Hope for HIV affected children in Els

Aug 14, 2005

THE words Amecet n’ainapakin (shelter of peace), inscribed on the gate, invite you to the home for children aged below six who are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS.

By Simon Naulele
THE words Amecet n’ainapakin (shelter of peace), inscribed on the gate, invite you to the home for children aged below six who are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. It is about 500m from the heart of Soroti town, along Lira Road.
Unless you go through that gate, you will not know what goes on at the home. The place seems quiet when you are outside the gate. The first person to catch your attention is Els van Teylingen, the lady behind its existence. She curdles children whose parents died of AIDS and plays with them.
The moment she sees a visitor, she hurries to welcome them ready to help. “Eyalama awanyun noi, biyaibo ngina? (You are most welcome, how is home?),” she greets the visitor before she asks her helpers to help her with translation in case her visitor doesn’t understand English.
Inside the house is a big sitting room that doubles as a dining hall and a store for books and toys. There are also seven small rooms; one is her office and the rest are bedrooms.
“I had a project called Facing AIDS Compassion and Education where I visited several sub-counties in Katakwi to help treat people living with AIDS. It is here that I saw some children who were left helpless when their parents die,” Teylingen said. This is when she opted to start the Mercy Ministry with only three children in December 2001.
Before she came to Uganda in 1997, Teylingen had worked in the Philippines, Lebanon, India and Italy helping the children who were malnourished and those addicted to drugs.
About the children she says, “once identified we talk to the relatives in the presence of the LCs, then agree terms with relatives.” She says after the relatives have signed the consent forms, the child is taken for a medical examination and then taken to the home.
“When the child is returned to the relatives, I keep on visiting and when I find the child in poor health, I take them back to the home. The children are taken to unite with their relatives because it is the best environment for them to live in,” she says.
By the time The New Vision visited the home, there were 20 children from the villages of Serere, Soroti Municipality, Asamuk, Kuju, Wera, Abarilela, Morungatuny and Orungo in Katakwi and Otuboi and Bululu in Kaberamaido.
Teylingen says the children whose relatives cannot help are the ones that stay with her. The relatives of those who are not very ill, but are living with HIV, are given advice on how they should look after them while she buys clothes, food and milk for them.
There are eight children who are on ARVs. Once a month, they are taken to the clinic along with their relatives who are trained on how to administer the drugs.
Children whose lives stabilise go to school and enjoy the pleasures all other children enjoy.
Ends

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