Aggie & Mum & Dad (they are separated - Aggie's Mum lives in Kampala)We had a bit of a shock over the weekend. Aggie's Dad (who lives in the Karamoja region of far NE Uganda) was shot in the chest by a thief. For a while, we were not sure how critical his condition was, & were planning on having him airlifted to Kampala where there are better hospitals, but MIRACULOUSLY it seems that the bullet went through his shoulder & didn't hit his lungs or heart or anything "important". He has already been in & out of surgery in an "ok" hospital up there. He is stable & they are just waiting for things to clear in his shoulder before they can see if the bullet hit any bones.
The thief that shot him was trying to steal his livestock - very common up in the Karamoja region. There are armed cattle raiders/warriors who come in from other areas to raid villages/towns. The problem isn't nearly as bad as it was say 5-10 years ago, but it's still not good. Karamoja is also one of the poorest regions of Uganda. It's extremely dry, and in the past several years has been a focus of relief groups like the World Food Program, World Vision, etc. Aggie's father is very poor too, so Aggie has also gone up there to take him some money for his hospital bills.
UPDATE: the bullet didn't hit any bones either! Still can't fathom this. He has now fully recovered. Wow.
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