Malaria has been largely contained in urban Kampala. While local residents still contract this mosquito-borne illness quite regularly, it usually comes about two weeks after they travel “up country.” While I religiously take my daily dose of doxycycline when I am here, I don’t bother to coat myself in mosquito repellant every waking hour (like […]
Friday morning began with a torrential rain storm mere words are ill-equipped to capture when uttered by anyone other than Noah himself. Imagine yourself standing under a high capacity shower head. Then turn on two more. Then turn on a Vornado fan so the water blows sideways. Then plug the drain. Then kneel. At one […]
Thursday ended up being a fitting metaphor for the work we have been trying to accomplish in Uganda over the past three years. In addition to Monday’s plea bargaining session and additional meetings, the primary purpose of this trip was to travel to three of the five Remand Homes in Uganda in order to (i) […]
Court holidays in Uganda come early and often throughout the year. Sometimes they come unexpectedly. Last Wednesday, the government declared this Wednesday to be a national holiday — NRM day. NRM stands for the National Resistance Movement, which is the ruling political party of Uganda. Imagine if President Obama declared next Wednesday to be National […]
After a memorable trip and first day back in Uganda, Monday held the promise of a day I could really settle in – literally. One of the main purposes of this trip was to work on settling – by way of plea bargaining – the cases against all of the juveniles in the Naguru Remand […]
One year ago – to the day – I made the same journey from California to Kampala that I just completed this weekend. So many things have changed during that intervening year. I have changed in ways I am still trying to fully appreciate. Our kids have changed in ways we can see, and ways […]
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 […]
Over the past few years, I have done several things I had previously been certain I would never do. Bungee jumping, living and driving in Uganda, admitting I needed glasses, etc. Continuing this stretch of firsts, last week I was asked to name a newborn Ugandan boy. In fact, the father of the boy insisted […]
As I have previously written about here, this past school term was critically important for Henry, the Ugandan boy with whom I have become quite close. It was the third term (of three) in Secondary Five, the next-to-last-year of school before beginning University studies. After finishing his “A level” (Secondary One through Four) near the […]
As I reflect on the almost unimaginable events of Wednesday in Kampala, a line from one of my favorite songs continues to loop in my head “. . . from the inside out, Lord, my soul cries out.” I am beginning to feel like the Boy Who Cried Goff. There are only so many times […]
