interact - Progressio · real transformations; and my conviction has to be that the small struggles and daily victories can be the beginning of structural and transcendental transformations,

The future in our hands

Universities by the people,

for the people

Summer 2006

interactThe magazine of

ISSN 1816-045X

Also in this issue:Capacity building in Yemen

Food sovereignty in NicaraguaWater management in Peru

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interact summer 2006

Contents3 first person: Tsitsi Choruma

4 voices: struggles and victories

6 news: churches oppose Terminator

6

insight: the future in our hands

8 Learning wisdomAn indigenous university in Ecuador

10 From guns to pensSomaliland’s first ever university

viewpoint

12 The chance of a lifetimeCapacity building in Yemen

analysis

13 Why we are hungryFood sovereignty in Nicaragua and beyond

reportage

16 The flowering of the futureWater management in Peru

reflection

18 Giving thanksLearning from Sudanese refugees

perspective

19 The struggle continuesEducating East Timorese students

The future in ourhandsEducationalists would no doubt protest that timeshave changed. But my own experience ofeducation was of being told what I needed toknow, and of being taught to think what thepeople in charge wanted me to think.

Imagine how much worse this is when what youare told, and how you are told to think, does notconform to your own reality.

I believe that challenging the given way ofthinking can enable people to better understandtheir own reality – and perhaps, to see moreclearly their own future.

This edition of Interact examines how people arethinking outside the boxes provided for them. Theinsight section tells the stories of two pioneeringuniversities: one that seeks to build on thewisdom of the indigenous peoples of Ecuador;another that seeks to build a future for a country,Somaliland, being built by its people.

Other articles give a fresh perspective on doingthings differently: from alternative forms oforganisation and civil participation in LatinAmerica (voices), to why we as consumers arecontributing to a model of agriculture that leadsto social exclusion (analysis).

These articles show that development is aboutlearning, and that the best teachers are thepeople who seek to learn.

Cover picture: Pilatuña Lincanyo ÑaupaKarapunyo, a member of the team atAmawtay Wasi university in Quito, Ecuador(see page 8). Photo: Graham Freer/Progressio

Published July 2006 by Progressio

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Editor Alastair Whitson

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editorial

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Progressio is the working name of the Catholic Institute for International Relations Charity reg. in the UK no. 294329 Company reg. no. 2002500

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Although I enjoyed good workingrelationships with the staff at TheCentre and Network, I always felt Iwas distinguished from them as HIVnegative and somehow was not fullya part of their community. But thesewords made me believe that in thework that we do what is in the endmost important is the person that weare, and how we use that totransform and enrich other people’sexperiences.

We may have all the skills neededin this world but if we are unable toapply these to the situation that weare presented with, it is unlikely thatwe will succeed in our endeavours.The work that we do asdevelopment workers requires muchmore than technical skills. It isimportant that we possess adaptiveskills that enable us to see the worldor the work we do through multiplelenses. In being adaptive we are ableto be flexible in our approach whileworking towards achieving ourgoals.

Summer 2006 interact 3

first person

As I was bidding farewell tothe friends I made at TheCentre and the Network for

Positive Women in Zimbabwe, aftertwo years there as a Progressiodevelopment worker, one of mycolleagues said something that mademe reflect on my work there.

The colleague started by saying:‘When you came we thought, herecomes another doctor who will tryto experiment with what she haslearnt over the years. Boy was Iwrong. As time went on I realisedthis was another breed of doctor.

‘What I learnt from you is that themost complex issues can bedeconstructed to simple things thatany lay person can understand andfully make use of. Whatever youtaught us, you reduced it to our leveland that made a big difference. Youhave taught me to be humble andaccepting of the situation I am in, youhave taught me to be committed anddisciplined, and you have taught meto be patient and not judgemental.’

Identifying with the causeWhen you work with

organisations like The Centre and theNetwork for Positive Women, it iseasy to see that the main priority forthem is the cause, that is, thesurvival of people living with HIVand AIDS. How then do we asdevelopment workers achieve theinclusion of our agenda on the mainmenu? In my experience the strategyhas been to identify with the cause,to show how development workimpacts on the cause, and ensurethat development initiatives areimplemented in tandem withinitiatives directly related to thecause. That symbiotic relationshipmust be maintained through andthrough.

Tsitsi Choruma was a Progressiodevelopment worker with The Centreand the Network for Positive Womenin Zimbabwe. She is now Progressiocountry representative in Zimbabwe.

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4 interact Summer 2006

voices

IntroductionChange is in the air in Latin America andthe Caribbean. In the face of therelentless advance of globalisation andneoliberalism, alternative forms oforganisation and civil participation arebeing tried out across the region.

These alternatives are found at base levelin municipalities, departments, provinces,and even at national level. In differentcountries there is a resurgence of theorganisation of indigenous peoples andethnic minorities in the defence of theirlands, their rights and their cultures. Anincrease in the political participation ofwomen and young people can be seen.

Several countries now have governmentswhich represent interests different fromthose which have traditionally heldpower – and which generate equalamounts of controversy and hope. HugoChávez in Venezuela and Evo Morales inBolivia represent governments deeplyopposed to George Bush’s and the USA’spolicies, while Nestor Kirchner inArgentina, Tavaré Vasquez in Uruguay,Michelle Bachelet in Chile and Lula daSilva in Brazil represent a left which isless breakaway and radical, but whichalso promotes the interests of thepoorest sectors of their countries.

Yet these new expressions vie withtraditional ones which continue toimplement neoliberal policies. Migrationcontinues to be the main option for abetter life for millions, and inequalitiesand social problems continue to blightthe lives of the region’s people.

So what does the future hold for LatinAmerica and the Caribbean? Are thesigns of change a false dawn? We askedsome of Progressio’s developmentworkers for their thoughts.

Small strugglesand daily victories

I believe the shoots that arecoming up in favour of the mostdispossessed societies will go onstrengthening. The important thing isthat our peoples are waking up andbecoming conscious of the riches theypossess.

Our peoples have great strength toface up to the system. At the moment

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Julio Olivera is a Progressiodevelopment worker withAmawtay Wasi in Ecuador. Julio is from Peru.

Sanne te Pas is a Progressiodevelopment worker with LasDignas in El Salvador. Sanne isfrom Holland.

Personally these changes in thecountries of South America give mea lot of hope, and I feel that in theorganisation where I work, thesechanges in some way lift up thespirits. But it is a hope for the Southonly, and my work companions alsoseem to live it like this. The truth isthat here [in El Salvador] the context isso extreme, and the government soright-wing and repressive, that fewpeople seem to believe in the

six Latin governments are raising thebanners, and these examples will bereinforced in the medium term. Theseeds of hope are being sown and wewill soon have harvests, since sowingthe seeds will produce more strengthevery time in favour of a juster society.

I hope that our people will unite toface a common problem; that ourchildren become aware of theproblems; and that on the basis of theadvances obtained by ourorganisations, they will back thesearch for good living. We must lovemore what is our own, and defend itthrough the strengthening of oursocial and indigenous organisations;through educational alternativeswhich value the knowledge andculture of our peoples; throughproductive approaches which valueour natural resources and theirbiodiversity.

possibility of great changes in thiscountry in the short term.

Here we try to give meaning to thesmall changes we achieve, but themuch bigger changes like the freetrade agreement are disappointing,because they certainly worsened thesituation of the majority of theSalvadorean people. Here in ElSalvador, I fear the consequences ofthe inequalities – which already arepretty strong – are becoming moreacute. Life is going to be even harder.

I hope that this movement of theleft will be strengthened, consolidatedand extended, and that there will be areal chance to show that there arealternatives to the very exclusivedevelopment models like the one in ElSalvador. I hope that a strong left inthe South will have a positive effect inthe NGOs in super-neoliberalcountries like this one, in terms ofmaintaining hope in the possibility ofa better future and inspiration forcontinuing the struggle.

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voices

One cannot yet speak of changes: ‘let dawn come andwe’ll see,’ as they say in my country. Time, and theoutcome of what is being initiated today, will show ustruly what will be transformed, since change could berelative and temporal. Yet I have a feeling like hope,because you have to believe to create, and to go onbuilding creatively more just and equal roads foreveryone. So my hope is that these changes will becomereal transformations; and my conviction has to be that thesmall struggles and daily victories can be the beginning ofstructural and transcendental transformations, and thatthis, diffused in many Latin American spaces, will maketremble and shake any macrostructure which currentlythinks it is eternal and impossible to overcome.

We go into the new century with apanorama, on the one hand, of social-economic sectors and neoliberalgovernments applying state reforms incompliance with the capitalistglobalisation model, albeit with hugedifficulties of governability. And onthe other hand, we have popularpolitical movements seeking to buildnew identities, and social and politicalsubjects not ruled by the traditionalpolitical theories (liberalism, marxism):movements of women, indigenouspeople, the unemployed, sexual

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Silvina GernaertWillmar is a Progressiodevelopment workerwith FundacionNacional para elDesarrollo in ElSalvador. Silvina isBelgian-Argentinian.

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John Bayron Ochoa is a Progressio developmentworker with Centro Bartolome de las Casas in ElSalvador. John is from Colombia.

Sergio Alejandro Vergne is aProgressio development workerwith GAMMA (the support groupof the women’s movement ofAzuay) in Ecuador. Sergio is fromArgentina.

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These new movements, together withtraditional popular sectors (workers,students, the lower middle class,intellectuals), have the capacity to buildnew states with new governments. But Ithink that the region has not yet found away to process the new popular andsocial demands, or to widen outdemocracy towards a true democracy,not formal but real, as a means and asan end.

The new governments are stillinvolved in an economic-political strugglewhich is not settled, between thecapitalist sectors formed under theneoliberal governments, and theexcluded popular social sectors, whichhave seen their levels of participationreduced, and whose rights of citizenship(health, education, dwelling,employment, etc) are not guaranteed. SoI think that these new governments haveto be called governments ‘in transition’.

But an important impact is the changein discourse. There is no longer a singlediscourse in the face of globalisation, butmany discourses. There are cracksappearing in the wall of neoliberalism,which declared ‘This is the only possible

model’. Now it is possible to speak ofanother world – indeed, to say that‘Many worlds are possible’, thussignalling that inclusive societies canbe built, without poverty and withdiverse ethnic, gender and sexualidentities.

Another important change is thereconstruction of the meaning ofnation, not from chauvinistic orrightist postures, but from the idea ofa citizenship sharing a territory whoseresources (natural and economic) andwhose environment is from all and forall, and which consequently all shouldenjoy – and all be responsible for itsconservation and upkeep.

We can also speak of changes withregard to the protection andguarantee of human rights. Theprocess initiated in Argentina andbriefly glimpsed in Uruguay has putup for discussion the close linksbetween democracy, truth and justice.

Another impact is that the politicalprocesses of Venezuela and Boliviagive a strong impulse to the social andpopular forces of other countries,which now see the possibility ofaccess to power via democraticmethods.

The changes are very varied and heterogeneous. Aswe would say in the region, ‘you can’t put all the cats inthe same bag.’ They are very different and must beanalysed from local realities and knowledge. But beyondthis differentiation, I still have a doubt: will there notcontinue to be only personalist, populist governments,centred on an all-powerful personality? While it is truethat Chávez and Morales have confronted the Americansystem, the merciless neoliberalism, the swindling andbribe-taking privatisations, it is not just about them.Where are the people, the organised people, aware,actively participating, who know the reality of theircountry and do not live in a fishpond? I don’t think it hasyet come to this. There are nationalisms, populisms,leadership-isms, clientisms – but a united movementseeking the inclusive development of impoverishedwomen and men is still far off.

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social communicator. I lookedround and my surprise grew: themain leaders of the indigenousmovement were also there. Then Iasked myself: How is it that a yearafter his death Jairo can gather somany people together? What wasit that he left in them?

I didn’t need to think for long.The indigenous people themselvesanswered my question. A littlewoman with an intense gaze fixedus with her eyes as she spoke ofJairo. Her speech, which was fullof Andean images, also containedmany of the ideas worked overwith Jairo in his time with theorganisation. It was followed byan Andean ritual, as rich insymbols as an Orthodox Mass. Acosmic ritual, but one fed by thefight for the dignity of theindigenous people.

Amidst the smoke from theincense, the many-colouredflowers and the tropical fruitoffered to Jairo during the ritual,we felt the presence of Jairo

news

In memory of Jairo Rolong

THE WORLD COUNCIL OF

CHURCHES (WCC) has spokenout against Terminator

technology (the geneticmodification of plants to makethem produce sterile seeds).

Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, generalsecretary of the WCC, which has amembership of over 340Protestant, Orthodox, Anglicanand other churches representing560 million Christians in morethan 110 countries, said: ‘Applyingtechnology to design sterile seedsturns life, which is a gift fromGod, into a commodity. Preventingfarmers from re-planting savedseed will increase economicinjustice all over the world andadd to the burdens of those

Churches oppose Terminatortechnology

LUIS TAVARA reports on aremembrance ceremony forJairo Rolong, who was aProgressio developmentworker with Ecuarunari (theConfederation of the KichwaPeoples of Ecuador) whenhe died in a road accident inJune last year

LIFE IS FULL OF SURPRISES. At themost unexpected moment,it can fill our day with light

and help us to see what wewere not seeing, comprehendwhat we were notunderstanding, hear what wewere not perceiving. This iswhat happened to me a fewdays ago, when I went to acelebration in memory of JairoRolong, our fellowdevelopment worker, who dieda year ago.

The meeting room ofEcuador’s strongest indigenousorganisation was full. Jairoworked in this organisation as a

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damong us. And then came themoment of forgiveness.Forgiveness for not havingsufficiently valued thetransforming power ofcommunication. Forgiveness,because sometimes we don’tbelieve in the renewal of lifethrough social organisations.Forgiveness, because in oureagerness to effect change, wefall into the temptation of theshortest path, and forget thatdevelopment requires processesof qualitative transformationthat need more time and areless visible.

This was all – and you werethere, Jairo. From the heart ofheaven may you help us tochoose the best routes and findthe way again when we are lost.

Luis Tavara is a Progressiodevelopment worker withALER (the Latin AmericanAssociation of RadioEducation) in Quito, Ecuador.

already living in hardship.’He added: ‘Terminator

technology locates foodsovereignty, once the verybackbone of community, in thehands of technologists and largecorporations.... All Christians pray:“Give us this day our daily bread.”That this profoundly materialrequest appears in this profoundlyspiritual prayer signals for us thecentrality of food in our lives, aswell as the indivisibility of thematerial and spiritual in the eyesof God. It is of great concern tome that life itself is now oftenthought of and used as acommodity.’

Progressio has taken an activerole in campaigning againstTerminator technology, and willshortly be publishing, on behalf ofthe UK Working Group onTerminator technology, an updatedversion of the leaflet ‘Say no tosuicide seeds’.

interactnowFor more information on Terminator technology, seeProgressio’s environmental website www.eco-matters.org.The updated leaflet ‘Say no to suicide seeds’ will be sent toProgressio members with the autumn edition of Interact.

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news

situation is resolved, East Timornow faces the challenge ofrestoring people’s confidence intheir prospects for the future. Thisprocess not only needs to look atinvestigating the causes of recentevents but also providing justicefor past crimes.

The report of the East TimoreseReception, Truth andReconciliation Commission(CAVR), yet to be distributed inEast Timor, found that ‘justice andaccountability remains afundamental issue in the lives ofmany East Timorese people, and apotential obstacle to building ademocratic society based uponrespect for the rule of law andauthentic reconciliation betweenindividuals, families, communitiesand nations.’

The UK government wascommendably one of the largestdonors to the CAVR, contributingnearly £0.5 million to its operatingcosts. CAVR’s task was toinvestigate human rights abusesand make recommendations to

Unrest hits East Timor

EAST TIMOR faces a majorchallenge to restore faith inthe government, military and

police, after months of politicalinstability and violence which hasrocked the emerging nation,writes Alison Ryan.

During the last few months EastTimor has seen the deaths of over20 people, the displacement of130,000 more, and the resignationof key members of the government(including the Prime Minister). Theunderlying causes of the unrest arecomplex, but it was sparked bydemonstrations in the capital, Dili,surrounding the dismissal ofaround one third of the military.

The international community,many of whom now admit thatthey left the newly independentnation too early, has sent militaryand police personnel as well asfinancial aid to respond to theimmediate food and heath needsof the displaced people.

In addition to forming a newgovernment and ensuring thehumanitarian and security

POPULORUM PROGRESSIO, oneof the most inspirational ofthe Papal Encyclicals ever

written, reaches its 40thanniversary in 2007.

Populorum Progressio (‘Onthe development of peoples’)remains a major documentespecially for anyone workingtowards a just and fair world.That is why we at Progressiowant to mark this anniversary.Joining together with CAFODand many other Catholicorganisations, we are settingthe challenge for every one ofus to ‘live simply’.

This is seen as being anopportunity for us all to addressthe way in which we live ourlives and the impact it has onthe rest of humanity. Over thecoming year there will be awhole range of events andopportunities for us to cometogether to learn how we can

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make a difference to those wholive in poverty.

For this to be a successfulcampaign we need you to getinvolved now. If you are part of agroup or network who would liketo join us in this campaign, pleasecontact Martin Auton-Lloyd on020 7288 8601 or email

[email protected]. There isa series of one-day trainingsessions taking place across thecountry in September to guide youin preparing events and activities.

We hope that you all will rise tothe challenge and make 2007 ayear of renewal and rededicationto the fight against global injustice.

prevent the repetition of theseabuses and to respond to theneeds of the victims. But afterbeing given a copy of the report atthe start of this year the UKgovernment is still refusing topublicly respond to the report.

The CAVR report makesimportant recommendationsaimed directly at the UK as agovernment and as a member ofthe UN Security Council. Tocompletely ignore this report sendsa negative message to the peopleof East Timor in their quest forgood and transparent governance.

The UK government not onlyowes it to the British taxpayer tocontinue a process it invested in,but to the 8,000 East Timoresepeople who placed their trust inthe CAVR to tell of their horrificexperiences – and who are stillwaiting for justice. As oneTimorese interviewed by the CAVRcommented: ‘What’s the point ofcontinually collecting informationfrom us if there’s nothing to showfor it?’

Alison Ryan is Progressio’sadvocacy coordinator for Asia.

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university,’ he says. He takes apen and begins to sketch on apiece of paper.

‘The Andean cross representswisdom and knowledge. Fromthis, we can establish astructure. The cross has fourelements: air, water, earth andfire. Each element represents aconcept: learning, loving,doing, being strong. Theseconceptual areas interact andintersect to define the fields oflearning: environment,technology, politics andsociety, philosophy…’

Over the cross he draws aspiral, the time-space spiral,containing what is here andnow, what is above (in theexplicit world) and below (inthe implicit world), what wentbefore, and what is to come.‘How do you reach the centre?’he asks. ‘The spiral is life, andin the centre is knowledge.’

IdentitySince 1988, Ecuador has had abilingual system of educationin nursery, primary andsecondary schools – but not foruniversities. In 1994, twopeople in the Ecuadorian


LEARNING WISDOM

and the good way to live

Isidoro Quinde (foreground) andPilatuña Lincanyo ÑaupaKarapunyo.

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An indigenousuniversity in

Ecuador ischallengingthe way wethink, learn

and live, writesAlastair

Whitson

people, none of them paid, whoare building a dream: the dreamof the indigenous people for anintercultural university based ontheir own ancient wisdom andworldview. ‘Why should thewestern way be the acceptedway,’ asks the university’sdirector, Luis Fernando Sarango,‘and ours always the alternative,the outsider’s way?’

Now I am on the inside,trying to understand. There is apowerful atmosphere in theroom. I can almost see theintensity of thought suspendedlike a physical object in the air.Another man, Isidoro Quinde,dressed in a poncho and awhite bowler-style hat, beginsto talk. ‘We needed to work outhow the Andean cosmovisioncould provide a framework,direction and ethos for the

‘WE ARE IN THIS BIG

CRISIS – social,economic,

religious. We don’t know wherewe belong, where we are, whatwe do, and where we are goingto.’ These are the words ofPilatuña Lincanyo ÑaupaKarapunyo, a yachak (priest)from Quito in Ecuador. ‘Themeaning of Quito is “light andfire of the sun straight to theearth”,’ he tells me. ‘I am awarden of the holy fire ofQuito. We belong to ancientpeoples who live in this place.And this is what we want toexpress in our university.’

I am sitting in a meetingroom at Amawtay Wasiuniversity in Quito, surroundedby calm, serious men dressed intraditional clothes. They arepart of a team of around 40

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Congress – Luis Macas andLeonidas Iza – came up withthe idea of creating anindigenous university. TheCongress did not approve theidea, as Isidoro explains: ‘Theysaid the country did not needany more universities. But wesaid this was going to be auniversity completely unlikeany other.’

‘In regular universities andhigh schools they don’t teachus the wisdom. If you starttalking about this in otheruniversities, they ignore you,’says Isidoro. But this was anidea that could not be ignored,an idea that would not goaway. In 2005, the universitywas finally granted formalstatus, and in September 2006it will begin to offer classes inintercultural learning,architecture and planning,agro-ecology, and the Andeancosmovision.

The university aims torecover indigenous knowledge;educate people without takingaway their identity; educate theindigenous professionals of thefuture. ‘Education is veryimportant if we want to makeour rights viable as indigenous,ancestral people and as well tohave all the elements that asociety needs to be better,’ saysLuis Fernando. This vision – ofeducation as a means to astrong and just society –underlies the university’smethodology. The universitygoes to the people rather thanthe people coming to theuniversity.

ExchangeProgressio development workerJulio Olivera, who has beenworking with the universitysince 2001, explains what thismeans in practice. Julio, anagro-ecologist from Peru, isresponsible for developing theagro-ecology course – ‘a subjectthat does not exist in anyuniversity in Latin America,’ hetells me.

‘In conventional education,most subjects consist of 80 percent theoretical work,’ he says.‘Our approach is to have four

down, in three languages –Kichwa, Spanish and English –in a book called Learningwisdom and the good way to live.‘The book’ – as everyone atAmawtay Wasi refers to it – is,according to Julio, ‘the chainthat unites the people of theuniversity and the people of thecommunity.’ Luis Fernandoadds: ‘What is written in thebook is a synthesis or summaryof what we have alwayspractised in our communities.’

To an outsider it may seembewildering at first. But that’sbecause it represents, to awesterner, an entirely differentway of thinking. Those atAmawtay Wasi thinkdifferently. And they think theycan make it work because, saysLuis Fernando, it is their way ofthinking, their way of being,their way of living, their way oflearning. ‘Our ancestors used totalk about the university oflife,’ he says. ‘We believe inthat university. In the end, weare trying to do somethingnew, something alternative. Wedon’t pretend to be just onemore university, but somethingdifferent.’

Alastair Whitson is Progressio’ssenior editor.

Summer 2006 interact

processes of study, each withequal weight: theory; practicalresearch; entrepreneurship –meaning initiatives withconcrete aims that start tobring in some income; andconversatorios – the exchange oflearning with others.’

Since 2005, the universityhas been trying out thisapproach with what it calls‘learning communities’ in threeregions of Ecuador. Teachers goto the communities to holdworkshops, and students makea commitment to do thepractical work discussed duringthe workshop.

‘Students of agro-ecology, forexample, will have a plot wherethey start putting into practicewhat they are studying andlearning. The emphasis is onresearch and enterprise, so thatstudents can begin to earn aliving while they are learning,’says Julio.

ProcessJulio admits that developingthe university has been a long,slow process. ‘This really is awork in progress rather than aconcrete proposal ororganisation,’ says LuisCamacho, Progressio’s countryrepresentative in Ecuador. ‘ButProgressio made the keydecision to support somethingthat otherwise might nothappen. Most organisationswould not support this sort ofproject because it is somethingthat has to grow rather thanreach a predestined objectivewithin a specified timeframe.’

It is a process of growth thatis now beginning to bear fruit.The theory and themethodology have been written

‘We are no longer what you forced us to be. We haveeverything: the eyes, heart, and will-power to fight for ourrights; we shall defend what is ours. We know what we haveto do, we know that both you and we have our own dignityand values; it is time to look at each other face to face and tolive as equals, it is time to learn from one another, to live inharmony with Pachamama [mother earth]’

– indigenous thought of the Puruhua people of Chimborazo, Ecuador, quoted in Learningwisdom and the good way to live


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Progressio development worker Julio Olivera.

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Mary Enright and colleague in theuniversity library.

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WatershedAccording to Progressio’scountry representative inSomaliland, Dr Adan Abokor,‘The establishment of AmoudUniversity was a watershed. Itprovided a clear demarcationline between two eras: the endof the era of destruction, andthe beginning of the era ofpeace, reconciliation anddevelopment.’

The university began with60 students, three lecturers, twobuses and a library of 4,000books. Though registered as anindependent not-for-profitNGO, Amoud maintains closelinks with the Ministry forEducation, following a setcurricula. Student admission isbased on GCSE and A-Levelresults, but student age rangeand ability varies considerably.As Dr Abokor explains: ‘Most ofthese young people’s educationwas interrupted by the longcivil war in Somalia. Many ofthem grew up in refugee campsand carrying a gun was theonly opportunity they had.’

For the first three years of itsexistence Amoud was heavilydependent on funds sourcedprimarily from the diaspora.However, as more and morestudents joined and funds weregenerated through tuition fees,the university has becomeincreasingly financially stable.As well as fees and privatefunds, the university receivessome funding from theMinistry for Education and tensof thousands of books havebeen donated by NGOs in theUS and UK.

Model In July this year AmoudUniversity held its fifithgraduation. Over 300 graduatesare already working aroundSomaliland in both the publicand private sector. Theuniversity has grown toencompass five faculties:Education, Business and Public

FROM GUNSTO PENS

David Tanner describes how the people of Somaliland setup the country’s first ever university

no university yet existed withinthe country. ‘We realised,’ saysone of the academics involved,Professor Suleiman, ‘that theculture of peace spreading acrossSomaliland would not be fullysustainable without an educatedworkforce.’

A weak and poorly fundedSomaliland government wasunable to address this problem,so the group developed theidea of establishing a universityin Somaliland supported by thelocal community and theSomali diaspora. ProfessorSuleiman and his colleaguesbegan by contacting diasporaSomalilanders based in theUnited States, the Middle Eastand Europe as well as localbusinessmen, communitymembers and governmentministers. Enough funds wereraised so that in late 1997, inthe town of Borama near theEthiopian border, AmoudUniversity, the first in thecountry, opened.

AFUNDAMENTAL PART of anycountry developing andlifting its people out of

poverty is education.Somaliland, which broke awayfrom Somalia in 1991following a decade of civil war,has had a harder struggle toeducate its population thanmost. The bitter civil warravaged the country during the1980s, destroying schools anddispersing the population,including its brightest and beststudents, businessmen,teachers, doctors, scientistsand academics.

In the mid-1990s, as thepeople of Somaliland struggledto build their country, a group offormer Somali lecturers andprofessors undertook a survey ofyoung people in and around thecapital city of Hargeisa. A keyfinding was that 90 per cent ofthe young people interviewedwere planning to emigrate, someillegally, in order to enable themto attend university abroad – as


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Administration, Agricultureand Environment, InformationTechnology and Medicine andSurgery. Six thousand full-timestudents are enrolled andtaught by 55 lecturers. Eightbuses collect and drop offstudents from the surroundingarea. The library houses100,000 books and 80computers are available. TheAmoud model has now beenreplicated elsewhere inSomaliland, with diaspora- andcommunity-supporteduniversities opening recently inHargeisa and Burao.

It’s a remarkable successstory – but its significance goesmuch further than justproviding education. Anevaluation of the setting up ofthe university notes how it hashelped to build community tiesand had a fundamental and far-reaching effect on Somalilanditself:

‘Amoud University unifiedcommunities in a causeeveryone, including theexpatriate community, thoughtwas beyond their reach. Theinvolvement of varioussegments of society in the sameproject acted as a unifying andcohesive factor that reducedthe clan and politicaldifferences resulting from yearsof rivalry, anarchy and internalstrife. It served as an exampleand a model to be emulatedand aspired to by other regionsin Somaliland and in the rest offormer Somalia.

‘The success of the initiativequickly restored a greatmeasure of hope and prideamong the people andprovided much needed self-confidence after years ofhelplessness and desperation.In particular, AmoudUniversity, while in existenceonly for a short period of time,has already had a tremendouspsychological impact on youthin this country by restoringhope after a full decade ofdespair. Idle and desperatesecondary school graduates andthose enrolled in those schoolshave suddenly started to study

Progressio development worker Mary Enright and Professor Suleiman, dean of AmoudUniversity.

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learning centre where studentscan access lessons andcomplete courses over theInternet.

‘The e-learning centre givesstudents time flexibility inlearning as well as a widevariety of research materialsand programmes,’ says Ahmed.‘E-learning centres such as

Summer 2006 interact

harder in order to pass theannual examinations.’

FlexibilityProgressio has engaged withAmoud University since itsinception and has placedseveral development workers(DWs) there. DWs have workedas lecturers, covering a widervariety of courses thannormally expected, sincequalified teachers and lecturerswere still lacking. As the booksbegan to pour in, a DW withlibrarian skills was requested toturn the growing piles into afunctioning modern library.DW Mary Enright soon becamenot only Amoud University’slibrarian but also what seemedlike the librarian for the wholeof Somaliland, helping to setup the university library, thepublic ‘Ghandi Library’ inHargeisa, and varioussecondary school libraries.

In 2005 DW Ahmed Jumajoined the university’sinformation technology (IT)department to oversee theinstallation of a system toenable Internet access via asatellite connection, build theskills and capacity of hiscolleagues, and help with theestablishment of an e-learningcentre – an interactive online


‘The success of the initiative quicklyrestored a great measure of hopeand pride among the people’

these have the potential toclose the learning gap betweenstudents studying inunderdeveloped countries andthose in more advancedcountries.’

Amoud University continuesto grow and develop, recentlytaking over an agriculturalcentre, and remains the onlyuniversity in Somalilandtraining and qualifyingteachers. It’s a true Africansuccess story built on the visionand hard work of a group ofscholars backed by the long-term commitment of the localcommunity and the diaspora.

David Tanner is Progressio’sprogramme coordinator forAfrica, the Middle East and Asia.

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viewpoint

taking part in another context.Fortunately, the growing strength of thecivil society movement in the Philippinesgave me the confidence to do so.

Will-powerComing to Yemen to do skill-sharing isanother challenge to face. The supportfrom my husband, my entire family andformer colleagues gives me the strengthand will-power to face the unknown.They are the ‘wind beneath my wings’.

The knowledge that Progressio hasestablished a solid reputation for workingwith people of all faiths and none is alsoreassuring. I am temporarily sharing anoffice with an Islamic faith-basedorganisation. When my counterpartsfrom the local NGO vocally regard me astheir sister, despite the fact that I am nota Muslim woman, I feel relieved andhonored. There is hope for dialogue afterall. As I always believe, when you try tounderstand other people’s culture andfaith, and show your sensitivity towardsthem, they will in turn respect you.

Dealing with another faith in thecontext of development work is makingme re-examine my own faith and lack offaith. I have always credited the growthof my social awareness to the influences

The chance ofa lifetime

Lisa Dioneda-Moalong reflects on the close relationship between personal and international development

AFTER 14 YEARS working in thePhilippines on variousdevelopment initiatives, I felt the

time was ripe for me to go out of mycountry and explore what they call‘beyond the borders’. The journey toYemen, to work as a Progressiodevelopment worker, is an opportunityto witness the development struggles ofanother society and group of people. Iconsider it the chance of a lifetime to seebeyond the confines of my nationalistperspectives in development.

Leaving my country at this point intime was, however, a hard decision tomake. The civil society movement in thePhilippines faces many challenges in oneof the most trying periods in thecountry’s history. How do you leavebehind colleagues and fellow humanrights activists being persecuted andeven subjected to extra-judicial killings? Ihad to be sure that I was fully resolvedand in touch with the struggle of myown people before I could consider

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culture and faith … theywill in turn respect you

of Christian liberation theology, throughdiscussions with my brother, who oncestudied in a Franciscan seminary in mycountry, and from my older sister whonow works as a Franciscan missionary inAlgiers. Later experiences radicalised thisfaith. Now, I am in the process ofaffirming my own perspectives indevelopment work, one rooted in socialjustice and liberating humanism. Bydeeply appreciating my own context andexperiences, I hope to better understandIslamic charity and humanism.

From here, I hope to further engagemy Yemeni colleagues in the local civilsociety organisations and challenge themto advance into another level in theirdevelopment perspectives. After all,development involves participatoryprocesses, and capacity building is aboutchange, both at the personal andorganisational levels.

CommunicationIf there is one thing that proves to be abarrier, it would be language. This,however, I am trying to overcome. As adevelopment communicationprofessional, it is a big frustration not tounderstand and be understood. As Igrapple with the Arabic huruf oralphabet, grammar and pronunciations, Ialso feel sympathy for my Yemenicounterparts who likewise struggle tospeak English (a language which, come tothink of it, is also not my own). Somehow,the aid of a translator bridges the gaps.Furthermore, the fact that the Yemenisare masters in the art of using non-verbalcues often saves me a lot of troubleduring some challenging communicationsituations. These experiences I treasure aseducation in my cultural encounters withthe Yemenis.

The phenomenon of Filipino diasporamay be deeply rooted in the lack ofgenuine development in my country, butthe knowledge that I left to share myskills with another group of people alsowanting development gives my ownjourney another dimension. One day Iwill be going back home with stories totell to my daughters, and the knowledgethat I have taken part in the journey ofthe Yemeni people to development.

Lisa Dioneda-Moalong is a Progressiodevelopment worker in Hodeidah,Yemen. She works with a range ofNGOs on issues from women’s rightsto HIV and AIDS. She is from thePhilippines.

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analysis

Ernesto Cañada: What do we mean by food sovereignty?

Peter Rossett: Food sovereignty is the right of everypeople to define their own system of production,distribution and consumption of foods. It is the rightof rural peoples to have access to land, to be able toproduce for their own local and national markets, andnot to be excluded from those markets by subsidisedimports from overseas. And it is also the right ofconsumers to have access to healthy, locallyproduced, culturally appropriate foods.

If a country is not capable of feeding its ownpeople, if it depends on the world market for the nextmeal, we are in an extremely vulnerable situation:vulnerable to the good will of the superpowers or thefluctuations of the market. That’s why we talk ofsovereignty.

What are the consequences of the monocultural model?

Before colonisation every world culture was sovereignwith regard to food: that is, they produced what theyconsumed. Following colonisation the best lands of all

The history of many countries in the globalSouth, from the days of colonisation to thepresent, has been marked by production

for export. This monocultural model – growing asingle crop for export – lines the pockets of bigtransnational companies and local oligarchies.But in Nicaragua, it has had seriousconsequences for the life and health of thepeople, and for the environment.

Campesino (peasant farmer) organisations arenow putting food sovereignty forward as analternative strategy, based on small farmersproducing food for local and national markets.Its success depends on the support of urbanconsumers, not just in Nicaragua, but aroundthe world. Peter Rossett (co-author of one ofthe classic books on development, Worldhunger: 12 myths), in conversation withProgressio development worker Ernesto Cañada,explains how.

the countries of the South, the lands that beforeproduced food for the local population, wereconverted into platforms for export.

The main historic attack on food sovereignty hasbeen the single crop: a model based on huge tracts ofland given over to a single crop, directed for export.Historically the countries of the South, its peoples,have lost their ability to feed themselves, because thebest lands are given over more and more to export.

Nicaragua is a good example of what hashappened in many countries…

Very much so. During colonisation, the first cropsimposed were cocoa and indigo. After independencecame coffee, sugar cane, bananas, stock breeding,cotton, controlled by agribusinesses. Each crop tookover the available fertile land. The people of these

The countries of the South have lost theirability to feed themselves, because the bestlands are given over to export

Why we are

hungry

Tomatoes in a field farmed by the Playa Grande community in El Salvador.

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lands were progressively excluded. They faced thechoice between becoming badly paid agricultural daylabourers, working only two or three months in theyear, or moving onto marginal land, cutting downforests and sowing corn and beans, until these landswere themselves incorporated in the next export crop.

In Nicaragua, as in numerous other countries, it isprecisely where natural resources – land and water –abound, that poverty is highest. The peoples whoformerly enjoyed these resources ended up excludedfrom their own riches. As Eduardo Galeano says, ‘thepoor countries are poor because they are rich.’ It wasthe wealth of their resources that attracted thecolonisers, the same that today attracts thetransnationals. And it is this process which generatedsocial exclusion and poverty in the midst of wealth.

What other problems are there withmonocultures?

The monocultural model of agro-exportationgenerates a terrible vulnerability, because it meansthat the country depends on the fluctuation of pricesin the global market of what it exports, and the needto import food from markets whose prices vary.

The monocultural model has also left a legacy ofecological destruction, of degradation of the naturalresources – soil, water, biodiversity – which arenecessary for there to be sustainability of productionin the future.

For example, when cotton reached Nicaragua inthe 1950s, it found fertile lands – and not just in thequality of the soil. Initially, only two or three species ofinsect attacked the cotton. But DDT had alreadyarrived on the agricultural scene, and the farmersapplied it liberally. It quickly eliminated beneficialbiodiversity – that is, those other insects which werepredators on the cotton pests. The result was anincrease in the number of pests. In the 1980s thesituation was really serious, with more than 15 speciesof pests and the application of insecticides up to 60times in the agricultural cycle.

Moreover, the soil, which was originally very fertile,was destroyed by overuse and the lack of croprotation. Cotton left devastation: soils eroded,without trees, dust storms, insects resistant tochemicals, the smell of blights everywhere … Analmost complete ecological destruction.

But agro-exportation is not the only possiblemodel…

At the moment we are at a crossroads between twoapproaches. On the one hand, there is the dominantmodel of agro-exportation, of the single crop of thetransational business, of the use of agropoisons, ofgenetically modified seeds, of processed productsdangerous for the consumer, full of fats, sugar, salt,

carcinogenic preservatives. And on the other hand wehave the peasant model of family farm production,which produces food cultivated with much moresustainable techniques in ecological terms. Todaythese two models are confronting each other, as in afight to the death, in every country in the world, inthe North as in the South.

What are the main threats today to peasantproduction?

The main threats are the importation of cheapsubsidised food with which the peasant cannotcompete; the expansion of new single crops forexport which displace them from their land; and theneoliberal policies of the privatisation of everythingthat is important for agriculture, like land, water,credit or technical assistance.

One of the new dynamics of agro-exportation isnon-traditional crops. In general these are fruits andvegetables out of season for the countries of theNorth, such as melon, passion fruit, mango. Thesecrops need high investment, are intensive in the useof agropoisons, and their prices fluctuate so muchthat most of the small producers that go in for thesecrops end up bankrukpt.

Multilateral organisations like the World TradeOrganisation (WTO) and regional free tradeagreements reinforce the agro-export model. On theone hand, the opening of their markets is imposed onthe countries of the South, which means that theyreceive into their own markets subsidised productswith which the local peasant cannot compete. On theother hand, they impose the privatisation of theservices and goods which the peasants need in orderto go on producing.

You are putting forward peasant family farmingas the alternative – but can it guarantee thefood needs of a growing population?

Peasant farming – contrary to what certain ‘experts’say – is more productive than the agribusiness model,because the peasant uses his (or her) plot of landmore intensively, growing multiple products. Not onlydo they cultivate soya, for example, but also corn,beans, pumpkin, fruit trees, crops for fodder; theyhave pigs, hens, the odd cow.

If family farming becomes economically viable again– through protecting the market against cheap imports– it could not only revitalise rural areas, but be the keyto solving urban problems. People in the poor marginalneighbourhoods of Latin American cities, living withgangs, robberies, crimes, have one single dream: toreturn to the countryside. But to a countryside wherethey have their own plot of land, where they canproduce and earn their living with dignity.

So is this just an issue for the global South?

The problem of agriculture and food cannot bepostulated in the classic North-South terms. It is

analysis

These two models are confronting eachother … in every country in the world

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instead a question of models. The first thing tounderstand is that the dominant agro-export modelserves neither the interests of the great majority ofthe population in the South, nor those in the North. Itis an exclusive model as much in one place as in theother. What is happening to peasants in the South isalso happening to family farmers in the North. InEurope thousands of peasant families are losing theirlands. In both cases it is a dominant model of agro-industry, agro-exportation, which displaces them; andin each case they are defending a model of familyfarming against this dominant model. So we have tobegin by understanding that it is to our advantage toally ourselves with the peasant movements in theSouth to change the model of farming and feeding inthis world.

What can people in the countries of the North do?

We should begin by thinking what we are buying,and not buy without thinking. We have to informourselves and consider whether what we are buying isa local product or comes from a transnational whichdisplaced local producers in another country in orderto bring us this product. Equally, how was thisproduct produced? With agrotoxic pesticides anddestruction of the soil and biodiversity? Or withecologically sustainable methods? We should considerwhether our act of consumption is strengtheningpeasant family farming, which is sustainable, orhelping to destroy it.

The most important criterion for the consumerwho wants to change the world is local consumption.In this way they will be supporting the family farmersof their own country, and they will not be harmingpeasants in another country. If someone in Europeconsumes grapes imported from Chile, out of season,or melon imported from El Salvador or Nicaragua, alsoout of season, they are supporting a model ofexclusion. Because it is not the small peasant whoproduces this food, but the big transnational. If onestops consuming this type of product from thetransnational, and instead buys local products, onestops harming the peasant producers of anothercountry and begins to support the family farmers ofone’s own country.

We must stop believing in the myth that openingthe markets in the North will solve problems in theSouth. This is a fallacy. What the countries in theSouth need is to be able to close their own markets tosubsidised exports from countries in the North, and tobe able to subsidise their own local agriculture, tomeet their local and national food needs.

Where does the concept of fair trade fit into this?

Many of us want to think that by buying a productfrom Argentina, Nicaragua, Ghana or India, we aresupporting the peasant people of those countries. Butthe reverse is true: on buying a product of agro-exportwe are directly supporting a social exclusion model.

Of course there will always be tropical products like

coffee or cocoa that cannot be produced in theNorth. In this sense it is clear: there will always beinternational trade and it is better that there be fairerprices. But this concept of fair trade can tend tolegitimise the idea that the countries of the Southshould give themselves over to the production ofthese products for export. It does not solve the bigstructural problems, insofar as it continues within thesame agro-export model – with better prices, butwithout changing the structure in which the best landis given over to exportation and not to the productionof food for local consumption.

Therefore I identify myself with the concept of justtrade which thinks each producer should have a local

analysis

The dominant agro-export model serves neitherthe interests of the great majority of thepopulation in the South, nor those in the North

A farmer in Honduras inspects a pepper plant.

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market, and that consumers can buy from localproducers. The most important thing is that countriesproduce what they consume and that they have thepossibility of creating national local markets in theirown territory.

In order to change the unjust structures of thefood and agriculture system, it is necessary first tounderstand how this world functions; second, tothink when we consume; and third, to convert thatthought into action. Social mobilisation is the onlyforce capable of changing these structures.

Ernesto Cañada is a Progressio developmentworker with Fundación Luciérnaga in Nicaragua.Luciérnaga works on recovering anddocumenting the memories of Nicaragua’shistory and Latin American cultural identity.Ernesto is from Spain. World hunger: 12 myths byFrances Moore Lappe, Joseph Collins and PeterRossett is published by Earthscan (ISBN1853834939).

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reportage


The Huaral valley is two hours drive north of Lima, through a bleak industriallandscape peppered with the shanty towns of the city’s poor. Their ramshacklehomes are built on crumbling hillsides or, quite simply, on desert. No water, novegetation, nothing, just sand and dirt. How can people live here? Yet whenpeople migrate to Lima in search of a livelihood, they have to stay somewhere.They build a shelter on the unclaimed desert, and at night go back to sleep there.They get an electricity cable, add another room to their house, arrange regulardeliveries from a water truck, plant a small garden in the desert soil. And over time– maybe over a whole generation – they begin to achieve a bit of permanence;they begin to build a community.

The Huaral valley is, like the rest of the coastal plain of Peru,a desert zone. Despite this, it is intensively cultivated, witharound 8,000 small farms growing potato, cotton,strawberries, flowers, maize, sweet potato, green beans. Thefarmers rely on water from the mountains which isdistributed over 22,000 hectares of farmed land through amaze of irrigation channels. Administering the system – theresponsibility of the Chancay-Huaral irrigation council – usedto be a bureaucratic nightmare. Information about howmuch water was available, which crops were planted whereand when, how much water was needed by each farm andwhen it was needed, whether the appropriate fees had beenpaid to release the water – all this used to be collected bypencil and paper and collated manually. The system wasslow and cumbersome and could not respond to farmers’changing needs.

The floweringof the future

A young boy at a flower stall in the Huaral valley in Peru.

words: Alastair Whitsonpictures: Graham Freer

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reportage

The problem has been solved through a pioneeringcomputerised database that simplifies the collection and

dissemination of information on water availability, water needs,crops, weather, markets, fee status. Under the paper system,less than half the farms were surveyed to assess their needs.Now more than 80 per cent are being monitored. Irrigation

council staff used to have to constantly update paper charts.Now the information can be updated and viewed at the click

of a mouse. But the real beauty of the system is that all thisinformation is available to the farmers themselves, through a

network of telecentres connected by wireless internettechnology. In addition to this information sharing,

communities can also access the Internet at the telecentres,and make phone calls to anywhere in the world.

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The new system is the brainchild of Progressio developmentworker Jaime Torres (left) and his engineering team at CEPES,the Peruvian Centre for Social Studies. ‘We built this fromscratch because we didn’t find anything anywhere else in theworld to build from,’ he says. It is based on free ‘open source’software and uses a content management system so peoplecan add information to the database without technicalcomputer knowledge. The telecentres make the informationwidely available, and a touch screen system with audioplayback (see picture below left) is being developed for peoplewho do not know how to use a computer. According to CarlosSaldarriaga of CEPES, ‘This is the only project of its kind inPeru, where ICT skills are being applied to meet the real needsof farmers.’ Jaime is a young Colombian who gave up aprestigious job at an internet company in Bogota – and thebright lights of the big city – to come to work with the rural

communities of the Huaral valley. ‘When you are working for a company you mayhave lots of ideas, but how many of them come to reality?’ says Jaime. ‘Here youhave an idea and you can see it happen.’

According to Marcial Vega, president of the irrigation council(near right), ‘The system is a great help. It saves time and it

saves resources. Everything is immediate – information isimmediately uploaded and available, and even if you are 25km

away you can get the information through the telecentres.’Hector Salvador (far right), who has farmed in the Huaral valleyfor decades and knows Huaral, the farmers and their problems

like the back of his hand, works for CEPES to promote theinformation system. ‘The success is down to the fact that

everybody trusts the project,’ he says. They held workshops sothat farmers could put forward ideas about what they needed.‘They helped create the project and now they feel it’s their project,’ says Hector. ‘Ithas helped them to be more organised, more in touch with each other.’ It meansfarmers can work out which crops to grow and when to get the best prices, and

can be sure they will get the water they need to grow those crops. It takes theguesswork and chance out of the process. ‘The idea is to increase profit,’ says

Marcial. ‘Farmers are producing more thanks to access to the information, andthey are very happy because they feel they are touching development. We know

now that with information people can develop.’


interactnowGo to www.progressio.org.uk/appeal to find out how youcan support the work of Jaime and other Progressiodevelopment workers whose expertise and innovation isbringing improvements to the lives of people in poorcommunities.

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reflection

but I am not sure there is a philosophicalor political basis for this. There ishowever a clear theological basis for it –and people here seem to appreciate that.They may not feel the need to say ‘thankyou’ to others, but they do not stopthanking God. The young people herewill not even drink a cup of tea withoutstopping to sing a hymn first!

Saying thank you to God is somethingwhich I find very easy here. There is somuch that we cannot take for grantedthat when there is electricity or a goodroad or a cool day, God gets animmediate vote of thanks. There is auseful meditation that a Jesuit issupposed to do at least once a day. It isto reflect on the previous few hours andnotice all the things that have come fromGod but were taken for granted at thetime. It is amazing how much we do notnotice – things we use, people we meet,moments of happiness, beautiful views.

But such reflections inevitably bringup the problem of evil. If God is creditedwith the good stuff then why is he notalso to blame for the bad stuff? I canoffer no pat answers to that. But what Iobserve around me are people whoretain hope in the face of repeateddisappointment. The start of repatriationhas been delayed yet again. The conflictin Darfur worsens. The rains are slow incoming. And yet even the students whohave been abandoned mid-studies by theUN remain hopeful.

As I wrote these reflections, therefugees around me were celebratingHoly Week. They enacted various rituals:waving palm branches, washing feet,venerating the cross, lighting the Easterbonfire, singing Alleluias. All of theseactions express a theology of sayingthank you (or ‘Eucharist’ to give it atechnical name). What God has done forus – from creation to salvation – we didnot deserve and we are never entitled to.The least we can do is say thanks.

Raymond Perrier works for the JesuitRefugee Service at Rhino Camp innorthern Uganda. Most of the 20,000Sudanese at the camp have beenthere for more than eight years.Raymond previously worked as abranding consultant and he assistedProgressio, on a voluntary basis, withthe transition to our new name.

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thank you when the bore holes arerepaired, or when some of them get asecondary education, or when a fewmedicines are available at the doctor-lesshealth centres. But why do I expect therefugees to say thank you for things thatin England I took for granted? After all, Inever used to say thank you for the factthat water came out of my taps, or thatthe state provided me with an excellenteducation, or that the health system wasthere to catch me should I fall.

Is the difference just about what wedo or do not pay for? Or is it somethingto do with what we feel ‘entitled’ to?But why shouldn’t people who havesuffered war, persecution, famine, loss oftheir homes and sexual abuse – throughno fault of their own – feel entitled towater, education and health? Indeed, allof these (and many others) have beenarticulated as ‘rights’ in the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights. Do we saythank you for the freedom of speech orthe freedom of association that we enjoy‘by right’?

Socially I feel they (and we) should allsay thank you a lot more than we do –

Giving thanksWorking with Sudanese refugees in Uganda reminds Raymond Perrier

never to take anything for granted

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The young people here willnot even drink a cup of teawithout stopping to sing a

hymn first!

The spirit of celebration: a woman inUganda expresses her joy in life.

ONE OF THE THINGS I find hardest toget used to here is the fact thatpeople don’t say ‘thank you’. I

realise that the English do tend tooveruse the term and perhaps don’talways mean it. But still, after giving a liftto someone, or showing a video in asettlement, or paying for some medicine,or (with donated funds) supportingsomeone to go to school, I wait in vainfor the magic words.

At first I thought it was a languageproblem, and then that it was a sign ofingratitude, and then that it wasevidence of dependency. But now I haveresigned myself to accepting this as acultural difference. No rudeness isintended by it.

But perhaps there is an underlyingtruth that they are communicating (albeitunwittingly). I expect the refugees to say

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making a concrete contribution to the‘skilling up’ of East Timorese civil society– much needed and, with the recentunrest and civil strife in this newlyindependent nation, more necessarythan ever.

I raise an imaginary glass to all whohave contributed to the Ai-Kameli Trustover the past six years and encourageeveryone to go on contributing inwhatever way you can. Nothing can bemore practical and concrete thanproviding education and skills tocommitted young individuals set ondoing their best for an emerging anddeeply needy country. There is a hugeamount yet to do… A luta continua(the struggle continues)!

Catherine Scott is manager ofProgressio’s Africa, Middle East andAsia programmes.

perspective

IT WAS THE BEGINNINg of the year 2000.We activists and NGO workers whothrough the 1990s had supported and

campaigned on behalf of the EastTimorese liberation struggle weremeeting with a group of young Timoresestudents in Oxfordshire. Timor was onthe road to statehood following thehistoric vote by an intimidated butdetermined population to separate fromIndonesia. The question was, what didthe students want us to do now tosupport them?

The response was unequivocal. ‘Weneed skills. We cannot go home empty-handed – we have a country to build.’‘Our leader, Xanana Gusmao, hasrecommended us to gain an educationbefore we go home.’

Education is one thing many EastTimorese have missed out on. Theeducation service provided by theIndonesians – rote learning, poorlyresourced – had hardly prepared themfor anything. And many had skippedschool to devote themselves to thestruggle for self-determination anyway.

We agreed to set up a charity whichwould raise funds for students to get aneducation in the UK. When they askedfor volunteers I found my hand in the air.With little knowledge of how to goabout it, I started networking and gotstuck into the task. My aim was to set upthe charity and quietly withdraw, butsomehow I became the chairperson – aposition I am only now relinquishingafter six years!

JourneyIt has been quite a journey. To start with,the East Timorese students wanted ussimply to fundraise, divide up the moneyand parcel it out to them. We decidedwe could not possibly operate like that –though for the first couple of years wedid reserve the scholarships for UK-basedEast Timorese students who wanted toreturn to Timor.

A couple of years into the trust weworked out what has been a very fruitfulpartnership with Westminster University,which provides fee waivers; InternationalStudents’ House, which provides freestudent accommodation; and ourselveswho find the students, bring them to theUK and provide living expenses. Westarted sourcing our candidates fromEast Timor itself, recognising that thesestudents were more likely to want to goback at the end of their studies.

Fundraising for the trust has been far

from easy. I am not afraid to admit therewere times when I felt like giving up. Butwe are gradually building up privatedonors – the best hope we have ofestablishing a funding base. Myself andour trustees have given many a talk towould-be donors and interestedaudiences – with mixed results. One earlyattempt at the Anglo-Portuguese Societynetted exactly the train fare EstevaoCabral, one of our board members, hadspent getting to London!

CelebrationBut we also have things to celebrate. Forinstance, we had the great pleasure twoyears ago of sending home our firstgraduate – Florencio Fernandes, with adegree in business economics. He will befollowed this year by graduates inbiochemistry, biotechnology in medicine,and tourism.

Meeting and working with thestudents has been inspiring. I wasdelighted to have Lucia Freitas, one ofour students, speak at the launch ofIndependent women, a book I co-authored with Irena Cristalis last year.She spoke of her plans to go back homeand work in a forensics laboratory soEast Timorese society would be betterable to nail the perpetrators of domesticviolence – a serious problem faced byEast Timorese women. I am proud of her.

Another satisfying development is theestablishment of an advisory board ofEast Timorese academics in Dili. They willadvise us on new candidates, and helpus channel funding to deserving studentswho want to study at home at one ofthe new universities springing updomestically.

We have an active and engagedboard of trustees in the UK, and it hasbeen a marvellous experience shapingthis young charity. Although ourachievements are yet modest, we have agood basis for future growth and for

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The strugglecontinuesCatherine Scott describes how the Ai-Kameli Trust has beenhelping East Timor’s people get the skills they need to buildtheir emerging nation

interactnowAi-Kameli is the tetum word for Sandalwood– an historic export of the island of Timor.If you would like to support the Ai-KameliTrust, please contact Alison Krentel([email protected]; www.aikameli.com) ortelephone Catherine Scott on 020 7288 8628for further information.

Facing up to further study: schoolstudents in East Timor.

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A violent past…

The civil war ended 14 years ago, but Angolastill bears the scars of its violent past. Thecountry is in desperate need of help. Most ofthe population live in extreme poverty andlack basic needs such as water, food, andhousing. There is only one doctor and onemidwife for every 20,000 people, and onenurse for every 1,000. Angola suffers highrates of child malnutrition, low schoolenrolment rates and poor adult literacy.

A hopeful future…

Here at Progressio, we are working forpeace, justice and sustainable developmentin many countries around the world. Sincethe 1990s our international advocacy workhas played a key role in supporting Angola’sstruggle for peace – as it also has for EastTimor, Somaliland and El Salvador. Today ourwork continues to help rebuild communitiestorn by wars. But we depend on people likeyou to do our job. Without your support, wecan’t act. Please make a donation today andhelp us continue our work in fightingpoverty.

Em Esta CidadeIn this city

The rains have ceased but cracked drains spill dankdark pits across the streetwaiting to catch the blue and white kombi taxisweaving, swerving, suddenly stopping, findingimpossible spaces in the endless traffic

In this citySun burns through the morning polluted haze, smokefrom tyres stacked in pyres. Satellite dishes cling tocrumbling masonry, wires trailing like a greasy fringe.City of neglect and war.

In this cityGaggles of girls young in everything but faces retiebabies tight to their backs with capellanas. On everygirl’s head plastic bowls of fruit, cigarettes, kitchentowels, endlessly hawking.

In this cityYoung dudes sell everything that Asia produces –watches, football shirts, bathmats, carjacks – and nota little attitude.

In this cityEverything is for sale

In this cityAlong the wall of the barracks, the fadingrevolutionary slogans. Three bent over womenhunkered down in the dust. Behind on the red wall inwhite ‘Emancipao de Mulher’.

In this cityFive million squatting peasants where the fewthousand whites lived and fled. But the peasants willnever go back.

In this city‘Por favore mantenha nossa cidade limpe’ – a noticeleans, stuck in a blowing chase-my-tail of rubbish.

In this cityEveryone speeding – their own course like the fishersthey once were, their own furrow like the peasantsthey will never be again.

In this cityWhere once the revolution in mad May days of rageturned and ate its own children

We survive.

Steve Kibble, Luanda, capital city of Angola, June 2006. Steve is Progressio’s advocacy coordinator for Africa and Yemen.

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issue 012 13/7/06 16:49 Page 20

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interact - Progressio · real transformations; and my conviction has to be that the small struggles and daily victories can be the beginning of structural and transcendental transformations,