In 2008, after eight years of a marriage that was riddled with domestic violence, 29-year old Justine Kyampaire’s abusive husband abandoned her while she was pregnant with their third child.

With little hope of surviving in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, the best choice for them seemed to be to return to her rural home in Bubare Kabale, southwest Uganda.

But that homecoming was not easy either. Justine arrived at home to a very sick, 70-year-old father living in a house that was collapsing and without any means of earning a living. It would be a big challenge to take care of him, her children, and herself. With increased pressure to provide for her family, Justine started spending less time with her children and very soon she started noticing negative changes in their behavior. They were rude, disobedient, and angry all the time. They hated school, gradually began to fail their classes, became less fearful of God, and made constant trouble. Justine was at a loss and feared that without a father figure in their lives, she was bound to fail at raising them well.

In August 2012, with support from Embrace AIDS World Renew program, PAG Kabale in partnership with Bubare PLWAs support group started offering psychosocial support to a group of orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV and AIDS. Through this program, support-givers met once a week with the children to share Bible stories, pray with them, provide counseling, eat with them, play games, sing, act out skits, and sometimes make home visits. The meetings took place very close to Justine’s home.

Though her children were hesitant at first, they became interested in the group meetings, joined in, and started having the time of their lives. In no time, Justine started seeing positive changes in their attitudes and behavior. ”It’s the little things in life that make a difference,” Justine says. For her family, it was a simple piggy-back ride from one of the support-givers that changed her son’s life—and later transformed her life as well. Here are her words.

“One day, Teacher Naomi carried one of my children on her back, which touched his heart. He had never received such love from anyone. Because I was always busy trying to look for money to take care of us, I never got the time to spend with my children and show them that care. That ride changed my children greatly. Now I am also part of this transformation process. When they are meeting, I also want to join them – and I always do. I have learned how to relate with my children and we are a better family.

My children are now gentler and love God unlike in the past. When you see them now they are very happy! Glory to God for PAG Kabale and PLWAs of Bubare for their involvement with us. I give special thanks to the support-givers who come regularly to meet with my children. The greatest challenge now is for me to continue to take care of them, pay their school fees especially now that they will be in secondary school soon. They still lack a stable father figure in our home. They keep asking me about their father, and I don’t know what to tell them. But we have overcome a lot.” 
 

Jim Zylstra

Team Leader
World Renew Uganda