BRAC Uganda - Week 2

I’m back in East Africa. It’s been two years and my fourth trip to the region. This time, I get to take in Kampala and work with a highly respected global health organization, BRAC. Based on some past experience and a lot of luck, I manage to receive funding from UCLA and a connection through my work with the WORLD Policy Analysis Center to work with BRAC and spend 7 weeks here.

I stay at a small compound in a detached one-bedroom unit. It’s much nicer than what I could afford in LA. I have a garden, solitude, and a short commute to BRAC. Each morning, I walk a few blocks to the main road, Entebbe-Kampala Road, raise my hand to hail down a commuter van and hop inside – much to the amusement of locals. I pay attention on the 6km ride (having missed my stop a few times) and learned the local dialect for “stop” or “drop me off here please”. Because of the congestion of cars in Kampala, traffic is actually worse than LA. It takes me about 45 minutes to go the 3 miles to work. If I go to downtown Kampala and leave during rush hour, which seems to span most of the day, it takes 2 hours to get home. But for now, I feel proud about navigating the area.

BRAC is an NGO (non-governmental organization) that was founded in Bangladesh. BRAC was a pioneer in the 1970s using microfinance, women’s empowerment, health education, and other social programs to uplift people out of poverty. Their successful model has now been replicated in Africa with headquarters in Kampala, Uganda and programs across Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, and Sierra Leone. In Uganda alone, their programs impact 2 million people. To be an intern here is a privilege and an honor. The goal of my internship is to help the research director publish academic papers on BRAC Uganda’s many programs. When I first landed, I wasn’t entirely sure what the programs were, who I would work with directly, or really anything that wasn’t on the website. But like other scenarios, I adapt and learn and create a plan for my short time.

I sit next in an office with three other women working on different programs including menstruation, education, and community health promoters. I’m based in the research department, which has about 13 projects. BRAC’s Ugandan programs are well-run. They have local branches throughout the entire country with microfinance branches lending primarily to women. A few major funders include the World Bank, Japan Social Development Fund, and the Mastercard Foundation. Most full-time staff are either Ugandan or Bangladeshi and any Western-world participants are interns or research fellows. I always like this model, which is not so common in the international development world dominated by high-income countries.

I first learn about a project that I immediately want to work on. I read up on about 20 different projects happening at BRAC Uganda across economic, social, job training, health, and wellbeing initiatives. I was invited on a meeting to review and critique a presentation on a nutrition project. This project was set-up as a randomized control trial with seven arms. The program works with smallholder farmers, those cultivating 5 acres or less of land, and trials an intervention to grow orange-fleshed sweet potatoes in addition to health education and financial insurance. The goal is to improve the nutrition status of the entire family, especially young children. Most farmers in Uganda are women and subsistence farming makes up a large share of employment throughout the country. I learn that BRAC is monitoring whether families eat a more balanced diet and whether child outcomes like underweight, wasting, or stunting are improved. My dissertation topic is on child stunting, so I already knew there would be great fit. I’m excited about what the next few weeks will hold.