Children - Born into the slums of Kampala
For a child in a slum, life is simply a dull pain. There are few joys, and yet the children one meets in a slum often still smile in spite of. Most of them do not go to school. 60 % of the inhabitants of Kampala - live in a slum and there many and they vary in the quality of life for its residents from bad to worse.
Lack is the chief word - Lack of money and since
unemployment runs over 60% - so no income - with no income there is more
reasons for adults to obtain money and at times the abject poverty drives adults
to illegal means of gaining enough to have a daily meal. Food prices have
spiraled out of control in 2011 meaning that most people living in slums live on
even less. One meal a day - and the meal may consist of beans and posho -
a maize flour that is relatively inexpensive-meat is a rare option if an option
at all. Fruit - though this a country filled with some of the best fruit in the
world. Children will rarely eat pineapple, bananas and the like unless they have
a garden and in the slums there are no gardens - there is only misery.
The average Ugandan woman has 7 children - a lot by Western standards but it is an insurance for the future - there are not many retirement plans for Ugandans especially the poor. Children provide for their parents when they get older - however many children die an early death along the way.
Sickness hovers like a ghost over the slums and pregnant women, children, the elderly suffer the most. Due to the close proximity of the houses to each other malaria spreading mosquitoes have a field day - malaria strikes and often there is not money for treatment or a doctor - or the pharmacist who is not a real pharmacist will dispense some fake drugs, drugs that no longer work and again death comes to visit a family. 345 deaths are attributed to malaria each day in Uganda.
Hygiene-there is the absence of water - you have to pay for it - so it is used for cooking but not for hygiene - yet soap and water would prevent 40 of childhood diseases. Here it is not done - too expensive. Toilet if they are available inn slums are pit latrines and again no water for washing of hands in many cases leading to many infections that could easily prevented.
Toilets - here we call them pit latrines- some cost per use - sometimes they simply do not exist in great numbers and the result is what is referred to as flying toilet-plastic sack which wind up on the roof tops of the shanty towns - when it rains the raw sewage returns to the ground and more children become ill.
Free immunizations are available but because of not being informed many mothers from slums do not take their children to be immunized.
You cannot drink the tap water unless boiled - but many do since they cannot afford the bottled water - you can buy plastic sacks of water but you do not know if this water was really boiled long enough - the result more illnesses.
Life expectancy is Kampala is 53 however much shorter for slum dwellers and here you often you see small wooden caskets and you know it is another child that has died.
Children play ball with plastic bottles instead of balls, no toys to play with, no dolls for girls, no books to read-life is hard for a child born into the slum and there are a lot of daily chores for most cleaning, from cleaning, washing clothes, taking care of the younger children, cooking - many things that children in the West would not be made to do - but it becomes a necessity here - the need is simply overwhelming.
Education: There is UPE which is free - but nothing is free - you have to bring several brooms-toilet paper, uniforms, gym clothing (there are hardly any gyms here - they do some calisthenics in the dirt) exercise books, pencils, lunch - nothing is free and for poor families that becomes an impossibility - they might go to relatives and get some small help. Private schools in a slum may cost around 20 usd a term for the lower grades - and go upward to 75 for later grades. You have to pay for examinations and other fees. Result - that often many children from slums drop out - especially girls - stay at home and work around the house.
The home of children born into slums-one room - everyone sleeps in one room-children sleep on mats on the floor- hard to put mosquito nets up for the children or anyone else. Toilet is outside and communal if there is one - bathing area - outside with a basin - no running water- food preparation - usually done outside on a small charcoal cooker - aluminum pots. Only 3 percent of the people have electricity - often if someone in a slum has electricity it is stolen since slum dwellers cannot afford to buy it. Water - you have to bring it in Jerry Cans and carry it some distance and pay 10 cents for 20 liters- does not seem like a lot - but daily - it is.
A child growing up here - has no future and no hope - unless there is a miraculous intervention...from Kampala...jon
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Stories, pictures that touch the
heart and soul. Accounts of the life of children in Africa. |
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Life in a Kampala Neighborhood: Life for the average Ugandan is simply tough. |
 A day
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A typical day in an African
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called Harambee makes a village work. |
 Encounter
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 Life
Saving Medicine - Soap and Water: Simple soap & water can
save lives. |
 Children
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there is an education. |
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 Aids
and the Children of Africa: Many children in Africa have
been affected by AIDS. |
 Culture
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Girls are often overlooked
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 Born in the USA and Born in Africa -Where you are
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 Impact your World:
Volunteer in Uganda.
One or two weeks that will change your life. |
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 Send
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 Make
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Visit Africa and give yourself. |
 African
Children Photo Album: The pictures of Africa's Children
tell their story. |
 What
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There are many ways you can
help a child in Africa. |
A
day in a School in Africa:
Children
- Born into slums-The Solution=Education:
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See Africa's Children in Pictures on pages 1,2, 3, 4,5,6.
Children Born into Slums - Kampala, Uganda
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