Annah Atuhaire spent two months in the Research Methods Group in Oldenburg as a doctoral fellow of the Centre for Educational Research and Management (CERM-ESA/DAAD) at Moi University. Her doctoral project deals with the question of how children living on the streets in Uganda can receive schooling through the intervention of state agencies and effective structures of cooperation. Her methodologically complex doctoral project is in its final stages and Annah was able to present her findings at colloquia organised by the specialist group. Her passion and desire to improve the situation of children on the street became clear. She carried out her study in Uganda's capital Kampala. Most of the children living on the streets there come from other regions of the country. In some cases, entire families live homeless on the streets of the big city and the children rarely go to school. "Unfortunately, we don't have children's homes or safe spaces where children are taken in when they don't have a home, like you do in Germany. The help from NGOs is usually not a long-term solution and this creates a vicious circle of poverty," explains Annah. With her research, Annah hopes to contribute to providing children in Uganda with more effective schooling in the future, which will not only help them to escape the dangers of street life in the short term, but also to escape poverty in the longer term.
Annah, who was in Germany for the first time, says that she learnt a lot during her time in Oldenburg, apart from the re-registering students and discussions on her research topic and methodological issues. With regard to social interaction, she emphasises that she sees major differences to Uganda, particularly with regard to the time factor. While time plays a very subordinate role in Uganda "you bump into someone and you can talk for hours", everything is planned precisely here and during visits it is not only determined exactly what time you are expected to arrive, but in some cases also when you have to leave. Overall, she found the restraint in the interaction strange at first, but then she realised that people can be reserved and at the same time nice and helpful if you need help or have questions.
In terms of eating habits, she realised that there is a lot of sugary food, sweet drinks and alcohol in Germany. Annah came to Oldenburg with a lot of food from Uganda in her suitcase, but then realised that she can manage and survive on the food here.
Overall, Annah felt very much at home in Oldenburg and is grateful for the many good encounters and the support from the department, the International Office and for the great IT support from Philipp and Florian. She emphasises that she would be very happy to come back to the University of Oldenburg at any time and will take every opportunity to do so, e.g. for a post-doc stay. She is already in contact with the Department for Research and Technology Transfer, which advises her on research funding. She would also very much welcome a co-operation between the University of Oldenburg and Stuart Bishop University in Uganda, where she is employed.
In conclusion, she says of the CERM-ESA Centre, which is run jointly by Moi University, the University of Oldenburg, Nelson Mandela University, the University of Dar es Salaam and the Uganda Management Institute: "Thank you to CERM-ESA, I am so proud of my Centre, it has nurtured me academically from a baby, now I keep growing, growing, growing. I love their support and how they take us as their babies and nurture us. Whenever we step out, people are so impressed and ask: where did these people learn from? We are so proud and really grateful because the Centre offers us a diversity of knowledge and opportunities."
Contact: Research Methods Group, Prof. Dr Karsten Speck