"We Don't Negotiate with Terrorists"

When we went to Fasha for the community outreach, Rebekah's phone was stolen. It was hard to take the loss in stride- feelings of distrust, frustration, and disappointment waved over our group.

The next day one of the uncles received a call from Rebekah's phone. It was the thief. He liked Uncle and offered to sell us the phone back for 50,000 shillings (remember, 2500 is the daily wage here in the village). The rate was "so low" as a favor to Uncle. Uncle talked him down to 30k, but said the phone had to be delivered before payment. And then my phone died. So phone-less we were left to the mercies of one of the teachers. He went to his home village. No phone.

We were sure of only one thing- we did not want to pay. The bad guy stole the phone and stealing is wrong.

The teacher finally returned three days later and was shocked we did not have the phone. "Why didn't you follow up?" he asked us. I didn't know whether to glare or roll my eyes. Doing both ruins the effect though...

So we borrowed a neighbors phone with only one bar of battery, put my sim card in, and hurriedly texted/called our families to let them know we were alive.

Tuesday we find ourselves safely in town despite the lack of technology. Rebekah and I go to the phone store to look for a replacement for me. They have two phones in stock. We pick the cheap one, tagged 29,900 and the sales lady quickly removes the tag, crumbles it, and informs us the real price is 89,900. Right.

Leaving the phone there we head back to the hostel to meet up with C, D, &S. Just around the corner is a popular meeting place for people from our place and we found Uncle there.

He is astonished we dont have the phone yet. "Why didn't you follow up?" he demands. Can you see our eyes twitching?? He gets on the phone, calls the local head honcho in Fasha who tells him the phone is now in Kacerere.

Let me give you a brief layout: We live in Kishanje. If you follow the road towards Kabale you reach Kacerere. It is like a 30 minute walk. Keep going and you reach Fasha about 40 minutes later.

In the villages there are elected people who serve as arbitrators in local disputes, there are maybe 5 in each village, rated according to authority. Uncle called the top dog in Fasha who then directed him to the top dog in Kacerere.

Now keep this in mind, for those of you familiar with southwest Az, we are talking like Benson, St David, Tombstone. Close proximity, everyone knows everyone else, or knows someone who does. We are pretty sure that everyone knows who took the phone, yet the thief is not being held accountable.

Rebekah wants her phone back. Uncle tells us the head honcho in Kacerere paid the 30 k, telling the delivery person he would get 20 more once we saw the phone.

We are worn down. We are almost complacent. We have forgotten that things can be wrong (like stealing a phone) rather than to be expected (like having your phone stolen). We are sure of only one thing- we want the phone back.

Dylan is having a hard time accepting all that is happening. He offered to help the thief change his mind. He offers to get the phone and have them pay us for the inconvenience. Hearing Uncle agree that 30k is fair, and that we will pay the additional money is almost too much for him.

Dylan sits beside us, takes off his hat, and in a slow drawl says "We don't negotiate with terrorists". Rebekah and I look at each other and laugh. How we have changed!! Not only were we negotiating, we were being given the responsibility for having the phone stolen. "You girls don't care about your things, otherwise you would have followed up on this issue and it would not even have been stolen in the first place" we were told. No argument from us. Hearing Dylan's take on the whole thing was a good reminder... we don't negotiate with terrorists! Stealing is wrong. The thief is the bad guy, not us.

We feel better about ourselves, having been reminded that we are not losers after all. Still dont have the phone though. When we head back to Kabale (we are traveling this week) we shall see if it is finally sorted out. We can hope, right?