Managing Expectations

Ibanda Town is saturated with individuals who are taking the reins on good community development. We have been interacting with principals, teachers, government officials and entrepreneurs who are focusing their energy to improve their community and increase the quality of life in Ibanda. We are very fortunate to be volunteering in such an atmosphere – vital to sustainable development is local participation and ownership over development initiatives. Even though there are many locally driven initiatives, Jess and I are still faced with the challenge of managing certain expectations surrounding development that have resulted from years of western-lead projects in Uganda. 

Expectations, the preconceived hopes for what will be accomplished or achieved, must be managed in all aspects of life. Here in Uganda, the history of mzungo (Swahili for ‘foreigner’) interactions with Ugandans specifically and Africans in general has increased the importance of managing such expectations. Managing expectations must happen on two fronts. First, our own expectations of what CASA can accomplish as an organization must remain realistic, and second, we must be conscious of the local expectations of mzungos.  

CASA has come remarkably far in the short time we have been established. With thanks to all our supporters and volunteers, Jess and I are in now in a position to set up a project in Ibanda with community partners. A major part of our role is to be realistic with what we as an organization and as individuals can accomplish. It does not help anyone to make promises that we can’t keep. Yesterday, for example, we were approached by a teacher from a rapidly growing city in Uganda. He asked, politely yet persistently, if Jess and I could come to his community after we were finished the computer literacy workshops in Ibanda to implement similar workshops at the primary school he works at. While this may be a project Jess and I have the time and resources to do at the end of our time in Ibanda, we cannot say yes to people’s requests without considering the resources we have available, and the reasons as to why we are being asked to assist in a particular situation. In addition, teaching computer literacy sounds great on the surface, but is it a practical and useful project within this other community? I naturally want to say “YES, we will come!” but of course this would be making promises that I may not be able to keep, nor may be effective in the long term. As a representative of CASA, I must remain realistic and approach any potential project with pragmatism. 

The second, and more impactful aspect of managing expectations, is our increasing awareness of what is expected of mzungos. There is obviously varying expectations held by those within the Ibandan community, but we have noticed some general trends in the past couple weeks. The most obvious, and relatively true, expectation is that all mzungos are rich. In comparison with the GDP per capita, Canadians are vastly wealthier than the average Ugandan. Even being students, Jess and I lead comfortable lives in Canada that exceeds many Ugandans. It is undeniable that we have more money, yet this does not lead to the conclusion that we should fund all requests made by those we meet. 

In the past, many non-profits and development agencies have approached development from a charity perspective. This differs from a development perspective, as the concept of charity is allocating resources or services to meet an immediate and pressing end, such as food relief after the devastation of a natural disaster. Effective development, on the other hand, focuses on projects that do not create dependency between the donor and receiver, involves local participation and ownership, and is sustainable in the long-term. The charitable activities by many organizations in Uganda has contributed to the expectations that mzungo’s role in development is to give money. Being two of a small number of mzungos in Ibanda (so far, we have met two other gentlemen from England, and a small handful of people from India), we have encountered this expectation in the form of having children hold their hand out and ask us for money, as well as adults share with us their struggles in paying for their children’s medication in the hope that we will pay for it. Are we to blame these individuals for holding these expectations of mzungos? Of course not, for many have grown up in a society where wealthy westerners and organizations operate from a charity perspective and do give money for such things. 

A deeper current which runs through all these observations is the idea that many people, both here and at home in Canada, seem to believe that more money will be the solution to problems encountered by those in the developing world. If we just gave the poor more money, paid for their medicines, paid for their children’s school fees, paid for their housing, then the problems would be solved. In some instances there is a need to provision resources and give charity, but this approach needs to be coupled with empowering individuals and helping to create situations where individuals have more opportunities in their lives to provide for themselves. Using charity as a form of development will not lead to sustained improvement of quality of life, but rather create a cycle of dependency and disempowerment. If the west were to constantly give money, the message we send is that those in the developing world are not capable of providing for themselves.

From my observations thus far, money invested in community development projects should not just be a means to an end, but rather a tool so further capital, whether it be capital in the form of knowledge, skills, or money, is created. Ibanda consists of individuals who understand this, but we have also encountered those asking for handouts. I am very interested in challenging some of the expectations which we have encountered through dialogue that unpacks the reasons and truth behind sustainable development, as well as the types of projects CASA becomes involved with.