Child parent: Akello has been head of the family since 2007

Aug 15, 2013

Deep in a village of Amolatar, Jolly Akello had her childhood cut short suddenly when her parents died, leaving her in charge of her five siblings

(Contacts at the bottom of the story)

Deep in a village of Amolatar, Jolly Akello had her childhood cut short suddenly when her parents died, leaving her in charge of her five siblings. Andrew Masinde visited the family

You have to wade through overgrown bushes to reach this home in Awereck village, Muntu parish. It is a 25-minute ride from Amolatar town. In the middle of the compound, surrounded by six old huts, lie two graves.

Under a mango tree nearby, two boys are brewing local gin (waragi) in a broken pot. They have not gone to school because there is no money to buy books. The sorrow on their faces reflects their pathetic life. true

An older girl approaches with a bunch of firewood. She is dressed in dirty old clothes.

This is 23-year-old Jolly Akello, the head of this home. Since 2011, she has been taking care of her five siblings, Julius Okima, Denis Owere (15), Vicky Anyanga (13), Patrick Ojok (10) and Yub Besweli Omor (9).

“Being a mother and father to my five siblings has become normal for me,” Akello says. She became a parent prematurely after losing her mother in 2011. Their father had passed on earlier in 2007 of an unknown disease, leaving six children orphans aged six to 17 years.

“When our father died in 2007, our mother’s life also changed. She was sickly all the time. I dropped out of school after my Primary Seven to look after her and my siblings,” she says.

The burden of taking care of five orphans was too heavy at first. She did not know how they were going to survive because they were used to their parents being the sole providers in the home.

Akello started working to fend for the family. She sometimes worked in people’s gardens for food as her brothers had to go to school.

“It was the only way for my family to survive.

There was no way I could tell my siblings that there was no money to buy scholastic materials or other basic necessities. I comforted them while I was dealing with my own misery,” Akello says.

Her mother always advised her to be strong, knowing that she would not live forever and Akello would have to carry the burden.

In 2011, her mother passed on and since Akello had already taken on responsibility for the family, there was no second thought about who would be in charge.

As a family head, Akello struggles every day to find work and also till their land, otherwise there will be nothing to eat and her siblings would not go to school. Sometimes she brews waragi at home; at other times, she tills other people’s gardens, sometimes together with her siblings.

“They know our condition, so when I ask them to follow me to the field, they do so without hesitation.

Sometimes, people pay us little money after too much work. The money is not enough to pay school fees for my brother who is in Senior Three. Moreover, more of my siblings are joining secondary school, so the burden is heavy.

I do not have time to rest, but I will not give up,” Akello says. “I wish our parents were alive. Maybe they would have helped us,” Akello laments as tears flow down her cheeks.


Akello brewing waragi with her siblings. ABOVE RIGHT, Two of Akello's siblings. PHOTOs/Andrew

Little help

They have many relatives, but hardly get any support from them. Though many people visited when their parents were alive, they have been left alone.

“There is a saying in my language: ‘every goat has its peg’. We have also accepted the burden and there is no regret because the difficult life has really kept us strong and hardworking.

There is something that is always pushing us to work and I know we shall succeed one day,” Akello says.

Her dream is to see all her siblings to university, but as the years roll on, she sees the chances slimming.

“The higher they go, the more expensive it becomes, yet I only get petty jobs which bring very little money. If I could get help with my siblings’ school fees, I would continue struggling with the task of finding food.”

It looks like with all the burdens this hardworking young woman is carrying, housing is at the bottom of the list, yet the huts they live in seem to be on the verge of collapse. This is one person who could surely do with a helping hand.


FOR THOSE WITH ASSISTANCE

Contacts

Email address: csr@newvision.co.ug
Phone number: 0414 337 000 OR 0312 337 000
(New Vision head office)

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