Voices of Children and Families
"My sister is six years old. There are no grown-ups living with us. I need a bathroom tap and clothes and shoes. And water also, inside the house. But especially, somebody to tuck me and my sister in at night. —Apiwe, aged 13
This quote begins a special series on the impact of HIV on African children by PlusNews, a source of global AIDS news and analysis run by the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN). Click here for the PlusNews report.
"I didn't want to see these kids to go to eat in the dustbin or to go to steal. Life is too difficult. I don't have a family now because of AIDS. My sister is gone; it's AIDS. My auntie is gone; it's AIDS. That's why I took these kids to stay with me also."
This quote comes from a Christian Science Monitor series profiling two South African couples who have made a home for AIDS orphans. Click here to learn more.
A Congolese Family Orphaned by AIDS
Sylvie Ngiaye, now 22, was only 16 years old when her father died from AIDS-related symptoms. Her mother, also infected with the virus at the time, was too weak to care for the family. Since there was no one else to care for her two younger brothers, and since the Democratic Republic of Congo has no social welfare system, Sylvie had to drop out of school to provide for her family. "It was too overwhelming for me.... I became pregnant by design to force my boyfriend to help take care of my family," said Sylvie.
As in Sylvie's case, many [AIDS orphans] are forced at an early age to care for their families. Because of difficult economic conditions in the country, they often resort to prostitution, exposing themselves to AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases to support their families.
In African traditions, orphans are usually cared for by their relatives. AIDS orphans, however, are often discriminated against and sometimes victimized by their extended families. When Mrs. Ngiaye died a year after her husband's death, Sylvie, her brothers, and her baby became the subject of insults from their relatives. Although they did not test positive for HIV/AIDS, their uncles often forbade their children from socializing with either Sylvie or her brothers, claiming that they would contaminate them. "Our uncles were vicious.... Shortly after our mother died, they tried without our knowledge to sell our house while we were living in it," said Sylvie.
After Sylvie gave birth, her boyfriend left her. With an incomplete education, Sylvie could not find work in the country's poor job market. "Fortunately, someone told me that I could get help from AMO-Congo [an organization that cares mostly for orphans]," she says. The organization, run by Dr. Henri Mukumbi, a United Methodist, gave Sylvie a monthly ration of food to feed her family. The organization also provided job skills training to Sylvie. She is now a secretary at AJIS, an organization involved in educating youth about HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.
This article by Mulegwa Zihindula was published by the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church and is available on their website at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/work/health/aids/archives/congolesefamily/.