I’ve spent the last week thinking about what to write for “A Day Without Dignity”. Lately, I’ve been getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of uninformed people and organizations, both large and small, who continue to show zero restraint in effort to demonstrate how socially aware they are. The Smart Aid crew of bloggers has done a commendable job of late of rising to challenge these individuals and organizations.

As repetitive as the exercise has become, I think that is is important that our voices continue to rise against any and all acts of “dumbassery” in the field of international development. I especially welcome those voices from developing countries – so often the target of ill-informed campaigns meant to rescue them from their supposed underprivileged lives.

I spent this past weekend with my mum in her village of Kikuube in Western Uganda. It’d been number of years since I’d spent my birthday with her. I started my birthday with a long run through the winding slopping hills in the early morning mist. The cool breeze felt like heaven as my Nike-clad feet crunched the gravel on the country road. Danger, our scrappy family dog, ran along side me, jutting in and out of the bushes like a dart.

My morning jogs through the village had ceased to be a source of amusement for the villagers. They knew me by now, and greeted me with smiles and waves. I couldn’t help but take note of everyone’s feet as I passed them, keeping a small mental list of how many wore shoes and how many didn’t. Good thing it was early morning on a Sunday, there were few feet to count and many were already in the gardens barefoot and tilling mother nature for the season’s planting.

After breakfast, I took the motorcycle through the winding pathway to the local church. My mother is usually the preacher, but she was ill this morning, down with a chronic asthma flare up. I’d changed her medication a few weeks earlier, the side effects of the transition had left her energy-spent and weak. The view along the way to church has always been my favorite things about Sunday morning in Kikuube Village: endless rolling terrain of sugarcane plantations. The bustling forests of yesteryear were slowly being replaced by subsistence farmers transitioning to cash crops. Mother nature was loosing as the community continued to develop.

Hi heels on a dusty mud floor at Kihoole Church in Kikuube village

I arrived amid songs of praise with but a handful of people. Church always started this way. The deacons would arrive to setup the sanctuary by sweeping the dusty mud floors, cleaning off the array of drums and stringing flowers. There were no windows or doors to open and the roof was missing one shingle. Even then, the sanctuary had come a long way in the last three years. I had claimed the responsibility of paying for the floor to be put in, as my way of giving back. The jubilant choir kicking up dust as the songs of praise hit their spiritual climax served as a gentle reminder that I hadn’t fulfilled my promise. The women clapped and danced up a storm. At one point they kicked off their high heels and sandals and let the spirit ride. As the voices got higher, the hands clapped louder, the sweat dripped, and the hips swayed to the hypnotic rhythm of the traditional drummers. The songs subsided into prayer as we prayed for continued peace, the blessed rains, the health of our children and family members, school fees, our leaders, our markets, our friends and our enemies. We prayed for those we knew and those we did not. We gave thanks for what we had and what we didn’t have. As I rode home, my mind played back the dancing feet kicking up balls of dust as the children played in the corner, some with shoes and some without, and the odd thought that, no one prayed for shoes.

Barefoot children on their way home from school

Why has it become so easy for people to start feel-good campaigns that no one asked for? There are a thousand things this village needs and nowhere on the list are t-shirts and shoes. Or used bras, socks, underwear or whatever the latest SWEDOW item du jour. We can safely say that it has nothing to do with the intended communities. The whole exercise is about making someone feel good. Unfortunately, that someone is never the recipient. It is never the people in this and many other villages that are purported as poor and thus in need of XYZ. It is probably easier to go a day without wearing shoes and feel good about “doing something.” Yes you are doing something, but do you know that what you are doing is the dumbest, most ineffectual act of dumbassery you could do. Yes you are doing something, but tell me how going a day without shoes is going to magically pay for the badly-needed school fees in this village. How is that act of self-sacrifice going to bring development and jobs? Yes, you raised awareness. But it was awareness of your own guilty pleasures and a life of excess. So you send a pair of TOMS shoes to the kids I passed on their way to school Monday morning, how is that going to make their badly-equipped classrooms better? Or train the teachers? Or pay them better. Let’s not mention the cobbler in the town center you just put out of business. Unless of course, your argument is that when the pair of cheap TOMS shoes — which were never designed for this environment — break down, he can fix them. Nice one.

Is it really that hard NOT to do something no one asked for?

I took another extended ride on Monday, spending time in the trading center to just observe the day in the life of Kikuube Village. I stopped by Gabriel’s shop. A 76-year old retired teacher with 4 sons he still worried about. None had adequate jobs and were grossly under-paid. He was wearing a dusty black pair of shoes that looked like they’d been brought back to life by a talented cobbler. He was lamenting about taking out a loan from the bank at 25% interest to help his youngest son start a small business. His own shop was sparse but frequently visited. He has never let me leave without taking a soda. What would this man do with a pair of TOMS shoes? Probably sell them. He worried less about himself and his feet and more about the future of his sons. And shoes were the last thing on his mind.

I came home and asked my mother (without revealing to her what I was about to write) what was the one thing, above all, she wanted me to have as I was growing up. Without hesitation and in the soft voice I’ve always known to have wisdom, she said, “an education.” Not a good pair of shoes. Not a tshirt. Not good life. But an education. As simple as that sounded, it left a resounding thump in my heart. As I went to sleep that night, I stared at the picture she gave me for my birthday. It was a black and white photo of a little boy holding his chin and smiling. I turned it over to read the inscription,

“Teddy on his 4th birthday, April 3rd.”

I was wearing a pare of gum boots. TOMS didn’t get me those, my mother did, along with my education.

I’m writing this post in support of “A Day Without Dignity”, a counter-campaign launched by Saundra S. of Good Intentions are not Enough to critique TOMS shoes “A Day Without Shoes Campaign”

Now every year, TOMS launches an awareness campaign to raise awareness about “shoelessness”. In their words:

I think sometimes we forget what we have, and occasionally it’s important to remind ourselves. Most people don’t even realize how many children in developing countries grow up barefoot and all the risks, infections and diseases they endure. For most of us, modern shoes our so comfortable and accessible, we all but forget about our feet, but they are a source of constant focus for others. I wanted everyone to personally understand the impact of shoes, and the difference they can make, so we thought, “Why don’t we get a taste of what these kids go through every day?”

As I read that paragraph, I thought about Jason Sadler’s very controversial and equally offensive  One-Million T-shirts Campaign to send used T-Shirts to Africa because  according to him, “different countries, different villages, different towns, they all need shirts, some people only have half a shirt to their name and some children don’t have a shirt at all”.

I’m sure Jason regrets not asking people to go naked for a day. Sigh.

Ok. Back to TOMS.

My Questions:

Who are these people in “developing countries”?

Is the developing world a homogenous other? Why do we keep reproducing these dichotomies and stereotypes? “People there don’t have food; people there don’t have clothes; people there suffer; they grow up barefoot; they all need shirts”

Isn’t there inequality in America?

Why do “we” need to “remind ourselves” and “get a taste” ? It’s really about “us”, isn’t it?

What about this culture of reminding ourselves of difference in a way that objectifies others and makes gross generalizations- all in the name of awareness? This culture of hopping on to the next insensitive exercise to create awareness. People have breast cancer and cancer-free people decide to create awareness/“remind themselves” by posting the colour of their bras on facebook or stating where they like dropping their handbags. Children get abused and instead of documentaries, petitions and indictments, “privileged” children, many of whom don’t know what it feels like to be abused, feel the need to jump on an exercise and post a picture of their favourite cartoon character to “create awareness”. The fact is that we are all aware of difference, injustice and gross inequality. We are all well-aware that people go through different struggles. The media has created enough awareness about poverty, starvation and war “in the developing world”. We really don’t need another awareness campaign especially not another condescending remind-ourselves exercise.

Awareness makes sense when people come together to talk about issues that plague their society and develop a real hands-on solution to these issues. Awareness doesn’t make sense when people who are not directly affected, but by virtue of the fact they think they are so privileged, come up with disrespectful exercises. It’s almost as ridiculous and insensitive as people coming up with a campaign to abstain from talking to their immediate family members for one week, in TOMS words, because “sometimes we forget what we have… and so we thought, ” why don’t we get a taste of what these [other] kids go through every day?”  I wonder why we need to objectify people to be grateful for our lives? Where do we draw the line? HIV/AIDS for a day, anyone?

More importantly, awareness campaigns should not be taken seriously  if there is no real information about an issue. Bringing up an issue is the first step but awareness programs must go further. Okay, some people don’t have shoes. Do they consider their ‘shoelessness’ as a problem? Have they never had shoes in history? Why don’t they have shoes now? Are their communities far from shoe markets? Have deforestation/famine, war, economic crises, the closure of a factory and consequent retrenchment of workers caused a drop in real income and  affected their ability to meet their needs? What about the raw materials for making shoes- rubber, leather, cotton etc? Are they readily available? How has this affected the price of shoes? How have the people in question adjusted to these unfavourable trends?  Have they improvised in any way? What role has technology played in all of these? Has their condition been improving or steadily getting worse?  Are there some practices/government polices/NGO programs that are stifling initiative and hindering people’s ability to meet their needs? How can these be addressed?

TOMS has been lauded as a company committed to social entrepreneurship i.e. making money while improving the lives of people. Instead of disrespectful and stereotypical campaigns, why isn’t this mission reflected? Why aren’t they producing documentaries about how particular people are improving their lives and becoming empowered, about sustainable business initiatives involving local shoemakers/cobblers, about local markets,  about local investment, about challenges in particular regions and how these challenges are being tackled in order to create a model that others can perhaps follow. If people are really affected by these issues, why isn’t TOMS giving them a platform to speak out? Why are social entrepreneurs and awareness raisers trying to “remind themselves” and “get a taste”?

My home country, Nigeria,  is one of those  countries with the “developing country” label and yet, in spite of economic inequality, shoe markets/shops abound. Yes, “modern shoes” abound (Please, what do traditional shoes look like?).  In all my sixteen years of living in Nigeria, I never met one person who didn’t have a pair of shoes to his/her name. This doesn’t mean that there were no such people -I still wonder if there are- but it points to the fact that this was not a part of my “developing world” reality. Furthermore, walking barefooted in Lagos, Ibadan or Abuja was/is not a problem but a practice. I had seen well-to-do people, some of whom traveled abroad on vacation every summer and live in mansions, walking barefooted on Sundays not because they were poor and helpless but for religious reasons. Do TOMS awareness raisers know this? I doubt it. Do these people who walk barefooted need to be pitied? No. Does anyone need our pity and misguided self-reminders? No.

This kind of ‘awareness campaign’ has other -perhaps unintended- repercussions as some young awareness raisers suddenly start thinking that they are responsible for the development of the ‘developing world’ and have the right to withdraw their assistance when this world ‘misbehaves’. I was quite shocked to hear about an argument between a boy from Cameroon-I think- and his Canadian friend. Realizing that he was losing the argument, the Canadian boy said something like “ It’s the fault of Canadians who send money to all these starving children every month. Now that they are well-fed and have the chance to come to our country, they think they know everything and have the right to argue with us.”  WOW! Thanks, World Vision, for raising awareness.

In conclusion, awareness campaigns such as “A Day Without Shoes” that place awareness raisers in a privileged position, make them feel superior to others and reinforces stereotypes in the name of “reminding ourselves” instead of focusing on detail, context and local agency should not be supported.  The next time someone asks me where I’m from and proceeds to ask me how come I speak English fluently and I’m dressed well  or wearing nice shoes even though I’m from a “developing country”, I know who to blame for this.

Katherine Lucey at Solar Sister had a great post today about going big in your projects, Make No Small Plans. Earlier in the day, I had challenged her on Twitter to go big or go home as a way of encouraging her efforts with Solar Sister in Uganda. Her post was partly in response to that challenge, but it got me thinking about our projects here at PD. In a strange stream of consciousness thinking – which I am prone to drift into — about the difference one makes. I am not talking about Ghandi-Mother Theresa-Martin Luther King- scale of one person overcoming the tide of the times. Those are catalytic forces of change that come around once in a generation. I am talking about a regular ol’ Katherine Luceys, Erik Hersmans, Stacey Monks, Juliana Rotiches, perhaps you, or even me-catalysts that inspire others to dream big. Those of us that live on the edge of constant dissatisfaction with the status quo. Those of us married to our own ideals, despite the price we pay to achieve that goal. Those of us that breath because we create smiles in others. Those of us that make no small plans about what we want to achieve in life.

Our WoK project deals with 20 internally displaced, hard-working women in Uganda. Their 58 school-age children are their purpose to get up in the morning; to feed, clothe and educate them for a better future than the status quo. We love these women and their tireless enthusiasm to learn, to improve, and to squeeze out every bit of promise from each day. Their enthusiasm fuels my involvement. I’ve come to love them as my sisters, partners and friends. I learn as much from their ability to triumph over enormous struggles just to get through a day as they learn from the skills and opportunities me and my team shares with them. Every one of them is an agent of change in their own right.

A majority of that progress has happened in the last 5 months, and in no small part to the large and small contributions from the individuals that contribute to this project. Together we have introduced an internship program that places an intern with the women for 3-6 months at a time; we’ve built a web site to showcase their beautiful products (online store coming in September); we’ve struck partnerships with Solar Sister, DFCU Bank and Technoserve. All this in an effort to create a broad base of tools the women could rely on to sustain their business and livelihoods. Women of Kireka founder and advisor, Siena Anstis spent 3 months in Uganda earlier this year with me, as we kicked off skills training programs, business planning and marketing programs. We’ve also done a good job of introducing the women’s jewelry to clients in the UK and US. Siena’s internship program has proven to be a huge success. A massive thanks goes to our first intern, Kimberly Bilmer (@bilmerk) for working tirelessly during her tenure to put programs in place for the women’s future success.

Success has been measured one sale at a time, and largely due to the generous support of all of you who have donated your time, money, and purchasing power. Every sale has translated into smiles in Kireka and the availability of operating capital. Every donation meant one less student being left out of class. Our first sales success happened earlier this year when the women earned enough money from sales of their jewelry to pay for all 58 children to be in school for that term. The success was so sudden that it took me a month to convince the women that this was of their own doing. Their hard work paid off and resulted in enough sales for them to pay for their own children to be in school.

It will be a while before such successes are codified in regularity. There is still a lot of work for us to do. After proving that it was possible to generate enough capital to sustain the business, we are going forward and thinking big. For starters, we have decided to be bold enough as to declare that this school term will be the last one where we ask for donations. It is important that we continue this program from a business perspective. In doing so, we hope the skills we share with the women will endure long after our involvement. We instill in them that their success depends entirely on them and the skills they learn will help them get there.

So you are wondering why the long story? What does this all have to do with the difference one can make to change the status quo? I’ll put it this way. As much as we like to believe in the power of one to do great things, it really isn’t about one person. The success of that one person realizing their dream for change depends on the contributions of many. A community of entrepreneurs is what powers Solar Sister. A community of engaged citizens make Ushahidi the success that it is today. A global community of well-wishers put Epic Change on a path to making a difference. It is with that same spirit that I am calling for a community of supporters, customers and friends who believe in the future of 20 talented, hard-working women, the future of 58 children. To paraphrase Ghandi, we all have to buy into the change we want to see in the world, we all have to participate. So I invite you to participate, in any way you feel inclined.

Next month, Siena will dedicate her first marathon to raising the last remaining funds to cover the school fees for this term. I don’t expect everyone to run a marathon for the cause. There are plenty of ways to participate:

• If you can make a donation, please do so in any amount.
• If you can retweet this article and promote it, then that is a valuable contribution you can make.
• If you would like to comment, please do share below.
• If you would like to empower these women through trade and not aid model, and are interested in buying some jewelry, you can do that too.
• If you would like to cheer Siena as she winds down her marathon training, you can find her here.

So the question is for you as an individual, what role do you play?

It seems the debate over poverty tourism is back to the surface again. You know, (at least as I understand it) that debate on wether it is morally right for tourists to wade through slums, snapping pictures. Over at AidWatch, there was a call for African voices to add to the cacophony of Western academics owning the mic on this topic. So here’s my two cents for what they are worth.

As an African, I have to say that poverty tourism is about the worst thing we could do for our dignity. If you have to travel thousands of miles from the comfort of your own home to experience a change in your life.. then you will have to admit, there’s something feverishly wrong with either you or your culture.

To get to my point, if all you are doing is going to a slum and taking pictures, yes you are robbing those individuals of their dignity. If you are also going there for that reason, you automatically assume that something is wrong. The West has this trumped up assumption that if you are not making money, then you are poor. Sustainability does not mean everyone has to be making beyond $3 a day. My mother makes less than that but she eats every day, is never starved of food, has a mobile phone and enjoys her existence. Ask anyone in her community if they think they are poor, they’ll tell you they are not rich, but content.

So we have to be careful about the labels we impose upon indigenous communities. Just because where you come from defines your idea of what it means to be content, that streets have to be paved in gold.. then you are going to have a skewed perception of those with less possessions.

Is there poverty by academic definition? Of course there is, but having yourself a tour doesn’t give you license to all of a sudden have the solutions to solve the problem.

CLUE: If you are an outsider, visiting a slum, and you need an escort and security to walk around, then you are not now, nor will you ever be the solution to the perceived problem. You might find out something profound about yourself or the meaning of life you lost years ago because of bad career choices or dissatisfaction with realizing that life is just a rat race of useless oneupmanship. You will discover things about yourself, but don’t get disillusioned thinking that by being there and snapping pictures you are going to play any role in bringing change.

But if you must, if you absolutely can’t live with yourself and feel it is your calling to make a difference (yay for altruistic passion), then get to know someone there, find out what’s missing in their life that you could contribute to. Pick your winners.

Then listen. It’s that simple. Listen and have a conversation.

Share your life as they share yours. Make a friend for life. I had a similar conversation with one of the workers at the Kireka quarry while I was trying to understand where I fit in as a difference maker for our Women of Kireka project. Amos taught me more than I could ever teach him in less than 10 minutes.

Have a listen (heart-breaking stuff):

You are nothing but a cog in the machine of inequality. It is part of this life and we are all on board for the magical ride.

You really want change? Put down the camera, walk up to anyone in that slum, get to know them. Have some tea and crumpets, maybe a chapati slice or two. But please, do adhere to Jeffry Sach’s guidelines and don’t feed the locals, not even sweets. Really Sachs, really? Let them feed you. Then when it gets down to why you are there, tell them you are there to learn how to make the most of life your life, how to be content, how to maintain culture in this ever-changing world. Ask them, ever so gently how you could help strop rampant muzungus wading thru their life and snapping pictures like they are wild animals. Because truthfully, that’s more achievable than solving a problem caused by your own lack of perception.

As many of you know, I am running the Montreal Oasis Marathon on September 5th, 2010 – in exactly 27 days! Running the marathon was partly inspired by the need to find a way to help pay school fees for the children of the Women of Kireka. These twenty women, who still work part-time in a quarry for a pittance, now have a small start-up jewelry business, which I helped to establish in 2008 in Kampala, Uganda and now assist through Project Diaspora.

As many of you also know, I’m generally no longer a fan of fundraising. After a couple years working on and off in Kenya and Uganda, and further experience in the “wheel of development,” I have learned to deeply appreciate the value of business. By business, I mean a system where a unique high-quality product, made through painstaking attention to detail, is fairly traded for monetary capital. This seems to be the most sustainable and engaging form of economic development.

In line with this, Women of Kireka has transformed itself from a donations-funded model, where international donors help to raise enough capital for the women to start their own business, to a small start-up business built on hard work by the people who make up the Women of Kireka and Project Diaspora.

However, in order to get Women of Kireka to where it is now, it was necessary to help the women spend a few less hours on the quarry. They identified school fees as one of their most expensive and stressful costs. By covering school fees for a year, Project Diaspora – and your first two round of donations – gave the women enough time to see if Women of Kireka was for them and whether we could build a successful business together.

This generous time has proved to be fruitful and we think that, after this final round of school fee donations, Women of Kireka will be entirely run as a business, no longer soliciting donations. In the little time we’ve had this year, we’ve registered Women of Kireka as a business, opened a local bank account for the women to place their savings, developed an emergency health fund scheme, launched one line of jewelry, developed a website and established a series of local and international partnerships with such groups as Solar Sister.

This final round of school fee donations will give the women the free time to perfect their second line of designs. It will also give us the time to focus on opening the online Women of Kireka store. We expect that these activities, particularly the opening of the online store, will ensure that the women can support their children next year in school and work increasingly with Women of Kireka, thus moving off the quarry for good.

Fortunately, the beginning of the children’s semester coincides with the Montreal Oasis Marathon. As I cross the finish line, the children will be getting ready for their final school term this year and we hope your generous contributions will help us pave the way for a successful new school term!

For more information on the Women of Kireka, please visit our website.

I am loving this video interview of Richard Cambridge, Head of the African Diaspora Program (ADP) at The World Bank. I am especially intrigued by the new efforts by the World Bank to tap into the African Diaspora capacity for development. Instead of using highly-paid consultants on projects in Africa he asks, why not tap some of its Diaspora instead?

Of course there are many hurdles still in the way in order to maximize Diaspora participation, but I think many of those can be mitigated by a determined government that sees the value in its Diaspora. Many of the countries in Africa are in various stages of actively courting their Diaspora. In East Africa, Rwanda has made strides to tap into its Diaspora with a very well organized Diaspora office. Meanwhile, Uganda is still trying to figure out how to begin organizing its Diaspora that contributes north of $750 million annual in remittances. Next door, Kenya’s Diaspora is more or less self-organizing. Every time I am in Nairobi, I meet more and more former Diaspora who’ve turned “reaspora.”

Reaspora is a term I like to attach to members of the neo Diaspora who—for various reasons—have decided to move back home in the permanent sense. Where-by “neo Diaspora”, I mean that segment of Africa’s diaspora that started migrating at the end of colonial rule, when most of Africa was newly independent. This is a distinctly different set of migrants than the classic diaspora who were forcibly extracted during the centuries-long slave trade. The end of slavery in 1807 and the collapse of colonial rule in Africa in the 1950s and 60s marked nearly 150 years of cultural separation between the two diasporas by definition.

I welcome The World Bank’s adoption of the African Union’s definition of Africa’s Diaspora as an open-arms approach to welcoming back its citizens. However, I think it is a little too broad of  a definition and is there simply as a hedge not to come across as excluding anyone. For The World Bank’s effort to be more effective, I think efforts should be targeted at mobilizing this neo Diaspora population. It is typically younger, highly educated, mobile and technically savvy. Moreover, they have a traceable direct link to their homes through family members that are still on the continent. Many of us still call our countries of origin, “home.” Most of the Kenyans I know heading back home are in their late 20′s and early 30′s. They decided that their fortunates and careers lay in their homeland. It is a safe argument to make that Nairobi’s telecommunications innovations and subsequent renaissance can largely be attributed to the efforts of its growing tech-savvy reaspora population. Cambridge’s assessment that some members of the Diaspora (including himself) have set up family roots in the West thus reducing mobility is a valid point, but I think that applies to the older first or second-generation Diasporas, his age mates.

They can also go back home for short breaks or vacation. But they have careers here, they have families abroad. The notion that everybody will pack up and go back home is unrealistic. They are going to stay. They are international people, they will go where the opportunities are. They are trained to work in certain conditions. Those conditions may not exist immediately at home. But over time it does.

He also doesn’t account for the growing population of Diaspora who are moving their entire families back home. I currently spend half my time in Uganda and half in the US. My unique circumstances in career choice allow me the flexibility to do so. An internet connection, laptop and power are my only office requirements. Location is purely circumstantial. All to say that technology is making location irrelevant in how we as members of the Diaspora engage in Africa’s development.
Remittance are still a key conduit of financial development assistance, but we need a more streamlined solution to maximize our investments. This is where I think the World Bank is right to put its muscle – investing and encouraging new innovations that will lower the fees on international money transfers.

What is common is that this group, this fifth region, has the skills, talent, and resources to contribute to the continent. Skills, talent, financial resources. As a bank, we of course initially focused on finance. The estimates are that sub-saharan Africans who live abroad send home between 10 and 40 billion dollars per year back to their families on the continent. And those resources, of course, can be leveraged for development in many different ways.

Money Gram, Western Union and the banking industry charge a fortune to transfer funds. With the advent of mobile money facilities on the continent, the last mile is to feed the $40 billion in annual remittances through that delivery channel.

Certainly policies and regulatory frameworks allowing for greater diaspora participation are needed in many of these countries. But I’d be happy with a dedicated Diaspora window at Entebbe Airport. Now that would be a sign of great things to come!

BONUS:
If you’d like to dig deeper into Diaspora investment from a financial markets perspective, check out this ‘Diaspora Investment in Developing and Emerging Country Capital Markets: Patterns and Prospects‘ [PDF] paper by the Migration Policy Institute. Is it worth a read.

Jason Sadler shuttered 1 Million Shirts campaign to focus on iwearyourshirt.com

And so it ends. Just like that.

A few months a go, a social media phenomenon took hold on the web in the form of international development practitioners and defenders waylaying yet another do-gooder attempting to do right by his conscious. Jason Sadler, successful entrepreneur and founder of innovative upstart website, iwearyourshirt.com, waded into murky development waters by attempting to send 1 Million Shirts (1MS) to Africa. We can safely assume that Jason had no idea what kind of global reception his initiative would receive. Within 72 hours, a tinder box of echo-chamber tweets fueled blogs and blog comments from all corners of international development. Yours truly was especially rattled at yet another attempt to dump Western left-overs on my beloved continent. There was nothing sugary nice in my response.

In the months since the roundtable discussion hosted by Katrin Verclas at Mobile Active, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with Mr. Sadler in an advisory role to try and redirect 1MS. Along with @mjamme, we held weekly conference calls in an attempt to strategize and brain storm some ideas in which Jason could redirect 1MS. We didn’t accept to be on the board because we have the time and nothing better to do. We did it because we believed in the power of an individual determined to make a difference in the world.

Personally, I did it because of my belief that it is important to foster partnerships. It is important as an African to have a voice in how my continent’s current and future development takes shape. It is important for me to be vociferous in rejecting ill-concieved packaged, top-down solutions meant as panaceas for our complex developmental challenges. It is important for me to do that because I now have a voice. As Africa’s renaissance ignites, it is imperative that we also take the microphone and speak for our selves, but not only to rebuke, but also to teach, partner and guide. I took the time from a hectic travel schedule to have audience with Jason every week. Wherever there was a wifi signal that could support Skype, I joined Jason, Stephen, and Mariame for our weekly one-hour conversation. The kerfuffle over the child-trafficking post was news to us as it was posted without our involvement and this was dealt with internally afterwards.

Jason’s decision to shutter 1MS came down to simply a personal decision. Jason’s priority was and remains his business. 1MS was never going to be something he took on full time. What he found out was that it required his full-time attention. I can safely say that Jason learned a lot during our meetings, which perhaps played a role in the decision. To responsibly do what he wanted to do required more time than he could afford to pull away from his successful business.

I’ve been masticating on the lessons gleaned from this whole saga and some it has forced me to look internally as well as the whole development/aid industrial complex as a whole. My only qualification in this field is that I have 30+ years being an African, 20 of those as a member of the Diaspora, if that even counts. I have a degree in Communications Design and pay the bills as a designer and photographer. Does that really qualify me to speak on behalf of one billion people? Does it qualify me to berate a genuinely well-meaning individual when within the African Diaspora community there are millions that do nothing at all? Does being an African in a field so dominated by degreed Western academics make me an unqualified poser? Do I side with with the corp of professional do-gooders or the recipients lulled into a tendered existence of expecting hand outs? Or am I just a photographer who’s lost focus on the purpose of my life because I am too drunk in idealism?

Whatever the verdict might be for me, a few things have risen out of this saga. Of importance is that for once, a meaningful global conversation was had on the nuances within the humanitarian aid complex. The industry wasted no time defending its turf. To me this signaled an entrenchment, both in the culture of thought and entitlement. Don’t get me wrong, a bad idea is a bad idea. No two ways about it. But I look at it beyond that. The fact that no one besides Mariame and myself ended up on the board to assist Jason, to me, is an indictment of the whole industry. We were all happy to heckle from the sidelines at the newest do-gooder out of his mind, but very few of us stepped beyond Jason’s arrogance to try to channel his energy in the right direction. In the 3 months I was on the board, no one reached out to leverage Jason’s marketing prowess or partner with his proven entrepreneurial clout.

This all begs a few more questions. Who is entitled to do good? What qualifications does one need to pass as a humanitarian/aid worker when passion is no longer a qualifying passport? Let’s remember Bill Gates is an entrepreneur turned do-gooder. Does his money magically seal him from criticism or is the industry too afraid to criticize a cash cow. He had no qualifications in global health before funding an initiative to synthesize artemisin and importing it into Kenya, thereby imploding Kenya’s natural artemisin industry without even a slap on the wrist. But I bet you he has learned a thing or two since then. So why can’t Jason be given the same due pass for his passion?

Too many of us were quick with the “good riddance” tweets at the news of the shuttering of 1MS. How many of us have actually thought about the fact that along with it, we dismiss the possibility, the idea of another Jason coming from the outskirts of the aid complex to truly change the world? It is absolutely possible for one person—wholly unqualified—to upend 60 years of aid industry inclusiveness with a new paradigm. But did we leave a sliver of room for such a person to even dare raise their head? Is there room for a lone ranger or are we too far gone in our self-righteousness to ever entertain that thought.

In our elitism, we have forgotten that we are humanitarians at the core. Paid professionals or not, we got into this business because the status quo in the world wasn’t good enough. Whatever our enclave of practice might be, lets not forget that at the heart of what we do, is a human doing. So let’s recognize the mistakes made, cross the divide and shake the hand of the next do-gooder with one hand and guide them with the other. Frankly, we need their help.

In the last 7 days, I have been on three continents and my feet have touched down in four countries. Dopplr says I’ve added in excess of 1,659 kg CO2 to my carbon footprint. My body feels like a stubborn piñata, beaten to a pulp, but hardly broken. My mind has absorbed, contemplated, calculated, commiserated and generally tried to make sense of the world around it. South Africa successfully concluded hosting the world’s biggest sporting competition; BP stopped it’s 3 month effort to fill the Gulf of Mexico with oil; Steve Jobs turned on his reality distortion field to quell “antennaegate,” and Washington, DC was hit with an earthquake.

My heart however, has been stuck in a geosynchronous orbit around Kampala, Uganda.

As of this posting, it has been exactly a week since Spain beat The Netherlands to stand alone atop the World Cup throne. The world watched, in celebration and disappointment as the games crowned their final champion. In Africa, many gathered in make-shift pool halls, barber shops, local beer joints or “locals,” or anywhere where there was a TV or radio tuned to the proper channel broadcasting the game.

In Uganda, 76 people did not get to see the final results of the game. They had began their day in frenzied preparation to finish whatever the day required them to accomplish in time for the match. Some went to pray, others went shopping for sports jerseys emblazoned with the colors of whatever team they were in support of, some had lunch with friends and placed bets with each other. Others made plans to meet at pubs or restaurants to enjoy the final game. None, it would seem, made plans to die that day.

Seven days ago, the Somali Islamic militant group, al Shabab, or “youth” detonated a series of bombs in Uganda’s capital of Kampala which injured hundreds and left the city with 76 less people that I will never get a chance to meet. An outdoor gathering at the Kyadondo rugby club was hit by a suicide bomber, while simultaneously another bomb hidden under a table ripped through Ethiopian Village, a popular restaurant and socializing spot for tourists and expats.

I ran across the news while sifting through the day’s tweets. I’d just returned from a dinner with colleagues I hadn’t seen in a while. One of them, left the dinner early to go watch the start the game with her father. Earlier before the dinner, I’d sped past the rugby club across from Lugogo Mall on Jinja Road, straddling a boda boda taxi. I’d just spent the day sifting and editing images at the Hive Colab offices. The air was crisp and the sky was clear as evening was setting in. The rugby club gates were busy with activity as the early arrivals filtered in to grab the best seat on the field.

The first tweet was from non other than Solomon Benge (@solomonking). Solomon tweeted from the front lines during the Kampala riots a year before.  I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I was curious enough to stay tuned while he confirmed the report. Soon enough there was a flurry of reports coming out. I remember a heavy sense despair descended on me as I sunk into disbelief. The winner of the final had just been announced, and the orange-clad Dutch expats were filtering out of the bar at the hostel, in dejected disbelief. I watched the Twitter stream a few more minutes before it occurred to me that I should start accounting for my team. “We are OK, are you?” “Have you heard from so-and-so? No, have you? Call them and I’ll call you back.” Within minutes everyone was accounted for, on the way or home and safe. A few hours later I was replying to Facebook messages and tweets; “team PD was accounted for and safe.” The news was now international, struggling upstream to break through the tide of World Cup coverage.

What amounted to a cloud of numbness occupied my soul for the two days before I was to board for my flight to Dallas. I took meetings in a daze of disbelief, meetings that were occupied with discussions of who was responsible, digesting the gory images in the tabloids of limbs and blood. The images were arresting and the same time disappointing as it seemed every newspaper was racing to print the most disturbing images from the two bombings. I was keenly paranoid of where I sat and who was around me.

Was this the new state of mind I would have every time I came home? Strangely, everyone seemed to be alone in their thoughts. Around Kampala, life went on as everyone tried to make sense of the events of Sunday night. The overly crowded taxi parks in the informal sector were just as packed, the nightly street vendors still sold you a rolex with a smile. The boda boda drivers still snaked through Kampala’s gridlock like water through a rockslide.

The most heart-wrenching reality of the bombings manifested itself at the airport as I was departing. Lines of expats, and tourists choked the check in lines to a point where the computing system shut down for several hours. It seemed a mass exodus was in play. It became clear that the effects of the bombings would spread beyond the loss of 76 lives. In contrast to South Africa’s .5% bump in GDP brought on by hosting the games, right here at Entebbe, Uganda’s tourism industry was bleeding massively. I immediately understood the somber countenance of John Hunwick, proprietor of Backpackers Kampala hostel, as I waved goodbye.

“We’re finished,” he muttered.

Instability in the city meant no tourists, volunteers, or traveling students – which spelt financial disaster for the hostel. Mr. Hunwick’s hospitality and tourism business depended on the assumption that it was safe to travel to Uganda. Kampala’s once vibrant nightlife won’t be the same for a long time as revelers avoid crowded establishments.

As I touch down in the fifth city this week, I am still haunted by the images of the zombie-like corpses on the front pages. Men and women, soaked in blood and frozen in repose in their plastic chairs on the lawns of the rugby grounds; a woman clutching a soft drink with her head slumped to the side, a man leaning in the chair clutching a cellphone on one ear. The most haunting image that I can’t shake is when I was driving by the rugby grounds days after the bombings and watching the massive prehistoric scavenger birds — famous for feasting on Kampala’s growing garbage dumps — land on the pitch. I couldn’t bare the thought of what they were feeding on in the grass.

So where do we go from here? How do we rebuilt our city? How do we sell stability again and inject customers back into the tourism sector and related businesses? How do we avoid sinking into a relentless cycle of xenophobic violence? President Museveni has vowed not to be intimidated and has called for a state of calm. Uganda’s continued presence in Somalia as part of the African Union’s peace-keeping mission means that we are now on a continued terror alert as al Shabab begins to retaliate beyond its borders. I suppose I have no choice but to resign to the fact that this is our new life now,  “…in blood and color.” Is this the price of progress and freedom? Please stay tuned.

In June 2010, I had the pleasure of presenting at Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media (GFEM)’s first Conversation. My task was to comment on the state of/ future of media, technology, and access to information on the continent. A fairly sizable task to accomplish in a 10-minute presentation.

The best part about the opportunity was that not only was I able to talk about the state of technology on the continent, but I was able to actually demonstrate it. I was fortunate enough to be in Kampala and have access the Appfrica Labs/Hive Colab working spaces. There was adequate bandwidth for me to do the presentation over Skype using screen share.

In June 2010, I had the pleasure of presenting at Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media (GFEM)’s first Conversation. My task was to comment on the state of/ future of media, technology, and access to information on the continent. A fairly sizable task to accomplish in a 10-minute presentation.

The best part about the opportunity was that not only was I able to talk about the state of technology on the continent, but I was able to actually demonstrate it. I was fortunate enough to be in Kampala and have access the Appfrica Labs/Hive Colab working spaces.  There was adequate bandwidth for me to do the presentation over Skype using screen share.

For a long time, Uganda’s value has been associated with its physical, tangible assets. This includes its natural resources, hospitable environment and cash crops such as coffee. In economic terms, the value proposition is shifting all around Uganda and the time is now to realize that the value attached to coffee and fruits is fast shifting to the knowledge possessed on how to grow these same things faster. Intellectual capital and intellectual property laws, the tools of protecting this capital are a key concern for today and the future of Uganda.

Broadly speaking, intellectual property law in Uganda is known to accommodate the laws that protect brands and the identifiers of value in businesses. These could be names, symbols, logos, slogans or a combination of these. It also covers Patent laws. Patents protect technical innovations for things like new methods of making medicine or even apparently simple inventions like modifications to a padlock. The third major area covered by IP law in Uganda is the law of copyright, which provides protection to those whose creative effort is reflected in music, books, artistic works, dramatic works and similar works. There are other less well known but equally important areas such as industrial designs, geographical indications, trade secrets and plant varieties that are included among the important areas of Intellectual property. However, although Uganda acknowledges their importance, some of them have not yet been specifically passed into legislation in this country.

Where do we stand in terms of intellectual property education in this country? IP has traditionally been the preserve of lawyers. As such, the subject was until the late 1990s only taught as part of the Post graduate Bar course at the Law Development Center in Kampala. During the intensive one year course, IP is taught in the course of two days. With the need to modernize legal education, Makerere University introduced the subject in the late 1990s and it was subsequently introduced on the Uganda Christian University Law school program, when that university started in 1997. Currently, the subject is taught as part of the LLB (Bachelor of Laws degree) with varying degrees of content in 6 universities. These are Makerere University, Uganda Matyrs University, UCU Mukono, Kampala International University and the Islamic University of Uganda in Mbale. It is apparent that all of these Universities only teach intellectual property law as a substantive subject to law students, leaving other disciplines with hardly any significant content in this regard.

Leaving the formal educational system, a number of Government institutions have now recognized the need to increase awareness of the value of IP in Uganda beyond the University setting. Key among these are the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), the Uganda National Council for science and Technology (UNCST), the Ministry of Trade Tourism and Industry and Makerere University.  This realization is critical and timely and I will share a few reasons in support of this position.

First of all, as Uganda becomes more integrated in the Global economy, its economy becomes even more vulnerable unless it becomes more innovative and competitive in its key industries. Many policy makers have recognized the vulnerability of holding on to the past ancient advantages of the cash crop-commodity era. This is because tea, sugar and coffee prices are subject to numerous trade barriers at the best of times, while newer products like vanilla have to compete with artificial flavors, thanks to modern science and technology. For this reason, scientists, artists and business people small and large need to appreciate the notion of intellectual property and what advantage it gives them in this new era of international trade.

The second reason that has compelled some of these organizations to rethink the intellectual property education processes is the intrusiveness of the internet.  The internet is recognized worldwide as being the most disruptive technology of the past century, almost in the same measure that mobile telephony was to Africa in the 1990s. It provides huge opportunities for learning as well as trading and commerce. Small and medium businesses in Uganda have latched on to electronic commerce as a sensible imperative of cutting out middle men in Kampala, and Nairobi, thereby saving themselves a lot of money and making more profits. More importantly in the context of intellectual property, cultural goods such as music now constitute a significant value of Uganda’s invisible exports. The Ministry of trade, tourism and industry, as well as other partner institutions have realized that enhancing artists and other actors in the creative industries sector will in turn lead to an increase in service sector exports.

Thirdly, Uganda as a least developed country that signed up to the World Trade Organization’s TRIPS agreement is bound to implement and enforce IP laws. Whereas Uganda has some flexibilities it enjoys until the year 2016 with respect to Pharmaceutical Patents, there is tremendous pressure from developed countries for it to comply in other areas. One of the key areas of concern in this regard is the area of trademarks and enforcement of stringent anti counterfeit legislation. Whereas most Ugandans appreciate the importance of stringent laws against counterfeit products, which include pharmaceuticals, there is a worry that the scope of the law may be so wide as to prevent generic medicines into the country under the guise that they are counterfeits. This is an area that requires the line ministry of Trade as well as that of Health to deploy significant resources in terms of sensitization and public awareness for the public to appreciate the purpose and imperatives of the law. If this does not happen, Uganda’s Anti counterfeit legislation is likely to face significant implementation challenges.

Lastly, IP education has become more important as learning in the online environment becomes more prominent. In the past, most teaching materials were in the form of physical text books. Due to war and the decline in local publishing, fewer local authors are on the approved list of published works for use in the public education system. Universities have come to appreciate that in order for their students to make use of the wide repertoire of works available on the internet; they have to navigate through the various copyright permissions necessary for them to access online resources. With the availability of better and faster internet access, there is increasingly the view that Universities churning out thousands of IT professionals should also focus on developing local content. This should have the effect of creating a greater appetite for online resources as well as local solutions. The challenge here is that the creators of this content will expect some form of compensation, as availed under copyright regimes that users are not yet aware of, or prepared to pay for. In light of this growing awareness, Makerere University passed its Intellectual Property policy in 2009 to assist its staff and students in determining how to assess, appropriate and distribute benefits from intellectual property.

Beyond the existing plans lie huge institutional minefields to overcome. The basic concepts of intellectual property and its application at an enterprise level and benefits at the macro level are yet to be understood by public officials. This could significantly delay or even derail any efforts in the direction of curriculum review or even public sensitization. It therefore means that all public and private organizations and companies should join hands and work together to enhance understanding on a subject that could potentially lift many from poverty as well as have a positive impact on the country’s export earnings.

On the other hand, it is high time developed countries and their multinationals that reap the most from Uganda’s consumption of their commodities give direct support to Intellectual property education drives, as opposed to crying foul when counterfeit products are found littering the streets of Kampala. This must go beyond workshop style education to practical support on how to use the intellectual property system ie through the transfer of know how to enterprises and supporting the establishment of a national innovation support system. Hopefully this is a formula that will leave everyone in a better position to exploit their creativity and entrepreneurship to the benefit of businesses and the country at large.

Paul Asiimwe, Advocate & IP  Consultant
Chairman, National IP Advisory Group under the UNCST
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Sipi Law Associates
Advocates, Patent & Trademark Agents
Investment & Corporate Legal Advisors

Tanzania is a country which lies on the eastern part of Africa just below the equator. Its population is over 30 million people. It became independent on 9th December 1961 from British colonial rule. The education provided by the colonial government in our country had a different purpose. It was not designed to prepare young people for service of their own country; instead it was motivated by desire to inculcate the values of the colonial society and to train them for the service of colonial state. During colonial rule, many schools were racially or religiously segregated, emphasized British values, and there was little emphasis on educating local children. Very few local children were in school. With the arrival of independence in 1961, many schools were built by missionaries. Still, very few children were able to join those schools.

In 1967, The Late President Julius Nyerere launched The Arusha Declaration and policy on socialism and self-reliance; the principles being:

1. That all human beings are equal;
2. That every individual has a right to dignity and respect;
3. That every citizen is an integral part of the nation and has the right to take an equal part in government at local, region and national level.
4. That every citizen has the right to freedom of expression, of movement and of religious belief. (just few to mention)

Government decided to take over all the schools, hospitals and other major services from private institutions and individuals. Private schools and hospitals were even outlawed. His aim was centralization to ensure everyone had equal access to these basic social services. Though primary education became nearly universal in our country, unfortunately, many years of poverty and inflation made it impossible for the government to maintain a high standard of education for every child. After some years, the standard of education dropped. I wanted to make it clear that The Late President Julius Nyerere had good intentions & even some good results, even though the final outcomes didn’t succeed.

In 1990s the government decided to allow the private sector to come back and give the services as before. It was too late, though, to cater to the problem quickly. Here are few reasons for the poor performance of education sector in Tanzania though the system is good:

• Overcrowding: The number of schools in Tanzania is very few compared to the number of children who are supposed to join schools. This causes a classroom to accommodate many kids compared to its capacity. One classroom in public schools accommodates 80 to 120 children with only one teacher. Even if a teacher is good, it’s impossible to produce good products.At our school, we control the number of students in each class, and build a good work environment, so that teachers can do a good job .The Tanzania’s Ministry of Education allows a class to have not more than 45 children. We adhere this rule and; in addition, in our preschool classrooms, we have assistant teachers to help manage younger students.
• Expensive but Low-Quality Private Schools: Most of the private schools charge highly. Unfortunately, other private schools are there to make money and not to offer high quality education. Many just have good buildings and offer good food but they provide a low standard of education.At our school, tuition is very low when compared with many private schools. In addition, we use income from paying students to provide free and reduced-cost education to many children at our school, including orphans and other children who could not otherwise afford a high-quality education.
• Insufficient Books & Supplies: This is a major problem to most of the schools in Tanzania. In public schools, the Government provides books to teachers and can’t give to pupils. The parents can’t afford buying the books. Children end up listening to teachers and have no books to reference. Due to the poverty problem, many parents can’t afford even to buy other learning materials. Some students miss school because they don’t have exercise books, mathematical sets and sometimes things like school uniforms, shoes or bags. In public school even the low school fees of Tshs. 20000 (~ $20 USD) per year is a problem to others.At our school, I always buy books for teachers and a few to support students who can’t get books especially orphans. Other children, the parents have to buy for them. Our school library, which is under construction, will give chance to all children to have wide range of books and other materials for their studies.
• Inadequate Technology: There is no modern technology equipment in most of the schools. The world now is like a village. Children need to know much about what’s going on in other places. Even to learn so many things from the computers/internet is very important. Very few schools have even a single computer for office work. Computers here are very expensive so only schools which charge very expensive fees can afford to buy computers for children to use.At our school, computer lessons are conducted in classes from class 3 upwards, including lessons on the internet. Our class 6 students are even called the TwitterKids of Tanzania for their use of Twitter. The technology lab is under construction too which will provide a classroom for technology learning and provide us with more security for our computers. I’m glad our school got computers and internet access through the efforts of US nonprofit, Epic Change.
• Communication Barriers: All public primary schools teach in Kiswahili but when they join secondary school, they are taught every subject in English except Kiswahili subject. This causes many children to fail understanding what teachers are teaching. The outcome is low performance.At our school, all classes are taught in English from the time students are in preschool when they are young and can learn the language quickly. Of course, we also teach our national language, Kiswahili, so all our students are bilingual and, once they are prepared for secondary school, will be able to fully participate in their classes.
• AIDS: This disease has left so many children with no place to stay, no food, no education and so many other problems.At our school, we offer free education, meals and shelter to our students who have lost their parents to AIDS. We hope to be able to offer this to even more children in our community as our partner, Epic Change, works to build a dormitory to house up to 50 students on our school campus. Our plan is to build a home for children at our school to cater problem of orphans and needy children moving from relatives’ houses day after day, which affects their good performance. Epic Change has raised USD $16,830+ so far for this purpose.
• Limited Government Investment to Expand Private Education Innovations: There is no budget from the government to support private schools. This is a big problem. We would like to tackle many things to reduce problems in this sector of education. I am certain improvements in education would be a source of solving many problems in our country which are caused by ignorance.Problems with School Transport: Many children are walking long way to/from schools. Others are walking 1 to 2 hours just to reach the school. Others who are lucky, parents are giving them bus fare to board public buses. Unfortunately, during peak hours, the buses do not allow children to board their buses, saying they pay too little bus fare. So they reach at school/home very late, and this causes low performance for many children.At our school, we have school buses which shuttle kids to and from school to give them good harmony for learning. They don’t get tired before or after their studies because of the long journey.
• Freedom in Learning: In government schools, both culturally and because other materials than the teacher aren’t widely available, the teacher is viewed and respected as the only way to get knowledge from. Children are encouraged to memorize and repeat what they are taught. Corporal punishment is common when students don’t comply. This situation, hinder creativity, critical and independent thinking among our students.In our classrooms, especially as students are beginning to access knowledge and, in some cases, master new technology even more quickly than their teachers, we are beginning to evolve toward an environment where students and teachers are learning with and from one another. Children are also starting to blog & tweet their opinions, and complete independent projects. This is a significant cultural change for our community, however, and will take time. I am totally opposing the corporal punishment for children at my school, and believe that the loving environment we cultivate at our school represents a significant difference from other local schools as well.
• Provision of Lunch at Schools: Most of the public schools and even other private schools do not provide lunch to children and teachers. This causes many children and teachers to perform poorly.At my school, we provide porridge/tea at 10am and lunch to children and staff of our school. This has been one of secret of our good performance and having happy children.
• Parental Involvement: In some schools, parents are not involved in anything concerning school development. No meetings with parents to discuss anything. This hinders the closeness and quick development of most schools.At our school, we have a very active parents committee that supports our school in many ways, including fundraising, policy changes and more. At our last parents meeting, hundreds of parents attended for several hours and actively participated in discussion about fees, meals, books and other important subjects.

When I started our school in 2003, I aimed on giving good education to my students, and I shared above what I’m doing to make this possible. I’m glad that the children of my school are performing well. On our most recent class 4 national exams (late last year) our school scored #2 out of 123 schools in our District. This gives me hope that we’ll create change in our community and positive outcomes for our students.

Last year I engaged in a very interesting e-mail discussion with friends from around the world. It all started with CNBC’s show “Dollars & Danger: Africa, The Final Investing Frontier”

The show could have used some work with the way it was edited and as an African I wanted to see my continent portrayed in a better fashion. The sad fact is that while Africa is a continent filled resources galore from our vast mineral wealth to fertile soils and warm hearted people, we find ourselves relegated to a third world status – with many of the poorest countries in the world. So we ask ourselves, “Why does Africa appear to have missed out on developing?” and “What will it take for us to ‘catch up’ with the rest of the world?”

After a long discourse it boiled down to two main items, a good education for all and effective policy that works.

The fact that 45% of Africa’s sub Sahara population is under 15 years old must raise a red flag in ones mind. Imagine what Africa could be if the next generation of Africa is educated in a new way; one in which a new breed of problem solving Africans is created, with tools needed to think critically and meet our problems head on with home grown solutions. This could be and should be our new future!

There is an old British saying, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. Likewise, we need to start with a clean slate, with the young pure and unadulterated minds of our three to six year olds. Educators and scientists tell us that our character is formed at a very early age; by the time one is six or seven their temperament is set. That’s why we need to start early. We all know how innately curious young two and three years olds are, engineering educators say that we “beat” the engineering out of our children when we fail to satiate their curiosity and teach them how to channel it constructively. A paradigm shift in our approach to education is called for, one in which our children’s minds will continuously be challenged to come up with creative solutions to problems with real life applications. Whatever is learned or dreamed up needs to be proved not only theoretically but also practically in the “real” world.

The East African Community (Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda) has entered into a partnership with the nonprofit OLPC (One Laptop Per Child), they plan to equip each primary school student in East Africa with a laptop by 2015! The estimated number for computers for this is 30 million and at $250 each the cost for this will be around 7.5 billion USD. This is a bold initiative by the East African Community that should be backed up by a new syllabus that is appropriate and relevant for this day and age. OLPC’s press release last month included the following statement from Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of the nonprofit.

“OLPC’s partnership with the East African Community represents another significant step toward a world in which every child has access to a world-class education, to the world’s body of knowledge, and to each other,” Negroponte said. “The East African Community is dedicating itself not simply to One Laptop per Child, but to a world in which the children become agents of change – making things, teaching each other and their families and affecting the social development of their community.”

The laptops alone will not save our educational program. They come equipped with tailor made educational material and thousands of textbooks, which is good, but we need to insure that a new syllabus is created to go along with the OLPC initiative that focuses on encouraging creativity and developing problem solving skills. Intel has a K12 program, which employs such a syllabus. We should take advantage and make use of emerging fields like Engineering Education, which focuses on addressing the way children are educated. Such bold initiatives need to be adopted all across the continent for there is no better investment that a people can make like investing in their children for they are our future.

This new breed of Africans of well-educated people will be able to fashion policy that works and serves us well. The Ghanaian economist Dr. George Ayittey calls them the “http://www.ted.com/talks/george_ayittey_on_cheetahs_vs_hippos.html” fast-moving, entrepreneurial leaders and citizens who will rebuild Africa. The new Africa will be not only be well educated, but will also know how to think. It’s one thing to teach pupils how to memorize dates and stuff but another to engage and mold young minds in a fashion that enables them to have independent thought, to be innovative and creative. Only then will we be able to come up with new ways and solutions to address the problems that we face today and become serious players on the world stage.

The interventions needed for Africa are not simple nor one sided. Only a holistic approach will work. So when a call for educational reform rings out, we should not forget about those already in the system. Their needs must be addressed as well with adult education classes and trade skills that will enable them to contribute meaningfully to society and support themselves. Corruption that is endemic in many African countries must be addressed at the root. A well-informed population that exercises it’s right to be governed well is a good start. It won’t solve all the problems we have overnight like water & food security, health issues and poverty and it’s related problems but will provide our people with the tools they need to create solutions to address them. An inscription on the first public library in the USA (the Boston Public Library) reads, “The Commonwealth Requires The Education Of The People As The Safeguard of Order And Liberty”. We need good quality education for all in Africa as it will serve as a safeguard to order and liberty and will enable us to rapidly develop our communities.

The second item Policy can have far reaching and more immediate effect. Our leaders and lawmakers need to formulate better and more effective policy, which must be grounded in a firm understanding of the issues at hand, it needs to be realistic in relation to our given set of circumstances. The economist Paul Collier in his book the bottom billion argues for improved trade policies to help the poorest countries. We also need good internal policies to run our countries well.

Another economist Hernando de Soto in his book “The Mystery of Capitalism: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else” says:

property only becomes useful capital when it is legally recognized by a formal legal system, since it is only when it is formally titled that its potential can be harnessed for loans, taxes, and security.

As De Soto traces the development of the US economy, it becomes apparent that American economic stability and growth only flourished once the majority of its citizens achieved property rights and were integrated into a legal titling system.

This is a good example of how legislation that provided strong property rights enabled nations like the USA to develop. We all know that we need to have the rule of law for they’re to be justice and peace in our land. However, we also need good laws and good policies for us to abide by. Poor policy is detrimental to our development and therefore does not serve us well even though it’s adhered to strictly.

It is refreshing to note that our governments are starting to realize the importance of good legislation that protects local and foreign investments. As African countries work to lure investors to our lands we are challenged by investors to have strong property rights to protect their investments. Tanzania is in the process of working to use investment bonds to fund massive infrastructure project like a multi-billion dollar railway line to Rwanda. A limitation to this and other international investment is their weak legislation. Minister Kawambwa recently said:

“We need legislation that protects somebody’s investment. If you don’t have the requisite legislation, then the risk levels are high and it is very difficult to attract someone to come and invest,” Strong policy that protects people’s property rights is needed to encourage and protect our investments both local and foreign.

When we have addressed education adequately, we will then be in position to write good policies and laws for our land. This will provide a conducive environment for us to develop socially, politically and economically. Our prosperity will then serve as our defense against anarchy as we will all have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

What’s proposed here is not a simplistic solution to the multitude of problems that face many African countries today, but I believe that good education for all and strong effective policy that works will provide us with a good solid foundation to build a better Africa.

Women of Kireka: School Fees Fundraiser Project Diaspora is in the middle of raising funds to help keep 58 kids in school as part of our Women of Kireka project in Kireka, Uganda. This year’s remaining budget is $4,000 to pay for second and third terms of 2010. You can donate by clicking the Paypal donate button in the sidebar

Although I have not been around that long, it seems like the debate over foreign aid has been at the centre of discussions about international development. Amidst this brouhaha about whether or not foriegn aid is good for development, I seek to raise a different question, is aid is central to development?

I think not. At least not in its current state.

This is particularly surprising because given my background, I should be heads over heels in love with aid.

I am one of aid’s children.

I attended Loyola Jesuit College, a Jesuit high school in Nigeria that was funded by the USAID and the New York Diocese of the Catholic Church. Judging mostly from my present circumstances, it clearly hasn’t done the worst job of providing for Nigerians like me, education and oppurtunity.

But then here is the point where the tingly feeling of anecdotal evidence must bow to the cold and hard facts.

Aid has not contributed enormously to economic growth, especially in Africa.

Even by the freindliest estimates, aid’s dissappointing impact has meant that it will take aid worth 10% of a country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to raise economic growth by 1% per year on average. To put that in context, this means it will take it will take another another $814 billion worth of aid over 55 years for sub Saharan Africa to grow to the 7% it needs to fulfill its millennium development goals.

I doubt these are the kind of results today’s many development experts would consider to be performance worthy of their time, resources and efforts.

More interestingly, it makes me wonder, why is aid still at the center of the development discourse? Especially when it must resort to petty aid/no aid binary arguments to make its point.

Allow me to venture one answer I have borrowed from respected academic, Alex De Waal, “aid is essentially, a western, Anglo-Saxon model of charitable endeavor that is being imposed on the rest of the world” . The truth is that because aid remains the west’s logical response to development, the entire discussion surrounding it is really not about what it contributes to actual development that it is about the fact that the west simply wishes to contribute to development in some manner, whether or not it is helpful.

It was not till I had sat through my first series of International Development classes that I realized this.

That class, filled with young, blue eyed Canadians looking to “change the world”, it seemed to me, was the wrong context for discussing any country’s international development. Indeed, there is no how, a classroom of 100 Canadian youngsters learning of foreign places into which they would be air dropped in their last year for a credit or two could be a more effective tool for development than the 6.2 million young people currently studying at sub par higher institutions across Africa.

But does this all matter to aid? Well, no.

Through that semester, as I listened to my teacher’s exaltations of micro-credit, negligent of the destruction high interest rates had caused it to wrought or idealistically championing of “cheap” agricultural technologies whose prices move quickly out of the farmer’s reach once the “resourceful” NGO’s grants and subsidies end, I became more convinced of the fact that international development has become all about how kind westerners could help poor countries whether or not in fact they actually can.

I call it, the “aid and development industrial complex”. It’s business? Manufacturing problems in the developing world that the developed world can feel good about “solving”.

Now do not get me wrong. I will be the first to admit that there remain certain cases where without such good natured generosity, whole peoples would have died and countless futures would not shine so bright. However, the west cannot in good conscience place its need for the self gratitude that comes from unsustaibable giving ahead of the interests of the developing world.

If aid must remain relevant to development, it must stop being so self-absorbed in all its imagined importance and listen more. More importantly, it should increase the capacity of their African counterparts to identify and solve their own problems. The current system where African higher education receives little or no support while universities in the west launch multi-million dollar “Development Research Centres” they don’t need is not only clearly unsustainable, but highly self serving.  It pushes an imperialistic mindset that allows western institutions to serve as command centres for Africa’s economic and political systems without the proper context and it leaches Africa’s best academic minds, leaving young Africans not fortunate enough to afford an expensive international education largely clueless and underesourced with respect to international development issues in their own countries.

“International Development” must in taking stock ask itself the important question:
Should international development teach developing countries to help themselves or should it, help developing countries to learn themselves?

I hope the field answers this question honestly. So that when I must obtain from a reputable university, my masters degree in International Development, there will be reason enough for me to be resident in Nairobi,  not New York.

Iyinoluwa “E” Aboyeji is a nineteen year old Nigerian junior at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Born and raised in Nigeria, he left his home in the Niger Delta to pursue an education abroad at age sixteen. Mr Aboyeji has worked with a number of local and international organisations most notably the World Youth Alliance, an international youth advocacy organisation with a permanent presence at the United Nations. He is currently the President of Imprint Publications, one of Canada’s largest student Newspapers where he also writes a weekly column called “E is for Error”. He also serves as Vice President (Projects) of the African Students Association at the University of Waterloo and Fundraising Manager of Harambe Africa. He is very interested in international development, economics, post secondary education and African political and philosophical issues. Unlike most other young people his age, this nerdy dude likely lacks sleep – and ofcourse, a normal life. Unreasonable as it may seem, his dream is to be a tenured professor at a reputable university before he is age twenty-five. (Photo by: Jonathan Menon)

Correct me if I am wrong, but when did April become the official month of the idiot “do gooder” patrol? Not one day after the one year anniversary of Ashton Kutcher‘s popularity contest to cure malaria, comes this brilliant idea by another entrepreneur way out of his league. The 1 Million T-shirts campaign aims to collect and “send 1 million t-shirts to the people of Africa.” You know, those poor 1 billion shirtless inhabitants of the world’s only dark continent.

Quick! Send in your discarded Star Wars souvenir shirts before someone dies!! If you are feeling bold, how about envisioning that extra poser Abercrombie and Fitch shirt in the back of your closet on the back of an unsuspecting Kenyan.

This is a marketing gimmick from the word go. Not .25 seconds into his promotional video, Jason Sadler, the brainchild behind this campaign, throws out a not-so subtle marketing pitch for his other company, iwearyour.com. Kudos for self-promotion, but come-on, seriously. We are not that stupid.

Sigh.

I, I don’t even know where to begin with this one. I mean, really? Out of all the problems plaguing Africa, shirtless kids running around in tropical weather isn’t a global crisis! And don’t get me started on the gratuitous use of poverty porn in your video. Did you get permission to use the individuals in those photos for your own self-promotion? No? How about the permission of the parents? No? Mr. Sadler, do you even know, where on the map of Africa where those photos were taken? And what exactly qualifies you to be the spokesperson for Africa’s shirtless victims, may I ask? Wait, have you EVER been to Africa? Or you just talked to somebody who’s talked to somebody who read about it on wikipedia?

We don’t need half-baked charity. Clue: we actually buy these shirts for cheap. Therein feeding an entire ecosystem of vendors and suppliers who rely on us to do just that. Buying these shirts puts food on their table and a shirt on our back. Spending six figures to send 1 million shirts to East Africa puts an untold number of used clothing entrepreneurs out of business. Are you going to start a new campaign to send them food now that you have reduced their earning potential?

Let’s also have a conversation of perpetuating dependency on others to provide for us. The more half-baked solutions under the guise of “trying to help” that are lobbed at Africa, the less we are at arming ourselves with home grown solutions. The minute we start to get on our feet in any particular sector, some celebrity dead-brain decides — on their own — that Africa needs our dire help!! We were well on our way to a thriving industry growing our own raw materials for the production of anti-malarials before Bill Gates decided that synthesizing in China and importing the drugs would be beneficial to everyone. He single-handedly buried Kenya’s artemisin industry, putting thousands out of work.

Here’s a better idea, why don’t you take those 1 million shirts and ship them to Hello Rewind. Now here’s a company with sustainability and a social mission all in one. They take used t-shirts and employ former sex workers to sew laptop sleeves they can sell. This is called creating industries. This is how your help Africa Mr. Sadler, by creating economies instead of imploding them. Exactly what are poor Africans to do when your 1 million shirts wear out? Do you have a bat phone they can call so you can ramp up another shirt campaign? Relegate donation campaigns to disaster relief. As an entrepreneur, I am flummoxed why you couldn’t figure this out. Oh right, you did – self-promotion. Brilliant.

Here is another idea you completely overlooked for some reason. Why not actually BUY t-shirts from Africa that you can print your client logos on so you can wear them daily for a fee? See that? A win-win solution that creates more entrepreneurs than it destroys. This is how you help Africa.

For more ideas, check out Texas in Africa‘s post for on how to help and by all means, respond to Siena Anstis‘s open letter on the matter. And for Godsake, please educate yourself thoroughly lest you come across as some neo-colonialist do-gooder who thinks Africa can’t do for its own.

Amanda Mutamba Muhunde moves an audience with her spoken word

This past weekend, we attended Maurice Kirya’s performance in Denton, TX. Among the opening acts was a poetic by the name of Amanda Mutamba Muhunde. Her first poem, which was dedicated to raising awareness to the often glossed over victims of rape  in Africa’s many civil strifes, was shockingly raw, powerful, emotional and graphically detailed. Amanda pulls no punches in raising your conscious a notch or two as she lyrically details a woman’s account of her own rape, and her unfulfilled wish to no longer breath after the incident. Amanda skillfully walks you through the victim’s realization that even at the worst of it, there is purpose in the victim still having a voice and daring anyone who will listen to spread her story of pain, struggle and survival.

Here’s to us doing just that, and calling for other members of Africa’s Diaspora to no longer be quiet to the injustices belaboring our continent. Let’s speak up, and spread the word. They may only be words, but words can lead to a chorus for change, a chorus for change can lead to action, and action almost always leads to a sea change. Let’s all sustain the call for change. If you do feel so inclined, please feel free to post this video, which was captured by our very own Tracy Pell at the performance, on your site, your Facebook page or spread it own Twitter. One, because I feel that Amanda deserves a much bigger audience, and 2) the victims or rape the world over, not just Africa, deserve justice and a global response. Please do your part.

If you have been following the on-going #Africa3d0 discussions on Twitter from my talk at SxSW in Austin, TX, then you have noticed that @OLPCnews challenged me to a debate. The challenge was stoked by my comment during the Q&A session that “…OLPC was dead in the water.” I have kept a skeptical eye on Nicholas Negroponte’s pet project since its initial announcement. This is not the first time that I have spoken out against OLPC. I had the same skeptical point of view last year at Ars Electronica’s Cloud Intelligence Symposium round table.

First things first. There are a couple things that I think the XO accomplishes and I applaud Negroponte for his efforts in these areas.

1. OLPC makes an effort to introduce technology to children.
   I can’t argue with this effort at all. Fundamentally, it is right up there with my views that Africa’s future will ride largely on a digital renaissance.
2. As @OLPCnews put it, “OLPC begat netbooks.”
   The form factor proved that you can make a portable, cheap laptop. This has had the effect of reducing the barrier to entry in many markets.

Now, let me admit that @OLPCnews has it right, I am no MARK WARSCHAUER, (who articulates the many structural failures of OLPC from a learned professional’s view point). Nor am I Jon Camfield, whom I have had the pleasure of meeting and discussing the many angles of OLPC. You can find his excellent posts on the subject here, here and here. I will address this from a Ugandan perspective, and as an ever-curious African futurist in terms of the connected learning and cultural experience in Africa.

With that in mind, let me address some of my points in greater detail (and hopefully greater clarity than offered in 140 characters). That being said, here are my reasons for declaring OLPC a failed strategy for Africa.

Failure to Address Failed Education Systems
I applaud OLPC’s attempt to have the governments pay for the laptops and distribute them to the children, but I do not see this going very far beyond a few progressive governments like Kagame’s Rwanda. If the government does not acknowledge and address its poor education system, and put massive weight behind making sure that the cornerstones of their country’s education system are overhauled to be inline with 21st century educational best practices, then OLPC is dead in the water.

Pointing out the successes of individual schools is analogous to putting a bandage on a patient with thousands of festering wounds and maladies and then proclaiming in the loudest voice capable, “see, see, it does work and you are an idiot for saying it doesn’t!!” What Africa’s education system needs is a massive injection of reform from within. In particular, Uganda’s education system stopped progressing at the end of British colonial rule over 40 years ago. It is the same “stuff and regurgitate” method of instruction that doesn’t inspire individual exploration. The teacher is the gate keeper of information. Don’t question authority. A system like this leaves very little room for outside-the-box education systems like OLPC. Injecting XO in just a chosen few schools does not address the problems inherently wrong with the system. XO’s are not a panacea for fundamentally flawed education systems.

Why not go the distance by making sure you have teachers that can leverage the power of such a platform so they can educate better and more effectively.

1. “Train the trainer” first, by empowering teachers to believe in the tool. Additionally, provide on-going, practical training for every teacher involved in the program.
2. Pay and certify the teachers to use this tool so they feel the inherent value instead of adding another thing they have to do for the same measly pay
3. Ensure a supportive political environment that values digital learning tools. Therefore, an ecosystem of governance that simply “gets it,” that the whole educational value chain has to be supported and sustained in order to gain maximum value.
4. Build the infrastructure that will continue to support e-learning initiatives beyond the involvement of one vendor.
5. More precisely, diversify the electronic teaching tools so that you have a hybrid electronic ecosystem that can respond to the particular needs of the environment. A hybrid learning system that resembles real-world atmosphere is better than limiting students to sugar OS. Add in mobile learning initiatives so they can also interact with the real world.

With nearly 50% of Africa’s population under the age of 15, we are at a critical cross roads in preparing for their future. We need forward-thinking governments that can take the helm and man up to their institutional responsibility of educating their country’s future leaders, innovators, and change makers. This is not Nick Negroponte’s responsibility. No matter how hard he tries to stuff the XO into children’s hands, the war will still be lost, save for a few anecdotal battle successes.

African governments are not equipped to purchase, distribute, maintain 450 million XOs in Africa while simultaneously overhauling failed infrastructures. Let  us also remember, that a majority of these African countries function on donor capital. How is this good for us again?

Wrong Platform

As of 2009, there were approximately 450 million phone subscriptions across Africa.  A few countries on the continent have an estimated 90% rate of penetration. To many, this is the first introduction to a piece of technology, the first introduction to a computing device, and if you count SMS and MMS services, the first introduction to electronic communication.

The mobile phone in Africa does something that the OLPC will never do, it integrates itself into the rhythm of life in Africa. Its use flows with the pace of life: it augments ones life experience when it needs to; it plays rescuer when the need arises, it creates incomes where none were possible previously; it makes the world smaller where previously distances were vast. Most importantly, it educates everyone. Try doing that with an XO. Anyone that comes across a mobile phone instantly experiences the benefits of a mobile simply by accomplishing a necessary task; call someone, text someone, calculate a price difference, set an alarm, tell time, research a particular crop disease. Even the dumbest of phones provide immeasurable exposure to technology to the greatest number of people in Africa. If this isn’t a prime example of educating a nation, I don’t know what is.

The rise of smart phones far outpaced the OLPC.  A majority of Africa’s half-billion children will come of age on smart phones more suited to their traditional lifestyles than OLPC and they will learn real-world experiences. Phones are not getting dumber with features being stripped away. They are getting smarter, ubiquitous and cheaper. @OLPCnews should educate itself on the potential to educate on a mobile by visiting my good friend Steve Vosloo’s Innovating Education project in South Africa. The project is proving success even without the use of smartphones. If they can the mobile phone as a viable pedagogical tool without the use of smart phones, how much more successful will they be with smart phones? OLPC is not the only way, nor is it the best way to introduce technology to children, nor is it the best. Defending OLPC’s relevance is analogous to defending either Blueray or HD-DVD when prevailing data shows digital downloads are the way to go. That whole race was lost the minute Steve Jobs introduced the iTunes Music Store.

Cultural Disruption

My third point addresses something that is dear to me. I am not sure how many people will agree with me so mileage may vary depending on your cultural experiences. As I said above, the mobile phone goes about educating and enriching lives in rhythm with Africa’s variety of cultural norms. Outside forces empowering children with their very own laptop (however well-meaning the altruistic gesture might be), puts a majority of children at odds with their place in the family structure. In some cultures, children have their place in the social order, with responsibilities to perform accordingly—be it washing dishes, collecting water and firewood, or cooking. In this structure, children learn social responsibilities to one another and how family functions. They learn things you can’t teach in a classroom.

Throwing something as complex as a laptop into the ownership of a child disrupts this social knowledge transfer mechanisms. Examples were given of successes in Kenya where parents learned from children because of the presence of the laptops. This is by no means a cultural norm. Exceptions are going to happen but the overall effect will be the loosening of the traditional family bond when the child knows more than the parent.

The crux of my argument here is the ability for children to take these laptops home. These laptops should be left at the schools, perhaps to serve as the community computer library. This accomplishes two things, it gives open access to the community, and preserves cultural family orders.

I will posit that mobile phones provide a parallel learning experience where both parent and child can interact with the technology without upsetting the social balance. Both can talk on it with fair ease, they can both text on it with equal aplomb and both are able to use it to enrich their respective worlds. Parents can use the technology to run the family, while the children can interact with the games, stay in touch with their friends, or complete simple tasks designed to introduce them to how their world functions.

Finally, I will address some of Wayan’s comments from his rebuttal to my remarks. I won’t address them all, lest this dialog fall into a disappointing discourse of “Does to! Does not!!”

Wayan: “…And with the low attendance already prevalent in Africa, it makes sense to give out XO’s there, as a rationale for sending children to school, rather than charging poor parents who cannot afford much.”

TMS: I am really tired of this argument that we are poor so incidentally everything should be given to us for free. Stop treating us like your indigent dependents. If there is a value proposition for us to own a cell phone, we will find a way to pay for it. Clam-shelled arguments that we “cannot afford much” is insulting. The West is not responsible for saving us. Please shelve the “white man’s burden” argument. It is not Africa’s responsibility to reinvent America’s declining public education systems, except for America.

Wayan: … “The mobile phone vs. computer argument is an old one, and the results are always the same: there is a place for both. You’ll not read (or write) a textbook on your mobile phone, but it is handy for short text, and for voice, its the killer app…”

TMS: See my point above on regarding Steve Volsoo’s mobile learning projects at Shuttleworth Foundation in South Africa. Also, see my points on a hybrid system, (I think we agree).

To conclude, I am no Mark Warschauer, for sure. But then again, while he is accomplished, he is not me. I am an educated Ugandan with the ability to speak for myself and my continent. Many of my original points were concurred by the @OLPCNews crew. So, it was disappointed that they descended to a level of being catty and condescending. Call me what you may, but accepting yet another Western-driven top-down solution unchallenged, is not going to be my cup of tea. Threatening me with the OLPC fanboy army doesn’t exactly inspire respect either. Thanks for playing.

There’s been a dearth of posts on this site, not because there’s nothing to write about, rather we’ve been consumed with growing pains behind the scenes. That’s always a good thing but doesn’t excuse a lack of content.

On March 14th, my long-awaited presentation at SXSW will be up on stage bright and early at 9 am in room 12AB. I’ve been looking forward to this presentation ever since it was accepted. I am in the throws of working on my slides for the presentation and I think I am putting something together worthy of opening up the conversation even farther on the future of Africa in the tech space.

After all, we know the past all too well. Sometimes I think too much of the past is written into the fibre of how we view Africa today, that it makes it hard to see through the forest of bad news. But when you stop and think about all the excitement going on the digital space over Africa—from cellphone penetration, innovation & incubation centers springing up across the continent, the Apple iTunes store launching in several countries across the continent—you get a sense that there is a whole lot of new just beyond the forest, just beyond the current “single story” on Africa.

That’s why I am excited. When you add up all the little bits of news and information in the digital space, it points to what could possibly be a great opportunity for Africa’s growth. Of course, I will have to caution myself from using the blanket “Africa” in this sense, because it would be amateurish of me to expect that ALL 53 nation states will seize the opportunity the way Rwanda is pushing ICT (not that it wouldn’t be a whole bucket of awesome!!) This would not be reality. Truth is, we have a whole mess of problems continent wide, and ICT is not going to fix them all, but it will make it easier to tackle many of our most pressing issues.

Last year at the Ars Electronica Cloud Intelligence Symposium, I had a chat with Danish Radio Broadcasting on the opportunities offered by, and the challenges we still face with mobile penetration.
PD Podcast: TMS Ruge on Danish Broadcasting Corporation
Cloud Intelligence: Africa’s Digital Divide

Mobile medicine, mobile money, mobile education, mobile as an employment industry and the entire ecosystem surrounding this booming industry all offer opportunities for growth. However they [currently] do little to address systemic abnormalities within governance. Actually “systemic abnormalities” is a nice way of saying “abject failures” in leadership. As an example, the lack of leadership foresight in countries like Angola, Sudan, et al in making disastrous deals with the Chinese is abhorring. Undertaking massive infrastructure projects completely built by the Chinese does nothing to address poverty. You will just have shiny streets that poor, starving, people walk on instead of being able to drive on.

Sure, we have oodles of broadband capacity landing on our shores in the next 18 months, but what does it all mean for us really? Allow me to inject a bit of skepticism into all this connectivity hoopla. How does this address all the genocidal maniacs on the continent? How does this address HIV/AIDS? How does this address the continued presence of leather-faced dictators drinking too much of their own Kool-Aid? Will aid dependency all of a sudden go away? Will Rob Crilly write a follow up book on Darfur praising the role of ICT in ending the conflict there?

Clearly, we have a host of problems to deal with that can not directly be addressed with connectivity. What increased connectivity offers, I think, is the ability to communicate faster to these issues. We get to collaborate faster, and with anyone on the continent and the globe. We get answers to simple questions on the internet. We get to tell our stories. We get to tap into global intelligence at the click of the mouse. Knowledge transfer on demand. The continent also gets to tighten its bond with its diaspora population. It will take time, but eventually, we will see the benefits of Africa 3.0 playing a roll in every development sector on the continent.

Back in the summer of 2009, (Man! How time flies!) I had a chance to chat with Ida Horner via Skype for the first time after being virtually introduced via Twitter & Facebook. Ida is based in Surrey, England (don’t let the London Eye tag in the video fool you, we waxed poetic on development at a pub under the London Eye on our first face-to-face meeting last October) and is the founder of Ethnic Supplies, an organization that sources handmade jewelry and crafts from several East African countries.

Put succinctly, Ethnic Supplies is an outlet shop for the best that #brandafrica has to offer in terms of handmade crafts ranging from Madagascar wild silk scarfs, to baskets from Rwanda, and jewelry from Uganda.

Ida is quite the vocal proponent of rebranding Africa as we know it, by actively broadcasting the positive side of developments in Africa. For far too long, Western media has branding the golden microphone on the story of Africa. For a time (okay, roughly a century) it seemed that everyone that came up to the microphone was following the same script when it came to news on Africa; Violence, starvation, death, and general anarchy. Without the above as leading material, you might as well change the channel.

But that status quo is changing. Thanks to social media, the intricacies of story-telling have allowed the African diaspora to become armed with the true version of events, or at the very least, the flip side of the “single story” symptom that Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie so eloquently described. It is become easier and easier to discover members of the diaspora coming to the podium to tell the whole story on Africa. A sign that Africa isn’t simply consuming what the web has to offer, but actively contributing to it’s own collective cloud intelligence.

At the recently concluded Ugandan diaspora summit in Kampala, I had the pleasure of watching Ida take Uganda’s government to task on following through with their promises on laying proper infrastructures for more effective diaspora participation in economic development. For Ida, it seems, laying that groundwork starts with the political elite starting to respect the diaspora as a transformational force, not just as a simple constituency easily-satisfied with political propaganda and party bylines.

But it’s not always as simple as taking the microphone, overcoming the dangers of the single story sometimes involves doing, not just talking. Ida has of late become a pusher for integrating social media as a development and communication tool African organizations and governments alike can use to elevate their profiles and attract Western clients. She’s recently advised Rwanda and Ugandan government officials on how to do just that.

Social media truly is playing a critical role in how the African Diaspora connects and communicates across vast distances to collaborate on projects in Africa. 6 months on, I am still amazed at the speed of developments and the continued collaborations with Ida and Ethnic Supplies.

It should be noted that Ethnic Supplies has become a major partner to the Women of Kireka project. Her recent stop at the quarry to visit the women was a welcome highlight and morale booster for the women.

Keep your eye on Ida Horner, she’s primed to do great things in 2010 and beyond.

After a quiet Christmas spent in various mango trees in my mom’s yard, I made my way to Kampala for the 3rd annual Diaspora Home is Best Summit. It was my first time attending the summit and I’ll have to say, I left both satisfied and empty at the same time. There were many presentations on the state of Uganda’s diaspora, most notable of which were Bank of Uganda’s presentation on a recent survey of diaspora remittance activity and Robert Tugume’s presentation on Uganda’s ‘Upstream Petroleum Sector’ (a sure-to-be hot button topic in 2010 and beyond). More on that later. I was happy to have Ida Horner (@ethnicsupplies) as my tweeting partner otherwise, I would have been the only one manning #ugdiapora hashtag party. Internet at Hotel Africana was in and out so the twitter stream updates were quite intermittent.

The first day kicked off as per usual, three hours late with a steady trickle of diaspora joining the proceedings as speakers were rushed through their presentations. The compressed timeframes due to late starts more than irked a few people who would have preferred to have more time to interact with speakers and panelists. Arguably the star presentation was the opening presentation from Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honorable Okello. He recounted his almost penniless reaspora journey, to his subsequent rise as an entrepreneur and now minister. He cautioned that one shouldn’t come back to Uganda thinking that things are going to happen quickly. In fact, patience needs to be your biggest asset as you consider moving back.

INVESTMENT:
Professor Maggie Kigozi, Executive Director of Uganda Investment Authority gave a rosy picture of all the industries that are sitting idle and waiting for investment capital. She highlighted the efforts the government has put into building an industrial processing park in Namamve as well as an overview of current occupants. There’s a lack of value-add manufacturing, especially in agriculture. A majority of agri exports are unprocessed raw materials; coffee beans, fruits, and seeds which are exported for processing, then re-imported as finished goods. (Value-addition is central to Project Diaspora’s two banner development projects, UMPG and the Women of Kireka, both with export product lines that can be manufactured and processed in-country.)

According to Prof. Kigozi, the value addition manufacturing sector can tap into a cheap labor force and stimulate the economy. It is certainly an area where the diaspora can target their $780 million in remittance dollars. Also waiting to be fully-tapped is the tourism sector, currently bringing in just over a million tourists a year, behind Kenya’s 2 million. In fact just about every sector in Uganda is wide open for business. The energy sector, for those pocketed enough to tackle that industry, are especially positioned to reap both profits and notoriety. Kigozi emphasized that we as a diaspora just need to bring our ideas and capital; to maximize the available investment sectors. Although I am not so sure about the merits of packaging Idi Amin as a tourist attraction, but I get her point.

CITIZENSHIP:
A heated debate over the state of the duel citizenship bill was partially put to rest on the second day with the announcement that members of the diaspora are now freely allowed to hold duel citizenships. This is a great first step but left several questions unanswered and a majority of confused at the implementation of the bill. While you can legally hold two passports, the bill does not fully restore your citizenship. You are for example stripped of the right to hold certain positions in government. The bill does not address absentee voting. You can’t march into the Ugandan consulate in the UK for example and cast your ballot for elections in Uganda.

Let me get this straight, you want us to come home and invest our $780 million annually and participate in knowledge transfer but you can’t be bothered to include us in the conversation on how we should be governed? Reform starts at the grassroots sure, but without a fresh injection of new ideas & methods on governance, then it’s going to be the same stale leadership that will cancel out any progress the diaspora injects into the private sector. Without adherence to rule of law, for example, it doesn’t matter how many laws your enact. Reform most often comes from without, rarely from within. In Uganda’s case, I don’t see reform happening in any of our lifetimes, if the status quo is (lawfully) protected.

So, in order to maximize diaspora participation and effectiveness, it is imperative the duel citizenship bill be amended to address its Swiss cheese offerings to us, and pay us some due respect by restoring our right to participate in how we are led.

GOVERNANCE & POLITICS:
There were a few nuggets of useful ideas presented on the second day of the summit, but not enough to save the forum from a staged satirical comedy of errors. The political party-line grandstanding and microphone hogging gave way to some amusing exchanges, but by and large, it wasn’t anything we hadn’t seen before at other diaspora gatherings.

Here’s how I think the political forum should have been structured. FIVE-minute introductions aside, the forum should allotted a majority of the time to the diaspora, who clearly wanted to know how the government is going to address their needs. Each politician should have introduced themselves, then asked ‘how can I help you help Uganda?’ Instead we got 15-minute monologues, with everyone taking cat swipes at each other and only a handful of questions allowed for diaspora feedback. Up to today, I can’t figure out what types of solutions they would enact specifically to help the diaspora become a more transformational force!

Finally, the bill criminalizing homosexuality was addressed in brief, it was then I got to see first-hand that Uganda’s leadership has its priorities confused. There were some reasoned calls to stall or scrap the bill for further review, but no one addressed why the bill was introduced in the first place. And why capital punishment for a lifestyle that doesn’t harm anyone! Protecting Uganda’s traditional way of life is a sorry excuse to enact the death penalty at a time when we are fast hurtling toward a globalized HUMAN culture. Why stop there? Why not the death penalty for prostitution? Defilement? Failure to stop at a red light with a matatu full of people? Dare I propose the death penalty for embezzling public funds? How about blatant disregard for the constitution? I see all the above offenses as much more threatening to the way of life for Uganda’s 33 million people than the lifestyle of less than 1% of the population.

THE DIASPORA DESK:
Announcement of the new diaspora desk at the department of internal affairs was an encouragement at least that our importance is recognized and steps are in place to formally start to address our issues. The new office could learn some best practices from Rwanda’s aggressively organized Diaspora network that was launched in mid 2008. Watch this space for updates out of the new office.

If you attended the event or have some ideas on how next year’s Home is Best Summit could be an even bigger success, feel free to share in the comments.

The BarCampUK team

Yesterday I got a chance to talk to the team behind the upcoming BarCampAfricaUK [ SOLD OUT ]. BarCampAfricaUK is just another town hall meeting spurred by social media conversations and the subjects of ICT, development and Africa. The gathering is the next step in the long process of getting to the center of many issues around development in Africa. Ethel D. Cofie hopes that this gathering, like the many before, becomes a launching platform of collaborative ideas that will go beyond passing conversation and into reality.

Technology allows for an environment where multiple developmental goals can be achieved more efficiently.

Development in Africa is one of those subjects that you can discuss ad nauseum because it’s simply that complicated and there are so many solutions to so many problems. It’s a wonder that no one can agree on what is the most important thing to tackle first. The truth is all of it is important.

BarCampAfricaUK

The take away from this discussion was that while a concentration on ICT in Africa’s development is essential, the sector shouldn’t be viewed as the answer to all of Africa’s ills. Technology is going to be an enabler for all the development sectors, allowing for more efficient environment. We also have to broaden the definition of technology; careful not to simply limit it to telecommunications. Technology can enable better infrastructure, more efficient agricultural methods and educational systems.

Joining me on the call were Ethel D. Cofie (@etheldcofie), Tony Burkson (@TonyStark1), Conrad Taylor (@ConradTaylor, and Richard Tandoh. A live stream will be available during the event if you are not one of the lucky 200 participants at the sold out event. We’ll publish a link to that stream when it becomes available.

PD Podcast: BarCampAfricaUK [ Audio | 45:44 | MP3 ] [ Music: Disco Science by Mirwais ]
PD talks to the organizers of BarCampAfricaUK

UPDATE:

Looks like the event went off superbly. If you were unable to attend last week, the team has put together a wiki space full of content from the BarCamp. You can also peruse numerous articles written about the event here and here.

Well, we have returned from Africa and a wonderful visit with the Women of Kireka. There is much exciting news with regard to the women and their transition to sustainable work that will get them out of the Kireka quarry. We have a firm order for 100 bracelets, both leather beaded ones and ones made out of paper. That is hopefully the first of many orders for hand-crafted items from the women. They have also brainstormed several really unique ideas and we are really looking forward to the prototypes. However in with the good news and the forward momentum there is still some gritty reality that must be addressed.
Before we get into that I thought I would share a bit of the celebration we had with you. They really did make us feel welcome!

A Performance by the Women of Kireka from Project Diaspora on Vimeo.

The Children of Kireka from Project Diaspora on Vimeo.

The children are due to start school and we just discovered that there are no monies at all to send them to school. Actually like Mother’s every where their very first order of business was to talk to us about the children’s schooling. For these ladies keeping their kids in school tops out any interest they had in their own training program! The costs to send a child to school in Uganda are nominal, but when you don’t have it… well you don’t have it. School starts on September 7th and it is our hope that we can raise enough funds to make that happen for all the Kids of Kireka. If you are interested in helping these children get to school this term please donate via the Women if Kireka donation button to the right.

If you are interested in sponsoring a particular child or family please let us know and we will keep you up to date on the child’s progress in school and other details. I know the mother’s and children would love to thank you for your support.

Here is a break down of the families and the needed fees (US Dollars):

Mother:
Alice Ajok
Children:
1. Patrick Ochora, 14 yrs
Sponsored in full by David Sisaki 9/6/09 THANK YOU DAVID!
$27.00/55,000 ug sh

2. Nancy Adongo, (Dreams of being a Nurse) 8 yrs
Sponsored in full by Sandy Wickberg. 9/6/09. THANK YOU SANDY!
$27.00/55,000 ug sh

3. Patricia Achiro
Sponsored in full by Tammy Theis. THANK YOU TAMMY!
$27.00/55,000 ug sh

4. Innocent Odutuka
Sponsored in full by Tammy Theis. THANK YOU TAMMY!
$27.00/55,000 ug sh

Mother:
Sabina Layet
Children:
5. Susan Aceng, 15 yrs
Sponsored in full by Melanie Spiegel. THANK YOU MELANIE!
$103.93/210,000 ug sh

6. Daniel Okema
Sponsored in full by Vickie Barcomb 9/5/09 THANK YOU VICKIE!
$49.40/100,000 ug sh

Mother:
Angella Alwoch
Children:
7. Ocuc Alwoch, 13 yrs
Sponsored in full by Jeff Stephens. THANK YOU JEFF!
$27.70/60,000 ug sh

8. Ayaa Alwoch, 8 yrs
Sponsored in full by Jeff Stephens. THANK YOU JEFF!
$27.70/60,000 ug sh

9. Aber Alwoch, 16 yrs
Sponsored in fill by Jill Humphries. THANK YOU JILL!
$153.43/310,000 ug sh/font>

10. Ayon Alwoch, 14 yrs
Sponsored in full by Doug Dawson. THANK YOU DOUG!
$44.54/90,000 ug sh

Mother:
Agnes Aneno
Children:
11. Juliana Laker, 4 yrs
Sponsored in full by Judith Cannon. Thank you JUDY!
$27.70/60,000 ug sh

12. Samuel Bitek, 8 yrs
Sponsored in full by Judith Cannon. Thank you JUDY!
$27.70/60,000 ug sh

13. Amone Aneno, 12 yrs
Sponsored in full by Judith and Lisa Cannon. Thank you JUDY and LISA!
$27.70/60,000 ug sh

Mother:
Christina Aloyo
Children:
14. Thomas Aloyo, 12 yrs
Sponsored in full by Robert Jones. THANK YOU ROBERT!
$27.70/60,000 ug sh

15. Stella Aloyo, 13 yrs
Sponsored in full by Robert Jones. THANK YOU ROBERT!
$27.70/60,000 ug sh

16. Achan Aloyo, 8 yrs
Sponsored in full by Heidi Pickering. THANK YOU HEIDI!
$27.70/60,000 ug sh

Mother:
Gloria Achan
Children:
17. Stuart Nsingwire, 16 yrs, S.4
$222.72/450,000 ug sh

18. Stefan Alinda, 11 yrs, P.6
Sponsored in full by Mike Martin. THANK YOU MIKE!
$98.98/200,000

19. Vicky Aol, 12 yrs
Sponsored in full by Mark Fleitman. THANK YOU MARK!
$49.40/100,000 ug sh

20. Prisca Acayo, 5 yrs
$79.19/160,000

21. Michael Ochira, 3yrs
$79.19/160,000

Mother:
Scovia Arach
Children:
22. Junior Okello, 11yrs
$42.07/85,000 ug sh

23. Godfrey Odongo, 9 yrs
Sponsored in full!
$27.70/60,000 ug sh

24. Cosmos Otim, 7 yrs
$42.07/85,000

25. Bonny Opinyo, 3 yrs
Sponsored in full!
$27.70/60,000 ug sh

26. New Lady Acen, 3yrs
Sponsered in full by Barney and Barbara Boeder. THANK YOU BARNEY AND BARBARA!
$27.70/60,000 ug sh

Mother:
Gertrude Abo
Children:
27. Geoffrey Obo
$44.54/90,000 ug sh

28. Sarah Akot
Sponsored in full by Sarah Meaders 9/6/09. THANK YOU SARAH!
$39.59/80,000

Mother:
Sarah Abonyo
Children:
Awaiting information

Mother:
Santa Akech
Children:
29. Nancy Aneno, (Dreams of being a Nurse) 19 yrs, P6
Sponsored in full by Vickie Barcomb. THANK YOU VICKIE!
$49.40/100,000 ug sh

30. Edward Ojara, (Dreams of being a Doctor) 16 yrs, S1
$227.67/460,000

31. Gerald Pekorom, (Dreams of being a Business Man) 13 yrs, P6
$49.40/100,000 ug sh

32. Barbra Lanyero, (Dreams of being a Teacher) 10 yrs, P4
$49.40/100,000 ug sh

33. Mercy Achiro, (Dreams of being a Police Woman) 8 yrs, P2
$49.40/100,000 ug sh

Mother:
Grace Lamunu
Children:
34. Innocent Alimochan, 17 yrs, S1
$183.12/370,000

35. Denis Lubangakene, (Dreams of being a Driver) 14 yrs, P5
$79.19/160,000

36. Brenda Anena, (Dreams of being a Teacher) 10 yrs, P5
$79.19/160,000

37. Gloria Abalo, (Dreams of being a Police Woman) 7 yrs, P2
$44.54/90,000 ug sh

Mother:
Hellen Anyek
Children:
38. Denis Okwera, 17 yrs, S1
$242.51/490,000

39. Isaac OKello, (Dreams of being an Engineer) 14 yrs P7
$54.44/110,000

40. Nelson Onenchan, (Dreams of being a Lawyer) 10 yrs, P5
$49.40/100,000 ug sh

41. Carlo Langoya, (Dreams of being a Doctor) 7 yrs, P2
$49.40/100,000 ug sh

42. Geoffrey Opwonya
Nursery next year

Mother:
Christine Auma
Children:
43. Beatrice Lanyero, (Dreams of being a Teacher) 17 yrs, P5
$44.54/90,000 ug sh

44. Nancy Akello, (Dreams of being a Teacher) 14 yrs, P2
Sponsored in full by Dinah DeLuca. THANK YOU DINAH!
$39.59/80,000

45. Fiona Apio, 10 yrs
Sponsored in full!
$39.59/80,000

46. Bob Nyeko, 7 yrs
Sponsored in full!
$39.59/80,000

Mother:
Milly Auma
Children:
Awaiting information

Mother:
Jennifer Achiro
Children:
47. Daniel Akemkwene, 9 yrs, P3 Sponsored in full by Lisa Cannon, Thank you LISA!
$48.01/97,000

48. Ronnie Okot, (Dreams of being a Doctor) 8 yrs, P3 Sponsored in full by Lisa Cannon, Thank you LISA!
$48.01/97,000

Racheal Apio, 1 yrs

Gabriel Ochen, 1 yrs

For this episode of Diaspora at Work, I had a chance to finally have a conversation with Mariéme Jamme (@mjamme), founder of many enterprises including iConscience, an organization she created “to bring together like-minded business experts – with a focus on sharing expertise in building sustainable businesses.” Although she left Senegal at the tender age of 2, Mariéme managed to retain that African connection and has responded to her heart string’s call to come back to Senegal and neighboring countries to share her knowledge by training generations of young men and women to be entrepreneurs. Jamme is passionate about brand Africa and shared excellent opinions on how to put Africa’s “human capital,” or its Diaspora to drive Africa’s rebranding efforts.

Truth be told, rebranding Africa is no easy task, and no one solution is the answer. During the discussion, @ajmunn put it best, we have “to rebrand perceptions of Africa in West, and rebrand Africa within Africa. Double change.” I invite you to listen to the podcast and share your ideas on how to change perceptions about Africa below in the comments or follow the discussion on Twitter under hashtag brandafrica (#brandafrica).

DAW: Mariéme Jamme [ Audio | 52:48 | MP3 ] [ Music: Disco Science by Mirwais ]
DAW:Mariéme Jamme
It’ll take a whole series of podcasts to really highlight the many career accomplishments of Mariéme Jamme. Below is a short list of the organizations she’s been or is currently involved with at various capacities.

SpotOne Global Solutions
iConscience
Africa Gathering
Dakar Dragons
NEO
TEDxAccra

BONUS:
Also during the Twitter discussion, @ksjhalla pointed me to this Zina Saro-Wiwa’s AfricaLabs Project. This is Africa, is an example of the small steps that the African Diaspora is making in an effort to take back the mike from Western media and rebrand Africa with positive personal anecdotes of what Africa means to them.

Ken Banks, the one-man team behind kiwanja.net, is a powerhouse. His output of interviews, blog posts, Twitter updates and other social media tricks speaks to his determination to contribute to the emerging realm of information and communication technology for development or ICT4D.

Inspired by over a decade of work in Africa, Banks launched kiwanja.net in 2003. The website is a space where “technology meets anthropology, conservation and development.” Attentive to the need for easy communication between NGOs and their rural partners, the website also serves as a launching point for Banks’ creations.

In 2005, Banks rolled out of the organization’s first big coup, an open source software called Frontline SMS. Five weeks, a summer in Finland, and a crash course in programming produced a mobile phone tool now widely acclaimed by both IT experts and grassroots users.

Let’s talk about inspiration. What pushed you to launch Kiwanja.net and Frontline SMS?

kiwanja.net started in late 2003. The first contract I had happened to be dealing with mobiles. It became very clear to me that the knowledge and information I was building up with this charity was clearly of wider value. There were lots of organizations who were also thinking about mobile technology and thinking about how they might apply it. They were also struggling.

Through kiwanja.net, I decided to really focus on trying to help organizations understand what mobile technology can do for them … Frontline SMS came out of a need for there to be a solution to get on the [ICT] ladder, the first rung in many cases. It’s all very well to read about mobile phones [and their use in development] in the popular press, but the first thing NGOs ask is, ‘What can we do?’ ‘What can we use to do that?’ In 2005, when I wrote Frontline SMS, there didn’t seem to be any tools that were specifically written to work in the kinds of environments that these NGOs found themselves in.

So, when they were asking the question, ‘What can we use to start delivering mobile services?,’ the answer was, well, unless you have the internet and a bunch of money and a certain degree of technical skills, there isn’t actually very much. That seemed crazy. So, Frontline SMS was developed out of that need. I felt that there was a big gap in the market, so to speak, of mainly grassroots non-profits with little money, no internet and very, very, very low technical skills to actually start to deliver SMS services.

What does “Kiwanja” mean? How does it represent your vision?

In 2003, when I started it off, there was a lot of “tech365″ style names. It was all very high tech. And for me, it wasn’t really about the technology. It never really was about the technology. It’s about how people interact with technology. It’s about building things that work for people. And technology is the thing you consider right at the end when you are looking to trying to solve a problem. So, I wanted a name which didn’t convey anything technology-based, didn’t sound like technology was the main thrust. Kiwanja can mean a lot of different things in [Kiswahili], but I think “a place to meet” is my favorite one.

Can you explain the basic function of Frontline SMS?

You basically turn a laptop or desktop computer with a mobile phone into a two-way group messaging hub. So, you download the software onto the computer, you plug in a phone, you enter the cell numbers of your farmers, health care workers, and then you can send messages to those people and they can respond. Basically, you coordinate two-way messaging through a lap top. There is no need for the internet since it runs off the mobile phone network.

How is Frontline SMS being used?

I think the most surprising thing for me was that within a week of launching the software in the fall of 2005, the activist community jumped straight onto it. The first user was in Zimbabwe. Within a week, they had started using it to send and receive messages to and from rural communities that were being badly treated by Mugabe and his regime. Since then, it has become a lot more solid in other areas. It has been used in a lot of election monitoring projects … We [also] have a lot of activity in health [and] agriculture.

[Frontline SMS] is moving into other areas which I did not actually anticipate. But, I think the beauty of the software is that it does not try to solve any specific problem in any specific place. I really wanted to avoid doing that – although the idea came from a specific place and a specific problem – I didn’t build in anything that would restrict it in any way.

Does empowerment play a key role in Frontline SMS?

The logo of Frontline SMS is those arms stretched up in the air. So, we have decided that empowerment is a key message. I think that [empowerment] is a word that is overused a lot in this space, there’s a lot of different ways of defining empowerment. I think for me the purest form is that you [give people the tools] that they need to do their job better and then you let them decide whether or not they want [it]. Then you provide the tool and you don’t try to be controlling in any way. You say, ‘Hey, if you want to use it, the software is free, we’ll support you for free, we’ll connect you with other users, we’ll do all we can. But, at the end of the day, it’s your project and you do it your way.’ And if it works, please tell us.

How is the growing buzz around social media and ICT influencing your work?

… I still think there is a general misunderstanding or lack of knowledge over how empowering technology can be. When I speak at conferences about what Frontline SMS is doing, and mobiles are doing in general, people generally say “Wow!”. Even operators and technical people working in the industry. So, I think the fact that [now] there’s a lot of focus now on Twitter’s use in Iran and social media and Ushahidi, a lot of people are really [getting] quite onto this. I think what I do tends to fit quite neatly into that bucket … When Frontline SMS first started in 2005, there wasn’t anything else like it, and no one was really building tools like that in developing countries for users. Now there’s a lot more activitiy, I guess it gives it a home. When you speak to people, they can see it in the wider picture of ICT4D.

I think some of the challenges are that you get to the point where there are too many tools and people are reinventing wheels too often and people aren’t really building things that people can use, [instead] they are building ‘sexy’ stuff. I think donors are always looking to fund the next big thing, but quite often the next big thing isn’t going to be of use to a rural farmer in Uganda because it will be using a technology that isn’t available to them. So, I think we have a slight tension now in ICT4D. It’s become a very serious discipline, people are trying to build smart sexy things that actually don’t work in the environments they think they should work in.

What can you say about the rise of ICT innovators in developing countries?

… We’re finding an increasing number of programmers emerging in developing countries who are finally getting access to the world through the Internet and are being taught relevant skills at university. This has come at the exact same time as the open source [movement]. It’s perfect timing. You can imagine ten years ago if African developers had all of this [training] and yet couldn’t get their hands on any open source code to do any of the work. Finally, we have people in the country where [ICT] tools are useful and who have the ability and skills to take these projects and adapt them. Ushahidi coming out of the election crisis is a fabulous example of Kenyans reacting to a particular problem.

Part of the challenge now, once these services are developed, is how they are rolled out and marketed. There’s a guy in Kenya who built a car tracking system by SMS, he wrote it all himself, but he couldn’t get any funding to develop it as a product. So, innovating is one thing. If you’re then stuck with nothing to do with that product, that’s another problem that hasn’t quite been solved yet.

Where are you planning on taking Kiwanja.net?

I think for me it’s about continually pushing the boundaries, continually trying to lower the barrier as much as possible so that grassroots NGOs can use my technology. So how low can we go? Frontline SMS is a great example of lowering it to a point where NGOs can do things. But, if you think about what it requires, a PC, that’s a barrier. So, can we build a version that runs off a USB stick? You could go to an internet café and plug it in and do a bunch of messaging and leave. We are currently working on that at the moment and it could be very exciting.

Also, hopefully within the next three months, we’re going to launch a picture messaging version, Frontline Multimedia Messaging Service or MMS. That will allow NGOs working in areas where there is actually web access through the cell network to transmit audio, video, pictures and sound to and from handsets and to and from the internet. That’s potentially quite interesting: farmers could take a picture of a pest on their crop and send it to an agricultural expert to get advice or a health care worker could take a picture of something on a patient and get advice on what to do. Once again, let’s see how far we can lower the barrier of entry to that.

I am also thinking about how we can allow NGOs to get cheaper messaging using internet related services. So, I’m looking to build a sort of SMS gateway on the internet which non-profits can gather around and get cheap messaging through. We can build a database of users, leverage all the value of all messages being sent and get the best price. People, right now, are buying a hundred messages here and ten there and twenty there and they’re paying the highest rate. So, if all those people are buying a million a week, let’s buy a million a week together and all get the cheapest price.

Ken’s work – and the work of the many other tech developers out there in this field – is incredibly inspiring. If you happen to be one of them, please give us a shout – we’d love to hear more. If the above was a bunch of garble to you (or interesting!), check out kiwanja.net and keep track of Ken’s blog.

I was browsing through my digital photo gallery  from the past year and ran across the above image. I’d forgotten about this very interesting gentleman. Amon Nyirenda ‘hails’ from Malawi, and he’s certainly a welcome twist to the Diaspora at Work series. Amon is one of the managers at the helm of the main dining hall aboard Royal Caribbean’s massive Navigator of the Seas cruise ship. And it’s probably the last place one would expect to find a Malawi expat, let alone a wandering Ugandan. I was on-board as the official papparazzi photographer  for a friend’s wedding and took notice of Amon when he was introduced during dinner, after a crew-led song and dance number that had the entire dining hall singing in unison.

Although based in Malawi, we’ll still count Amon among Africa’s Diaspora that’s bringing home not only foreign reserves, but foreign know-how in regards to the various Diaspora-funded investments. Amon started working for Malawi Hotels and got a chance opportunity to work on a cruise ship back in 2000. Since then, he’s worked his way from the bowels to the prestigious position as a head manager in the main dining hall on the ship. Along the way Amon has amassed years of hospitality management experience overseeing the thousands of sea-farers that dine in the Nutcracker dining hall.

Amon plans on using his earnings and the wealth of accumulated global experiences to invest in a restaurant in Malawi within two years, and yours truly will be among the special guests invited for the grand opening (never mind that I invited myself). Apart from saving for his dream investment, Amon uses his foreign paycheck the very same way many of us Diasporans probably do – to support his family and his retired parents. Here’s to hoping for continued success for yet another Diasporan hard at work, investing in Africa.

I made sure to chorale Amon for a few minutes during his busy routine attending to nearly 2000 well-dressed, buoyant, guests to find out a little bit more about his journey to sea. As an aside, I have to say that’s one of my favorite portraits that I’ve done. He has a “honest” and well-groomed visage. If you are ever on-board the Navigator, make sure to say hello, tell him I sent you.

DAW:Amon Nyirenda Sets Sail [ Audio | 6:13 | MP3 ]
DAW:Amon Nyirenda Sets Sail

Check out the DAW Gallery for more images of Amon at work.

For those you living in the US this Thanksgiving, you maybe wondering what Thanksgiving has to do with you. Nelima, of MinneAfrica asked this question on Twitter today:

“What should Thanksgiving mean to Africans (foreigners) in the US beyond a day off work? Dunno. All I see is parties, turkey & Macy’s parade”

Which got me thinking… of all the Holidays this one is the most inclusive, most relevant to the immigrant experience. This day is about alot of things. Some of it is the Myth of America. A myth that given some of the realities for Native Americans and African Americans is a bit hard to embrace fully. However, I would like to make a case that there is more to it than just a blind acceptance of the Pilgrim Indian story.

The story of Thanksgiving is in fact an immigrant story. The pilgrims came to the New World for some of the same reasons we do today. They were looking for a new life, a chance to change their circumstances, escape persecution, and more than that, to start over. How many of us (or our parents) came here for one or all of those reasons?

When they got here, they faced a raw, foreign, unwelcoming landscape. They suffered, they died, and they also built a new life. The Native Americans they met, had no reason anticipate the change that this would bring to their culture and way of life. They shared what they could with this ragtag group. A group I am sure they doubted would survive the winter.

Immigrants to America have always faced a harsh reality once they got here. On this occasion the Pilgrims got a warmer welcome from the American population, than we offer today. How many of us came here and were lost? Not knowing how we should behave, look, talk, eat? Where to go, how to survive? How many of were given a helping hand by the communities we met when we got here? In my case it was my family, and the handful of friends I made at school. For others it is groups like Catholic Charities, or the diasporan communities they join when they arrive. In any case we are all repeating the same pattern: arriving somewhere new and learning from those that got here before us or being here and reaching out to those who are alone and lost in a new unwelcoming land.

This is what Thanksgiving is about; thanking God for those that have helped us make it through the year. Thanking those that helped us, acknowledging how valuable and important they have been to our lives. The food, the football, the shopping, its all fun. We can share that fun together, but don’t forget that at its core, just like America is about the immigrant experience… Thanksgiving, the uniquely American holiday, is all about our experience in a New World.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!