Today, I spent close to two hours with a group of young Ugandan men and women who are openly gay at the People’s Space. Some people actually thought I was gay, not that I cared.
And as an open interactive area and a hive of activity it was the right place for these young people to be: they could speak openly.
And guess what, I realized that like me, they are just people, who love and want to have freedom. People who want to be accepted and not persecuted just because they are men who love men and women who love women.
I am not going to go into the law here but speak as a human being and try to put myself in their shoes. An openly gay beautiful young woman participant had me thinking. As I talked to her she told me about the challenges she and others face thanks to being openly gay.
She has been thrown out of public transport, she is shunned in the community where she lives, she cannot find a job, seeking medical treatment for HIV and AIDS is another challenge, and so the list goes on and on.
Now who would want to live such a life? I do not think that these people wake up one day and decide they want to be gay. That just does not cut it.
Gays and lesbians have always existed in Uganda but the moment they decided it was time for them to gain their stand in society, then all hell broke loose for them. Is that not just hypocrisy? And their problem is simply the fact that they talked about being homosexuals then that became a problem.
I cannot help but wonder, ‘Are our leaders not trying to find a scapegoat in gays and homosexuals instead of focusing on the issues that they have failed to solve in our societies?’ Poverty for example, maternal mortality, child mortality.
There is always a price to pay for visibility and right now, Uganda’s gay people are paying that price.
Growing up in a remote village within the small mountain state of Himachal Pradesh north of India, Asha Kanwar considers education the basis of all development. Being the first generation of an illiterate family to go to school, Asha says education has been a life-changing experience for her.
Presenting a paper at the Joined Up Policies to Develop Commonwealth Education workshop on Tuesday, 20 November 2007 during the Commonwealth People’s Forum, Professor Asha Singh Kanwar stresses that there is no difference between education on the one hand and development on the other; to achieve any of the Millennium Development Goals education is the bottom line.
Asha has had the opportunity to go through higher education with scholarships and international fellowships; one of these was from British Council for a Doctor of Philosophy programme at the University of Sussex which she completed in 1986.
Today, Professor Kanwar is the Vice President and Programme Director of the Commonwealth Of Learning.
The Commonwealth People’s Forum 2007 drew attention to the significance of water, energy and sustainable livelihoods. This topic was specifically discussed in a two day workshop at the forum titled Trade Models for Sustainable Livelihoods. But what is the significance of this to people in Commonwealth States. I talked to Dr. Moses Musaazi, from the Department of Technology Makerere University about the significance of energy, water and sustainable livelihoods.
Until today, I always left such complex issues as Climate Change to ‘activists’. To me, they would be the guys that have a PHD in environment or global warming or whatever else climate is about.
The Converging World, represented by Shalin Jethi, delegate at the Commonwealth People’s Forum, conducted an interactive workshop ‘Your Climate-My Future’ at the Green Space in the People’s Space this afternoon. It was amazing to see people of all trades and professions gathered in what they called ‘clusters’ discussing what they each can do to tackle climate issues.
While such topics as climate have been left to what we call experts, it is a challenge for the experts to break it down for the rest of us, so that we can easier understand it. This is what The Converging World, with the help of the New Economics Foundation has done by making a fun-game called Climate Talks to tackle climate questions.
Alice Namuli, a young advocate based in Kampala said what gives her the energy to tackle climate change:
“The desire to live a better life; and the need to preserve a safe environment on planet earth for the future generation. I plan on doing this by influencing people’s attitudes towards climate change.â€
Gertrude Ssekabira, a head teacher in a Kampala school also believes that the desire for a better life is the driving force.
“Why for instance should I pay for water when I can harvest it for free when it rains, while at the same time solving the problem of soil erosion?â€
Shalin challenged them thus: “If someone told you that in 10years time global warming will have gotten too bad you won’t be able to do anything about it, wouldn’t you start to act right away?â€
Everybody nodded in the affirmative. They laid out plans of what they intend to do, and what they feel others should do to tackle the issues surrounding climate change.
So what can I/ we/ they do? Post your comments on climate change.
One of the focuses of the Commonwealth People’s Forum, during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Uganda this year is health. And the HIV and AIDS pandemic came to the forefront. During the workshop that focused on Education as a tool for HIV prevention, on Monday, Dr Alex Coutinho stressed the significance of prevention in the fight against HIV and AIDS. And today when I spoke to Dr Joe Muwonge, Associate Director International Policy and Advocacy for World Vision, he noted that parents should live if children are to stop suffering the brunt of HIV and AIDS. How can parents live? Prevention should be at the forefront in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
Many people still think that HIV and AIDS is something that only affects adults but they could never be more wrong. At the end of 2006, there were 2.3 million children living with HIV and AIDS around the world. In the same year, over half a million children became newly infected. Of the 2.9 million people who died of AIDS during 2006, 1 in 10 was a child. Every hour, 40 children die as a result of AIDS.
I talked to Dr Muwonge about the effects of HIV and AIDS on children. Are these issues given paramount focus in the Commonwealth states or does more need to be done?
Ugandans living in Kampala woke up to amazement this morning when they got into the city. Traffic was being directed by wardens clad entirely in white. Their shirts, trousers, caps, gloves, even shoes were all white. One motorist was overheard explaining this was in readiness for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
A pedestrian I spoke to told me: it’s one way Uganda is getting ready to welcome the ‘whites’ a term commonly used to refer to Europeans. Reactions, however were mixed: some people thought the wardens did not look very smart, others were not impressed by the colour contrast since they felt the wardens looked too dark for the attire.
Besides the ‘white’ wardens, the city looked gridlocked since the traffic jam was unbearable. This could have been as a result of the closure of some roads for security purposes, no doubt because HM Queen Elizabeth II jets into Uganda this evening.
However, much as the long-awaited arrival of the Queen is anticipated, many people around Kampala are still not aware of what CHOGM is. A shop owner on Kampala road told me that CHOGM is the Queen’s third name, another thought it is the Queen’s husband. Some others know about CHOGM, but claimed they are not interested because poverty is still eating away at them. Most Ugandans, though, are optimistic that CHOGM is going to do the people good in the long run. A Taxi driver told me that he does not mind the event even though he won’t gain individually - but at least he will not drive through potholes any more.
Young People in the Commonwealth member countries still feel their say is not given enough attention. They claim to encounter a number of predicaments which are not looked into by those in aithority, who happen naturally to be the older ones. However, they were grateful to the Commonwealth Youth Forum which gave them an avenue to air their grievances and be part of decision making in their various countries. These were the views of some of the young people that came to the people’s space at Hotel Africana.
Among the students present were those from the Aga Khan Foundation Education Services, in particular, the Aga Khan High School. Under one of the most vibrant units of the school, the Creativity Action and Service (CAS), the students were able to showcase their services to the community. Among other projects, they have helped set up a school in Mukono, Uganda. The students also exhibited how they aid the community in policy making, and how to embrace local culture and traditions.
Anisha, one of the students, said they are able to do all this courtesy of their good up-bringing by the school. Andrew, the students’ leader, noted that they have been able to have mpact in 5 districts due to the good quality of education they access. Kamal, another student said that but for the Youth Forum, they would not have had any avenues through which to express them selves. Christopher Onyango, the program coordinator expressed gratitude to the organizers of the Commonwealth People’s Space for bearing young people in mind and giving them this opportunity to publicise their views.
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