Troy Davis: Political Prisoner on Death Row

Troy Davis: Political Prisoner on Death Row

We contend that but for the racist bigotry, and the insensitivity of the government in Georgia, Troy Davis would not be in prison or on Death Row today…
-Thomas Ruffin, Jr., Legal Counsel for DC Black August Planning Organization

Troy Anthony Davis has been a political prisoner on Death Row for more than half his life. His death by lethal injection sentence, which has been scheduled and stayed (put on hold) three times in the last year and a half, has most recently been stayed by the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

His plight has not been in vain. The fight to save his life is far from over, thanks to his sister, Martina Davis-Correia, and others, who have listened and acted. The Campaign to Save Troy Davis, a nationwide conglomerate of groups interested in social justice, has spread awareness about Davis and demanded his retrial. In DC, grassroots organizations, such as the Black August Planning Organization (BAPO) and Nat Turner Rebellion, have played an integral role.

And yes, Davis is a political prisoner. His political crime? Being a young, educated Black Man in the state of Georgia who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. If political and social dynamics, as well as racist state institutions, contribute to the wrongful incarceration of an individual, then that individual should be classified accordingly.

These dynamics are apparent in Davis’ twenty year legal battle without even considering the proven nationwide racist and classist sentencing of the death penalty. In this case, as many Davis supporters have said,

“The evidence speaks for itself.”

BACKGROUND
In 1989 Davis was accused of murdering a white police officer, Mark MacPhail, in Savannah, GA. He was convicted and sentenced to Death Row in trial court in 1991.

There was no physical evidence, such as a gun, ever found linking Davis to the crime and his public defender apparently did very little to help his case. Seven of the original nine witnesses who testified against Davis in trial court recanted their testimonies, which they claim were made under pressure and threats by the police who were angry about MacPhail’s death. In an affidavit, Jeffrey Sapp stated,

“I got tired of them harassing me, and they made it clear that the only way they would leave me alone is if I told them what they wanted to hear. I told them that Troy told me he did it, but it wasn't true.” (Amnesty International) The other witnesses gave similar statements in their recantations.

Chatham Co., GA District Attorney Spencer Lawton was the prosecutor in Davis’ 1991 murder trial. In a recent interview with ABC News, he outlandishly attributed the similarities in the seven witness’s reasons for recanting their testimonies as an “uncanny coincidence.”

In addition, new affidavits suggest that the actual killer was one of the only two original witnesses who did not recant his original testimony, Sylvester “Red” Coles. In an affidavit Joseph Washington said,

“I saw Sylvester Coles – I know him by the name Red – shoot the police officer. I am positive that it was Red who shot the police officer ...” (AI)

Since his conviction, Davis has tried various legal maneuvers in order to receive a new trial and present new evidence. Both the Georgia State Supreme Court, as well as the US Supreme Court as recently as October 14, 2008, have reviewed and denied (without providing reason) his appeals for clemency. The US Supreme Court’s decision ended its stay of execution, and on October 15, 2008, the Georgia State Department of Corrections issued a new execution order for Monday, October 27, 2008 at 7 pm.

On Wednesday, October 22, the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit stayed the execution in order to give both Davis’ defense attorneys and the prosecution time to present their arguments about whether or not Davis should be granted a new trial. A large part of the court’s decision will depend on the ability of Davis’ lawyers to prove that it was impossible to present the new evidence until recently.

Davis’ difficulty in being granted a new trial has been due in part to the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which makes it extremely difficult for Death Row inmates to appeal their convictions. The only entity in Georgia with clemency granting power, the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP), is made up of a five member panel, three with a background in law enforcement. Some would say that in Davis’ case, their ability to make objective decisions is consequently severely impaired.

ACTION & ADVOCACY
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, several hundred of Davis’ supporters were holding a mock funeral for him, while carrying a coffin and petitions with over 140,000 signatures, in front of the state capitol building when the court issued the stay. In Georgia, a state that is known for deep-seated racism and allowing the execution of Death Row inmates of questionable convictions (many which have been tainted with similar racial and economic dynamics), this type of action is unprecedented.

Davis’ freedom has become an international cause. As displayed on his website, he has garnered moral support from the European Union, Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu, just to name a few.

Just as important as the big name endorsements have been the efforts of grassroots organizers and activists across the nation. Some have suggested that just as in the widespread support the JENA 6 enjoyed last year, this is due to the capacity of the internet to spread awareness and organize. In the case of the JENA 6, consciousness and subsequent support from traditional civil rights leaders and groups came only after the blogosphere and other internet networks had already begun to take action.

During a September 23rd rally for Davis in front of the US Supreme Court, Thomas Ruffin, legal counsel to the BAPO and Chair of the Nat Turner Rebellion, said,

“There are some people who don’t think this [protesting] is the best way to do things…I happen to disagree.” He said that such actions display that the people are watching the courts.

During the same rally, which was organized by BAPO and the Nat Turner Rebellion, BAPO Chair Naji Mujahid said the action was in defense of civil rights and fairness, but not to appeal to the conscientious objectors of the death penalty.

“We’re not appealing to anybody’s moral conscious right now…innocence matters in this case.”

He also said the BPP tried hard to move forward with the death sentence in the face of mounting opposing pressure and a weak legal case because of a philosophy of “finality over fairness,” meaning it would rather kill an innocent person than “second guess” its authority or legitimacy in the face of the media and international attention. He said that the “legal lynching” sentence was a result of corrupt legal proceedings. He also mentioned that state of Georgia holds the second highest number of recorded lynchings of Blacks in US history.
The BAPO recently called for a boycott of Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola, both of which are multinational corporations based in Georgia. According to Ruffin,
“If there is an effective boycott, the companies’ income taxes will decrease, and this will put pressure on the state to step in and save Davis’ life.”

“I am Troy Davis” has become a popular mantra of Davis’ supporters. This is reminiscent of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous quote: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

That being said, I am Troy Davis, a political prisoner on Death Row. I have been locked up for the majority of my life, but I remain hopeful.

I do not deserve to die for a crime I did not commit.

2nd Entry - Only 2 weeks left in Beijing

A note about Internet in China

Only through usage of proxy servers have I been able to post on this blog, and even check some email accounts here. In fact, I wasn’t even able to view my own blog for a while because of what some call “the great firewall of China” (Wikipedia). There is extensive government censorship of the internet, which fluctuates in severity content targeted and can become a major pain at times.

My internship

I have been working at my internship for several week now, and I have been very happy with it. I am doing graphic design work for a start-up company called renmenbi.com, a market insights company that provides market information for foreign companies about the burgeoning business climate in China. Renmenbi (which literally means Chinese local money) was founded in 2007 by two brothers, Lac and Ken Tran, who are of Chinese decent but grew up in Canada. Each has extensive experience with technology and the internet. Through observation of their daily entrepreneur work and struggle to make Renmenbi succeed, I have been able to see and experience business entrepreneurship close up for first time; I have learned a lot, most important of which, is starting a business requires a vast amount of sweat and time.

Although it seems to become something that engulfs one’s life, I do think it’s very much worth it when things get off the ground, and based on what type of people they are and the market niche they are in, I believe they will succeed. Some of the services they providing are unique to the industry (such as an extensive bilingual business term translation – coming soon). In fact, they just moved into a new office and just launched an improved website – it’s very exciting to see concrete progress!

I actually appreciate them a lot because although I study visual communication (graphic design), my internship with them is the first time I have been able to use those skills in a real world setting. I am by no means a professional designer yet and therefore am not yet very fast with design, but the projects they have given me are allowing me to practice and develop those skills. As an intern, I am also interviewing foreign companies in China in order to produce case studies about the hardships and other important aspects of business in China.

The subject of the first case study is about the Chinese term guanxi – which basically meaning relationship/network cultivation. It is essential for any small to medium, and even large corporate foreign businesses, to understand this complex concept before doing business here. Believe me, it is more complex than it sounds. For more, check http://renmenbi.com/effective-ways-cultivate-guanxi

One must be able to tap into guanxi networks to get many things done. This requires fostering trust with potential business partners before one can really get into business.

Business in China

Through class and interactions with people involved in the Chinese business world, I have a few thoughts about this subject. Business in China, similar to everything else here, is expanding at an astonishing pace. According to a UNC economy professor, the Chinese economy is growing at about 9-10% a year.* The issue to many Chinese is how to maintain this expansion and prosperity (though not for all) without losing traditional culture, which of course is so old here. Business in China is by no means a new concept – China is one of, if not the most, oldest nations and cultures. Historically, people from all over the world came here to trade and China, whose aristorcratic and merchants classes were very rich and successful as a result. This changed with Western foreign invasion and conquest of the 1800s onward – something Chinese people are still very resentful of. And damn well justified to be so. It is refreshing to see a nation, that although is extremely capitalist and economy unbalanced, at least largely owns and control its own economy. We all know most non-European or Non-Western countries don’t have such power. All the same, because of its capitalist nature, China is also one of the biggest producers of trash in the world, and wastes a lot of resources and everyday packaging; it is also a major contributor to pollution – the air in Beijing is heavily polluted, but is supposed to get better for the Olympics.

Back to history - Conforming to ‘Western’ business practices, which were technologically more advanced and imperialistic by nature, China was no longer the great power it had been until recently. It has regained its economic superiority only by conforming to the world’s economic order – I guess if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. And this, I think (though I don’t much about this), is where the contradiction between China’s political and economic system begins.

The first question on my mind before arriving, and even now, is how is it possible for this very capitalist economic powerhouse to have a communist political system? Well…I still really don’t know. Maybe its for the sake of stability after many years of domestic turmoil and political movements. One extreme breeds another. Maybe. I have more insight on this…but that will go in the next blog when it is more developed…you expected some profound conclusion? Haha…

Last thing – check out the picture in the third to last blog – I took it on the great wall and I feel like it captures the essence of the title of this blog.

*One can witness it everywhere, from the physical landscape of the city – new sky scrapers are built within one year’s time – to the media attention China is given in US media. Some say they believe things are moving too fast, and after the 2008 Olympics, things could be out of hand. Others say that based on how much money foreign companies are investing here, they plan to stay here for a long time and business will only continue to grow, though at a slower pace.

About Renmenbi.com

For anyone interested, Renmnebi.com has articles about very interesting aspects of China – from which I have learned a lot. Because their website’s information is geared toward those being introduced to China’s very different culture, it is perfect for anyone just beginning to learn about it. I know many people are just getting interested in China for the sake of its expanding economic power, but without understanding its history and culture, one can really not make too much sense of why and how this phenomena is occurring. This applies to a foreign company as well – which is what makes renmenbi such a good idea. Below are links to a couple of good articles from the site:

http://renmenbi.com/pale-beautiful

http://renmenbi.com/face-and-guanxi-beginners

For my China culture/business class, we were assigned several readings. One of them, entitled, ‘China’s Many Faces’ was very fascinating. As with many things that are foreign to us, we in the West* definitely have a homogeneous picture of China – its people, culture and history. I bet when the average American thinks of China, or even of the Far East in general, they just think of Samurais and kung fu. For those who keep up on world affairs, all we really hear about is the burgeoning Chinese economy and the communist government’s suppression of human rights. As the article states, our limited understanding of China, which is close to being the world’s economic power, is a result of the Western media’s depiction of China, although this in itself is not unique. What is different about the case of China is that it is likely to be the oldest remaining nation on Earth, and only because of its recent economic successes do we begin to take it seriously. A testament to Western arrogance.

According the article, China is in fact extremely diverse. We always describe (and take pride in) the US being a ‘melting pot’, when in fact China has been so for centuries.

As the article states, only 8 percent of China’s population is considered minority; however, this equates to 96 million people and 55 distinct ethnic groups (although this number is disputed – it could possibly be more like 400-500). Most of the minority ethnic groups reside near the borders of China, and are made up of many different religions, such as Buddhist and Islam, and claim Iranian, Turkish and Mongolian ancestries (and many more). This reality paints a much different picture of China than I was ever exposed to. Because of this great diversity, there have historically been many independence movements within China, which is still a great concern of the Chinese Government, the most famous example being Tibet. Reading this made me reflect upon the notion of nation building.

I recently returned from Cuba where I learned about its history. Cuban nationalists struggled to promote national unity throughout its history in order to gain independence from imperialism/colonialism. This inevitably equated to diminishing the importance of distinct racial and/or cultural attachments, to strengthen national Cuban identity. This was understandably necessary to fight external control of the island, but unfortunately at times, it meant the island’s great complexities were downplayed; although nowadays, this diversity is something in which Cubans take great pride. Similarly, in China, the national government has tried to promote national unity in order to build a strong nation, and this has equated, at times, to suppression of ethnic minority groups’ right to be different from what is supposed to be the ‘normal’ Chinese culture.

It is an interesting dilemma. I have not studied nearly enough about Chinese history to have an opinion, but the fact that the government has been able to maintain its nationhood in the face of domestic turmoil is part of the reason that it has become an economic powerhouse growing at a fantastic pace. The irony about its economy, which I have many questions about, is that in a country with one of the only remaining communist political systems (whatever that means…), is also home to what might be the most capitalist system in the world. If not more so than the US, it may be on its way to being so.

Being here now, I am constantly reminded of this fact. Simply by existing in the US, it is nearly impossible for one not to support the corporate power structure unless they do not buy anything, or do not at all engage in entertainment/informational media. So far, at least in Beijing (and I would assume in all of China’s big cities) I don’t think China is very different. For example, communication technology has taken over our lives in the US – cell phones, text messaging, IMs, etc. Walking around my college campus in the US, I constantly see people using their cell phones. Similarly, my Chinese roommate is always sending and receiving text messages just like many other Chinese people I have seen walking around – especially students. In the US, we also are constantly bombarded by corporate advertisements – billboards, commercials, etc. In China, it is no different, and maybe even worse –there are even TVs airing ads for Chinese products in the grocery stores here. Bottled water, which may be the biggest hustle I have ever heard of (3/4 of the Earth’s surface is water…why do we need to buy it in bottles?) is a Western phenomenon which is prospering in China! Tap water is not potable in China (it is full of chemicals that kill the bacteria), so either one must boil it or buy it in bottles. I recently read an article about how bad this mass plastic bottle production is for the environment, and how it is causing the mass privatization of water in the US and Europe, and I am sure that this trend is taking place in China as well.

Carolina For Kibera (CFK) and Nairobi, Kenya

CFK (http://cfk.unc.edu/ )is an effective community based program with an entity both at UNC and in Kenya, which has seen a rapid rate in growth since its inception in 2000. I believe that this is because its origins are unusually bold and people both in Kenya and at UNC work very hard to see the fruition of its goals; I am very impressed by CFK after spending a few days in Nairobi and seeing it firsthand, as well as discussions its members and volunteers, have given me valuable insight to supplement my own thoughts about developing an internship program at Carolina.
I am staying here with my good friend from Carolina, Aaron Charlop-Powers, who has been working here the last two summers.
I arrived here at 6 AM on Saturday after traveling from Uganda by bus overnight. At 9 AM, Aaron and I went to a village in Kibera to help with a morning cleanup – which consists of cleaning a FILTHY flow of greenish water streaming through the neighborhood. It is filled with all kinds of trash and waste. The goal is to unclog the stream as much as possible and then bag the trash and get rid of it. This is done every Saturday by different CFK affiliate community youth groups from Kibera, although its effectiveness is questionable because the trash seems endless. I was still very happy to see community youth organizing to help their community.
Kibera is the largest slum in East Africa and there are about 1 million people living there (more than ¼ of Nairobi’s total population). As described in a CFK sponsored book called Lightbox (available for purchase at http://bintipamoja.org/ ), which is about a CFK young women’s empowerment project, Emily Verellen describes the dichotomy of Kibera, the “The joy and suffering. Beauty and filth. Purity and disease.” In other words, there are so many inherent problems in a slum, however you easily find the inherent beauty in the people living there.
Kibera is a rough place where even residents get robbed (not too different from some neighborhoods in the US) and it has seen a high level of ethnic violence until the past couple years.
CFK officially registered as an NGO in 2001 after UNC alum Rye Barcott spent a couple of summers doing research in Kibera slums. When I say spent time here, I mean he actually rented a house in the community as thought he’d grown up here. For those of you who don’t realize the significance of this...for an American or any other complete foreigner this is unheard of because you become a target because you are assumed to be rich and much than likely, you are in relation to members of an East African slum. That move took guts to say the least. While living there, he got to know community members who were interested in helping the community and the organization took off from there. People attribute CFK’s growth to Rye, who apparently campaigned tirelessly to raise funding after returning to Carolina, as well as other former UNC students such as Kim Chapman (who has also been a great help to my internship program development) and the original CFK members efforts on the ground. Rye didn’t originally intend to start a program, but while here people told him that it was what they wanted to do.
CFK has a very strong Kenyan staff, an office next to Kibera slums, and the largest free clinic in Kibera which serves all of Kibera. CFK has four main components – the Binti Pamoja girls’ group, the clinic, a Kibera youth soccer league, and Taki Ni Pato (Cash is trash) youth group. Before reading about them, please note that these programs are much more intricate than I will describe – I just want to convey a general picture.
Binti Pamoja consists of 60 Kibera girls between 13 and 18 who have become very informed about reproductive health and sexual education through the program. They have become the educators because they organize community forums for youth to lead discussions and perform drama and musical acts to raise awareness about these issues. A typical community audience is about 200. One unfortunate aspect I have noticed in Uganda is that most women in the communities who I hear speak at meetings, etc. do not speak with confidence and act shy, as I would assume is true of Africa in general which is EXTREMELY unfortunate. I have noticed a huge different between how the men and women talk and act during community meetings in Uganda and the general difference is distrubing The culture is not one which encourages females to have strong opinions or to often say what they believe. The Binti Pamoja girls are just the opposite. (Empowered young women are great!) There are high rates of HIV/AIDS and sexual abuse and rape in Kibera which makes empowering women with appropriate knowledge and confidence all the more important.
The clinic was started a few years ago and is now assisted by the CDC (Center for Disease Control), the program manager for East Africa of which Aaron and I met with a couple days ago. Side note – meeting with important people with high profiles has been MUCH easier here. (example – last year I met the EU head representative and the US ambassador to Uganda). The funds to rent the clinic were raised by a couple of women from the community, Tabitha and Jane, who used money they earned from involvement in co-op groups to rent the offices. I think that Rye’s efforts in fundraising helped to sustain it. Tabitha died a couple years back so it is now called ‘Tabitha Clinic’, and Jane, who is GREAT, acts as the CFK ‘mother’, taking care of a lot of things. She seems to know everyone in Kibera as well. Just for an example of the amount of people they serve, I was told they saw 140 patients yesterday between the hours of 8 AM and 4 PM.
The futbol league has grown tremendously since it started. It was the pilot CFK program which was started to address 3 community issues - ethnic violence, youth unemployment, and public health. There are now over 5,000 members, between the ages of 10 and 30, who are involved in the league (the older men and women are trainers and coaches).
Youth are organized into teams, which are required to be ethnically diverse, and the members are required to help clean up the communities in shifts every week. They are also required to participate in reproductive health class a couple times a week and have more direct access to medical care through Kibera’s clinic.
‘Trash is Cash’ is a community youth group (age 18+) which started as an income generating activity as well as to address the environmental degradation of Kibera. Kibera actually means ‘forest’ and the land here was all forest until urbanization increased dramatically a few decades ago. In Uganda and Kenya, in the poorer areas, trash disposal consists of just burning the trash in large piles. There is not a sophisticated public system for waste management as there is in the US.
The group conducts the Saturday morning clean-ups in different parts of Kibera and conducts home sanitation visits in Kibera in which they collect trash and ‘sanitize’ the house. In other words, they fill cracks and do small repairs to upkeep homes and also do fumigations, etc. They buy cleaning products wholesale from SE Johnson, who is a partner in the project. This component is a very recent addition to their group and is part of a pilot program between a coalition of corporations. With the trash collected, they sort it and are given some money after turning in plastic and other recyclables to the private recycling companies. Food waste becomes compost and paper products are used to patch ceilings, etc. So, trash becomes a sustainable business.
CFK hosts UNC interns every summer whom pick a project that they think they can assist in based on their own unique abilities, etc. From what I’ve heard from people both on the Kenyan and American staff, it has been a challenge to find concrete work for interns to do that truly helps. This is the same issue which Jen and I have struggled with and we plan to do some serious brainstorming before returning home in the hopes that we think of some unique ideas. One possible scenario is that if we develop comprehensive descriptions of all of our potential intern hosts for potential interns, we could ask potential interns to come up with ways that they think they could assist those specific activities. For example, one volunteer with CFK decided to conduct creative writing workshops with the Binti Pamoja girls because she had experience with creative writing. Such a model is something to think about but any answers will take a lot of contemplation, discussion and reflection.

Ok Ok...one last story that I cannot leave out, although it’s not about CFK specifically...but amazing nonetheless.

When Aaron was here last summer, he just happened to be in the CFK clinic when a women from Kibera was about to give birth. He ended up in the clinic room and was giving the women moral support during the birth (holding her hand, encouraging her, etc.). He held the baby immediately after it was born – an experience I’m sure has become a major part of his life. (I’ve never witnessed birth, but I’ve often thought it must be like witnessing God). He asked what the baby’s name was, and they told him Aaron. Wow. Baby Aaron celebrated his 1st birthday yesterday and Big Aaron and I went the gathering at his house in Kibera. We ate some delicious homemade food and chilled with baby Aaron’ family. Both the parents are HIV positive but seem completely healthy (the father now works for the CDC at the clinic) however all of their 6 six children have tested negative. I feel very lucky to have had the chance to experience some of what Aaron has become a part of. You can check the full story at his last blog entry; you can find the link under my favorite links on the top of this web page.

Busia and FOC-REV (Friends of Christ Revival) Ministries

7.28.06

I am still in Busia and am leaving to Kenya tonight. I should arrive there around 4 or 5 AM.

For the past couple of days I have been learning about an organization in Busia, Uganda, which is the located in the Eastern most part of the country bordering Kenya. Contrary to their name, the CBO does has no real religious affiliation but was founded by “a group of Christians who wanted to administer love and compassion” to marginalized communities. The name turned me off before because I would rather not work with religious affiliated groups, but this is a great organization doing great community work.

They started about 10 years ago with the goal of providing support to disenfranchised communities in Busia District mainly in the form of support to OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children), of which there is an abundance in Uganda. They have secured funding for a few hundred OVCs in the area to pay for their school fees and through the world food program, they feed many of these children in school as well.

The most impressive aspect of their work, to me, was that they have formed over 20 co-op groups in the District and in neighboring districts. Groups consist of 15-20 people and are made up of the beneficiaries of FOC-REV programs - mostly the adult caretakers of the OVCs but also some of the older OVCs as well. These groups are given capital, in the form of bean and maize seeds and goats and cattle, and group members are trained in group management, modern farming techniques, business/entrepreneurial skills and given the necessary resources, such as farming tools, to utilize what they’ve received. Each group member yields their own crops and takes care of their own animals, which supplements both their household income and increases nutrition in the household. They are required to return what they borrowed from FOC-REV once they start to yield produce and depending on what their individual group has decided as its terms, they also contribute income to a group bank account. So, after a while, each group is economically empowered to give loans to groups members or invest in more projects. It is a very interesting model.

Of course there are many challenges in the way as well. Because this system takes time to produce results, some group members get disillusioned and lose faith. According to group members from one of the more successful co-ops I talked to, a strong constitution has kept them strong and united.

Jen and I met with one of these co-op groups, most of the members of which are HIV positive. They were very open about this fact, which is a result of FOC-REV community sensitization. According to them, there are less men involved in such co-ops because some co-ops are viewed as being associated with HIV patients, and men are more likely to avoid these types of stigmas here. I am not sure why.

Although I am here searching for potential internship sites in the hopes of giving UNC students an opportunity to learn about grassroots development and volunteer their time to help others, I wish that I was a rich man because I have found that start-up CAPITAL is ALWAYS the biggest hindrance to community work. The ideas and skills and desire is present everywhere and can be mobilized, but capital…capital is always a problem. Now that I know some very positive groups, I wish I could find a way to channel money to them and I would know that it’s in the right hands.

Maybe our internship program will be able to provide some sort of support in the future. After reading an earlier blog about these issues, someone close to me asked how I thought it would be possible to convince major funders and larger NGOs where their money should go, which I of course feel is straight to grassroots groups. Its not that this never happens, it just doesn’t happen as much as it should. So much money is squandered in development and humanitarian aid…maybe an organization that exists solely to examine grassroots groups to ensure they are efficient and find funding from those with money is what is needed. I am not sure if this exists, but if it does, I am unaware about it.

…Anyone interested in starting such a project?...Anyone have money to invest?...

7.28.06

Busia and FOC-REV (Friends of Christ – Revival) Ministries

I am still in Busia and am leaving to Kenya tonight. I should arrive there around 4 or 5 AM.

For the past couple of days I have been learning about an organization in Busia, Uganda, which is the located in the Eastern most part of the country bordering Kenya. Contrary to their name, the CBO does has no real religious affiliation but was founded by “a group of Christians who wanted to administer love and compassion” to marginalized communities. The name turned me off before because I would rather not work with religious affiliated groups, but this is a great organization doing great community work.

They started about 10 years ago with the goal of providing support to disenfranchised communities in Busia District mainly in the form of support to OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children), of which there is an abundance in Uganda. They have secured funding for a few hundred OVCs in the area to pay for their school fees and through the world food program, they feed many of these children in school as well.

The most impressive aspect of their work, to me, was that they have formed over 20 co-op groups in the District and in neighboring districts. Groups consist of 15-20 people and are made up of the beneficiaries of FOC-REV programs - mostly the adult caretakers of the OVCs but also some of the older OVCs as well. These groups are given capital, in the form of bean and maize seeds and goats and cattle, and group members are trained in group management, modern farming techniques, business/entrepreneurial skills and given the necessary resources, such as farming tools, to utilize what they’ve received. Each group member yields their own crops and takes care of their own animals, which supplements both their household income and increases nutrition in the household. They are required to return what they borrowed from FOC-REV once they start to yield produce and depending on what their individual group has decided as its terms, they also contribute income to a group bank account. So, after a while, each group is economically empowered to give loans to groups members or invest in more projects. It is a very interesting model.

Of course there are many challenges in the way as well. Because this system takes time to produce results, some group members get disillusioned and lose faith. According to group members from one of the more successful co-ops I talked to, a strong constitution has kept them strong and united.

Jen and I met with one of these co-op groups, most of the members of which are HIV positive. They were very open about this fact, which is a result of FOC-REV community sensitization. According to them, there are less men involved in such co-ops because some co-ops are viewed as being associated with HIV patients, and men are more likely to avoid these types of stigmas here. I am not sure why.

Although I am here searching for potential internship sites in the hopes of giving UNC students an opportunity to learn about grassroots development and volunteer their time to help others, I wish that I was a rich man because I have found that start-up CAPITAL is ALWAYS the biggest hindrance to community work. The ideas and skills and desire is present everywhere and can be mobilized, but capital…capital is always a problem. Now that I know some very positive groups, I wish I could find a way to channel money to them and I would know that it’s in the right hands.

Maybe our internship program will be able to provide some sort of support in the future. After reading an earlier blog about these issues, someone close to me asked how I thought it would be possible to convince major funders and larger NGOs where their money should go, which I of course feel is straight to grassroots groups. Its not that this never happens, it just doesn’t happen as much as it should. So much money is squandered in development and humanitarian aid…maybe an organization that exists solely to examine grassroots groups to ensure they are efficient and find funding from those with money is what is needed. I am not sure if this exists, but if it does, I am unaware about it.

…Anyone interested in starting such a project?...Anyone have money to invest?...

Uganda's natural beauty in people and land, Mukono, and Kytume Community Based Health Care

7.27.06

Jen and I are now in Busia, which is in the far most East part of Uganda bordering Kenya. The organization we are to meet with seems great and we plan to see a lot tomorrow, so I will write about it then.

On Monday, we met with a CBO called Kytume CBHC (Community Based Health Care), which is located about 20 outside of Kampala, near a town called Mukono. CBHC started about 10 years ago providing medical services to the village of Kytume, but has grown and now provides much more support and to a much larger area.

One of the best parts of the visit was traveling to do home visits to their beneficiaries and to see their various programs. We interviewed elected community mobilizers who are the heart and soul of these types of programs. Without their organizing, nothing can be accomplished in a sufficient amount of time. Consider the fact that organizing here equates to walking (or biking, CBHC has provided bikes to all of its community mobilizers) home by home to inform and organize meetings. THIS is what grassroots is…it makes me wonder why the hell we can’t organize community based programs in more US neighorhoods when communication is so much easier…we ALL have cell phones in the US for goodness sake. I think it’s due partly to the fact that the notion of ‘community’ is much more inherent here. Although there are still disputes between regions here, etc., the sense of belonging to a community is more part of the culture. In the US, we are taught dog eat dog, take or be taken over…its sad. It is really dehumanizing.

The area is mountainous and there is one narrow, bumpy, pothole filled dirt road shared by pedestrians and bikes for the most part that we used. On it, CBHC members drove us to the different villages they support and to their various medical offices. The landscape there was breathtaking…I already fell in love with Uganda’s beautiful green land but this was amazing. And if someone were not taking us around, we would have been utterly lost because houses are off on different paths and seem isolated from each other. The villages are located almost in a forest, which again, was beautiful and seemed almost surreal because it was so peaceful. But I can see why they need community based healthcare so much. I imagine it is extremely difficult and time consuming to seek medical services in town if one is moving by foot or even bicycle and if one has many family obligations, it becomes a major problem.

One image sticks in my mind…the site where vaccines were being administered to young children whom were brought by community mothers. It was done on a few benches by a small church on top of a hill. It seems very provincial when I explain it like this but there was something very nice about it. I mean…these services are being provided in what seemed like a very remote area, but it works and people there recognize the value of CHC in their lives…I think we can learn so much from this type of scenario. For now, I can’t articulate the feeling I got from this experience until I figure it out for myself, but I can at least say that it was like…finding a rare and beautiful flower in a thorn-bush in the backyard of an abandoned building, as if people forgot it existed…and then finding small flower buds growing with a closer look. One may get pricked in the search but the mere sight of the flower makes it worthwhile and fulfilling. I say this because these communities are marginalized and suffering, but as in any situation where there is human compassion, hope exists.

As I am seeing more and more during this trip, communities seem to benefit the most when they are empowered with skills and given autonomy to work in small collectives.

This was the case with CBHC…in addition to giving medical services including vaccines to children and ARVs to HIV/AIDS victims, they have organized three 30 members co-op groups on the parish level. All members of the groups are beneficiaries of programs and are those who are caring for 3 or more OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children). The programs are geared towards helping the caretakers of orphans, so in turn orphans can benefit. Groups started by being given cattle and goats which were bred consistently and now all groups members own animals (which is a major asset here and can help with income generation and nutrition for a family) and the group as a whole sells animals. After accumulating capital, they have organized some microfinance projects as well in order to start other small businesses.

Well….thats all for now. Thanks for reading!

Encouragement

7.25.06

I am more encouraged everyday that we not only can organize a successful and sustainable internship at UNC, but also help the displaced communities of Masese and Kakira. At times when I have dwelled on the issue of being able to assist those communities and simultaneously put together an internship, it has seemed very difficult in light of the fact that our school is on the other side of the world and sustainable development takes work ON THE GROUND. But after realizing that there was someone right under my nose all along who can be trusted to do groundwork for us when we leave, I think it can be done.

So, as I’ve said before, in both communities there are tailoring projects, which have been stopped because of a lack of funding and we hope to be able to assist them. However, to mobilize at home to get enough money for this will take time and that will mean that they may just be waiting for us and we are not 100% sure we will be able to work with them as of yet. It would be great if those groups started with something now.

I met a woman named Claire here last year who works for the Salvation Army in Uganda. She is Ugandan, and was once an orphan but was able get through college…so she is very adamant about getting children who roam the slums into school. Lack of schooling for young children in Uganda, due to lack of school fees, might definitely be the biggest internal setback to this society next to AIDS and malaria. She now cares for 9 orphans and pays for some of their schooling, while she has found sponsorship for the rest from other sources. She has even started a primary school through the Salvation Army and assists in teaching.

She has extensive experience in community organizing and feels strongly that funding must be met internally. Her opinion is that if money comes from outside sources, it is more likely to be used inefficiently or squandered. When she does community work, she starts by having a “community conversation” in which members discuss their problems AS WELL AS the assets in the community which can be utilized. This is important because when a group simply discusses their problems it can be very disempowering. It can also encourage dependency because psychologically, if promoting your problems to others brings benefits, then why not do it all the time to all who will listen instead of doing for yourself?

So, after a leadership (chairperson, treasurer, secretary) are elected, the group (usually of women since they the primary family caretakers) meets once a week and EVERYONE, whether one has a job or not, must contribute 1000 Shillings (about 60 cents) each meeting. Self-sacrifice will bring a true feeling of ownership as well as a well thought out plan for using the funds.

Eventually, members can take loans from the pool and people’s turns rotate. During this time, other services are given to the group such as business skills and improved literacy. Although this is a small start, I think this approach has potential to grow very large within a year or two.

Claire is soon losing her job at the Salvation Army because they want to move her to a new location. So it would be great to get her on board to start these things immediately if the internship could secure some money ASAP. We will see what happens…she is preparing some reports about how these programs work for me to bring back to UNC.