Humanitarian Work: My Journey...

By

Mutebi Eddie,

Union Of Community Development Volunteers
Block 26, Plot 842, Professor Apolo Nsibambi Road, Bulange Zone 'A'
P.O. Box 35792, Kampala - Uganda
Telephone: +256 414 690 897
Mobile: +256 782 713 500

ucdvolunteers@yahoo.com 

Introduction
Being a member of the royal family in Buganda Kingdom I did not feel cheated being addressed without my inherited title, Prince.  And youthful as I was, humility was evident during interactions with the community and development partners. The humility was doubled with a so caring and generous person in me –a person with a listening ear, approachable, understanding, cooperative, and very helpful to people in need.

When there was no immediate action-help, I pledged to support them as soon as I was able. Before being reminded of the assistance pledged, I called to ask the persons in need to meet me to receive what they requested for. Interventions focused on areas and needs neglected either consciously or unconsciously by the community and government. Indeed I value the concept of service above self. 

After my studies, I role-played those traits to best benefit communities around me. I worked, first, as property manager. I used my strong and wide networks to win clients from all corners of central region and whoever came into it. As a property manager, I served his clients diligently to their satisfaction –a value which maintained healthy relationship with them. This character won me friends from highest levels of offices to the common people (at the grass-root) of this country –Uganda. 

Being people-centered and rewards from the healthy relationship with the community prompted me to go humanitarian in every view of work. It is now seven (10) years since setting out to serve the community I lived among. In the same period I was able to widen my scope of service the needy communities and areas served. I had been dismayed by the state of the environment that was primarily responsible for the ill-health, unproductiveness of the youth, children misery, and poverty within the city –where I began my work. 

The high population within the city did not only stress the communally-shared resources, but diminished the sense of responsibility towards both individual and community wellbeing. My main goal was to transform community life from one afflicted by disease, ignorance, poverty and helplessness to one full of potential to solve own problems with a smile –through public health development, educational programs for  parents and children (in their teens), and spirit of volunteerism. 

That was in line with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): to reduce illiteracy, child mortality rates, maternal deaths, poverty, and HIV/AIDS and other diseases.  Reports confirm that 1 million people die of malaria annually, the majorities are children. By 2008, only 34% were using improved sanitation facilities. 


And world over, 800 million people are unable to read and write –mainly children and women. Ignorance, poverty, and ill-health impact impacted most the children. And according to UNICEF, at least 22 000 children quietly die each day due to poverty in some of the poorest villages on earth. The highest rates of child mortality were in sub-Saharan Africa, where 1 in 8 children dies before their fifth birthday — nearly 20 times the average for developed regions. In my attempts to reduce the visible burden of communities as those, my effort and community stretched from the city center to city-suburbs, and to 9 upcountry districts.

The Humanitarian Work

Humanitarian work began when I conceived the need to change the lives of the neediest of the communities. And through the Volunteer Health Program and Volunteer Orphan Care and Support Education Program, the different micro-elements pertinent to community survival were met. Those were: access to clean water and proper sanitation, better hygiene, HIV/AIDS prevention, orphan care and support, acquisition of vocation skills, environment protection, poverty eradication, and building of strong community development networks and partners. My work in those areas lasted 10 years (since 2002) in 9 country districts.

Volunteer Health Promotion

Health is a basic right enshrined in the national constitution and reinforced by several human rights instruments, which children are entitled to. Prominent among them is the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC). I turned to the out-of-youth (between 16 and 30), who because of frustration to making meaningful progress in life, resorted to alcohol and drug abuse for a hand that would change not only their lives but the entire community that had serious public health concerns. The communities’ health concerns were: lack of safe water, risky sexual behaviors, drug abuse, and poor hygiene and sanitation. 

I realized that by transforming at-risk youth (using the youth-to-children strategy) into productive and productive ones, he could yield tangible results at many fronts. I rallied the youths (as change agents) to clean their immediate environment and provided them with work tools, knowledge about the importance of their work, life-kills, free information on reproductive health, career-guidance and  counseling, and some money incentive for their active engagement in community work. The incentives were more than sufficient to meet their daily fares and food throughout the cleaning exercise. 

Volunteers cleaned clogged water channels, collected and burned littered rubbish in schools, slums, and market places under my leadership. To the surprise of the beneficiaries, I never levied any fee from them to cater for the noble cause.  And as a token of appreciation and royalty to the cause, I engaged the same youth (as peer-educators and mentors to children) in advanced health programs involving community health education and construction of wells. 

As a reward to my successful interventions in that particular area of work, I attracted funding for UCDV from the church of the latter-day saints to sustain his long term efforts of achieving a healthy and happy community. At that stage, the youth were able to earn more for their work. They received a wage at the end of the day in addition to meeting their costs of transport and food. Most of these youths either headed families (of wives and children) or came from families destabilized by poverty and diseases, which gave them an added responsibility of tending for their young siblings and poverty-stretched parents (and grand parents). Therefore, by economically empowering the youths, he was reaching out to the vulnerable children under them.

Statement of Social Impact

The health promotion work kept the youth so busy that they hardly found time for the health-challenging risky behaviors like alcoholism and use of unsolicited drugs. It can be remembered that alcoholism has been responsible for the vast cases of child neglect, domestic violence and HIV/AIDS –especially among adolescent users. This was a direct contribution to the fight of mental illness among older children and youths that over the years was linked to drug abuse and alcoholism. The program provided meaningful employment to tens of young people, who now afford rent and food for their dependants. 

Besides, youths use their volunteering experience to offer private or commercial cleaning services for a fee during their off-hours. Community insecurity and domestic violence in particular –through which children suffer life-long psychological problems associated to drug use and redundancy was tremendously reduced. Money spent on alcoholism and misuse of drugs was saved from wastage by adolescents and older youths. Instead, it was used to improve family welfare. It turned the youth under his program into more responsible citizens and gave a predictably brighter future for than before. 

Access to clean water, proper sanitation, and information on common infectious diseases in health-risk areas reduced the incidences of HIV/AIDS, diarrhea, dysentery and cholera. 80% reduction attributed to water-borne infections was found after an evaluation of the sanitation and hygiene project in the last 10 years among communities he served. And no longer did families, schools and other sections of the community have to buy water or even queue and conflict for the few limited water supplies. With the use of alternative sources of water as aerial and ground tanks donated to schools and identified vulnerable populations, access to water was guaranteed throughout the year round. It saved households huge expenditures for water and created community peace in return. 

55 springs, 15 school latrines were constructed, and 15 (10, 000 liter capacity water tanks installed –solving a water and health hazards in 6, 480 households in Kampala (the Capital City of Uganda) alone. Elsewhere 9 other districts got their share. In Masaka (60 springs, 15 school toilets, 15 hand washing stations, 500 toilet slabs distributed, accompanied by a participatory hygiene and sanitation training package -PHAST) while Mbale, Rakai, Mukono, and Buikwe had the same share.  In Mpigi and Wakiso, 22 boreholes were constructed, 700 slabs distributed, and 15 water tanks installed accompanied by PHAST package while in Jinja had 5 springs and a borehole were built.

One of the beneficiaries wrote:

“We express our at most appreciation for such commendable task and your full participation at our center which has enhanced sanitation and hygiene for all this period. We further request for your continued voluntary charitable support…”

—    Joyce Lulindya, Administrator, Sanyu Babies’ Home, Namirembe Hill, Mengo-Kampala

While part of our strategic partnership, local politicians used the development programs run by me to get higher political statures. It eased their way into various political offices. However, lack of health facilities (for example; health posts and dispensaries) close to me for easy monitoring and evaluations was a challenge that at different fronts proved costly. It meant referring critical yet urgent matters to partners wherever they were to fill the missing gaps for me. I had to incur expenses to achieve my success with them, yet it would have been cheaper if I owned such facilities.  

Volunteer Orphan Care and Support Education Program

The right to care, protection and education are very critical in the welfare of the child; now and in the future. Prominent about me in the community I worked was the establishment of the children-sponsored scheme. The children’s wide but vital needs were parental care, food, clothing, education, clean water, medical care, and shelter –which the program entrusted itself with taking care of. 

The scheme targeted children abandoned by either irresponsible or impoverished families, or orphaned due to HIV/AIDS and other life-taking illnesses. Priority was given to children with dire lack of family and social support. The children are identified by their local leaders, who knew them well and brought to me. I through my staff kept records of all such children in a file box pending scrutiny and approval by both me and prospecting sponsor. It took a considerable period of time to find a sponsor, and it was very challenging task. My biggest asset was the Christian faith that, one day each one of the children under him will receive the education they need to become productive and responsible citizens. 

I spent relentless time and effort searching for child sponsors online and through networks while some who failed to get them (sponsors) in a shorter time, took with them my hard-earned income with special interest put on the girl-child. When I received more funding for the program, those who had earlier not benefitted took their day. Because of the children development burden for both I and the parents, benefiting families and youths undertook life-skills and reproductive health lessons to better their decisions on healthy living and career development (or economic well being). 

I was very passionate about hand-on skills. Children, who found themselves unable to pursue further studies or to find their career in different fields other than those provided by formal education, are advised to opt for hand-on skills training. The training involved wielding, kneading, tailoring, building, shoe-repair, motor vehicle mechanics, power installations, weaving, and hair-dressing. Skills acquired became part and parcel of their being for many years to come.

I also had strong working relations with foster homes and rehabilitation centers for the disabled children namely; Sanyu Babies’ Home, Nsambya Babies’ Home and the Kampala School for the Physically Handicapped. In those homes and the education facility for the disabled children, I found children, who were abandoned by their mothers in public places, that survived being drowned in latrines (again by their mothers), or deliberated taken to those homes by well wishers and families who thought it was necessary. I contributed to each of their mission statements by providing moral, physical and structural support. This program, however, was concentrated mostly in the city suburbs or slums. A lot of work on children demanded equal attention in the up-country districts. 

Statement of Social Impact

Some of the children, who excelled were retained by UCDV to work on his health and education programs as peer trainers and training of trainers for a fee while others either worked in big wood or metal workshops or start their own businesses. The wage income received was used to improve the general financial and health wellbeing of families (access to medicine, proper nutrition and siblings’ education) and to tend for them-selves. 300 children were direct beneficiaries of the program, 30 were confirmed ready to tend for them-selves after attaining building and other related vocation skills. 

Formal education was conjoined with the informal for both in-school and out-of-school children. From the reproductive health lessons (including negotiation for sex, goal-setting, and HIV/AIDS and other STDs prevention through abstinence, being faithful, use of condoms and medical circumcisions), parents have became more responsible towards their health and economic future. Indirectly, the program affected 49, 000 children –a combination of in-school, out-of-school and government-supported fraction (4 per family). While 10 years ago a family in the areas I worked had an average of 12 children, today it is fashionable for young people to have a maximum of 4. 

Parents and youth learned to measure their intentions to have children and marry against the available resources under their control. That delayed sex among adolescents under his program and accelerated prevention against HIV/AIDS. And it caused a lasting impression on young people, who if asked about the number of children they wished to have, the commonest response was 4 (children). They developed positive reasons for reproduction and looked forward to having numbers of children they could afford to care for until the age when they could move out to live independently.

Assistance to homes for vulnerable children was as follows: 1) At Sanyu Babies’ Home, 1 toilet and water tank was constructed, regularly cleaned their play-ground and donated toys since 2001; 2) At Nsambya Babies’ Home, I supervised its cleaning and ensuring of proper hygiene and sanitation for 1 month; and 3) At the Kampala School of the Physically Handicapped, I donated a tank, did painting of the school, offered firewood for cooking and conducted cleaning exercises. That did only help bring hope environment wellbeing to the children, but greatly eased the work of institutions, which directly took care of them in as far as planning, budgeting and expenditures were concerned. A section of the communities served reaffirmed the program contribution. 

“We thank you all volunteer members for their dedication and commitment towards this community service. Your services have been of great impact to the school…”

—    Director, Joy Mwesigwa, Kampala School for the Physically Handicapped, Mengo-Kampala

Conclusions and Future Actions

It is, as it has been, a long journey yet gratifying for in my effort towards dignifying lives for impoverished, disease-stricken and unsuspecting communities, which inflict worst damage on children and their future to come. However, community development needs are still huge for me. More children and reports of at-risk population fill his desk beyond those he or resources at his disposal can handle. For example; at least five children in need of education are brought to his office everyday. With the registered number (300) still overwhelming, the new figures provides me only with a bigger challenge to face. 

Focusing on sustainability of programs run by me is central to causing a lasting solution to children miseries. That is reachable with persistence of the care and support of children, enabling government fiscal policies (focusing on poverty eradication), increase partnerships and networks in his area of operation, establishment of community support units (as community-run orphanage and children support center, community-run savings and loan scheme, a community-run grade and high school, community-run vocation centers, community-run health posts, and community-run agribusinesses), scale up life-skills and reproductive health education, strengthen environment health education, and to focus funding on impact projects that addresses the real needs.  

And of course, achieving all those, necessitate having effective and efficient personnel, who are well remunerated beyond the current numbers and rewards. When the children are secure, the future is same for everyone.

Decision Making, Level of Attachment, Circumstances at Conception and Environment in Healthy Child Development

Jacob Waiswa
Situation Health Analyst
Dishma-Inc.
P.O. Box 8885,
Kampala-Uganda
Tel. +256392614655/+256752542504
dishma.imhs@gmail.com
www.situationhealthanalysis.blogspot.com

Decision making is a choice reached after verifying available options, consequences, and resources to pursue a specific cause. It is as a result of a cost-benefit analysis of having children that a prospecting parent made decisions, rather than on the basis of urges or feelings. This was so simply because urges or feelings did not think apart from causing excitement.

Attachment denotes the nature of the bond between the mother and the child while level of attachment implies the degree of the existing bond between the mother and the baby or child.

Children in Uganda have been most marginalized –with children-friendly health services only limited to referral hospitals. Elsewhere in the country, children share facilities and health care services with adults –an indiscriminate administration of health –yet special care for them is paramount.

Direct, structural and institutionalized violence too claims the lives and right morals of children. Domestic violence does not only take the life of one of the parents, but also is psychological violence –moreover the worst a human being can experience. That, now, becomes a children affair to deal with, or a shared experience upon observing parents fight.

Cultural environment –which is discriminative according to gender; never recognizes the rights of children and the reproductive health rights of women –and those have turned out to be a huge and overwhelming social cost –including HIV spread and under-development. Cultural provides a way of life that suffocates the rights of women and children as men behaved immorally –supported by it.

The economic environment disables parent’s ability to sustain children education, or not even at all afford it –yet it is through child education that the future a community is secured –given the highly productive citizenry.

The cycle continues from children dropping out of school and opting to marry or succumbing to wrong and untimely choices to conceive –when pressured by the economy; then there the burden becomes a product to be handed over from one generation to another –rendering the talk of children rights only a dream.

Now, that the parent unhealthy lifestyle dictates the quality of life of a children, level of attachment –a level where insecurities and future behavioral problems begin; irresponsible parenthood, reckless and risky behaviors of a parents as children observe, low or no health seeking ensues –as there will be no money and, ultimately, lack of motivation to adopt a healthy lifestyle –even when health guidelines are issued (which in turn affects children health), leads to broken family situations, or broken marriage relationships. And as the saying goes, “if elephants fight it is the grass that suffers,” the consequences accruing from broken-family situation hit children hardest –as all the anger gets projected to them in form of abuse and neglect.

It is from such grounds that families and communities face accountability for in the child’s teen or youthful years. No shall we have a moral fabric in society, violent free generations, because society simply ignores the root causes of structural violence –whose origin is quality of care of children right from conception. And who should save the children of Uganda?

Parenting is thus a responsibility one finds himself or herself under voluntarily or involuntary. During adolescence, gradual changes that may be cognitive, emotional, biological, physical and social or environment occur.

The qualities of changes are influenced by how well decisions are made at different levels of interaction (cognition, instinct or biology, emotional, social and/or natural environment) in relation to one’s sexuality. It all begins at conception –through important stages of birth, special care of newborns, weaning, and child in playful stage, socialization and learning, gender roles or interests, young stardom, youthful period and adulthood.

It is important explore parents’ basis of taking on responsibilities over children, quality and level of attachment, parent’s ability and circumstances under which she or he conceived, and the parent’s nature of the environment and lifestyle.

However, equal treatment among children (boys and girls) must be emphasized as it was told by children (4 boys and 4 girls) and adults (6 males and 6 females) such that they both benefit from existing development opportunities –of education (both formal and informal) and employment.

Friendliness between parents and children was highlighted (4:4) –with correction behavior attributed to light beating -with strongest emphasis put on friendly conversations with children (6:6). However, to parents, family planning was still a big challenge –as hardly at all did men approve of it (regarding condom use).

On the other hand, women complained of hemorrhage and delayed resumption of pregnancy as most negative (2 of 6 mothers).

Condom use was out of every parent’s mind –given the fact that they were married (6:6). 1 of 6 mothers said that she privately sought family planning services, because her husband did not care about it vital role. 2 of 6 women nurtured a norm that alcohol eased delivery and was associated to healthy and pretty babies.

Becoming a parent was not only an urge or a status reached by accident as some young women say, but an issue –not even pressure from elders or traditions could determine. It was important to look at children as human capital of the future –through integrating health care, nutrition, and early child care services for young children in developing countries.

It did not matter what age of pregnancy, but from the time of conception. But for the purposes of this submission, care had to start from the time one started developing feeling to become mother or father because, ultimately, the quality of decisions made counted in determination child health.

Child care was a cost the prospecting parents needed to think about long before deciding to conceive. In fact, child care began at conception. Successful child care ought to put that into consideration, otherwise the psychological implications of neglect and abuse potentially turned out to be the most damaging to the child or baby.

Failure of parents to ensure child health growth and development is by and large a result of poverty. This greatly hampered decision making. In rural and semi-urban areas it is only mainly men who went to work while women stayed home to cook and bare children.

In the same way, the nature of jobs determined by their level of education do not at the same time help meet children development needs as women complained of men’s negligence. There is thus a need to start life skills education, poverty alleviation program and reproductive health (or health education) programs to help better family-life situation.

Broken-family events are a result of extended family system failing to stand the test of time (twentieth and twenty first century new world order). As the urge to have children arose as traditionally demanded from the ages of 18 and above or less, the new order, instead, required productivity of prospecting parents before, at all, they decided to have children.

Others –even when economically liberated will tell you that things are not really. The confidence is only left to the possibility that God will provide for them. For some reason, the question of sustainability of care and love within the family set-up is ignored –yet critical.

Policy makers should embark on massive gender-conscious literacy or education programs intertwined with aspects that address reproductive health concerns, impart life skills, or vocational skills –all of which empower communities with tools of rightful decision making that go as far as influencing health children development, or for that make transform children rights talk from theory to practice.

PARENTHOOD: DOES IT EXIST TODAY?

ARE PARENTS DOING THEIR JOB?

Parenting is one of the most demanding stages in life –in terms of time, money and energy. Planning is, there fore, critical at this stage. This is so, because many attain the status either very early or too late in life, which could lead to unhealthy implications. Some people, because of their career orientation, could find themselves having to forego child bearing until they meet their career goals.

With unpredictable changes resulting from hormonal activity, it could be true that one of the parents was either confronted by menopause earlier than expected –may be, this time, it is at the ages between 35 and 40 or perfectionism was to blame for letting her take so long to find the right person –with whom to share child-bearing responsibilities. There are, however, some cases of people -who skip parenthood because of fertility problems.

Obviously, socio-cultural expectations would be; that one gets children to allow continuity of a clan or community, as an investment for care at old age, for companionship, to gain satisfaction upon fulfillment the goal of becoming a parent -and from successfully raising them.

Having children, whilst a teenager, is indeed, very challenging -as it might come with a number of risks. There could be, for example; possible contraction of STDs, financial difficulties, infant death and hard deliveries -because at that stage, the pelvic region may not be well developed -and lack of parental care -yet a child would need a natural environment to develop -under which care, nurturance, psychological security, supportive and loving are part.

Other dangers could be estrangement of family, school and social relations. Their expectation could have been that she or he is of the right age to have a child. Planning and decision making is, therefore, essential. It could carry about four basic questions –regarding when to marry, when to have children, how many, and with whom.

Parenthood has biological, socio-cultural, economic and political connection –all of which could be part of planning and decision-making. The aspects would guide a parenthood candidate in, fore example; safe sexual health processes and number of children, facilitating child learning and skills formation, and preparing the child for citizenship roles.

But unlike in the period before 1980s, modern times have made parenting a little harder choice to make. At most, it takes away the mutual roles that child and parent would have to create a natural bond. Today, however, ideal parents would try to balance work roles and family to help give knowledge and kills -relevant to their developmental stage.

Divorce and separation, at another moment, could be a turning point in the life of a child. In absence of one parent, communication between the missing parent and child would be remote. As a result, doors would be for substance abuse, conduct disorders, depression, low self-esteem and conduct problems -all besieging the same child.
In addition, step parents, reportedly, tend to be more hostile to the children as compared to step fathers (Fine and Kurdek, 1992). Yet children’s negative experiences have been associated with low grades at school (Dubois, Eitel and Feiner, 1994).

Moreover, the continuous conflicts and child’s negative experience too detaches him or her from social and family values. Outside the family, it would be the schools and society to suffer from juvenile delinquencies.

Normally, it would be at puberty that a child gets the full independence after gradual phases of being oriented out of the family shell. Unfortunately, by this time they would be still economically dependent on their parents. This interferes with the naturally communicated independence –from the biological point of view.
In spite of this, parents do carry out strict supervision of the child –which turns out to be a source of conflict. Meanwhile, the conflict causes terror times for both parent and child characterized by greater stress –amidst uncertainty, and discord.

A parent with low education would not easily understand child’s biological, psychological and social changes. Instead, she or he could choose to batter the child -until either of the two kills another. Moreover, they tend to be more hostile to children as compared to educated one. Yet positive exchanges between parent and child and health behaviors are crucial for successful parenthood.

However, there could be some people, who are not worthy being parents or should not have become one in the first place -regardless of parental age. They act irresponsibly, as if they only had children by accident! Actually, they deserve strongest punishment possible for destroying child’s future, earliest. Perhaps, in future, we could have mandatory interviews for prospective parents.

To note is that parent’s toxic actions towards the child could adversely affect child's physical, mental, academic and social development. In fact, it is another form of murder, this time round, called identity assassination.
All these could be occurring at the same time -when the child is facing both adolescent and multi-faceted torture from the parent. They could carry the forms of negative child labeling, verbal insults, bullying, threats to withdraw support, passive contributions to child’s development, putting forward negative wishes, suffocating child development etcetera.

A child without necessary support systems, lost self-esteem, depression, anxiety, suicide impulses, drowned in acts of substance abuse, disrupts societal peace, who under extreme circumstances, could commit suicide or cause lunacy -brings forward a serious case that should must never be taken lightly.
Such parents usually have grave lack of parental skills, while others have prejudicial backgrounds. With them, their child rearing styles tend to be worst. Giving a person, as that, a child to parent would be as good as throwing the kid to a tiger -to devour.

It is usually authoritarian –characterized by constant verbal and physical assault. Communities are usually reluctance to intervene, unless serious action murder of either child or parent -radiating from long-term silent conflicts, occurs.

Given the serious consequences resultant from bad parenting, some parents could be as good as not parents. They would not deserve the honor of parenthood. It is, rather, sheer mistake. Whether biological parent or not, there would be no relationship at all. Thus, the abused child would be as good as an orphan.

Characteristics of abusive parents could be; acting as though competitors (with child), bullying, being insensitive to children’s needs, sadism, verbal and physical aggression, maiming and suffocating child's developmental channels, arguing rather than discussing issues with child, and discouraging rather than encouraging or supporting positive attributes of a child, carrying out divide and rule policy at home –and amazingly creating rivalry and unhealthy competition among children.

Wandega (Wednesday September 10, 2008, pg 12), compared the times of African traditions and today –regarding protection of children against parental abuse. According to him, modern day parents have lost it all. There are many cases of child abuse, and pornographic material that at display every other day in Uganda.

Since they cannot easily apologize to abused children, parents become insecure (as if expecting revenge) -and see no more use in giving further support to the child. The conflict, then, could have reached so far that mending it seems impossible.

The result to it is open refusal to support the child in his developmental endeavors, become unemotional, and often use negative labels against the child with intentions to destroy (if not killing person himself) child’s personality.

Moreover, because the child has no person to talk to, or simply banned from discussions with people outside the toxic family, the child could develop suicide impulses or even carry it out.

The abused child’s day never includes resting. He or she partly acts as house-boy or house girl -yet he has to be at school, to play, do assignments and engage in entertaining activities.

Going to a boarding school could be the only escape route, though some people would wish that home problems, are solved therein. Firstly, child human development issues must have stakeholders in it –that include; schools, NGOs and even government. Secondly, the first step in mental health intervention, child must be relocated from the pathologic area.
For such children, there no more chance of ever relating to parents positively, and with evidence that it is a gone case. It would mean helping a child develop new lifestyle, as soon as possible that helps him or her to recover from the long history of family trauma, to gain self-esteem, and ultimately, facilitate him or her to get surrounded by nice people –who show care and love.

On whether children go to boarding schools or not, it is a matter of time. A boarding school for the developing child would be most suited at puberty. This is at that time that the biological clock indicates need for independence and developing of social relations.

But, before that, there must be informal sessions for the child at home to make him or her realize the changes going on in his or her body and those they are about to face. This could be, then, accompanied by imparting of skills to help child (or children) successfully move about the puberty challenges.

Children, for example, would need to learn and practice value-based skills, like decision-making, assertive skills, negotiation skills, goal setting, effective communication, and life planning skills. In addition, knowledge of adolescent changes, and contraceptive use could follow suit. These could act as reference points in the face of any developmental challenge.

The changing times require parents to mix well different roles. For example; having to attend to work and be at home -to instill morals and values in children, and monitor those “who qualify” to be in boarding school. Child-care, being a hectic role could be a joint venture between parents and schools. At one stage, society could come in.

It is, by doing so, that the parent would be able to track development progress of the child and gain confidence upon having knowledge of how children are fairing. Any parent, who never works with schools in child development, is nothing, but a stranger to his own child.

Interestingly, the lazy parent puts all the trust in the kid, expecting him to report what transpired at school -while sometimes claiming to be busy. But this would be the best moment for the children attain the highest pick of freedom to experiment even the “no fly zones” -like; misappropriation of school fees, report card forging and abandoning or dropping out of school without notice of the parent.

From such parental ill behaviors, wouldn’t we be nurturing potential corrupt government officials for the future? From the above scenarios, surely, occurrence of many other bad consequences of any kind would not be a surprise. The question would, then, be: what role, as a parent, did you play?

Jacob Waiswa
Situation Health Analyst
+256774336277
waiswajacobo@yahoo.co.uk

Spirituality In HIV/AIDS Child Care

A CASE FOR SPIRITUALITY By Waiswa Jacob, waiswajacobo@yahoo.co.uk

Spirituality (SP) and Positive Living (PL)

Mental health as well as general health issues could best be unders to od and applied holistically. According to contemporary psychotherapy, “fear of never being whole” afflicts many people –be it; their cultures, traditions and religions. They would prefer specifics or particularities. ALWAs would best find satisfaction in to tality ( Leon , 1988). Good and truth engenders all life beauties and perfections. They (good and truth), as rational or spiritual substances steaming from the Infinite, entering in to individuals, giving rise to feelings and thoughts, and helping hold structures and functioning of everything (Leon, 1988). Whilst looking at religious aspects, care ought to be taken by critically identifying; rational, socially acceptable, ethical and moral importance to natural activities of such religious beliefs.

The external religious practices would be usually un- redeeming. They would be rather embodied in cultural and ethical rituals rather than the inner relationship with Eternity or Infinite. There fore, to prevent fundamentalism -which is actually blind faith and beyond the intellect, there would be need to emphasize factional or religious rationality. That is; the rational faith as tied to good and truth principle. It would call for interior aspects of religion -meaning the shunning of evil for the sake of God, the consequent love of good, delighting in him, loving truth and determination to apply truths to life (also called: wisdom) - (Leon, 1988). Needing to belong to a religion could be unders to od as a desire to belong to an organized denomination for some specific, sub-cultural activities and motives ( Leon , 1988). However, SP goes beyond organised churches, faiths, religions or sects. SP would significantly help build a power-base for PL.

Several findings indicated an association between spirituality and positive living. Rippentrop, Altmaier, Chen, Found, Keffala, Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, University of Iowa Health Care (2006), in their Article; “The relationship between religion/spirituality and physical health, mental health, and pain in a chronic pain population.” It showed prayer, meditation and consumption of religious media as inversely related to physical health outcomes.
And, whoever experienced worst physical pain was more likely to engage in private religious practices -perhaps as a way of coping with their poor health. Forgiveness, negative religious coping, daily spiritual experiences, religious support, and self-rankings of religious or spiritual intensity significantly predicted mental health status. Religion and/or spirituality were unrelated to pain intensity and life interference due to pain so they were seen as externally found positive reinforcements against pain. Having spiritual life, would thus, help generate PL or positive outlook that would in turn reduce unnecessary anxieties and subsequently boost ALWAs’ immune systems. SP motivates individual to ; confront anxiety with confidence, replace negative feelings and emotions with positive ones, manage daily pressures as; taking on change gradually, confronting fears, practicing humor, seeking social support and avoiding dangerous addictions.
SP would lay a platform or foundation for PL. Noting that; recognizing the powers beyond human understanding and existence that represents good, truth or reality, which if experienced by humans, wellness and life meaningfulness would be realized.

Positive spiritual experiences would lead to positive change in adolescent’s cognition and character. Islamic faith portrays God, as internal and external -which meant coming near God through performing rites with inner and outward significance to God. For example; purification through prayer for mercy and forgiveness (of sins committed due to body dirt) -as to internal, and ensuring hygiene, done by washing self –as to external (Seyyed, 1987 Pg 111). Weil (2007) asserted that natural health, spirituality and holistic living could be the focus. In his propositions about PL, pessimism accelerated an individual dying sooner than if he or she was expressing positive emotions. Optimism was associated with variety of positive benefits that included; lowered production of stress hormone cartisol, bettered body function and reduced risk of chronic diseases.

The method of treatment that would accelerate the aspects of SP and PL to work in ALWAs’ lives) –respectively, are taught in most religious science churches and consists of five steps: 1) Recognition, in which we recognize that God is ever present; 2) Unification, which acknowledges our oneness with God; 3) Realization/Declaration of Truth, which acknowledges that what we are seeking is already ours; 4) Thanksgiving: involving thanksgiving since what is sought is already attained or given; 5) Release: implying that having given thanks and acknowledged availability of what has long been sought, then one experiences an emotional release as afflictions are left to God (Holmes, September 2006: religioussciences.org). Such a release would transform the whole being in to what he or she has long searched for, Like recovery from chronic pains and health-living. While there are many different religions and paths people use to find God, research has shown that those; who are more religious, who believe in God or a higher power, experience many benefits to their health and well being. Gratitude to wards God, to o, was linked with improved health outcomes, and that could reduce the experience of stress (Scott, 2007). Still, numerous research findings showed that we experienced greater benefits from being intrinsically oriented to God (Scott, 2007). Spirituality would help yield individual self-worth and self-confidence (due to God’s protection and promises), which would actually boost PL in the lives of ALWAs

Further more, SP and PL successes could be attained through reconciling sinful nature with God, who assured his people of love. These replace lost love and trust previously lost that helps person re-discover self. Lifting souls of the depressed whilst giving grace and hope as well as joy, would soon follow. “God demonstrated his love by sending his beloved son to die for sinners so that whoever beliefs would be let free of his or her problems. “Christ died for our sins...He was buried...He was raised on the third day, according to the scriptures; he appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred...” (1 Corinthians 15:3-6) and (Romans 5:8). Spirituality lowers fear for death through reassuring individual of eternal life as a gift for his faith in Christ. Bother-some anxieties would thus, be eliminated –through his promise of life after death. “…I am the way, the truth, and life; no one comes to the Father, but through me” (John 14:6). A study carried out in eleven (11) Districts in eastern Uganda , 90% of people mental health-related problems preferred healers to health centers as the first point of contact -though no cases of patients getting cured were confirmed. 59.3% sought religious leaders, 0.6 went to traditional healers while 2.3 visited modern health units. According to Dr. Fred Kigozi, the head of Butabika Mental Hospital , even the highly educated contacted traditional healers. (Nafula: Monday, November 12th, 2007, Daily Moni to r pg 6).

Spirituality and Resilience

ALWAs resilience could be hardest to break by HIV/AIDS if well supported by a spiritual foundation. Resilient nature would last as long as the individual attachment to the Divine represented goodness and truth. PLWA, whose individual energy resources for survival are diminished and are stigmatized -with no social support, could resort to the Infinite for self-realisation, hope, healthy-reclamation, assurance and re-assurance. Evil and falsity; are inherited, influenced by environment and acquired within one’s will. Even then, one could still regenerate the truth and good to regain resilient nature. The ubiqui to us human desires for omnipotence produce great suffering (Miller and Polly, 2000, Pg 133). As result; anxiety, depression, chronic dissatisfaction, boredom, turmoil, conflict, dishonesty, hatred, cruelty, delusion, callousness, addiction, obsession, cruelty and delusion could be fixed by way of repentance, reformation and regeneration because of the enshrined spiritual love in our minds ( Leon , 1988). Upon renewal of character, a person could again enjoy happiness, love, peace, full confidence, intelligence, wisdom, self-esteem, perfection and beauty. Such are important ingredients that would lead to resilient lives of ALWAs.

Zohar and Marshall (2000: pg15), portrayed a highly-developed sense of spirituality, which manifested individual-self in the following ways; the capacity to be flexible (actively and spontaneously adaptive); a high degree of self-awareness, capacity to face and use suffering -as spring-boat for success, and capacity to face and transcend pain, the quality of being inspired by vision and values; reluctance to cause unnecessary harm, a tendency to see the connections between diverse things (being ‘holistic’); a marked tendency to ask ‘Why?’ or ‘What if?’ questions, and to seek fundamental answers -being what psychologists would call ‘field-independent’ –which is; possessing a facility for working against convention. Working against odds or conventions could be a manifestation of RE resulting from SP.

Through guidance of spiritual books and documents, ALWAs would find spiritual renewal, henceforth, leading to mental, emotional and physical changes and help to gain relief from irritating ailments and pains. Spirituality influences person’s attitude to be flexible, to overlook the pain and suffering -through promised hope to ; trigger determination and achieve specific aspirations, and pursue positive regards. These processes go would as further as boosting immune systems and provoking “ to tal recovery”. The Islamic Holy book (Koran: Surah 3 Ali Imran C54 pg 125), would insist on the need to struggle and fight for the cause of truth and exhorts those who have been blessed with Islam to remain constant in faith, pray for guidance and maintain their spiritual hope for the future. C58, “…help would come to those who strive…we must learn from our misfortune…” Expectation of help would create resilient character (showing confidence, courage and hope) in the lives of ALWAs –that would help them cope with stress and be; happier, healthier and more successful in life (Lovell: January 8th, 2007).

In Uganda , the Church to ok a bold step to fight HIV/AIDS -by encouraging its flock to seek VCT services and supporting those orphaned by the scourge. Rev. Canon Gideon Byamugisha has been an influencial figure in such a calling. Until recently, he has encouraged other religious leaders to take up the initiative (Butagira: September 7th, 2007, Daily Moni to r pg 3). The Catholic Church, to o, through Mbuya Outreach Programme, Mbuya Referral Hospital offers a wide range of HIV/AIDS services aimed at fighting the disease. The services provided include; volunteer training, peer training, VCT services, ARV administration, and treatment (Mbuya Outreach, 2007). As if those were not enough, the Redeemed Church of Kampala, in recent times made an alliance with Mild-may International (MPCI) to fill the spiritual gap in the services offered at the center. In fact, MI now mingles prayer with medical practices (Redeemed Church of Kampala, 2007). MPCI have a pas to r as well as representatives of other religious sects, who guide the center in general and sick children in particular on spirituality to reduce anxieties, depressions and above all; raise and sustain hope (Kaahwa, 2007).

Waiswa-Jacob, waiswajacobo@yahoo.co.uk