Life of an amputee mother in the face of COVID-19

Aug 18, 2020

Musimenta is the only girl in a family of four, and a born of Nyamirama-Kyabakaba village in Rubiriizi district.

Despite being a single mother and an amputee with one arm, Aisha Musimenta, 21, a resident of Kawaala, a Kampala City suburb, in Lubaga Division has continued to hustle with life to make ends meet amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Musimenta is the only girl in a family of four, and a born of Nyamirama-Kyabakaba village in Rubiriizi district.

Having grown up from a humble family, manned by a single mother, at the age of seven, she decided to go and stay with her cousin sister, who was residing in a semi-urban area in Lyantonde district.

Aisha Musimenta, 21, cleaning the compound at her single rented room, located in Kawaala. (Photo by Stuart Yiga)


In an interview with New Vision, Musimenta alleges that one morning while she was holding a handleless panga, she was accidentally electrocuted after knocking it on a metallic object that was connected with an abandoned electric wire.

Following the incident, she was bedridden for a full year in Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital. The medical reports indicated that one of her tissues in the arm became inactive due to lack of oxygen and nutrients, which eventually resulted in infections. 

When the infection and pain escalated, medics recommended having her right arm amputated since the infection would threaten her body due to the rare nerve condition.

Life of an amputee mother in the face of COVID-19


After the amputation was done, Musimenta says she started experiencing nerve pain, itching in the arm, a burning sensation, body pressure, and involuntary muscle movements in the residual arm. "This also caused me a nerve-pain pathway which continued to cycle in my brain for the whole year,' she narrates.

She said, her feet were also affected during the electrocution, but with God's mercy, medics did not recommend them for amputation.

Life after the hospital

On the day she was discharged from the hospital, Musimenta says life became extremely hard for her given the condition she was in. This forced her to go back to her home village in Nyamirama, where she started staying with her mother.

About her education

Her desire to further her education was halted because her cousin sister one Juliet had drained her pockets as she met all her bills for the one year she spent in the hospital. At the time of the accident, she was a primary two pupil at Kabetemere Primary School, in Lyantonde district.

Aisha Musimenta, 21, mop her veranda at her Kawaala-based single rented room. (Photo by Stuart Yiga)


Seeking for a job

As life started returning back to normal, Musimenta decided to travel to Kampala city, in search of a job that would enable her to earn a living.  Upon reaching Kampala, she settled in Kawala, a suburb in Kampala where she rented a single room using the little resources her cousin sister had given her.

However, one day, it rained heavily and, in the process, floods washed away her beddings and other important household items!

"If I had money, I would not have rented a single small room that had been built near a water channel because what I went through that day was really a double tragedy," she said.

Returning to the village

After being hit by floods, Musimenta told New Vision that she went back to her home village to redesign on how she would survive.  "Unfortunately, when I reached the village, I found when my mother had sold off our only small piece of land, and used the money to buy local brew!" she narrated as tears rolled down.

The pregnancy 

Given her helplessness, Musimenta says she got involved with a man who made her pregnant but later abandoned her. She identifies the man as Samson Betungura who was a builder in her village

"I engaged with him in sexual intercourse about three times and got pregnant, but to my dismay, when he learnt about it, Betungura, fled the village and went to Mubende district, where he is hiding up to date," she said.

Aisha Musimenta, 21, lighting a charcoal stove at her single rented room, located in Kawaala. (Photo by Stuart Yiga)


She further revealed that her baby is about to make three years, but ever since she was born, her biological father sent her only sh6000 on mobile money, and on withdrawing it, she retained only sh5, 000.

Coming back to Kampala

The challenges Musimenta faced in the village forced her to think about returning to Kampala.  She approached several people who raised some money that she used to pay for her fare and accommodation in Kawala where she had resided previously.

Every day, she wakes up as early as 6am and starts preparing her baby and her-self before heading to Makerere University entrance, where she always sits and waits for help by begging from the good Samaritans; both students and passersby. Unfortunately, the current COVID-19 restrictions have chased away those who used to help her especially students.

Long term dream

She said, her dream is to get sh10m which she would use to buy a small piece of land in the village, and also build on a small house, where she can spend the rest of her life with her daughter.

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