Last night about 8:30 we heard two gunshots in the near area. About 15 minutes later alot of crying and wailing was coming from a close by village. Then one of the night guards came to our door and tried to tell us about the "enemy came and killed four people and they need the ambulance". Craig and I went to the main gate and two of our sponsored school boys were there, telling a story about the enemy coming and shooting this family and how bad the wounded were and that the ambulance needed to go and pick them up and take them to Mbale.

Well since the major push by the Army for the disarmament the mission has not allowed the ambulance to travel at night as vehicles have been shot at during the dark hours, and all pick ups in the villages have been suspended because the villagers think it is the Army coming so they shoot at the vehicles. Our ambulance driver said he was willing to take the wounded to the hospital if they could bring them to the front gate of the compound. The boys left, with instruction to get them here quickly, like within the next half hour. Most of the time they wait for the enemy to leave before they are willing to move, hours will pass before they bring the wounded for care.

About twenty minutes went by and an off duty guard came to the gate to tell us of the problem in the village. This one was telling a different story, one of a man, drunk, looking for a little brother who had made him mad and wanted to kill him. But some how these people, all of the same family we are told, got shot in a hut, by a brother. This man is the brother of one of the clinic employees, and brother-in-law of a woman who works on the main compound. This man, who is in the Army and has the right to carry a gun, was upset about something and shot these four people at close range. We told the guard to go and look out for his family,you never know, everyone is related some how to everyone else, and we wanted this man to go home and be with his wife and children and protect them, should there be a need.

A few minutes later the woman who works for us on this compound shows up with her children at the main gate. She is terrified and can't explain why she is come at this late hour, in the dark, with her children. After a few minutes of Karamajon, she starts telling us about her brother-in-law looking for his younger brother, who is sick, to beat him. She doesn't know why the brother-in-law wants to beat this young boy, or just won't tell us why, but she is fearing for her safety and her children's safety and could she spend the night on our compound. This man has a very violent history and for some reason last year beat this woman for no apparent reason. So she has reason to fear him. One of the clinic staff offer her shelter so we let her family spend the night. WE all prayed together for her and her family's safety and for the ones who were shot and for the man who had done all of this.

By this time it is about one and a half hours since the first report of any wounded and a need for the ambulance. The guard comes to the door and tells us that the one who has been shot is here. WE go out to the front gate and there are about fifty people there and four people lying on the ground. I went to each one and checked on what their wound was and where it was. One woman was shot in the calf, one older man was shot in the arm just above the elbow, a younger man was shot in the thigh, and the worst, a fifteen year old boy was shot in the lower back or hip. It was hard to tell exactly where the wound was as there was alot of blood, all over.

Our ambulance is just a Defender,Land Rover, no beds or even bench seats in the very back. We have no stretcher, no real emergency equipment and our clinical officer was on vacation. So what to do but put them all in the ambulance and take them on to Tokora. There who knows what staff will be available and what can be done for them other than transfer to another farther away hospital that has a doctor and a surgery and equipment. We learnt today that two will be transferred when the family can get 450,000 shillings ($250 US) to pay for the trip of about an hour and a half away. Also at hospitals here, there is an up front charge of 100,000 shillings for those who have been brought for treatment of a gunshot. Many have come for surgery and after surgery sneak out in the middle of the night fearing those who shot them will come there looking for them to finish the job.

Family violence is a major problem here, and it takes very little to set off a shooting spree. There is not much regard for human life and no fear of the law or justice to be done. So if you are mad at someone why not just shoot them, then they will be out of your way and no one will do anything to you if you do shoot them. Rarely, the elders step in and hold court, and have been known in the past to exact an eye for an eye. but rarely does this happen, as everyone is so closely related and protective of their relatives.

And this wasn't even New Year's Eve.........