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Uganda - Grandmother raising 7 kids
"In a clearing on a remote hillside surrounded by banana trees, Pauline Namayanja showed me the graves of her children."
She said their names aloud, as if repeating a prayer - "Here is Bbale, here is Agusgustin, here is Kayondo, here is Kate Namasinga…"
"Paulina carried on until she had listed seven daughters and sons, all were taken by AIDS. Uganda has many mothers who share her sorrow. "Now close to 70, Paulina is struggling to raise the children of her children - 13 in all. They lined up to meet us, with shy smiles and bare feet, giggling at our white skin. When we asked the children how they played, they made a skipping rope from banana leaves."
"Paulina is raising them with love, but without toys or books or even enough to eat. AIDS has taken away a generation in Uganda. More than one million children in Uganda have been orphaned by the disease".
- Source BBC News 10.07.02
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