African child; myth vs reality

Ten-year-old Joy Nakiboneka is a P.3 pupil at Kalule Church of Uganda Primary School in Luwero District. She is light skinned, her eyes glow and she looks healthy. She dons a school uniform complete with black shoes and white socks. She is playful and happy; like every child should be. After our brief interview, she makes it clear that she would rather return to the issue at hand: her class mates are presenting the Amagunju dance from Buganda. This was during celebrations marking the Day of the African Child at Kalule Church of Uganda grounds, June 16. The organizers were Happy Kibira Children’s Foundation (HKCF), an NGO that hopes to improve the plight of the rural children’s basic human rights. HKCF Programme Director, Allan Mawubania, explained that they are concerned with orphans, hence the sub theme, ‘A meal at school enhances school retention’. The major theme for this year’s Day of the African Child was: ‘Planning and budgeting for the wellbeing of the child: a collective responsibility for all’. For every Nakiboneka though, I could see three other children with no shoes or proper uniform. These walked around sullen and chances were they left home without breakfast. Besides, their parents cannot afford the small fee required for break time porridge at school. Twelve-year-old William Bwagu is one of these. He sits oblivious to the ongoing celebrations. When I approach him, he is a little startled, for I am disturbing the inconspicuousness that he has grown so accustomed to. I get to learn that his mother is a housewife, while his father sells table clothes in town. This is how they sustain him and his seven siblings. I ask Bwagu what he knows about the day of the African Child and children’s rights. He admits he does not quite comprehend what is taking place, although he has a vague awareness that it is a special day. He, however, has been told that he has a right to food and clothing. Posters around the school scream out these basics. So, how does he feel about the fact that he does not have shoes and a uniform? “My mother has not yet got the money. When she does, I will get shorts and shoes,” he says. It’s clear that for the Bwagus of this world, human rights are more of a myth than a reality. The biting and gnawing hunger in their empty bellies, the stones piercing their little bare feet and the sun scotching their ringworm infested hair is all they know. John Bosco Sseluwoza, the Probation Officer Luwero District, says while the situation is far from ideal, they are better off than their counterparts in other districts. The numerous child rights NGOs, the private sector and public administration all work together to ensure the welfare of the child, he says. There exists active courts of law, police, probation officers and local leaders, he adds. Government has instituted a strategic plan to transform the children’s lives. The district has its own Orphans and Vulnerable Children Coordination Committee to ensure that the plan is relevant to the child and that their rights are respected. Sensitization campaigns have been held, and teachers trained in children’s rights.  All that notwithstanding, the dire situation of the children is plain to see. One of the guests at the function, a reverend who flew in from UK asked: “How many of these children do you think will make it to university?” With the retention rates at primary school alone estimated at a paltry 47%, the sad answer is not many. SEPARATE STANDARDS? Citing a separate mode of operation, Sseluwoza says that issues like compulsory health insurance for children at risk and decent clothing (in this case school uniform) for every child should be seen from a different lens for the child in Luwero from that in, say, Kampala and other parts of the world. Sseluwoza mirrors the cultural relativist argument when he says that the caretakers and other stakeholders in different areas cannot be held to the same standards. But like Issa Shivji, in his book The Concept of Human Rights in Africa argues, looking at human rights differently for different societies is what is responsible for many of the atrocities in Africa. He sees this as a lukewarm approach that has been used for decades to justify unbridled human rights violations on the continent and ignore the universal nature of human rights. According to Shivji, it is wrong to deny children like these in Luwero the most basic of necessities like food, clothing, education and health care. Ironically, as the pupils and students craned their necks to see the speakers talking about the importance of children’s rights, amidst them lurked a cane wielding teacher beating their pale legs into order. Their parents, guest and government officials sat comfortably under a shed.
Written by PATIENCE AKUMU
Monday, 05 July 2010 06:56