I haven't been updating my blog lately because my plans for the week got completely turned upside down.
When I signed my contract to be a coordinator for the EWH program, I did not expect that I would be dealing with a burglary in one of the student's houses.
One calm weekend was too much to ask for. I had just finished lunch on Sunday when I got a call from one of my students. I hate getting phone calls from my students. If I get a call, it's something bad.
"Is everything okay?" I ask.
"No." One of my students answers. "There's been a burglary at the Marangu student house."
'Shit...' I thought. "What was stolen?"
"Two and a half million shillings."
I couldn't believe it. 2,500,000 Tsh was stolen from the students' home. I don't have to tell you twice that two and a half million Shillings is a LOT of money. I've never seen a million of anything in my life, so the thought of two and a half million stolen was unimaginable. This money converts to almost $1600 USD.
My restful weekend had turned to something out of a nightmare. I informed EWH immediately then threw some clothes into my backpack and left TCDC for Moshi. I wasn't sure when I would be back but I didn't think it would be anytime soon.
The first step is to always file a police report. After some bad luck with a bus that broke down, I finally made it and met with the students. I got caught up on all of the details. From their story, I immediately knew we had a very promising suspect.
THE STORY:
The Marangu students left their student house to buy food and use the ATM in Marangu Town. The students locked the main door to the house and the two outside gates before they left. As they were heading down the hill into town, they saw their Night Guard heading up the hill towards their house.
When the students returned after an hour, they found the two outside gates open even though they had locked the gates when they left the house. The only other person to have the gate keys was the Night Guard himself. They found the front door kicked in and the lock was broken as a result. One of the students had hidden $170 USD and 2,254,250 Shillings under his pillow...but when he checked for it, the money was gone. It was unusal (and lucky for the thief) that the student had so much money in cash. He collected the money from other students meant for the Mt. Meru climb scheduled for next weekend.
We all knew it was the Night Guard who committed the burglary. It was stomach churning when we realized the thief was someone hired to protect things like this from happening.
THE POLICE:
We couldn't finish filing the report on Sunday because the offices were closed by 4:00 PM. We had to return the following morning. I did not want the students to go back to their burglarized house because it was far too dangerous for them, especially if the front door was still broken and the Night Guard was still around.
I had them sleep in the KCMC student house which had extra space and was close to town. We met again the following morning to finish the police report. At this point I was all too familiar with the process. After we finished, I was disappointed at the lack of action the police were taking. We HAD a suspect. We even had the Guard's name and phone number. What more did the police need to DO something about it ($$$?).
They told me to go to another police station. Fine.
I left with the students to the Himo Police station. The city of Himo is located at the foot of the Mt. Kilimanjaro, down the road from Marangu. I did not have high hopes of getting help from them...but I had to try.
The police did not know very much English. I tried my hardest to talk to them in my broken Swahili. I unfortunately don't know a lot of Swahili words pertinent to law enforcement (except for thief-Mwizi). Somehow they understood what I was trying tell them. They understood the urgency of the situation when I explained that we had a suspect and he was still at the hospital. I stressed that we had to act quickly before he fled.
The police did more than what I expected from them. They didn't just send us back to the hospital with an officer. They took us in the Police Land Cruiser with 5 officers and another officer armed with an AK-47 (Wow, it was such a big gun). Driving up to the hospital was surreal. Here I found myself driving with armed Tanzanian police officers in a Tanzania police cruiser to try to catch the thief. I have no idea how I convinced them to come with me, but I was sure as hell happy to have a "force" behind me when we confronted the Night Guard.
When we got to the hospital, we met up with Evans, the technician, and Nickson, the accountant. They were very useful in mobilizing the hospital to catch the thief. Evans was able to explain to the police all the details that I couldn't (since his Swahili and English is excellent).
We first went to check out the scene of the crime, the Marangu student house. The police inspected the gates and the front door. They took down the floor plan of the building and had the students describe where the money was kept before it was stolen.
After that we went back to Marangu hospital with the police to meet with the head doctor and a few other member of the hospital staff. Once the staff found the Night Guard, the police had him lead us to his house to search for the stolen money among his belongings. He was acting very suspicious and guilty throughout this time. He tried to go into the house first (likely to hide the money before police could find it) but the police refused him entry and entered first.
Because only one of us (the victims) were allowed to enter the house, I went in. "House" or "home" was a very generous term to describe his living conditions. There were no lights and there was no kitchen or bathroom or toilet. It was just a single-room mud hut. I was surprised at the Guard's living conditions. It was not because he was poor or jobless though. He had a huge drinking problem and there were piles of empty alcohol containers littered on his property. It looks like he spent most of his money on alcohol instead of improving his living accommodations.
It was so dark in the house that we had to use our cell phone flash lights to search. Almost immediately the police found 200,000 Tsh in the pocket of one of his jackets. Any sort of doubt that he was the perpetrator vanished. At this point, the police were brutal towards the thief. How the police treat thieves in the third world is nothing like in the US to say the least. They slapped and kicked him many times and beat him with a wooden stick until the stick broke.
The police continued to "question" the thief to find out where the rest of the money was hidden. However, the thief was stubborn and wouldn't admit anything. It was some time before the police found the rest of the money. They turned the entire room upside down and found the rest of the money stuffed in a pair of shoes. From that point on, the police did not hold back. I felt no pity for the thief. In the third world, there is no mercy for thieves. And often times street justice leads to death. When the Night Guard stole the money form the students, he knew this would happen if he got caught.
As the police where preoccupied with the thief, I left the hut to count the money that was recovered. A lot of the money was still untouched but we found 204,250 Tsh missing (about $130). The thief would not tell them where it is...he still claimed innocence. What a scumbag.
Eventually the police got the name "Jessica" out of him. Jessica was his girlfriend and he supposedly gave that money to her (or at least the amount that he didn't already spend on drinks at the local bar the previous night).
The Night Guard was arrested and the police took him (and his girlfriend) back to the police station. The students gave their statements and the Night Guard was was put in a cell for the night. The girlfriend was let go when the police realized she had nothing to do with the actual burglary itself.
We went back to the Himo police station to bring the Night Guard to Marangu court the next day. It was very scary at first because they put us in the same car with the thief. Even though he was in handcuffs, it was weird. I kept on giving him the nastiest looks the entire drive.
The court was not what I expected, here's a glimpse of it. Our thief is in the red hoodie...on his phone...while he's handcuffed.
The judge listened to our side of the story (from our statement) and listened to the thief after us. He had the guts to plead "Not Guilty." What a joke. Everyone in the courtroom started laughing.
It was not long before they convicted him and the judge was working on the sentence. I was impressed at how quickly these events took place. Less than 48 hours after the theft did I find myself sitting in Tanzanian court awaiting the thief's sentencing. The Night Guard got 2 years in prison. I was very happy. I would have liked a longer sentence but the judge was lenient since this was his first offense. I think if we had a lawyer or went through the same process in the US, the thief would have gotten a much longer sentence.
It's okay though. 2 years in Tanzanian prison is like 10 years in a US prison. I am at peace with the verdict. The recovered money was returned to the students and the 204,250 Shillings that were not found will be paid to the students by the security company responsible for hiring the Guard. This is what 2,050,500 Tanzanian Shillings and $170 Dollars looks like:
The hospital is now looking to terminate their contract with security company. The security company was not even hired a month before this incident occurred!
We personally saw to it that the Night Guard was put into jail. Sometimes, if you leave it to the police to do it themselves, they might just let the prisoner go (if they get paid off, e.g. by a girlfriend). We tried to get a sneaky picture of the thief and the student whom he stole from. The irony that the two of them were sitting next to each other while we were taking the thief to jail was almost funny.
And here is the officer taking him to the prison. The thief's last moments as a free man.
I will be going back to Marangu on Friday to make sure the company pays up the remaining money.
Overall, I couldn't be happier with how this ended. These past few days were some of the most stressful of my life. It feels so rewarding that it ended well. I've never been in a situation like this before and I'm SO happy I didn't screw this up :)
When I signed my contract to be a coordinator for the EWH program, I did not expect that I would be dealing with a burglary in one of the student's houses.
One calm weekend was too much to ask for. I had just finished lunch on Sunday when I got a call from one of my students. I hate getting phone calls from my students. If I get a call, it's something bad.
"Is everything okay?" I ask.
"No." One of my students answers. "There's been a burglary at the Marangu student house."
'Shit...' I thought. "What was stolen?"
"Two and a half million shillings."
I couldn't believe it. 2,500,000 Tsh was stolen from the students' home. I don't have to tell you twice that two and a half million Shillings is a LOT of money. I've never seen a million of anything in my life, so the thought of two and a half million stolen was unimaginable. This money converts to almost $1600 USD.
My restful weekend had turned to something out of a nightmare. I informed EWH immediately then threw some clothes into my backpack and left TCDC for Moshi. I wasn't sure when I would be back but I didn't think it would be anytime soon.
The first step is to always file a police report. After some bad luck with a bus that broke down, I finally made it and met with the students. I got caught up on all of the details. From their story, I immediately knew we had a very promising suspect.
THE STORY:
 |
| The broken door frame from the door being kicked open. |
When the students returned after an hour, they found the two outside gates open even though they had locked the gates when they left the house. The only other person to have the gate keys was the Night Guard himself. They found the front door kicked in and the lock was broken as a result. One of the students had hidden $170 USD and 2,254,250 Shillings under his pillow...but when he checked for it, the money was gone. It was unusal (and lucky for the thief) that the student had so much money in cash. He collected the money from other students meant for the Mt. Meru climb scheduled for next weekend.
We all knew it was the Night Guard who committed the burglary. It was stomach churning when we realized the thief was someone hired to protect things like this from happening.
THE POLICE:
We couldn't finish filing the report on Sunday because the offices were closed by 4:00 PM. We had to return the following morning. I did not want the students to go back to their burglarized house because it was far too dangerous for them, especially if the front door was still broken and the Night Guard was still around.
I had them sleep in the KCMC student house which had extra space and was close to town. We met again the following morning to finish the police report. At this point I was all too familiar with the process. After we finished, I was disappointed at the lack of action the police were taking. We HAD a suspect. We even had the Guard's name and phone number. What more did the police need to DO something about it ($$$?).
They told me to go to another police station. Fine.
I left with the students to the Himo Police station. The city of Himo is located at the foot of the Mt. Kilimanjaro, down the road from Marangu. I did not have high hopes of getting help from them...but I had to try.
The police did not know very much English. I tried my hardest to talk to them in my broken Swahili. I unfortunately don't know a lot of Swahili words pertinent to law enforcement (except for thief-Mwizi). Somehow they understood what I was trying tell them. They understood the urgency of the situation when I explained that we had a suspect and he was still at the hospital. I stressed that we had to act quickly before he fled.
The police did more than what I expected from them. They didn't just send us back to the hospital with an officer. They took us in the Police Land Cruiser with 5 officers and another officer armed with an AK-47 (Wow, it was such a big gun). Driving up to the hospital was surreal. Here I found myself driving with armed Tanzanian police officers in a Tanzania police cruiser to try to catch the thief. I have no idea how I convinced them to come with me, but I was sure as hell happy to have a "force" behind me when we confronted the Night Guard.
When we got to the hospital, we met up with Evans, the technician, and Nickson, the accountant. They were very useful in mobilizing the hospital to catch the thief. Evans was able to explain to the police all the details that I couldn't (since his Swahili and English is excellent).
We first went to check out the scene of the crime, the Marangu student house. The police inspected the gates and the front door. They took down the floor plan of the building and had the students describe where the money was kept before it was stolen.
After that we went back to Marangu hospital with the police to meet with the head doctor and a few other member of the hospital staff. Once the staff found the Night Guard, the police had him lead us to his house to search for the stolen money among his belongings. He was acting very suspicious and guilty throughout this time. He tried to go into the house first (likely to hide the money before police could find it) but the police refused him entry and entered first.
Because only one of us (the victims) were allowed to enter the house, I went in. "House" or "home" was a very generous term to describe his living conditions. There were no lights and there was no kitchen or bathroom or toilet. It was just a single-room mud hut. I was surprised at the Guard's living conditions. It was not because he was poor or jobless though. He had a huge drinking problem and there were piles of empty alcohol containers littered on his property. It looks like he spent most of his money on alcohol instead of improving his living accommodations.
It was so dark in the house that we had to use our cell phone flash lights to search. Almost immediately the police found 200,000 Tsh in the pocket of one of his jackets. Any sort of doubt that he was the perpetrator vanished. At this point, the police were brutal towards the thief. How the police treat thieves in the third world is nothing like in the US to say the least. They slapped and kicked him many times and beat him with a wooden stick until the stick broke.
The police continued to "question" the thief to find out where the rest of the money was hidden. However, the thief was stubborn and wouldn't admit anything. It was some time before the police found the rest of the money. They turned the entire room upside down and found the rest of the money stuffed in a pair of shoes. From that point on, the police did not hold back. I felt no pity for the thief. In the third world, there is no mercy for thieves. And often times street justice leads to death. When the Night Guard stole the money form the students, he knew this would happen if he got caught.
As the police where preoccupied with the thief, I left the hut to count the money that was recovered. A lot of the money was still untouched but we found 204,250 Tsh missing (about $130). The thief would not tell them where it is...he still claimed innocence. What a scumbag.
Eventually the police got the name "Jessica" out of him. Jessica was his girlfriend and he supposedly gave that money to her (or at least the amount that he didn't already spend on drinks at the local bar the previous night).
The Night Guard was arrested and the police took him (and his girlfriend) back to the police station. The students gave their statements and the Night Guard was was put in a cell for the night. The girlfriend was let go when the police realized she had nothing to do with the actual burglary itself.
We went back to the Himo police station to bring the Night Guard to Marangu court the next day. It was very scary at first because they put us in the same car with the thief. Even though he was in handcuffs, it was weird. I kept on giving him the nastiest looks the entire drive.
The court was not what I expected, here's a glimpse of it. Our thief is in the red hoodie...on his phone...while he's handcuffed.
The judge listened to our side of the story (from our statement) and listened to the thief after us. He had the guts to plead "Not Guilty." What a joke. Everyone in the courtroom started laughing.
It was not long before they convicted him and the judge was working on the sentence. I was impressed at how quickly these events took place. Less than 48 hours after the theft did I find myself sitting in Tanzanian court awaiting the thief's sentencing. The Night Guard got 2 years in prison. I was very happy. I would have liked a longer sentence but the judge was lenient since this was his first offense. I think if we had a lawyer or went through the same process in the US, the thief would have gotten a much longer sentence.
It's okay though. 2 years in Tanzanian prison is like 10 years in a US prison. I am at peace with the verdict. The recovered money was returned to the students and the 204,250 Shillings that were not found will be paid to the students by the security company responsible for hiring the Guard. This is what 2,050,500 Tanzanian Shillings and $170 Dollars looks like:
We personally saw to it that the Night Guard was put into jail. Sometimes, if you leave it to the police to do it themselves, they might just let the prisoner go (if they get paid off, e.g. by a girlfriend). We tried to get a sneaky picture of the thief and the student whom he stole from. The irony that the two of them were sitting next to each other while we were taking the thief to jail was almost funny.
And here is the officer taking him to the prison. The thief's last moments as a free man.
I will be going back to Marangu on Friday to make sure the company pays up the remaining money.
Overall, I couldn't be happier with how this ended. These past few days were some of the most stressful of my life. It feels so rewarding that it ended well. I've never been in a situation like this before and I'm SO happy I didn't screw this up :)
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