Our night security guard previously requested we buy him a bow and arrow or a gun. We said no to both of these requests. Last night (being New Year’s Eve) he said there were many people about so he was ‘tight’ on security. How did this look? He walked around our compound (in the dark) with the broom-head pretending it was a gun – he even successfully scared one of our neighbours.
So what did New Year’s Eve look (or sound) like in Gulu for us? Plenty of loud music from neighbouring houses all through the night. At midnight we could hear and get a little glimpse of fireworks in the distance. The local government allowed some hotels to have fireworks for a maximum of three minutes due to security reasons. We drank a bottle of the all-important soda with our guard and then played cards with him (in between his broom-head patrols) until 1am.
Happy New Year from the tight-security compound in Gulu ☺
Dan and Jodes... in Gulu, Uganda 