Celebrating 15 Years of Justice

Just watch.

Lion King

Early last Friday morning my friends and I hopped on some bodas to catch a ride in a bright green van to Murchison Falls with Red Chilli, a little safari tour company based in Kampala. After a few hours of traveling we reached the rest camp, and Ruth and I were immediately upgraded to “luxury” tents (there’s not much you can’t get in this country with a little flirting and a sweet smile).

After dinner and a few beers with the staff I hit the sack—not at all concerned about the apparently super dangerous hippos and wart hogs that occasionally climb out of the water and wander the grounds (needless to say, I did not run to the bathroom to pee at any time during the night).

We woke up to an alarm at 5:30 and by 7am we were back in the van on our game drive. Our guide said we were the luckiest group he had taken around in a while— we saw the standard giraffes, buffalo, and monkeys, but we also spotted lions and a leopard (very rare).

In the afternoon we took a boat ride on the Nile to see hippos, elephants, and crocodiles. My favorite part was when one feisty croc charged the boat. Ruth sat on the side closest to the shore, so she was slightly less amused.

Sunday morning we had a more relaxing breakfast (minus the stupid birds that kept flying around us) before we departed from camp to visit the falls. If you’re a dedicated follower of my blog (don’t feel badly if you’re not, I kind of suck at this), you’ll remember the little secret I shared back in August about the sensitivity of my equilibrium. Even though bungee jumping had no effect, boats and ferries seriously mess up my inner ear– I’m still dizzy one week later—hence some nerves pre-hike along the waterfalls.

Even though my head was spinning off my body, the first leg was pretty easy. Part two—not so much, but our gracious guide insisted that I keep up with the group. He basically held me up as we climbed down the rocks to view the waterfall up close, and it was breathtaking.

Ultimately I did fall—and not in the safest place ever, as you can see. Embarrassing, yes, but I’d do it again. Duh.

Uganda in the Spotlight #kony2012

In the past couple weeks my inbox has flooded with questions about the stir over this video, and a lot of people have wanted to know about the Ugandan response. So I took some time to gather data—I read about it in our newspaper, came across some personal accounts, then I showed the video to a few people and asked my friends what they thought. One person said it was super compelling and appreciated that the world was taking notice of what the country endured. Another was totally appalled by it because she thought the video featured Uganda in a bad light and now people will be afraid to come here. She asked why people aren’t paying attention to the real issues facing people in Northern Uganda, such as Nodding Disease. Very good question.

Then one day, in the car on the way to a meeting, I heard a radio announcer sum it up the best: “Why now?” One of my friends has actually met Kony and was able to tell me a lot more about the war, why it happened, and where they are now. The bottom line is: Kony isn’t really here anymore, so people are a bit puzzled. However, a lot of them support the cause because he’s still out there, and no one wants to see him destroy another country the way he did in Northern Uganda. He does need to be stopped.

Personal Op-ed: I mostly think the Kony video is good. I liked how this particular article kind of kept everything in perspective. There are certainly some inaccuracies, for example the LRA isn’t nearly as big or active in Gulu these days. I went there for a Halloween party in October, and it doesn’t look the way it appears in the video. Of course I know what Invisible Children was going for, and Time makes some great points about that. Perhaps IC needed to be a little dramatic to accomplish their objective, which was to get everyone’s attention. I reject the criticisms that people are making about Invisible Children and the director of this video. Unless you’ve worked in the developing world or you’ve really done your research on how NGOs spend their money, you should probably keep your opinion about how fiscally irresponsible/shady you believe IC is to yourself. Ultimately the goal is to get Joseph Kony the kind of global recognition that is necessary to track him down. Furthermore, it’s not like Kony left and now things are fine in Gulu. There is NOTHING there, except for plenty of people living in poverty with serious PTSD and many orphans without homes as a result of the LRA’s actions.

I vaguely knew about Kony before I came, and most of my education on the topic actually happened on my plane ride from Heathrow to Entebbe (of course). Some army guy switched seats with someone to sit next to me (annoying), then insisted on pulling out his laptop and showing me all of his pictures from his tour in Iraq and his dog. When pretending to sleep clearly wasn’t working, I asked him why he was heading to Uganda, and apparently he was one of the troops sent over to fight the LRA. Crazy. Then I proceeded to let him help me with my bags, fake email address-ed him, and went on my way.

I think I got really pumped upon seeing this video because I’m excited that our world- and particularly America – is finally starting to look outside of themselves and see injustice. That’s something that needs to happen.

The Real Hotel Rwanda

Last Friday morning Jason and I woke up bright and early to catch a Jaguar bus to Kigali from Kampala—not quite megabus, but we made some stops at the grossest “bathrooms” ever (I was still grateful) and the route was super scenic and beautiful. Rwanda is gorgeous—it’s green, clean, and very organized. They have really awesome paved roads with traffic lights, and all of their boda drivers have to wear vests and carry an extra helmet for their passengers! It was a nice break from the heat and chaos of Kampala, and I got to resurrect my super rusty French for the weekend.

After 9 hours of travel and crossing into a new hemisphere, we were excited to get some Chinese food for dinner and collapse at the hostel. We had a small agenda for the trip: craft market, Hôtel des Mille Collines, and the Genocide Museum. In 2010 I visited the Holocaust museum in Israel, which was obviously difficult to swallow, but somehow this memorial really shook me. The information is laid out well and the exhibits are very nice. The toughest part was walking through the children’s room, where there are pictures of kids with a list of their favorite food, their best friend, and how they were killed.

I think it hit me really hard because it didn’t happen that long ago. The survivors that were children during the genocide, who have vivid memories of their parents being abducted and brutally murdered—they’re my age. Right now there is an entire generation of people walking around with PTSD because there aren’t enough resources to extend the ridiculous amount of psychological help that would be necessary to deal with the scars left on their lives. Furthermore, they are living among the perpetrators of these atrocities, and unfortunately there is no way that everyone will be brought to justice.

The people there were generally more reserved. I just looked at the beautifully paved streets of Kigali and imagined them filled with terror and human beings committing unspeakable acts against other human beings. I talked with some Ugandan friends who said that they didn’t know much about what was going on until the genocide was over because Museveni had closed the border; but plenty of them saw the dead bodies floating down the Nile from Rwanda.

We caught an overnight bus that got us back into Kampala around 3am. It was long, but it wasn’t nearly enough time to process the whole experience. If you haven’t taken the time to really learn about what happened in 1994, I would encourage you to read something or watch the movie—because what happened in Rwanda should absolutely be known.

MOUSE HUNT

This conversation between my mother and I (and sixteen other members of our family) takes place on Facebook over the course of about two hours– 3-4am on Monday.

Nicole Matteucci: Joanne Zammer Matteucci: i just woke up to the sound of a rat falling into my toilet.

oh. my. god. i want to die. Like · · Unfollow Post · See Friendship · Sunday at 7:59pm near Kampala · 

Tom Johnson and Kristina Leigh like this.

Joanne Zammer Matteucci Disgusting! How big is he/she? Ewwwww Sunday at 8:06pm · Like

Nicole Matteucci ewww i can’t believe you asked that! i don’t know! ted just put the toilet seat down and tried to flush him. annnd i will be awake forever.Sunday at 8:07pm · Like ·  1

Joanne Zammer Matteucci Sorry! I am sure you are safe now. Go back to bed. Sunday at 8:10pm · Like


Nicole Matteucci oh my goddd i can hear him swimming!Sunday at 8:12pm · Like ·  1

Joanne Zammer Matteucci Where are the boys? This is one of those times it is good to have a male around. He will drown soon. Poor thing!Sunday at 8:18pm · Like ·  1

Nicole Matteucci poor thing?! fanna. i’m going to throw up. but i can’t because he is IN MY FREAKING TOILET. i hate my life.Sunday at 8:20pm · Like ·  1

Kerri Finley this is hilariousSunday at 8:24pm · Like ·  1

Nicole Matteucci i want to dieSunday at 8:24pm · Like


Nicole Matteucci i put a box with a fan in it on top of the toilet seat so he can’t escape. OH MY GOD HE IS STILL SPLASHING HE’S GOING TO GET OUTSunday at 8:27pm · Like


Nicole Matteucci i just went downstairs to pee in jason’s bathroom and a huge flying cockroach attacked meSunday at 8:28pm · Like

Jeannie Gentile is this real life lolSunday at 8:30pm · Like


Nicole Matteucci it’s mine. sweet lord.Sunday at 8:30pm · Like

Joanne Zammer Matteucci Lol! I told you not to go to freakin Uganda. Sunday at 8:31pm · Like ·  3

Jeannie Gentile hahahaha i’m dying now. sorry nicole ;( just think what would the nana doSunday at 8:31pm · Like

Joanne Zammer Matteucci Keep the bathroom door closed. I don’t think it will get out. Wish I could be there with you. XoxoSunday at 8:37pm · Like

 

Tom Johnson I recommend this show to you Nicole http://animal.discovery.com/tv/infested/

Infested! : Animal Planet 
animal.discovery.comAnimal Planet’s INFESTED features the real-life horror stories of people plagued…See More

            

Sunday at 8:41pm · Like

Jessica Gentile Omg this is horrible I think I would die, with out a doubt. Either that, or I would be standing guard at the bathroom door with a bat all night. EwwwSunday at 11:21pm · Like

Jessica Gentile Ugh, and to think… where was he at before he fell into the toilet? Probably walking all over your bed or rubbing up against your tooth brush. Jeeze, im making myself sick thinking about it and I’m not even there.Sunday at 11:25pm · Like ·  2


Nicole Matteucci my life is stupid Yesterday at 3:41am · Like

Tina Zammer Gentile A rat came up an open drain in our first row home. I put in a new kitchen because of it, and then moved shortly after that!!!Yesterday at 4:59am · Like ·  1


Nicole Matteucci good call, aunt tina. apparently mine escaped. which ya know, is awesome.Yesterday at 8:05am · Like

Tom Johnson you have balls to open that bathroom door Yesterday at 8:54am · Like ·  1

Jessica Gentile Oh no he escaped?! Maybe he just went down the drain in the toilet… fingers crossed…Yesterday at 9:42am · Like

Free Fallin

March has brought a decent amount of adventure to my life. For those of you who have not viewed the humiliating documentation via facebook– a big group of us went bungee jumping last weekend. The morning started with catching bodas with Scott and Jason to the old taxi park in the city, then waiting out a huge rain storm with our co-worker Gerry and her friends before boarding our two hour matatu to Jinja.

Scott made me go first and I was totally calm, even as I was being tied up, until I hopped up and looked down as I curled my toes over the edge. At that point I began to rethink things. The two helper guys held my arms out like wings and shouted, “Three, two, one– bungee!” My body just crumpled. Apparently I said, “If I make my arms weird, they won’t be able to make me go.” Super good logic, I know.

They gave me a minute to compose myself. I really did not want to do this, but I was like, crap, I don’t really have a choice here. I wasn’t afraid of dying or getting hurt; I just know that I was very scared. I heard them count off again, and this was officially the point of no return.

Caption: trying to get back on the platform when I’m basically midair.

 Legitimately still resisting. But about halfway through the jump– which ps doesn’t not “go by in a flash” like everyone says– I processed what was happening, and I had a minute to absorb the beauty of the sky, the trees, the water, and you know, the rocks slash cliff on the edge of the Nile I was plunging towards. It was the definition of thrilling, and I loved it.

And I survived. Another check off the bucket list.

The Softer Side of 007

Back in November I received the opportunity to investigate a case all by myself. And by all by myself I mean that our head investigator supervised a lot of my interviews, and another one accompanied me to the disputed property and throughout our project area to interview all the witnesses and police officers involved. Still—I took it super seriously because it was my responsibility to secure all the right operatives and gather enough intel to help the attorneys make an informed decision. During last week’s Recommendation/Strategy meeting, when the lawyers and investigators gather to decide whether to accept or decline cases and discuss the ways to proceed, we finally reviewed my case. The assigned lawyer presented, but I answered some questions because the story is SO complicated. Plus this case is my baby, so I know every fact like the back of my hand; and I was more than thrilled when the team voted to take it on.

We all decided that if we are to pursue the matter, it should be on behalf of the children that lost their father. The lawyer invited me to tag along to the home where we would meet our client and her boys to explain what would happen if they chose to continue. She greeted me at the door, super excited to see me; and the boys strolled into the house, obviously not expecting what would happen next.

Our attorney did an awesome job explaining that the land lawfully belongs to the boys, then he laid out the possibilities for what could happen throughout the legal process. One of their local leaders basically created a faulty sale agreement and engaged in intermeddling, and IJM will hold him accountable. After about 20 minutes I watched all of their faces change as it dawned on them—the seriousness of the situation. The younger son was really bright. He asked questions and seemed to grasp what we were telling him. The older one wore a blank expression. His eyes were glazed over and empty. After losing his dad, being tossed around between different relatives’ homes, and living in poverty, then discovering his inheritance was gone– he looked completely defeated and numb.

It seemed stupid to get emotional over this, but let’s be real- it’s me. Our lawyer and the investigator that attended this meeting with me were totally unaffected, because really, it’s a win. We’re going to recover land for these boys and make their lives better. Yay. But I experienced this flood of weirdness, I guess, because I was present for this moment that would change the course of this family’s life. It was almost as if—when the family actually understood what was happening, I too had a revelation about the features of my life as a pretend private eye—when we do this work, it gets real.