Meet Stephen. He is ticklish, loves donuts, and has a smile that can light up a room. Stephen was born HIV positive. Both of his parents died when he was very young (likely from HIV), leaving him orphaned. He went to live with his grandmother, where he was greatly mistreated. He lived under such conditions for a few years, and during this time he received no medical treatment for his HIV. He also stopped receiving schooling in the middle of his P-3 (3rd grade) year. When his aunt learned of his living conditions, she took him in this past November.
He is currently around 9-10 years old (he is not sure of his age; we made that assumption from looking at him). Though Stephen is not necessarily mistreated, he is definitely being neglected in his aunt’s home. All of his cousins are going to boarding school, but the aunt and uncle refuse to send him to school because they see it as a waste due to him being HIV positive. Stephen mentioned multiple times that he sees not being schooled as one of his biggest hardships. He
misses it greatly because he truly enjoys learning. Stephen has a rash covering his arms, back, and front. Though it is in part due to his HIV, his sleeping situation is only irritating it.

Currently, Stephen does not have a mattress. He is sleeping on a piece of foam over bamboo sticks. When I sat on the bed with Stephen, I could not even tell that there was foam there. It was literally like sleeping on sticks. He does not have any sheets, and he has an itchy blanket. His mosquito net was old and riddled with holes, and we were thankfully able to immediately remedy this problem by replacing his old net with a new one. We were able to go visit Stephen’s
house to put up the net and survey his living situation firsthand. As I climbed onto the bed to tie the mosquito net to a nail in the wall, my legs immediately began itching and continued to for at least fifteen minutes after. I cannot even imagine what that bedding must feel like on Stephen’s dry, cracking skin. It breaks my heart to think of it.

We met Stephen this morning at Mama Faith’s office. He went to the clinic and received lotion for his rash. He has been suffering from a toothache, and his back molar is literally rotting out of his mouth. He received pills to help with the pain of the tooth, and he has an appointment at the medical clinic on Friday to get it pulled.

We are thankful for the needs that we were able to immediately meet in little Stephen’s life, such as the mosquito net, medicine, and love and attention. He is a sweet boy who desires a bright future, but his obstacles are many.

Unfortunately, Stephen’s story is not uncommon in Uganda. There are many children who are orphaned and suffering from lack of love and care. There are many children who desperately desire education to better themselves and to provide themselves with a better future but cannot access it. There are many children who sleep on sticks and face a plethora of medical issues.

And this is why we are here. This is why Embrace Uganda exists. We work to raise funds for children like Stephen to receive the care they so desperately need and deserve. We at Embrace Uganda believe that every child has a right to a good education and to getting their basic needs met. And we will not stop until every Stephen has hope.

Jamie