My First Riot

I have survived my first riot.

So, I was in the Old Taxi Park in Kampala yesterday to catch a matatu to Entebbe for a Training for Camp BUILD, a boys empowerment camp. Taxis were at a stand still and you could hear people grumbling down the way towards the exit, a small ways from our taxi stage. We figured it was just people yelling at each other, no big deal. My friends and I get into a matatu with a few Ugandans, then ask them what the deal is, why we're not moving. "Oh, it is just some small few riots that usually happen." Hm....some small few riots? From my seat, I can see about 50 feet ahead of me, the exit from the park that is blocked by cars and people, and people standing on top of cars and yelling. We're sitting there for about 20 minutes, when all of a sudden shouting and yelling and screams start coming from the exit, of which my matatu is facing. I see about 30-40 people start running towards our car and away from the exit. Then I hear the word "tear gas" yelled by some passerby at full speed. Awesome. Things slow down, and people start shouting again. Then, it's eerily quiet, and you hear "thunk thunk thunk...pow pow...thunk thunk thunk"...and you see the smoke that is the tear gas. Everyone in my Matatu immediately close all the doors and windows and start to cover their faces with cloth, clothes, handkerchiefs, etc...I am wide eyed looking around at all of my friends, who all have a plethora of emotions on their faces. We're all quiet, just watching the tear gas stuff happen. The smoke fades, and we open the windows again. We call the safety and security officer to ask what to do. He tells us to stay in the car and he's on his way to get us. While he's on his way, another round of tear gas bombs are launched, this time, one lands right by our matatu, about 15 feet away. Close, but still not close enough to affect us. I put my hands over my eyes, covering my nose as well and buried my face in my backpack so I wouldn't breathe it. Again, the wind was blowing away from us, so the fumes weren't wafted our way. You could smell a faint odor, but eyes weren't affected, nose wasn't running, and I could feel a slight burning in my chest, which turned out to be indigestion. No big deal. After the second round, you see the police breaking things up and getting traffic moving. Because my matatu was so close to the exit and the action, we were the 2nd car out of the park. We passed about 20 armed police officers, 10 or so with tear gas cannons, a few big riot tanks, and a few reporters videoing all the action. The safety and security officer didn't have to pick us up after all and we made it safely to our destination.

Just another day in the peaceful utopia of Uganda...