A second home

Kampala. Capital of Uganda and home to 1.6 million people...and also our home for the next two days. Everything we do in regards to Maggie’s adoption will take place in Kampala. We traveled there today to register with the US Embassy. The journey typically takes 45 minutes, but we’ve done it in 20 (with my eyes closed and my knuckles turning white). Our driver Martin even wore his sunglasses to appear to the police as a bodyguard for some important Americans. Ha! As is also the case in Southern California, it could take two hours with traffic. The only difference is that the definition of traffic is drastically different. If you have ever been to Africa before you get my drift.

We showed up 10 minutes past Embassy closing time and they still saw us. We had a very positive meeting with two women who checked our paperwork and gave us a document to take to the medical appointment on Friday. As far as we know, neither of those women have any pull in our visa case at all, but it was still good to see a little compassion for Maggie’s story and a positive attitude towards our case. We had about two hours to kill before meeting with our lawyer, also in Kampala, so our driver, Richard, dropped us off at a shopping mall. We grabbed a bite to eat. Hamburgers and pizza!! Funny, but in a mall in the middle of the capital, yes, you can get those types of food. We realized how developed Kampala is in comparison to Mukono where we spend most of our time. Even more drastic is the difference between that and the villages we visit.

We hopped a boda (motorcycle taxi) to our lawyers office of which we only had a business card with address to give them any clue where we were going. After asking around and showing the card to about 5 or 6 other drivers, we finally said all we know is that it is somewhere by the airline offices. That rang a bell. We felt slightly Amazing Race-ish at this point and were enjoying the adventure. Hopping on the back of a motorcycle with a sweaty black man in the middle of an overcrowded foreign city is always a welcome adventure in my books! Needless to say, we made it to our lawyers office where we spent time reviewing our case, making changes, pointing out errors, etc. The person who puts the papers together, Rebecca, is very sharp. She noticed a few things we didn’t and gave us advice about the particular judge we will be seeing.

So, tomorrow is court day. We are as ready as we will ever be and know that God is going ahead of us to soften the heart of the judge and give us a quick and positive ruling. We will leave at 9. Have a briefing with the parents and lawyers at 11. Arrive at court at 1 and have our hearing at 2. Sometime in the midst of that, we will get Maggie’s passport photos, go to another clinic to obtain a medical record for the mom and try to persuade the father to take an HIV test. Some of these may be easy, some may not.

In the meantime, we are spending time with the kids here and getting to know our daughter better. She is amazing. Can’t wait to introduce you to her.

From Uganda with Love,
Ali