Notes on SACL organizational structure, by Alec Johnson, Jan 2012

Sources. These notes are based on my interview on Jan 8, 2012 with Onencan William, on Kakooza Hannington's Jan 2012 report, and on discussion with Honorable Anywarach Joshua during his January 2012 visit to the United States. I obtained some clarifications from in-person discussion with Onencan William on 29 Aug, 2013 and with Anywarach Joshua on 3 Sept, 2013 during my follow-up visit to Uganda.

History. Saint Augustine Community Love (SACL) is a community based organization (CBO) in the Nebbi district in northwest Uganda. It was started in 2004 by

  1. Anywarach Joshua Carter,
  2. Ocaki Samuel, and
  3. Cwinyaii Lawrence
to help Erussi subcounty of Padyere County (one of two counties in Nebbi district) to provide for its most essential needs. Subsequently Erussi subcounty (7 parishes) was divided into Erussi subcounty (5 parishes) and Ndhew subcounty (5 parishes), both of which SACL continues to serve. Erussi borders Congo and holds many Congolese refugees.

Organization of SACL

SACL consists of:

  1. General Assembly
  2. Board of Directors
  3. Management Team
The Management Team is appointed by the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is elected every two years from among the Voting Members of the General Assembly. The General Assembly is conceived of as consisting of stake-holders and well-wishers. The coordinator of the Management Team identifies persons in the community who are sufficiently committed to SACL to be voting members, based on recommendation from each person's parish and consultation with the management team in doubtful cases. Parents and caretakers of children who are beneficiaries of SACL are automatically voting members.

General Assembly

The General Assembly meets once per year at the annual Community Day celebration (usually in December). Everyone in the villages in which SACL operates is invited to attend the community day celebration regardless of membership in SACL. There are approximately 13 parishes, with about 50 voting members per parish and about 500-600 voting members in total. To vote and be voted, persons must have paid fees.

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is elected by the General Assembly. The Board of Directors is the higher-level board, made up of highly respected people in the community. Elections take place every two years. It meets once every three months to set overall direction for SACL. This supervisory board handles external political relationships and is responsible for consulting appropriate government technocrats. Current positions are:

  1. Cwinyaai Lawrence (Chairman)
  2. Ocaki Samuel (Vice Chairman)
  3. Anywarach Joshua (Secretary)
  4. Olupot Emmanuel (Vice Secretary)
  5. Tabu Gilbert (Treasurer)
  6. Onencan William (Coordinator) [appointed by board]
Follow-up note (2013/Aug): Ocaki Samuel is now Chairman and Cwinyaai Lawrence is now Vice Chairman. The following community leaders also sit on the Board of Directors as advisors and voting board members:
  1. Father Olar Ronald,
  2. Pastor Olupot Emmanuel (= vice secretary),
  3. Pastor Pimer Richard, and
  4. Ocuna Denis [manager of Paidha FM radio station]
The coordinator is appointed by the Board of Directors and functions as the chief executive officer of the organization. Joshua was coordinator until his parliamentary responsibilities prompted him to delegate and ultimately transfer responsibilitiy to William.

Management Team (executive board)

SACL currently does not have any paid staff. It is administered by a Management Team.

The management team meets once per month for executive meetings. The program heads consult with the other community members and form the plan of action which is submitted by the coordinator every third month to the high-level board for approval. The Board of Directors decides on the plan, and the coordinator then carries out the plan. It is the responsibility of the community members to identify needs and households and orphans and inform the appropriate program heads.

The program heads (a.k.a. activity heads) are:

  1. Kisa Harry Francis (psychosocial support)
  2. Jungiera Gilbert (food provision and agriculture)
  3. Okethi Vundha (education)
  4. Onencan William (medical care)
  5. Othembi Emannuel (shelter)
Follow-up note: Onencan William assumed the responsibilities of coordinator after Joshua assumed parliamentary duties in February, 2012, so Ongiera Charles became responsible for medical care. Ongiera Charles had demonstrated the requisite commitment to the community by taking care of his brother's family after his brother died.

Each activity head heads an activity committee consisting of guardians/caretakers or parents of kids.

The five executives are:

  1. Oromgiu Nicholas (Chairman)
  2. Oliya Matyasi (Vice Chairman)
  3. Ongur Theodore (Secretary),
  4. (Ms.) Karombo Florence (Treasurer)
  5. Ocowun Stephen (Mobiliser)
Follow-up note: Pithua Innocent replaced his nephew Ocowun Stephen [in February 2012?]; Ocowun Stephen's teaching responsibilities combined with this position became too much for him after his father died, so he proposed that his uncle replace him. Pithua was a committed beneficiary, so the executive board accepted Ocuwun's suggestion and the board of directors approved it.

In addition, to ensure that all 10 parishes in Erussi and Ndhew subcounties have a representative, three additional parish representatives sit on the management board:

  1. Jungiera Donasiano
  2. Ongei Bonefansio
  3. Owingo Dominick
Follow-up note (Sep 2013): Jungiera Donasiano has contributed free use of his land for SACL to grow Eucalyptus trees. Ongei Bonefansio has allowed use of his land for a fish pond for a period of time. SACL has in mind to build a new fish pond elsewhere, whereupon they will negotiate with him so that he can have the fish pond on his land. Oliya Matyasi is his neighbor and has donated use of his land also for a future fish pond. Owingo Dominick has donated use of his land for a coffee seedling nursery.

Every community member represents some parish. Every parish is represented by at least one community member (and in some cases two, since there are 10 parishes total and 13 community members).

Notes from 2013/08/29 conversation with Onencan William

Beneficiaries are selected by the management team based on consultation with villages.

Q: What is a beneficiary? It seems that beneficiaries belong to one of three general types:

  1. pupils,
  2. caretakers of pupils, and
  3. infirm persons, e.g. elderly.
[Q: It seems that a "beneficiary" can refer to someone who is simply an end recipient of aid or to someone who is also responsible for distributing benefits of SACL [which I shall call a 'steward'], and an individual can presumably belong to both types. Is there a list of 'steward' beneficiaries?]

SACL has a list of beneficiaries. Many [most?] of the leaders were first beneficiaries. When someone is needed to represent a parish, the parish nominates nominees. The five executives choose one person and submit their choice to the board of directors for approval.

The next AGM (All-General Meeting) will increase the number of members of the management team to 20.

From 2013/09/03 conversation with Anywarach Joshua: SACL wants to create loans that revolve among the women groups so that they can make larger capital expenditures. The 7 additional members will handle the new financial program.

Stories

How Kisa Harry Francis became responsible for the women groups

Kisa Harry Francis has been primarily responsible for the creation of the women groups. Kisa was a grade 5 teacher with a diploma in secondary education. In 2010-2011 he studied microfinance training. William brought Kisa's training to Joshua's attention, so SACL community development began to involve Kisa in forming women groups. Kisa's work at the village bank combined with his work doing microfinance training with the women groups became too much for him, so he trained his friends, who are helping him now to form the women groups.

How Onencan William became involved with SACL

In 2004 William was a friend of Joshua. William was living in Erussi. He was selected by a farmer group of Padola Parish to be trained as a Community Based Facilitator. Because of William's training in how to mobilize communities, in 2007, Joshua invited William to join SACL and implement such mobilization. Joshua started giving William documents and relevant information and delegating administrative responsibility to him. William and Kisa Harry Francis were both facilitators for the Red Cross. The Red Cross invited Community Based Organizations to two weeks of residential training. Because of these connections, SACL chose Kisa to be trained in counseling, and chose William to be trained in hygiene and sanitation.