Community Dynamics - always remain concious of them

7.16.06

I haven’t been able to post anything lately because we’ve been pretty busy…being back in Jinja Town (the main town in Jinja District), I’ve been catching up with a lot of friends and other people I met last year which has been fun. Its weird…it seems like nothing has changed here.

In terms of Jen and my work though, I can definitely say that things have become more complex as we’ve discovered new developments in the relations of FRO and the Jinja communities. You couldn’t know it until you’ve seen it first hand, but here, just like any other relationship or community, there are interesting power dynamics, which can include loyalty and therefore a certain amount of competition, and which can result in a retrogression of progress in development. I of course saw some of this last year but now certain unprecedented splits between people that used to work together have left Jen and I wondering how or better yet, who, we will work with most closely.

This of course will not hold us back, but will make us more critical of the effects of our work and the dynamics it creates. Another unfortunate reality is that whatever we decide eventually (which won’t be until well after we’ve arrived home…we want to plan this carefully with our steering committee at school), we inevitably create community dynamics by just stepping foot in the communities. For example, if we walk around with one individual, others might see it as us making a commitment to that individual and therefore it could discourage them from being open with us. Its not always that extreme but it can be.

On a positive note, we’ve been meeting the right people, have a pretty good schedule planned for the rest of our trip and are encouraged that after a LOT of brainstorming, we will have a program here in the future.