Aftermath

So I'm finally healed after a bout with some stomach/intestinal bacteria. It came on very slowly before it really put me down for a few days. The good thing about being sick this past week is that I didn't feel as much like a prisoner with all the rioting going on around the city. If you've watched the news and seen the reports of rioting in Kampala, it might have looked like every area of Kampala was out of control. However, there were definitely pockets of chaos and then many more pockets of "things somewhat as normal". Yes, I could definitely hear gunshots from the school; yes, my friend had to pick up his children from his school because they were near there; however, no one I know or even know anyone who knows anyone who was hurt in the riots.

The riots pretty much ended by Saturday night. Because our area was not that affected by the riots, nothing really seemed different than any other week. However, I had to travel to the west with Oliviah to do some social work for the ministry and we passed by a place called Nateete. This is an area in which the rioting was the worst. Unfortunately for Pastor Dongo and his family, the road to their new house in Bbira passes through Nateete. I had heard that major rioting there was so bad that they burned down a police station and all the impounded cars and let all the prisoners free. I couldn't really picture this in my mind, but I was amazed at the scene as we passed by on Wed. The structure of the police station was no more. There was a definite military presence there to maintain control. And about 20 cars or more were burned to a crisp. I wish I had a photo to help show you what I mean, but I was a little intimidated to take a picture because law enforcement don't take too kindly to having their pictures taken.

I definitely didn't feel threatened during the week, but I'm also glad that I was wise enough to stay home and not run any errands on those few out of control days.