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Frances Haworth - Tekera Resource Centre, Uganda

I first found out about Tekera Resource Centre through Comhlamh's website www.volunteeringoptions.org. Previously, I had volunteered several times in Moldova in Eastern Europe, and was looking for a placement somewhere completely different. I had recently started an NGO with a friend to work in Moldova to support local community groups in rural areas and wanted to gain some experience of community development on the ground. I was looking to explore a part of Africa, experience community development in the field and also to work with a small organisation where I could make an impact. TRC seemed to fit - it was a small, start up organisation that had been founded in 2006 by a Canadian couple, Brigitte and Bruce Daley, and Killian Kehoe from Dublin. The centre was small but had done great work in a short time with very little money. I was particularly drawn to their founding principle which was that nothing should be given away for free - all services at the Centre had to be earned through work on the community farm. Members of the community could work to earn "Tekera pesos" which are then exchanged for health care and education classes.

Frances at the resource centre

I met Killian a few times before I went over and carried out my own research about Uganda. I booked flights to go out for 4 months. I knew from talking to Killian and emailing Brigitte that the centre was located in a very remote area without proper roads or transport. I was looking forward to living and working with Ugandans in the village - this seemed to me by far the best way to get to know a country. There's something to be said for having the support of other "westerners" when abroad but I've always believed that over-reliance means you will be less likely to integrate.

When I first arrived in Uganda, Brigitte and Bruce were late picking me up and I parked my 4 giant bags outside Entebbe airport and asked a taxi driver to keep an eye on them while I went off to find a bathroom. I got into the lift and within a few minutes all six of us inside realised it had broken down and was going nowhere. For forty minutes we sweated in unbearable heat trying to prise open the doors. Eventually, with a little help from outside we managed to push the doors apart. Of course at this stage I had become worried about my bags as my friend the taxi driver could easily have picked up a fare and abandoned them as I'd been gone a long time. I ran back outside to find my friend still waiting patiently beside the mound of luggage, and though slightly exasperated by my disappearance, he laughed long and hard when he heard what had happened. My first half hour in Uganda taught me the two most important lessons of my time there. Firstly, you could trust most Ugandans with your life, let alone your bags, and secondly, Ugandans are quick to see the funny side of any situation and love to laugh.

My months in Tekera passed very quickly. I had gone out with very little idea what I would actually be doing on a day to day basis and was quick to write by own plan of action when I got there. The Centre had recently expanded from a one room health care clinic with garden, to incorporate a local school and rapidly expanding craft club and adult education classes. A project manager, James Katumba, had recently been hired along with 4 qualified teachers who were living on site. I spent a lot of time working with James, Brigitte and Bruce developing a centre development plan - starting with kitting out an old bedroom as an office. I was lucky to be there at a time when the centre was developing from a small organisation to a larger one with more staff and activities. It was brilliant to be part of the flux and work alongside people who were so dedicated to improving services in the community. Having said that, the Centre wasn't interested in handouts or aid and I was thankful for this. The Centre and staff were respected in the area and their work wasn't seen as "charitable". Instead the Centre was actually generating an income which went back into services and focussed on creating employment and income for the local people, through the craft club and an agricultural co-op. Unfortunately, the income generated is actually much lower than the overheads and the Centre is still dependent on the donations of supporters overseas but we hope in several years that the centre will be self-sufficient.

Getting the new primary school up and running was a major challenge and the most rewarding part of what I did during my placement. When I arrived a beautiful new 4 room building was being completed but there was absolutely nothing else and the school had to open within weeks. We spent endless hours working out administration systems, sourcing text books and equipment and in meetings with parents, teachers and directors. The sense of satisfaction was overwhelming when the school was eventually up and running and the kids started coming in on time and in uniform!

Teachers and Pupils outside new school

The area I lived in, south of Masaka, was incredibly beautiful. We were close to the equator so the climate and light didn't change much throughout the year. Every morning it got light at around 6am and dark around 7.30pm in the evening. Sometimes in Ireland, I wake up and remember for a few minutes what a different life I led over there. Life in the village is peaceful and time moves slowly. When I arrived I was too impatient, too obsessed with procedures, structures and deadlines for Tekera. No one could understand why I wanted to do everything in such a hurry - "it will be ok in the end" as I was often told. After a while I think I settled down and remembered to laugh more and worry less Ugandan style. I miss Uganda terribly. For me it wasn't about the mad rush of Kampala, or the hotels on the lake, or the gorilla tourism. Uganda is about the village, the nucleus of African life, where every face is known, where children play safely on roads without cars and it takes a whole community to raise each child. If I learnt anything about community development in Uganda, it was that communities develop over time, not in a few weeks or months. I was very lucky to have been a part of that development in Tekera for the short time I was there.

For more information about Tekera Resource Centre please visit www.ugandavillage.org.