MOTIVATION TO START BCRD-UGANDA

'If compromise continues, the revolution disappears', says an old proverb. The team was first and foremost motivated by the desire to directly implement programs with rural smallholders, and break the head office-field office syndrome and bureaucracy. The impulse emanated from the founder members’ practical experiences.

The online Master of Arts degree Program in Applied Community Change and Conservation widely exposed the Team Leader and inspired her greatly to initiate something new. During the first semester residential in India (Nov 2007), the team leader realized that classic Non-Governmental Organizations like Jamkhed Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP), SEARCH (Society for Education, Action and Research on Community Health) Gadchiroli, in India’s Maharastra State, as well as interaction with a classmate from BRAC Bangladesh were started by individuals after completion of their masters degrees from the United States.

She realized that by mobilizing colleagues to initiate a CBO, it would be feasible to implement a wealth of knowledge gained from the Master’s degree Program gained from (i) the classroom, (ii) online assignments, and (iii) exposure to rural development technologies in various countries and continents during the one-two months’ Residentials that were spread across four semesters in two years - India (Nov 2007), USA (May-June 2008), Peru (Nov-Dec 2008) and finally Nepal (Sept-Oct 2009).

When she returned back to her community in Kisoro from the India Residential, she shared with her colleagues about the wonderful rural development work and action research by SEARCH Gadchiroli and Jamkhed CRHP. In December 2007, a meeting was convened at Kisoro Tourist Hotel where it was unwaveringly agreed to form a CBO and carry on with community development programs based on PDM (Participatory Development Methodology) and SEED-SCALE (Self–Evaluation for Effective Decision–Making–Systems for Communities to Adapt Learn and Expand); SEED-SCALE is a Universal Process to Shape Community Momentum, to Fit Community Economy, Ecology, and Values.

'Be the change you wish to see in the world'– Mahatma Gandhi