Children’s Wellbeing in an Orphanage in Kole District, Uganda.

Abstract

This study explored the views of orphaned children about how they perceived and described their wellbeing in an orphanage which is located in the rural area of Kole District in Northern Uganda, East Africa. Recent reports estimates that 14% of children in Uganda were orphaned (experienced the loss of one or both parents), which is an equivalent of 2.43 million out of 17.1 million children under the age of 18 years. A mixed method (triangulation) approach was used in this study whereby focused group discussion with the help of the interview guide was employed to collect the data. The criteria used for the selection of the participants was purposive sampling in which thirty five children were selected and interviewed in eight different focused groups and each group consisted of three to five participants. Observation method was also employed in this study whereby I observed the orphans‟ behavior in order to compliment their actions against the views expressed by the participants during the interview sessions. I also sought the views of the orphanage administrator as well as some of the house moms in order to obtain detailed information about the orphanage. Gender perspectives were used to analyze the interviews with the respondents in order to understand the complex relationship that exists between the participants given the fact that they all underwent through difficult situations during childhood and faced multiple risk factors prior to joining the orphanage. The findings of this study revealed that the orphanage, according to the orphaned children was not as problematic as most previous studies had indicated. The participants‟ views were based on the fact that the orphanage offers them the basic needs such as food, clothings, shelter, security, health care, education and spiritual guidance which they 4 lacked while they were in their family homes after the death of their parents. The critical point of departure in this study stemmed from the theoretical aspects in which theories of care, childhood and resilience were used as a mirror to reflect the participants‟ responses.