MASAKA DISTRICT, Uganda,
9 November 2005 - Smoke from the cooking fire brings tears to the girl's
eyes, but she continues - barehanded - to adjust the steaming cassavas neatly
wrapped in banana leaves. Sixteen-year-old Agnes Nabukalu, orphaned by AIDS, is
preparing lunch for her family in the Masaka district of Uganda.
"I ask my siblings to follow only three rules," she says. "We do not go
outside the home at night, we do not eat before saying our prayers and every
Saturday, which is a no-school day, we work in the garden. They will always
listen to what I say. They also know I can be strict."
Agnes' soft-spoken tone and trusting face belie a level of maturity not often
displayed in her peers. But then, hearing her recount the trials she has had to
experience so far, there is no wonder why: The loss of both parents to AIDS (her
father in 1995, her mother in 2002). A runaway, older sister with whom there has
been no contact. A younger brother hospitalized for showing signs of
psychological distress. Another brother and another sister, ages 5 and 12,
living at home and completely dependent on her. As the eldest of the children
remaining on the family land in Butende Village Agnes has had to survive by
growing beyond her years.
Of the 2 million known orphans in Uganda in 2003, an estimated 940,000 were
orphaned due to AIDS (48 per cent), up from 42 per cent in 1995.
"When our mother was dying, we were so scared of being on our own. I remember
feeling that there was no hope at all, but I also remember her telling us to
make sure we stayed together. She did not want the family to fall apart. She
said the older children, in this case me, should look after the young."
During the first weeks following her mother's death, it was easier to
understand her mother's wish than to fulfil it. Unable to properly feed and
shelter themselves, Agnes and her siblings frequently fell ill. Their home was
in disarray as were their crops. Their household, now headed by a child, needed
outside help.
Help came in the form of the Uganda Women's Effort to Save Orphans. It began
assisting the family in 2002 by funding the construction of a low-cost, more
permanent house for the family with community-supplied labour and materials. The
NGO also organized the planting of cassava, bananas and sweet potatoes in the
family garden and established a system for community members to regularly check
on the children's needs.
"A parent to one is a parent to all," says Patrick Rwahwire, UWESO's Masaka
project coordinator. He stresses that his organization's role has been to
encourage the community to take ownership of the children with positive results
overall.
"AIDS is affecting not just one place, and not just one family," he says. "We
must continue to ring the bell more loudly."
It is a sentiment echoed by Sheila Marunga Coutinho, a UNICEF project officer
working on Orphans and other Vulnerable Children (OVC) issues in Uganda. UNICEF
is supporting local governments, UWESO and other NGO partners to implement the
national policy of caring for children orphaned by AIDS, a project currently
being piloted in Masaka, Adjumani, Bugiri and Kabarole districts.
"The world has seen Uganda take pioneering strides in combating the spread of
HIV/AIDS, but has enough been done for the children whose parents die of AIDS?"
says Coutinho. "The answer is that efforts on the ground today are inadequate
compared to the scale of the problem, and this is certainly where greater
involvement by those with a stake in Uganda's future generations can make a
difference. A case like Agnes' family reminds us that many girls and women who
bear the brunt of the impact of HIV/AIDS are very resilient and able to bounce
back from vulnerability, provided that there are proper interventions."
In Butende Village progress is measured one day at a time. Agnes says her
family's situation began changing for the better once community members became
involved. She is now able to attend a tailoring workshop where she learns sewing
through a course sponsored by UWESO and UNICEF and takes pride in having already
earned some money by selling "her shirts and trousers with good designs" to
local vendors.
"People came to dig the ground for planting and to build our house, and now
we have more food to eat," says Agnes. "They gave us a ray of hope. This house
was built on hope."