In northern Uganda, after the war—especially in the 1980s of the last century—the HIV virus spread. The number of people infected with this virus and affected by the resulting AIDS disease is enormous. SKCH responded promptly to Uganda's call for help and immediately began building a Center for children affected by HIV and AIDS in the Adjumani area. You can contribute to its completion and give orphans (who lost their parents to AIDS) a chance for a better life. Across all of Africa around fifteen million orphans live, and according to UN data, up to two million orphans in Uganda have had parents taken by AIDS. The story of the girl Sally (the face of the SKCH campaign) is similar to the fate of other orphans in northern Uganda. She is HIV-positive, and her grandmother takes care of her. She tries to go to school and has plans for the future, but treatment and the concerns around securing food weaken her. By joining the campaign “Fasting Box for Africa,” people in Slovakia can help ensure Ugandan children have basic conditions for a dignified life—sufficient food, a roof over their heads, healthcare, and appropriate education.
Ugandan orphans are often used as cheap labor despite their health problems. Instead of attending school, they must work in inhumane conditions to earn money for their family. “Even though global food production is increasing, not everyone is able to provide food for their children. The problem is insufficient access to livelihoods. We must realize that not all people on every continent have the same living conditions,” says the general secretary of the Slovenská katolícka charita (SKCH) Radovan Gumulák.
The SKCH nurse and collaborator Catharine Riria visits families in remote parts of Uganda and monitors the conditions in which these children live: “AIDS has affected almost every family here. Locals, however, cannot fight these broad consequences of the disease on their own.” For children this is especially dangerous—if they are infected with HIV, it weakens their immune system. Then it is difficult to provide help in the event of the onset of another disease, such as malaria. “In Ugandan culture, no child can remain abandoned, left on the street. If a child becomes an orphan, the nearest family should take them in. But reality today is different—school-age children become servants of a new family, used for domestic work,” Catharine states.
This dangerous disease that ravages the African continent is not only a health and healthcare problem. The HIV virus and AIDS disease have a devastating impact on the condition of society as a whole in developing countries. Pervasive poverty, hunger linked with continuing drought (famine), and insufficient hygiene—this all worsens the situation, forcing desperate people to act in desperation. Then adults die and children become orphans.
Construction of the center as SKCH’s response to Uganda’s call The Slovenská katolícka charita began constructing the Center for children affected by HIV and AIDS in the Adjumani area a year ago. After construction work is completed, children will be admitted to the center—those who lost both parents to AIDS (and whose remaining relatives are unable to care for them). In the center, children will receive food, medical care, and educational support through the Distance Adoption program. Local field workers and female field officers will help families with children who are HIV positive, through counseling on ensuring sufficient nutrition, hygiene, and health.
“The center is being built to improve the health of orphans affected by HIV and other sick children whose parents are themselves infected and cannot provide their children with the basic conditions for a dignified life. At the same time, the campaign raises awareness of the existence and dangers of the HIV virus and AIDS diseases,” says SKCH mission head in northern Uganda Margita Kačányiová.
The Fasting Box for Africa and its significance
In recent days, SKCH launched a campaign that pursues several goals—draw increased attention to children affected by HIV and AIDS in Uganda; reflect on the lives of Ugandan orphans during Lent; complete a help center for these children. Through such campaigns, many people become more aware of the different living conditions on the African and our continent, and may rethink their previous way of life.
“The idea of a fasting box carries a message of the fasting season, which is directed toward self-denial and motivation—spiritually it represents prayer, and in material form it represents a saved euro, placed in a box with thoughts of people in need. A small colorful box can thus be filled with spiritual encouragement, hope, and a chance for a better life for thousands of people—thanks to each donated euro,” SKCH general secretary Radovan Gumulák explains the meaning of the idea of the fasting box. “Poverty cannot be completely eliminated, but it is our duty to try to alleviate it. I want to encourage both myself and you to always be solidary with those who suffer more than we do,” addresses Spiš diocesan bishop and SKCH president Mons. Štefan Sečka not only to Slovak believers.
How to participate in the campaign
By joining this campaign and public collection, people can help to break the recurring problem of hunger and poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is precisely the support of Slovak citizens that will help children like Sally secure the basic conditions for a dignified life—food, accommodation, healthcare, and education. The campaign also includes the documentary film “Dar lásky pre Ugandu” (“A Gift of Love for Uganda”) about SKCH’s specific support for children affected by HIV and AIDS in Uganda.
SKCH distributes the fasting box in churches, where people can collect it and personally get involved in helping children affected by HIV and AIDS in Uganda. It should be noted that the paper box with the photo of the Ugandan orphan Sally is not intended for mass street fundraising in towns and municipalities. It is rather of personal symbolic significance—help for the vulnerable, especially during the fasting period.
You can provide financial support through your fasting donation by sending a contribution to the Slovenská katolícka charita account: 4008058424/7500 at ČSOB, acct. no. 174, and thereby help complete the center for children affected by HIV and AIDS. If you want to learn more about the campaign “Pôstna krabička pre Afriku” and SKCH’s help in developing countries, visit www.charita.sk.
Who is Sally – the face of the SKCH campaign
Sally—the face of the SKCH campaign (to help orphans affected by HIV and AIDS)—lives with her grandmother and two sisters in the town of Adjumani in northern Uganda. She is only twelve years old, yet she is HIV positive. Her mother died a year ago, and her father abandoned the family. The girl goes to school and would like to become a nurse. Yet treatment itself tires her greatly—the strong medications require a full diet. Filling stomachs with corn porridge ugali in the form of “filling to suppress hunger” is not enough. Her grandmother tries to grow vegetables and raise poultry. But what will happen to Sally and her sisters when their grandmother passes away is in our hands now.
Text: Ivana Pástorová, Božena Baluchová* Continuation of the article: Photo report from Uganda* Photo: Michal Fulier