For a more harmonious society
What we are observing in the Bangladeshi society now that, peoples no longer feel sympathy for each other which was the best practices in our communities everywhere in early ages
Jamilur Rahman Chowdhury
The word UMUGANDA can be translated as coming together in common purpose to achieve an outcome. In traditional Rwandan culture, members of the community would call upon their family, friends and neighbors to help them complete a difficult task.
As part of efforts to reconstruct Rwanda and nurture a shared national identity, the Government of Rwanda drew on aspects of Rwandan culture and traditional practices to enrich and adapt its development programs to the countrys needs and context. The result is a set of Home Grown Solutions -- culturally owned practices translated into sustainable development programs. One of these Home Grown Solutions is UMUGANDA.
Modern day UMUGANDA can be described as community work. On the last Saturday of each month, communities come together to do a variety of public works. This often includes infrastructure development and environmental protection. Rwandans between 18 and 65 are obliged to participate in UMUGANDA. Expatriates living in Rwanda are encouraged to take part.
Today close to 80% of Rwandans take part in monthly community work. Successful projects include the building of schools, medical centers and hydroelectric plants as well as rehabilitating wetlands and creating highly productive agricultural plots. The value of UMUGANDA to the countrys development since 2007 has been estimated at more than US $60 million.
In the period immediately after independence in 1962, UMUGANDA was only organized under special circumstances and was considered as an individual contribution to nation building.
During this time, UMUGANDA was often referred to as UMUBYIZI, meaning a day set aside by friends and family to help each other. On February 2, 1974, UMUGANDA became an official government program and was organized on a more regular basis usually once a week. The Ministry of District Development was in charge of overseeing the program. Local leaders at the district and village level were responsible for organizing UMUGANDA and citizens had little say in this process. For this reason and because penalties were imposed for non-participation, UMUGANDA was initially considered forced labor.
While UMUGANDA was not well received initially, the program recorded significant achievements in erosion control and infrastructure improvement especially building primary schools, administrative offices of sectors and villages and health centers. During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the meaning of UMUGANDA was distorted to describe finding Tutsi where they were hiding and chasing them out. It wasnt until 1998 that UMUGANDA was reintroduced to Rwandan life. This was done as part of efforts to reconstruct Rwanda and to nurture a shared national identity.
Impact:
UMUGANDA is credited with contributing to Rwandas development, particularly in the areas of infrastructure development and environmental protection. Common infrastructure projects include roads (especially those connecting sectors), bridges, heath centers, classroom construction (to support the 9 and 12 Years of Basic Education programs), housing construction for poor and vulnerable Rwandans (often to replace grass-thatched housing) and the construction of local government offices and savings and credit cooperative buildings.
Environmental protection projects undertaken include tree planting and terracing to fight erosion, wetland rehabilitation, renewable energy construction and crop planting.
Monetary Value of UMUGANDA and Participation:
From 2007 2010, the activities valuated at 26,397,939,119 Rwf consisted mainly of the construction of houses for vulnerable people, roads, class rooms for the Nine Year Basic Education Program (9YBE), health centers, public offices, tree planting, terracing and other infrastructures to protect against erosion.
National UMUGANDA Competition:
To measure the impact of UMUGANDA and encourage greater participation, the Government of Rwanda introduced the National UMUGANDA Competition in 2009. The aim of the competition is to create awareness of the best projects carried out, award communities that have completed good initiatives and to encourage communities to plan properly and maintain what they have achieved.
The competition includes all levels of Rwandan society from the village up to the national level. The best activity in each district is awarded with a certificate and funding for future projects, and the best three projects in each province are awarded prizes. The best three projects from across Rwanda are awarded a cash prize of between US $1,500 and $2,300.
The projects and recognitions are as follows:
- For the construction of classrooms as part of the 9 Years Basic Education(9YBE) program
- Recognition for its land use consolidation through planting 25 hectares of cassava
- Recognition for building a canal and pipe system for fresh water
- Recognition for the construction of a health center
- Recognition for building a micro hydroelectric plant,
- Award went to a seven hectare pineapple plantation in a district. This project has helped to tackle erosion and a cooperative has been set up to manage the harvesting of the crop and distribution of the benefits.
- Award went to a project whereby 37 houses were constructed for marginalized peoplein a District. Families in the Sector have benefited greatly from the project and are better integrated into the community as a result.
- A community that built eleven offices for local villages and they received a prize of Rwf 1,500,000 (US $2300).
- A community also constructed a five kilometers road and received a prize of Rwf 1,200,000 (US $1,800).
Reconciliation and Unity:
UMUGANDA is also credited with assisting in reconciliation and peace building in Rwanda. This is because neighbors are brought together to build their community and have the opportunity to discuss problems and solve them collectively.
UMUGANDA in Bangladesh:
What we are observing in the Bangladeshi society now that, peoples no longer feel sympathy for each other which was the best practices in our communities everywhere in early ages. The main reason of that seems to me is the politics and it is now spreading to even in the small villages. It is not like that politics is new to the villages but I have to acknowledge that it was not the way it is now. Main problem is that we are losing relationship from each other due to the political views/differences now a days which supposed not to happen. Even not only losing relationship rather it is also directing us tocreate unethical activities in the society which creating separation from each other day by day and resulting the worst situation in everywhere. Soin considering the development of togetherness of the Rwandan people through this concept and increasing gradual values of sympathy for each other in the community, I think it can be a fantastic way of bringing people together in Bangladesh in following the UMUGANDA concept of Rwanda.
The writer is working as a Managing Director of a Microfinance
Company in Rwanda
Email: [email protected]
