Akello takes care of her twins the best way she can

In the build up to the event, we profile multiples families from across the country.
 

A woman sat near the entrance to the Lira High courtroom, cuddling two babies in her arms. Two other children sat by her side as a court proceeding went on inside.

Christine Akello, 39, a resident of Wangdwe Village, Akaka Parish in Aber sub-county, Oyam district, a mother of five, including a set of twins, was in court as a prosecution witness in a case in which a man defiled her then eight-year-old daughter in 2013.

What attracted me to her were the nine-month old twin sisters Akello was carrying. She was covering them with a dirty old towel and rags and they looked emaciated.

Akello says her husband died in 2003 leaving her with one child. Her brother-in-law then inherited her, yet he was married with children. They bore four other children, including the twins.

Akello says she single-handedly takes care of her children since her new husband does not help. The children have dropped out of school due to lack of scholastic materials and school fees.

Akello says her pregnancy was unusual. During child birth at Pope John's Hospital Aber, when the first child came out, the doctor told her to wait and moments later, the second one popped out.

Akello says she wakes up early in the morning to go to other people's gardens to dig and get money to feed her children. She does not have time to work in her own garden and has no stock of food in her house. Her family bathes without soap at times and their clothes are filthy. At times, she can do without salt.

She feeds her twins on black tea and soya tea. She does not know that she could make soya porridge instead of the soya tea.

"I am struggling with my children and hope that when they grow up, they will be able to help me," she says.

To assist Akello, email
sunday@newvision.co.ug