Reinventing indigenous science in Africa: A reflection on SASA conference 2014

Indigenous SCience

The second international conference for the Advancement of Science in Africa (SASA) ended at Hotel Africana last week on Friday, May 9^th, 2014. This SASA conference started in Polokwane in South Africa last year. The conference draws from some of the world’s best scientists and researchers from USA, Canada, Europe, Japan, Mauritius etc who come to share their intellectual products with scientists in Africa. At the end of it all, SASA hopes to inspire African scholars, Universities and Governments, to invest in science in order to use evidence from science to influence policies and professional practices in Africa.

This years’ international conference was hosted by Gulu University in cahoots with Makerere University Uganda National Council of Science and technology and Muni University in Uganda. Internationally, Pennsylvania state University, Youth Employment and Income Enhancement project (YEIEP), Global Knowledge Initiative and Osaka University in Japan were very supportive.

During the four days of the conference, we were treated to some mind blowing innovations from Nabisunsa Girls School with their experiment of water purification. Most of the ongoing researches in integrating herbal or traditional medicines in practice being conducted around Uganda were breath taking. We learned with much enthusiasm how Japan was working closely with Gulu University in health research, improving diagnostic mechanisms for malaria management and so forth.

One of the outstanding themes of the conference was the increasing demand for indigenous (African) knowledge in science and practice in the mainstream research. At the forefront of the advocacy for indigenous knowledge were Prof. Njoki N. Wane and Dr Francis Akena Adyanga from the University of Toronto. The scholars made strong cases for the conspicuous absence of indigenous science and knowledge in the mainstream academia – either at high school or at Universities. They argued that the main facet of the frontiers of science in Africa lies in reinvigorating indigenous knowledge which shaped African science and technology way before the advent of colonialism. Dr Adyanga for instance illustrated how the modern caesarian section was first conducted successfully in Bunyoro way before Europeans indulged in this practice and yet today, the scalpels or tools used for that surgical intervention lies in archives in London.

This discussion also hinted on how Europe and western colonialism has continued to undermine and under develop African indigenous science by archiving all artifacts associated with African science in museums in Europe, Australia and America. Such artifacts provide references and evidence to how African science influenced the lifeways of the people. Today, religion and modern medicine remains the cornerstone of undermining African science and technology. For instance, every African practice and belief systems are deemed devilish or satanic by religious zealots who are brainwashed that the core of life has always been associated with Jewish life story as recounted in the Bible.

The medicine perspective rubbishes African herbal and traditional practices as risky, unsubstantiated and backward, without recognizing that most modern medicines are extracts from plants that are found in Africa and were used by the indigenous tribes for centuries. Medical practitioners, like church preachers and Reverends, do not recognize that life in Africa preceded western religion and modern medicine. In fact, African knowledge provided the back-born to the so-called modern western practices in science and technology. The building of the pyramids in Egypt; the current medical signs was taken from Nubians; the caesarian section was first conducted in Bunyoro, fire was discovered in Africa etc. African religious beliefs were far more advanced as it entailed holistic practices involving the dead, the living, non-living and environment and all rituals that western religion has emulated.

The presenters concluded that instead of bedeviling African indigenous practices, African scientists should invest in conducting research to establish concrete evidence to support or not support them. Some of these practices have sustained communities for a long time and yet today we see them as inferior or backward.

The conference was one of the best that I have attended and of course, my presentation titled “Advancing psychosocial frontiers in EMTCT: the role of self-efficacy in Male involvement” was well received as it articulated the challenges of achieving HIV free generation in Uganda and provided leadership direction in this field of maternal child health.

The 3^rd International SASA conference will take place in Toronto, Canada and we look forward to receiving more research abstracts from African Scholars, Doctoral and post-doctoral scholars in 2015. I pass my sincere regards to the International Organizing Committee of SASA, notably, Prof Joachim Kapalanga, Prof Elain F. Fymat, Dr. Francis Adyanga and the National Organizing Team headed by Prof Emillio Ovuga and all the Sponsors and Universities that hosted us. This conference could not have been possible without your tireless efforts. See you all in our home turf, Toronto in 2015!

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Acholi land appears to be hungry for human life

 LIVING WELL

On April 16^th 2014 we drove through Pader Town Council to Lapeta central, Lanyirinyiri Parish in Lira Palwo, Agago District to bury Mzee Obaldo Opogo who succumbed to recurrent Tuberculosis. Mzee Obaldo was 83 years old, having been born in 1931. He was married to two wives and was blessed in his life with 11 children and 36 grandchildren. Considering the tumultuous times that Acholi has passed through, Mzee Obaldo’s death was a loss to the community, but his life deserved a celebration, not mourning. He lived a successful life in procreation and in life as a talented sportsman and traditional dancer. He left unceremoniously for an elder who is a valuable source of life lessons for the youths who are dying at tender age these days.

As we drove past Pader Town Council headquarters, my admiration for this town planner could not be hidden. Pader, like other Acholi districts of Agago, Kitgum and Lamwo have very attractive landscape. They all appear to be sitting in this beautiful green saucer hemmed in by C- shaped mountain ranges that stretches as far as Abim and zigzags its way to Lamwo through Kalongo, Latanya Agoro, and others. The scenic view offered by this blend of nature offers much potential for economic transformation. These mountain ranges, if well exploited can become serious sites of tourist attraction.

I am certain that there are mysteries and history to these mountain ranges. 

One obvious observation is the preserved forests on the mountains in comparison to the shrubs and thorns in the plain land. In Agoro and Lokung, the human settlement in villages littered at the foothills of the mountain proves that the fertile soil around these mountains can sustain livelihood. Usually other mountainous places offer very poor quality of soil and granite which does not support food crop.

But death in Acholi land is still very rampant. Not one week passes without hearing about death – either natural or senseless murders in villages. It appears that Acholi land is hungry for human flesh because the land is not being fully utilized to improve life. Acholi land is arable land which can sustain mechanized and modern farming. People here have to come to a convergence that their primary source of wealth is the soil under their feet.  According field extension specialist, Simon Ojok Odoch and Food for the Hungry - Kitgum manager, Seydou Adolatona, Mzee Obaldo was a prominent beneficiary of Food for the Hungry’s livelihood programs while still living in IDP camp in Lira Palwo Subcounty from 2006-2008.

Farming is popular here and yields have not been bad in the previous farming season according to villagers I spoke to in Pajule, Acholibur and Awere. The problem is reliable market for the produces and once disposed, how to plan to use to proceeds to meet basic household needs. Many people would rather buy alcohol than cloths and shoes for their school age children. Schools are charging PTA and other expenses at a meager cost of 5000 – 10000/= which many of the farming communities here can easily afford. I have gone to homes where children are staying home because their parents have not paid school dues of 10000/= for primary school and 50,000/= for secondary school.

This is upsetting because you find in such homes, there are chicken, goats, cows, pigs, sheep etc loitering around about. The current market price of chicken is about 15,000/= which could place three children in school. The current market price of a mature goat is 80,000 – 90,000/= which can put two children through secondary school. The market for pork is insatiable in restaurants and pork joints, and yet the supply is painstakingly very sluggish.

These contradictions bring to mind one question. Are we valuing the education of our children or we do value keeping animals at home? I believe that on the average, most families here can put their children through primary and secondary school under the UPE/USE. Emphasis on livelihood and household income generation has been made and responses are good. 

What remains prudent is to alter the mindset to encourage purposive investment in food production for education. Each child should be tasked with the responsibility of tending to his/her animals or field to ensure that they stay in school.

The addiction created by NGO culture of donation and offering free supplies must be surpassed so that people can become self-reliant to live longer like Mzee Obaldo. I end this piece by encouraging clan chiefs and leaders to attend urgently to the problem of alcoholism in northern Uganda.

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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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Donors should be at least consistent

Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014

The assent to the Anti-homosexuality Bill by President Museveni has generated much debate, controversies and a mixture of reactions. The most unusual, and yet very strong reactions to the Act emerged from donor community and the usually docile and insensitive tribe in Uganda called the “Elites”

I think the donor and international community must be consistent in their responses to policy development in Uganda. If their strong reaction to the Anti-Homosexuality Act is due to human rights concerns then they have let us all down. These donor communities have been feeding this ogre for so many years to the point that it has matured beyond a pet they thought they were breeding.

For many years, the US and EU countries have supported the regime of President Museveni even when they know he rigs elections and blatantly violates human rights. They pampered it with money and protected its corrupt officials. Sweden, Holland, USA and Denmark have never condemned the many human rights violation that the regime has afflicted on the opposition with decisive actions. The donor money has been used for procuring instrument of repression and for recruiting and sustaining a politicized police while these donors just look on.

Many of us have wondered why Sweden’s foreign policy towards Uganda has been very deliberately anti-change. We understand that Sweden provided citizenship and protection to President Museveni’s family and many current NRM officials. However, since the NRM came to power, Sweden, and most of the EU countries have never taken strong measures to admonish the regime against its human rights excesses.

Human rights preservation is crucial for every human being irrespective of culture, creed, sexual orientation or association whether one is gay or not. And yet, these very same standards are not upheld when our opposition politicians are being humiliated by the Police or our people are dying senselessly in Northern Uganda.

The donor community did not threaten this regime with stern action or withdrawal of assistance when the regime enacted the draconian Public Order Management Act, 2013. The donor community watched with glee when the likes of Hon Otto Odonga, Hon Ibrahim Ssemuju Nganda and others were whisked away like ruffians from Parliamentary chambers

I am definitely not in support of the Anti-Homosexuality Act categorically on professional and humanitarian grounds. As a member of the medical fraternity, practitioner of public health and Global Health, I know better that discrimination against minority has profound long term implication on public health systems. However, I am also sensitive to the dominant culture of Uganda which views the same sex relationships as objectionable and alien.

The Buggery Act of 1533 criminalized gay activities in Britain which it considered sinful and punishable by death. Gay rights and activities only gained prominence between 1967 and 1982 and has just been consolidated by the Equality Act of 2012. The ultra-conservative section of the North American society still views gay marriages as improper and a violation of the institution of marriage. And, of course, the devout mainstream religious following also consider same sex relationships as a deviation from the religious norms and teachings. In the US, only 17 States of the 50 have fully legalized gay marriages.

As global leaders, we must learn to be tolerant with people who are different from us and cognizant of their stages of development and of mainstream cultures which shapes their conscience. The celebrated American, Rev Jeremiah Wright once counseled that being different does not mean being deficient at all. Take for instance, US, Canada, UK and EU countries criminalizes polygamy and yet some cultures here delight in it.

My second discomfort with the anti-homosexuality Act, outside of human rights concerns, relates to health inequities and access to other pertinent socio-economic services. Our social services are not capacitated to accommodate vulnerable groups such as women and persons with disability. Likewise, in the 60s and 70s, most medical experiments and drug tests were geared mainly to male related illnesses and conditions. This made it very difficult to contain women specific illnesses and conditions such as cervical and breast cancers.

Therefore, coming purely from a professional perspective, we have learned that discriminating against minority groups generate inequalities, institutionalizes exclusion from social services and yet, exclusion does not imply extermination of such a group.

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Strong imagination critical in post conflict Acholi

Latanya, Pader

My Global Health practicum in Kitgum and Pader has given me unimaginable opportunity to traverse this huge district. In my sojourn, I have been humbled by people’s resolve to self mobilize so as to build their communities from the debris of over 25 years of anarchy.

In Latanya subcounty of Pader District, deep under the mountains, an impoverished community is silently struggling with an aspiration and a priority to start a secondary school. It has resolved to grow the secondary school to the point where government may take it up. In the whole of Latanya, there is no secondary school and yet there are so many Primary schools. 

The lack of a nearby secondary school also means that the children from these impoverished rural peasantry households are limited to primary school education. This Latanya Community seed secondary school represented by two small buildings peripheral to Wiliwili government primary school, is all that CARITAS and USAID sponsored for them. 

This year, senior three is to be introduced, which means they may not have a classroom to accommodate this growth. It is amazing how community members are willingly donating land for the expansion of this school.

Listening to the narratives of the parents, the principles of community empowerment and community networking comes alive. However, the lack of imagination and concrete realities of poverty strains such resolves.

Beyond Latanya’s community initiatives, I was taken aback at the amount of alcohol being consumed here. Residents have complained of crude waragi being imported from Lira called Gur and other crude drinks in sachets. 

Here, death occurs by the sachets. In one week, over seven funerals had been associated with deaths from alcohol. Drinking alcohol has potential negative implications across these communities. It is lessening the workforce as would-be able-bodied folks turn to drinking the moment they are awake. This behavior sets a wrong tone for children and youths who may have to grapple with bad role models. Domestic and gender based violence are on the increase. Cases of murder resulting from petty quarrels at drinking joints are rampant here.

Another major challenge here is that men are not actively seeking health care services. This means that women have become the gatekeepers to healthcare, nutrition and to security for the household. Women in the post conflict Acholi have become the pillars of homes and communities, which is unusual because in Acholi tradition, men have always shaped social and economic discourses, while women played supervisory and support roles. Today, women are doing it all while the men are drinking.

It is disheartening that women are the ones actively seeking for HIV tests and HIV care. The men, who are most likely to have multiple partners, acquire and spread HIV, TB and other diseases, are not involved in healthcare seeking. You will only find women at antenatal clinics. Stories have been told where some men living with HIV have the audacity to forcefully grab the ante-retroviral medication from their wives to share the dose.

One of the major problems of this post conflict Acholi region is the lack of imagination among local leaders. As pre conflict leadership now yearns for a transition to post conflict societal engagement, there is a huge vacuum of leaders with imagination. Here, people vie for leadership position as routine job seeking venture.

There is need to eliminate from society the obviously unhelpful symbols of past conflict. People need to be re-connected and wired to a hopeful future. The dusty and bumpy roads that confront us daily are definitely a major setback to this imagination and economic development. The environment here is rapidly diminishing due to inadequate deliberate preparation to contain extreme weathers; flooding during rainy season and prolonged dry season. Communities should be prepared to build water reservoirs to harness the excessive flooding during dry spells.

In short, post conflict Acholi is badly in need of characters with imagination to catapult this region to a new economic order. These leaders ought to mobilize the bludgeoning resolve of the people and harness it to spur development, to break from the traditions of fear and pessimism. Unfortunately, everything here is linked with politics which renders most elected leaders ineffective.

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Thematic Curriculum benefits Dure Primary School

Dure - Pader, Uganda

A couple of MPs have been fuming that the thematic curriculum is responsible for poor performance of some pupils in the just concluded Primary Leaving Examination. They argued that the introduction of mother language at formative years in school makes it impossible for the pupils to score good grades in English. They blamed the thematic curriculum for this poor performance and yet, the problem lies elsewhere.

While these MPs are genuinely concerned as parents, they exhibited total lack of knowledge on how education success and scores are measured.

The basis for introducing mother language in lower grade school emerged from scientific evidence from many years of studies by scholars and UNESCO. 

Consistent evidence illustrated clearly that the overall quality of comprehension and articulation in scholarship are significantly enhanced when a child has mastery of mother language or the first language spoken at home.

The incoherence that we witness in Uganda is embedded in this assumption that mastery of the English language is a superior indicator of being educated or intelligent. 

This serves to illustrate how dominated and subjugated we are and how unconsciously we now accept this explanation that our intellect is defined by our ability to communicate in the English language. And yet, one of the most unfortunate things ever to happen in Uganda is that this colonial tool of dominance called English has not inspired any advance in any field relevant to human civilization.

Take for example in my village of Dure. This year, pupils at Dure Primary School in Latanya sub-county of Pader district have posted tremendous improvement in their PLE results. Two students passed in first grade and 39 passed in second grade, 4 pupils passed in division three and 3 students passed in division 4 category. So far, this has been the biggest school grade achievement of this village school in its post conflict recovery.

Dure Primary school is a rural community school which suffers from challenges akin to rural schools in Northern Uganda. However, this dismal and yet celebrated performance at Dure Primary school provides an evaluation opportunity for those with keen interest in the education of our children beyond English scores. The thematic curriculum has huge promises where the benchmark for our intellect is not judged by one’s scores in English but math and sciences alike.

Here in Dure, we have children who lack in every facility and are heavily disadvantaged in comparison to children in urban schools and in Western or Central Uganda generally. These children may be already heads of their families at tender age because their parents are either dead or immobilized by HIV/AIDS. Most of them live under squalor with grandmother or relatives who are impoverished with very little to eat.

Pader, like most post-conflict Northern Uganda communities endures alcoholism and HIV prevalence which have horrendously devastated homes and livelihood. Children study and compete with their counterparts elsewhere without preps or doing homework because they have no source of light to study after school.

So, the Universal Primary Education is an important asset and any incremental performance in these rural schools becomes a source of inspiration and hope for many guardians. Children here have little prospects of advancing past primary schools because Universal Secondary Education has become costly. Even the six (6) USE facilities are distantly spaced. Small additional costs, such as transportation, basic secondary school requirements and the roles that these children hold in their families, always become major impediments to advancing to secondary school education.

Therefore, these MPs must be taught that performance of the thematic curriculum is not measured only by scores in English grades in examination. There are many factors involved, for instance, how well has Ministry of Education invested in improving the quality of teaching workforce to meet this peculiar UPE challenges? Has the Ministry and UNEB considered revising PLE examination standard to reflect the current English instructional level for candidate classes?

Let’s give the thematic curriculum a chance to gain traction.

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