Crazy Morning

This morning I woke up early and was anxiously waiting to meet the team. They left Moshi around 10:30 which would put them in Korogwe around 2:30. I think it was around 10:45 or 11:00 when I went outside to let Nala go potty. All of a sudden three young men go running by our house. Nala likes to run and will often chase George in front of our house if they are playing outside. So, when she saw these guys running, she took off after them. They were scared of her and stopped running which gave me a chance to grab her by the collar. More people began running by so I brought her in the house.

Nala and I peered out the windows and watched hundreds of people running by our house. In the not too far distance, I could hear people shouting and horns blaring. I had no idea what was going on and wouldn't you know it, my phone ran out of credit so I couldn't call anyone to see what was happening. George called me and I asked him to find out what as going on. Herbert thought it may be a political rally. George told me to just stay inside with Nala.

Then came the gun shots. Not just a few, but many. It felt like I was in Sudan again. I didn't think I was in danger, but I was concerned that I couldn't call anyone if something happened. Plus, I was supposed to go to the White Parrot to meet the team and didn't know if it was safe for me to go out.

So now, people are again running by our house in the opposite direction. George called again and said the gun shots were probably the police dispersing the crowd - just stay inside to avoid stray bullets. Then people start coming by our house again! It looked like they were heading towards a nearby soccer field where George walks Nala. Then cars and tuk tuks came and tried to park in our yard. At that point, I became a guard and had to yell at people from the front door to move their vehicles. I still didn't know exactly what was going on and who these people were. In addition people were running through our yard. I felt like the neighborhood grouchy old man yelling at the kids to stay off the grass. Nala and I stood guard and watched the chaos unfold.

Then lots more gunshots... and they sounded close. Nala and I sat on the floor and just had to wait it out. George made some calls and found out a piki piki (motorcycle) driver had been killed and the other drivers were holding a demonstration and looking for the killer. George again just told me to stay inside and be calm. Although, I wasn't in danger it would be a good idea not to walk to the White Parrot. He would call a taxi for me.

All the tuk tuk guys and taxi guys he knew were not available (they all were involved in what was going on) so he said he would send Lulu to be with me. I knew I was safe, but again didn't feel ok without phone credit to call anyone if something happened.

Later we found out that the guy had been murdered - brutally. When Lulu came over, she told me they found the murderer, killed him and set his body on fire in a field near our house. That is what all the people were running to see. Here justice is often not left for the police to handle. Due to corruption, it's not uncommon for the police to be paid off and drop a case so people take justice into their own hands in these types of matters. I have heard from several people if a thief is caught, he will be killed by a mob right away.

Once the gun shots stopped and it appeared most of the chaos was over, Lulu and I walked to get phone credit (which turned out not to be valid. That wasn't discovered until we got back to the house of course!).

Meanwhile, the team was heading to Korogwe and had a problem of their own. Apparently there was an accident and the road was blocked in both directions. The accident happened in front of a school and tragically two little girls where killed. So the local people filled the road and formed a human blockade. They refused to move until speed bumps were put in. This created a large traffic jam. I think after an hour the team was finally able to proceed.

So, now it's 3:20 and I think the team will be here around 4:00 (yay!). For now, I am just hanging out at the White Parrot. I just talked to the manager who told me it was a group of two or three men they were trying to catch for the murder. One guy was caught on one end of town, stoned, stripped of his clothes, tied to a motorbike and dragged to the field near our house where he was burned. Another one ran to the police station and a mob wanted to burn down the police station.

It was all very sad. This type of thing doesn't happen often and fortunately, we were never in danger. We pray the situation is now over. As I drove to the White Parrot, it looked like the town was calm again and order had been restored.

Crazy morning.