GIRLS IN ICT DAY

The world over marks the INTERNATIONAL GIRLS IN ICT on the 26th April and on this day, basically the whole point is to raise awareness on the role that women have to or have played towards building an ICT lead world. The words “Digital Divide” are commonly use to portray the gap between those that use ICT and those that are not aware of its use or have no opportunity to harness its value. Today I would like to use it to portray the gap between women and men in the area of ICT.

Men are perceived to be geniuses in many fields (ICT inclusive) which gives them an advantage over the women who are perceived to be the “minors” in many of the same fields. This has been going on since time immemorial until some powerful women activists raised the red flag and demanded for women’s rights to be treated just like men. ICT is one area which is very diverse and yet so little of it has been tapped on the local scene for example I have not seen as many women involved in ICT lead projects as men of even ICT lead business projects. The majority of these projects are usually started by men and the women come in later since in most cases they are better at management roles.

Though I had my high school in a single school, I had the opportunity of noticing the “digital divide” when we had seminars, conferences and workshops. I would clearly notice that when it came to areas of ICT, girls would shy away from being party to any of things like computers and the like except at this one workshop by WOUGNET where I saw women like Maureen Agena actively engaging us on youth and ICT related matters together with other ladies at the workshop. Unfortunately this was the only time I ever witnessed, apart from that, I also followed the recently concluded Inspire Africa where many women were involved in ICT related projects and even the overall winner whose project was mobile apps development, this was a good start and an eye opener to the women and men all together.
In this post, I would like to suggest a few ideas which I think may work toward bridging the gap between women and ICT and I do hope that that they may be of good use to those championing for this cause both in the short and long run.

Encourage Computer lessons in Girl’s Schools
Visit one of the many girls’ schools and ask about their perspective as regards to computers. Many girls find the subject rather boring, I recently asked my cousin why she didn’t opt for computer ate her O’level and she plainly told me that it’s very hard and well, the teachers are boring. This shocked me partly because there is no way computer can be boring unless there is a problem somewhere. I wouldn’t blame her though because most teachers of this subject have still failed to find some way of making it interesting and thus the students have failed to like it. The stake holders should strive to make sure that they look for teachers that have the passion for the subject and are not just doing it for the sake. This will not only improve the school’s image but also change the perception of girls that computer lessons are boring and hard.

Promote women’s ICT business start ups
Evidently, there are so many business related to ICT that have the potential to grow into multi million companies if only the right channels are used. Now many of these do not have women at the fore front. It is therefore not wrong to encourage women to start and manage such business and even support those that are already up and running. Like I had mentioned about the project inspire Africa, I would love to see a replica of such a project in such a way that more emphasis is put on women and ICT(whoever has the right connections and money can do just that). Women are very good managers and are also less prone to corruption as has been evidenced by the events in Uganda today (Judging by the ministries that women run and the positions they hold)

Give the Women audience
In the world today, there are many ways or channels through which an audience can be attracted. The broadcasting, print and online industry are all suitable channels which to me if effectively used would work toward s advancing the cause of women in ICT. The numbers on face book and twitter speak for themselves which shows that to a smaller extent, the digital divide on social media has been bridged. I have also seen many women talk about ICT related issues and topics on TV’s like Kate Russell who appears on BBC’s Click programmee and the numerous articles written by women concerning ICT. If more women were encouraged to talk, write and share their thoughts and ideas on ICT, this would work towards a world in which both men and women play a role in advancing matters of ICT. We should also learn to listen to women when they begin sharing their thoughts and ideas on ICT. Personally when a lady is sharing about ICT, I pay keen interest and try to find out why and all the reasons behind because by the time a lady talks about ICT, that only means that it’s a very important matter.

Involve Women in ICT policy Formulation
Everyday different policies are developed by the government pertaining to a number of areas including ICT, however many are times women are not consulted or given an opportunity to be party to these policies which in a way hampers the efforts to bridge the digital divide. Involving women in policy formulation brings to attention some of the challenges they face in access to ICT and in so doing, their challenges maybe overcome at an early stage before the policies are implemented when it would be too late for the women to come into play. Much as we have women representatives in parliament, special emphasis should be put into designing policies that are not aimed at encouraging the digital divide but rather advancing the cause of encouraging women to participate and make use of ICT.
Finally, I would like to appreciate the efforts of some women that are working so hard to leave a mark in ICT through sensitizing their counterparts and also the men that are allowing women to play a vital role in ICT, I believe together we can achieve the dream of reducing or even eliminating the digital divide in ICT, AS soon as I come up with a complete list of women that have played a big role in bridging the gap, I will update this post and include them.

HAPPY GIRLS IN ICT DAY

Creativity Vs Compromise in Advertising

According to the statistics, Uganda has one of the highest numbers of business startups in Africa and that means one thing which is the fact that we are creative in one way or the other. Further evidence of this is the increasing number of workshops be it metal, carpentry or even art studios, Now all this surely is a good sign that our country is moving forward in a business sense.

I have also witnessed creativity in other areas like theft (Ugandans are very good in this area considering the new tactics that are born every day to counter the iron hand of the police and even the increasing number of hackers that have continuously eluded telecom companies in the quest for internet freedom). The music industry has also had its fair share of creativity with new singers (I would have called them artists or musicians but a few would fall this category so to generalize, let me call them singers), every day we see a new face on TV and almost on all weekends, there is a singer launching a new album and our radios are continuously playing their tunes all day. Now if this is not creativity them what is it?

The advertising industry has also played a lead role in advancing an advanced level of creativity with very “Kul” adverts that are not only informative but also entertaining to watch. Now this is where I want to base my argument. Recently we have seen a number of companies come up with different angles to make known their products and services to the customers who are the viewers. I cannot possible understand whether its my lack of appreciation or I just don’t get it. I have been particularly
bothered by the on going Warid advert on TV informing us about their new “3.75”. I just don’t like those guys with all their statements and the way they portray the whole subject of very fast internet speeds. I don’t hate warid or have any case against them considering that this is my second post in which they come in. In fact to demonstrate my love for Warid, am using their internet service to write this post which internet service by far is the cheapest and fairly fast(there you go, am admitting that warid is one of the best despite my sentiments). Going back to my point, I would implore the advertising agencies to properly guide their clients on what angles to pitch their adverts so that they are appealing to the viewers and are not necessarily boring and even misleading.

We have a lot of potential creative minds that are just waiting for an opportunity to make use of their brains and be able to come up with advertising concepts that are good enough to attract a viewership. Am sure almost all companies (Warid Inclusive) have got a PRO department that is supposed to handle matters pertaining to the public image of their companies.

I Now want to also show you an advert that has got the qualities am looking for, Now for a long time now, Coca cola has been putting in an extra effort in creating captivating adverts that are both entertaining and informative, You see, if one sits down and pitches a concept that’s able to entertaining the audience, that interests them and in the end, the message is delivered in the most effective way. Coca cola has done this in the best way they know how, Music, culture and knowing what the people like to watch. The advert would or has surely attracted attention, even my 3 year old nephew sings along when the advert airs and as time goes on, he will be able to know that the whole point is to entice him to drink coke products.
IF only all companies that put their monies in advertising would pick a lessons or two form the coke advert, then am sure they are going to reap big from their campaigns, Am very sorry I had to use warid ad an example because am sure there are many more companies that fall in the same category.

P.S. I mention the Big guns so that the small guns can also pick.As for the musicians; I will talk about them later.

Oh My Dear Boss

             I have not heard so much experience in work and am sure this is just the beginning of an era of understanding the behavial mechanisms of different people. When i was still at school, I dreamt of this time when i would be waking up very early in the morning and sitting in an office and waiting for clients to come and i make money. Fast forward to December 2011, I got the Job and aparently started working at with this very cool company in town. In fact,I was doing some good work with Graphics which kinda made me proud.

         I was not so desparate or rather i didn’t want to appear desperate because its not a fashionable trait one would love to adopt. So as i worked, I was told that for two months i would be on probation so that i can gain enough experience for a full employment. Two months were done and I was told that now i can begin serious work and pulling of deals with clients which i welcomed whole heartedly and made me very excited. Little did i know that this trend was going to change.Its now been 4 months and last week i decided to ask a few questions about my remuneration. to my shock, my dear boss had other plans in mind, non of which suited me. I must credit myself for the audacity to confront him because from what i have heard, he is a very feared fellow that in my view skipped a few lessons on human resaurse management.Many would argue that with my level of education and age, I shuold glasly accept what ever is put on my plate without questions because jobs are scarse and there are very many vacists with litrally nothing to do.This i strongly disagree with reason being that we should first examine the nature of work so that it can be mathced with the remuneration. I have heard pople say that the experince is what matters.and yes, experince is very important but look at how much money is spent on transport and other expences that incurred all in the name of experience which experince by the way earns alot of money for the Boss from whom you are allegedly getting experince from. the excuse that they give is that for the fact that am training you, There is going to be no pay untilll you fully learn what is required of you. The lessons I have learnt form all this is that we should strive to create an avenue through which we can be self employed and also take it upone ourselves to treat workmates or subordinates in the same way we would like to be treated. 

I would like to sincerely appreciate the efforts of my boss who tought me so many lessons.Only that i learnt the hard way and he for sure has lost a vary committed and valuable employee.

An Open Letter To Warrid Telecom

Some few years ago, making calls was quiet expensive and many of us preferred to make less calls unless it was an urgent one. This went on for sometime until the “savior” warrid came on board with all the promotions especially “pakalast”. ever since then, “life without a warrid line has seemed to be incomplete”,many businessmen would say, in fact, at my place of work, we are all forced to use warrid coz its assumed that warrid is the cheapest(basically all the calls at work run on warrid)

With all this credit to warrid, i find it rather confusing with all the disappointments this new year. I have taken time to visit the warrid website so many times so that i can find what am always looking for. Firstly, the website looks pathetic considering that the telecom is currently running a promo that includes a free website design for as cheap as 85k, am not an expert at web designing, but i like giving credit where its due. The them on the website is fine but the content is so limited and this doesn’t attract more visitors. Looking at the website of MTN as a case study reveals that the website attracts more visitors coz of one special addition and that is the Free sms option as it saves alot especially for those that send bulk sms.

All telecom companies run very many promotions and sometimes these things are confusing so I always take the initiative to engage the customer care on such issues and to my disappointment, i actually get no response(who ever runs the warrid accounts on facebook and Twitter needs to style up). It takes like for ever to get a response on any query one may have. I tried to prove this by engaging them on a certain topic about their poor network which topic i thought would attract their attention very first,
“I could help you with that….where are you located? what phone are using? what actual issues are you finding with Warid?”
That was the response from warrid(I posted this 2 days ago and it took them more than 24hrs to respond, even with a lousy response in my opinion).
Some time ago, i stumbled across some link on the warrid facebook page and it was reading that “Because we Care, Warid is currently offering free 3 day practical trainings for graduates, those still at University & S.6 leavers. To apply send your CV & wait for confirmation call. Meals are provided for free.”I saw this and got somehow excited to see how much care this was but honestly this post had no details of what they were actually referring to. It took alot of comments for them to break the silence about the whole programme which makes me think that the person who runs the twitter account is similar to that one that runs the one of facebook(They are both slow at loading).
My final issue is with these customer care people that run the system,you call and then if by luck you happen to go through,you interact, and then the good thing is that at the end of the call, warrid asked a question about whether the person you have just talked to has been of any help, My answer to this questions has always been “No” but this is useless i guess coz if it were that important, then there should always be a followup, which makes me assume that these messages are just automated responses from the warrid systems.
I have no bad intentions for warrid but i only hope that in case one of their people reads this post, they should take it seriously so that we can avoid any appointments in the future. “WE ALSO CARE”

My Old Friend’s Matooke.

Recently when I was in town, I met an old friend of mine; his appearance though was in someway similar to that of a not so elegant teenager who doesn’t mind about his appearance. My point of interest was not his appearance but rather the insight he gave to me about what he was doing and I found it worth considering to share with whoever might be interested
I come from one of the areas in Uganda that is credited as among the leading producers of Matooke i.e Isingiro and as u may also note, Uganda is one of the leading producers of matooke in the world over. with those small statistics, am hoping that you already have an idea of what am going to be sharing.
Back to my old friend, he first of all asked me what I was doing in vacation and well, I was very honest and told him that I was working for someone to which I expected him to congratulate me however, he said to me
“Patrick how can you work for someone when you can make your own money very easily?”
I told him that surely it was close to impossible for me to do that and that’s when everything got interesting, here is what he told me (in reported speech)
“ehh Pato, there is a lot you need to learn, me I purposed not to be a poor man, I have seen poor people in my family and I do not like that whole lifestyle, just a few minutes ago I saw off one of my drivers who helps me transport my matooke to Kampala, infact am waiting for another as we speak, he is supposed to pay back my money because I have to deposit is today”
Now with that, I thought to myself,
“This guy must be bragging or out of his mind”
Little did I know that it was all true. As he continued, I asked him how he started dealing in Matooke and why of all things that( I was shocked by his response)
“Pato , u do not know where the money is, I buy a bunch of matooke at 8k and sell it at 25-10k in Kampala, I go deep down to my village, see my village friends and collect Many bunches, I then call my dealers i.e. the “Fusso” guys and they come and collect it. I pay for the Matooke in Cash and then get on the same vehicle with the Motooke, off we go to Kampala, then I go to the markets and sell the matooke, Many, it sells so quickly and I only spend two days there, I then return with the money and the chain begins again”
Now , seriously when you do the math if he were to purchase about 100 bunches, that would require 80k and from what he told me, transportation is 2k for each bunch, when he sells the smallest bunch is about 10k and the biggest goes for about 25k, that adding up to about 1m and 2.5m respectively, assuming that accommodation expenses ,feeding e.t.c cost about 100k, surely you can do the difference and conclude.
My point here is that there is a lot of potential in the agricultural sector like Hon.Bright Rwamirama once said that
“Should farmers also protest that food prices have increased? From what I understand, high food prices definitely increase the income of these farmers”
I would not entirely agree with that statement but in its own way, it accurate. My fellow youths and soon to entrepreneurs, there is so much money in the agricultural sector and yet so few people involved in the sector. Even though “Genextug “campaigns for years about smaller families, there is so much potential to feed the growing population.
In the past, we had very few cash crops which is not the case now as we have many more money worthy crops that have been introduced. When I am travelling to my village, It hurts me to see all the land that is lying idle and yet there is so much potential to turn it into one lucrative investment venture. I would love to see many of us including myself take on agri business for the good of ourselves and our dear country

A candle can never loose its light by lighting another candle

                   Over the years, one thing i have learnt to deal with is the issue with many of those that are not willing to share knowlegde with others. When we look at the state of the counrty, many youth out there are lucking in skills and are in urgent need of help to be entrprising(Not finacial help) and am very sure there are many that have made it(almost) in different fields that can be wells of knowledge to the youth become in them lies a very untapped potential.

                    The six years i spent at Ntare school, I took time to observe the students’ behaviour when it comes to such issues and the findings were Not as i expected but that proved my point of knowledge sharing. imagine you are in class and it so happens that you are the brightest and always teke the credit when it comes to academic power, That wud make you a favourite for the teachers whose interest is looking at good grades of their students now this bright student when put into the field of business ar sports, may (always) fail(s) to perform to the expectations of those watching. Now this simply implies that one cannot be good at everything so this super bright student will most definetly need the knowledge of a less bright student in order to make safe or rather smart investment decisions. So this craetes a “win-win ” situation where both parties benefit from each other. If you have read the book “rich dad, Poor dad” then you understand what am talking about.

                       Today i read a post On a Facebook page about Investing in Uganda and omong many things, it highlighted 3 most inmprtant investment areas in Uganda.https://www.facebook.com/groups/tradelinksafrica/, Now am not going to discuss the contents of the post but rather it significane and origin . It very hard to come across someone that is willing to share their Finacial knowledge with the public and even go ahead to give specifics of what they are talking about given the attitude of most people in Uganda that feel that sharing the information would jeorpadise their Business ideas which is not the case. If only many of the farmers would share their knowledge, then we would have less food zibs in our dear county.

                    I would recommend to all entrepreneurs that they gladly share their views on Investment instead of only bragging of how they came from far. What we want to know is how they got to where they are not where they came from. I have been listening to many interviews of business men and the way they respond to some questions really kills me(am not saying all are like that). The few who are willing to delve into the details of how they are given less attention or ignored by the media or even the audience. As we usher in the new year, its my Humble request to whoever is concerned or has taken time to read this post that they may quickly get the means to reach out to the youth that is hungry for Information. If you do not have a platform, me am willing to give you one and in the end, our county will leave for ever.

 

Sparks Fly

From a far, I could hear the voices ring
Calling on the one that beheld the mantle to rise
Who cares what is said,who wants to know
The gladness in the might is far from reach
I could tell it was a wise call unto the world.
The dark days and seasons of reckoning closer

My hands frozen to death for the day came near
My mind charmed to a piece of magic wand.
My feat fail to depart to the destiny of peace
My stomach in want of the most precious dish
I wander when and what shall befall the son of man
The voice rings and rings form far in my ears
My eyes devoid of greener hope but full of chaff.
To whom do i disclose my fate? For it was written

When the dance gets to the climax, the drummers fall
For they cannot hold on to the demands of strength
The numbers flow by like a river’s course only to the source do they respect
the words blow by like a northern wind at night
The voice rings and rings from a far as the sparks fly away

Pornography, a looming Evil

Pornography has grown popular over the years especially with the technology revolutions where the distribution of the material has been made easier and so it is not so hard to publish content online or even distribute the content on DVD, in the past, it was only through VHS that one would get pornographic material and this made the distribution difficult however with the wave of pay TV and the internet, one can get all they need at the click of a mouse and at no price. There is no reasoning that can be brought forward to justify the activities of porn artists especially in our African culture that strongly condemns the perception of sex as a tool of making money but rather and intimate relationship given to the married. Many people will argue that a little bit of porn is good because it arouses that feeling(Intimacy) between adults but seriously if this is the thinking you had, its wrong.
On a Christian perspective, porn is evil. It is like a cancer that spreads and more sins spring from it like lying, deception and even trying to corrupt others as is the case here. I have read about its addictive nature and the chemical effects on the brain so that these people actually can not help themselves (no different from cocaine though cocaine is easier to give up I read) and it breaks my heart because it destroys the one special bond between a man and a woman that distinguishes them from friendship and will be the breakdown of families and our society unless people get real about it. During the process of porn watching, the following take place
1. A release of dopamine takes place which is similar to the cravings and dependency with drugs. This explains why porn addicts experience withdrawal symptoms when they discontinue.
2. Norepinephrine increases memory capacity. This is why porn addicts can recall porn images with clarity years later.
3. Testosterone increases the desire for more porn triggering the release of more testosterone. This causes the porn viewer to be busy for long periods, leading to total addiction.
4. Oxytocin levels rise forging a bond without any physical compassion. What is he attracted to? This may explain why porn viewers develop an attraction for women with a certain body build. When oxytocin dissipates, the bonding disappears and he is left lonelier than ever.
5. Serotonin is the last chemical to be released causing a feeling of calmness.
Individuals turn to porn to self-medicate and escape the pressures of life but add much pressure on them. Porn contains many emotions, feelings and memories that have nothing to do with sex. It is these “other” connections that give porn power above the sexual. It creates a diseased system – an illness like drug dependency.
HOWEVER:
We can collectively fight this evil that looms in our society especially among the youth. Here is a list of websites that give guidance to those that face this problem. The fist step in breaking this addiction is accepting that the problem actually exists. Personally, I realized before I went any further and when I realized that pornography is evil, I have dedicated my time in gilding those that are still blind about the effects. Even if parents fight hard to block porn sites by use of parental controls on TV, trust me the kids of today are so sophisticated that they will break all those barriers. I do not want to be judgmental but there are things in this world that we need to rise up against with no fear. In the Bible, when Jesus discovered that people were selling commodities in the Temple, he quickly responded with so much anger and it is this anger that we need to enforce as a means of coming against this evil however it takes many people to combat it both locally and at the International level. We need alternatives content both online and TV. If we collectively come together and discuss some of the proposals like making movies that help expose the effects of this, the rewards are surely substantive.
For more reading, http://80.82.209.127/11011010.php/Oi8vc3F1/YXJlZ2Fs/YXh5LmNv/bS9yZWxp/Z2lvbi9t/eS1maWdo/dC1hZ2Fp/bnN0LXBv/cm4v/b1/

http://www.lds.org/combatingpornography

http://www.thekingsmen.us/

I THINK I HAVE ALOT OF WORK TO DO

Please raed beteween the lines coz this post is not meant for everyone’s consumption cosidering the threat it might contain to national security…………husj….
into the daily activities we all do throught the day and man….all the work is not easy especially if it includes an element of reading and in particular reading for a paper. Today i gave myself an off so that i can actually write this blog coz the opportunity was there. But there are times when one has not even a single minute to spare in order to update their status on the face of the world(Facebook). I hope this day of is gonna pay off considering that tomorrow i have a paper so help me God. Now my point actually is that in a day, provided you have a schedule, You should atleast ahve an hour of rest and i mean rest so that you absorb all the crap that you have been doing. this is soooooo hard to do in these times when every one(even the cooks at school) expect you to make wonders in the frrth coming exams. All the concerned parties are saying that rain or shine, results must come(mind you results mean that excelence is not an option, its a must). Honestly,we are not machine and most epecially me……..much as we all need to work very hard, threre must be some level of respect and maybe let me call it consideration. This is my humble appeal to all those that badly need us to shine. Me am ready tgo shine at my own pace and God’s pace ovcourse for the rest, I pray we move in the same line.

Are Riots The Solution?

Of late, we have seen a number of institutions and country’s resort to demonstrations and riots. The examples are very vivid in our minds ranging from even the much elder students the two most prominent universities of Kyambogo and Makerere to the well known schools like Ntare which by the way has been for long known to be one of the few schools that encourage dialogue.
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are typically chaotic and exhibit herd behavior, and usually generated by civil unrest.Basically the whole idea behind riots is to awaken the stake holders to an emerging grievance which may or maynot be genuine. Now my personal view in regard to this trend is that as Africans, we must accept the fact that we luck leaders from which we can draw good examples(not that there are no good leaders but rather the number is so minimal) and so what we learn form our leaders is that the way to go is violence. i would like to draw an example from the Arab countries that got inspired by just one country Tunisia, after having realized that it was possible to use violence to demand for rights, other countries in Arabia followed suit(The Arab Awakening). And honestly as a student when i see my elder brother at University using violence to voice his concerns, i will definitely use the same means since as the saying goes that wisdom comes with age. My point here is that we have bad examples everywhere.
The reason why there are increasing numbers of violence in schools is because the Administrators instead of adressing the causes of these, they spend so much time in condemning their use. The involved parties am sure understand the bad impact violence has but then look on the good side of it . Maybe the administration has failed to see a problem and now that it has been brought to their attention, they should quickly condemn and then move forward to address the cause. Another reason i think caused riots, is that the leaders today are much more interested in personal gain rather than voicing the concerns of their subjects so this breaks the link between the students and the administration in some instances, students leaders have been known to even actively participate in violence which doesn’t clearly depict good leadership qualities.
The other reason is that the school administration’s failure to involve students in making of policies that directly affect the students. The problem here is that there is less consultation and even when the institution has student representatives, it is important to seek the views of other students in order to minimize any form of doubt among the students. It is through consultation that questions are asked and in this way, any forth coming policy is thoroughly examinined which leaves at least majority convinced
In conclusion,I would like to say that alot has been learnt from all this particularly the fact that I have seen the impact of violence both on the students and the administration and i must say it is not good, however it makes no sense to cry over spilt milk. Ntare school community has for long been know as one that involves in dialogue however the recent occurance of strikes has clearly shown the whole world that there is no one perfect(even Jesus Knows that). We all still have alot to learn and at this point i can confidently say that all have learnt a lesson only that it has been the hard way. Lastly i would like to express my sincere and heartfelt gratitude to some of the students that were affected by the recent riots at Ntare. I shall forever miss you and God bless you wherever you go for i know there is life after Ntare