Having people, having heart: charity, sustainable development, and problems of dependence in central Uganda

Abstract

China Sherz’s Having People, Having Heart: Charity, Sustainable Development and the Problem of Dependence in Central Uganda is a work of social science, specifically within the fields of sociology and anthropology, that seeks to explore the relationship between so-called sustainable development and the continuation of dependence by Uganda on other parts of the world. The book uses a case study approach and the design is qualitative. The study is situated in communities emerging from the National Resistance Army (NRA) bush war in Uganda (1981– 1986). The study uses two charities, Hope Child and Mercy House, both located in the Buganda Kingdom, to explore three key questions: What are the political stakes of charity and sustainable development? What is the relationship between charity, poverty and inequality? And, lastly, do those engaged in charity have a stake in keeping people in poverty so as to maintain a population to whom they can distribute the alms necessary to achieve their own salvation? The author combined ethnographic and survey methods to study the case of the two charity organizations. During ethnographic fieldwork, the author lived among 20 Buganda communities for 13 months (from 2007–2008 and in 2010), observing the routine practices of the people. Key informants from European and American donor organisations with long experience of working with vulnerable communities were drawn on for background purposes, follow-up and comparison. Sherz’ justification of her study area makes sense as the selected Buganda communities experienced the NRA bush war and were hard hit by the HIV/Aids scourge, thus attracting many NGOs in the recovery period. This situation is comparable to that in northern Uganda which has been affected by two decades of atrocities committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army and thus possesses similar characteristics. It would be helpful if the author had mentioned the specific villages and sub-county in the Buganda Kingdom in which the study was conducted to guide the readers.