Off to a Shaky Start

Our second round of magistrate trainings had a bit of a shaky start – literally. At about 5:30 on Monday morning, we were awakened by what we later learned was a 5.4 magnitude earthquake and a small aftershock about 10 minutes later. After that, our training session in Mbarara went off without incident. We had about 20 participants in a much quieter and much cooler room than we had had at the previous session.

We had decided to visit a small lodge outside of Fort Portal after the training. Although we had originally planned to travel on public transport, we were lucky enough to hitch a ride with two of the magistrates who were headed in the same direction. During the ride, we learned about the day-to-day lives of the magistrates and visited one of their families.

As was often the case with the magistrates, the conversation turned to the question of the relationship between their low salaries, which barely allow them to pay rent and their children’s school fees, and the potential for corruption. Moreover, many of them struggle with whether to remain in public service when they see that their classmates in private practice can earn in one day what they earn in one month.

After a night in Fort Portal, we headed out to Ndali Lodge, an old British homestead that has been converted into a small resort perched high atop the rim of one of the region’s many crater lakes. The fresh air of Ndali was the perfect antidote to Kampala. While we enjoy the convenience of Kampala and its shops and restaurants, it is a noisy city with severe air pollution. At Ndali, there is no electricity, but our cottage was lit by kerosene lamps and candles. We spent our days walking – around the rim of the lake, to a nearby vanilla farm, and to the local market – our afternoons sitting on the veranda with “sundowners,” and our evenings eating four course meals (soup, followed by appetizers (bruschetta one night and a spicy guacamole the next), a main course of fish (in a coconut curry sauce the first night and in a roulade with white asparagus the second), and of course, dessert (flambéed bananas in a caramel raisin sauce or banana fritters with a squeeze of lime and a drizzle of honey)).

Unfortunately, we had to leave after just two days to return to Kampala, wash our clothes (ok, to be honest, to have our clothes washed) and to head off to Soroti tomorrow for the last of the magistrate trainings.