The Facts

In Uganda for every two people that died of AIDS, there were five new orphans. To date, there are over 2.3 million orphans in Uganda alone. Nearly 10% of the national population consists of orphans under the age of 18. Despite the country’s success in combating AIDS, the orphan crisis in Uganda is one of the most acute in the world. The life of a Ugandan orphan is scarred by a degree of cruelty and neglect beyond the comprehension of most international observers. After watching both their parents waste away slowly from AIDS, the child is almost always left without an able or loving care giver. Siblings are invariably separated. Some are sent to grandparents, others to aunts, uncles and cousins. Orphans are treated as outsiders and given last priority in everything from distributing food at dinner to medical and school fees. If a foster family’s financial situation worsens, the orphans are the first forced onto the street. With nowhere to go, the girls are often forced into prostitution or an early marriage while the boys join the swelling ranks of the street kids-- homeless children who congregate in gangs, dig through garbage for food, sleep on store verandahs and subject themselves to all sorts of labor and sexual exploitation.