AIDS Orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa [working title]
In 2006, I began documenting the daily lives of one family of children in a remote village in the Rakai district of Uganda, the original
epicenter of the AIDS pandemic. The family consists of eleven children—Lydia, Molly, Helen, Scovia, Nasta, James, Eddie, Dennis, Jacque,
Agnes and Elliott—five of whom are AIDS orphans.
In 2008/09 and 2010/11, I spent an additional four months embedded in this family with the intention of wholeheartedly documenting
what it’s like to be a kid there. To this end, I attended school, gardened, ‘swam’ and foraged with them for both fruit and insects.
I even got jiggers. Their calling me ‘Mama’ snapped me back to the reality that I wasn’t one of them. And I wasn’t. I photographed daily
happenings, such as surgery on a young girl’s lymph nodes, a friend’s sister passing from AIDS, girl-child headed households and
children being tested for HIV.
The children I documented were a microcosm of the growing army of orphans to which sub-Saharan Africa is home. According to UNICEF,
“The staggering number of African children already orphaned due to AIDS is only the beginning of a crisis of gargantuan proportions—
the worst is yet to come.” The numbers continue to spiral upward, increasing exponentially.
In Uganda, where half the population is under fifteen, the current ratio of HIV in female to male teenagers is five to one. The demographic
with the largest number of new infections are 12 to 18 year old girls. Illiteracy among adult women is high, thus the chances of girls being
educated on issues relating to reproductive health and HIV/AIDS is low. By learning there are alternative choices available to her, a young
girl—empowered to protect herself—will have a dynamic influence on her family, community, and most importantly, her own life.
UGANDA. Rakai. 2008. Eddie, 10, looking into side-view mirror of a truck after being tested for HIV/AIDS.
UGANDA. Rakai. 2008. Eddie, 10, swimming.
UGANDA. Rakia. 2008. Grace, 14, and Scovia, 13, running.
UGANDA. Rakai. 2008. Nasta, 12, foraging for fruit.
UGANDA. Rakai. 2008. James, 12, ‘swimming.’
UGANDA. Rakai. 2008. Helen and Molly, 14, Scovia, 13, and Flora, 12, hugging from behind.
UGANDA. Rakai. 2006. A young girl, dressed in school uniform, stands outside the doorway of her neighbor’s home, grasping the door’s padlock with her hand.
UGANDA. Rakai. 2008. Molly, 14, James, 12, and Jacque, 4, waiting their turn to bathe. They lie on their mattress, put in the sun to dry.
UGANDA. Rakai. 2008. Molly, 14, Scovia, 13, and Flora, 12, running into ‘swimming pool.’
UGANDA. Rakai. 2009. Dennis, 11, standing atop termite mound.
UGANDA. Rakai. 2006. Helen, 12, sitting in a tree. Her brother, Eddie, 8, swinging on a rope below her.
UGANDA. Rakai. 2008. Primary school student pointing to numbers on a chalkboard.
UGANDA. Rakai. 2008. Molly, 14, washing Jacque, 4, with well water.
UGANDA. Rakai. 2008. Milly, 14, swimming.
UGANDA. Rakai. 2008. Helen and Molly, 12, digging the soil in which they will grow sweet potatoes.
And some outtakes from the project...
UGANDA. Rakai. 2008. Helen and Molly, 14, and Eddie, 10, playing with string.
UGANDA. Rakai. 2008. Molly, 14, playing a game with dried fruit.
UGANDA. Rakai. 2008. Rosemary, 10, caring for her brother, Vincent, 8, and ill grandmother
in girl-child headed household.