So after this amazing adventure, I try to settle back into my routine. I go to school, garden, tinker and read stories with the little kids on my front porch. This is a nice easy time for me. The beginning of the term means that I and the vice principle are the only ones at school for the first week or two. So I spend most of the day in the library organizing and reading. Hang up some more maps. Put the encyclopedia in place. Simple things. I have big plans for starting a book club when the students get here. We don't really have enough copies of any one book, so I was thinking that during lunch time I would go and read short stories to the students who want to listen. Maybe after a week or so of this I can convince one of the students to take over. Maybe let one of them take the book home and practice reading a few pages so they could come back the next day and read it out loud very well. It seemed like a plan worth trying.
Unfortunately, the fun and excitement of my adventure didn't end with arriving at home safe and sound. Our illustrious driver was hounding me for money. I told him I didn't have any money for him and even if I did, I would expect my fuel back first. After a few confrontations, surprisingly civil I might add, I thought it was over. I thought he had finally given up and realized that I was not the one in the wrong. Turns out he didn't.
Instead, he went to the local council. The lowest/closest form of government and elected officials are the local council. He went to them and submitted his plea. I was informed in writing that I need to attend this meeting. I respectfully declined because I didn't see it as being worth my time and I was advised by friends not to. I didn't think he had any legitimate claim, which he didn't, and the case would be closed regardless. Besides, what could he do to me, send me to prison? The headmaster (principle) of my school even scoffed at the idea of me going to the local council meeting. I wasn't worried. But I should have been.
This ex-friend/driver of mine was the only person in the village with a vehicle. There is a reason he was the only person in the village with a vehicle, he is the chief's son. More than half of the local council are his family members. He is nothing shy of bull of the woods around here and I told him to f*** off. Not good. I immediately informed PC about this, being the good little PCV that I am and was told to let my headmaster handle it. My headmaster wasn't around so the deputy went to the local council chairman instead. This is when the my lucky stars really came into help me. It just so happens that the local council chairman was my ace in the hole that I didn't even know about. He was too old and tired to care about what the chiefs son thought of him. The chairman had nothing to loose in prestige or esteem as far as he was concerned. Not only that, but it seems his family and the chiefs family had some land disputes a while back that never got settled. So he was more than happy to help me out. He simply refused to hear the case. He postponed the meeting indefinitely. Without a meeting, nothing can go on. The police won't even do anything until the local council has had its say. So looks like I'm safe. I inform PC, but apparently they had also called the HM to get his $0.02 on the matter.
My HM stuck with me the whole way, but apparently something had happened between me talking to the HM and the HM talking with PC because all the sudden he was kind of worried about me. I never did find out what exactly happened, but I think someone informed the HM of just how big of a head honcho this chief's son is. I wasn't worried, but PC was. I talked to my boss over the phone for a bit and convinced her to let me stay and wait this out for a little bit. So I did. It was awful.
In a matter of two days, I went from being the most popular guy around to being an untouchable. When I would go to the market to get my onions, tomatoes, and cabbage, the little old ladies would all call me over to their stand so I would buy their produce. Now, I was lucky if anyone would return my greetings. Keep in mind, this is an African village. Greetings here are everything. The shortest greetings take minutes and some are an entire conversation about how everybody and everything is doing. It is considerably rude to not greet someone and even more rude to not return a greeting. I was being shunned.
It is really sad to know how quickly people can turn against you. Especially when you aren't even in the wrong. This chief's son turned the majority of the village against me in just two days. I don't know if they knew the truth or not, though I have a feeling it wouldn't have mattered. I know it is shallow of them, but to be honest, it was also necessary. The village community is so tight that everyone is, in one way or another, dependent on everyone else. To be shunned from the community means no one is going to lend you anything. No one is going to cut you a deal on your purchases. No one is going to buy from you. No one is going to look out for your home or your stuff when you're gone. No one is going to care what happens to you. No one will visit you when you get sick. No one is going to look out for your kids. To be shunned is to be cut off. To be cut off is to perish. If anyone would have sided with me, the chief's son would have turned on them too. They could choose what is right and side with the white guy who is going to leave in a year, or they could choose what is wrong and side with one of the most influential people in the area who they will have to deal with for the rest of their lives. With a choice like that, I can't fault them nearly as much. There is an African proverb that says: "When two bulls fight, it is the grasses that suffer." That was exactly it. The community was going to get trampled on if me and Mr. Big Shot got into any farther than we were.
Then I got a phone call. My boss wanted me to leave immediately. She said I would only be gone a week while my headmaster sorted stuff out for me. I was so furious at this time, I really wanted to get a piece of rebar and knee-cap this guy, but I didn't. Instead I left. My boss told me I would only be gone a week, but a week turned into two, and then a month, and then two months. Turns out she just told me that to get me out of there as fast as possible. My HM wasn't sorting things out for me, he called and told PC that it might not be safe for me while this issue is so tense.
So for the next two months I pretty much toured around Uganda. I went to any official PC event we had going on. I visited a whole lot of my fellow volunteers. I helped out at a science day. I answered questions at a health day. I took down names at a clinic for people getting tested for HIV. I went on a few hikes. Enjoyed the fourth of July at the base of Mt. Elgon with some friends. It actually wasn't too bad, but only because I kept thinking that I was going back home. Turns out I wasn't. All this time, my boss had been working on finding me a new place. She had already made up her mind. I had to find a new home.
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