Restless Development

The twelve-week journey they were about to embark on began in the small town of Warrington, just outside Manchester. Twenty British volunteers came together to train and prepare for their trip to the pearl of Africa: Uganda.

Six weeks lay ahead of them before the journey. Newly acquainted strangers became friends, each with a mission ahead. They had signed up to theInternational Citizen Service (ICS) and been selected to be sent overseas with an NGO named ‘Restless Development’. The group had been told of the mysterious wonders that lay ahead, but the details of the work they would be doing remained unclear. Half of the team was missing, and how could these foreigners be trained on a land so unknown to them without the help of the people on the ground?

They were to be paired up with their Ugandan counterparts on arrival. After two weeks of intensive training in the Ugandan village of Mbalala in the district of Mukono near the capital Kampala, they were paired up with their counterparts and sent in groups of four to remote villages, targets for their development work.

These various clusters had been given the duty of delivering sessions to young people (both in and out of school). For the most part, this meant educating them about their sexual and reproductive health. Culture and tradition always play a large role in society in such matters, and the issues had to be addressed with sensitivity. Other subjects being taught included ‘civic participation’, making clear the rights and responsibilities of these young people as Ugandan citizens. Other duties involved advising communities on how to improve their agricultural livelihoods through the implementation of sustainable and organic farming techniques. The volunteers taught people skills in entrepreneurship, hoping in the long run to create productive, dynamic young members of society. With Uganda having one of the world’s youngest populations, these skills are crucial – the future is in their hands.

In the view of all the volunteers, both Ugandan and international, working with this NGO has given a whole new meaning to the word ‘Restless’. They will stop at nothing to make sure the programme is completed and implemented to the highest standard, and will go the extra mile to be the change they want to see.This experience has been nothing if not challenging. This is why for me the ICS motto is well chosen: ‘challenge yourself to change your world’.