HerStory Podcast Series
HerStory Podcast Series
Episode 25: Lindy's Experience as a HerStart International Fellow in Uganda
In this episode, Ashley Stevens, HerStart Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Fellow, speaks with Lindy Quann about her experience as a 6-month HerStart Program & Partnerships Fellow in Uganda where she collaborated with our partner, The Innovation Village (TIV).
Lindy shares her professional and personal growth while promoting digital literacy, gender equality, and community development. She also offers a glimpse into her experience learning Luganda, the welcoming community she's embraced and her future plans in international development.
Welcome
Speaker 2:To Youth Challenge International's Hair Start Hair Story podcast series. Youth Challenge International, O Y C I launched the Hair Start Innovate the Future Program in 2020 as part of our initiative to advance women's equality globally, our goal is to provide 10,000 women in Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda with the resources and supports they need to successfully launch and grow their social businesses. We are sharing real stories of the young women who are leading change in their communities. Y C's, hair Start Innovate. The Future Program is funded in , passed by the government of Canada to progress Canada's feminist International Assistance policy. Learn more@y.org or hair start.org .
Speaker 3:Hello, my name is Ashley. I'm the monitoring, evaluation and learning fellow with Youth Challenge International's, her Start program, and Compala Uganda. And today I have the pleasure of speaking with my colleague Lindy, who is our programs and partnerships fellow here in Kampala . And as Lindy is nearing the end of her six month fellowship with only a couple of weeks left, I'm excited to chat to her today about her experiences as a Her Start fellow, the amazing work that she's been doing to build the Her Start ecosystem here in Uganda. Some of the challenges that she's faced along the way and what life can look like outside of work for a Fellowing Kampala. We hope this gives you a bit of a taste of what you can expect as a potential future. Her start fellow. Hi Lindy . Thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell me a little bit about your fellowship position with her start ?
Speaker 4:Hello. I am a program and partnerships fellow, and I work with both the Hurs Start Project and our partner organization, the Innovation Village in Kampala, Uganda.
Speaker 3:And can you tell me a little bit about where you're situated in Uganda and a little bit about the city that you're in?
Speaker 4:Yeah. Kampala is the capital of Uganda. Um, it's been fairly easy to integrate because most people here speak English , uh, but the national language is luanda, or the most common language is Uganda. Uh , I've been very, very fortunate to have a really great Luanda teacher , uh, who's been able to share, you know, teach me a lot of the basics. Uh , I'm, I'm able to use to get around and feel a bit more comfortable here. Um, but for Uganda generally, the weather's amazing. The culture is very welcoming. The people are, have been so welcoming and nice , uh, and I think it's a really great place to be.
Speaker 3:So I think a lot of people , uh, might be thinking about applying for a fellowship or starting a fellowship. Can you tell us a little bit about why you applied to the program and a bit about your background?
Speaker 4:Sure. So my background is actually in science. I studied biopharmaceutical science and genomics in university, and I'm also a certified English teacher , uh, with teaching English as a foreign language. But I have past experience in international development. I worked in India with an N G O , uh, as a project manager on a healthcare project. And I absolutely loved this role. I, I loved that I was able to work with the community and, you know, build their capacity to create the impact that they wanted to see. And I wanted to do more of this kind of work. So I was very fortunate , uh, during the Covid Pandemic to have a very stable job where I worked remotely, but I knew that I, I wanted to go abroad again, and I wanted to do meaningful, impactful work. Um, so I was able to extensively research the Hear Star program and Youth Challenge International before I applied, and I really appreciated that they focused on employing local staff. So I knew that everybody I'd be working with and learning from would know the cultural context very, very well. Um, and I appreciated that they had a focus on skills development and training, because I think that that is one of the most important things in a person, you know, being able to better themselves and their community. Um, I'm very passionate about education and thought that this , uh, this fellowship would be a really great fit.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that's a really interesting example of you being able to apply a study , uh, or a past experience that might not necessarily be completely related, but still drawing on those skills that you do have in the position. So if you could choose something that inspired you to start a fellowship or something that's important to you, what would that be?
Speaker 4:As I mentioned, I'm very passionate about education, so I, I love that in this program we really promote and support learning and not only learning for, for betterment of self, but uh, we, you know, have a very, a strong focus on community development. And all of the business started businesses started our social enterprises that , uh, impact, positively impact their communities , uh, the communities of the participants in some way.
Speaker 3:So you've been here for almost six months, so you've done quite a bit in your time. Can you tell us a bit about a day in the life , uh, as a Hear Start program and partnerships? Fellow,
Speaker 4:A day in the life can be quite busy, but I love it. It's very engaging. Uh , usually I'll come in in the morning and , uh, to the office. So the her Start office is in the main building of the Innovation village, the main office space. Uh , so I'm able to, you know, be in one spot and work with both teams very closely. So I'll , I'll usually come in plan my day. I find myself in numerous meetings. And in between that, I work a lot in partnership mapping and outreach , uh, and program support. So I do this both with the HEAR Start program and the Innovation Village. Mm-hmm .
Speaker 3:<affirmative> , and I think that's important to note that not every day looks the same here and throughout the day you won't be working alone. You'll get to collaborate a lot with other fellows, with the local staff, with staff members of the partners. So it's a really great opportunity to just expand your horizons in your job . And so you've done, again, quite a bit in your time here, but if you had to choose one of your biggest successes or something that you're most proud about, what would that be?
Speaker 4:I would love to be able to choose two. I think the work I do with the Innovation Village and the work I do with HEAR starts can vary quite a bit. Um, so for my work with the partner organization, my proudest accomplishment so far has been my work with the Agri Solar Workshop and Baseline Study. Uh , this project was actually supported by the Her Start program and, and Y C I , uh, through the partner innovation fund. And we were able to eng uh , engage people from across Uganda who all had different touch points and interests in the agriculture industry and bring them together to discuss how we can better implement solar technologies into the, into agriculture, which is the biggest industry in Uganda. So we had a strong focus on climate action for this, and it was interesting to hear a lot of different perspectives. I was able to engage a lot of different development organizations to come in , uh, and , um, kind of have a different perspective as well. So that was really interesting. As far as the hers start projects , uh, one of my proudest accomplishments and something that I'm really excited about is that I was able to increase capacity and digital literacy training. So I was , uh, working collaboratively with my teammates , uh, to expand the scope of the training that we already have in place. So we already offer , um, a two day training where the participants in our program are able to come in and, and learn , uh, how to, you know, use , uh, different technological devices and incorporate it into their business plan so that they can, you know, better compete in the digital market. Um, but we found that this was just quite not, not quite enough time. Uh, so we were able to create a coaching and , uh, kind of broader training plan or , uh, to help support these women further.
Speaker 3:That sounds really cool. And I think that's, those are all things you should be really proud about doing. And so like any job, there's also challenges and her start is no exception to this. So if you could choose one of your biggest challenges or obstacles that you've overcome in your time, what would that be?
Speaker 4:Yeah, there's always challenges that, that come with any job. I agree . Um, I think here in this role, I think it's always difficult to figure out your place in an organization when you're coming in, especially when that's in a different cultural context. Um, so I think although the staff here on, on , in both , uh, in both the Hurst Start office and the partner organization have been very welcoming, very supportive, sometimes it can be difficult to , uh, communicate with that cultural barrier. So I think , um, I've been able, you know, myself and the other fellows and the staff have been able to work together to really overcome that cross-cultural communication barrier. And I think we've all been able to use it as a really great learning opportunity.
Speaker 3:I think that's a really positive way to look at it, to see it as a learning opportunity and room for yourself to grow. So if you had to choose something that you've learned, one of your biggest takeaways, whether that's personally or professionally in this experience , uh, what would that be?
Speaker 4:Um, I think one of my biggest takeaways both personally and professionally is that , um, people's motivations and reasons for caring about social issues can be very different. Uh , and their approach can be very different to achieve the same outcome , uh, or, you know, aim for the same impact. Um, I think a really great example of this , uh, one, one event that I'll always remember is the community engagement session that we ran. These sessions are run to engage the males in the support system of the participants in our program , um, once they start to move , uh, further in the training where they require more time and effort , uh, and commitment. And I think it's always great to have, you know, a a really strong support system no matter where in the world you are. Um , so at this particular session, we had a gender equality expert speaking to these participants and, you know, their , their partners and brothers and any, you know , any people, their support system. And he was able to relate the her start mission and the concept of gender equality in very culturally relevant terms. So he was able to draw on examples from, you know, the way that families traditionally and, and typically operate here in Uganda and, you know, re draw on , uh, religion and, and cultural context to really , uh, promote gender equality and make it seem like a really relevant topic, which I fully agree that it is. And I think this session was not only engaging for the participants and their support systems, but also for the fellows and staff. And I really, I learned a lot from that presentation.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And I was also present there too, and I can speak to how it gave me an opportunity to see the, her start programming in practice and on the ground, but also gave me a really good insight into the Ugandan culture and the life outside of the program that the women experience. So there is a life outside of work , uh, with her start. Can you tell me a bit about what life is like in Kampala or in Uganda in general?
Speaker 4:Life in Kampala is very exciting. There is so much to do here outside of work. I've been very fortunate to be able to take a lot of weekend trips and see a lot of the country , um, but also staying in Kampala, there's so much to do. I often go to trivia nights and karaoke and craft markets and , uh, different kind of fairs. Um, and I've been able to meet a lot of amazing people. I have a lot of local friends here that are very open to including me in, you know, different cultural events and also just regular, you know, activities that they're doing. And I've been able to meet a lot of people who are also, you know, from abroad. Uh, and so the community's been really welcoming and , uh, very warm. So it's, it's a really great place to be.
Speaker 3:I would agree. I've also found that it's really neat to be able to network outside of the office , um, in more social settings and also just do things that I also do at home. So there's yoga, there's swimming, there's gyms, there's almost too much to do that you can't decide what you want to do on the weekends. And that's not even mentioning all of the trips that you can do in the safaris. So your fellowship is coming to an end in a couple of weeks. What does the next step look like for you after the Her Start fellowship?
Speaker 4:I definitely want to stay in the space of community development. Uh, for now, I think my interests remain in international development, so I do have plans to stay in East Africa. I really enjoy the culture here, and I think I have a lot more to learn and I will be, you know, looking for roles where I can use all the skills I've learned and , uh, everything that I've, I've built , uh, in here in her starts to, you know, continue to do work that is meaningful and impactful , uh, and helps, you know, support communities.
Speaker 3:And I'm sure you have a lot of advice that you would like to give to incoming fellows, but if you had to choose one piece of advice that you would want them to keep in mind, what would that be?
Speaker 4:My best piece of advice would be to come in with an open mind, to be open to exploring and just experiencing whatever may come your way. I think what's really helped me integrate and have a good experience is meeting a lot of local friends , um, going out and seeing all the things there is to do.
Speaker 3:I would agree with all of that. And I'd also add too , just taking initiative , uh, and exploring what you want to explore, whether that's inside the program or outside, and really just taking advantage of the opportunities that , uh, that you face when you're here. Well, thank you so much, Lindy. That's all the time that we have today. Uh, thank you for all of your advice and your inputs. I think it will be really helpful for all incoming fellows.
Speaker 4:Thank you, Ashley , for having me .
Speaker 1:Thanks
Speaker 2:For joining us today and learning about how you challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoy this hairstyle, innovate the Future podcast episode, please subscribe and share our episodes on social media. A special thanks to the fellows that volunteered their time in Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda, who helped create these episodes. Y C's has started innovate. The future and fellowship programs are funded through the government of Canada's volunteer corporation program, providing skilled Canadians, opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advanced Canada's feminist international assistance policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more@yci.org or has that good org .
