Brain Storm

I am into my third week of working with FABIO and I am starting to get a good grasp on the flow of things. My timing has been pretty ideal in terms of learning about FABIO’s projects and developing a specific need to focus my time and energy towards. Last week was the annual strategic planning seminar which allowed me to participate in an organization wide assessment of processes and goals. This was particularly beneficial because my role as an FSD intern entails that I perform a needs assessment and develop a work plan that is geared towards a specific issue FABIO is faced with. Once a work plan has been formulated, I am given a seed grant (of which I fundraised for prior to my departure from the states) to apply towards my project budget. I can also write a grant to FSD or any other outside sources to request funds to assist my project.
This all being said, I am now faced with the next step in this whole process: narrowing down on a specific area I can work on. The challenge put forth by working with FSD, and consequently the very principle that has drawn me ideologically to this internship, is to create a project that is sustainable in every sense of the word. This implies that my project’s development goals must be achieved within the framework of Ugandan culture, compatible with Ugandan politics, achievable with the resources available, manageable by the community it targets, and safe for the environment it takes place in. But a sustainable project also entails that I must design and implement a project that is self sufficient and will continue to progress and grow even after I have returned to the states. To do this it must focus on developing processes and infrastructure rather then just giving out aid or creating close ended projects that produce a conclusion. It is this aspect of my work here that poses the greatest challenge.
While I have found a great many areas I can focus on, I am still struggling to put together how to create sustainable processes to address them. The area I am leaning towards is developing a workshop space for FABIO where they can develop new non-motorized transportation (NMT), move to a production phase on their current fabrications (i.e. bicycle ambulances), hold educational workshops regarding NMT and road safety awareness, provide a area for collaboration on jobs and common NMT goals, as well as create a sales office where they can sell bikes and other NMT accessories. Although the creation of this workshop may be ambitious in terms of finances, it appears to be relatively strait forward on paper. The area in which I must critically think now is in regards to processes. It will be my next challenge to think of the programs and people that will become the mortar that hold the wall together. This is where I will be able to produce a sustainable project as it will be where I insure that community needs get met and continue to be met in the future.
Knowing what I have to work on I intend to travel northeast to Katakwi with my coworkers on Thursday February 12 to meet with the community who have been receiving the bicycle and motorcycle ambulances fabricated by FABIO. This should give me a good idea of the project and allow me to interact with the community which benefits from it. This will be an important step for me, as was the visit to Butagaya, as it will allow me to work with the very people we are aiming to serve with our work. With these insights I hope to have a rough outline of a work plan starting next week.

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