Yesterday a friend was at our house and mentioned to Scott that Dr. Crispus Kyonga, the Minister of Defense for the country of Uganda, was visiting Bundibugyo. Dr. Kyonga was formerly the Minister of Health, and we intersected as students at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health seven years ago. We were Ugandans-at-heart living in Baltimore, so when Dr. Kyonga was in town we invited him to our home. Our funny memory of the event was that even though we were aware of his status as a cabinet member . . . Our kids just saw a familiar African form, and ran to sit on his lap! Anyway when Scott heard he’d be in Bundibugyo for an event of some sort he mentioned that he’d like to greet him. An hour later we got a phone call that the Minister would like to see us and our kids and would stop by. We rushed to put on decent clothes and clean up the front room and wait. And wait. We thought he had changed his mind when at 7:30, in the dark, a motorcade entered our yard, five vehicles including about twenty UPDF armed guards churning our grass into mud. Our member of Parliament, the Honorable Jane, and her husband, and Dr. Kyonga came in to say hello while the army took positions outside. They asked questions about the hospital and the school and talked about their families, drank tea, and at his suggestion (!) we took this photo. Never a dull moment . . . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment