I admit that when we arrived and very shortly learned that our plans for the next day involved visiting a Ugandan prison, I thought "You have got to be kidding me!". This was not something we had ever discussed as one of our possible work assignments. As I thought about all the need I had witnessed driving thru the countryside and in Bombo where we were staying, I thought "why waste our time helping prisoners?" Surely there were many more deserving people we could help? Though I had my doubts, I decided to just go along and see what God might be about to reveal......it's not like I had another choice. It seemed wise to try to make the best of it.
Prisons in Uganda are different from those in the states. For one thing, many of the people in them have been convicted of nothing. Many have been accused of a crime, but they get locked up while awaiting a trial date that could be as long as a year away. In other words, you are guilty till proven innocent. We certainly never learned what any of the inmates we saw were in there for, but as I understand it, it often involves only minor offenses, such as stealing food or a goat. Which, in a country where many children go hungry every day, theft of food seems to be at least understandable!
So on Saturday, after an hour and a half bus ride with our team plus several of our Kenyan and Ugandan friends, we arrived at the prison. I was surprised by what I saw. The picture I had in my head was like that of the Turkish prison in the movie Midnight Express. I pictured men locked up in dank, dark cells, crawling with insects, smelling like who knows what. Instead, what we saw was a concrete building in the middle of a field surrounded by greenery and trees. The building was painted and appeared tidy. The grounds contained flowers and shrubs. Frankly, it looked better than most anything I had seen thus far in Bombo.
We were kept waiting for a long, long time. Miscommunication is a way of life in Africa. Apparently the SLAM people and been working on building a relationship with the warden of this prison for some time. He had agreed to let our mission team make this visit. But suddenly when we arrived, no one seemed to know anything about our coming. After much private conferencing, the warden finally stepped outside to speak with us. He was a rather stern, unsmiling man. I found him to be intimidating. He laid down the rules. No cameras. No speaking to the prisoners privately. No more than 20 people in at a time. We had 2 groups- one assigned to do praise and worship, music and testimony, and a team of kids to play soccer against the inmates. The praise and worship group I was a part of was allowed in first. The others remained outside near the bus.
We were lead to a large assembly room where about 400 prisoners were seated on the floor. They wore bright yellow shirts and shorts. Many were barefoot. We introduced ourselves in their language and then told them that our dentist, Jina, was going to teach them about good oral care. As Jina spoke thru an interpreter, I was surprised at the attentiveness of the men. She opened the floor for questions, and many of the men asked her various things. Mostly they wanted to know if she could help their mouth pain. We promised to bring back tooth brushes and toothpaste once our lost luggage arrived. This brought on cheers and smiles. Next we began some music. We had a guitar and a vocal team and we did some songs, one in Luganda. The inmates really perked up when we began singing in their language. One of our youths then gave a powerful testimony in which he explained that he loved them all. That we all loved them, because God first loved us. That God loved them and would forgive them for whatever they had done. He spoke of how God could be accessed even in a place such as prison by simply being still and allowing God to speak in the silence to them. He then asked a group of inmates who were seated along the wall with some strange looking tribal instruments that sounded exactly like a harp to begin playing softly as he spoke. It was beautiful and soothing. The inmates were mesmerized and nodding their heads in agreement to Daniel's words. After about an hour, we were finished and left for the bus area, allowing the soccer team to enter.
After a lunch of nuts, boiled corn, and bananas, we sat in the grass talking for along time listening to the cheers coming from the center courtyard of the prison. Finally one of the warden's assistants came out and invited us to come in and watch the game. We were surprised, but eager to go back inside and watch our team play soccer.
Many of the inmates were playing barefoot. We had lots of girls on the field. They had shed their long skirts and were wearing gym shorts. The field had a sidewalk in the middle of it and the rest was pure dirt. The prisoners were lined up along the walls of the barracks, seated and watching intently. We learned from some of our Ugandan friends that the inmates were yelling at their team things like " Be gentle! Don't hurt them!". The game was a close one, but the inmates ended up winning 3-1. They had a "ringer" that they threw in at the end that shifted the game their way. While the teams were playing, the men with the harp like instruments were sitting around in a group making the most delightful African music. A couple of the Kenyans, Shem and Jackie, decided a dance party was in order. So they got up and began dancing. This was much enjoyed by the prisoners and finally the Americans could resist no longer, so we all got up and began dancing too. They taught us African moves and we taught them the electric slide, which was fairly hilarious! For a time, we all forgot that we were inside a prison and everyone just enjoyed the day and had some fun. For the prisoners, it was an exceptional day. For one thing, they had visitors- something that never happens. For another, it was the first time some of them had ever seen a "mzungu" (white person) up close. Lastly, a soccer game is unheard of. There was absolutely nothing in this prison for recreation that we could see. Just the sheer boredom of prison life had been interrupted, which is a positive thing. It was a big day for these men.....
Before our departure, one of the SLAM leaders presented the winning soccer team with jerseys and shirts. He thanked them for letting us come. He reminded each one that they were loved by Christ, and promised that we would return. Next he asked for the striker from the winning team to come forward. This was the "ringer" I referred to earlier. An African youth stepped forward who couldn't have been out of his teens yet. When it was translated that he was the MVP of the match, he lit up and grinned from ear to ear. He came out of the crowd and was presented with the game ball which evoked a reaction of great joy both from him and from the other prisoners. Loud cheering ensued. As the boy accepted the game ball, he bowed respectfully and shook hands with several of our team members. As I witnessed his happiness and his deep respectfulness towards us, I was moved to tears. I was reminded of my own two sons at home who are both around his age. I thought about my boys being locked up in such a place. It was too much to think about....
The final surprise of the day was the stern warden. He came forward to speak for his men. He was now smiling! He thanked us for coming. He said that we had given his men a very good day and made many of them happy. It seemed to me that we had done little in the grand scheme of things, but perhaps grand schemes are not always what is needed. Perhaps sometimes a little love, a little human contact, some warmth, and some smiling faces are all one needs to draw a bit of strength for another day. Is this not often how God uses the willing to minister to the needful? I think it is......
So, my initial trepidation ended up being unfounded. I learned something about mercy, about our common humanity despite labels like "prisoner", and about how the love of God can transcend everything else when we let ourselves be used for His higher, better purposes. Not Bad for Day Two of our trip!
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