Personal Stories

Hajjara, Uganda

Big sister Hajjara dotes on her four younger siblings. But life in Uganda for this 16-year-old isn’t one that involves playing games with her sisters and brothers and running around in the open with them.

Instead, Hajjara, who has been the head of her family since she was 13, battles every day to put food on the table. A fight that is doubly difficult because she cannot afford the school fees that would help her get the education she needs to secure a job.

This means Hajjara’s only income is the little rent she receives from tenants who live in two small shacks her mother left before she died. Money that is unfortunately nowhere near enough to stop her family going hungry. A predicament that is particularly hard on some of the children because they are HIV+ and have to take their medicine on empty stomachs.

All in all it’s a desperate situation. But one that is not uncommon in Uganda. Which is why the work of NACWOLA, an organisation funded by Comic Relief, is so important. It was set up by HIV+ women in the country to support vulnerable children and orphans affected by the virus and AIDS.

Hajjara says, “I feel so happy when Yudaya [a NACWOLA volunteer community worker] comes to our home. She brings us food, sometimes clothes, and she guides us. She comforts the children when they are crying and makes us feel better. Because of her, we don’t feel so alone.