Lives Changed

CD’s mother had been ill intermittently for three years and fell sick again during her pregnancy. When she delivered she didn't have enough breast milk, so CD was fed on whatever foods were available — many unsuitable for a young baby. When the mother died, things got even worse. 

CD’s father is a soldier.  On his wife's death, he requested leave to look after his daughter.  Then, he left CD in the care of his elder brothers. Eventually, the brothers sought advice from the Probation Officer.  On the advice of the Probation Officer of Bundibugyo district, CD was finally brought to NOTDEC by an unmarried uncle in December 20XX. 

The uncle had been looking after her and another girl aged 7. CD was naked and starving – so skeletal, it was hard to tell how old she was.  She had just 4 teeth, and wasn’t even crawling.  It is now thought she must have been 14-15 months old.

At the time of writing, CD is her father's only child.  He has not re-married. CD's paternal grandparents are no longer living.  CD has paternal uncles.  It has proved difficult to find family on the maternal side.

CD comes from a village c200 km from NOTDEC.  Fortunately there is an all-weather road.

Kasese Child & Family Protection Unit passed EF to NOTDEC in February 20XX when he was aged 3.  His parents had seemingly died, leaving him to his bedridden grandfather who simply could not look after him properly.

At the time, that was the information given to NOTDEC.  Subsequent investigations have revealed something much closer to the truth.

EF's mother was from a Catholic family, his father a Jehovah’s Witness.

When EF was born, his mother bled profusely and nearly died because her father-in-law forbad a blood transfusion on religious grounds.  When her own family found out, they rushed her from the clinic where EF had been born to Kilembe hospital for a transfusion.

It played on the mother's mind that EF's father had had lots of children by several different women and had not settled with any of them.   Eventually, she decided to leave, depositing EF with his bed ridden grandfather:  she was no longer willing to live with — and have the babies of — a man whose family would not allow the very blood transfusion that had saved her own life.

After EF left, the Family and Child Protection Department visited the family and passed the child to NOTDEC.  The wider family was burdened with looking after the grandfather and many more children that his son had fathered, and they could barely cope with them let alone another child.

Later, EF's paternal grandfather fell ill, sold his land in the village, and proceeded to visit various hospitals seeking advice about treatment. In due course, he was taken to Kagando hospital where his foot was amputated, but he died — largely because of blood loss and his refusal of a blood transfusion.

GH is thought to have been born in 20XX.  He was found by the police on a rubbish tip on the outskirts of Kasese.   The Probation Office told them to take him to NOTDEC.  Zariel, a teacher at Kagando Primary, heard the probation officer’s radio message and says that the mother was thought to be 16 years old. 

IJ was found at the end of October 20XX in the bush close to Kasese.  He was under a month old, and naked.

Not long ago, that was all we knew.  But recently Milly and Samson undertook further investigations.  In its essentials, the picture that has emerged is unchanged: a baby abandoned in the bush.  But the details provide a better understanding of the context, and of how difficult it will sometimes be to find any wider family with whom children might be resettled in due course.

The story starts on farmland abandoned by those who once cultivated it — land where some say there are evil spirits.  The main crops are onions, rice and tomatoes, grown in smallish garden-like plots.  Rice and tomatoes are very labour intensive, and many farmers there work their garden plots until late.

As Tabuman cycled back home at after 7:30 pm, he heard a baby crying.

His mind immediately conjured up a mother still hard at it, who he imagined must have left her baby unattended on the garden plot at that late hour.  He cut a stick, intending to beat the mother for neglecting her child properly.  “When I’ve dealt with her”, he said to himself, “she won’t forget her responsibilities again!”  

Or could it be an evil spirit?  There was a man coming… But the passer-by said he had no children so it nothing to do with him. Tabuman, however, had to do something. 

Plucking up his courage, he went to where it seemed a child was still crying.  There he found a baby boy lying on a small piece of cloth — naked! 

He then rode on to his village. Rwija was a retired parish chief who he knew would help quickly, so he told him. The news spread rapidly from house to house and soon a crowd had gathered.  Late though it was, the men decided to go to investigate.  And off they went.

Further from the village, however, and in the dark, some began to get cold feet.  The crying might not be from a real baby, but from the spirits … evil spirits.  Just ten men reached the scene.  There, they did indeed find IJ, very chilled in the cold night air.  On their return to the village, they asked for donations of clothing, and one family volunteered to host the child.

The following day a radio appeal was broadcast … No-one came forward.  The IJ was taken to the Probation Service, who thought they would be able to trace the mother.  But they did not manage to do so.  After a short time, therefore, IJ was brought to NOTDEC Uganda.

KL arrived at NOTDEC in April 20XX as the result of a family tragedy.  The story initially given to NOTDEC was extremely lurid.  His father had killed both his mother and grandmother.  The mother’s family then destroyed his home, and vowed to kill him if he showed his face again. 2 months old KL had nowhere to live and no-one to look after him.

Later research has revealed a different story that is no less sensational.

Born in Kasese district in February 20XX, KL was his parents’ the second child.  He was indeed brought to NOTDEC in April 20XX after his mother and grandmother had been killed in cold blood on the 27th.  However, the killer was not KL's father but the father's brother LL.

LL had brought in a wife from a distant village.  When, after some time, the wife left him, he blamed his mother and sister-in-law.  Certainly the murders were only a month after the wife left.  LL first killed his own mother; and when his sister-in-law tried to raise the alarm he hit her with an axe and panga, killing her too.  He was later arrested, tried in court, and sentenced to 80 years in prison.  

Returning from the burial of a relative in the next village, KL's father was told that his wife and mother had both been killed.  For reasons that are unclear, KL was brought to NOTDEC by neighbours.

KL’s mother's family became very hostile because of the loss of their daughter.  They would not allow her body buried at the husband’s home because the bride price was not yet paid, and forced KL's father's family to sell part of their land to pay both this and a fine for the deaths.

KL's family is poor and his father has remained single and unable to take his first child to school.  He even picked a young girl as wife, but has not managed to pay the bride price.

When these events took place, KL's grandfather was bedridden and unable to rescue the situation.  He died the following January.

More investigation will be needed to find other relatives with whom KL might be able to live when he is older.  So KL's stay at NOTDEC may be a long one — lasting until more information is found about the wider family.

MN was born in a village in the mountains in May 20XX.  During the birth, her mother had very severe problems, but the attendant finally managed to deliver the baby. Following the delivery, however, MN’s mother suffered a complete prolapse of the uterus – a medical emergency requiring immediate hospital care.  So far from a hospital, this was not possible, and she died.  Three or four family members from the village brought MN to NOTDEC.  Though she was doing very well, they knew they could not look after her properly in the long term.

OP was delivered normally at Kilembe Hospital in December 20XX.  After three days, OP's mother was discharged and she gradually resumed her normal activities including ploughing of the garden. She fell sick the following March and was taken to a Health Centre in Kasese town, but was discharged with no improvement. When they reached home they decided to take her to another Health Centre. It was thought that she had resistant malaria but treating that still produced no improvement. The second Health Centre referred her back to Kilembe hospital, and an x–ray there revealed that her spleen was swollen and needed to be removed (an earlier account says a perforated intestine). She was taken to theatre at 10am the following morning and brought back to the ward where she died the following day.

While her mother was ill, OP was fed on soya bean milk. She was brought to NOTDEC on 22nd May in extremely poor shape.  She had marasmus (an extreme from of malnutrition) and the Probation Officer who dealt with her thought she was a only month old.  In fact she was then aged 5 months. Without infant formula, it can be almost impossible for a bereaved father to feed a newborn.

QR was born by caesarean section at Kilimbe Hospital in April 20XX — the family's twelfth child.  His mother died the next day aged 47.  As his sister-in-law was then breastfeeding, she was asked to feed QR too.  She agreed; but, as time went on, QR's health began to deteriorate.  (Or according to the account first given to NOTDEC, QR was initially breastfed by a woman in the village, but this led to disputes between her and her husband.) Either way, QR’s father tried to look after him, but the child became malnourished.  In desperation, he took him to the Child & Family Protection Unit at Kasese Police Station.  They agreed that QR needed expert care and referred him to NOTDEC. 

His father arrived in January 20XX with documentation asking NOTDEC to admit the boy, then aged 8 months.  QR was the size of a 4 month old and had orangey hair – a sure sign of malnutrition.

QR's father has since deserted his home.  He tried to sell the land, but his family stopped him. QR is his 11th living child. One is married in Kilembe sub-county. QR's married sister looks after four more; and another three live unsupervised in the family home.  QR is at NOTDEC, and is likely to be there rather more than the target 3 years.

ST was born in November 20XX.  In the following January, whilst cooking a meal, his mother suddenly had severe headache.  At around 4:00am, it was decided to rush her to Kagando hospital, but her condition ruled out the use of motorcycle transport.  As they were getting ready to put her in a vehicle she died. ST was 3 months old and being breastfed, so he was brought to NOTDEC the next day for bottle-feeding.  

According to the first account given to NOTDEC, there followed riots in the village and the family home was demolished.  However, later information suggests that the violence stemmed from family troubles.

ST's grandfather says that ST's mother, UT, had quarrelled with her paternal grandmother since adolescence. But these quarrels were ignored when ST's father, VT, married UT.  When UT reached VT's home, however, she heard bad things being said by VT's mother — bad words about UT's family.  Later, because UT's death was very sudden, VT's family took it for granted that it must have been caused by UTs family.

The quarrels between the families became so severe that the local authorities had to post policemen at both homes to prevent murder and the destruction of the houses.  The police were withdrawn after the funerals, but feelings are still extremely bitter and ST's father is planning to sell the family land and move to another village.