Research in Uganda

The three days spent in Negri, of course had to have some academic purpose.  We had to find a topic, and conduct all kinds of research and utilize interviews and such to gather information.  I wasn't fully sure what my topic was going to be for the paper, but I knew I wanted to learn more about how NGO's and Government programs are benefiting the rural communities, especially in Gulu where they are still recovering from the war.  I mainly wanted to get an idea of how they are helping, and weather these programs are doing what they say they are doing.  My first interview was conducted with the LC1 chairmen who is essentially in charge of monitoring and listening to the needs of the village of Negri, and reporting that to the government.  Also, as part of security, the LC1 must know of everyone who comes in and our of the community (including me).  He seems to have a lot of responsibility, and is well liked considering he has been elected 25 years in a row.
I also spent half a day in the government central area in Gulu town (the non rural area) trying to talk to multiple people who could give me information.  Of course they were all out or busy, so that was a big waste.  Fortunately that still gave me some information on how the government runs, and what the priorities are for the government.  When we went back to the village and I somehow stumbled upon a meeting of community members who are part of the NAADS program, which is the National Agriculture Advisory Services.  It is a government run operation that gathers a group of rural community members and gives them either pigs, goats, or chickens.  They then train them to utilize them as sustainable capital generators.  They have the choice to use them either for market purposes or for community growth.  It was such a great opportunity to see how this program was benefitting these people.  Though, I was still skeptical of the motives of the government and whether it was on economic growth or on personal security of community members.
I after got to talk to a woman who benefitted from a similar program but was provided by an NGO.  It was very similar, except they gave a cow to the woman, and she was not part of a group.  She also got the training, but the difference here was that once they got the training the NGO left them the cow and never checked on them again.  At first I thought that this was a negative of the NGO, but then when I asked the woman what she thought, she explained that she was happy to have the freedom to do whatever she wanted with the cow.  The cow was now hers, and she did not have to feel like she was being monitored or anything.  All in all it was a great learning experience on many levels, though I am not very excited to pull a 10 page paper out of it.  Perhaps this blog post will serve as my introduction.