Profile: Martin Orem (Uganda) - 2008 Irish Aid Fellow

Those are the words of Martin Orem speaking about his experience of the Fellowship Training Programme in Irish Aid's 2008 Annual Report

2008-09 Study Fellow Martin Orem (left) pictured at a reception to meet the President, organised by ICOS

Martin was one of 57 students to receive an Irish Aid fellowship in 2008. His studies in University of Limerick have equipped him to better negotiate the complex challenges of peace and development in Northern Uganda.

The taught Masters programme gave Martin the opportunity to condense his studies into one year and, following his coursework, he returned to Uganda to research his dissertation on the participation of women in setting the agenda for the Northern Ugandan peace process. The fellowship, he hopes, will enable him to play a further role in the reconstruction of Northern Uganda.

“The opportunity I got was a unique one,” he says. “It gave me the opportunity to look at things from a broader experience, and not just from within the confines of the environment in which I was working. My analysis has improved. My tact in handling conflict issues has improved. I am a much more confident person.”

Martin returns home, better qualified, to play his part. He leaves behind him a university department enhanced by his contribution. According to his professor in Limerick, Tom Lodge, Orem’s first-hand, practical experience helped illuminate issues of development and conflict-resolution for his fellow-students.