Because none of the four others who have joined me on this trip – Professor Stephanie Bell, Mediator Denise Madigan, and Judges Mitch Goldberg and Paul Beeman – had been to Africa, they were eager to see the local wildlife. Given the intense training schedule this coming week, the only time for them to go […]
That might not even be a word, but it well describes my mood as I am borderline euphoric about my thirteenth trip to Uganda. A little while ago, I landed at the Entebbe Airport with a group of American judges and lawyers to carry out a plan hatched this past August. Each year, Uganda sends […]
In January of each year, the entire Ugandan Judiciary assembles at a Lake Victoria resort hotel for an full week of meetings and reports. This includes about ten justices each from the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, about fifty High Court judges (trial level), and about thirty Registrars. Also present are a few representatives of […]
During the final 18 months of Henry’s nearly two-year detention in a juvenile prison in Uganda, he served as the “Katikiro” in the internal prison government. Part of his responsibilities in this Prime Minister post included taking the juveniles who got sick to the local hospital. It was there, watching the doctors treat the patients […]
On Sunday morning, I was up early and excited about my first time back to Hoima since we surprised Henry’s family with the delivery of nine cows, replacing those they lost while Henry, his brother, and their dad were in prison awaiting trial for a crime it was later proven they had nothing to do […]
Just under a year ago, Pepperdine hosted an international conference focusing on the ethics and advisability of Inter-Country Adoption (ICA). This topic had hit my radar screen in late 2011, just before my family moved to Uganda in January of 2012 for six months. A close friend introduced me to an American family who had […]
Though Uganda is still a “developing country” by comparative world standards, its protocols and formalities are quite complex and exacting. There is a particularized and expected method and order of introductions, of seating arrangements (even when riding in a car), and a manner high-ranking officials should be addressed and greeted. This can be a minefield […]
In Uganda, when someone extends to you warm hospitality, you are obliged to “get revenge” by reciprocating. During the late October visit of six members of the Ugandan Judiciary to Pepperdine, they spoke often of “getting revenge” when I returned to Uganda. Over the next seven days that I will be here in Uganda, […]
We are so blessed to host the Pepperdine Law weekly Wednesday Bible Study at our house. This gathering has a long lineage that started with F. LaGard Smith and met along the way at the home of Dean Ron Phillips, Dean Dean Martin, and most recently at the home of Tim and Lucy Perrin. It […]
I am told patience is an acquired virtue. If so, I still have loads to acquire. I feel like I am in a jumbo jet circling an airport, waiting for permission to land. The pilot keeps announcing on the intercom that we should be given the all-clear any moment now, but the all-clear never comes. […]
