The Crises
Uganda began to document its first AIDS cases in 1982, calling the
disease “slim” for its skeleton-producing effects upon the body. Scientists believe that this region of Africa, around the area of Lake Victoria, was where HIV first began infecting humans. To date, over 1.6 million Ugandans have died from the disease, and another one million are living with HIV.
Today, Uganda is widely hailed as Africa's AIDS success story. In 1992 it had a 16 percent rate of infection; by 2003 it had dropped to 4 and 6 percent. The turnaround is widely attributed to President Yoweri Museveni, who spoke out early and often about the disease, and a homegrown grassroots campaign from ordinary Ugandans to care for the sick and educate the healthy. However, even as HIV/AIDS statistics begin to recede, the situation for the children left behind by the disease worsens by the day.
The Smallest Victims
» Every 15 seconds, a child in Africa is orphaned by AIDS.
» There are 14 million AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa.
» There will be 18 million AIDS orphans in the same region by 2010.
» 8 of every 10 AIDS orphans live in sub-Saharan Africa.
The reality of life for orphans in Ugandan is cruelty and neglect. There are no social systems to intervene. If a relative will not take them in, they are forced to the streets. Even if they are taken in by extended family, they are often treated as outsiders and usually given the lowest priority in the home when it comes to food, clothing and education. Generally speaking, the more distant the relative, the higher the degree of neglect. If the family’s financial situation worsens, the orphans are sent away. With nowhere to go, girls are often forced into prostitution or an early marriage. Boys join the swelling ranks of street kids—homeless children who congregate in gangs, dig through garbage for food, sleep on store verandahs and subject themselves to all sorts of labor and even sexual exploitation. There is no love, nurturing, hope or care for these children. These children are living out tragic stories that can be rewritten with the direct and intentional help of organizations like Ugandan Lambs.