Head or tail, once life is indescribable, toss a coin to strike a change. A flip to another universe of bread and butter or a toss to maintain the status quo.
The living testimony of the 7-year-old twins hailing from Kaberamaido, Aaron Opio, and Doreen Acen tells you a thing or two about life.
As you enjoy your Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) with a loved one in your comfort, there is someone chasing shadows, the two struggle to see the light during the day even when the sun moves horizontally above them.
Staying deep in the bushes of Ochero Sub County, Kagaa Parish at Acyekitoyo village, the family of fatherless 5 children living with their mentally ill mother Christine Asege found a safe haven, it requires you to move a few kilometers inside hundreds of untilled acres of bushy land before you reach on a small grass-thatched doorless hut.
Life is multifaced, we are here to tell their story and as time elapses, they will write their own story too perhaps as doctors, lawyers, or pilots.
Our two-day journey from Kampala to Kaberamaido is more interesting to tell right from Nakasongola before going through the army barracks, rushing to catch the first MV Kyoga ferry at Zengebe at Lake Kyoga was exciting.
We missed the first trip and choose to have our breakfast at the docking area waiting for the next shift, Zengebe is a business hub and so many people including women, the young, and the old survive by fetching water, fishing, and restaurants are notable economic activities.
On the ferry, the one-hour voyage was a beautiful expedition and the first time for all the members of the Bravo media team to use MV Kyoga. The trip was indeed in high spirits to connect with the twins waiting spiritually somewhere in Kaberamaido.
When the ferry touched down, we bumped on the dusty untarmacked road leading to Amolator the easy link to Kaberamaido through Dokolo.
Reaching Ochero Town Council is another town to marvel at with unique natural features and architectural creatures that caught our attention. Incidentally, our first contact with Kaberamaido was Cuthbert Ewiru the Probation Officer of Kaberamaido had staged there.
Kaberamaido is rich in vegetation, which can best be described as wooded savannah, grass savannah, and a few forests.
The climate of the district is modified by the large swamp area surrounding it. The rainy season is March to November, with a marked minimum in June, and marked peaks in April to May and August to October. December and January are the driest months.
However, the district faces a food insecurity threat, which explains why the seven-year-olds Aaron Opio and Doreen Acen hit the limelight after Daily Monitor discovered that the duo is not merely children but breadwinners.
The two devices mean of taking care of their mentally ill mother whose daily way of life is chuckling around Akampala Landing Site in Ochero Sub-County on the shores of Lake Kyoga.
It is reported that she could sometimes take days without returning home living the two at home to man the doorless house.
According to Victor Ekesu the Kaberamaido LC 5 Chairperson, the district is grappling with multiple issues blaming men as the center of all these problems. He says that many broken families are abandoned by men and women are left as breadwinners for the families.
“Mothers start reflecting on how they can live with children and most couples come into parenthood at the early stage and can’t navigate. The boy runs away and the girl is so much strained emotionally. The mother is literally heartbroken and abandons her children,” he said.
Ekesu commended the Bravo Shoes Community Support team (BSCS) for coming to the region at a time when early marriages are rampant.
He says that the region is still suffering from the consequences of the post-Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency in northern Uganda over 25 years ago.
Day 2: Picking Opio and Acen
In the evening of Thursday in Kaberamaido, reaching Acyekitoyo village was not the usual journey, the small route to the home of the destitute family requires patience and extra boots to go through a bushy route to their home.
At the time of our arrival, George Olyer the cousin of the twins had been in contact with the family and he suspects that the boy has an illness because he had been coughing for a while however, the medical scan proved that Opio is ok and had nothing to worry about.
“At first we took a test and as I was waiting for the test results, they said there is nothing to worry about and I had not received any negative feedback so far,” he explained.
Due to the absent mother, the twins and their siblings find difficulty in securing something to eat and mostly survive on goodwill gestures or on a good day, when there are leftovers from the meal served at the nearby community school, the custodians usher the children in for a day’s bite. That gesture is, however, rare.
“Since yesterday, we have not had any meal, we have been looking at the footpath that leads back to the house we call home, for our brother to bring something but in vain. Perhaps he has gone herding. I am hungry, and the nights can be cold on an empty stomach,” Acen told Daily Monitor in her mother tongue.
The family has been sleeping hungry on small pieces of the rugged tired mattress in a small grass-thatched house without a door in the wilderness where it is believed that someone slept with her in the dead of the night, leaving her pregnant.
Nelson Odela the Community Development Officer says that the plight of children in Kaberamaido is complex and as they make up to 60% of the population born of vulnerable families which can’t support themselves.
“The twins are just an example of what is happening in the communities caused by a number of factors including orphanhood. The government has done a lot but there is still a need. We thank Bravo Shoes Community Support Organisation for your timely response,” he commended.
Odela said that the community has key pressing issues to deal with lack of food, descent education, community, and early marriages taking a toll.
From this background, we were blessed to be joined by the twins on a mission to rewrite their life story, the two will never be the outcasts anymore and they have joined the elite club of children picked by the BSCS to pursue school.
On the road, both Opio and Acen had little to say apart from staring and smiling whenever it was necessary according to them.
They kept standing and alert along the way and they were able to grab some food from the local suppliers as they were waiting for the MV Kyoga on L. Kyoga ready to cross to Zengebe in Nakasongola on their route to Kampala for the very first time of their life.
Over 10 hours on the road, the two kept their eyes wide open as they adventure through the new lease of life and grabbed rare snacks, sodas, and ice cream as the sun visibly went to rest before they could reach Namuwaya Education Center, their new home in Bweyogere, Wakiso District on the mission to brighten their future.
The two luckily found people they speak the same language and got their orientation better. Despite being 7 years old, Opio and Acen will check in baby class for better orientation and initiation.