Death by the Sachet!

ALCOHOLISM

Death is by far the most petrifying event in human discourse. But death, itself a fluid phenomenon, has found shape and form in all facets of human life. It manifests in unavoidable places and moments. In my home districts of Kitgum and Pader, death reveals its presence in each and every household and it is prescribed by the sachet of crude alcohol.

The amount of Gur alcohol packaged in sachets which are streaming into these places from Lango districts ensures that alcohol has become the primary source of all crimes including death and injuries. People die in several stages here before their actual time of death because of the sachet. Their gradual demise starts the moment they start to drink from the sachet.  Our elders once said that the death which kills men faster is that which begins like an appetite. Here, the appetite for the sachet alcohol is the license for death!

On Saturday, March 8^th, 2014, I accompanied the Rwot of Paibwor Clan – HRH Okello Demoi Ajau and his esteemed Prime Minister – Mr. Adola-Tona Seydou to their clan meeting in Acholibur. In the meeting, a heated discussion of rampant death of Paibwor sons and daughters in the hands of other clans took place. It happens that all the recent deaths under discussion were alcohol related.

I attended the meeting in my capacity as a nephew of the Paibwor Clan. Those who know my family will attest that my late father, Lt Col Pangarasio Onek (RIP) was a nephew of the Paibwor clan, which, by extension also makes me one of their nephews – thereby, legitimizing my attendance.

I am cognizant of my Palwo clan roots, given that my birth place where my umbilicus was also buried is at Wangdugu village in Pajule. Although I have had very little time to spend in any of these places, Pajule has always had a special place in my heart. The pain of being a son of Pajule is also inscribed in witnessing its own children perish from this demon called the sachet.

The rampant sight of young men and women inebriated as early as 10am in the morning is more than one can fathom. This debilitating behaviour definitely affects the state of labour and threatens the future of children if these drunken men and women were all parents. Unfortunately, many people here acquire HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases because of drunkenness which leads them to risky sexual behavior. At the Kitgum jail, you find most of the youths serving time for petty crimes of assault, defilement and theft, most of which are alcohol inspired.

The issue of alcoholism is profound and also has a political twist to it. The villagers here have threatened elected leaders to desist from addressing the issue in exchange for votes. However, I found that the Paibwor Rwot, HRH Demoi to be a complete and accomplished leader who is cherished, respected and admired by his subject. He projects a humble, fatherly and well grounded royal pedigree. Instead of unleashing the expected punishment of whips to the drunken youths, he prefers to counsel them to quit abusing alcohol.

The Rwot recognizes that alcoholism is widespread problem in the entire Northern Uganda and yet, the Paibwor clan approach posed a great opportunity for us to learn from. Could the Clan approach help stave off this endemic problem of death by the sachet which has claimed many young lives and pitted clans against clans?

I saw a promising opportunity in collective responsibility (Communitarism) to addressing this problem. Regular clan members’ audit could roll back this dangerous drinking and other social habits. Here, when one kills another, the entire clan is called upon to settle the issue (culu kwor). They pay huge compensation to the clan of the deceased prior to reconciliation (mato oput) as a collective.

Although I conflicted at first with the collective idea of innocent clan members footing the bill for individual crimes, I was guided by the Paibwor clan Prime Minister, Seydou Adolatona Opoka that it took a clan to raise a child and the clan therefore shares equally in its spoils.

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Reasons why Northern Uganda schools will lag behind

SCHOOL PERFORMANCES

The recently released ‘O’ level result has proven that there are huge inequities in Education for students from Northern Uganda. Once again, this region has lagged behind in grade scores which also show how the region is failing to produce people to compete in the economy. The pattern has been consistent for the last several decades, in all national exams; PLE, ‘O’ and ‘A’ level. I can comfortably predict that the ‘A’ level results to be released soon will follow similar patterns.

It is not that the district education officers, parents and teachers in northern Uganda are not concerned about the education of their children here. This consistent and chronic below national average performances demonstrate lack of supportive infrastructure for education. The education system is not about brand new classrooms, but it is about many components such as having up-to-date laboratory and qualified science teachers, having reading space and text books, having reading light and supervision to complete homework and above all, a stable home with adequate nutrition and rest period for students.

I have travelled in a couple of secondary schools in Pader and yet none of them has science laboratory that can meet national standards. The ratio of science teachers to student is unimaginably large such that some teachers must teach more than one subject at “A” level. I have found many committed teachers and concerned parents who are helpless in these schools. Children are trying their very best, but the issues here in our schools are more than what the schools, the students and parents can fathom. All Secondary school exams require practical exams, if students don’t practice regularly, they cannot compete nationally. This will affect university entry and generation of science professionals in this region.

Teachers here lack housing and are not being given housing allowances or incentives to retain them here. This complicates the issue of quality teachers’ retention in northern Uganda. The ratio of student to teacher is very astonishing across the board.

Here, teachers and students do not have good reading environment and reading resources. Lack of light to study is very harmful here. In some of these places, having electricity has become an unusual experience. Many teachers here are out rightly uninformed about current scientific advances and knowledge.  You can image how students’ curiosity to learn is pampered with outdated information about the world. Here, there is hardly a computer and internet in schools so learning is still very traditional.

Rural schools have very special challenges that must be mitigated through a deliberate equalization policy at national level. Education is a key determinant of health and a medium through which national resources can be shared and utilized. A population which is under educated has low utilization potential of national programs and suffers from lack of innovativeness. Northern Uganda provides us with such a classical situation which has also alienated the region from sharing in the socio-economic transformation of society which the NRM regime brags about.

On an optimistic perspective, these problems could be mitigated by enacting a national policy to provide for incentives to retain teachers in rural districts and rural communities. Teachers need to educate their children and to house them in decent accommodation. I propose that children of teachers in rural schools who perform well should be considered as priority for all foreign and local scholarships. I also propose that decent accommodation and reading facility be built to serve a school-community using solar energy facilities.

This will enable teachers to share learning spaces with the community, so that teachers and the communities, in which they serve, can learn from the same resources. It is important to provide quality through encouraging teachers to develop personal learning goals each year and to regularly provide refresher courses, especially in modern modes of administering discipline without using the whip.

Significantly, each sub-county must have an aerial secondary school fully equipped and often replenished with laboratory ingredients where students can experience quality instruction. Ultimately, all secondary schools must have sufficient science laboratory and science teachers as requisite for licence.  Given the current trends, it will take northern Uganda over 100 years for it to realize grade outcomes like schools in central and western Uganda.

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