Nick Strong

Just because you do not see a motorcycle, boda-boda, it does not mean that there is not one there.

The story is as follows:

It was 9 in the evening when Lacey, Hannah, Laura, and I were just trying to find a good spot to what the championship game, Manchester United vs. Chelsea when it all started.  It was dark out and I had made a wrong turn.  Thinking it would be easiest to make a U-Turn I got all the way on the left side of the road in anticipation of this turn.  After looking ahead of me and behind me I started to turn.

No sooner had I begun to turn when I hit a boda-boda that was passing me from behind.  There were two people on the boda-boda and they both went toppling down after the collision.  Having been already informed to do so, I left the scene, drove away as quickly as possible, and headed to the nearest police post. 

3 different boda-bodas caught up to me 2 kilometers away and followed me to the police post.  I contacted the correct missionaries and asked them to meet me there and they told me to keep my mouth shut and not to talk with anyone until they got there. 

The boda-boda guys were upset that I had fled the scene and were accusing me of a “hit and run”.  I explained that my boss had told me to leave and go to the police if I ever had anything happen.  The policeman then asked me if my boss was Jonathan Mayo and I said yes.  It turns out Pontious used to be one of our guards and is now a policeman. 

Kenneth Hopson came and he helped me work it out with the policeman and the group of boda-boda drivers that had formed.  We ended up paying the police man 10,000 schillings (approximately $4) and the guy I hit 75,000 schillings (approximately $35) for damages.  At the end Kenneth was explaining again why I had left the scene.  He was explaining to them how when things like that happen, a mob of people forms very quickly and depending on what has happened, the mob has been known to beat up the accused and sometimes even kill him in extreme circumstances.  They all agreed that that was true and could happen and then understood why I have instructions to leave the scene. 

Flustered, I took the girls home and then remembered the game.  (Are you kidding me I did not want to miss it for anything)  I drove back dowtown and found a sports bar to watch it in.  What a game, Man. U in penalty kicks.

Earlier today in our men’s prayer group I felt impressed to thank God for the safety we have had on the field in traveling and to pray for continued safety in the coming weeks and months as our summer is very full with people coming and going all the time.  Please continue to pray for safety and God’s protection in general and also in traveling for us here in Uganda.

Hopefully we will not have another “Special Edition” for some time but remember that there just might be a boda-boda on your butt even if you don’t see him there.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 at 11:44 pm and is filed under Adventures With Fellow VIA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.