The School of Diplomacy is rumbling on the horizon like those tremendous thunder storms that hit Kamapla every few days. Winds and claps of thunder, birds scurrying to their nests, and I sit on the balcony, sipping a glass of wine...
I originally came to Uganda for two purposes.The first was to assist my Holy Cross community in East Africa develop a ministry to higher education. Dave Burrell and I have worked on this project. The second was to help Uganda Martyrs University establish a school of diplomacy and international studies for East Africa. When established, this would be the first of its kind in East Africa.
The University of Portland allowed me a one-year leave to accomplish this task. During my interview for the job, I asked UMU President Olweny (called a Vice Chancellor in the British system) to appoint a Ugandan as director, and I would be his assistant and link to US, Europe and Latin America. To skip a few stages, I have now become the Interim Director until May 9 when I return to Portland. This project is not a handout. It is a Ugandan vision for educating its best and brightest. It is glorious and exciting!
Since my return to Uganda Martyrs University in late January to assume my new position, I have hired a very capable and promising assistant, Joseph Ssekandi, a Ugandan who just received a Masters in Environmental Studies from Reading University in England. Working together, our project has gained the interest of the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Uganda and other institutions in the region. The program should be in place by the end of the summer and ready to receive its first applicants for the beginning of the next school year.. We are planning a grand ceremonial opening and blessing for early Fall.
May I recommend some challenging reading? My cousin Patricia Pomerleau -- yes, the very founder and CEO director of CEOEXPRESS (of which this blog is a part). She recommended and I read with delight Tim Weiner's LEGACY OF ASHES, THE HISTORY OF THE CIA, and T.J. English's HAVANA NOCTURNE (how the Mafia tried to take over Cuba before Castro). Great reading, both. Weiner's history of the CIA is an extraordinary tale, based on recently released documents of the CIA that significantly changed my understanding of many events in Latin America and the stunning incompetence and embarrassing inadequacy of this agency since its founding. Also, I'm reading an outstanding biography by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, called INFIDEL. MY LIFE. A remarkably powerful and well-written story of a Somali woman's triumph over incredible odds. Burrell and I participate in a book club of young, Ugandan women writers (hey, we're none of those things, but the group is a delight!) and this is their book of the month. A gem.
And finally, for a delightful and inspiring story of a group of Acholi kids who compete for a major, music festival in Kampala, pick up "War Dance' at your DVD outlet. It was an Academy Award nominee for best documentary in 2007. The photography, music, and story carry you smack into the middle of Uganda.
Greetings, everyone. I'm back in Uganda after a month with my reigious community, and with family and friends. I attended the inauguration of President Obama. While I probably saw less than most of you, sitting with a crowd of about 500,000 in my section, and probably 3 or 4 times that number in the Mall was an unforgetable experience -- a 'first' for me. There were moments of absolute silence while we waited for Obama to appear, and then -- a roar like none I've ever heard.
School of Diplomacy Gets Started
Over Christmas, the candidate designated to be director of the proposed School of Diplomacy resigned. I was asked to assume the job until an appropriate candidate might be chosen. So, I am energetically putting the pieces together for this EAST AFRICA SCHOOL OF DIPLOMACY. I have a lovely office, I just hired an administrative assistant, and we're good to go. My next entry will be on the progress and challenges of this exciting project
Mambo-Tango
So, you might have wondered about this reference to the movie "Motorcycle Diaries". That was the name of the boat that the members of the leper colony gave as a birthday gift to the young Che Guevara when he was a medical intern there in the 1950s. Dave Burrell, Fred Jenga and I went on Sunday to a special Mass for all the religious of the Kampala diocese. The music was unusually jolly and participatory. The music was provided by a religious community (Missionary Brothers of the Poor) from Jamaica (!) Words fail me to appropriately describe this ceremony, and my memory may be a bit blotchy. However, the choir, with a battery of drums, flutes, guitars, trumpets, and various strange-sounding percussion pieces sang many songs. One such son was to Mary (Hey, hey, helloooow Queen, Our Mother, Hellowww Queeen, Virgin Queen, Jewish Mother, Yeah, You're our Queen, hummm, hummm, hummm repeated 3 times, each time on a higher pitch- - or something like that. I knew we were in for a surprise when the Rastafarian drummer sauntered up to the altar to light his Kasta Colored Ice Bong. Except that the candles were ... electric! So, he returned to his Rast chants, swinging his Bob Marley dredlocks. Well, Trinidad calypso and reggae may not be dub music, but it swings nicely with an African jungle beat.
After the ceremony, we were invited to sit under the Cardinal's tent and join him for a meal. We were hungry, but some guy gave us a long, religious talk, mostly nonsense for 40 minutes. One of the waiters was sitting nearby with his legs and eyes crossed and I saw him finally take out a small pipe and light it under the table. Well, the food was ok, and there was a lot of laughter...
As I prepare to leave Uganda for a month to visit family and friends for the Christmas holidays, and as I celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Friday, December 12), I find myself thinking about place, this place, in East Africa, especially as I greet, and am greeted by Ugandan neighbors on the street.
I regularly walk from my residence to the local coffee shop where I can work quietly, use my computer and sip the best double expresso in town. (Starbucks, eat your heart out!) To reach my destination, I pass through the front gate of Lourdel House, the residence of the Missionaries of Africa -- aka The While Fathers -- the French counterpart to Maryknoll. Since it is customary for passers on the street to greet each other, as I leave Lourdel house, I'm sometimes greeted in French, because of my location in front of French "territory" (even though I'm wearing jeans, t-shirt and a cap). As I pass by the Mill Hill place (the British counterpart to Mary- knoll), I'm greeted in English. Other "neighbors" will join me as I walk the road and greet me in English, with "You are very welcome", followed by the inevitable: Who are you, what are you doing here, so glad to welcome you, etc. Ugandans have a wonderful sense of place. Here is their home, family, tribe. White persons (muzungus) are foreigners. So (I think) they want muzungus to feel that they are part of their "village". It happens in so many ways. Relaxed, friendly, chatty, but always welcoming and charming.
I recall my favorite Chilean expression that Bernardita Sanchez (my Chilean family) laughingly but tellingly sometimes said to me: Claude, ubíquate. Locate yourself. Parents say the same thing to children who act inappropriately, or walk the wrong path (so to speak). The French call such a person dépister, or off the path. Celebrating the feast of Guadalupe helps me to relocate myself, as part of the Americas (North and South), and now rooted in Africa (at least, East). I felt until today that I had one foot in each continent. Now, the liturgy of Guadalupe makes me feel that I have booth feet firmly planted in her villages, in East Africa and in the Americas.
I will try to find a local song (it will probably be African rap) that is similar to Las Mañanitas. Ubíquate!
Dave Burrell and I invited the lay volunteers who work in Jinja to join us at Lake Saaka for Thanksgiving. One of the Kroc peace interns 9from Notre Dame) also joined us. We drove to Fort Portal on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (where the Rwenzori Mountains begin -- aka The Mountains of the Moon) as well as the Riff Valley. We then retreated to Lake Saaka and the Holy Cross Novitiate. The Novitiate staff and novices planned a luxurious feast to celebrate Thanksgiving in East Africa: Turkey, chicken, mashed potatoes, yams, veggies, rich deserts, cakes, pancakes, maple syrup (yup, from Vermont!) and rich wines and assorted drinks. Isaiah would have envied us.
On Sunday, we went to Kyarusozi Parish Community for Mass. Although Mass is usually celebrated in the local language, Dave Burrell celebrated in English, and a dynamic translator helped with the homily. After Mass, we went to visit the spectacular building project of Brother Bernard Kim CSC. Bro. Bernie is one of those dynamic and creative builders that one reads about in 17th century Mexico or 19th century Chile. He is training local builders in all the arts necessary for building a large boarding-school complex in one of the most rural (no electricity) and beautiful spots in the foothills of the mountains. Bro Bernie is a mystic, a sufi, a Zen master and master builder, who loves to teach all his skills to the able young workers of the region. He has already built other residences (such as Bishop McCauley House in Kampala) and the large Church and surrounding gardens and gazebos at Kyarusozi. Eat your heart out, Hanging Gardens of Babylon!
I have done much reading during the past weeks, but I must share two of the best books with you, dear readers of blogs. The first is Paul Collier's THE BOTTOM BILLION (Whey the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can be Done About It). This is a superb book recommended to me by Bill Dailey. Friends don't allow friends to drive without first readings such useful books. If you read only one thing about the challenges facing East-West-South and North Africa, this is the book.
The other book is A.J. Dionne's SOULD OUT, sent to me by another mystic (everyone should have such a mystic in his or her life!) Bob Antonelli. If you have read some of Dionne's columns in the Washington Post, you know that he is a wonderful writer and serious interpreter of the role of religion (especially Catholicism) in the U.S. If you have limited time, I especially recommend the last chapter, in which he summarizes his approach to understanding the role of liberalism and Catholicism in understanding the future of American politics, and the strength and meaning of those communities in the U.S. To quote Herschel (as Dionne frequently does)"God is either of no importance, or of supreme importance...God is the meaning beyond mystery". Dionne shows why he thinks this belief has usually lifted the best of religious communities beyond ideologies of left and right, conservative and liberal. A good read.
I will spend Christmas vacation and New Year in Portland, Burlington (VT), and Washington, DC. See you in Uganda, next year. Happy Advent!
Uganda tries to settle down after the election. It's Sunday, and the excitement over Obama's election is still at a fever pitch. Some of it is hilarious.
First, my own impressions. Then, a summary of today's newspapers. There seem to be two categories of reactions in Kampala to Obama's election. The first, representing the vast majority, believes that Obama is about to walk over water to Uganda (forget that Uganda is landlocked) and heal all diseases, immediately producing an intense activity of development. The other two per cent scoffs at that, and tries to puncture the balloon of expectation with the warning crossing the sea is difficult and will probably take months. So, lower those expectations!
I walked around the neighborhood on Thursday after the election, and most non-English conversations (Luanda, I suppose) were filled with Obama, Obama, Obama. Little kids on the street stopped me, and as usual trying out the few words they learned at school, such as "how are you?" followed it with Obama, and a big smile. Cars have Obama flags and stickers. One boda boda man (motor bikes that give rides) stopped and offered me a ride. I thanked him and declined. He insisted: "...from friendship, for Obama". I declined, since I'm not yet ready to die for Obama. The boda bodas drive through the traffic like suicidal maniacs.
A review of today's newspapers, the New Vision (pro-Museveni) and Daily Monitor (opposition, of sorts), are filled with Obama articles. For the most part, the analysis is balanced and quite insightful. Wafula Oguttu explains that governing will be a different challenge from campaigning for an election, and that everybody now "wants a piece of the 'skinny boy'", but they need to try to understand how difficult it is to change policies after 8 years of Bush. He adds that while he agrees that Obama is the most talented and charismatic politician of his generation, he was assisted in his campaign by "Dubya" (as he calls him) and his disastrous foreign and domestic policies, etc.
Another comment from the editorial page of the pro-government papers concludes that "chances are that the US president-elect would not even have been considered as president of an African country". The writer does not specify which "African country", but it's obvious he means Uganda. He says that Africans would put up so many barriers that Obama would never be considered as a candidate in Africa. "How many leaders in Africa are more preoccupied with preserving their own political future than making a lasting difference for their people". Although he tactfully doesn't mention Museveni (it's implied), he does mention Mugabe of Zimbabwe and recent political savagery in Kenya ( aha, a little gratuitous slap at Kenya).
And this: A half-page picture of Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadega in high heels, dancing with joy after hearing of Obama's election. The caption reads: "Kadega gets jiggy on learning that Obama had won"
I found the level of serious analysis of the challenges facing the president elect to be impressive. There are articles from US and European newspapers, summaries from news services and entire articles reprinted from US, French and British newspapers. My favorite, though, is an article mocking the Kenyans who think they will all be invited to the inauguration ball in Washington D.C. The Ugandan author says that in Kenya they'll be lucky to find a TV set to watch the event. Nasty, nasty...
The day after Independence Day in Kampala is a letdown. There were few celebrations, no fireworks, no parades. Today's headlines are mostly about corruption scandals, gas prices, AIDS, and the poor outlook for Ugandan soccer.
Inside the independent SATURDAY MONITOR, I came across an article that tries to explain why most Ugandans did not feel like celebrating anything on October 9. The authors are Alfred Wandera and Tabu Butagira. After reading this insightful criticism, I came to appreciate that it is still possible to express strong political opposition:
"The promises by pro-independence fighters of economic prosperity for all through elimination of ignorance and disease has failed, as an estimated 9.3 million Ugandans remain stuck in poverty, making it difficult for parents to feed, clothe and house families"
"Much of the country's basic infrastructure -- road, rail and bridges, including the Owen Falls dam overpass connecting the vital eastern import/export trade route through Kenya -- are in shambles..."
"Peaceful transition of State power has eluded Uganda to this day, and all the eight presidents from Sir Edward Mutesa to Gen.Tito Okello Lutwa, whom Pres. Noweri Museveni toppled in 1986, were kicked out forcibly. It is a failing blamed on greed for power and declining patriotism marked by tribalism and massive official corruption..."
The authors conclude:
"In the end, it appears, each Ugandan divested from national interests of patriotism, will interpret independence based on personal convenience, if not confusion"
So, that's why October 9 was so subdued, quiet, and confused.
October 9, 1962, Uganda began its life as one of the most promising ex-colonies of the British Empire. It had an educated and motivated middle class (small but influential and well distributed), significant national resources, and an institutional structure that included an interesting mix of western, political traditions and traditional kingships that were organized along tribal lines. Within a few years, this peaceful, promising new nation entered into a cycle of military coups and political violence that damaged or postponed the promising vision of independence. So, 46 years later, we ask ourselves: What are we celebrating, and what does the future hold?
Since our cooks and house workers had the day off on Oct 9, Dave Burrell and I decided to cook a special pancake brunch for the Ugandan community at Bishop McCauley House. The celebration began with Mass, solemnly celebrated by Leonard Olobo,CSC, where we sang and gave thanks for Uganda's Independence and prayed for future blessings. Then, Dave and I ran to the kitchen to prepare special pancakes with Vermont maple syrup, Arabica coffee, fresh and delicious Uganda teas, cereal and fruit. Let me add that we hope to repeat these special meals -- sometime in the near future -- at a Holy Cross residence at Uganda Martyrs University, Nkosi.
Reflecting on Ugandan Independence, I remember that I have celebrated different forms of national independence in at least 7 countries since 1962, in USA and Canada, in Chile, Argentina, Mexico, France and Italy. In all of these countries (but one, Canada), independence was accompanied with short-term and long-term violence. Some were followed by horrors of civil wars, or military coups, or political revolutions to end, or renew the original covenant. So now, in my new country of residence, with Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, I pray for Uganda's future, for the strength and authenticity of its many tribes, for the creativity and renewal of its government, and for the blessings on Holy Cross ministries, especially for the many young Ugandans who are creating new visions and directions for its parishes and schools.
It has been a month since my arrival and I am beginning to feel part of this ancient and new world of so many different cultures, languages, religions and traditions. I have signed a one-year contract with Uganda Martyrs University (UMU) to establish a proposed EAST AFRICA SCHOOL OF DIPLOMACY AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.We hope to accept the first students for this Masters Program in September 2009. I answer directly to the Vice Chancellor, Dr. Francis Olweny and I will work with the Interim Director, Dr. Francis Mangeni to establish this new Masters Program. I will not teach during the first year, since both the Interim Director and his Assistant (Your Loyal Servant) will clarify the structures of the program (and its physical location), seek funds and contact potential faculty members. The location of the program is yet to be chosen, but will be either on the main campus, in Nkosi (about 1 1/2 hr from Kampala) or at the Kampala extension campus, downtown. I will give you more on these plans as they develop. For now, I invite you to look at Holy Cross in E. Africa in through the following link:
Then, if you wish to identify the three places of operations for Holy Cross, Fort Portal, Jinja (seminary, parish, and where a wonderful lager is made, Nile Beer) and Kampala, look at the map below.
THE CONGREGATION OF HOLY CROSS IN EAST AFRICA.
For now, I live at the organizational headquarters of Holy Cross in East Africa. Fr. James Burasa is the District Superior and works out of Bishop McCauley House, with his staff in Kampala. I live here, too and work closely with Rev. Dave Burrell, CSC, Professor Emeritus in Philosphy from Notre Dame. Together we hope to establish a presence for Holy Cross at this Catholic institution of higher learning.
Uganda Martyrs University (UMU) was founded 17 years ago, under the responsibility of the Catholic Bishops of East Africa. The first Vice Chancellor responsible for the origins and lasting quality and viability of this institution was Rev. Michel Lejeune. He now authorizes and supervises the development of higher education in Uganda for the government. Eventually, Dave Burrell and I hope to establish a residence at UMU to establish a physical presence and visible community of Holy Cross. There would be rooms for other Holy Cross members studying at UMU, as well as a place to welcome as guests and fellow faculty members.
A LAND OF REFUGEES.
Uganda is facing many of the developmental problems that challenge poor countries today. One distinguishing challenge for Uganda has been the many refugees that have entered the country during the last 4 or 5 decades. These refugees were -- and still are -- diplaced by acts of domestic and foreign terrorism. They have arrived from conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Sudan, and in Rwanda (before, during and after the genocide of 1994). More recently, a serious and lasting conflict results from the attacks of the Lord's Resistance Army (led by Joseph Kony, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity). Kony's cronies have attacked many villages in the north of Uganda, but are also involved in Sudan, Central Republic of Africa and Dem. Rep. of Congo. So, Ugandans are very familiar with terrorism, and at the same time have been models of generosity and hospitality for victims of terrorism in other countries.
Stay on board, as I gather more information about this marvelous adventure. EKITIBWA KIBE ERI KATONDA -- which is (approximately) Glory to God in the Highest!
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