My childhood was fun, I was born in a family of five boys, no girls. We literally paid for the price for not having a girl child. We had to cook, kneel and do whatever it takes, but it was fun. We were a happy family until AIDS came in. The game changed.
When you are young, you don’t really know what is going on. But I remember, first of all, my dad was singing in the Anglican Church and he did very well. They literally didn’t believe it was HIV back in the days, around 1993. Most people thought it was witchcraft.
So, I remember, with my dad, on Sunday we would sing in the choir, and on Monday go to find the cure in the witch doctors shrine. I was very young, because I used to go with him everywhere. So many people died because they didn’t believe HIV was real.
There was a rumour, that the epidemic was due to demons from Tanzania. So many people died in 1994. You have to thank God for people life Philly Bongoley Lutaaya who broke the ice. I was in Primary three (3) in 1993 when they showed us Philly Bongoley Lutaaya’s video. He said he was sick, and that HIV is real. He detailed ways to avoid it. He is a hero.
How did my family get affected?
HIV is more of a blame game. Every one blamed the other. I don’t know because I was young. But what I think infected my family was poverty and ignorance. Most people thought that somebody is bewitching the other. But thank God for Philly Bongoley Lutaaya.
Why I say poverty, is that they used to boil injection needles. One injection would be used in one family. You could often hear; has the injection been boiled? They would use it on every one – that is how the infection spread.
Among my parents, it was my dad who was the last to die. I think he know I didn’t have HIV. He always taught me stuff, taking me around wheresoever he went. He was poor but very hardworking. They know him in Masaka, he headed a choir called Hosanna.
When we lost both parents, we went to relatives, and moved house to house. First forward, I ended up ‘homeless’. But it was more of a personal decision. I don’t want to blame anyone because at some point I felt like i didn’t belong anywhere. That is how I ended up on the street.
That is a story I don’t want to dig into because I realised it was more of my own doing. I would have stayed home. I was on the streets for one month to three, but it felt like a very long time. It was tough, but I had my grand parents somewhere in Rubaga who invited me to come to Kampala. But by them I was hard to love. That is why I run away. I was just sick and tired of people. I wanted to be alone. I had stayed with so many people and was always the ‘unwanted’ one. Most of those street children, they reach a time when their hearts are like a rock, they don’t care. That is why I have so many of them around me because I know their language.
One day I wanted to commit suicide. I was running into the cars so one could knock me down. That was a time my hope box was totally empty. but every car was dodging me. Some of my relatives don’t even know this. The experience was brief, but i was sick and tired of people. That is why my life is a miracle. God healed me.
Someone named Patrick Ssemambo, found me running into the cars, stopped me, and directed me to Trumpet Centre founded my Ap. John Mulinde. They brought me up on the stage at the Church, and here someone (Mr Stephen Mbogo, Director of Highway College) offered to return me back to school. I gave my life to Christ and I was strong knowing that God had good plans for me.
My Message
People living with HIV, I call them soldiers. Because someone who doesn’t not live it with it has no idea. It was like a death sentence if they said you have HIV. But it is no longer a death sentence in our generation. Things have changed, and I always advise young people that you cannot tell who is infected by their outward appearance. People no longer look skinny and scary. They are looking good.
Therefore, if you lose hope because you have tested positive, you might end up missing on the possibilities of a cure as technology nowadays has advanced and there are chances that soon, there will be a cure for HIV. Therefore, I advise people not to lose hope because I believe God can heal them according to Jeremiah 32:27.
As narrated by Pr Wilson Bugembe. He is the senior pastor of the Worship House, Nansana and renown gospel musician.
