Slum Aid Project - Kampala

I'm nearly finished with my time here in Uganda and although it has been extremely frustrating at times overall my experience has been extremely positive.  When I arrived at Slum Aid Project it became obvious that they didn't really know what to have me do and that the project description we had agreed on wouldn't work.  Eventually, we decided that I would create a workshop for community leaders from the slums in Kampala that SAP operates in. 

Developing the workshop was a great experience.  I went into the slums and met with community members and volunteers.  I was very surprised at how willing they were to discuss sensitive issues with a foreigner.  As part of the process I asked them to collect legal questions from the community.  I suggested that they should focus on issues that people had faced in the past or were currently involved.  The questions I received ranged from how to handle a rape to who should have a will.  Once I'd interviewed people from each area and received the questions I spent several days at the main law school in Uganda doing research.  I was also able to work with several legal aid organizations and other NGOs to create a list of resources that will be distributed to the community members so that they know who to contact for assistance.  One of the biggest hurdles I faced was that very few people here trust the legal system both because bribery and corruption are rampant and because they don't understand how it should work. The expense of using the legal system is also problematic, for example, many cases of rape or domestic violence are resolved outside of the court system because the victims cannot afford to pay for the medical tests needed for a police investigation.

I made my presentation yesterday at SAPs monthly meeting.  There were around fourty community volunteers in attendance and hopefully they will disseminate my responses to their questions to the community at large.  We are making my presentation available to anyone in the slums who wants it so that should help in getting the information distributed.  The feedback was extremely positive and I am hopeful that the information will help.  One of the things I emphasized most was the importance of documentation.  Many of the cases that come to the local NGOs, including SAP, are not coming directly from the victim but rather from the community volunteer who has heard about the case from someone else.  This makes figuring out the details very difficult because often we won't meet the victim until going to court or mediation and at that point some fact comes to light that changes everything.  The cost of transportation makes it difficult for the victims to come to us and the size of the slums makes it impossible for us to travel to each victim individually so SAP relies heavily on the community volunteers to collect and report on any potential cases.  I've created a questionaire that will be distributed and should help resolve this issue as it will help ensure that everyone has the same information and the victims are getting the best advice possible. 


My hope is that the community leaders will be able to build on the advice that I've given them and that having a greater understanding of how the legal system functions and how to access it will lead to more trust.  I'm very happy that I was able to come to Uganda and think that in a small way my project here has made a difference. 

Adios from the Swamp - Washington, DC

So my first post is coming during my last week at the Federal Judicial Center here in Washington, DC. The summer has flown by and aside from the relatively mild heat (by DC standards), my time at the FJC has been a great experience.


Having initially worked with the Leitner Center and FJC last October in Ghana, the opportunity to do so again was something I jumped at. The International Judicial Relations Office of the FJC works in Washington and abroad to help foreign judiciaries develop fair, efficient, and effective justice systems.



As such, I've spent the summer working on a variety of different projects related to upcoming FJC initiatives. To help US Federal Judges participating in training conferences in Afghanistan and Iraq, I've been researching and writing on Islamic Law. I've also worked on Opinion Writing and Ethics presentations that will be used in an upcoming FJC trip to Uganda and background information on Latin American judiciaries for an upcoming trip to Argentina.




All in all, the summer at the Federal Judicial Center has been interesting and educational. Working on such broad and diverse projects that directly impact the lives of so many around the world will surely be missed when I'm soon sitting in Professional Responsibility . :P