When I arrived home after the holidays, strange things seemed to have happened while I was gone. Not only was the mirror in my bathroom missing, but my money belt, which had been filled with bills and coins when I left for the U.S., was empty. While I have to admit that I am not always the best at keeping track of my money, it was pretty obvious that money had been taken; though how much money was hard to determine. My only suspect was Roy, the housekeeper, since he was the only person who had access to our house over the holidays.
While inventing ways to confirm my suspicions, Darin, my housemate for the week, beat me to it. He approached me one afternoon saying that he had marked several bills in his wallet, hid them, and checked back after Roy cleaned his room to see if they were still there. They were gone. Later that day, Darin spoke with Roy telling him that he was missing some money and that he expected it to be returned by the time he left several days later. Sure enough, after Darin came home from work, the marked bills were left in the room with a note from Roy.
I have heard of Uganda as being a “Kleptocracy,” but had not seen much theft firsthand until now. Sure, all of the light bulbs in the streetlamps are missing because they were stolen, but that really doesn’t affect me too much. Roy’s thievery, on the other hand, hits home - literally. Not only was he one of my best resources when it came to questions about my life in Kampala (i.e. how to get places, who is coming in and out of my house on a daily basis, which bills need to be paid, etc.), I also considered him a good friend. Every day he would join me as I ate breakfast and probably knew as much as anyone here about my friends and family back home. To have that trust shattered left me reeling for quite some time and makes me question the ethics of other people I come in contact with on a daily basis...
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