Whereas The Thai Ministry of Education, UNESCO and APEID have committed to changing the role of higher education to support Participatory and Sustainable Development

I am requesting consideration of the following project for funding by your organization.

Project:

I am working on a PhD at Ubon Ratchathani University in the Integral Studies Program. My research proposal is “A Study of the Use of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy as a Model for International Development in a Non-Buddhist Country”. As a part of that project, I will be working with the development of a sustainable sufficiency economy community in Gulu, Uganda. The community will be a resettlement village for child-headed households. Another graduate student in the same program, Khwaundin Singkham, will be doing her thesis work in assisting in the establishment of a school in the village using the concepts of learning-by-doing that are used in the Asoke Community Schools. We would like to take four undergraduates with us to assist in this grassroots participatory development project.

History:

Uganda is a poor developing country located in East Africa. It was colonized by the British from 1894-1962. From 1971-1979 Uganda dealt with the ruthless and unpredictable regime of Edi Amin. Amin economically decimated the country. Yoweri Museveni has been the president of Uganda since 1986. In the time since 1986, development has been inconsistent and unbalanced. In addition, the country has dealt with the horrible HIV/AIDS epidemic that has plagued all of Africa. Specifically in the Northern Region around Gulu, 1987 saw the start of a civil war that has wreaked havoc on the region. The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), formed in 1987, is a Christian paramilitary group operating mainly in northern Uganda and parts of Sudan. The group is engaged in an armed rebellion against the Ugandan government in what is now one of Africa's longest-running conflicts. It is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself a spirit medium, and apparently wishes to establish a state based on the Ten Commandments and Acholi tradition. The people have been forced from their homes and farms. They are confined to IDP camps that are little more than prisons without bars. They have mainly not had opportunities to develop or maintain livelihoods. Their access to food is largely dependent on foreign aid. Access to health care is limited. One of the nightmares of the ongoing civil war has been the 20-year campaign by the Lord’s Resistance Army to kidnap young children and force them into lives as child soldiers. Those of the children who have managed to escape face enormous psychological issues and reintegration back into the community is difficult. This threat of kidnapping has led to the development of the Night-Commuters. These are children who do not sleep with their parents for fear that they will be kidnapped and instead nightly go into the town of Gulu to find protected shelter and sleep on the floors of hospitals, bus stations – anywhere that is populated or guarded.

The children in this region have had broken educations for the last 20 years which leave them ill-equipped to compete in the economic sector. Many are illiterate, innumerate and have no vocational education.

The combination of the war and the HIV/AIDS epidemic has left many households without adult supervision. These children have been left in the care of the oldest child in the family. It is estimated that there are thousands of child-headed households in the Gulu district alone.

These children have been left in precarious situations. The death of their parents has, on the whole, robbed them of any property rights they might have been entitled to. With the disestablishment of the IDP camps, these children will have nowhere to go, no one to provide for them and no education or skills to provide for themselves.

In February of 2007, I attended a Conference of the omidiyar.net Member Community convened in Gulu, Uganda. At that conference I presented a well-attended session in an Open Space environment, on Sufficiency Economy. This concept was very well received by participants from a number of African nations. One of the other main topics of discussion at that conference is what would happen to the child-headed households as the peace process finalizes and the IDP camps are disassembled. We talked to many of these householders and the have little hope.

Project Details:

Shortly after the conference, Christina Jordan, an Ashoka Fellow in Uganda, proposed the idea of setting up a “village” for the resettlement of child-headed households using the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy. A large piece of land has been secured. 300 Acres (approximately 750 rai) have been set aside to allow for family farms and homes for up to 150 families. We are in the process of developing a survey to identify the child-headed households, make an initial assessment of their well-being and select who will be included in the resettlement project.

Recently, the project has received funding to start a school as a part of the project. After much discussion, the idea of a school based on the concepts of learning-by-doing took hold. This educational opportunity would be supplemented with other vocational and academic learning opportunities for the older children.

We are proposing to take 4 undergraduate students to Gulu with us to assist in this project and experience the development process first-hand. These students will be chosen based on a number of criteria, including 1) English language capability, 2) understanding of the situation in Gulu, Uganda, and 3) understanding of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy. They will be expected to take an English language exam (TOEFL or ILS) and score at a level sufficient to allow them to actively participate in the work in an English speaking country. They will have to submit a research paper on the history and situation in Uganda and Gulu in particular. They will have to live in a sufficiency community during the October break so that they understand first hand what we are building. After a personal interview with Ajarn Khuandin and myself, we will select the 4 students who will form what we judge to be the best working group for the trip. We would then like to take them to Gulu, Uganda in March, April and May of 2008 to assist in the development of these projects.

We feel that this exposure will help them with the development of their English skills, and more importantly, provide them with an opportunity to witness a situation that is reasonably beyond their comprehension and a hands-on opportunity to contribute to alleviating the problems of this group of people by sharing the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy, a gift given to them by their King. This project promises to provide the students with first-hand lessons in the absolute need to develop new metrics for the evaluation of development and well-being.

Linda A. E. Nowakowski 
Faculty of Management Science 
Ubon Ratchathani University 
85 Warin-Det Udom Road 
Warinchamrab, Ubon Ratchathani 
34190 Thailand 

BUDGET:

$2,270-3,090 = 74,794 baht to 101,802 baht

"+" 8,600 baht

Total = 83,394 baht to 110,402 baht

Times 6 = 500,364 baht to 662,412 baht

The higher airfare is on Thai Airways. I am hoping to be able to get a reduction in fare to allow for us to not only patronize local service providers but also keep the cost under 600,000 baht. We are therefore requesting 600,000 baht.