One of the first challenges that the Orphans and Vulnerable
Children (OVC) subgroup encountered was the complexity of the topic, making it
a broad and challenging subject to cover entirely. Because vulnerable children
can also mean children that are disabled or have a poor quality of life, we
decided to focus upon orphans, child-headed families, and children that have
lost one parent to HIV/AIDS in order to narrow our search. Our approach was to coordinate with organizations that
focus on the aiding of OVCs in both rural and urban communities. In our first
two weeks in Uganda, we have been extremely fortunate to speak with and explore
organizations such as the Rakai Aids Information Network (RAIN), Kalongo Widow
and Orphans’ Project, a prominent babies home in urban Uganda, and a remand
home in urban Uganda. Through our experiences with these organizations, we have
decided to focus on education, healthcare, quality of life, and the impact of
organizations on the lives of OVCs. Throughout the next week, we hope to
continue to gather information from urban organizations, medical institutions,
and orphanages within Kampala.
Investigating
our topic over the past week, our group has explored many facets of OVCs.
Visiting with RAIN and the Kalongo Widow and Orphans’ Project in Rakai gave us
some fascinating insight into the lives of OVCs. For example, we were shocked
at the lack of involvement of the government in the case of OVCs. Though the
Ugandan government provides Universal Primary Education (UPE), we learned that
merely providing schools and teachers was not enough. Both RAIN and the Widow
and Orphans’ Project had to provide scholastic materials, clothes, food, and
even shelter for OVCs. We were also surprised to learn that though the
government does provide some
universal secondary education, it is only for those who meet high academic
standards, a difficult feat for orphans who attend low-quality primary schools
and face hardships that other students may not. We also learned some
astonishing statistics. Out of the 34.5 million people living in Uganda, 52%
are under the age of 18; of these youth, 11.5% are orphans.
Two
days ago, the JHU/MakSPH students had the opportunity to visit a babies home
and remand home within the city of Kampala, allowing us to further explore our
topic. The babies home, an orphanage for abandoned children under the age of
four, is geared towards finding a permanent home for these children, locally
and internationally. Within the home they are taught, provided meals, and cared
for by staff, affectionately termed ‘mamas’. If a child in the home is not
adopted by the age of four, they are transferred to a home specialized towards
older children. Our time spent at the babies home consisted of touring the
home, shadowing classes, helping with grounds work and laundry, and playing
with kids. The remand home provided a stark contrast from the babies home. A
center for youth aged 12-17 who have been arrested and are awaiting trial, the
remand home’s efforts are meant to reform the behavior of these youth and
assist them through their trial. The facility, meant to accommodate 142 youth,
was overcapacity, housing 184 youth. JHU/MakSPH students were surprised at the
close living quarters and lack of necessities. Through interviews with the
social workers and warden, we learned that a large number of the youth there
were OVCs. A social worker explained that many OVCs are forced to commit crimes
in order to provide for themselves, younger siblings, or older relatives. Our
goal there was to interact with thirty of these youth through activities and
discussion, getting to know them individually.
Later that night our group led a
reflection session focusing on the day’s activities. We discussed the impact
that we had on the babies and youth earlier that day as well as the ethical
dilemmas we encountered at the babies home, remand home, and while
investigating our independent study topics. The majority of students had mixed
feelings about their contributions towards these youth. Leading off of that,
the first topic that we discussed was whether we had done more service or harm
in our short time volunteering at the babies home and remand home. Many
students felt guilty volunteering for one day because they felt the experience
was geared more towards their academics than helping the youth. Students also
felt disappointed with the remand home because they believed that they could not
make a significant impact. One term that
was discussed by everyone during the reflection session was ‘Poverty Tourism’.
This term refers to the act of seeking out experiences or lifestyles in
underdeveloped countries that a traveler may not otherwise see. In the session,
we decided that, as students, our experience did not classify as Poverty
Tourism because our intentions were well-meaning and the purpose was academic.
In the next week, our group is eager
to explore more urban areas, learning about OVCs in the process. On our
independent study day, we are excited to visit an orphanage geared towards
children older than the age of four. We cannot wait to compare and contrast our
findings with those from the rural areas as well as the babies home and remand
home. Hopefully, we’ll gain much more insight into the condition of orphans and
vulnerable children in Uganda.
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| A member of the OVC group interacting with an orphan at TORUWU |
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