My name is Kayemba Kalema I was born in 1970. I
lived my childhood in a small village together with my father Fredrick, four
stepmothers and several half siblings. My birth mother lived in another remote
village, either unable or unwilling to raise her children. As can be assumed,
each stepmother cared only for her own children, which left me an object of continuous
mistreatment. My closest companion was my half-sister Alice, whose mother was
also living elsewhere.
In a way Fredrick (my father) was a generous man. In addition to supporting his large family he hosted a good number of coming and going people at his property. At times there were altogether over sixty people to be fed and accommodated. When I was 10 and Alice was 8, we had to wake up before sunrise to fetch water to fill up two big water tanks. After returning from school we headed straight to crop fields to ditch vegetables. Carrying heavy potato sacks on our heads, I (Kayemba) and Alice walked long ways to home. At that point we often fell asleep, exhausted by the day's work. When we woke up dinner had been prepared and eaten, and we had to wait with empty stomachs until breakfast. Some nights we ended up eating dog’s food to fight hunger.
"Out there must be other children suffering like me", I thought. "When I grow up I want to help them."
To avoid being woken up by stick hits, I and my sister Alice chose to sleep outside in the bushes. At the age of 10 Alice got raped by a visitor man. Because I was quickly forced to escape the threatening situation, I could not identify the man in the dark. After having lost her virginity, Alice no longer had any value. Different men came to get her for periods of some weeks and she was returned home just to be picked up by someone else. Alice died with HIV/ AIDS at the age of 22, leaving behind three orphaned children.
12-year-old I felt there was no way out of the helpless situation. I decided to commit suicide by drinking poison I had managed to acquire. But just before it was too late, I was found and taken to a hospital. Instead of returning home I went to live with my grand aunt. Since my life continued equally miserable there, I reattempted suicide a year later. This time I could not fight back nausea but threw up the poison, staying once again alive.
"Since God has saved my life already twice, I must have a special mission waiting for me. I must change my situation now so that I can take up the possibilities he will offer me."
In a way Fredrick (my father) was a generous man. In addition to supporting his large family he hosted a good number of coming and going people at his property. At times there were altogether over sixty people to be fed and accommodated. When I was 10 and Alice was 8, we had to wake up before sunrise to fetch water to fill up two big water tanks. After returning from school we headed straight to crop fields to ditch vegetables. Carrying heavy potato sacks on our heads, I (Kayemba) and Alice walked long ways to home. At that point we often fell asleep, exhausted by the day's work. When we woke up dinner had been prepared and eaten, and we had to wait with empty stomachs until breakfast. Some nights we ended up eating dog’s food to fight hunger.
"Out there must be other children suffering like me", I thought. "When I grow up I want to help them."
To avoid being woken up by stick hits, I and my sister Alice chose to sleep outside in the bushes. At the age of 10 Alice got raped by a visitor man. Because I was quickly forced to escape the threatening situation, I could not identify the man in the dark. After having lost her virginity, Alice no longer had any value. Different men came to get her for periods of some weeks and she was returned home just to be picked up by someone else. Alice died with HIV/ AIDS at the age of 22, leaving behind three orphaned children.
12-year-old I felt there was no way out of the helpless situation. I decided to commit suicide by drinking poison I had managed to acquire. But just before it was too late, I was found and taken to a hospital. Instead of returning home I went to live with my grand aunt. Since my life continued equally miserable there, I reattempted suicide a year later. This time I could not fight back nausea but threw up the poison, staying once again alive.
"Since God has saved my life already twice, I must have a special mission waiting for me. I must change my situation now so that I can take up the possibilities he will offer me."
I joined the National Resistance
Movement army when I was 13. My intention was either to get killed in a battle
or return with skills needed to take revenge on the people who had mistreated
me. For the first time in his life I felt a sense of belonging, as I was part
of a troop fighting to stop Obote's mass killings. I witnessed extreme cruelty,
such as cutting open pregnant women's stomachs with big knives, revealing
unborn babies that were claimed to be bombs. However, I did not stay in the
army for idealistic reasons but in order to have access to security and food.
In 1986, after I had been in the army for three years, Museveni became Uganda's
president and the civil war was over. By that time I had forgiven my wrongful
treatment and returned to my father's house.
Now that I knew how to handle a gun, Fredrick (My father) started fearing for himself and his wives. He decided to take me back to school to complete my primary and secondary education. Despite studying I felt restless and out of place. That is when I was introduced to a local boy scouts group, which took me back to camping familiar from the army. Together the scouts served post-war Ugandans in many ways, such as traveling to emergency sites to help children and elderly people. I stayed with the scouts until I became a troop leader, and nowadays I continued to work with youths as a seventh day Adventist pathfinder leader (Master Guide) and enjoy challenging mountain hikes training the youths survival skills, how to handle the emergencies etc...
By the time I finished secondary school my father had got sick. Weakened by cancer, he was no longer able to work but was forced to sell off his property in order to support the household. He died in three year's time. One of Fredrick's tenants, civil engineer Daniel Nsibambi, supported me by offering me work at his buildings. When he saw the young man's skills and determination he decided to take me to college. I got a Craft 1 certificate and continued to work for five more years until I could afford to get my diploma in civil engineering.
After graduating from college I started my own house building business, met my wife Prossy and got five children. Now the family lives comfortably in a peaceful village, attending actively in local church and scout events.
Throughout all times, I remembered the decision which I made when I was 10. Whenever I see suffering children I feel their pain in my heart. That is the reason for founding Hope Children's Foundation, which has been my main mission since 1999. Today my foundation brings together over 80 under privileged children - orphans, school dropouts and members of very poor families - to provide them with basic shelter, food and education.
"If I cannot help these poor children, then no one can. I want to change as many lives as possible, to bring brighter futures to my country."
Now that I knew how to handle a gun, Fredrick (My father) started fearing for himself and his wives. He decided to take me back to school to complete my primary and secondary education. Despite studying I felt restless and out of place. That is when I was introduced to a local boy scouts group, which took me back to camping familiar from the army. Together the scouts served post-war Ugandans in many ways, such as traveling to emergency sites to help children and elderly people. I stayed with the scouts until I became a troop leader, and nowadays I continued to work with youths as a seventh day Adventist pathfinder leader (Master Guide) and enjoy challenging mountain hikes training the youths survival skills, how to handle the emergencies etc...
By the time I finished secondary school my father had got sick. Weakened by cancer, he was no longer able to work but was forced to sell off his property in order to support the household. He died in three year's time. One of Fredrick's tenants, civil engineer Daniel Nsibambi, supported me by offering me work at his buildings. When he saw the young man's skills and determination he decided to take me to college. I got a Craft 1 certificate and continued to work for five more years until I could afford to get my diploma in civil engineering.
After graduating from college I started my own house building business, met my wife Prossy and got five children. Now the family lives comfortably in a peaceful village, attending actively in local church and scout events.
Throughout all times, I remembered the decision which I made when I was 10. Whenever I see suffering children I feel their pain in my heart. That is the reason for founding Hope Children's Foundation, which has been my main mission since 1999. Today my foundation brings together over 80 under privileged children - orphans, school dropouts and members of very poor families - to provide them with basic shelter, food and education.
"If I cannot help these poor children, then no one can. I want to change as many lives as possible, to bring brighter futures to my country."
AMEN
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| Camp in Mombasa |
