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Winston Jumba Akala
University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign

 

     

The Silent Victims of HIV/AIDS in Kenya: The Plight of Uninfected Children among Nomadic Pastoralists

Although research data indicate that HIV/AIDS awareness in Kenya is 90%, little is known about the number of uninfected children orphaned following the death of their parents due to HIV/AIDS. Both the government and non-governmental organizations that work with victims of HIV/AIDS hardly deal with uninfected children who lost their parents to this scourge. They argue that such assistance is hard to justify because it is indirect as the beneficiaries are not HIV/AIDS-infected. They argue further that it is difficult to identify children whose parents died of HIV/AIDS from those merely afflicted by poverty. Yet both the HIV/AIDS-orphans and the poverty stricken children experience similar problems – inadequate food, shelter, clothes, healthcare, and education. In these circumstances the grandparents, usually uninfected, care for hordes of grand children, living in squalid conditions and deprived of the basic needs following the death of their HIV/AIDS infected parents. It is these children that go hungry, undressed, and become victims of child labor, and early marriages if they escape rape. In some communities in Kenya, especially nomadic pastoralists, marrying off the girls becomes not only a way the older grandparents reduce the number of HIV/AIDS orphans under their care, but also a way of obtaining money paid as dowry to care for the male siblings left behind. Limited research data exists about the education and healthcare of these children except that they create a horrendous burden to their often old and jobless grandparents. Available data mostly highlights the plight of infected children and their parents. There is plenty of research on pediatric care, opportunistic diseases that reduce children’s immunity, effect of cultural practices, and attitudes towards modern methods of HIV/AIDS control and prevention. There is also effort to provide anti-retroviral medicine and educate infected children on how to care for themselves. Additionally, numerous HIV/AIDS orphanages and homes exist in most urban centers in Kenya. But this does not mean that all infected children obtain the necessary testing, healthcare, education, food and shelter. Only a few access these services. A lot of infected children continue to wallow in poverty and disease following death of their parents. Nevertheless, the plight of this category of children is known and substantial action is being taken to alleviate it. Accordingly, this paper will draw from the social justice literature in analyzing the criteria and methods used by government and nongovernmental organizations to prioritize services and victims of HIV/AIDS. For instance: How do they identify the children who need support? What services do they prioritize in dealing with the juvenile victims of HIV/AIDS? Are the uninfected orphans whose parents died of HIV/AIDS regarded as victims? Who speaks for the uninfected children? The purpose of this paper is therefore to show the plight of the silent uninfected children and to suggest ways of attending to their childcare and education needs.


Africa Conference 2005: African Health and Illness
Convened by Dr. Toyin Falola for the Center for African and African American Studies
Coordinated by Matthew Heaton Webmaster, Technical Coordinator: Sam Saverance