red, white, and blue

I need to update you on a very important item of news from Bundibugyo.

You might remember Little Miss Polkadots (June blog post). Well, I had the pleasure of holding this strong little girl’s hand as we walked through the police station in Bundibugyo Town as we pursued getting her case a bit closer to some semblance of justice.

• After a local big man was arrested for defilement, and the local outcry about his apparent history of such behavior was still in the air, Jennifer and I went to the police station in Nyahuka to see what had come of Little Miss’ case (expecting NOTHING to be the answer). God works in mysterious ways…the next day we drove a limping shirtless young man in the back of the Myhre’s truck to the Police Station in Bundibugyo Town where he joined the dozen or so similarly shirtless men behind a single set of bars. Grilling the officer in charge on the way back to Nyahuka, we were still not sure how they were sure this was the right man.
• The next day Litte Miss herself showed up at the Health Center, this time dressed in a super cute blue jean outfit with her mom and baby brother. They heard through the “bush”vine that the man had been arrested and they came to ask for help with transport money to go to Town and make a positive identification. I unfortunately missed the mother’s excited explanation to Jennifer about how ecstatic she was that this man was being brought closer to justice. Sure to explain that she was not afraid of him or the police, she was ready to go! I walked them over to the Nyahuka police station to try to contact the Bundibugyo station to give them the heads up that she was coming. Supposidly they didn’t have any phone numbers for officers there (doubtfully true), they sent a uniformed officer to accompany them (with his transport paid by Jennifer of course).
• We heard nothing for a day or so, then 2 days later, Little Miss with mom and brother in tow showed up on the ward again. This time with forms for Jennifer to fill out AGAIN, and a report that in a surprising feat of strong police work, Little Miss and mom both picked THE man out of several groups of prisoners who were showed to each of them separately. We breathed a sigh of relief with confidence that this was the guy. Somehow Saleem managed to pull out the copies of the medical findings reports Jennifer had filled out 6 months before (still SHOCKED that he managed to keep them…again a work of God!), and after rounds and loading up a few other patients who needed to go to Town with referrals from Jennifer we all climbed in the Myhre truck and headed to Town.
• Little Miss, sitting in the back seat, propped her hands up on the tops of the front seats, resting her chin in between Jennifer and I. When we got to the Station, I took her hand, and she didn’t really let go until I pulled my hand away to climb back into the car. Trying to keep her out of the line of sight of the “cage” full of men peering out from behind the bars, we walked around the side of the building to the offices in the back where we sat and talked to the officer in charge. I say we, but I really mean Jennifer…she’s the voice of the operation, I’m just along for moral support and hand holding ☺ Every once in a while, Little Miss looked up at me…to make sure I was still there? Because she needed a smile? Not sure, but I was still there, and I did give her a smile and shoulders shrug everytime. She nestled her head into my arm as she sat between her mom and I on the bench in the office. The visit didn’t last very long, and had to pull my hand out of Little Miss’s grip to climb back into the car. Her mom was so grateful, and thankfully so persistent. Supposedly the next step is for the case to be sent to a state attorney in Fort Portal to decide if there is enough evidence to charge this guy.
• Yeah, so I have NO IDEA how this all came to be aside from the strong hand of God. So I sit back and try to sort through the variety of emotions that this leaves me with…the paradox of ensuing happiness and sadness is hard to sort out. I’ve decided it’s not meant to be “sorted out.” There’s just this level of messiness we need to learn to deal with, that won’t ever get sorted out, but that we need to engage with but cannot be consumed by.

Stay tuned for future episodes of NCIS (Nyahuka Criminal Investigation Service), staring Special Agent Jennifer Myhre – doctor, lead investigator, and pursuer of justice and quirky sidekick Agent Heidi Lutjens – nurse, moral support, and hand holder.