A quiet walk to work
on Um Zayd wa Atheer (Uganda), 09/Aug/2009 14:31, 34 days ago
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Once Rose's chickens have asserted themselves on the new day my mornings are slow and undisturbed. No breaksfast TV, no radio or news updates. I would not welcome a John Humphreys slot here in Masindi. It would disturb me too much. I have decided that my previous addiction to the news is not needed here, that the world is getting by with my knowing what is happening. By 08.30, after porridge, an anti-malaria tablet and a coolish wash I'm ready for the 15 minute walk to the hospital. I meet the same people and we exchange the same formal greetings every day, the Boda Boda boys, Oliver the MTN lady and the young boy who is always late for school. He only has time to grin and wave.There is little variation. My route and my routine are so predictable that some people have learnt to wait for me, with the sole intention of asking for assistance in some way. They want to come and clean or wash for me. They want money for school fees, food, a bicycle, seeds or healthcare. I don't welcome these approaches and I have learnt to say 'No' politely but firmly. I am not a bank. I am not rich. Nobody is embarrassed and some will even ask a second and third time, after a respectable lapse of time. I have tried changing my route but the brighter ones just come nearer to the house.My daily timing is so precise that I often co-incide with the line of detainees being frog marched up the main road, from the local prison to the courthouse for their cases to be heard. Men are the front, handcuffed in pairs, women at the rear. I stop to let them pass before trying to cross the busy road. The guards greet me and some of the detainees offer a weak smile. Nobody looks shame faced. Last week the group was larger than usual and as I waited I counted, 32 men, 6 women, 1 baby and 8 seriously armed guards. Presumably the baby's only crime was to have a breastfeeding mother. People say the crimes are often petty, like theft. One of the volunteers told me that her neighbour had just been sentenced to 2 years in Masindi prison for stealing a mobile phone. She did add that he was also carrying a very dangerous knife! Prisoners wear an unmistakeable bright canary yellow outfit and can be hired for casual labour. An interesting concept of Community Service. I wonder if you get to know what crime they have committed?Motorcycles and push bikes are an essential part of taxi life and are a major cause of accidents to their passengers and pedestrians. They are a law unto themselves and often carry too many passengers and too heavy and dangerous loads, iron sheets, beds, pigs, goats etc. On Thursday as I went into the hospital compound I met Paska, a nurse. We greeted and chatted as we walked along before having to stop to allow a bicycle to pass. On its luggage rack it was carrying a bright purple coffin. The cyclist stopped and Paska started to pray. I then realised it was carrying a body. It was only 08.45 and the day had got off to a fairly typical start.