I am 27 years old born in a family of six:  one brother and four sisters with the last, Elizabeth, born now about 13 years ago.  We lost our parents when I was 16 years old and Elizabeth only 2 years old.  For many years, we have lived without father nor mother or even a relative. 

In  April, 1998 we lost our father from what I suspected was AIDS because my little sister tested HIV positive.  At that time, I was 14 years old in primary seven.  As if dad dying was not enough, relatives grabbed all the property we  had because  mum was unable to protect anything. Our mother didn’t know how to read or write, but always told us to live in unity and work for each other. We lost our property to our relatives but managed to save the house in which we live in Kampala city.  As a single mother with almost no source of income, mum struggled to educate us. We used to move around selling maize and sweet bananas to generate some money, although it wasn’t enough at all.  We pushed on like this until our mother became too sickly.  Then we had to spend more time nursing her.  But we never saved her life. Our mum was advised to stop breastfeeding my youngest sister,  but it was too late to practice Preventing Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV.   Elizabeth got infected with HIV/AIDS.

My mother passed away in October, 1999 leaving us in a world of darkness with our little sister Elizabeth who was hardly two years old.  My elder sister Annet dropped out of school to take care of us, especially Elizabeth.  Annet would carry Elizabeth on her back to the clinic when she was sick and for her clinic appointments.  But one thing I told myself and the rest of the family: “Fathers and mothers whose lives didn’t shine, their children will make a difference. Let us learn how to always put a smile on people’s faces, I know even where our parents are now, they count on our success and they are happy.”  (May their souls rest in peace. Amen.)  My brother Francis and my other sisters, Catherine and Faith, and I continued with school as best we could.  You can imagine how embarrassing and hard it was for us when a teacher talked about school fees defaulters and we knew that the teacher was talking about us.

One time Elizabeth was playing with her friends and heard them saying:  “I am going to report you to my mother.” She had never had heard us at home call anybody mother.  Later, she came home and asked me: “Where is Mum….?” I cried in my heart while answering her saying:  “It’s me.”   She is 13 years now, she calls me Mum and I have learned to live with this.”

In year 2000, a friend to our late mum told us about AWOFS (AIDS Widows Orphans Family Support) and the following day I walked there.  It took me about an hour because I didn’t know the city and exactly where this place was. I managed to get there though and met a lady named Aunt Vennie,  may her soul rest in peace.  She welcomed me, counseled me, and she was more than a mother to me.  A few days later she visited our home and found the situation worse than I had told her.  She introduced my family to the rest of the AWOFS team:   Uncle Wilbroad, and Pasteur . These people were amazing!  They started giving us support and introduced us to Home Care HIV clinic.  At AWOFS we joined the youth forum where we used to meet as orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) to discuss different life experiences.   While there I always felt that I was in a better situation than other children.  We at least had a house.  

While at AWOFS I undertook a business training course after which I got a grant and started selling charcoal.  This didn’t survive for long because there wasn’t much profit. We also greatly benefited from GOAL Uganda.   GOAL is an international humanitarian agency founded in Ireland and dedicated to alleviating the suffering of the poorest of the poor.  GOAL gave us bedding and repaired our pit latrine.  

We moved on amidst all the challenges.   I remember so well those days when the only meal we were sure of was lunch at school.  Every evening when we came back home, we would pray and thank God for the gift of our family and also share experiences of the day. 

Later in 2003, through AWOFS again, we met Dr. Hugo Kamya, the founder of The Makula Fund, who has been a great instrument of courage, love and care.  One important thing I have learned from Dr. Hugo:  “A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle”. His love has been greater than a mother’s love, I have evidence.