URDT's objective is to create "rural development through human development." URDT trains people who live on less than $1 per day to take a visionary, entrepreneurial approach to developing their own lives, families and communities. URDT promotes "integrated" rural development, teaching people to address the interconnectedness of health, education, financial self-sufficiency, civic participation and human/gender rights within their lives. URDT's entrepreneurial, integrated development approach results in much more sustainable development, both within individuals and throughout the region.
Mission
URDT's mission is to facilitate self-generated development in rural
communities. URDT delivers on this mission by combining development projects
with education and training so that skills and knowledge remain resident with
people as they organically change the quality of their lives.
URDT's development efforts are based on the following working premises:
- The people of Uganda, like all the people in the world, are key to their own development.
- People with a common vision can transcend traditional barriers and prejudice caused by tribal, religious, political and gender differences and work together to achieve that which is truly important to them all.
- People have innate power and wisdom that they can tap to transform the quality of their life and that of their communities.
- Lasting change comes only as people shift from reacting or adapting to circumstances to being the creators of their desired circumstances.
- Training, education and information sharing are integral components of development as gained knowledge and skills allow people to meet exigencies of rural life.
- To achieve sustainable development, people must recognize and address in an integrated fashion the interconnected development concerns across their lives, including health, nutrition, sanitation, water management, rural technologies, income generation, environment, human rights and gender equality.
URDT's "Visionary" Approach
URDT is distinctive among development organizations in that it teaches people how to think strategically about their own development, training them to become "visionaries" and "creators" of their own futures. URDT's methodology is based on the work of U.S. business thinkers Peter Senge ("The Fifth Discipline") and Robert Fritz ("The Path of Least Resistance"), which posits that focusing on "reacting to problems" results in a "stuck" cycle in which people prematurely let up on their efforts when the problem begins to improve, whereas focusing on "creating desired outcomes" leads to achieving the intended end result. URDT applies these concepts to rural development.
In the "visioning" process, people take the following steps:
- Picture the kind of results they want (vision)
- Observe their current situation (current reality)
- Identify the discrepancies between what they have and what they want (the gap)
- Develop a "want-to" feeling (structural tension)
- Begin to understand that what they want can be achieved
- Formally choose the results they want
- Commit to taking the necessary steps to achieve the desired result
URDT provides education and structural support to help move people through this process. This includes identifying the resources that are needed - such as money, skills, knowledge - that will enable participants to move from their current state to the desired results.
Looking Ahead: Strategy for 2006-2008
URDT has "proven its concept" of visionary, integrated rural development over the past 25 years. Now it is clear that to meet the ever-increasing demand for services, URDT must focus on building capacity - within the organization and communities - to further expand the impact of this successful development approach.
URDT Programmes
URDT provides education and training through extension work and its
campus-based programmes. These include:
Girls' School - URDT's award-winning residential Girls' School provides
free primary and secondary education to 240 girls per year. The school
provides the compulsory government national curriculum as well as education
for home and community development. URDT employs a two-generation approach
through which the girls and their parents collaboratively design "Back-Home"
Projects. These include activities to reduce malaria risks, protect water
springs and construct pit latrines as well as entrepreneurial activities to
improve agricultural practices and increase profitability. The families
clearly benefit from the girls' education and often their communities are
positively influenced as well.
Vocational Skills Institute - The URDT Institute trains young adults at the certificate/diploma level in vocational skills, media studies, entrepreneurship and visionary leadership. The Institute develops mid-level skilled tradespeople who create small businesses and thus employment for themselves and others.
African Rural University - ARU will provide a three-year Bachelor's Degree in integrated rural development leadership, meeting the need for university education in rural areas.
Microcredit Fund - This fund provides parents and guardians of Girls' School students with access to microcredit so that they can implement the plans they have devised in their strategic visioning processes.
Land Rights Programme - URDT's land rights office provides information and conflict resolution services on land ownership and tenure matters to the poor people in the region, most of whom are squatters on their ancestral lands, which are owned by absentee landlords.
Human Rights Programme - URDT's human rights programme offers education, training and advocacy on human rights issues.
Kagadi Kibaale Community Radio - URDT's hugely popular radio station provides educational programmes on a broad range of rural development and cultural issues to a listenership of 4 million people.
Demonstration Farm - URDT operates a demonstration farm that employs best practices in organic farming, natural pest and disease control, micro-irrigation, mushroom cultivation, land use management and environmental development and protection.
Appropriate and Applied Technology Centre - URDT teaches and utilizes state-of-the-art appropriate technology techniques on its campus. These include solar electricity, solar drying, biogas systems, energy-efficient stoves, Ventilated Improved Pit latrines, animal traction and waste conversion.
Overview
The Uganda Rural Development and Training Programme (URDT) is an indigenous civil society organization located in the Kibaale District in Uganda.
Why the Kibaale District?
URDT is located in the small town of Kagadi in the Kibaale District, about 180 miles northwest of Kampala. In 1987, when URDT co-founders were seeking a good location for their intended experiment in "visionary" rural development methodology, they decided that the Kibaale District would be ideal because it offered a combination of the toughest development challenges:
- High infant mortality, high maternal morbidity, low literacy levels and rampant poverty.
- The three counties in the Kibaale District were so-called "lost counties" that had suffered a century of neglect because of disputes over land titles and governance.
- The district was multi-ethnic, with more than ten tribes making up the population of 416,000.
- The district was very rural, with poor roads, no electricity or phones.
- There were no NGOs, except for churches.
After some exploratory conversations, URDT received an invitation from a Kibaale District leader to come work in the area. And so it was decided - the people of Kibaale were ready for development and creative education and URDT was ready to be their catalyst.
URDT Growth and Development (1987-2006)
URDT develops its programmes in a "bottom-up" fashion, working with communities to discover what they need and then collaborating with them to devise visions, action plans and structures for implementation. As a result, URDT's programmes have evolved over time and can be grouped into four phases of development:
PHASE 1:
In its initial years, from 1988-1992, URDT focused on village extension work.
It trained communities how to build sanitary wells and improve household sanitation
and nutrition. URDT introduced subsistence farmers to visionary and systems thinking in
the areas of agricultural business, organic and modern farming techniques, professional
association formation and institutional development.
PHASE 2:
In 1993, to address the high dropout rates in secondary
schools, URDT established a Vocational Institute for Youth Leadership and Development
Skills. The Institute trained young men and women in practical vocational skills such
as construction, metalworking, mechanics, weaving and crafts, carpentry and solar electricity.
Students also studied humanities, entrepreneurship and business management. During this period,
URDT also made several microcredit loans to women's groups.
PHASE 3:
In 1998, URDT further expanded its programmes and reach
by launching the residential primary and secondary URDT Girls' School with its unique two-generation
approach to education, and the Kagadi Kibaale Community Radio (KKCR) 91.7 FM that provides
educational development programming to a listenership of 4 million people across several districts.
PHASE 4:
In 2006, after years of successful direct service
delivery, URDT is focusing on building capacity in local communities. To that end,
it is establishing the African Rural University (ARU) to train women leaders in
rural development. ARU will especially welcome women from impoverished rural areas,
awarding credit in some cases for adults with indigenous knowledge and life experience.
The vision is for ARU to become an international hub of rural development learning.
URDT's 2006-2008 action plan includes:
- Building capacity of URDT staff
- Further institutionalizing the training process for visionary systems thinking
- Strengthening URDT's training in resource mobilization and management, visionary leadership, entrepreneurship and rural technologies
- Strengthening the delivery capacity of URDT's five arms of community transformation
Acknowledgements
We wish to acknowledge the many collaborators in our work. We especially thank the staff of URDT, both old and new, and the Kagadi community. We also wish to thank the African Food and Peace Foundation (Massachusetts, USA) for its continuing encouragement and support in true partnership with the people of Uganda and Africa. AFPF is providing the seed funding for the establishment of the African Rural University. We hope many others will follow their lead.
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