My list of questions have to do with orphans because I finally admitted to myself that that is what I am really passionate about. I think I kept pushing that aside because I felt like everyone goes to developing countries to volunteer in an orphanage and it just seems cliche and predictable. I'm trying to humble myself and recognize that that's ok and it's more important that I follow what truly grabs my attention and heart.
Here it goes:
1. About how many orphans are in orphanages in Uganda at one time? In Gulu?
2. Is it very common for other relatives or people in the community to take care of orphans?
3. If so, are they accepted into the family?
4. What problems come with families who take in orphans?
5. What kind of public health services are available to orphans?
6. What effect did the LRA insurgency have on the public health services available to orphans?
7. What goes on in an orphanage in northern Uganda?
8. DO the orphans get fed? Adequately? Water?
9. Are the orphans given attention?
10. Do they play with the other orphans?
11. How are the children treated by the staff?
12. Who makes up the staff at the orphanage?
13. What are their responsibilities working there?
14. Are they paid? Well?
15. Do orphans get educated at all? GO to school or taught by their caretakers?
16. What's the ratio between staff/adults and children in a typical orphanage?
17. What materials/equipment/furniture do orphanages have?
18. What do the orphans do on a typical day?
19. How many orphanages are in Gulu?
20. Did the number of orphans increase very much right after the LRA insurgency?
21. If so, how much did it increase by?
22. What happened during the LRA insurgency that affected the number of orphans?
23. How were orphans affected by the LRA in other ways? Were they kidnapped? Put in replacement camps? Abused?
24. How long can a child stay in an orphanage?
25. Do locals ever adopt?
26. What happens when the orphans get too old to stay? What's "too old"?
27. Are they kicked out?
28. What kind of public health issues really need to be addressed in orphanages?
29. What kind of diseases/illnesses are among the children in the orphanages? How are they treated, if treated at all?
30. Are there any orphanages run by Ugandans, supported by the Ugandan government and not by NGO's?
31. How many orphans have AIDS?
32. How many children are orphaned because their parents had AIDS?
Another sad thing about Uganda's orphans is that they are targeted for trafficking and exploited both sexually and for their labor. Just food for thought, I guess.
ReplyDeleteAlso, this is completely unrelated, but I came across part of an article today and thought you might be interested since it is about Gulu:
In Gulu district, there is a belief that to be a 'true married wife' a woman should have lost a tooth as a result of being battered by her husband. The report also cites the custom of paying a 'bride price' at marriage as another potential source of abuse, since it reinforces the idea that men have 'proprietary rights over their wives'. A fear of having to return the 'bride price' keeps many women trapped in unhappy marriages. The law is not much help in cases of abuse, according to the report.... 'Victims are competent but not compellable witnesses, victims do not want their abusers jailed or to suffer too much,' he noted. The report quotes an ordeal of a police officer who was found in Gulu and narrated to the researchers an incident while he was still working in Moroto. A woman who had been severely beaten by her husband and had sustained serious injuries that rendered her unconscious was admitted in Mataany Hospital. However, as soon as she regained consciousness, she marched straight to the police station and accused the police officers of trying to break up her marriage by locking up her husband. 'She went on to say that she found nothing wrong with her husband having beaten her especially since he was her husband after all! She left the police officers perplexed because at the end of the day she was the would-be principal witness in the case,' the report states, adding that the imprisonment or fine does not only affect the abuser -who is usually the breadwinner - but the rest of the family as well.". CPC - (CPC, Poverty, wars and alcohol perpetuate domestic violence, IRIN News Africa, 15 July 2008) para. 1-14
Thanks so much for sharing what you read and giving me more to think about and research ideas. I'm taking the intro to Women's Studies class right now and it's just so interesting to me to learn about the roles of men and women and how they have differed over time and how they're different in every country. But there are definitely similarities as well. I'm pretty sure abuse happens everywhere, but the attitudes towards it are different depending on what your culture and background is. How do you go about changing that mentality so that the women recognize that their safety is more important than being with the man they married?I really appreciate you sharing this with me!
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