Unedited article published on issue 32 of African Woman(www.africanwomanmagazine.net)
AIDS has shaken the lives of many children and their families. For more than 15 million AIDS orphans, the loss of their parents marks the end of their childhood and the beginning of a life confronted by enormous challenges.
By Claudia Giampietri
Statistics and figures look dull and often uninteresting. Nevertheless, data related to HIV/AIDS are staggering and manage to convey how tragic the reality is. Unsurprisingly, AIDS has some of its harshest effects on children. Every hour about 31 children die as a result of AIDS around the world. At the end of 2007 there were 2 million children living with HIV and the majority of them acquired the infection from their mothers during pregnancy, birth or brestfeeding. AIDS epidemic has created and continues to create many orphans: it is estimated that by the end of 2007 more than 15 million children had lost one or both parents as a result of AIDS. Most children affected by AIDS – 11.6 million – live in Sub-Saharan Africa, the region of the world where the virus has taken its greatest toll. Life for children can change dramatically from the moment one of the parents becomes ill. They are pushed to take on ever more responsibilities and inevitably lose their childhood becoming adults before their time. They are in charge of running the house, caring for family members and earning an income. Moreover, as soon as one or both parents fall sick, having access to proper nutrition, health care and schooling becomes the biggest challenge. Children often stop going to school for the lack of money to pay the fees and the support received by other relatives is crucial for survival. AIDS epidemic causes households to dissolve and erodes the social fabric. Inevitably, poor people are the most vulnerable and for them the effects are the most severe. In most cases, when the parents die the grandparents become the only guardians of the orphans. For the grandparents caring for their grandchildren is a strenuous task – above all when resources are limited – and for this reason, many orphans are split up and end up living with different families to avoid overburdening single members. Being separated from the siblings can increase dramatically the psychological distress in orphaned children who already experience an abnormal level of mental and emotional pressure. In a study carried out in Uganda by UNAIDS, anxiety, depression and anger were found to be more common among AIDS orphans than other children. Apparently, 12% of AIDS orphans affirmed that they wished they were dead, compared to 3% of other children interviewed. These figures mirror the cruel reality experienced by many people every day. The orphans and the family members that care for them have to cope with problems that seem too great to be overcome. In the outskirts of Kampala, I meet two brave grandparents who face the challenge of caring for their 17 grandchildren whose parents died from AIDS. Jackson Ajock* and his wife Margaret had six children that became HIV positive in their teens. Margaret remembers how shocked she felt when her first born disclosed to them to be HIV positive. “When my daughter discovered to be positive she was pregnant with her third child – says Jackson. “She became depressed, barely ate and was drinking alcohol. After giving birth, she committed suicide,” Jackson admits with a voice that betrays his deep sorrow. The story repeats itself again with their other five children, who died of AIDS in a short period of time leaving 17 orphans behind. Margaret and Jackson decided not to separate their grandchildren and have been trying their best to provide for them with the meagre income they have. Jackson owns a sewing machine and earns very little money mending clothes, while Margaret works in the fields and provides the family with some vegetables. “We never considered the option of splitting them up. I remember that after the death of their parents, strangers would knock at our door asking us to give them the elder orphans. They said that they would make them work and we would earn some money from it, but we refused. We believe that these children need to grow up together, because only if they remain united they can help each other and manage to overcome the grief caused by the death of their parents,” the grandfather states. Luckily enough, Margaret and Jackson own the two-rooms house where they live. With what Jackson earns from his work he buys sugar, milk and beans, while Margaret provides cassava and greens from the field. Feeding 19 people is the biggest daily challenge, and they confess that they manage to eat only once a day. “When the orphans came to live with us, they were often crying because they felt hungry and used to ask for food during the day. By now they have learnt to wait patiently for the meal,” Jackson says with a submissive look in his eyes. “My heart breaks at the sight of my grandchildren hungry. Margaret and I are concerned especially for the youngest one, Ivan.” Ivan is just two years old and is the only one born with HIV. “We were told that he needs to eat properly to avoid the HIV drugs to become toxic or developing opportunistic infections,” Margaret says while cuddling sleepy Ivan with motherly affection. Being the money scarcely enough to buy food, not all their grandchildren can go to school and the only two who attend classes have the school fees paid by individuals who sponsor AIDS orphans. “We wish that those who have the chance to study will be able to get a decent job and help us out in the future,” admits Jackson. The well-being of the aging couple will increasingly depend on their grandchildren, and Margaret and Jackson wish that the orphans could grow healthy and lead more comfortable lives, but above all they wish that their parents’ story won’t repeat itself.
