African smiles begin as early as a rising sun!!

These kids are learning how to make an African smile. They are cute. They are  proud because of their chance to early education knowing quite well that there are many visible and invisible children out there who starve of similar  smiles. Their great eyes and smiles invite you to a tireless defense of their rights. Your tender hand could hold them a candle that leads to the sun rise. 

In Rubanda community, we have many kids who become parents at an early age. When kids lose both or one of the parents, kids get unwanted new name " orphan". From then, they become parents to themselves and to their siblings. Its sad but real. Within acute and chronic poverty environment, these kids start parenting each other at an early and tender age for both personal and family survival. You could imagine what they will not search for. That's what an orphan child goes through in Rubanda. And the order of their parenting skills follows the order of their seniority. The older become fathers and mothers to their younger. Why all this? HIV/AIDS is the greatest factor adding to the rising family and cultural social breakdown.  To know more on  the invisible children look at the picture below from the Uganda New Vision news paper and read the story among many that compels thousands of kind and generous hearts to act the way they amazingly do for children.

Facing Death at the hand of a spouse

Elsie Kamire's grandchildren. They were abandoned when their father killed their mother before hanging himself. PHOTO BY Johnson Mayamba. 

By Johnson Mayamba.

Posted  Monday, October 17  2011 at  00:00

In Summary

According to a review on gender based violence in Sub Saharan Africa, Uganda ranks number one with the highest percentage at 60. Unless efforts are made to deal with the problem, the country will experience more deaths of especially women and children.

On April 5, 2011, residents of Terere Village, Nkokonjeru Sub-County in Mukono District were shocked to find Shamim Nyunjimana brutally murdered by her husband who later hanged himself in the near by bush.

Nyunjimana who was eight months pregnant had been married to Ezekiel Masente for close to two years. When her mother Maria Kabanyana gave her away at the age of 16 to a 53-year-old man for a kilogramme of sugar and a bar of soap, she did not know that she was giving her away as a sacrificial lamb. Some people blame Kabanyana for her daughter’s death.

Elsie Kamiire, 76 years and Nyunjimana’s mother-in-law accuses Kabanyana of forcing her daughter to get married to Masente. She says that when Kabanyana realised that her daughter was in love with Masente, she forced her to demand an introduction from Masente which he was not ready to do at the time. It is alleged that Kabanyana then demanded that if Masente could not pay everything at once, he should first get Shs500,000 before taking her daughter, which Masente agreed to do.

Masente then bought a kilogramme of sugar and a bar of soap which he gave to Nyunjimana to take to her mother to get permission from her to be his wife. Kabanyana who admitted to have received the items and gave her daughter a go ahead, said this was Masente’s initiative and that she did not ask for the items but money from him. “That was Masente’s own initiative. He agreed to pay Shs500,000 before taking my daughter. When he sent the items, I thought he was serious, that is why I gave her a go a head,” Kabanyana said.

It is said that few months later, Nyunjimana got pregnant which prompted her mother to recall her from her husband’s place saying the man had not paid everything and that it was wrong for her to carry his child.

Nyunjimana then started spending most of her days at her mother’s place and would only go back to her husband’s place at 7pm till 6am. This became a problem according to Matia Ntagganila, a neighbour to the deceased.

Ntagganila says that Masente stopped providing for the family as he accused Nyunjimana several times of cheating on him with other men. “This is what caused the quarrel on that fateful night prompting the man to cut his wife into pieces,” Ntagganila said.

Nyunjimana’s death is one among many. In fact, on that same night, in the next village, Tom Ramech, 35, beat his wife Harriet Nabibu to death on allegations that she was dating other men for money. At Lugazi Police Station on April 7, Florence Kedodi, 40 years, had come to report her husband. She says he had promised to kill her.

Kedodi says that when she fell sick, her husband Sam Katerega, 50, abandoned her with their four children at Mulago Hospital. “He sold all the property at home including the house we had built and married a younger woman leaving me with nothing. When I complained, he said he will kill me,” Kedodi narrated. The stories of such women abound everyday in different parts of the country.

The three kids in the above story is one among many where children are forced to parenthood at ab early age in Rubanda. 

The Rubanda Solidarity's mission is to make a difference and provide hope to these kids. Because we are convinced that helping these visible and invisible kids to cope up with their new realities is all what their smile is about and deserves. 

Please, if you feel to join us in this mission, just post your comment and request and we shall reach you soon.