from the horizon

I’m posting a paper which I prepared for a ISCRAM (Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management) Workshop in China which I am going to this week.

ABSTRACT
Databases are an important tool for International Non Government Organizations (INGOs) to use for disaster management. However they are only a component of a larger information system, and must correspond to the useful information which people can collect practically. Determining how a database records information is an important consideration. Flexible data entry allows the user to enter more detailed information and respond to changing circumstances. However fixed options simplify the data entry process and allow information to be analyzed more easily. All stakeholders must be involved to implement a database, and their feedback is vital for the continued improvement of the system. INGO head offices need to support the development of software in field locations, as this is where the context is best understood. If this is done, databases have the potential to empower staff with information.

The ‘Tukul’ where I ran a training in Uganda

Keywords
Databases, disasters, developing countries, LDCs, software development, design requirements, participation.

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I’m on a plane out of Uganda, haven’t fully recovered from going out last night, and all I’ve had to eat all day are grasshoppers.

It’s been a crazy time. The work has gone really well, everyone here has been really receptive, and ProLogs has been a huge success. Work has been really intense, but I’ve also had a bit of time off to see the country, and even make some new friends.

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Because I’d been away from home for six months I wanted to do something to surprise the folks at home, and because I was in Africa, I decided to get cornrows (braids really close to the scalp – cause my hair isn’t that long!). So on my last day in Uganda, a friend of Josh’s came round braided my hair.

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Although traveling around all of the offices was busy going, it did also give me a chance to see some of Uganda. Below are some photos from my last week visiting field offices in Uganda, when I drove to the office in Kiryandongo and Lira.

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As always, I felt the urge to make the most of myself in a exotic location, and decided to play tourist, and go to visit the source of the Nile, at Jinja, for the weekend. And like any good tourist (and New Zealander) this also involved a raft trip on the River Nile.

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While working in Africa is a fascinating experience, I must confess that almost all of my work is done in the office, mostly behind the computer. I’m removed from the actually programs (education, health, water and sanitation) who are actually working with the beneficiaries. That’s the down side of working IT, and doing a logistics database makes me even more removed. Logistics is a “support” department, they don’t actually work with the beneficiaries, they just support other departments which do. And here I am, providing support for logistics – that’s two degrees of separation.

So on the recommendations of one of my old colleagues, I made sure that I went out to see some of our programs in action. So on my last morning in Kitgum, I went to visit one of the Internally Displace People (IDP) camps. For those of you who don’t know, an IDP is similar to a refugee, but they haven’t crossed any borders – they are displaced within their home country. The camp I visited housed 17,000 people who had been displaced by the conflict with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the north of Uganda. They had coming together in the camp, mainly for security which was provided by the army. Because the people weren’t refugees, they were still the responsibility of the Ugandan government, and aid agencies had to work with the government to provide services. I was told that the conditions in this camp were much worse than the camps for the Sudanese refugees, who are assisted by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

The camp was basic and cramped. Families shared small huts, which had little space between them. In some places I could have reached out and touched 4 different huts.

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On my last night in of my visit to the field office in Kitgum, my attempts to get to sleep were foiled by the sounds of music and people coming from the football field next to the hotel. Eventually my curiousioty and desire to never miss a party, out weighed my security concerns, and I headed out to investigate. Walking out of the hotel, I headed to the field. Flood lit with moonlight, people mingling about. It didn’t really make any sense, I should be in bed, not going to a concert in a field, in the middle of Africa. But I’ve been getting used to that, and was drawn to the lights of the stage in the corner.

There seemed to be some sort of dance off going on stage, with two guys pulling of all sorts of Robot/Michael Jackson/Safari moves. Someone tried to explain what was going on, but through the sound of the music, his African accent and the sweet smell of orange juice and vodka on his breath, I didn’t understand much.

As the crowd cheered for the winning dancer, I drifted toward a drumming group, huddled together, beating like a heart to the sound their instruments. Passively observing didn’t seem to be an option for a white man and soon I was pulled into the circle, and handed a drum, made from half a giant gourd. On the inside I saw the attraction, women dancing stripped down to their bras, hips vibrating. I wasn’t sure of the exact protocol to follow as one of the women approached me, but ftook my cue from the guy next to me, stepping back out of the circle as she danced I front of me for a moment, before gradually re-entering. Not without awkwardly missing a beat though.

As I joined my colleagues for breakfast the next morning, I heard their complaints from my colleague of the noise from the previous night. I had to come clean with one source of the drum beats: Me.

One of the highlights of the training at the field office in Kitgum, was explaining the difference between unit size and package size for warehouse items, using condoms as an example. 3 condoms came in each wallet, 20 wallets were in each box and 70 boxes were in each carton. As I helped them process a shipment of 214 cartons – that’s 898,800 condom – I felt that I was doing my bit to make the world a happier place.

A pickup loaded with condoms

It would be worth noting that all of these condoms were purchased using ECHO (European Union) money, and not money from the USAID (United States). The USA only supports abstinence as protection against HIV/AIDS. One of the methods that USAID supports for birth control, are for (married) women to wear special coloured beads. They are to count off a bead a day, and while they are on certain coloured beads, they must abstain. Truly the cutting edge of technology!

After a week in the capital Kampala, it was time to continue the training in the fields. The first office to visit, and the one which I was told would be the hardest, was Ikafe, in the North West of Uganda near the borders with Sudan and Congo.
To get to Ikafe we first caught a small 20 seater plane to Arua, the regional hub. Touching down on the small airstrip, in the middle of Africa, conjured up all the feelings that I associate with being an Aid Worker.

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Sunday, 15th October
2035 Touch down in Uganda.
2100 Getting to the immigration officer, I realize that despite the fact that I have Dubai, Indonesian, Singaporean, Pakistani, Malaysian and Indian currency on me, I have no Dollars, Euros or Pounds, which I need to pay for my Visa. Fortunately I’ve got some traveler checks which I exchange at an extraordinent rate. They don’t even check my Yellow Fever vaccination certificate, which I had made a special trip to the health clinic in Jakarta Airport to get.
2120 Get picked up from the Airport by the driver who’s still there waiting for me, despite the fact the all the other passengers from the plane have already left. It’s dark on the way home, so not my best chance to see Uganda. The car does get stopped by the Police, who are checking for drunk drivers. That doesn’t happen in Indonesia or Pakistan.
2200 I get to the house where I’m staying, and have a chat with Megan who’s house it is. She’s young and has just finished doing her intern thing, and now has a really job with the organization, kinda similar to me. She’s pretty cool, it’s nice to be staying somewhere with some company, rather than another hotel room/ I have a chat with her about the situation in Uganda, the current peace between the government and the LRA (Lords Resistance Army: Nasty bunch in North Uganda who abduct child soldiers, and cut off peoples lips – kinda the reason we’re here).

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