I specifically put a section that states ‘promotions would be

intrinsically linked to performance reviews and criteria’. Although it

seems more of a general human resource policy issue, I found in my

research that without this provision, staff can get promotions for

anything, and women are often overlooked when they are not based

on written qualifications and demonstrated work.

list of everyone’s overtime and seeing firsthand how much

FOWODE employees work, I felt the need to add a provision

encouraging family and privates lives by limiting work weeks to 40

hours. I was not completely sure how that would fit into FOWODE’s

operation, so I added several options for encouraging well-rounded

employees, including flexible working hours, overtime pay, and

earned vacation time for all overtime worked. I created a section

concerning parents that I thought would be utterly liberal and may

even create tension with the staff. I specified that mothers should

have six weeks for maternity leave. The staff pushed for 60 days. I

was very happy with all the things that FOWODE already provides

in these terms, especially for lactating mothers. Women are given

time off each day to breastfeed for 4-6 months. This would never

happen in the United States, and I consider it very progressive and

good for mothers, families and the community as a whole. Overall, I

was pretty happy with how the first draft turned out, the willingness

of the employees and also their willingness to let me attempt to write

it and run a meeting even though I was only an intern.

I participated in the joint listening in of the 2012/13 national budget

speech that was organized by FOWODE for various civil society

organizations. I found it interesting that so many NGOs gather to

listen and discuss the upcoming year’s budget. They come together

and share information, excitement and disappointments over

government pronouncements for the next financial year yet most

non-profits in America suffer silently alone as they are emailed their

government contributions (if any) for the next year.

The budget speech was really interesting and informative for me. It

helped me learn and think and learn so much about how Uganda

does development and where FOWODE fits into that scheme.

Whereas in Uganda issues, such as better roads, seem to be

constantly on the budget, year after year without improvement,

America seems to flip flop continually about what projects are

important. One day insurance companies are mandated to cover birth

control; the next Planned Parenthood is getting defunded entirely.

Although we were included in many staff meetings, the big budget

meeting was the most insightful for me as an outsider in Uganda. I

got to see in detail how the government makes priorities. It was also

really great for Julius to come speak with us after the budget was

announced to explain things and answer questions.

I also had a chance to visit one of the districts where FOWODE

implements her programs, my time in Kibaale district was an

invaluable experience. I was able to see a different side of Uganda

than the busy city of Kampala. I got to see the road conditions for

myself; only then could I really understand what the Village Budget

Clubs were up against, and how their struggle with infrastructure

issues really affects their lives on a daily basis. Even after all of my

research, I only had a true picture of the VBCs after I visited a group

of them and was able to watch the process unfold. I will say again

how impressive this program is, and how impassioned the

participants are. Not only do the VBCs bring real, measurable

changes to the community and government, but the members

become empowered and are changing their own lives as well. I have

never been particularly interested in politics or the democratic

process, but seeing the villagers come together to fight for

themselves has inspired me to be more involved as well.

I thought the support by FOWODE would be greater, but the

members seem to be taking charge of the clubs and their mission

themselves. This is what will keep this program going far into the

future. They are pushing to get more training so they can train others

without needing FOWODE’s assistance. They want cameras so they

may conduct monitoring visits on their own. They have maintained

operational budgets by offering microloans,

My major assignment was drafting FOWODE’s gender policy which

would be an addendum to the human resources manual that governs

staff at FOWODE. Originally, based on my research,

Many people in the U.S. think that if Uganda needs help, they need

food, clothes and mosquito nets. If someone asked me now, I would

say Uganda is striving to create more infrastructure, better education

and healthcare for its citizens, and better working

government officials. By infrastructure, I mean roads,

access to clean water, access to loans, and systems to

check and balance those in positions of power. That

budget speech helped me think about things more

deeply, such as, “Yes, growing more tea for export

will bring in more for the gross national product, but

people also need to keep growing food to feed the

population.” Or “Taxing alcohol does raise money for

the government, but how will that negatively impact

rural farmers who grow the products that make the

alcohol?” Not to mention that they are raising the tax

on cosmetics, which seems trivial, until you realize

that these taxes only impact women, who are expected

to wear makeup in the workplace.

Their ideas about financially sustaining themselves are ingenious.

This is not just flattery. The VBC program is innovative, and more

than that, it is effectively furthering FOWODE’s mission. My time

in the field was a highlight of my internship.

My internship coincided with FOWODE’s Leadership building

Camp. I attended it for two days and I was instantly impressed with

the professionalism of the young women as they gave speeches and

seemed to be genuinely working to learn the concepts presented for

the day. However, I think it is important that while FOWODE trains

these young leaders, it takes extra care to vet each speaker

beforehand, and only hire teachers who are also completely in

congruence with FOWODE’s mission and vision. While people are

learning about gender issues for the first time and looking up to these

people, it is imperative that they are getting accurate and

empowering information from them. It upset me to see someone in

authority that just perpetuated the stereotypes and traditional gender

roles that FOWODE is attempting to transform.

Overall, my time at FOWODE was short but eye opening. Being

able to learn about how they are engaging in women’s issues in

Uganda also helped me to look at Uganda’s culture and traditions,

not just from a feminist or American lens, but from a humanistic

one. I got to spend time with the staff that explained the culture to

me and shed light on some of the differences in Uganda that I did not

previously understand. Although the programs are amazing,

FOWODE’s staff is really the greatest asset. They are dedicated to

the women’s movement; it was apparent in the way they talked about

their projects and where they wanted to see the organization go in

the future.

I was able to get a feel for what it would be like to work for a non-

profit full time, and a taste of what professional writers do. In the

end, I appreciated that I was able to make the projects what I thought

they should be so that I could learn through experience and not just

follow a set of instructions. There was a lot to learn in such a short

and I am excited to continue following FOWODE’s work in Uganda.

By Trinity Overmyer

“Many people in the U.S.

think that if Uganda needs help, they need

food, clothes and mosquito nets. If

someone asked me now, I would say Uganda is

striving to create more infrastructure, better

education and healthcare for its citizens and better

working government officials”.

My experience at FOWODE

This is my personal experiences at Forum for Women in Democracy

(FOWODE) during a three-week internship in July 2012. I relay my

experience with FOWODE projects and how they fit into the greater

mission of the organization, as well as how these assignments and l

experiences relate to where FOWODE is moving in the future.

I thought this document was going to be a

20 page report on how FOWODE does

gender in the larger community, including

overviews of all of their projects, past,

current and future but it turned out to be an

overwhelming task. I reviewed the

organization HIV/AIDS work place policy

and the Human Resource policy and once I

understood the general format that they

were looking for, I began to research

women’s rights organizations and other

Ugandan organizations to see what was

currently being offered, and where the

global standard was heading.

On my first day I was assured that I would get a lot of different

hands on experience both in the office and the field. I was

provided with reading materials and publications to introduce me

to FOWODE and also help me to understand what type of

activism they represent, and the typical types of outcomes their

work has seen in the past. Along with reading the publications, I

attended meetings in which team members attempted to evaluate

what changes had been made and what new programs would be

addressed in the coming period. I felt this system was an

innovative and interesting way to keep all staff engaged and

accountable for their actions towards the organization. Reading

previous publications, attending meetings was a great way to be

introduced into the organization. I had the opportunity to learn

about goals, programs and structures before I really started diving

into the project Julius had provided me. I felt both comfortable

and accepted which easily allowed me to start working on the

project to read, interpret, and make adjustments to FOWODE’s

Gender Budget Program Manual for Community Budget

Monitoring and Tracking (CBM&T).

For my second project, I together with other interns from the

Purdue group, visited different districts of Uganda to assist with

the Village Budget Club Monitoring Visit and to also interview

community members that were both involved and not in the

Village Budget Clubs (VBC’s). The VBC is compromised of men

and women in villages. FOWODE starts by going into

communities looking for concerned members who want to see

change and progress. Those people then become the first trained to

recruit and run the VBC once FOWODE leaves. Community

members are trained in budget reading, rights of community

members, and laws that regulate local government budget

allocation. The hope of FOWODE is that the clubs will provide a

legal backing to advocacy and activism in the communities so that

issues around development can be changed. FOWODE acts in this

program under the assumption that by teaching men and women

how to work with the Local governments and budgets that women

will see equitable change and communities overall will benefit.

I traveled to Gulu, the trip gave me a chance to see the region that

has been devastated by war and other issues. We had an interpreter

and this was important because in the districts native languages

are spoken more often than English and especially with those

community members who are older. In the Northern region of

Uganda, June is farming season. This was true with Gulu and as

such we started our meeting in the afternoon to allow men and

women who work in the mornings to come in once the day

becomes too hot. It took us approximately thirty minutes to reach

the community by truck and when we pulled up to Labora Center,

the women stood to greet us by song and dance. The excitement

and anticipation from both I and the community members was

amazing and overwhelming. I was thankful that they were so

willing to let me into their meeting to share ideas and experiences

with someone they had just met. We shook hands with everyone

there (approximately 30 men and women of different ages and

physical abilities) and were asked to sit in nice chairs for the

meeting to begin (which was a personal struggle for me while the

other women sat on a tarp on the ground simply because I desired

so much to join them to experience the VBC from those women’s

eyes). The FOWODE official talked about FOWODE’s exist

strategy explaining that FOWODE may not always have the

funding to keep the VBC’s going and that by turning themselves

into a Community Based Organization (CBO) with legal power

and authority to fundraise for themselves, the community could

continue to work and move forward without the regulations and

governance that FOWODE has to this point required. I witnessed

fear and trepidation in the many faces, both male and female, of

the community members as this message was conveyed to them.

I had interviews with community members, both men and women

that were part of the VBC. The individuals spoke of pride and self-

efficacy in learning about what a budget was how to read one, and

how to hold their local governments accountable to it. Since

FOWODE has instituted the VBC in Gulu, the community has

seen a variety of changes and improvements. One major change

seen is the improved health care and the community is hopeful that

a new and closer health center will be soon built. There has been a

decrease in young girls dropping out of schools partially because

of greater teacher commitment but also because the VBC has been

able to open a line of communication between child-parent-and

teachers at every level. New and better wells have now been

drilled, and overall sanitation in the markets has increased. Other

improvements that community members were proud to speak of

included decreased domestic violence and women now owning

property such as animals. Women often use the profits from their

animals to help pay for children’s school fees so they do not have

to drop out. Everyone was positive and quick to claim that because

of the VBC their lives had changed. All community members

spoke of a desire to continue their work with FOWODE in any

capacity.

On our way back to Gulu town, we took many of the community

members in the back of our truck to drop them off closer to their

homes. That simple action was a welcomed relief to the women

because many walk a minimum of two or three kilometers to

attend the VBC meetings. We were informed about the distance

many members have to travel to reach the sub-county office when

an issue arises, it was estimated the distance was no less than

seven kilometers if not more and this affects especially the

members with disability and the elderly who want to join.

We attended an interface meeting where the community speaks

with and brings issues to light with the district field officials.

Again because of the farming we had to wait for more members to

show up. As we waited, one of the leaders took us to the local

clinic where we spoke to the nurse there about issues she saw with

the community and what the clinic’s needs were which weren’t

currently being met by the government. It was interesting to hear

her side of the issue because she claimed to be unaware of the

VBC and had many needs that weren’t being met by the

government that all related to funding (something the VBC had

felt they were being successful on). After that meeting with the

nurse, the community leader explained to us that the village we

were in was once a displacement camp from the war and that over

27,000 Ugandan’s were living there at one point in time and the

only medical center available to them was the one we had just left.

That clinic contained one consultation room, one exam room and

one surgical room. Clearly it wasn’t enough back then to help the

community either. Today, only about 3,000 villagers are left but it

was an overwhelming experience and realization that many if not

most of the men and women I had and would be speaking with at

one point experienced the war in some fashion yet there they were

fighting to find empowerment and strength.

My experience at FOWODE

“On our way back to Gulu town, we took many of

the community members in the back of our truck to drop them off closer to their homes. That

simple action was a welcomed relief to the women because many walk a minimum of two or three

kilometers to attend the VBC meetings”.

I talked to two non-members of the VBC who had heard of their

work has aspiration to join and help their communities more. Here

again it was moving to see the positive effects of FOWODE’s

work being so affective that more men and women are trying to

join and commit to the empowerment of women and gender

equity. Before my trip up to Gulu I struggled to connect being

knowledgeable about the local government’s budget with giving

women freedoms and leadership within the community. I was

clearly wrong and happily so, it was inspiring to know the

differences and impacts made on a community by simply learning

how to speak and follow up with local leaders. What inspired me

the most was the decrease in domestic violence and the increase in

respect men in the community provided to women. I never would

have thought those two things would have a cause-and-effect

interaction. It was amazing to see in person how the actions of

FOWODE are helping women move forward at the local (micro)

level. During a programs meeting back at FOWODE head office,

it became clear why FOWODE interviews community members.

Without those efforts FOWODE has no way of showing how

affective the programs are but to prove also that there is still more

required to support communities to establish themselves

effectively in this accountability work.

I attended the annual reading of the National Budget which

included a post reaction conversation where FOWODE and other

NGO’s discussed the lack of funding going towards gender issues.

It was shocking to see the obvious lack of gender equality

consideration when it came to the National Budget.

Working with FOWODE for my three week internship was a very

positive experience. Unlike some of the other NGO’s students

from Purdue worked with, FOWODE seemed well established and

were able to provide resources to the interns that helped us to

easily accomplish the tasks set before us. I felt that there was

support at multiple levels to complete my projects. I apparently

had missed the meeting in which FOWODE laid out their

expectations for us in the internship but Lauren Coleman told me

that a main objective was for us, as interns, to learn and observe as

much as possible in our three weeks with the organization. Not

only was I able to accomplish this through the projects I assisted

with but also through daily conversations and attending staff

meetings. FOWODE was good at exposing the many different

levels of work done by NGO’s and I was able to appreciate all the

works and struggles that all NGO’s go through with being taken

seriously in the public, working under the restrictions provided by

donors, and still attempting to change the gender inequity of

Uganda.

By Lauren Coleman

Using art

gender

change, progress and liberation.

renowned Uganda feminist, Solome Nakaweesi

feminism, and what it meant to the girls at the program.

activity. This meant placing cards on the floor ranging from “

“strongly disagree”. The young women were then asked to respond with their opinions on specific topics.

FOWODE had put together the

assignment was to help FOWODE achieve its advocacy objective of communication. I

FOWODE utilize fine arts and graphic design to raise awareness about this issue to everyday people, promote

family planning, female leaders

and illustrated books, also using English and local languageand illustrated books, also using English and local language

page graphic novel, and several small

The poster displayed a young black woman with hair that held the history of her life. It showed parents

a girl to school and a female parliamentarian. The poster

and access to resources. For the poster, I

leadership. The two-page graphic novel broke down the family planning advocacy packet into simpler forms.

In focusing on common ideas of equal access to resources and awareness, I helped FOWODE follow its dedication to women’s rights.

In terms of effectiveness, there were some positive results and some frustrations.

and in a newsletter, which was amazing

During my Study Abroad to Uganda, I

organization

that FOWODE

politics. There also is a strong focus on pursing these rights on both a

local and glob

programs: The Gender Budget Program and

Program.

During my internship

camp and witnessed several activities

to think critically by having them

They debated

positive or harmful influence to the Ugandan

people. It was fascinating to watch them

debate, regardless of what side of the issue

they were placed on.

that feminism is causing single mothers,

ruining African tradition and

nuisance. The opposing side would argue for

t to promote

r equality...

change, progress and liberation. My favorite part of the Women and Leadership Program was listening to

renowned Uganda feminist, Solome Nakaweesi-Kimbugwe. Solome presented her

inism, and what it meant to the girls at the program. She invited the girls to join her

activity. This meant placing cards on the floor ranging from “strongly agree,

The young women were then asked to respond with their opinions on specific topics.

the Communication and Advocacy Strategy on

FOWODE achieve its advocacy objective of communication. I

ts and graphic design to raise awareness about this issue to everyday people, promote

family planning, female leadership and empower women. This would be through creating posters, pamphlets,

and illustrated books, also using English and local language. For the family planning packet, I designed one and illustrated books, also using English and local language. For the family planning packet, I designed one finished poster

several small illustrations, which could be used as

he poster displayed a young black woman with hair that held the history of her life. It showed parents

a girl to school and a female parliamentarian. The poster read, “Strong mothers make strong leaders” to encourage women’s

and access to resources. For the poster, I wanted to make a connection between family

page graphic novel broke down the family planning advocacy packet into simpler forms.

ommon ideas of equal access to resources and awareness, I helped FOWODE follow its dedication to women’s rights.

there were some positive results and some frustrations.

a newsletter, which was amazing

During my Study Abroad to Uganda, I worked alongside FOWODE

organization that works for women’s rights. My first

t FOWODE is committed to women’s rights, especially concerning

politics. There also is a strong focus on pursing these rights on both a

local and global level. The organization works on two

rams: The Gender Budget Program and the Leadership Building

. (There are also a multitude of other side projects as well.

my internship I attended a full day of the women and

and witnessed several activities. The program encouraged the girls

to think critically by having them role play a court scenario

They debated whether feminism was a

positive or harmful influence to the Ugandan

people. It was fascinating to watch them

debate, regardless of what side of the issue

they were placed on. The girls would argue

that feminism is causing single mothers,

ruining African tradition and a general

nuisance. The opposing side would argue for

“

subjective in Uganda, and it was

western standards using Ugandan

methods. FOWODE was

where My favorite part of the Women and Leadership Program was listening to

Kimbugwe. Solome presented her lecture on African

She invited the girls to join her social experiment

strongly agree, agree undecided, disagree” and

The young women were then asked to respond with their opinions on specific topics.

on Family Planning in Uganda and my

FOWODE achieve its advocacy objective of communication. I wanted to help

ts and graphic design to raise awareness about this issue to everyday people, promote

be through creating posters, pamphlets,

the family planning packet, I designed one the family planning packet, I designed one finished poster

could be used as and when needed.

he poster displayed a young black woman with hair that held the history of her life. It showed parents with a baby raising it, sending

mothers make strong leaders” to encourage women’s

wanted to make a connection between family planning, women’s rights and transformative

page graphic novel broke down the family planning advocacy packet into simpler forms.

ommon ideas of equal access to resources and awareness, I helped FOWODE follow its dedication to women’s rights.

there were some positive results and some frustrations. I did finish my work and saw it utilized

alongside FOWODE an

first observation was

is committed to women’s rights, especially concerning

politics. There also is a strong focus on pursing these rights on both a

works on two specific

the Leadership Building

There are also a multitude of other side projects as well.)

of the women and leadership

The program encouraged the girls

role play a court scenario.

As an intern at FOWODE,

Kabale which is about six hours from Kampala.

to be quite effective in helping FOWODE with the VBCs. While the

language barrier existed and I had a translator, I still mana

interview six people.

the interviews, and really got to personally experience rural Uganda

saw primary schools and health centers first hand, giving life to my

research for women’s rights in Uganda

completed, first hand, giving life to my research for women’s rights in

Uganda. After the fieldwork was completed,

work directly added to the Gender Budget Planning Program, which

if someone told me to be ready in ten

later. Meetings that were supposed to last a half

taking all day.

FOWODE is truly committed to women’s rights.

that FOWODE has and the great work that this NGO has done. As I have

said before, the Gender Budgeting and Women’s Leadership programs

are great. I understand the cultural differences that happen and how that

can hinder an experien

being open-minded to foreigners, however, acknowledge the cultural

differences.

By Rachel Tobias

“From a western perspective

observed that time is very

subjective in Uganda, and it was

frustrating to have to meet

western standards using Ugandan

methods. FOWODE was far from

where I was staying in Makerer

University and given the

transport system, if someone

told me to be ready in ten-

minutes; it could be two hours

later”.

the family planning packet, I designed one finished poster a two-

with a baby raising it, sending

mothers make strong leaders” to encourage women’s health

women’s rights and transformative

ommon ideas of equal access to resources and awareness, I helped FOWODE follow its dedication to women’s rights.

I did finish my work and saw it utilized as a poster

As an intern at FOWODE, with two co-workers to southwestern

about six hours from Kampala. I found this fieldwork

to be quite effective in helping FOWODE with the VBCs. While the

language barrier existed and I had a translator, I still mana

interview six people. I also talked with many villagers in addition to

and really got to personally experience rural Uganda

saw primary schools and health centers first hand, giving life to my

research for women’s rights in Uganda. After the fieldwork was

first hand, giving life to my research for women’s rights in

After the fieldwork was completed, I was able to see how my

work directly added to the Gender Budget Planning Program, which

was really great.

I felt that FOWODE was a highly organized

and committed NGO that followed their

dedication. I knew I was a part of something

important and could clearly understand h

my work impacted that image. As an intern, I

certainly learned more about the organization,

what it accomplished on a grassroots level. I

could see with my own eyes the impact on

villagers during fieldwork and

And all of that time spent felt

worthwhile.

From a western perspective, I observed that

time is very subjective in Uganda, and it was

frustrating to have to meet western standards

using Ugandan methods. FOWODE was

from where I was staying in Makerer

University and given the transpor

someone told me to be ready in ten-minutes; it could be two hours

Meetings that were supposed to last a half-hour could end up

is truly committed to women’s rights. I believe in the vision

that FOWODE has and the great work that this NGO has done. As I have

said before, the Gender Budgeting and Women’s Leadership programs

are great. I understand the cultural differences that happen and how that

can hinder an experience. My advice to FOWODE would be to continue

minded to foreigners, however, acknowledge the cultural

Rachel Tobias

rom a western perspective, I

ime is very

subjective in Uganda, and it was

frustrating to have to meet

western standards using Ugandan

far from

was staying in Makerere

someone

it could be two hours

workers to southwestern

I found this fieldwork

to be quite effective in helping FOWODE with the VBCs. While the

language barrier existed and I had a translator, I still managed to

I also talked with many villagers in addition to

and really got to personally experience rural Uganda. I

saw primary schools and health centers first hand, giving life to my

After the fieldwork was

first hand, giving life to my research for women’s rights in

able to see how my

work directly added to the Gender Budget Planning Program, which

I felt that FOWODE was a highly organized

and committed NGO that followed their

dedication. I knew I was a part of something

important and could clearly understand how

As an intern, I

certainly learned more about the organization,

what it accomplished on a grassroots level. I

could see with my own eyes the impact on

villagers during fieldwork and leadership.

And all of that time spent felt very

observed that

ime is very subjective in Uganda, and it was

frustrating to have to meet western standards

using Ugandan methods. FOWODE was far

was staying in Makerere

transport system,

it could be two hours

hour could end up

I believe in the vision

that FOWODE has and the great work that this NGO has done. As I have

said before, the Gender Budgeting and Women’s Leadership programs

are great. I understand the cultural differences that happen and how that

My advice to FOWODE would be to continue

minded to foreigners, however, acknowledge the cultural