The Challenges of Development Work in Uganda

Listed below are challenges I have encountered and observed as a development worker in Uganda. I cannot claim if these challenges are indicative of all development workers'/PCV's experiences in Uganda or throughout Africa. Rather, they are just what I have experienced firsthand 5-months in at site. Note how the challenges are all interrelated.

The Issue of Motivation: Cultural differences! One significant difference between American and Ugandan culture that I've observed lies in the area of motivation. Most of the people I have met are well aware of the challenges that afflict their livelihoods, but they do not always employ positive changes/solutions to overcome such challenges. In my experiences thus far, for example, it is more the norm for people to show up to meetings, trainings, demonstrations, or public outreaches late or even not at all. There needs to be motivation if effective development work is to take place.

The Issue of Community Mobilization/Ownership: Mobilizing community members to act on their own behalf has been my greatest challenge as a development worker. My supervisor recently told me that there needs to be an attitude shift from "What you can give me" to "What I can do for myself," whereby people take ownership of their problems/potential solutions if they are to improve their livelihoods. My role as a Peace Corps volunteer is not to provide, but to facilitate the development of this ownership. Now, when I hear, "Mzungu, give me money," I simply ask, "What can you give yourself, first?"

The Issue of Sustainability: Peace Corps' approach of sustainability may not seem viable in a country where 35% of the population live below the poverty line. Long-term, development work can be particularly challenging with the short-term orientations of many Ugandans. Long-term saving/family planning for a child's university tuition 10 years down the road, for instance, is understandably not a well-practiced concept in Uganda.

The Issue of Urgency: Coming to Africa, I knew that development work took a lot longer in Uganda than it did in the States, but I was admittedly ill-prepared for just how long. For my primary project, for instance, I am training the staff in my organization to fundraise for the construction of a maternity and child wing adjacent to the clinic. I asked the builder to make a projected budget for the building so that we can set a target goal for our fundraising efforts. It's been three weeks now, and the projected budget is still a work in progress. I fully understand that one cannot compare the rate at which things get accomplished in Uganda to that in the States, but development work lags behind in-country as a result.

The Issue of Resources: Shortages of resources (financial, educational, medical, etc) greatly challenge development work in Uganda. How can children effectively learn/teachers effectively teach if there are no textbooks or workbooks in the classroom? How can people be tested for malaria if there is not sufficient medical equipment in the health clinic?

These are some of the challenges that I've faced as a Peace Corps volunteer in Uganda.