Metrospective

April 13, 2006 Vol 28 No.27

Resilence in Africa

Michael Maisar, age unknown, stands near a window in the orphanage schoolhouse. Most orphans do not know exactly how old they are because they arrived at the orphanage too young to remember their age.

"Grief, like any other social challenge or joy is a shared phenomenon"

Lucas Shamala, Ph. D.
Visting Assistant Professor of African and African-American Studies

Story and photos by Dawn Madura • dmadura@mscd.edu

An orphan sits near one of his chickens, which he raises to sell for spending money. Other boys raise doves, ducks and rabbits.

An orphan at Dorcas Children’s Home changes clothes in the boys’ living quarters, a large room he shares with about 25 other boys.

Alan Sserugo sits at a desk inside an orphanage classroom. Sserugo is not an orphan, but spends his days at the Dorcas Home because his mother works as a prostitute during the day.

Medi Nsubuga’s eyes water in the early morning sunlight. Dorcas Children’s Home founder Sam Mutabaazi believes Nsubuga may be infected with HIV, but chooses not to test the children at his orphanage because of the significant cultural stigma attached to the disease.

   Today, the boys who live at this orphanage are the furthest from the damaged children one would expect as a result of years of hunger, fear and the exploitation by adults.
   Their stories vary. Most of the boys lost their parents to AIDS, some to Malaria. Some fetched water for money, others ended up involved in prostitution.
   Regardless of the story, the outcome is the same: an unexpectedly vivacious glow of excitement in the child’s face, easy laughter and an eagerness to do well in school.
   From an American perspective, this may be difficult to understand.
From the typical Western viewpoint, this child cannot possibly be happy or excited. He has been wearing the same set of clothing for a year; he has no family; he has no toys. There are no child psychologists or antidepressants.
   In 1981 the world saw its first AIDS case. It was diagnosed in the United States and, according to the Uganda AIDS Commission, the disease was detected in Uganda by 1982.
Years later, after AIDS had killed three of his brothers, his son and several nieces and nephews, Sam Mutabaazi, then a successful businessman in the capital city of Kampala, saw an opportunity to help.
   Mutabaazi said that while he was keeping his shop, he would see street children, often one older girl or boy, “in charge of six other brothers.”
   Mutabaazi began talking to the children and saw their situations as breeding grounds for the AIDS virus. Many of the children were lured into prostitution and some were using drugs.
   “ You are 13 years old. You are a girl. You don’t have food to eat. What do you do if the temptation comes?” Mutabaazi said.
   Years later, Mutabaazi had made philanthropic friends in Norway, Australia and America and had finally raised enough money to build an orphanage, which he called Dorcas Children’s Home, named after his wife.
   “ The people have to be strong to survive in these otherwise dehumanizing conditions. They have developed a resilience which is otherwise unknown in this part of the world,” said Lucas Shamala, the visiting assistant professor of African and African-American Studies at Metro.
   Shamala grew up in Western Kenya, not far from Uganda and said his humble background was probably similar to those of the orphans.
   The problem of orphans in Africa is not a new one, Shamala said. It begins with the lack of education about sexual matters and sometimes ends in a precarious lifestyle without many resources.
   “ (Africans) know that their reality means there are many chances that one will die before seeing a doctor—that’s just given,” Shamala said.
   In the event of a parent’s death, if the extended family is either not available or too poor to care for the children left behind, they are forced to survive on their own.
   But no African is truly alone.
   Grief is experienced differently in different cultures and Africans have a strong sense of community, Shamala said. They do not have to overcome grief on their own. While Americans are taught to deal with sorrow individually and introspectively, Africans let their community share the burden.
   “ In Africa, grief, like any other social challenge or joy is a shared phenomenon. The social support system is very high and widespread,” Shamala said.
   A strong support system is what Mutabaazi created when he founded the Dorcas Children’s Home. Its sense of community is overwhelming.
   “ We are one,” said Peter, an orphan now in his fifth year of primary school. “We love each other.”

The people have to be strong to survive in these otherwise dehumanizing conditions

Lucas Shamala Ph. D.

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