Boarding Gate 9 7/8

I am returning to Uganda today for a fast-paced week of juvenile prison visits and plea bargaining in Kampala, Mbale, Masindi, and Gulu. While I have flight reservations on KLM, I figured I would first try my newly installed “Doorway to Uganda” to see if it provides me a shortcut.

I have previously posted here about my profound surprise at the cool gift Bob Goff had given me last fall – the door he ripped off of the prison where I first met Henry in Masindi, Uganda. After much thought and many great suggestions from friends, Joline and I decided how we were going to display this door. We hired the contractor who had made several upgrades to our Pepperdine home (Tom Borland) to mount the door onto a wall in a way that will allow us to display photos of the kids who used to live behind that door, but now are back home with their families.

We were thrilled with what he came up with.

Masindi Prison Door

We are still getting the individual photos of the former prisoners reprinted and mounted with magnetic backings, but we started with a group photo from January of 2010, and photo of me, Henry, and his brother Joseph.

Masindi Prison Door Open

Despite approaching Boarding Gate 9 7/8 from many different angles and at many different speeds, the doorway seems embued with none of the Potterian or Narnian qualities necessary to allow me to avoid the upcoming 27-hour flight.