History – Giving a Voice to the People ...................................................................................................................... 6
Strategic Programme Areas ....................................................................................................................................... 7
Problem Analysis ....................................................................................................................................................... 8
Strategic Plan 2009-2010 ............................................................................................................................................ 12
Outline of Strategic Objectives ............................................................................................................................... 12
BOSCO Uganda Strategic Objectives and Activities, 2009-2010 ............................................................................ 13
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FOREWORD BY HIS GRACE JOHN BAPTIST ODAMA, ARCHBISHOP GULU ARCHDIOCESE
The Catholic Church has always had special interest in those “technical inventions of our time which directly touch
man’s spirit and open avenues of easy communication” (Vatican II Inter mirifica 1963.1). Isolated by over two
decade of war and conflict in the jurisdiction of the Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu, I took interest in Battery
Operated Systems for Community Outreach (BOSCO).
BOSCO Uganda is an organization whose mission it is to provide information and communication technology (ICT)
solutions using a collaborative web based approach to foster social, economic development and peace building in
rural areas of northern Uganda. In the end of her mission BOSCO wants to see open and peaceful rural
communities ready to face the challenges and opportunities of the globalized world in the 21st Century.
I am privileged to write a foreword to this Strategic Plan which will help bring such an important and modern
means of social communication to the Archdiocese of Gulu.
In this Strategic plan we have chosen to lay emphasis on the rural areas. These are where we have found gaps in
the overall communication spectrum. As long as gaps exist in rural areas of a modern world so rich in technical
inventions the Church will feel called to help fill them. But this is not to say our emphasis on rural communities is
done at the expense of other areas; rather as you will find out from the Strategic program there exists an overlap
especially in the areas of peace building and education.
In this strategic plan you will observe our commitment to a vision of development. This stems from our conviction
that peace and development are correlated. To many, peace loving persons the process of peace building through
the round table talks, like those in Juba, still continues at home. We must not sit back and simply lament the
breakdown of talks in Juba. BOSCO Uganda wishes to be part of the civil Peace, Recovery and Development
Program (PRDP). Users of the BOSCO Uganda internet link (teachers, students, farmers, human rights advocates,
religious leaders etc.) will hopefully talk a great deal about peace and development with one another.
I could not find a better way to build peace together with so many people who have valuable ideas than BOSCO
Uganda.
It is my hope that the strategic plan roll out touches precisely on those points that will see us develop as a truly
open and peaceful community of people of the same nation with a common good.
I therefore bless BOSCO Uganda’s strategic plan to bring forth abundant fruit of peace and stability in northern
Uganda and indeed Uganda as a whole. Well deserved thanks goes to Horizont3000, an Austrian Agency for
Overseas Development who funded the strategic planning workshop.
+John Baptist Odama
(Archbishop of Gulu)
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FOREWORD BY REV. FR. DR. JOSEPH OKUMU, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BOSCO UGANDA
Humanitarian Organizations whose goal it is to provide emergency relief in times of conflict and war are packing
up their bags following the on-going peace process in northern Uganda. The Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu faces
bigger challenges to fill in for some of those Organizations to close remaining gaps. Over twenty years of conflict,
war and faith in northern Uganda have been quite a mix.
But most importantly the Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu wants to sustain the peace process so far achieved in the
South Sudan capital city Juba. There is a modern way to do this. It is through Information and Communication
Technology ICT BOSCO. Through Battery Operated Systems for Community Outreach (BOSCO) the Archdiocese of
Gulu in northern Uganda wants to see open and peaceful rural communities of northern Uganda ready to face the
challenges and opportunities of the globalized world in the 21st Century.
Yes, the Juba peace process has gone far to seal cease fire but this is not enough. Something more must be done.
BOSCO wants to provide innovative solutions using a collaborative web-based approach to foster social, economic
development and peace building in rural communities of northern Uganda. There is a vast area of activities in
northern Uganda where ICT is much needed; the area of computer education, human rights and peace building,
research and installation of innovative technology in rural areas and research and concept development for ICT in
development.
Once accomplished, these rich programs will catapult northern Uganda some 20 years ahead into peace and
development.
Since its birth in 2006 BOSCO has already been of use to some children, adult Human Rights Volunteers, medical
nurses, primary and secondary school teachers and many youth who dropped out of school in Gulu (Unyama, Coo-
pe and CARITAS Gulu ) and Amuru (Lacor, Pagak, Jengari and Pabo).
It is our hope that BOSCO continues to expand to reach and bring together all rural areas of northern Uganda into
Uganda. It is also my hope that all civil and religious leaders find BOSCO the best modern means of evangelization
and peace building through reconciliation.
A quote of an African wisdom is not out of place here “In Africa when we quarrel we remember that we will have
to live together tomorrow. So we must not deal with conflicts in a way that will prevent us living together
tomorrow”.
Fr. Dr. Joseph Okumu
(Executive Director)
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FOREWORD BY GUS ZUEHLKE, PRESIDENT OF BOSCO USA
My first encounter with Uganda was in South Bend, IN. We were hosting an Acholi priest at the parish near the
University of Notre Dame where I serve as the Director of Faith Formation. One morning, upon entering my office, I
discovered Fr Binta weeping at my computer after having read an email and a news update about what was happening
to his people in northern Uganda.
That was the moment where I first learned of the 20 year insurgency in northern Uganda which, at its height, had
displaced almost 2 million people and seen tens of thousands of youth kidnapped to be used as child soldiers. In 2004 I
was invited by Fr Binta to give a retreat to the Catholic members of the Parliament of Uganda. Upon the completion of
the retreat I was invited to northern Uganda to visit the priests in the Archdiocese of Gulu—the diocese which covers
almost all of “Acholiland” northern Uganda.
At that time, the insurgency was still very dangerous and it was not safe to drive to the north so I took a commuter plane
to Gulu in the north. From the sky, I could see once-fertile farm lands lying fallow or burned. Even more prominent
were the hundreds of displacement camps, visible from the air, which housed tens of thousands of people each.
The devastation was so apparent, yet I was not sure what could be done to help alleviate the suffering of the Acholi
people in the displacement camps. Upon returning to the US in between my second and third visit to northern Uganda
in 2005, I began discussing with Fr Joseph Okumu, Director of the Catechists Training Center in Gulu, about the
possibility of using a WiFi Internet signal that could be bounced from IDP camp to IDP camp, facilitating communication.
In our view, we had the American technology, coupled with the strong church infrastructure in northern Uganda, to
make it a real possibility that we could launch an emergency communication system between the camps.
In 2006 I had an IT professional begin researching the technology that would be needed to deploy in the IDP camps. It
took 13 months from conception to deployment and in April 2007, BOSCO was officially launched in nine sites, giving
health centers, schools, parish offices, and community-based organizations access to each other and the outside world
for the first time. Because this network of solar powered PCs with Internet and VoIP telephony access was installed in a
time of war, it was our hope that having a communication tool in these locations would be used as an emergency
warning system for possible attacks on residents.
Fortunately, it was never needed as a warning system as relative peace came soon after deployment. Almost
immediately, it then became a robust communications and development project aimed at ending the isolation of the
Acholi people after 20 years of war and little access to the outside world. After deployment, an elderly Acholi nun
working in one of these IDP camps called me in the US from the VoIP phone we had installed at her parish office; she
told me: “Gus, BOSCO is helping cut off the greatest suffering of the Acholi people over the last 20 years: We are
beginning to defeat the isolation caused by war.”
Today BOSCO has grown to 20 sites and continues to expand. We have hired Ugandan staff and I am very pleased to say
that it is serving a great need and that our staff in Acholiland are taking the primary responsibility for running the day-to-
day operations of the organizations. I look forward to seeing the day when war is no longer a threat to the people of
northern Uganda. Being able to tell the world what has happened there is the first step down the path to peace and
reconciliation.
Gus Zuehlke
(President of BOSCO USA)
(BOSCO USA initiated and co-founded BOSCO Uganda and is still its main supporter)
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BOSCO UGANDA - BACKGROUND
HISTORY – GIVING A VOICE TO THE PEOPLE
Because of 20 years of conflict and displacement, the people of northern Uganda have become isolated from the
technological developments rapidly happening in their own country and throughout the world. This isolation and
lack of access to 21st
century Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has led to a lack of innovation
and creative thinking to address community needs. Twenty years of war has left many people as dependents on
traditional aid resources. Today, with peace on the horizon, BOSCO Uganda believes that we can begin to turn
dependency into self-advocacy through the use of innovative and collaborative ICT technologies.
Initiated in 2006 under the umbrella of Gulu Archdiocese, BOSCO Uganda has been implementing a Pilot ICT
project in 6 IDP-camps in Gulu and Amuru district (including Choo Pe, Unyama, Lacor, Pagak, Pabbo and Jengari).
Using innovative technologies for computer and internet access, specially adapted for rural areas, BOSCO Uganda
is contributing towards the increasing communication and information needs in post-war northern Uganda.
After the successful implementation of Phase I, BOSCO Uganda is currently planning to expand its activities in
Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum and Pader Districts. Furthermore BOSCO Uganda concentrates on the development of new
concepts of ICT usage. These concepts shall include: new, innovative computer education, ICT for Human Rights,
special programmes for youth groups, partnership programmes between northern Uganda and the whole global
community, etc.
BOSCO-Uganda provides rural and displaced communities with communication stations consisting of low-power,
solar powered PCs connected to a high-speed, long-range WiFi Internet connection. Also, each communication
station is linked to other BOSCO sites via a free VoIP telephony network and through a high-speed internal
network (INTRANET) content management page.
Moving beyond the provision of technical solutions, BOSCO will concentrate on the development of both proven
and emerging directions for ICT usage. These directions include computer education adapted to the realities of
21st Century global interconnectivity and a Web 2.0 collaborative approach to cooperation with health centres, e-
agriculture, educational outreach, e-government, etc.
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“BREAKING THE SILENCE“
VISION
Open and peaceful rural communities, ready to face the challenges
and opportunities of the globalized world in the 21st
century.
MISSION
Provide innovative ICT (Information and Communication Technology) solutions
using a collaborative, web-based approach to foster social and economic
development and peace building in rural communities in northern Uganda.
STRATEGIC PROGRAMME AREAS
• ICT and Computer Education for rural communities
• ICT for Human Rights and Peace building
• Research and Installation of innovative ICT technologies for rural areas
• Research and Concept development for “ICT in Development”
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SITUATION ANALYSIS
PROBLEM ANALYSIS
Development Concerns: Can Be Addressed By
BOSCO Uganda
Challenges to Rural Communities: Can Be Addressed By
BOSCO Uganda
• Poverty
• Illiteracy
• HIV/Aids
• Poor agricultural practices, inadequate
market accessibilities
• Poor health care facilities (e.g.
documentation, records, poor medical
information)
• Inadequate WATSAN (Water and
Sanitation) facilities in rural communities
• High levels of trauma
• Weak social values
• Poor transport / communication in rural
communities
• Poor coordination of government entities
(information gaps)
• High violence rates
• Corruption
• Schools:
o Poor documentation
o Lack of education resources
o Poor communication
o Lack of worldview exposure
o Poor ICT curriculum
• Community members
o Poor self-advocacy
o Isolation of communities
o Prejudices and negative stereotypes
o Lack of life skills
o Lack of employment skills
o Lack of collaboration
• Rural Institutions
o Inefficiency, not reaching their potential
o Poor quality services
o Lack of collaboration
o Poor documentation
Human Rights Concerns Needing ICT Attention Technical Problems Facing ICT Installations
• Lack of awareness on Human Rights issues
• Lack of access to justice, especially in
remote areas
• Lack of accountability
• Poor documentation of Human Rights
violations
• Ineffective reporting system
• Surge problems from grid power
• Lightning during rainy seasons
• Limited knowledge of technical staff
• Unreliable power supplies
• Difficulties finding technical staff
• Limited time for research
• Inefficient equipment
• Limited resources for maintenance, research
• Lack of cooperation with Universities, institutions
doing ICT research
• Limited knowledge about similar ICT activities
• Lack of funds for research, test installations
Organisational Issues of BOSCO Uganda
• Incomplete definition of structure, policies
• Communication gaps
• Lack of visibility
• Inadequate payment of some staff
• Clarification of Terms / Formal appointment of Management and Administration
• Dependency on external human resources (Advisors)
• Limited capacity of staff, Absence of supportive staff
• No clear overview of finances
• Absence of a complete office space
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STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS
Actor / Stakeholder Relevance for BOSCO Uganda Potential / Strengths Problems / Weaknesses
1. BOSCO USA • Funding, Capacity Building • Reliable, long-term partner • Dependency
2. CTC – Catechist Training Center • Host, Office space • Sustainability • Dependency
