Our class covered refugee movement and NGOs in East Africa and a global context from roughly 1972 to 2012. We read numerous articles (around three or four a week) on different issues surrounding this topic. These articles discussed religious NGOs, the UNHCR and its challenges, physical health issues, mental health issues, and reasons for why refugees and IDPs needed to flee their homes in the first place. We went into the field trip armed with the knowledge from class, or as much of it as we remembered, and a greater understanding of the regions culture from our placement.
But, it feels almost completely different to engage with these topics on the ground. Many of the articles we read were written by what Ugandans would call a mzungu, or if not by a mzungu for a mzungu audience. Even if the articles are written well and “ethically” a degree of separation occurs when you read about refugees and conflicts thousands of miles away in a classroom. No matter how much you think you understand or sympathise, you can only understand so much. Like our placements the ability to engage with these topics on their own terms in their own settings deepens and enhances your understanding.
Of the articles we read many discussed the issues that occurred in refugee camps. The meeting with the man from the Office of the Prime Minister, I am sorry I do not remember his name, allowed us to understand these issues from an on the ground administrative angle. He worked as a commandant throughout Uganda including in the north when the LRA (Lords Resistance Army aka Koney) was most active. When I asked what he thought the biggest problem that he faced was, instead of saying money like I expected (that seemed to be a popular answer for almost everyone else I asked) he said, “educating all the children who live in the camps. We have man primary schools in the camps and settlements, but not enough teachers. They often leave. We have very few secondary schools. They are often far away from where people in the settlements and camps live, and so the kids cannot attend. That I think is the biggest problem.” From all the readings I expected a different answer. This issue also arose when we talked with the Windle Trust Foundation and visited the Nakivale settlement.
The refugee settlement even riviled the images I had in my head from the readings. The readings made camps sound like rotting hellholes where everyone walked around like with shell shock not trusting their neighbours, and had nothing to eat. I am sure there are camps that readings depicted accurately, however, it gave me some hope to see how this settlement ran. Because it is one of the older camps it seemed to be more structured and organized. The area and school we saw looked more established and secure than many of the villages we visited in Lyantonde. This brought up mixed feelings and emotions for me. On the one hand why should refugees get more funding for nicer houses when people in Uganda and other places in Africa lived in grass huts that flood when it rains? On the other hand they have experienced horrors most of us do not even like to imagine so why should they not have a stable, or more stable, place to live when the flee?
I also I gained a more significant understanding of the violence of the conflicts we learned about from the field trip. When we visited the Refugee Law Project exhibit it allowed our class to see how Ugandans viewed the conflicts we learned about in class with much of the western bias taken out. The visit to the Mengo Palace also resonated with me. Seeing the exploded cars and the writing in the ‘chamber’ where Obote and Amin killed 1000s of men made allowed me to see and connect with the violence. I could not hide behind the ink. The field trip placed the reality of the violence in my face, and I could not ignore it. The same experience happened when we saw the 108 skulls (I counted) and other bones in the genocide museum in Rwanda, as well as the skulls at Lake Kivu. Overall I believe that the field trip enhanced my understanding of the class, and the class prepared me to understand the conflicts that shaped the region and address issues that my organization work with today.
