William Boto's Page

What motivated you to become involved in peace and conflict resolution?

When my wife and I sent $1,000 in 2005 for emergency food to feed a war-displaced community in Lira District of Northern Uganda, I got bonded to helping innocent victims of political/military conflicts. The victims in these situations are invariably women and their children. I recognized in their plight the truth of the Ibo proverb: when two elephants fight it is the grass that suffers. I am seeking resources that will help alleviate poverty and lessen tensions in a self-sustainable way in Opac Village, northern Uganda: by introducing eco-friendly housing method/materials, by promoting green commerce to replace trading in firewood, charcoal and timber for household income, and by promoting reforestation through involvement of the local population.

Please feel free to provide a short bio about yourself (no more than 3 paragraphs)

1.Professor (Microbiology): (City College of New York 1989-2006), Makerere Med. School, Uganda (2008-present).
2.Founder and President of Ochan Self-Help Alliance, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity.
3.Member, Saint John’s Episcopal Church Mount Washington, Baltimore, Maryland.
Member of church’s Outreach Program to feed and clothe the homeless.
4. Major interests: poverty eradication and reforestation through eco-friendly self-help initiatives for rural communities in developing countries.
5. The power of Christian faith in reconciliation, community development and wellness of body and soul; and God’s calling to us as stewards of the environment.

Please list the countries and/or regions in which you have direct and significant expertise

Teaching/research in United States, Uganda, Cameroon;
Charity work on resettlement of war-displaced persons in northern Uganda.

What is your current country of residence?

United States with frequent professional visits to Makerere Medical School, Uganda

What is your current job (and organization) and/or where and what field are you studying?

Visiting Professor (Makerere University); President and Trustee of Ochan Self-help Alliance

What is your personal or organizational website?

http://www.ochanalliance.org

What is one of your favorite websites in the field? (please provide one answer per box)

http://www.guidestar.org

Which are your primary sectoral areas of expertise?

Education, Environment, Health, Internally Displaced, Humanitarian Relief

Which are your primary skills areas?

Curriculum Development, Research, Training

What are some of your current areas of research (if any)?

Virus evolution as affected by host population diversity: KSHV as a study model.

If appropriate feel free to list several of your publications

Kajumbula H, RG Wallace, J-C Zong, J Hokello, N Sussman, S Simms, RF Rockwell, R Pozos, GS Hayward and W Boto (2006). Ugandan KSHV phylogeny: evidence for cross-ethnic transmission of viral subtypes. Intervirology 49: 133 – 143

Zong J, C. D., Viscidi R, Alagiozoglou L, Tyring S, Rady P, Orenstein J, Boto W, Kajumbula H, Romano N, Melbye M, Kang GH, Boshoff C, Hayward GS. (2002). "Genotypic analysis at multiple loci across Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) DNA molecules: clustering patterns, novel variants and chimerism." J Clin Virol 23(3): 119-48.