A Midday Ramble

Gun shots.
Tear gas.
Burning of tires.
Rioting.
Thieves.
Liars.
Corruption.

Today, we were supposed to move into our home. It was neither “secure” nor ready and so we wait. The bottom line for us has been paint on the walls, locks on the outer doors and glass and screens on the windows. According to western standards, we would not be moving in for months due to the other things, which need to be finished. However, we are shifting to Ugandan thinking and living, knowing eventually it shall all work out. It always does, right? So, Monday is our new move in day. Ready or not…here we come!

This morning we awoke and focused on the list of errands to run. Leaving the children behind, Brent and I took off on our boda boda (motorcycle). Our first stop was to check on the furniture we are having made along the roadside near our home. While standing there, chaos was beginning to happen on the streets and word was getting out about the unrest downtown. Upon “polling the audience” we felt fine about continuing on about our morning. The direction we were headed in was safe…or so we thought.

Garden City is an area of town where many Mzungu’s (white people) hang out. There is a mall there (think a few stores, big grocery store, little food court) but nonetheless it is a mall. Hallelujah. Brent and I headed there, grabbed something to eat and gathered a few more things for the house. Every step of the way word was flooding in about the turmoil around town and how the situation was getting worse. This mama is feeling unrest in her soul being separated from her children. Daddy, felt we were fine. We only had one more place to go which is up the street – Off we went…

Passing the normal security guards, we enter into Uchumi’s parking lot. Driving into the lower garage area, we parked our boda boda near another motorcycle, near the front of the mall doors and in front of the security office. Can you picture this? You must…from here the story gets crazy. After being in the mall for about 15 minutes, we come out and our motorcycle is gone. For a minute our minds played tricks on us…are we on the right level? Are we sure we parked it here? Quickly, we realize that we are in the right spot and our motorcycle was indeed gone. Brent hurries over to the nearby security guard and asks him where our boda boda went…he looks dumbfounded and takes us to the security office. Behind a desk is a man eating his lunch and a bit irritated we interrupted it. As were share what happened, he deflects our story and argues that a car was in that spot, not a motorcycle. We kept saying there was no car there, our boda boda was right there. He walks away. We follow and as I leave I ask some men sitting near a fountain if they had seen our boda boda being stolen. They shared they had been there for a while and encouraged me to ask to see the security camera. “From there, you will be able to see who took it.” Tip off…number one. I scurry off because by this time the security men and Brent were quite far. I was not about to get separated on a day like today.

They take us all the way to the front entrance of the mall, where 20 minutes ago we drove in on our boda boda. Before you know it, a group of security men gather and we shared our story again. One of them pointed at us and said, “I remember them. They walked in on foot!” I was dumbfounded. Another said, “remember that other Mzungu who left his car in the other parking lot and thought it was here, the same thing has happened to them. They have misplaced their boda boda. Go back to where you left in at the other mall. Yea, it will be there” All agreed but Brent and I. We kept sharing our story…the play by play of our time in Uchumi, refuting their accusations. But another guard chimes in and says, “they are carrying a bag from another store nearby (one not in that particular mall) and these people were never really here.” The security manager looks at us and says, “I don’t believe you, you are lying.” Well, that set me off…inside I was boiling. I was beginning to see their game and realizing they were behind the crime. It was at that point I look at the security manager telling him I think he saw what happened but is not fessing up.  He glares at me and says, “What do you mean?” At that point, I had visions of being whisked away and put in jail. I walked away and cried. Brent took over and kept calm. Their story kept changing; their accusations kept coming and lie after lie was flooding the air. We were getting nowhere fast and so we left. I was a mess. I could have cried a river over the loss of our second vehicle alone. But what upset me most was how we were treated, falsely accused and lied to. What in the world? While this happens all the time in Uganda, it was our first run in with real corruption.

As I sit here, I just heard more rounds of gunfire going off. Sadly, our city is still in upheaval. People are being hurt and killed…corruption is happening at a much larger scale. There is much to be thankful for and much to be angry about. God protected us. God provided. God gives and He takes away. People are suffering much worse and as usual, I really have no reason to complain. Losing a boda boda today, being lied to and accused of lying, spending all day stranded at the mall…are nothing compared to being caught in the fire of riots, the storms in the south or the devastation of losing someone.

Thank you for letting me ramble…for getting it off my chest…and for praying for us. This place is hard…and some days it feels super hard (like today)…but God is in it all and that is good. Without Christ, where would we be???????????!!!!!!