Have you ever been hit by a bus?

I know you are thinking, "What? Kari had another wreck!" Yes, again I have been involved in an accident in Uganda. This time my Mom was here to prove that it was NOT my fault. Last Thursday my Mom and I were traveling to one of my teammates' house. I turned on my blinker (you can see in the picture my right blinker is on) to turn right and proceeded to turn down the dirt road. However there were tree limbs all around the road (this usually means 'caution' there is an accident or something ahead) so I turned slowly. Thank the Lord, because as I was turning this huge bus came around me trying to pass me even though I clearly had my blinker on! The bus was driving too fast (like all buses here), but thankfully since the tree limbs were in road I was driving so slowly I was able to stop quickly. It looked like the bus tried to slow down, but was unable to avoid me and hit the front right side of my car and then tore off my bumper. I think the scariest thing was knowing that if I had turned faster or the bus had been traveling faster we probably would have been killed! 

Accidents in Africa draw huge crowds so within a few seconds there were already hundreds of people crowded around the scene. Men were yelling at me to move my car so the bus could continue its journey and people were trying to open my car doors! I immediately locked my doors and called my teammates who arrived in minutes. Barry's face in this picture shows the confusion. A friend serving with another organization happened to drive by soon after and offered help, so I sent him to go get the police. There's no 911 here! Thinking like an American, I knew that I shouldn't move my car until the police came to 'write a report.' People who knew NOTHING about driving tried to yell at me that I was in the wrong. I just knew a riot was going to break out at any minute, but thankfully it didn't. Finally the police arrived. They didn't check on me or Mom to see if we were alive or ask us what happened or anything! After some time they just told us to drive to the police station. So we did and were under the impression that the policeman and bus driver would follow. After once again waiting for some time at the police station (there's NO hurry in Africa!) the policeman arrived without the bus driver (who was allowed to go after 'giving a statement'). I was taken in the police station to write a statement of what occurred (not in duplicate). They looked at my Uganda driving permit but did not make a copy of it. Then at that time my supervisor Dr. Pepper arrived. I was given a form with about 12 different possible accounts I could be charged with (i.e. reckless driving) and was told to sign it. Nowhere on the form did it mention 'no fault'. I asked if the bus driver also signed one of these forms and they said 'no' that since there were no injuries the bus was allowed to go! Can you imagine?! They said the bus driver would report to the station the next day...yeah, right! So I told them that I didn't want to sign this form (basically accusing me of being at fault) until the bus driver also reported to sign the form. Dr. Pepper agreed with me on this and gave them his phone number, however, the policemen were NOT happy with us. They threatened to put Dr. Pepper in jail, for which he gladly agreed, however, they would have been holding him without proper grounds. Finally I was so frustrated and upset, my Mom and I just went outside. Shortly after Dr. Pepper and my teammate Barry came out. The police took down all our license plates, what they were going to do I don't know. Barry and Dr. Pepper heard them saying that I was trying to do a 'U-turn' which caused the accident! Corruption is a huge problem in Africa and there is almost no enforcement of laws especially among driving. However, this was my first experience dealing with the police in an accident, and I learned that really there is no point in contacting them. Can you imagine not being able to trust the police? Be thankful that our policemen in America actually try to obey the laws and protect our people and that we can usually trust them to help us! 

I was very upset for a couple of days, but one of our Ugandan friends really reminded us how grateful we should be of the Lord's protection over us. Why He chooses to have grace and mercy with us I will never know. We deserve death, but out of His love He gives us life! Our life on Earth is in His hands alone. He must have a reason for me and my Mom to be alive for another day....Praise Him! Mom pointed out this verse to me at church Sunday, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!" Ps. 37: 7 (By the way, so far we have not heard from the police anymore concerning the accident. My car has been repaired at mission expense and we just Praise God it wasn't worse!)