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Children residing in Uganda experience an overwhelming amount of loss and stress. Despite these adversities, many of the children display incredible resiliency.
Natalie Eggum and her colleague, Julie Vaughan, who are graduate students in the doctoral program for Developmental Psychology at Arizona State University, conducted a research study to examine the resiliency of Ugandan children. In July of 2007, Natalie traveled with H4KI to Tororo, Uganda. With the assistance of True Vine Ministries’ staff and many H4KI team volunteers, Ugandan children were interviewed to obtain a deeper understanding of their resiliency, coping, and behavioral adjustment to the negative events occurring in their lives. In addition, data regarding children’s social support, self-worth, and hope were collected. During the four days of data collection, 71 children and young adults participated in 1- to 2- hour interviews! Many of their stories were heart breaking, but optimism often was present. Of the children interviewed, 80% indicated they had experienced the death of a family member, 47% said their education had been interrupted due to a lack of school fees, and 48% reported their family had difficulty obtaining medicine. Despite these types of difficulties, children expressed hope. Below are some of their stories: A 19-year-old girl stated, “My father died when I was 4 and left me with my mom. She is still alive. God protects me against the Devil. There is the problem of school fees now, but I think God will find a way.” A 15-year-old girl described her story, “I was born in Tanzania and lived there for 11 years with my Dad. I came back with Dad to Uganda. That's where his home country is, but my mom was in Tanzania. All my brothers and sisters died. There were 5 of us. Four died, so I was left. I don't know what killed them, but I think it was AIDS.” She later described how both of her parents died too. Nonetheless, she wants to pursue her aspirations of becoming an engineer, like her father. A high school student said, “My father died, so I'm living with my grandma and my uncle guardian. They took care of me. My mom is at her home. So she moved to another place. Sometimes it is okay and I feel happy. Other times, I feel like giving up my life. But you do not give up your life if you have a problem because God will heal you. I want to go to University next year.” In addition to the qualitative data, quantitative data was analyzed. For example, children with higher social support from friends and family reported using coping strategies more frequently, having higher self-worth, higher hope, and exhibited fewer adjustment problems such as aggression, anxiety, withdrawal, or depression. Furthermore, children who reported using coping strategies more often reported more hope. Information gathered over the course of the study will be used to improve H4KI/True Vine Ministries’ programs currently serving the community and will be submitted for publication in an academic journal to influence communities beyond Tororo. This July, Natalie will return to Uganda and meet with orphan field workers, community leaders, and educators to discuss findings of the study and to develop ideas for improving children’s coping skills and adjustment. |
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