As we arrived at the school, it was quite the chaotic scene. The fire was out, but parents and guardians had arrived in droves to check on their kids, and there were also lots of neighbours hanging around watching all the commotion. There were cars, motorcycles and pedestrians everywhere! Our guard stayed with the vehicle while Evacy and I went into the school compound to check things out. What a zoo! There was power in town, which helped a bit in illuminating our path, but I still needed to use the small flashlight on my cell phone to find the way. Someone was shouting instructions in Luganda over a loudspeaker, yet there didn't seem to be any sort of organization in terms of handling the large crowd of students, parents and other interested parties that was milling around.
We had no idea how we were going to find the kids we were looking for. I held onto Evacy's arm as we made our way through the crowd, because I didn't think I'd find her in the dark if we got separated. We headed toward an illuminated classroom block; we figured that since I was definitely the only muzungu in the crowd, people would find us. Sure enough, seconds after arriving in the lighted area, one of the boys from Kibaale came to greet us. He was very glad to see a familiar face and quickly went to find the others. Within about 5 minutes, all 6 of the students we'd come to see had found us. Not only that, but the son of another friend of Evacy had found us and was able to use her phone to reassure his parents that he was ok.
We learned that the fire had started in the girls' dormitory, while the girls were studying elsewhere, so no one was hurt. Most of the Kibaale students at this school were boys, so they were fine to remain, but we decided to take the one girl student back with us. She was obviously very upset and was worried that her books and notes were lost. (It is exam time here at the moment, and students rely on their extensive notes to prepare.) Evacy kept reassuring her, that her life was more important than anything that may have been lost, and that we were just glad she is fine. We signed her out (another rather chaotic process that I won't bother describing) and drove back to the Timothy Centre, so she could have a good night's rest before heading back to the school in the morning to check on her belongings.
Dormitory fires are not that uncommon in boarding schools here, unfortunately. The rooms are often overcrowded, which complicates both supervision and evacuation, and from what I witnessed last night, there also doesn't appear to be much of a system in place to handle such a crisis when it does happen. I am grateful that no one was hurt in this particular incident and that we were close by to offer assistance. (...and I might just take some time today to write a policy regarding fire evacuation procedures for Timothy Girls College!)
