Ugandan Orphan Fends for Siblings in War-ravaged North

With tears gushing from his eyes irritated by cooking smoke, 14-year-old Denis Opoka keeps mingling maize flour in boiling water in a saucepan as his younger sister and brother quietly wait.

Opoka has been running the family, consisting of 12-year-old brother Samuel Onen, 9-year-old sister Innocent Apio and himself in Ajulu village in Gulu, northern Uganda, after they lost parentsto the notorious Ugandan rebel group, the Lord Resistance Army.

He was among 10 children from around the globe selected for their bravery, environmental awareness, and their cravings for education.

The selection is part of a global campaign launched by the Xinhua News Agency and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to mark the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the United Nations on November 20, 1989.

"I felt so bad after the rebels killed my mother in 2005. I was just 10 years old and brother and sister were too young," said Opoka, who lost his father to the rebels in 2003.

Opoka and his siblings settled down in the village as peace and stability returned to the region following the army's pursuit of the rebels. But life is as hard as ever for the three.

Living in their mud-built hut in the remote village, Opoka always tries to come up with a way to keep them fed and educated.

They opened several small patches of farmland around the hut, planting maize, sweet potato and bean. The harvest, however, could barely sustain them after drought ruined the first season early this year.

"When things are hard to get and we don't have anything to cook, we sleep hungry," he said bitterly.

From time to time, Opoka works in the neighbor's garden in exchange for a little money to buy soap, candles or salt.

Opoka is repeating the seventh in primary school because he couldn't afford about 85 U.S. dollars for senior school even though he passed the exams with an equivalent of B.

"I am really unhappy about it, but I can not do anything," said Opoka sadly, who has to walk barefoot for 5 km to Omoti Hill primary school every morning.

His siblings are luckier. They study at nearby Ajulu Model Primary School.

When the sun starts setting, Apio usually comes home first and starts making a fire to boil some water for supper, followed by Onen who collects dry branches as firewood on the way home. "As soon as I get home, I take over," said Opoka.

They normally boil some beans or dried green vegetable, with salt being the only spice. After supper, the elder brother checks Apio and Onen's homework and sometimes their exam papers.

Unfortunately, a paraffin-lit lamp, the only thing that can extend their study time after sunset, was stolen recently, leaving them depending on candles borrowed from a neighbor.

"I want to study but there is no one to help me. I want to join a vocational technical institute so that I can get a job to pay school fees for my brother and sister," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 17, 2009)