Anna (not her real name)
Anna is four years old and lives in a suburb outside of Kampala. She is the youngest of five siblings, born to HIV+ parents. Anna’s parents died when she was 3 years old, leaving her and her siblings in the care of her elderly grandmother.
Anna was shifted to Kampala to stay with her auntie when it was discovered that she was being neglected at her grandmother’s place. However, as her auntie worked during the day, Anna was also given little care at this new house, and was often locked out of the house during the day while her auntie worked. She was left with very little food and no certain shelter when rain came.
Anna’s younger auntie, Sherene, who is 15 years old, saw that Anna kept getting sick. She knew that Anna’s parents died of HIV and decided to bring her to Mengo’s pediatric HIV clinic for testing. Anna was indeed HIV+, and was enrolled for care in the pediatric clinic.
Anna was also enrolled in Mengo’s children’s club. Children’s Club meets one Saturday each month, and pays for school fees and uniforms for all children who are members. Anna’s young auntie Sherene who first brought her to Mengo comes with her as a caretaker, but as she is quite young herself, enjoys time with the older girls in children’s club. She is really smart and loves to share in all the teaching and playing the other kids enjoy at Children’s club.
The head of children’s club (Dorothy) at Mengo went to the primary school where Anna is in “baby class” to pay school fees—she found Anna in class but without a uniform. The school is composed of several ramshackle buildings surrounding a central courtyard. Even before entering the courtyard, however, one can hear the shouts and laughter of the 100+ children at the school, busy at their learning. One teacher is doing an English lesson with her children; she can be heard calling loudly, “WHERE are you going?” and the children’s response “We are GOING to SCHOOL.” These question and answer game/lessons are the staple of nursery school here, and a single question/answer may be repeated over and over until all the children have mastered it. Another class is singing an exuberant song, and in yet another classroom the teacher is trying in vain to get the attention of her young charges.
The headmaster’s room is cluttered with several desks, boxes of uniforms and supplies, bags of rice and maize flour, books, papers, and in one corner, a sleeping child on a mattress. He gladly fetches Anna from her classroom, and she comes in shyly, dressed in a torn red and yellow dress that is several sizes too big and the requisite sturdy black shoes worn by all school children. Dorothy asks her in Luganda if she recognizes us—Anna nods but doesn’t speak. Dorothy then instructs her to come and greet us (one of the first lessons learned by all Ugandan children as soon as they can walk and talk—the importance of formally greeting elders). She shakes my hand and silently greets me.
Dorothy asks about the uniform. The headmaster says they do have pinafores at the moment but no blouses. He brings a navy-blue jumper with the logo of the school printed in white letters on the front. Anna is summarily stripped of her dress and redressed in the pinafore. She strokes the front of her new uniform, but still doesn’t say anything. The subject of sweater is raised (the rainy season and many morning year-round are cold for Ugandans—the sweater is a key part of the school uniform.) Next comes sportswear—blue shorts and a bright red tee-shirt are produced from a box and Namata is again stripped, and redressed in her sportswear. At this point she begins to smile, obviously pleased at her good fortune to be the owner of beautiful new clothes.
Dorothy tells Anna that she is expected to come to children’s club this Saturday dressed in her uniform, and we say goodbye to her and to the headmaster, thanking him for his help. Anna goes back to her classroom, with her old dress and the new pinafore in a polythene bag clutched at her side. With her school fees paid for the term, she has a place to stay during the day while her Auntie is working, and will be fed and kept warm when it rains.
Anna was shifted to Kampala to stay with her auntie when it was discovered that she was being neglected at her grandmother’s place. However, as her auntie worked during the day, Anna was also given little care at this new house, and was often locked out of the house during the day while her auntie worked. She was left with very little food and no certain shelter when rain came.
Anna’s younger auntie, Sherene, who is 15 years old, saw that Anna kept getting sick. She knew that Anna’s parents died of HIV and decided to bring her to Mengo’s pediatric HIV clinic for testing. Anna was indeed HIV+, and was enrolled for care in the pediatric clinic.
Anna was also enrolled in Mengo’s children’s club. Children’s Club meets one Saturday each month, and pays for school fees and uniforms for all children who are members. Anna’s young auntie Sherene who first brought her to Mengo comes with her as a caretaker, but as she is quite young herself, enjoys time with the older girls in children’s club. She is really smart and loves to share in all the teaching and playing the other kids enjoy at Children’s club.
The head of children’s club (Dorothy) at Mengo went to the primary school where Anna is in “baby class” to pay school fees—she found Anna in class but without a uniform. The school is composed of several ramshackle buildings surrounding a central courtyard. Even before entering the courtyard, however, one can hear the shouts and laughter of the 100+ children at the school, busy at their learning. One teacher is doing an English lesson with her children; she can be heard calling loudly, “WHERE are you going?” and the children’s response “We are GOING to SCHOOL.” These question and answer game/lessons are the staple of nursery school here, and a single question/answer may be repeated over and over until all the children have mastered it. Another class is singing an exuberant song, and in yet another classroom the teacher is trying in vain to get the attention of her young charges.
The headmaster’s room is cluttered with several desks, boxes of uniforms and supplies, bags of rice and maize flour, books, papers, and in one corner, a sleeping child on a mattress. He gladly fetches Anna from her classroom, and she comes in shyly, dressed in a torn red and yellow dress that is several sizes too big and the requisite sturdy black shoes worn by all school children. Dorothy asks her in Luganda if she recognizes us—Anna nods but doesn’t speak. Dorothy then instructs her to come and greet us (one of the first lessons learned by all Ugandan children as soon as they can walk and talk—the importance of formally greeting elders). She shakes my hand and silently greets me.
Dorothy asks about the uniform. The headmaster says they do have pinafores at the moment but no blouses. He brings a navy-blue jumper with the logo of the school printed in white letters on the front. Anna is summarily stripped of her dress and redressed in the pinafore. She strokes the front of her new uniform, but still doesn’t say anything. The subject of sweater is raised (the rainy season and many morning year-round are cold for Ugandans—the sweater is a key part of the school uniform.) Next comes sportswear—blue shorts and a bright red tee-shirt are produced from a box and Namata is again stripped, and redressed in her sportswear. At this point she begins to smile, obviously pleased at her good fortune to be the owner of beautiful new clothes.
Dorothy tells Anna that she is expected to come to children’s club this Saturday dressed in her uniform, and we say goodbye to her and to the headmaster, thanking him for his help. Anna goes back to her classroom, with her old dress and the new pinafore in a polythene bag clutched at her side. With her school fees paid for the term, she has a place to stay during the day while her Auntie is working, and will be fed and kept warm when it rains.
posted by Christi-Lynn at 9:43 AM
1 Comments:
I've been thinking about you today so decided to check your blog and found several things I hadn't yet seen. This is a great story--can you send it to us via email so that we can pass it on to MCC communications? if they decide to use it, they'll edit and send it to you and me before they release it. Anna is very cute in her sports clothes, by the way!
Gann
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