Gerald Ahabwe, MADM Alumnus of 2009, took part in the International Alumni Seminar on Water, Energy and Sanitation in Urban and Decentralized Regions at Oldenburg University from 3rd-12th April 2014 and presented a paper titled 'Using Prepaid meters to Improve piped water access for the urban poor: Experiences of National Water and Sewerage Corporation, Uganda'. Read his report:
"The Alumni Seminar targeted German Alumni from developing countries who are professionally involved in the development of urban and rural regions regarding the domains water, sanitation and energy supply as well as city and regional planning or related domains, and those who are working for academic or educational institutions, development organizations, NGO's or private enterprises in such fields.
Participation was on basis of potential for multipliers; i.e. one’s potential to spread the acquired knowledge and experience and/or take decisions on implementation. It attracted over 30 participants from 25 different countries.
The Seminar aimed to promote knowledge exchange between participants in the field of urban and rural development, facilitate international scientific cooperation and discuss concepts of development in regard to their transferability from rural to urban conditions and vice versa.
The mode of learning was through paper and case study presentations by participants and invited experts, excursions and group discussions.
Participants gained in-depth knowledge on urban water and sanitation governance as well as mass dissemination of domestic biogas digesters, and their implications and the financial aspect.
The seminar fostered exchange of experiences, establishment of networks between the participants, encouraged scientific discourse and international academic cooperation in this field. It indeed stimulated and promoted ideas for joint research, technology development and knowledge transfer amongst the participants. The Seminar was supported by DAAD and BMZ.
The uniqueness of German Universities and funding agencies like DAAD goes beyond class rooms and extends in their continued professional development and networking opportunities for their alumni. Just last year in February 2013, I was privileged to be part of the Alumni Seminar by IEE at UWC, Cape Town. These seminars and networks established are a springboard to career growth. The sky is no longer the limit for me.
Warm greetings from Kampala!"