My Dear Mukeesa

Things are not so good here in Kyetume, in fact, I feel pretty disheartened with humans right now. Mukeesa is one of the dogs that lives at our house, my favorite dog at that. He's kinda ugly and pretty scrappy and extremely dirty. But I like that about him. Two nights ago he apparently killed 6 chickens. Yesterday morning I woke up to the sound of someone beating him and him screaming. They were hitting him with a giant stick. We finally managed to get them to stop. But the witch-hunt was on--- all of the highschool kids that showed up during the day were told what he did and they all wanted to beat him. Scott found a bunch of boys that had trapped Mukeesa next to a woodpile and were attacking him with sticks Lord of the Flies style. He finally managed to get them to leave, but it wasn't easy. Mukeesa was terrified, he wedged himself under some sticks and wouldn't come out. By the time I found him I didn't think he was in very good shape, he seemed really hurt and could barely move. He did manage to come out after a while, Scott and I tied him up and hung out with him all afternoon.

I've never had to see animals beaten. And I guess that makes me lucky. But what happened yesterday will go down in my mind as a lasting memory, as something that powerfully turned my stomach and confused my heart. Everyone seemed to take such pleasure in beating him, there was lots of laughing and smiling. I don't know what would have happened had Scott and I not been here, everyone knew how upset we were about it, but I suppose they just added it to the list of what makes us ridiculous. We could come to no understanding with our volunteer coordinator (the first person to attack him in the morning) about how we felt and why.

At this point, Mukeesa's future is uncertain. we have him tied up now, which he hates and we are going to try to find another home for him. He is a sweet dog, despite the life that he's lived here. It's heartbreaking to see the way he cowers away from everyone now. I would bring him home if I could.