When I was living in Uganda in 2012, I received a request from the Missions Committee at our church – “Will you pop over to Ghana to visit the Christian high school our church supports?” I readily agreed, but neglected to point out that “popping over to Ghana” from Uganda is akin to “popping over […]
Earlier this week, I returned from a packed two weeks of Global Justice work in Uganda, beginning with a day in Virginia as I met up with two leading Ugandan justice officials to discuss further involvement in the work in Uganda with our friends at Regent Law School. Three weeks ago today, a delegation of […]
This is a long overdue quick summary and catch up of the last few days of my trip to Uganda just over a month ago. I will do better in the future, including on my maiden voyage to India later this week for a global justice trip. During the January Uganda trip, the goal was […]
After my nearly disastrous boneheaded maneuver on Tuesday morning, I was relieved when Andrew (Technical Adviser to the Judiciary), Shawn (IJM Uganda Country Director), and I touched down at noon in Rwanda after barely making the 45-minute flight from Uganda. I had inserted this day trip into my week-long itinerary after an intriguing call I’d […]
Those acquainted with me even in passing know I am an idiot. I can’t help it. My parents aren’t idiots, my siblings aren’t idiots, and my kids aren’t idiots, so it doesn’t appear to be genetic. My wife isn’t an idiot, and most of my friends aren’t idiots, so it doesn’t appear to be contagious. […]
It has been four days now since I saw the new Martin Scorcese film at a special preview screening, and yet the sounds of Silence are still ringing in my ears. I have been eagerly awaiting the release of this adaptation of a 1966 novel of the same name since I learned that my friend […]
Our Global Justice Program’s goal for our work in the developing world has been, is, and always will be to educate, equip, and empower our friends to create, implement, and sustain the needed reforms to their justice system themselves. In a very real sense, we seek to become superfluous. Measurable progress rarely comes easily or […]
Because the opening ceremony had occurred in Bushenyi prison the day before while most of our team was in Mbarara, and because the prosecutors and many of the defense lawyers from Mbarara traveled the sixty minutes to Bushenyi the next day to keep the momentum moving, our final prison project day hit full stride right […]
Déjà vu enveloped our team on Wednesday morning during last week’s prison project, as we started the day’s activities in plastic chairs under portable tents once again. This time, though, we were in Mbarara rather than Fort Portal. After gathering into our seven teams and beginning the process of interviewing the assembled inmates in a […]
Those who have spent any significant time in the developing world well understand the wide range of emotions Westerners experience when engaging deeply and personally with the local culture and citizenry. Our student interns in Uganda this summer have developed a highly cathartic practice of gathering together over a meal nearly every day to share […]
