Heading a household at 16

In a cramped, one-room house on the outskirts of Uganda's capital city of Kampala, 16-year-old Moureen Ampairwe rears her two younger sisters and a brother, working to hang onto the dreams their mother nurtured in them.

It hasn't been easy. Moureen was 13 when her mother died. Her father, a doctor, had died from AIDS several years earlier. The four siblings, all HIV negative, were left to fend for themselves.

Thankfully their mother had foresight. After her husband died and with the knowledge that her life would soon end from AIDS, Moureen's mother bought a small plot of land and put up a house.

"She said when I leave this earth, I don't want you to sell this land," recounted Moureen. "She told us that she wanted it to be ours until we were mature. Then she told me I would have to look after my younger brother and sisters."

And that's exactly what she's done, with a little help from Mengo Hospital's Children's Club.

The club, which is largely funded by Generations at Risk, the HIV/AIDS program of Mennonite Central Committee, supports 90 children, some of whom have been orphaned by AIDS, some who have parents who are ill and some of whom are HIV positive. The club meets once a month, offering medical attention, a warm meal and a comfortable, accepting environment.

Moureen and her siblings are not alone. The prevalence of HIV-positive adults in Uganda has dropped to 7 percent from a high of 18 percent in 1992. Yet Uganda still has one of the highest numbers of AIDS orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2000, the Uganda AIDS Commission estimated that there were at least 1.1 million children below the age of 15 years who had lost one or both parents to AIDS.

Many of the children at Mengo's Children's Club have missed years of schooling because of their own illnesses — about half of them are HIV positive themselves — or due to having to care for their parents. In an attempt to reverse this educational deficit, the club pays for the children's school fees, uniforms, books and other education costs.

The club meetings always begin with a prayer and song, so that, according to one counselor, "we are happy and feel united." Children who have health problems see medical officers while the others talk about what has happened to them since they last met or any personal problems they'd like to share.

Then a counselor will discuss life skills. Since many of the children have lost their mothers or are living with foster parents who often neglect the normal duties of child rearing, the children frequently don't learn basic social skills.

"We might talk about good behavior, how to greet people and the importance of saying thank you," explained counselor Anne Kisakye.

This day the children were asked to present themselves and to discuss their experiences at the Children's Club. One 12-year-old boy, Godfrey, the brother of Moureen, was especially articulate and energetic.

"I like coming to the club because I have made friends and it has helped me with things I otherwise couldn't have managed," he said. "I have learned songs, good eating habits, how to act in public."

Every child at the club has lost at least one parent to AIDS, and many, having lost both, now live with uncles, aunts or foster parents.

Moureen and Godfrey are among several children in the club who are forging their own way in the world. On the property that their mother bequeathed them, Moureen, Godrey and their sisters have two single-room units that they rent out. The money helps pay for food and cover the costs of schooling.

Moureen wants to be a doctor, Godfrey an engineer.

"Our mother," Moureen said, "told us to love God as we love ourselves, that God is on our side and to study hard."

As they care for each other, as they dream and work together, they hang on to her parting advice.

 

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