EMPOWERMENT at HOME MBARARA | MBARARA UNIVERSITY the DAAD In-Country Programme in Uganda
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Sudan Kenya GULU | GULU UNIVERSITY Democratic UGANDA Republic of Congo KAMPALA | MAKERERE UNIVERSITY EMPOWERMENT AT HOME MBARARA | MBARARA UNIVERSITY The DAAD In-Country Programme in Uganda Tanzania Rwanda Contents / Impressum Kolumnentitel Empowerment at home 1 Editorial 1 The millennium goals in action 2 Three questions for Francis K. Butagira 5 Makerere University 6 It all started with a cool nun 8 Opening the way to world markets 10 Upgrading and marketing traditional medicinal plants 12 Holistic health research 15 Education instead of civil war 18 Three questions for Silver Mugisha 19 Mbarara University 20 For a university of the future 22 Three questions for Grace Rugunda 23 »I know I have a job to do here « 24 Gulu University 26 No easy place to be 28 Three questions for Nyeko Pen-Mogi 31 Coping with trauma 32 »Local knowledge is key to the process Impressum of recovery and reconciliation.« Published by Photo credits German Academic Exchange Service Page 5: Eric Lichtenscheidt, clothing from foreign organisations and experienced their Kennedyallee 50, D-53175 Bonn all other photos: Mirco Lomoth parents’ helplessness and, often, alcoholism. That’s the www.daad.de basis for the rest of their lives,” says Benjamin Alipanga. Artistic design and layout This “lost generation” has to get a grip on their own lives Project coordination Stefanie Naumann, and deal with the former LRA perpetrators – an insur- Cay Etzold Designbüro Lübbeke Naumann Thoben, Cologne, mountable task. Benjamin Alipanga: “Traumas are passed Heide Albertin www.LNT-design.de on from one generation to another. Strictly, everyone here Clinical psychologist Benjamin Alipanga (44) Gabriele Parmentier Printing in the north should receive care and treatment.” works with trauma patients in northern Uganda. Section 413 Eastern and Southern Africa Brandt GmbH, Bonn A DAAD In-Country Scholarship helped him to Content and editing March 2012 – Print run: 2.500 | Printed in Germany www.children-for-tomorrow.de complete his Master’s degree at Makerere Uni- Dr. Isabell Lisberg-Haag, Trio MedienService, Bonn © DAAD www.centreforchildren.be versity in Kampala. He is currently working on a www.trio-medien.de doctorate, supported by Belgian Technical Coop- Heide Albertin, Gabriele Parmentier, DAAD Funded by eration in Ghent and Kampala, on the impact of experiencing violence in youth on the process of Authors reconciliation after civil war. He is setting up a Dr. Isabell Lisberg-Haag, Mirco Lomoth trauma clinic in Gulu on behalf of the “Children Translation for Tomorrow” Foundation and trains multipliers Dr. Lynda Lich-Knight, ResearchComm Ltd., Canterbury in the villages. www.researchcomm.eu 33 Empowerment at home Editorial The DAAD In-Country Programme Dear readers The people showcased in this brochure prove that it is worth investing in bright minds and that it is worth pro- Simon Anguma is a physicist, the very first in his country to moting and developing good centres of education like examine the potential of solar energy in Uganda. Geoffrey Makerere University in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Can Bakunda lectures in economics at the largest university photovoltaic cells cope with the local climate? Can micro- in the country. As a government advisor he campaigns to credits really lead the way out of poverty in Uganda, too? transform economic insights into practical policies, poli- This kind of question can best be answered in the country cies which would benefit the whole of society. Beatrice itself, particularly when young academics are given the op- Odongkara, a successful scientist and dedicated paediatri- portunity and the means to acquire qualifications, to share cian, has founded an aid organisation to ease the plight of their knowledge and to make contacts both regionally and AIDS orphans and give former child soldiers a new per- internationally. spective on life. For many, access to higher education is still impossible. Simon Anguma, the oldest of eight children, was obliged And yet it is precisely this that changes societies and in- to provide for his family. After studying in India, Geoffrey stitutions: well-trained individuals can take responsibility Bakunda saw himself as a manager in a multi-national. for their own lives and the development of their country. Beatrice Odongkara and her family only just managed to This is one of the reasons why the DAAD believes it has a flee the violence of the civil war. But however different the duty to continue expanding its engagement in developing backgrounds and paths in life of these three former DAAD countries. scholarship-holders may be, they are all united by the deci- sion to take responsibility, by the will to drive change and There is no such thing as a straightforward CV in Africa – by the aim of using their good education to promote their this is true of Uganda, too. But as you can see for yourself, country. these are impressive people we are presenting in this bro- chure – people who deserve our respect and from whom Since the beginning of the 1960s, the DAAD has funded we have much to learn. outstanding young academics from developing countries who want to complete a Master’s or doctoral degree in their own country or region. The programme is financed by the We hope you will find this inspiring! Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Develop- ment (BMZ). In 1968, the first scholarship was awarded in Uganda. Since then, the numbers have increased steadily. With more than 1,000 scholarship-holders every year, the DAAD now helps to address issues like the shortage of uni- versity teachers and to stem the brain drain. Dr. Helmut Blumbach Head of Department Southern Hemisphere, DAAD 1 Empowerment at home Application statistics Funding provided by the Federal Ministry for Economic The millennium goals in acTion Since 2006, over 800 students in Uganda have applied for Cooperation and Development 2003-2011: an In-Country Scholarship and more than 160 of them Uganda total: 4.1 million euro The DAAD In-Country / In-Region Programme have been accepted (34 PhD scholarships and 133 Master’s). In-Country/In-Region Programme 2.4 million euro During the same period, some 100 scholarship-holders suc- BEvölkErungswachstum: 65 % cessfully completed their training. The world is growing closer together – with all the posi- Uganda tive and negative results this implies. With globalisation, at Together with Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya, Uganda was alphaBEtisiErung: 72,9 % the latest, came the realisation that the traditional models one of the first African countries in which the DAAD offered of development aid are no longer effective. What are needed In-Country Scholarships. In 1968, the first seven scholar- gEBurtEnratE: 47,% are long-term strategies for cooperating with local people, ships were awarded, ten years later, the figure was almost because they are the only ones who can drive the develop- 100. Since the DAAD started to collect systematic data in Distribution of 500 scholarship holders according to subject 1990-2010 lEBEnsErwartung: 48,% ment of their country and region. the early 1990s, 500 scholarships have been registered. For many years, Master’s degrees and doctorates were only taken ZwEitEr BildungswEg: 45,% Since the 1960s, the DAAD has awarded scholarships within at Makerere University in Kampala, unless students went to 18 % Law, economics and social sciences countries, financed by the Federal Ministry for Economic neighbouring countries or to South Africa. At the start of the General medicine 32 % Cooperation and Development: graduates receive fund- millennium, Mbarara University in southwestern Uganda ing to complete a Master’s degree or a doctorate in their became a new addition. And, as a result of the demonstra- 24 % Mathematics and natural sciences own country or in another country in the region. These ble political stabilisation of Uganda in the last few years, a Engineering sciences 4 % In-Country Scholarships can look back on a long tradition number of new state universities such as Gulu, Busitema, during which they have yielded substantial returns. Kyambogo and Muni have been founded; their students also 7 % Information and communication sciences apply for scholarships Veterinary medicine, agriculture, The chequered history of Africa over more than 40 years forestry and nutrition science, ecology 15 % has not changed the objectives of the programme: to pro- BMZ funding for Uganda 2003–2011 vide young men and women with access to practice-related Thanks to BMZ funding, the DAAD has increased its en- higher education so that they can make their own contribu- gagement in development policy over the years. In addition tion to the need-based development of their country and its to the In-Country / In-Region Scholarship Programme, Proportion of women receiving funding universities. there are numerous opportunities for alumni, and support For women, the In-Country Scholarship Programme is is also available for university partnerships and university a special opportunity to acquire a university education in Nowadays, many alumni hold key positions in their coun- development. In 2011, a continuing education programme their own country. Women account for 34 percent of those try’s political, economic and social sectors, while also work- was introduced for post-docs. funded (since 2006, 50 percent). ing as lecturers and researchers at their universities and, at the same time, channeling their specialist knowledge into the structural development of their countries in such 600,000 euro important fields