A 11-year-old boy Sunday Dradriga should be at school, but is not because he has to perform the roles of parenthood.
His mother and two siblings are blind. His father is not man enough to take care of the family. This leaves Dradriga the only responsible member of the family to take care of the home daily.
“I am now the second head of this home because my mother is blind and my father cannot afford all the basic necessities. I cannot go to school because I fear that my other siblings will stay hungry,” he said. Adding I have to wake up at 7am to fetch water, bathe the children and then start cooking. And this is only if there is something to cook. It is a huge daily task.”
His mother and two siblings are blind. His father is not man enough to take care of the family. This leaves Dradriga the only responsible member of the family to take care of the home daily.
“I am now the second head of this home because my mother is blind and my father cannot afford all the basic necessities. I cannot go to school because I fear that my other siblings will stay hungry,” he said. Adding I have to wake up at 7am to fetch water, bathe the children and then start cooking. And this is only if there is something to cook. It is a huge daily task.”
At their home in Olevu Village, Odupi Sub-county, Arua District, Dradriga sorts out vegetables which the blind mother Ms HellenTiko, 41, picks from the compound to feed the family.
“Even when our third born goes to school, he cannot see what the teacher has written on the black board. I don’t have uniform and our father cannot even afford scholastic materials. This is the life we live,” laments the 11-year-old.
“Even when our third born goes to school, he cannot see what the teacher has written on the black board. I don’t have uniform and our father cannot even afford scholastic materials. This is the life we live,” laments the 11-year-old.
A visit to the home of the 62-year-old Marino Ocitia, rocked in poverty reveals a very bleak future for the family.
Eating meat or fish is unheard of for the rest of the year except during Christmas or Easter. The family feeds on boiled vegetables and beans everyday.
Clothing for mother, father and children is a luxury and their dwelling is a shanty mud and wattle grass-thatched hut. There is no toilet and the family has to wait until nightfall to hide behind the hut for a bath.
Eating meat or fish is unheard of for the rest of the year except during Christmas or Easter. The family feeds on boiled vegetables and beans everyday.
Clothing for mother, father and children is a luxury and their dwelling is a shanty mud and wattle grass-thatched hut. There is no toilet and the family has to wait until nightfall to hide behind the hut for a bath.
The children bathe in the open compound or at a nearby stream. The hut was thatched 20 years ago and its leaky roof makes it an undesirable shelter for mankind.
The family only received some new clothes from good Samaritans who were carrying out research in the area for their organisation.
Speaking to Daily Monitor at his home on Tuesday, Mr Marino said the family was in need of urgent medical care.
He said he could not afford taking his blind children and wife for eye checkup in Arua Town for lack of money.
The family only received some new clothes from good Samaritans who were carrying out research in the area for their organisation.
Speaking to Daily Monitor at his home on Tuesday, Mr Marino said the family was in need of urgent medical care.
He said he could not afford taking his blind children and wife for eye checkup in Arua Town for lack of money.
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