Musheshe’s social democracy transforms Kagadi
Jul 04, 2008
LIFE was so good when his father was still alive. But before he could out-grow teenage life, Charles Kisembo’s father passed on. He had to support his family of six siblings, which at that time had no financial backing.
Some Ugandans are tackling community problems in spheres such as education, health, youth, agriculture, technology, women and children’s rights and other social projects. Mwalimu Musheshe is one of the people The New Vision readers identified.
By Conan Businge
LIFE was so good when his father was still alive. But before he could out-grow teenage life, Charles Kisembo’s father passed on. He had to support his family of six siblings, which at that time had no financial backing.
He did all sorts of casual jobs to earn a living but things did not improve.
After living through troubling moments as a child which he hoped would spring him to success, Kisembo uses this as his driving theme: “Love the moment.
Flowers grow out of dark moments and each moment is vital. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed.â€
“I have learnt to love every moment I live in my life. I left school and joined the driving school to learn driving so that I could make some money,†Kisembo explains.
After attaining a driving licence, he failed to get hired since he was very small. He decided to work as a taxi-broker in Hoima taxi park.
One day he heard his father’s voice asking him why he had deserted his farm. As a child, his father had taught him commercial farming.
He returned to the village and with the assistance of Mwalimu Musheshe accessed tractors, seeds, piglets and money to revamp his father’s farm. “I had turned into a rascal. It was (Mwalimu) Musheshe who came to my rescue.â€
All his sisters and brothers are back in school now and he is also paying fees for his sister at university.
Like Kisembo, Felista Kabasiita lost her father at the age of six. Her mother being a peasant, Kabasiita knew she would not make it to school. Luckily, she heard a radio announcement on Kagadi–Kibaale Community Radio availing scholarships.
That was the end of her woes. She is now in Senior Three with 240 other girls. Hundreds of others have gone through the same school which was started by Musheshe.
“Musheshe’s desire to help the needy and the community is rooted in his youth and orientation, activism. He is selfless and hardworking. He is a role model in the area,†says Alida Bakema, one of the directors and staff at the centre.
The grey haired, strong-built, committed man; has built a legacy for himself in Kibaale and the neigbouring districts, out of his love for development and hate for suffering.
While at Makerere, Musheshe was involved in politics. “When Uganda People’s Movement(UPM) was started in 1980, it was a natural gravitation for us,â€he says. He at one time contested for guild presidency on the UPM ticket, but did not make it through.
Because of his activism Mwalimu was imprisoned and taken to Mbuya barracks where he stayed for 13 months, before his release to resume his studies at Makerere. But all this refueled his desire to change people’s lives.
After Makerere, he applied to do voluntary work at Uganda Food and Peace Project (UFPP); an NGO that had been started by Rev. Rutiba. He was approved and posted to Kahunge as a student volunteer.
He got buried in community mobilisation, extension of services and health.
“When the organisations got immersed in falsifying accountabilities, I quit, and that laid the foundation of the current Uganda Rural Development Training programme (URDT),†explains the casual dresser with a love for kitenge shirts.
“I like working with rural communities,†he says and jokes: “I have never gone back to the city.†Seated in his small cottage office, located in the middle of the centre’s compound, Mushehe is most of the time buried in a pile of books.
At his right hand side is a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi next to a map of Africa. Located in the hills of Kibaale facing Kagadi town, the URDT centre is always vibrant and full of activity.
His office is just one of the several cottages in the compound. The same compound houses a radio station, Kagadi Kibaale Community Radio (KKCR), a technical training centre, a community library, a demonstration farms and an upcoming zoo.
The local radio airwaves are targeted at the residents and empower skilled workers in western Uganda.
KKCR is one of the avenues, used to reach out to the residents of towns and villages. The radio broadcasts make it possible for URDT to reach out to one million people and over 3,000 skilled workers in the region. They are used both to publicise the tools, training programmes and to deliver some of the training.
The centre, located a mile from Kagadi town, has become a home and relief place for abused women in the area. At the centre, many find solutions for domestic conflicts, financial problems and counselling for the youth.
The centre has its own human rights investigation unit that helps follow up and document reported cases and passes on the information to authorities.
“Musheshe! You are looking for that man? He is not an easy fellow to deal with. He torments all men,†an old man neigbouring the centre tells me.
He further explains that that men who beat their wives are always dragged to his human rights office. “If you cannot defend yourself, you end at a police station,†the old man says.
As a result of his effort, the local leaders say domestic violence cases near the centre have reduced.
A lot has been punched in people’s hearts by Mushehe. It is actually no longer his name that counts in the area, but his organisation, URDT.
There is now a community bank that started in 1996, maize mills, shops, mechanics workshops and carpentries; all initiatives and support projects of Musheshe.
Several people have gone through, and others are still in his hands. The organisation tries to develop individuals’ talents.
Ivan Mugerwa, a welder, now employs three people at his garage. He has bought three plots of land and earns between sh200,000 to sh0.5m a month–but all with the assistance of Musheshe. “He found me stuck in the village.
I had never had a chance to go to school, but he came to my rescue.â€
Orphans, abandoned children, widows and single parents always find solace in URDT.
Apart from the financial and moral support, there is a human rights desk at the centre which helps them to resolve their personal, family and marital problems.
“This is the last generation of poverty in the area if people continue working with us,†Musheshe explains.
At URDT, students complement the traditional school curriculum with visionary leadership.
They create their own visions, learn how to achieve those visions and teach their families and communities how to foresee the future they want to have, and to create it themselves. Their projects are ‘back home’ projects.
They work with their families and communities on projects to improve the health and livelihood of their families and communities. They present their results to a visiting group of teachers and staff each term.
“Musheshe is a teacher of all people,†says Christine Abooki, one of the beneficiaries.
Apart from the primary and secondary school built for vulnerable girls, the African University for Women is in the offing. It is designed to offer a completely different educational experience — one that is tailored to educate young women to be powerful community leaders, social and business entrepreneurs.
Gorreti Wanyana, the bank manager of Kagadi Women Financial Services Ltd, says their bank started in 1995, with women saving sh1,500 monthly. Now, it is worth sh430m.
At the time Musheshe set up base in Kagadi, there were no proper roads linking to the area. It would take one nine hours to travel from Kampala to Kagadi. Nowadays, takes a quarter that time.
Musheshe calls himself a ‘social democrat’.
An attempt was made on his life in 1978 using a hand grenade, allegedly by members of his former organisation. He, however, still fought on.
He is also an acclaimed Ashoka fellow. Ashoka Fellowship is a global award given to role models, and local facilitators of local change-makers. There are 2,000 Ashoka fellows worldwide.
Musheshe developed the current URDT with Ephraim Rutaboha and Sylvia Velt Kamp, in 1987. “Our dream, which we have achieved, was to train people in good ways of living,†he says.
Their mission is: “To enable the people of Uganda to create for themselves peace, health freedom, prosperity and happiness.â€
“Before anyone spoke of vision, we were already talking of a visionary approach to development. We sounded strange, but it has greatly changed the people’s lives.†But thethe beginning was not easy.
“Most of our staff at first deserted us, after they were threatened with witchcraft. The area was greatly known for witchcraft,†Musheshe explains. He and a few others persisted and their resilience has paid off.
Musheshe is also a board member of Uganda Wildlife Centre. He plans to plant a 15-acre forest and establish a zoo, specifically to begin with the baboons.
“There is no need for children and people to travel to Entebbe Zoo, when we can have one here.†This is in addition to a cultural centre that has started at URDT.
Musheshe reads a lot.
“It is reading of other people’s ideas, which renews and challenges my thinking. If one wants change, he should look for it himself,†he explains. He is also an agriculturalist by profession.
Great he has been in the people’s lives. He is known as a very difficult man with a steadfast ming mind, but he is most of the time correct.
Development is the best and fastest word he can spell.
Name: Mwalimu Musheshe
Project: Uganda Rural Development Training Programme
In his words
“Our dream, which we have achieved, was to train people in good ways of living.â€
Contact:
Uganda Rural Development & Training Programme
Ambassador House
56/60 Kampala Road
P.O. Box 16253
Kampala
Office: 256-41-256704
Mobile: 0772 862 637
E-mail: info@urdt.net
Other responsibilities:
Board Member, Uganda Wildlife Authority
Send your comments and nominations to changemakers @newvision.co.ug
By Conan Businge
LIFE was so good when his father was still alive. But before he could out-grow teenage life, Charles Kisembo’s father passed on. He had to support his family of six siblings, which at that time had no financial backing.
He did all sorts of casual jobs to earn a living but things did not improve.
After living through troubling moments as a child which he hoped would spring him to success, Kisembo uses this as his driving theme: “Love the moment.
Flowers grow out of dark moments and each moment is vital. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed.â€
“I have learnt to love every moment I live in my life. I left school and joined the driving school to learn driving so that I could make some money,†Kisembo explains.
After attaining a driving licence, he failed to get hired since he was very small. He decided to work as a taxi-broker in Hoima taxi park.
One day he heard his father’s voice asking him why he had deserted his farm. As a child, his father had taught him commercial farming.
He returned to the village and with the assistance of Mwalimu Musheshe accessed tractors, seeds, piglets and money to revamp his father’s farm. “I had turned into a rascal. It was (Mwalimu) Musheshe who came to my rescue.â€
All his sisters and brothers are back in school now and he is also paying fees for his sister at university.
Like Kisembo, Felista Kabasiita lost her father at the age of six. Her mother being a peasant, Kabasiita knew she would not make it to school. Luckily, she heard a radio announcement on Kagadi–Kibaale Community Radio availing scholarships.
That was the end of her woes. She is now in Senior Three with 240 other girls. Hundreds of others have gone through the same school which was started by Musheshe.
“Musheshe’s desire to help the needy and the community is rooted in his youth and orientation, activism. He is selfless and hardworking. He is a role model in the area,†says Alida Bakema, one of the directors and staff at the centre.
The grey haired, strong-built, committed man; has built a legacy for himself in Kibaale and the neigbouring districts, out of his love for development and hate for suffering.
While at Makerere, Musheshe was involved in politics. “When Uganda People’s Movement(UPM) was started in 1980, it was a natural gravitation for us,â€he says. He at one time contested for guild presidency on the UPM ticket, but did not make it through.
Because of his activism Mwalimu was imprisoned and taken to Mbuya barracks where he stayed for 13 months, before his release to resume his studies at Makerere. But all this refueled his desire to change people’s lives.
After Makerere, he applied to do voluntary work at Uganda Food and Peace Project (UFPP); an NGO that had been started by Rev. Rutiba. He was approved and posted to Kahunge as a student volunteer.
He got buried in community mobilisation, extension of services and health.
“When the organisations got immersed in falsifying accountabilities, I quit, and that laid the foundation of the current Uganda Rural Development Training programme (URDT),†explains the casual dresser with a love for kitenge shirts.
“I like working with rural communities,†he says and jokes: “I have never gone back to the city.†Seated in his small cottage office, located in the middle of the centre’s compound, Mushehe is most of the time buried in a pile of books.
At his right hand side is a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi next to a map of Africa. Located in the hills of Kibaale facing Kagadi town, the URDT centre is always vibrant and full of activity.
His office is just one of the several cottages in the compound. The same compound houses a radio station, Kagadi Kibaale Community Radio (KKCR), a technical training centre, a community library, a demonstration farms and an upcoming zoo.
The local radio airwaves are targeted at the residents and empower skilled workers in western Uganda.
KKCR is one of the avenues, used to reach out to the residents of towns and villages. The radio broadcasts make it possible for URDT to reach out to one million people and over 3,000 skilled workers in the region. They are used both to publicise the tools, training programmes and to deliver some of the training.
The centre, located a mile from Kagadi town, has become a home and relief place for abused women in the area. At the centre, many find solutions for domestic conflicts, financial problems and counselling for the youth.
The centre has its own human rights investigation unit that helps follow up and document reported cases and passes on the information to authorities.
“Musheshe! You are looking for that man? He is not an easy fellow to deal with. He torments all men,†an old man neigbouring the centre tells me.
He further explains that that men who beat their wives are always dragged to his human rights office. “If you cannot defend yourself, you end at a police station,†the old man says.
As a result of his effort, the local leaders say domestic violence cases near the centre have reduced.
A lot has been punched in people’s hearts by Mushehe. It is actually no longer his name that counts in the area, but his organisation, URDT.
There is now a community bank that started in 1996, maize mills, shops, mechanics workshops and carpentries; all initiatives and support projects of Musheshe.
Several people have gone through, and others are still in his hands. The organisation tries to develop individuals’ talents.
Ivan Mugerwa, a welder, now employs three people at his garage. He has bought three plots of land and earns between sh200,000 to sh0.5m a month–but all with the assistance of Musheshe. “He found me stuck in the village.
I had never had a chance to go to school, but he came to my rescue.â€
Orphans, abandoned children, widows and single parents always find solace in URDT.
Apart from the financial and moral support, there is a human rights desk at the centre which helps them to resolve their personal, family and marital problems.
“This is the last generation of poverty in the area if people continue working with us,†Musheshe explains.
At URDT, students complement the traditional school curriculum with visionary leadership.
They create their own visions, learn how to achieve those visions and teach their families and communities how to foresee the future they want to have, and to create it themselves. Their projects are ‘back home’ projects.
They work with their families and communities on projects to improve the health and livelihood of their families and communities. They present their results to a visiting group of teachers and staff each term.
“Musheshe is a teacher of all people,†says Christine Abooki, one of the beneficiaries.
Apart from the primary and secondary school built for vulnerable girls, the African University for Women is in the offing. It is designed to offer a completely different educational experience — one that is tailored to educate young women to be powerful community leaders, social and business entrepreneurs.
Gorreti Wanyana, the bank manager of Kagadi Women Financial Services Ltd, says their bank started in 1995, with women saving sh1,500 monthly. Now, it is worth sh430m.
At the time Musheshe set up base in Kagadi, there were no proper roads linking to the area. It would take one nine hours to travel from Kampala to Kagadi. Nowadays, takes a quarter that time.
Musheshe calls himself a ‘social democrat’.
An attempt was made on his life in 1978 using a hand grenade, allegedly by members of his former organisation. He, however, still fought on.
He is also an acclaimed Ashoka fellow. Ashoka Fellowship is a global award given to role models, and local facilitators of local change-makers. There are 2,000 Ashoka fellows worldwide.
Musheshe developed the current URDT with Ephraim Rutaboha and Sylvia Velt Kamp, in 1987. “Our dream, which we have achieved, was to train people in good ways of living,†he says.
Their mission is: “To enable the people of Uganda to create for themselves peace, health freedom, prosperity and happiness.â€
“Before anyone spoke of vision, we were already talking of a visionary approach to development. We sounded strange, but it has greatly changed the people’s lives.†But thethe beginning was not easy.
“Most of our staff at first deserted us, after they were threatened with witchcraft. The area was greatly known for witchcraft,†Musheshe explains. He and a few others persisted and their resilience has paid off.
Musheshe is also a board member of Uganda Wildlife Centre. He plans to plant a 15-acre forest and establish a zoo, specifically to begin with the baboons.
“There is no need for children and people to travel to Entebbe Zoo, when we can have one here.†This is in addition to a cultural centre that has started at URDT.
Musheshe reads a lot.
“It is reading of other people’s ideas, which renews and challenges my thinking. If one wants change, he should look for it himself,†he explains. He is also an agriculturalist by profession.
Great he has been in the people’s lives. He is known as a very difficult man with a steadfast ming mind, but he is most of the time correct.
Development is the best and fastest word he can spell.
Name: Mwalimu Musheshe
Project: Uganda Rural Development Training Programme
In his words
“Our dream, which we have achieved, was to train people in good ways of living.â€
Contact:
Uganda Rural Development & Training Programme
Ambassador House
56/60 Kampala Road
P.O. Box 16253
Kampala
Office: 256-41-256704
Mobile: 0772 862 637
E-mail: info@urdt.net
Other responsibilities:
Board Member, Uganda Wildlife Authority
Send your comments and nominations to changemakers @newvision.co.ug