Thought we'd forgotten did you??

Since the last post a year ago thigs have been incredibly busy and somewhat difficult at times; but very positive and exciting overall.
In January 2007 I advertised for someone to take over my position as Vice Chancellor / CEO at Mountains of the Moon University. It was time to hand over to a person with the skills and experience to take the University to its next stages of development while I planned to continue supporting from Ireland by assisting in the development of academic links. It is fun to think of a new African University with offices on two continents, but this is important because support initiatives in Ireland and UK need to be activated from the Northern end and a new University with very little money for travel and without an established track record is in a very weak position to take advantage of the available support which needs eye to eye contact.
Due to the very slow and erratic email facilities in Fort Portal and the limited storage on the Infocom server I stored my emails on my laptop which was fine until the laptop was stolen. All files were fully backed up so nothing was lost except all recent emails, still a mystery. The priciple casualty of this was the search for a new Vice Chancellor. However the person who was the most ideal candidate, when all contact ceased, sent one last message and now Dr. Douglas Nisbet from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland will move to Fort Portal in the middle of January 2008 having taken over in early January. This is a hugely positive move for the University.

Horrendous the way time passes. Here we are now back in Europe for a couple of months to catch up with growing grandchildren, they change a lot in a year when only a year old, a bit like going from 30 to 60 I guess.
The university is really busy with nearly 300 students and half way through the second year. First graduates in 18 months. The building program should start in February or March. Firstly a large greenhouse fully equipt and with stores and teaching space; twice the size of the one we have already which is the best in the country outside the commercial growers. The greenhouse we have has allowed the Rose industry to run a research project to assess the possibility of moving the industry from the lowlands around Lake Victoria to the higher western region, this would do wonders for local employment. The greenhouse is all being funded by a project from the European Union and also includes some funding for staff training.
The second main devlopment is the plans to build the Agriculture Faculty. This is still in the planning and negociation stage but if agreed the support for this will come from a trust in Ireland.
The whole development is moving well with sufficient suppoprt to allow us to progress, we have set up an internet cafe and e-learning centre which will allow us to offer reliable and fast communications.
I have now been in place for three years instead of the two agreed originally, I expect to continue until May. If anyone out there is looking for a stimulating and exciting job where no two days are the same and you can genuinely be sure that you are making a real difference, where the consequences will be there in a hundred years then contact: Volunteer Missionary Movement you will never regret it. But the basic requierment is a PhD. subject is not important although a science connection of some sort would be advantageous.

Visit of President's Wife

First Lady Mama Janet Visited the University on 25th and allthough at fairly short notice everyone really got down to it and the day was a great success. We really wanted to get accross the message that we are a new sort of Unversity in Uganda. In particular that we take our lead from the needs of local communities, that there is a strong emphasis on the applied/practical end, i.e. that knowledge is not much use unless it can be used, the staff are recruited from those with real work experience and then we invest in their higher academic qualifications so that they can progress to the highest levels in academic life. She was really interested and when talking to the students told them how lucky they are to be at MMU and that if she was starting to study again she would want to come to MMU rather than Makerere. So we were delighted and just hope it translates into something tangible in the way of support. Saturday is our open day really for the benefit of the Horticulture section and our efforts to reach out to the local farmers and others. I learned today that if you plant a Mango seed convex side up you may get as many as seven shoots/plants but if the other way only 1, could make or break one's business knowing that.
Some pictures of the visit.

The Wild East

Last week I was up in Karamoja for a day to help finish up a training course for senior Education staff in the schools and the District Administrations. It all went very well. We won the tender against most of the major Universities in Uganda. Some of the others were not best pleased as they see themselves as the experinced experts. The school which was acting as host is able to harvest vegetables all the year round because all the rain from the roofs is collected in underground tanks. We visited a Manyatta, a fortified groups of dwellings. The rains, which finished in June, were weak and the harvest is not good, their stores are empty as far as we could see and they do not expect rains again until April next year, what a contrast with our green and fertile Kabarole, here in the west under the mountains.
They do recognise that they are a difficult lot of people as their habits are so different from the rest of the country, The men at least seem to be completely naked, except perhaps for a blanket round the shoulders and down towards the knees. Their sport is cattle raiding from each other which was probably comparatively harmless when the weopens were spears and bows and arrows but now they use AK47s, and when the army come and take them they simply go up to Sudan or Ethiopia and buy new ones at about $14. The Manyatta is a group of dwellings with a space in the centre for the animals and a double stockade of thorn bushes to keep out intruders.

This picture of a dwelling shows the entrance to the left of the policeman, so low that you have to crawl to get in, all for security of course. The ppoliceman was there because I was travelling with the Irish Ambassador who was the local sponsor of the project. How much easier to fly and be taken around rather than going by bus and possibly spending fournights on the road if the bus breaks down. Very sadly the previous week one of the 'students' sponsored to go to Ireland and do his Masters had just flown out while his wife and 7 year old child returned home. On they way they were ambushed [for sport?] and the child was killed, she was shot in the thigh but was OK. It is a savage part. When I was speaking I said that education would bring changes and change in culture and that they being leaders had better thinbk how they would handle it. In a way they are proud of their culture and change will not be universally popular.

Power

Some weeks ago the power to the house went off, this at a time when it was actually meant to be on and our neighbours still had light. The photograph helps to explain, this is the connection to the house from the mains and it had simply shaken loose with the wind.
Developments for the University: An Austrian consultant has done a major study for us and it looks as if we will need to plant 1000 acres of forest so that we can generate 1Mw of power, largely to keep the anticipated numbers of computers going. If we can afford to put in the highest quality control systems we MAY be safe to connect to the national system and sell the excess which we will not need for the first year or two.

Weddings again

One of our students who is a headmaster came in to discuss a staff member who also was to be signed up for the course. But then the real purpose of the visit: His wedding to another student on the course on 23rd September. Being one of the most important people round here I am required to go to his his wedding and he also considered it most desirable and proper that I should drive him to the wedding. I am sure this was seen as a great honour: for both of us??. No commitment and I think we will have Austrian visitors at the time which is a good let out. Never occured to him that with a mature student population and a young staff I could be at a wedding virtually every week, starting late morning and ending any time in the evening and of course a speech to be made as i equate with local MPs and Ugandans love a speech. Never a dull moment.

Diaspora,Tax Laws and AIDS

At a wedding today of one of our students, celebrated by the bishop a massive affair. But as is normal, though I never like to assume, it started an hour late!

Later talking to our secretary, Zainab, got a new perspective on how UK laws impact out here. It is not widely known that one of the chief income streams for Uganda is the money sent back by the diaspora all over the world. Zainab had an aunt who, like so many died of AIDS some years ago leaving a number of children who Zainab now looks after.

Until recently another aunt living in UK who works in and old folks centre used to send back enough money to keep all these children in school. However the law in the UK now encourages employers to employ, largely women, on contracts of under 20 hrs per week as it saves having to deal with tax and pay various employment dues. It also improves employment statistics as these half time workers count as part of the workforce.

Nasty.

The aunt has been moved from full time to this effective half time and so no longer has money to send to look after her orphaned nephews and nieces. One of these is a 13 year old who was born before the 'prevention of mother to child transmission' scheme and is HIV positive, Currently on Anti Retro Virals, [ARVs] she is doing OK but what does the future hold for her and so many like her?

Because of the stigma still attaching her elder brothers refuse to be tested....... Every time I hear this sort of thing which is so common I find it really upsetting. Pray that AIDS never gets established in your own country where ever that might be.