Orphans in northern Uganda

For all of Uganda in 2005:

Percentage of children who are orphans in 2005 14%

Number of orphans due to AIDS in 2005 1,000,000

Children orphaned by AIDS as a percentage of all orphans in 2005 45%

Percentage of children aged 12-17 who are orphans in 2005 25%

UNICEF: 'Africa's Orphaned Generations' (2003), and 'Africa's Orphaned and Vulnerable Generations: Children Affected by AIDS' (2006).

What I find especially striking is that these are 2005 numbers, representing ALL of Uganda, not simply the north. The war was not even over in 2005. So these numbers are surely higher now and especially higher in the north. There's an estimate that 20% of the total child population are orphans in Uganda. I tried a theory out on some people and no one disagreed: you cannot find one family in Acholi-land who is not caring for orphans. (This relates also to my prior post - a family will care for their own paternally-blood relatives if they are able.)

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Family of Three!

We are in Liberia - the electricity goes in and out because the generator is having trouble keeping up these days! So hopefully it will stay on long enough to post and the internet connection will allow me this luxury! We were united with precious Gracie on Thanksgiving day - I will write more about this later. But, oh! is Gracie a joy! She is so beautiful, so joyfilled, and a bit mischievious. Her physical limitations do not permit her to accomplish much mischief, but we can tell that she is trying to push some limits already. If we were not in love with her already, she is irresitable and such a treasure and blessing from God. In our two days together, she has not cried once. She spends most of her days smiling, she loves to snuggle (good match for us!), and has the most contagious laugh! Life takes more effort for her - her cerebral palsy is moderate and every activity is a challenge and is clearly tiring for her. Meal times (which she loves) take a long time and much patience and d...

Ana waiting for Gracie's bus

"Is Gracie's yellow school bus here yet, Mama? Gracie!! Gracie!! Where are you? Come home, Gracie! I'm waiting for you! Mom, where's my sister's yellow school bus? Can I have some toys?"

New Stage of Life

Gracie has entered a new developmental stage. She now is active and has been rolling all over the floor. We cleared out a little living room so that she would have room to roll around - she's rolling front to back, both directions. She also has been much easier to get up on all fours - it used to take 3-4 adults to cram her into the crawling position due to her resistance. She now even spontaneously gets into a semi-crawling position on her own. In the crawling position she's been weight bearing even on her right arm (but always in combination with her left arm). She also has been rocking a little in the crawling position as if she gets it that this is a way that you can move! It's been so exciting. But it also makes her much more eager to be down with other kids and moving around. She's in a very active active stage, always moving, and wanting to move. She's also taken, not just a huge interest in other kids, but also interest in toys a bit more. She's so fun!

Rattins living Coram Deo

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