Uganda And The Mystery Of The Aircraft Shower

Still with the memory of the flight home, I opened the first letter, addressed to my dead father, which had been lying damp on the doorstep, which was from Uganda.

A holiday? A friend who had moved to Kampala?

No such luck. My deep suspicious mind were aroused and alerted when I began to read:

'Dear Fellow Christian,
Greetings to you in christ's name. I praise God for this opportunity to write and share my problem with you in christ,s name.


I felt sorry for the guy. He said he was an orphan. His parents and two sisters were burnt to death in a house which caught fire at night. The doors had been locked from the outside. The killer was still at large. Petrol had been poured onto the house.

He and his brother had escaped the fire as they had been visiting their 86-year-old grandmother.

Now he needs his school fees paid. Two semesters at £950 per semester = £1900...and money to pay for the shock of it all.

I know how he feels.

But it is a sad state of life, that however much I might believe him, it would be wrong to send any money. Would it really go do the right place? Is it an elaborate scam? How did he get my father's name and address? He hadn't been reading the death columns, which seems a flippant and callous remark. But these days Uganda, with the intrnet is no backwater and can check worldwide matters.

I returned to the thought of my return journey home. It looked suspiciously like the same aeroplane in which we went out in, and showered me when we landed. I had the same seat but this time the front lavatory was 'Out of Order' and everyone was forced to use the one down the back. When we landed I did not receive a shower of liquid.

Then my mind started working overtime. Water ...broken lavatory ...

No it couldn't have been. I couldn't have been sprayed with the liquid from the broken .......

I'll take the train the next time.