Rwanda en Progrès

This is actually a sequel to the previous blog I had posted about my participation in Umuganda last month. I was disappointed about the turn out and the actual work. I felt that it did not reach its maximum potential impact.

However, I was able to accompany an evaluation team to the Southern Province in order to assess the impact and sustainability of projects initiated by Umuganda. The following text is the report I submitted to the Minister of State and at the evaluation team meeting following the trip.

Note: Akarere is the Kinyarwanda name for district. Umurenge is the Kinyarwanda name for sector (neighborhood). Umuganda is mandatory community service on the last Saturday of each month.

Umuganda Project Evaluations

Abstract

On June 15th and 16th of 2010, an evaluation team comprised of representatives from MINALOC and MINIYOUTH traveled to four districts in the Southern Province to meet with the local leadership to view and discuss project activities initiated for Umuganda. On the first day, the team visited two sites. In Akarere ka Muhanga, there was constructed a fresh water well for the citizens in Umerenge wa Mushishiro. Akarere ka Kamonyi was constructing classrooms and toilets for a primary school offering 9 years basic education for children living in Umerenge wa Runda. The second day, the team visited two more sites in the Southern Province. Akarere ka Nyanza cultivated a cassava and sweet potato plantation in Umerenge wa Busasamana, and Akarere ka Ruhango built a housing project for vulnerable people in Umerenge wa Ruhango. All projects were said to be part of Umuganda initiative without any assistance for NGOs or other charitable contributions. Upon complete evaluation of all Umuganda projects in the districts, a winner will be selected and recognized to receive points.

Muhanga

Akarere ka Muhanga had completed a water project in Umerenge wa Mushishiro as an Umuganda intitiative. The project resulted in providing the citizens with fresh water from the hills. Previously, the people would have to rise very early in order to fetch water from the spring nearly four kilometers away. Often times, children would be too fatigued from the journey to the spring to attend school. The shortened distance to fresh water has been greatly appreciated among the citizens in the Umerenge.

The project was funded by the contributions of the citizens and constructed solely on their participation, which was approximately 70 percent. For maintenance purposes, the citizens are charged 50 RwF per month. No profits will be collected.

The local leaders were very organized in their presentation. They submitted all of the necessary documentation for the project, including reports, recorded contributions from the citizens, maintenance plans, etc.

Kamonyi

In Akarere ka Kamonyi, four new classrooms and two dozen toilets were under construction at a primary school in Umerenge wa Runda. Three of the four classrooms were complete, but the toilets were still a ways from finished. It was evident that there was a significant need for more space and more toilets. The part of the school that was government funded was highly inadequate. There were only six toilets for approximately 1,600 students, and each classroom was packed with about 60 or 70 children and one teacher.

While the visiting of the site went well, the sit-down evaluation with the head teacher and local officials was slightly less than satisfactory. They were unable to provide adequate reports on the construction plans or source of the funds for building materials. No copies were able to be obtained, but partial blame could be given to the fact that the school lacked electricity and computer equipment, even for the administrators. However, perhaps a hand written copy would have sufficed, as the leadership of Muhanga was able to provide.

Nyanza

Akarere ka Nyanza plowed a cassava and sweet potato plantation over 25 hectares of land in Umerenge wa Busasamana. The produce was sold and profits were used to fund necessary improvements for the administration and the Umerenge. With the money acquired, the administrative office was able to purchase computers and printers in order to facilitate efficiency; provide electricity to a number of buildings; as well as provide numbers for houses and name streets. It is evident that the project contributed immensely to infrastructure development and sustainability.

Overall, the evaluation meeting went well. They expressed long term commitments toward the maintenance of the plantation, as well as the commitment to use the profits to facilitate the development of the Umerenge and help resolve issues affecting the efficiency of the administration and promote.

Ruhango

In Akarere ka Ruhango, a housing project was constructed for the vulnerable people in Umerenge wa Ruhango. The local administrative officials emphasized that over 30 houses were built in the akagari. The houses were of adequate size and seemed to be constructed of sturdy materials. In addition, they were also landscape in the front.

The evaluation meeting went well, and the local administration stressed their commitment to assist vulnerable citizens in the Umerenge. However, while the houses seemed complete, few were occupied. Most seemed vacant. Nonetheless, the local officials provided reports and documentation of their efforts.

Concluding Remarks

Bearing those remarks in mind, it is important to understand the core elements involved in Umuganda project evaluations. The projects must be funded and initiated by the citizens of the Umerenge. It must be recognized as a need and improvement to the lives of the citizens in the area. It also must exemplify sustainability by being able to continuously contribute to the well being and improvement of the lives of the citizens. And most importantly, the implementation of the project must be transparent.

With all this stated, I nominate the cassava plantation in Busasamana for the Umuganda project winner the following reasons:
• The project was complete and finalized. Results were able to be seen and evaluated;
• The project provides a sustainable source of revenue to the Busasamana that allows for the allocation of funds to promote infrastructure developments and increased administrative efficiency;
• The project was constructed solely by the participation and contributions of the citizens; and
• Transparency was guaranteed by the submitted reports.

In all, the projects seemed to be legitimate in the sense that they were enacted because the Umerenge saw the need for such improvements. The water project definitely was an improvement to the quality of life of the citizens of Mushishiro and sustainable, but the cassava plantation went further as to generate a continual source of revenue, which could fund other development initiatives in the Busasamana.

With regards to the classrooms and toilet being constructed in Runda, they would be an improvement if they were finished. However, since they are not complete, it would be speculation to say that the project was successful and had deep impact. In addition, since the project is not finished, it might also be speculative to assume that adequate funding and participation will continue on the level that it has in the past. These factors make it difficult to award high marks, since it is the mission to evaluate the project as it is currently and not what it will be or what it is supposed to be.

Concerning the housing development in Ruhango, it is true that the initiative is sincere in its essence. A project that assists the vulnerable citizens of the Umerenge in a sustainable manner (such as constructing houses or generating income) is a desirable endeavor, especially for Umuganda. However, if the project is not followed through, i.e. vulnerable people actually move into the houses that were constructed, then one is left with a slew of empty houses and the same number of impoverished vulnerable people. In addition, proper documentation of funding contributions as well as the breakdown of allocation would be necessary in order to insure transparency of the project. To construct more than 30 houses of the quality seen in Ruhango, such a project would be rather costly. For the purposes of Umuganda evaluation, numbers would have to be checked.

Just to reiterate, all the projects were incredible efforts regardless of how they were implemented or documented. They all sought to improve the quality of life of the citizens in the Umerenge, which is exactly what Umuganda is about. However, for the purposes of awarding points and recognition, the projects had to meet certain criteria in order to be considered for nomination. And, in my opinion, the cassava plantation in Busasamana met and exceeded the standards and requirements.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, Rwanda is undergoing the decentralization process. As part of this initiative, the Ministry of Local Government launched the Ubudehe system as an avenue for development at the sector level, know as the umurenge. It is part of the Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP) that aims to improve the lives of citizens and promote community development from the bottom up instead of the top down.

Ubudehe is a community based system that assesses the financial situations of citizens living in villages throughout Rwanda. The community evaluates each household’s or citizen’s financial/asset situation and places it in one of six categories: Umutindi nyakujya, Umitindi, Umekene, Umukene wifashije, Umukungu, and Umukire.

The first category, Umutindi nyakujya, is for those in abject poverty. These individuals have no land, livestock, or shelter, and they rely on begging for survival. They are unable to work, usually due to some degree of disability. Due to poor living conditions, individuals in this category fall sick often and have no access to medical care. In addition, they cannot afford to send their children to school or feed them properly.
The second category, Umitindi, refers to the very poor. The main difference between the first and second categories is that the second group is physically able to work. Like the Umutindi nyakujya, the second group does not own land or livestock. As a result, their children often suffer similar consequences of poverty as the first group.
The Umekene is the third category and are referred to as poor. These households typically have some land and shelter, but no means to save. They are self-sufficient in the sense that they live from their own labor and produce enough to survive from day to day. Their children do not always attend school, and they usually do not have access to health care.
Individuals in Umukene wifashije category share the same characteristics as the Umukene category, except that they can usually afford to send their children to primary school.
The last two categories refer to the food and money rich. These households are well-off, have land, livestock, and plenty to eat. They often move to urban areas and enjoy the luxuries of city life.

The households/individuals that belong to the Umutindi nyakujya and Umitindi are considered to be in need of assistance, and Ubudehe allows the community to come to consensus and identify these citizens.The data gathered as a result of Ubudehe has contributed to the drafting of social maps for all 15000 villages across the country. It enables the government to understand the social situation of the country and create programs to better benefit those vulnerable and impoverished individuals.

However, there is a short coming of the Ubudehe system in that it cannot account for the income disparity across the different communities. For example, two households, one in an urban umurenge and the other in a rural umurenge, could have exactly the same living conditions, but one could be classified as poor and the other classified as non poor. This is because not all umurenge have the same standard of living.
Nonetheless, the Ubudehe system has provided the GoR with valuable data concerning the social climate of Rwanda.

In Rwanda, the last Saturday of every month is Umuganda, which is designed to be a day of contribution. All able bodied persons age 18 and over are expected by law to participate in Umuganda as an act of community service. This includes activities such as trash pick up, ditch digging, sweeping of roads, etc. It goes from 8 to 11:30 in the morning, and no one is allowed to leave the Umudugudu (neighborhood) until Umuganda is officially over at 12pm. If any person is out and about, they will be sent back their Umudugudu by authorities and possible fined.

Some people get out of Umuganda by staying out all night on Friday and sleeping in until the afternoon on Saturday. As long as you don’t go outside, authorities cannot force you to participate.

I had just heard about this policy the Wednesday before Umuganda and became rather intrigued and curious. I decided to participate on Saturday morning in order to gain better understanding of the initiative. It sounded like a great idea. Once a month, the people would gather together and labor in a communal effort to make their neighborhood a nicer place to live. I had to see how this would turn out so that maybe the US could take a few notes.

There weren’t too many people that participated. We were supposed to meet at 8am in front of Papyrus (a restaurant/bar in the Umudugudu). I was the first one there at 8:15. Two others came around 8:30. Others came outside around 9, but only tidied up their own flats.

The day guard and I picked up trash on the sidewalk and in the grass. It was mainly paper, used airtime cards, and bottles. Others swept the driveways and raked leaves and branches in the grass. People started to mosey back into their houses after about an hour.

I have to say that I was pretty disappointed. I was expecting the whole mass of people to congregate and organize something with direction and purpose; then the Umudugudu would be transformed! Once again, I let the idealist in me get too excited (it happens too often).

However, I like to consider myself a problem solver. That is, of course, what my professors are trying make of me through a public policy degree. I thought to myself, “What would make this kind of program more successful and effective?”

I think the problem with Umuganda is two fold. First, it is mandatory and enforced using disincentives. This means that some individuals will either do this against their will or would find loop holes to avoid participating. Second, it only picks up the mess instead of building a path for improvement. For example, picking up trash once a month will not cause people to litter less, but actually might create less individual responsibility to dispose of waste properly if it is known that someone will pick it up for Umuganda.

Therefore, any recommendation for Umuganda would ideally a) be voluntary in essence in order to achieve the maximum level of enthusiasm, b) be incentivized in order to achieve the maximum level of participation and positive attitude of the public, c) be more than one day a month, and d) provide a service that not only restores the community, but also improves it in the long run.

With this set of criteria, solutions available could be a variety of community service initiatives that include more than just picking up trash. Ideas have been presented to motivate college students to participate. Students could provide tutoring to children once or twice a week at the local primary or secondary school, or perhaps they could offer basic English and Math classes to the public once a week. In addition, the local population could be motivated to participate in construction projects: fixing roofs and other maintenance to houses in poor districts.

Implementation of these recommendations would be facilitated by an incentive mechanism. Students could receive a discount on tuition; building materials for the construction projects would be purchased by the government; or perhaps a competition could be made of it, for example, the Umudugudu with the most participation could receive a tax-free shopping day.

These are just a few suggestions. More would be appreciated!