Can you share about the work you do in Uganda and how you got involved with your current organization?
I have the pleasure of serving with an organization called Tutapona. Tutapona is a mental health organization whose mission is to facilitate emotional healing for those impacted by war and conflict. We currently have active programs in Uganda, Kurdistan Iraq, and Ukraine, as well as a programmatic partnership in Ethiopia. In each of these locations we serve war affected communities through community-based group programs, individual therapeutic support, and partner capacity building.
With Tutapona I serve as the Director of International Programs. So, although I live in Uganda, I oversee and support all the Program Country Offices. My day-to-day activities vary a lot depending of the current needs of the mission. This may include strategic planning, mentoring country leaders, networking with stakeholders, working with donors, and developing new tools and services.
I joined Tutapona 6 years ago, but I had been living in Uganda for 5 years before that. We originally came to Uganda for a position for my wife. Shortly after I graduated from Pitt, my wife Kathryn, was offered a position with a human rights organization. In the fall of 2012, my wife, son, and daughter packed up our house in the Northside, said goodbye to our family and Pittsburgh community, and got a on a plane to Uganda.
During this time my main focus was to care for my son and daughter during their early years, but I also provided consulting services to Ugandan based organizations, utilizing learning from my Pitts School of Social Work. Through this work I started seeing the need for trauma focused mental health services. With the support of some of my mentors in the US, I started researching and learning more about the impacts of trauma and vicarious trauma, as well as learning the effective ways to support people that have been impacted by traumatic incidents.
Through my network in Kampala, I became aware of the good work of Tutapona. When they were in need of a Head of Programs for their Uganda programming it was great match, with my background and training at Pitt, and my growing passion for trauma focused services.
What inspired you to take this path and move internationally?
When I was kid my father took a sabbatical from his job, and my family took spent a summer touring and visiting friends living in Asia. My uncle was in the Air Force in Japan, we had a friend teaching in Thailand, and a few other connections in Taiwan and Hong Kong. This trip not only exposed me to other cultures and beautiful places in the world, but also to examples of people from the US living in other countries and working in cultures different from their own. It demonstrated the possibility of serving and addressing the needs of people beyond the United States. I can’t say that I decided during that summer that I would live abroad, but it became something that seemed interesting and possible.
Years later when I met my now wife at university, we connected over similar passion for social justice with a global perspective. Having a partner that with a similar worldview and passion is very helpful if you are interested in working internationally. After getting married we first served with an organization supporting homeless populations in rural Ohio and then explored different options for living internationally – with an organization supporting women in prostitution in urban Bolivia and then a children’s home in rural Democratic Republic of the Congo for children orphaned by war and HIV.
I later enrolled in Pitt School of Social Work because I believed that skills that they would teach would be applicable and valuable in service abroad.
What is a challenge you've faced as a social worker internationally?
Many of the challenges that you face as a social worker in an international setting are similar to challenges domestically. Lack of financial resources, lack of stakeholder buy inn, and the huge gap between the needs and services available.
However, that are also unique challenges serving as a social worker cross culturally. Even after living in Uganda for more than a decade there are many cultural subtexts that are easy for me to miss. It can also be hard to know if you can trust your intuition, as it was honed in a different cultural context, with different norms and expectation. It can leave you feeling a bit off balance.
Being an outsider can have its advantages, as it allows you to provide valuable new perspectives and serve as a bridge between cultures. But it can also be exhausting as not everyone is excited to have you involved, and you are remined subtly, or sometimes not so subtly, that you do not truly belong. On top of this, the longer I am out of the US the more foreign it feels to be there. As an international social worker, sometimes you can feel that the whole world is your home, but at the same time nowhere is your home.
What is something you had to learn to be successful in social work career?
Self-care is key to longevity in social work. Actually, I had already reached the edge of burnout before starting my program at Pitt. In my work before the program, I was confronted with violence, abuse, and demonstrations of a broken social system on daily basis. I wasn’t ready to give up on service, but I also knew that my current path was not sustainable.
During my time at Pitt, I gained a more in-depth understanding of compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma. Since that time, friends, colleagues, family, and mentors have helped me to develop my own self-care system. For me this has include prayer and meditation, intentional sharing with a trusted group, physical exercise, and quality time with family.
I would encourage everyone, social worker or not, to make sure they have set up your own self care plan. I’m not sure who said it, but I think it’s true: “You can’t give what you don’t have.”
Is there any advice you can share with fellow alumni or current students who are interested in taking their social work degree to other countries?
For a number of years that has been a growing shift toward a focus on locally led organizations and initiatives in international development and humanitarian relief. This is a very positive shift. Within this shift, I believe there is still an important place for the international social worker.
International social workers play an important bridge providing international best practice, a fresh perspective, and connections to resources in the context in which they serve. In order to do this, they must build a bridge through their own international service, gaining experience in cross cultural working and living. You can’t necessarily expect to start at a leadership level. Some possible routes include the Peace Corp, United Nation Volunteers, and many faith-based groups offer programs for grass roots service in vulnerable communities. Cross cultural experience paired with Social Work training can open up many doors for continued service.
Dave was also the 2023 recipient of the Pitt Social Work Advancing Excellence Award. If you’d like to connect further with Dave, please reach out to sswalums@pitt.edu and we will facilitate an introduction