A View of RESPECT From The Ground

by Trent Newman

This is part 1 of a 3 part series featuring comments by RESPECT's Uganda Country Coordinator, Tom Fred Obonyo during a discussion with Trent Newman.

In order to gain some preliminary understanding of the implementation of RESPECT's programmes and also to glean from a local expert those issues that require the most attention, Trent posed three questions to Tom Fred Obonyo, co-coordinator of Agoro Community Development Association (ACDA) in Northern Uganda and RESPECT's country coordinator for Uganda.

1. What are the more tangible and visible benefits of the RESPECT programme in your community, for example, infrastructure, buildings, and learning materials from funds raised, and how are these projects chosen?
2. What are the more subtle and qualitative benefits of the programme such as increased student participation in classrooms, increased student morale, improved learning of specific skills and subject areas such as English and other languages?
3. What are the limitations of the programme, the barriers that still exist to the implementation of the programme, and the critical needs of students, teachers, the school community, and the broader community that remain unmet?

Here are Tom Fred's responses to the first two questions:

Some of the benefits of RESPECT programme to the community are:

• The establishment of a community computer training centre for training school dropouts due to lack of funding and problems paying their school fees, and for training primary pupils and the general community that need computer knowledge and skill.
• The Pen-Pal Letter Exchange: Through RESPECT's programme more than 500 primary students have been introduce to other students globally and more than 250 took an introduction to computer and word processing courses.
• Making it easy to connect other people with the community in our region and the community in other parts of the world, by opening up a web site for ACDA and RESPECT Uganda.
• Networking: It was through the RESPECT programme that networking with other groups like Roots & Shoots have developed good relationships. For example, Root & Shoots groups have paired with two groups in Kitgum for exchange of ideas on cultural background, etc.
• Through the same program ACDA have manage to support women groups with 15 pigs for the piggery project.
• A community that ACDA and RESPECT Uganda is working with have started a microfinance project through the use of beads. The sale of the beads is being supported by many groups outside Uganda like USA and Canada.
• A graining miller's machine was installed in Agoro to support garner some income early childhood development caregivers in the centre. This was done with the support of RESPECT by coordinating the ACDA/RESPECT Uganda with Working to Empower (WTE) also based in Canada.
• With the support of some RESPECT friends, ACDA managed to start up a vocational training centre in Agoro, teaching courses in bricklaying and concrete, carpentry and joinery, cutting and tailoring. The school started very well with the formation of a management committee to run the school. The school stopped operating due to financial support for the teachers in the centre.

All of this came as a result of RESPECT's work in Uganda. Without that we would not have done much to help and support the community in the region from the problems that they have been going through since 1986.

Trent Newman, an education masters student from University of California, Berkeley, will be conducting volunteer work and facilitating critical evaluation of the impact of RESPECT International's programmes via community-based participatory research in Agoro, Northern Uganda, over the summer in collaboration with the Agoro Community Development Association (ACDA) and RESPECT.