Flurry

Like the swarm of bees we have been since we arrived in Fort Portal, we established a hive in the breakfast room on Thursday morning.  Flash drives earned their name by darting in and out of computers as the final summary briefs moved down the edit, proofread, print, collate, staple assembly line.  By about 9:30 a.m., we had about 35 final briefs – one copy for the prosecution, one for the defense, and one for us.

A couple groups headed back to the prison to interview the three prisoners whose police files had finally arrived in town the prior afternoon.  The rest stayed behind to continue preparing the balance of the briefs.

One prisoner became emotional when telling his story.  While his name was on the cause list, there was no police file.  He reported to Sophia and her group that court sessions have been coming and going and he is getting left behind because his file has been lost by the police.  Fortunately, he has retained a copy of his indictment, so the group had at least some idea where to begin.  He said he was so thankful to finally be able to tell his story.

After lunch, Judge John Doyle, Professor Carol Chase, David, and I met up at the courthouse with the prosecuting and defense attorneys to begin the process of plea negotiation.  My experience in prior such meetings in the juvenile arena counseled in favor of limiting the number of Westerners in the room – this needs to be a conversation by and among Ugandans in order for this process to take hold here.  Since John and Carol had held a plea bargaining seminar for the attorneys on Monday, and since David is a court-appointed mediator here in Uganda, we thought it best to limit our contingent to these three.

The meeting lasted about three hours and about half a dozen cases were discussed, several of which reached plea deals.  Most importantly, for the first time in the adult realm, the Ugandans held a guided discussion about the merits of criminal cases in advance of trial.  This was a big step and promises to gain momentum from here.

While the plea discussions were going on, most of the rest of us ventured back to the juvenile remand home so those who hadn’t been there the day before had the chance to meet the kids.  On the way there, Sophia, Dana, Jessie, and I stopped at a local outdoor market to pump up the new soccer ball we had brought for them, and to purchase some food to supplement their monotonous daily diet of beans and posho (corn flour mixed with boiled water).  We bought as many bananas, tomatoes, onions, and avocado as we could carry.  As we were crossing the street back to the car, I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye and heard Sophia sternly rebuffing a slightly built, but heavily persistent, Ugandan man.  He had hold of her arm and was pawing at her bag.  His countenance betrayed a distinct lack of marbles rolling around in his head.  A few local Ugandans started yelling at the man and I joined them in approaching him menacingly.  We got things broken up in pretty short order, at least in time to keep Sophia from taking him down – she wasn’t having none of his business.  He then chose to stalk me as I put the booty into the boot of the car.  I gave him a banana and he went away happy.

At the remand home, the kids cheered with delight when they saw the new ball, and were excited about the food as well.  After we went around the room for introductions (the new members of our group wanted to meet the kids), we had a ball presentation ceremony, which was their idea.  On behalf of the United States, law student Katie Coy presented the ball to their captain, who was flanked by his co-captain and the warden.

Ball Presentation Ceremony

During the game, I had the opportunity to travel with the warden to a nearby fuel station and, courtesy of Sixty Feet, to fill the tank of their van in order to transport the two children home who were released two weeks ago, but were waiting for fuel money.  I trust that the funds would be used for fuel, but gifts in kind are always preferable to cash transfers.  We were promised the boys would be taken home Friday, but we have since learned that the probation officers in their villages were at a seminar, so the resettlement was delayed until Monday.  (Earlier, we had the opportunity to tell the two boys in person that they would see their families very soon.  Needless to say, they were quite pleased).

We gave the kids the choice of how to divide into teams for an epic match.  There was no hesitation – Uganda Cranes vs. American Eagles.  Joining the American squad were a couple Uganda Christian Law Students and Sandra, who is John Niemeyer’s Ugandan/British/Soon-to-be-American . . . ? girlfriend of two years (that is how long they have been dating, not her age).  Given my advance aged, and given my aching joints and muscles from the prior day’s game, I volunteered to be the photographer.

The match started out relatively evenly, though the ball seemed to be near our goal most of the time.  It was flurry of feet, half bare and half shoe shod.  Within moments, it was clear who the three best players on the field were – Harrison Doyle (Carol and John’s son who played college soccer), Ana Carinena (2L student who played college and professional soccer), and Meredith Doyle (3L who also played college soccer).  The problem is that the enthusiasm of their supported cast on the American side far outpaced their abilities.

Pre-Game Pepp Talk

We struck first on a breakaway, as Harrison beautifully crossed the ball to his sister Meredith, who blasted it past the helpless keeper.

Meredith, Just Before Initial Goal

That was the last time we led.  They equalized, then went ahead 2-1.  Ana evened the score with left-footed half volley, but they eventually wore us down, beating us 5-2.

Ana Establishes Her Dominance

Niemeyer Finds an Alternate Use for his Head in Uganda

Harrison's Fancy Footwork (and yes, I was on the field taking pictures)

To say a great time was had by all is rather like saying 2L Stephen White likes carbohydrates.  (He has earned a reputation this week as a world-class carb hound).

After showering up, we ventured outside of town to the hotel/resort where Justice Chibita stays when he is town.  His family stays four hours away in Kampala, and he goes home on the weekends.  Earlier in the week, Justice Chibita had invited the entire team (American lawyers, Pepperdine law students, Ugandan lawyers (on both sides), Ugandan law students, and court staff) for a farewell celebratory dinner.  The food and location were idyllic; the company and camaraderie were even better.  As is customary in Uganda, the dinner ended with a series of speeches.  On our side, David, Judge Doyle, 2L student Nora Lopopolo, and I spoke.  On behalf of the Ugandans, the head prosecutor, one of the defense lawyers, and Justice Chibita spoke.  We all expressed our gratitude to one another, and promised to continue this partnership on behalf of the imprisoned in Uganda.

For her part, Nora closed by reading a prayer written by Oscar Romero that had become special to her on an earlier trip to Guatemala.  This prayer epitomizes what we are trying to do here, and has become special to us all.  I will close with it as well:

“It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.”