...

Class: Good morning Teacher Kemi! Kemi: *cringes* Maybe facilitator Kemi? Yes, I think facilitator Kemi has a better ring to it, don’t you? I did not like that they called me teacher Kemi. I wasn’t there to teach. I was there to facilitate. Kemi: “Good morning P4, but please sit down.” I did not like that every time they addressed me they would stand up. Figure 1:A selfie with some of the students during a workshop. Every Tuesday and Thursday morning for six weeks this summer as part of my research project I facilitated workshops at St. Pauls Primary School Nsambya, primary four(grade 3 equivalent) class. The primary four class was made up of 80 students and the workshops focused on safe water practices, and aimed to progressively encourage the students to lead and facilitate their own conversations on water health and sanitation amongst their friends and family in hopes that it would increase their willingness to practice progressive collection methods by involving them i...

Figure 1 & 2:Landmark where the Equator crosses Uganda and me talking to students during a workshop. After months of hard work and preparation, email exchanges and phone calls I was finally in Uganda. My first Monday morning in Kampala(Uganda’s capital) found me waiting and waiting and waiting in the front office of my host organization. Finally, I got to meet my would-be-supervisor, and after a brief introduction, I was told that the organization was no longer in operation and that they would refer me to someone else, who would later refer me to another person who would also refer me to someone else. After what felt like a lifetime of referrals I was then told that I did not have the correct paperwork to conduct my research project and that I would have to wait six months for a permit to be approved. In the words of American boxer Mike Tyson; “everyone has a plan ‘till they get punched in the mouth”. It felt like the world was quickly crashing around me and I started to panic...