Getting Revenge in Uganda

The judges capped off their intensive week of plea bargaining study with a trip to Disneyland and the celebration of Herb Nootbaar’s 105^th birthday party.  Herb is the benefactor for the Nootbaar Institute for Law, Religion, and Ethics under which our Global Justice Program operates.

Following this visit, DPP Director Chibita invited me to come and give a talk to his deputies and others about the implementation/expansion of plea bargaining into the adult realm in Uganda, following on the heels of the successful roll out in the juvenile realm while I was living in Uganda in 2012.  That presentation takes place later today (Thursday), and should involve a vibrant and productive discussion.  They truly want to deliver top-quality justice to the imprisoned and it is an honor to be asked to offer them encouragement.

As usual, the flight over was exhausting, especially since the night before was so short.  For the second time in my twelve trips to Uganda, my recalcitrant computer decided to pin the needle on my blood pressure the day before I boarded the plane.  On Sunday, I acquired some sort of computer virus immediately after visiting a Uganda news site.  This left me playing a losing game of whack-a-mole with my computer screen.  Every few seconds, my virus software would tell me that it detected an intruder.  The software then sheepishly confessed its impotence to repel the threat.  Then, ten seconds later, the software would heroically proclaim it had cleaned my computer of the virus.  Rinse and repeat ad infinitum.

In response to my pleas for help, the Pepperdine IT guys rallied in support, configuring a replacement laptop for me late into the wee hours of Monday morning while I sat on hold with the Dell support line for three and half hours before finally giving up.  On the plus side, I learned a few new catchy (East) Indian songs Dell was kind enough to loop for me while I waited.   On the minus side, we only had time to transfer a small portion of my computer files to the new laptop before I boarded the plane, and there was no extra battery for this new computer, drastically limiting my productivity on the long flights.

My itinerary took me through Amsterdam again, but with only a one-hour layover, I didn’t have a chance to re-charge my battery.  I prayed to the baggage gods that my luggage would make the transition.  Fortunately, the real God took it upon himself to intercept – and grant – my prayer request.  I am now 8 for 12 in the baggage-arrival-with-me department on my trips to Uganda.

I made it to my hotel just before midnight, gobbled a handful of ambien (just kidding mom, I only took the recommended dose (at least as far as you know)), and tried to get adjusted to the eleven-hour time difference.  Didn’t work.  At 4:50 a.m. Wednesday morning, I was wide awake.

Wednesday was a day of meetings and preparation for Thursday’s presentation.  Along the way, I made sure to visit the two malls about which multiple terrorist warnings were issued late last year following the massacre in Kenya.  This was not intentional, but necessary.  Private security was in full force, though it only took my usual smart-aleck comment while in the passenger seat of a taxi to get us waved through.  The security guard, however, got her revenge when she noticed the cold sore I am carefully incubating on my lower lip.

Me: No weapons today, ma’am.  And we did not bring any bombs either.

Guard: (Smiling) That is good, sir.  What happened to your mouth?  Did you try to eat your lip while chewing your food?

Good thing I learned the Luganda translation of the B-word while I was living here.  I let her have it.  That is, if she can read minds.  I suspect she can’t because she allowed us to pass.

While at the mall, I had a chance to get my internet stick (wireless internet via the cell phone lines) connected to the replacement laptop, and had coffee (diet coke) with an American who is encountering some difficulty in a worthy project she is trying to accomplish here in Uganda.  She and her family are an inspiration – following all of the rules and trusting that God’s plans are better than their own.  I offered her some encouragement and shared with her some of my experiences, but I fear my contribution to her cause will be limited to prayers on her family’s behalf.

Wednesday night’s sleep was rather like trying to do a layup over LaBron James.   He knocked my stuff into the bleachers.  I went to bed at 11:00 p.m. and was wide awake at 2:50 a.m.  There is something about Africa and sleep that eludes me.

This next week holds the promise of more progress on lots of fronts.  I will endeavor to provide daily updates, and will try to keep them reasonably brief and informative, sprinkled with some humor, if possible.