Today, at long last, I was inducted into “good enough.” No candles on my favorite cake, no balloons congratulating me, not even a whisper of congratulations. Just some Dutch lady in a KLM uniform grudgingly acknowledging that I was now good enough to enter the VIP lounge at the Amsterdam Schipol Airport. “I have...
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Jim's Posts
The Coolest Gift I Ever Received
I have received many really great presents over the course of my lifetime. A train set. A bike. Lots of ties. A trip to Vegas. And when I turned 40, my wife even bought me a car. But I have never received a cooler gift than I got last night. And it wasn’t even...
Even Faster Than J-FASTER
One of the hardest things about leaving Uganda three weeks ago was the fact that the Masindi J-FASTER session for children imprisoned at the Ihungu Remand Home was scheduled to begin the following week. While the Kampala J-FASTER session had taken the full 90 days we had allotted for it, we believed we could...
Final and Fond Farewells
We made the most of our last few days in Uganda. On Sunday, we visited the Kampala Church of Christ for the first time, and got to say goodbye to a couple of good people we met shortly after we arrived. We also spent two hours with Justice Kiryabwire, who runs the Pepperdine/Uganda Judiciary...
Of Equatorial Crocodiles and Road Meat
This past week was a busy one, as I worked to complete a final report of my six months in Uganda. Late last week, I went to Masindi for the last time to finish the work that the Pepperdine students, Pepperdine lawyers, and I started in an effort to help the twenty-two juveniles currently...
Raise Your Hand
Raise your hand if you hit a boda driver this week while driving to work, sending him tumbling off of his motorcycle into the intersection right in front a police officer who was directing traffic during rush hour. What? No one else? Am I the only one with my hand raised? With less than...
Winding Through and Down
In Uganda, like the rest of Africa, storytelling is a highly valued and important part of culture. Consequently, conversations with Ugandans usually last longer than with westerners because they tend to add details that, while unnecessary to the story, provide additional color and flavor. Accordingly, when a lawyer asks a witness a question in...
The Trifecta
I took advantage on Friday of the J-FASTER court session being dark until Monday by beginning the painstaking task of preparing a report reflecting upon my soon-to-be-completed six months in Uganda. I scheduled a 10:30 meeting with Justice Bamwine, the Principal Judge of Uganda. In Uganda, the Principal Judge is the head of the...
Nearing the End
It struck me today that my time in Uganda is coming to a close. We are “wheels up” four weeks from today. I am frequently asked whether I am ready to leave and/or looking forward to going home. As is usually the case toward the end of lengthy trips, the answer to such questions...
Back in Court
It was an early morning for me and my driver. The three-hour trip from Masindi to Kampala saw us arrive at court in Kampala at 8:30 a.m., in time for the J-FASTER session to resume. On calendar today were two cases, one of which was the continuation of the only case so far to...