Unify Like its 1999

Last night as the Save generator suddenly sputtered out of gas, my internet connection vanished (and with it access to Skype mid conversation), leaving me in the dark with mosquitoes swarming. This was nothing out of the ordinary. To me, this signaled the end of the work day.


As I walked outside of my office, I was thrust into something completely unexpected. Huge speakers were being set up in the Save courtyard and a local DJ was priming his sound system (on what looked to be an ancient Mac IIe). Bewildered, I looked toward my counterpart Prossy for some sort of explanation. Unification had come to Uganda.

In any given country where Save is active, there are usually many different versions of Save working in the field. Just in Uganda, there is Save (UK), Save (US), Save (Norway), Save (Denmark) and Save (Uganda). Sounds confusing? It is…


All operate under their own (but very similar) mandate. This has led to some internal disorder, as policies are not harmonized or money utilized as efficiently as it could be (each office has its own overhead). As of midnight yesterday, this changed in Uganda. In a world wide effort, Save is slowly beginning to unify its country offices.


From the sound of it, this was a long, difficult, frustrating and often laborious process. Merging five different programs could not have been easy… Responsibilities changed and not everyone was rehired. However, as tough as the last year has been on many of the staff, everyone seems to agree this is a necessary change that will strengthen the program as a whole.


Last night at midnight, Save Uganda was officially unified. The Naka office put together a spontaneous celebration. Along with much of the Naka staff, a few aid workers from Concern showed up. Music pumped from the sound system throughout the night. There was lots of dancing, a couple of speeches and a cake. Despite all the rave reviews of Kampala’s nightlife, I had more fun in Naka than all previous outings in the capital. Ange Noir has nothing on Naka.