Abuse of children rampant in orphanages

Carol Natukunda - New Vision

A recent media engagement on the effect of growing up in institutionalized care in Kampala, organized by Child’s i Foundation, revealed how children in orphanages are often mistreated, some even denied food, according to this article from New Vision. The event "sought to find ways of advocating for the need to ensure every child grows up in a home, not an orphanage," says the article. At the workshop, orphanage caregivers, people who grew up in institutions, and other "insiders" shared their experiences of institutionalized care. 

Harriet Nakawuki, a former caretaker at the defunct Malaika Baby’s Home in Kampala, described some of the ways in which children at the home were mistreated or abused by caregivers. Speaking about one child who seemed to be developmentally delayed she said "Everyone thought he was a disabled child. Actually, it was because everything is done in a group. There is hardly anyone who will bond with the child and encourage them.”

“We are more interested in seeing children go into community-based options like fostering, local adoption and kinship,” said Shafiq Butanda, Head of the Alternative Care Unit at the gender ministry.