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Writing Our Own Manual
Last month we encountered a hitch - to do with money. Every month, the volunteers in Buhugu come up with a budget. It is discussed and items prioritised and the amount needed starts its journey from the US, via Kampala and Mbale before reaching Buhugu and being disbursed.
And last month, part of the money didn't reach its intended recipients. Many of the volunteers were discouraged at this news. We try, sometimes hard, to keep things honest and transparent, and this was a surely a blow.
But some reflection tempers the emotions and adds perspective. What does this piece of paper mean? For some, it's simply the equivalent of a few dollars. For others, it is something they can exchange for a product or service they dearly want or need. And for others, it represents a small fortune, an amount they have rarely possessed.
In Buhugu, the lives of all such people intersect. And as a result of this collision of worlds, the meaning of what this piece of paper means is regularly challenged.
Perhaps the hitch happened because there was a greater need (what if one's child was sick?). Or perhaps not. But, there are no quick conclusions.
How we deal with this will have a bearing on the "soul" of the project. What is our priority? Is it a clean balance sheet? Or is it achieving goals we set while pragmatically sweeping aside such indiscretions? Or is it openly sharing with each other the challenges, growing together, and seeing what comes of it?
It remains to be seen, for we are still talking about how to best resolve this. This is how one of the volunteers put it: "things are getting tricky but we will manage it... yes we can"
It hasn't been easy to share this publicly on this blog, for it is tempting to write only about what's good, the progress, the achievements. But that would be painting a skewed picture of the reality of things.
And last month, part of the money didn't reach its intended recipients. Many of the volunteers were discouraged at this news. We try, sometimes hard, to keep things honest and transparent, and this was a surely a blow.
But some reflection tempers the emotions and adds perspective. What does this piece of paper mean? For some, it's simply the equivalent of a few dollars. For others, it is something they can exchange for a product or service they dearly want or need. And for others, it represents a small fortune, an amount they have rarely possessed.
In Buhugu, the lives of all such people intersect. And as a result of this collision of worlds, the meaning of what this piece of paper means is regularly challenged.
Perhaps the hitch happened because there was a greater need (what if one's child was sick?). Or perhaps not. But, there are no quick conclusions.
How we deal with this will have a bearing on the "soul" of the project. What is our priority? Is it a clean balance sheet? Or is it achieving goals we set while pragmatically sweeping aside such indiscretions? Or is it openly sharing with each other the challenges, growing together, and seeing what comes of it?
It remains to be seen, for we are still talking about how to best resolve this. This is how one of the volunteers put it: "things are getting tricky but we will manage it... yes we can"
It hasn't been easy to share this publicly on this blog, for it is tempting to write only about what's good, the progress, the achievements. But that would be painting a skewed picture of the reality of things.
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