In the summer months of 2009, Kelly Heber, one of Direct Development’s founding members, will travel to the rural villages surrounding Entebbe, Uganda, in an effort to deliver collected textbooks, the result of a spring textbook drive at the University of Florida. This is a region where many people receive their first shoes at age 17, wake up at 4 am to draw water for their families before going to school, and leave school at a young age in order to raise children. What DDI hopes to accomplish through this new program is to establish strong links with the churches and schools, in an effort to more successfully identify their specific needs. From there, DDI will be able to specifically collect what is needed most, and deliver the collections on an annual basis.
Direct Development is optimistic about its Uganda program because of Uganda’s resilience. Until recently, Uganda has been embroiled in a civil war, in which countless children were forced into soldierhood. Communications and print infrastructure were destroyed in the conflict that followed the ruthless reign of Idi Amin, and the subsequent coups that resulted to remove him from power. Uganda is rapidly modernizing however, and moving away from its chaotic past. Its incidence of HIV, though still high, is dramatically lower than most other nations in Africa. Uganda’s economy is also relatively strong, and its business sector is becoming a model for the rest of Africa.
What does this mean for DDI? Uganda is at a prime state for receiving extra aid in the form of DDI “micro aid.” This humanitarian effort is modeled off of the recent explosion of microcredit options for the developing world. DDI wants to move beyond capital and donate goods that are highly sought after in places like Uganda. For the pilot program, we are focusing on educational materials and books. For updates, and photos, check the travel blog section of the website.