ChangeWaves

“Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our fear is that we are powerful beyond measure”

Orphans in Masese, Jina town in Uganda

This quotation from Nelson Mandela summarises my take way from the TEDC 2008 conference organized in Kampala, Uganda. The third day of the conference gave us a chance to discuss how aid is distributed in Africa and what potential Africa and Africans have to make a difference in the world. Imagine this scenario.

You march out of a grocery store with a packet of candies, which you decide to share with those around you. You give one or two to the taxi driver and the watchman at the store. But just then, you are swarmed by street kids who want their share of the freebies. You give some to a couple of kids but then the crowd grows bigger. You don’t know what to do. The strongest one of the kids pulls the whole packet from you and runs away as the smaller ones follow in vain.
Read the whole story on Clint’s blog

This is what Clint Rogers experienced in Kampala where he was organizing the TEDC 2008 conference.  What could Clint have done? How is it different or similar from the way aid is distributed in Africa.
This kick started the brain storming session that ChangeWaves was facilitating on the last day of the conference at the picturesque Nile Resort in Jinja.
The 30 participants from over 15 different countries around the world thought it was similar in many ways with the way aid is distributed in Africa. The bigger people (read the rich, privileged, and with political connections) are the ones who take the biggest chuck of the donors money and just like the candies, it disappears most times in their stomachs.
But the question is what could Clint have done differently? The answers varied. Some thought he should have first educated them about how much he had and how he thinks it can be distributed. They underscored the need for communication.
There were a few who thought he shouldn’t have shared with anyone at all. How mean!
In trying to identify potential remedies to this situation, participants thought it was wise that Africans are left to sort out their own issues. Africans should identify their problems and solutions before inviting third parties – donors – to help.
The day before, participants had visited Nabweru telecentre which is on the verge of collapse with no internet, many broken computers and few users. Many were prompted to think technology was the last thing this community needed. This gave us an idea of how donor money is spent and what technology could benefit such communities.
But it was great to hear people from elsewhere talk about Africans and Africa’s potential to make a difference in the world. They talked about conflict resolution mechanisms like the Harambe in Tanzania. Some talked about the fact that the US for a long time depended on knowledge power from China and Asia that it may now turn to Africa for greater ideas. Sounds good.
The Africans from South Africa, Botswana and Uganda underscored the importance of self confidence in our quest to cut on dependence from the west. Why should we always think the white man’s ideas are always supreme?
During the closing circle, participants talked about their biggest take away being the rejuvenated confidence especially the Africans and the networking.
I was one of those whose confidence was rejuvenated. That was when I believed in Nelson Mandela’s words.
The conference gave participants a chance to listen to what donors and researchers think about Technology for Education in developing countries. We got firsthand experience of how some technology projects in Africa or Uganda in particular are performing and how the scenario can be changed. Participants also visited Masese – an impoverished village on the outskirts of Jinja town which from the look of things may never think of computers, internet and other technologies but would do with some clothing and food.
It helped the donors present rethink where to put their money.
No wonder they thought this was in many ways a conference like no other.