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May 2014 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| 11
Overseas partnerships |
Alcohol
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WALES HAS A LONG ASSOCIATION WITH UGANDA
mainly due to the
connection between Mbale and Pontypridd brought about by the community link
programme Pont. The success of the project has been recognised by the Welsh
Government, who now send leaders in public service on placements in Mbale.
I was fortunate to be selected for the programme and worked with the
Uganda Women Concern Ministry for eight weeks. The project’s primary
mission is to support women in rural
communities and it was started in the
early 1990s by Edith Wakumire, who
was herself an orphan and whose
work with women has been
recognised by the UN.
There is a very serious need to
invest in women in Uganda, not only to
further their economic empowerment,
but also because women will then
invest in their families. Through
microfinance schemes I was able to
see women funding nurseries, building
a secondary school and paying school
fees for their children. Women are the
real workers in Uganda and through
better farming, can lift themselves and
their families from subsistence to
living a life of aspiration. To see a
community of women buying 23 cows
was a sign of real progress. The Welsh
government is investing in schemes
from tree planting to coffee co-ops,
and Pont’s vision in partnership with
the government is ensuring support is
targeted effectively and making a real
difference.
Yet there is a problem that seems to
be under everyone’s radar, and that is
addiction. Our UK government may be
promoting bingo but as in the UK,
gambling is a real problem for male
Ugandans. The other addiction that we
share with Uganda is alcohol. The focus
on regeneration is vital, but families are
being crippled by alcohol abuse.
A study by US Broadcaster CNN
puts Uganda as the leading African
country in terms of alcohol
consumption and eighth in the world. According to CNN: ‘Uganda leads its
African neighbours for alcohol intake, largely thanks to a rampant trade in
illegally made rotgut and a winning formula of booze made from bananas.
‘High on the menu is a potent liquor called waragi, also known as war gin
because it was once used to fortify troops. Though drinking too much inevitably
leads to surrender.’
The Ugandan
Daily Monitor
also notes: ‘Intake of colossal amounts of
potent gins and other forms of crude liquor in mostly poverty-stricken rural
communities and urban slums has raised health alarms amid declining
productivity by affected youth.’
I witnessed for myself the destruction that alcohol was causing to rural
communities. I was taken round villages and many gardens laid testimony to the
waste in human lives, with graves of men dying far too young. HIV/Aids is still a
major problem but many more people that I spoke and met talked about those
they are losing due to deaths from
alcohol. The problem in Uganda is not
just men drinking; there is an increased
uptake of drinking by women, which has
led some children to be left in an
appalling situation without food,
education or any real love.
The response to alcohol abuse of
course would be different to that
provided by agencies such as
Kaleidoscope, but to ignore the
problem means that communities will
be plunged into depression. The need
for training and support from agencies
to respond to this killer problem is ever
more pressing.
Working with women in Uganda I
also saw how the death of a husband,
in itself traumatic, was compounded by
that death placing the family in danger.
Women often do not inherit property
and in some cases, family members of
the dead husband come in, seize their
land and make their vulnerable family
homeless. I was fortunate enough to
be involved in supporting one such
family to build a new home on land
donated by the church community, but
these cases are sadly not the norm.
Uganda is an amazing country to
visit and work in. There are many
inspiring people and I am most grateful
for the friendship of so many I met. As
with many poor countries, there are
people struggling with crippling poverty.
Sadly, for some the poverty is so harsh
they look for a way of escaping their
reality and turn to drugs such as
alcohol. It means that the support we
give must be both economic and social. I hope I can help in a little way and
that government can remember that support for people to move out of poverty
comes in many forms.
Martin Blakebrough is the CEO of Kaleidoscope and was in Uganda as a
guest of Pont from 2 January to 28 February. For more information about Pont
visit http://pont-mbale.org.uk
Kaleidoscope’s conference, ‘From harm reduction to mindfulness’ is on 14
May in Newport, Gwent. Details at www.kaleidoscopeproject.org.uk
Potent struggle
Working with an aid project in Uganda brought
Martin Blakebrough
face to face with the optimism of
community growth and achievement – undermined by a stark reminder of the destructive effects of alcohol
‘Women are the
real workers in
Uganda and
through better
farming, can lift
themselves and
their families from
subsistence
farming to living a
life of aspiration...’