The day after

I’m sure more details will continue to unfold as time goes on, and you’re probably more informed than I am, that this attack was a response to Uganda’s involvement in the African Union forces in Somalia (Burundi is the other country, I believe).  

When I went to supper on Monday, they were showing the NTV newscast, this one in Luganda (the 9pm news is in English).  They were displaying lists of people who had been hurt in the bombings and taken to the hospital, and had video of the queue at the mortuary to identify bodies.  It seemed like such a long line – it broke my heart.  The coverage seemed so different from what we would have had in the States.  I’ve had a general feeling that Africans are much more pragmatic about death than we are, and thus far, that’s being reinforced.  The president visited one of the blast sites, and his televised comments were along the lines of “this is an act of cowardice; if they want to fight, let’s fight.”  Someone laughed and said that he still sounded like a soldier.

Please continue to pray for the families of those who were killed, and healing for those injured.  My friend Tom lives about two miles from one of the bombing sites as the crow flies, and he heard the blast.  His brother lost a friend in the attack, and I have other friends who either were supposed to be at one of the clubs but wasn’t, or who have friends who were there and escaped uninjured. 

I don’t feel unsafe, nor have I heard anyone say that they do, even from my classmates who are from or stay in Kampala.  For that, and many other things, I’m grateful.