The role of hope

A young student at the Kyamulinga School.

Written by Bay Roberts, One School at a Time director.

Esther Duflo, an economist at the MIT Poverty Lab, believes that the effects of some anti-poverty programs can go beyond the direct impact of the resources they provide. Small improvements help poor people think about and strive for more than just survival.

A May2012 article in The Economist demonstrates the kind of thinking that keeps generations trapped in poverty: 

“Surveys in many countries show that poor parents often believe that a few years of schooling have almost no benefit; education is valuable only if you finish secondary school. So if they cannot ensure that their children can complete school, they tend to keep them out of the classroom altogether. And if they can pay for only one child to complete school, they often do so by avoiding any education for the children they think are less clever. Yet economists have found that each year of schooling adds a roughly similar amount to a person’s earning power: the more education, the better. Moreover, parents are very likely to misjudge their children’s skills. By putting all their investment in the child who they believe to be the brightest, they ensure that their other children never find out what they are good at. Assumed to have little potential, these children live down to their parents’ expectations”.

Part of the work of One School at a Time is to provide parents, communities, and schools with a large dose of hope. Parents observe improvements at their children’s school: clean water on site, renovated classrooms, teachers with more motivation and an actively involved school board. Maybe I should do everything possible to keep my children enrolled?

Recently, Hussein took a mother and her injured son on a trip from deep in the village to the big city of Kampala to visit a doctor. When the mother saw the women doctor and all the professional women in the city and all the women driving cars, she said: “I’m going to go back to the village and tell our people that they should struggle to go to school and get an education so they can lead a better life!” The very existence of women professionals had expanded this women’s sense of what is possible.

We do not doubt that this women will do everything she can to keep her children enrolled in school and that she will tell her neighbors to do the same. Big changes start small.

Fresh Fundraising in Laramie

Ellen Axtmann collects a check and delivers the goods, to Carol Becker, a Laramie local.  

(Click images to view larger)

What do the White Rim [mountain bike] Trail near Moab, Utah, a fisherwoman/boat captain from Bristol Bay, Alaska, truck drivers from Russia and the Ukraine, and a Walmart, a local food coop, and a counselor, all in Laramie, Wyoming, have to do with school children in rural Uganda?  The answer, as you must have guessed, is fresh salmon and lots of it: about 1000 pounds to be precise.  Here’s how it all fits together.

Fran Kaul, the fisherwoman and owner of Misty Fjord Seafood and a friend of One School director Bay Roberts, joined a group of women, including Ellen Axtmann, the counselor from Laramie, and Sari Ghiselli, another One School director, several years ago for a women’s mountain bike trip along the White Rim Trail.  In camp one evening, they hatched a plan to sell salmon and donate the profit to One School at a Time.

And because Laramie is starved for fresh fish (we’re about as far from the ocean as you can get (horizontally and vertically), it seemed like a good place to begin.  The program is in its third year, and a growing contingency in Laramie loves the fresh salmon and the chance to contribute to One School by buying it.  Each spring and fall, Ellen takes pre-orders and Fran arranges for the fish to ship on a refrigerated 18-wheeler. 

Ellen received a call a little over a week ago from a driver with a thick Russian accent and very little English speaking ability, who was navigating into Laramie to deliver this spring’s fish to the Big HollowFood Coop, a local grocery tucked against the railroad tracks in historic downtown Laramie.  The Coop has generously let us use their walk-in freezer to store the salmon, and they sell any fish not pre-ordered, donating their profit to One School as well. 

As it turned out, only half of the spring shipment (just under 500 pounds) were aboard the truck, due to a trucking company mistake.  We shuttled the fish into the freezer and Fran negotiated the second shipment before Ellen put out the call for local Laramie pick-up of pre-orders. 

Yesterday (May 20), a driver with a similarly heavy accent called as he crested Elk Mountain, about an hour west of Laramie.  We met the smiling trucker at Big Hollow, only to discover that this second 500 pounds of fish was inextricably blocked, deep in the truck, by palettes of other frozen goods and four 50-gallon drums of apple juice. 

“Are you from Russia?” I asked as we stood on the sidewalk scratching our heads and trying to figure out how to extract the fish. 

“No. The Ukraine,” he told me. 

I asked how long he had been in the U.S.

“Twelve years,” he replied, then counted on his fingers, “and in 2007 I became a U.S. citizen.” 

The trucker, who was a little round, incredibly friendly, and infinitely good humored, had worked as a driver for a trucking company for a number of years before purchasing his own rig.  “I make money as long as the tires and the engine don’t break,” he told me. 

The only way to get to our second quarter-ton of salmon was to rearrange the palettes, a task that required a loading dock, a rare feature in downtown Laramie, especially on a Sunday afternoon.  Several phone calls later, the local Super Walmart kindly agreed to let us use their dock.  One forgets that there are two sides to Walmart—the impersonal corporate behemoth that many of us imagine relentlessly competing, and the  small-town reality of the locals who work at the individual stores.  Several of these local managers helped us unload the fish and transfer it into the back of my Toyota truck, wishing us well.  I bid goodbye to my Ukrainian friend, who planned to have dinner ("cheaper at Walmart, but not as good as Safeway”) and a nap before heading south to his next delivery, and drove the fish back to the Coop where Ellen was meeting people who began to appear to pick up their orders, right on schedule.

It takes a village.

A Ukrainian-American truck driver rearranging the load Laramie's Super Walmart.

Steve Prager, a Laramie local, helps unload fish at the Big Hollow Food Coop.

“Who could possibly imagine how a sockeye salmon swimming around in Bristol Bay, Alaska could be in any way connected to a child in rural Uganda, Africa?  Well, these two things are connected now!  Fran Kaul, fisherwoman and owner of Misty Fjord Seafood has generously donated profits from Laramie Wyoming sockeye sales to One School at a Time.  Laramie fish lovers are not only enjoying a healthy meal, but are also supporting our programs in Uganda to empower and improve impoverished schools.  Thank you so much Fran and local Laramie fish monger (Big Hollow Food Coop)”

Ellen Axtmann, for One School at a Time

“It is deeply satisfying to know when Misty Fjord seafood is being served, a portion of sales benefits organizations such as One School at a Time". 

Fran Kaul, Owner, Misty Fjord Seafood

Moses Musaazi: Technology for Tomorrow

Dr. Moses Musaazi explaining how his interlocking bricks are made, on the campus of Makarere University in Kampala.

(Click photos to view larger)

A recent article in Inc. Magazine highlights the work of Dr. Moses Musaazi, a brilliant researcher at Makarere University in Kampala, who has built his career by finding innovative solutions to Ugandan problems.  The article, which quotes One School director, Bay Roberts, tells his story better than I can, so I won't repeat it here.  One School has worked with Dr. Musaazi at several of its project schools to provide inexpensive solutions for collecting and sanitizing water.  

Dr. Musaazi with an LED light panel powered by a rechargeable motorcycle battery.  Lack of electricity in much of rural Uganda forces children to study by candlelight or small LEDs wired to AA batteries, dim at best.  

A cooker that also heats water for other uses. Little fuel is wasted.  

Dr. Musaazi's interlocking bricks can be made with local materials, and require less mortar, which saves money.  One School used this technology to build cisterns.

Maka pads are an inexpensive menstrual pad that Dr. Musaazi developed using inexpensive materials.

Hussein: Back to Uganda

A big globe beside the Nile River in Uganda.

(Click to view larger photo)

Hussein Tadesse, One School's Ugandan Program Manager, heads back to Uganda today (and tonight).  I asked him if he was looking forward to returning and he joked that "if I stay here any longer my skin will start to turn white."  Hussein is the soul of One School's operations in Uganda, and it was fantastic to have him here in the U.S. to share his insights and wisdom.  Safe travels!

Hussein drinking coffee in Kampala.

Kony 2012: A Ugandan's View

Ugandan park ranger with weapon.

Blog post from Bay Roberts, One School Director.

I was sitting at the dentist office with Hussein Tadesse, One School at a Time Ugandan program manager. We were reading the local newspaper while we were waiting. I came across an article about the cost to the city of Longmont, CO to remove the Kony 2012 posters that had mysteriously popped up all over town after April 20th. Curious what Hussein might think, I showed him the article. With great animation, he said "Why did Invisible Children not ask us Ugandans what we need? Kony is no longer a threat! He does not have priority now. He cut lips, ears and abducted children long ago. Why did they not do something back then? Kony is in the Congo now seeking food and he has no military force!" 

Hussein went on to explain that Kony had been financially backed by the government of Northern Sudan. Northern Sudan wanted to stir some trouble up at the Ugandan border in retaliation for the Ugandan government's support of Southern Sudan's independence. Kony was their solution.

Southern Sudan is independent now and Hussein assured me that "Now, Kony is not a threat". The Ugandan government with the help of the U.S. military is hunting Kony down and Hussein feels that that is enough. With passion he stood and (while all dentist office occupants looked on) declared, "Northern Uganda needs to heal! They need schools! They need water! They need desks for the schools! They need food! They need infrastructure! 

Who will help with that?"

Hussein

Hussein Tadesse, passionately addressing teachers at the Kukanga School (with Jane).

(Click to enlarge)

Hussein Tadesse is still in the U.S. and will be in Boulder next week for the One School at a Time board meeting.  He's been in Seattle, attending Non-Violent Communication (NVC) training.  Hussein is the heart and soul of One School's day-to-day operations in Uganda.  He is articulate, passionate, and driven to make Uganda a better place.  When I visited Uganda in 2009 to photograph One School's projects there, Hussein was my host, and we often joked that he should run for President.  I seriously believe that if he lived in the U.S., instead of Uganda, he would be the Secretary of Education or the CEO of an major educational NGO.  

A friend recently asked me about the best way to donate to One School at a Time.  There are two ways to do this.  One is to send a check directly to One School (One School at a Time, PO Box 342, Eldorado Springs, CO 80025).  The other is to go to the One School website and use the Donate link to pay through PayPal.  PayPal takes a 4.9% fee, so checks may be the best, but either path to helping is very much appreciated.  

Hussein overseeing the installation of a solar hot water heater at Kyamulinga.

Hussein with Joel, owner of the Kyamulinga School, teaching kids to use the new water spigot.

The Story of Brenda and Agnes

Agnes at school, Kampala, 2009.  

(click photos to enlarge)

The first time Patty saw Agnes, many years ago, she returned to the apartment where we were staying in Kampala, Uganda and cried. Agnes was probably 8 years old, and Patty was convinced that she would die soon. Something clearly was not well with Agnes. Her legs were so spindly that she looked like a crane, and she held herself sideways as if it was all she could to do to hold her body up. Agnes lived with her mother and two other sisters in a coal bin in the slums. Agnes was believed to have HIV- so Patty was right, she was not going to live long. 

Agnes' sister, Brenda with their mother and other kids, near the coal bin where their mother worked.

Through One School at a Time's work, we meet lots of children. Infrequently, unique situations arise and we are moved to personally act. This was the time for Patty. She paid to sponsor Agnes and her twin sister Brenda so that they could remain in school. 

Patty with family in Uganda.

Agnes had always known she had HIV, and Hussein, One School Program Manager, arranged for her to get the proper treatment at the local clinic. A simple test to confirm the diagnosis was required. Surprisingly, the result was negative! Agnes did not have HIV- she was not going to die! Agnes, with tears streaming down her face, shouted, "I don't have AIDS, I'm not going to die!" 

The clinic where Agnes found out she was not HIV+.

During a recent visit to Agnes and Brenda's fifth grade class at their boarding school, it was clear that Brenda is the academic and responsible one. Agnes is the clown, the one who can't keep track of her shoes, whose clothes are torn and who struggles with her homework. Brenda watches over Agnes, finds her shoes and washes and mends her clothes. It is tender between them. Today we are happy to report that these girls (including their younger sister Olivia) have been accepted to Watoto Children's Village. No more will they spend their 1-3 month school breaks living in a coal bin in a slum - they will live full time at a beautiful place with individual tiny "homes" for groups of children and "moms," and with school right on site. 

The day the girls went to Watoto Children's Village.

Brenda and Agnes' mother has been consulted every step of the way and she is very happy- her children will have a better life. Perhaps she too will find a better life? In fact, things are already better. Brenda and Agnes' Mom is now a working environmentalist. Instead of selling coal, she is collecting plastic water bottles on the street and selling them back to the recyclers. Her income has increased and she is starting a new life. 

Agnes and Brenda's Mom with recycling.

Agnes and Brenda's mother in the small room where they all once lived.

The coal bin where their mother worked for about 25 cents a day.

Brenda at the coal bin, 2009.