| |
contact us
home
 Life-prolonging
treatment for HIV/AIDS is unavailable for most Ugandans. As a result,
the greatest numbers of people die between the ages of 21 and 35,
leaving behind young children. Although Uganda has reduced and
stabilized its infection rate, the number of orphans continues to grow.
Tororo district, where UMOP is located, has the second highest HIV/AIDS
rate in the country because of a major international highway. There are
900-1200 new orphans around Tororo each year.
The older orphans must immediately assume the role of parents for
younger brothers and sisters. Without help, they leave school and often
lose family land. These vulnerable children are often forced into lives
of illiteracy, poverty, petty crime, prostitution, hopelessness, and a
heightened risk of HIV/AIDS.
Orphaned girls are especially vulnerable, in a society where the health
and safety of women is still dependent on men. Girls are often forced
into relationships with older men, sometimes as second or third wives.
Others become sex workers, having no other source of income with which
to care for younger siblings. According to the International Planned
Parenthood Federation, more than 50% of Ugandan girls become mothers
before the age of 18. Practices such as female genital mutilation,
polygamy, and early marriage are prevalent in Uganda.
UNICEF has called upon every nation to make the education of all
children, especially girls, a major focus of investment. UMOP takes in
three girls to every two boys, believing that to educate and empower a
girl will empower the nation. The need for more housing and better
security for girls at UMOP is acute.
Meanwhile, the continuing HIV/AIDS epidemic saps Ugandan communities of
their strongest workers and best-educated leaders. Economic growth at
every level is blighted, and even food security is threatened. Help from
the developed world is essential to ensure the future of Ugandan
children and of the nation as a whole.
|
