{"id":47788,"date":"2023-04-16T22:05:30","date_gmt":"2023-04-16T22:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners"},"modified":"2023-04-16T22:41:41","modified_gmt":"2023-04-16T22:41:41","slug":"seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners","title":{"rendered":"Seven-year-old twins become breadwinners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>Bare-chested with their potbellies greeting the eyes of any visitor who enters the grass-thatched hut they call home, seven-year-old Aaron Opio and Doreen Acen are not merely children but breadwinners for themselves.<\/p>\n

What they call their place of abode, has the power to invite tears, it is a doorless house with barely any beddings.<\/p>\n

This is where the twins find comfort to rest when dusk falls, they say, most often on empty stomachs.<\/p>\n

A tattered piece of dirty bedsheet, half piece of parched mattress and a broken green basin is all they own, in Acyekitoyo Village, Kaga Parish, Ochero Sub-county.<\/p>\n

Opio and Acen were sired by an unknown father with their mother, who is mentally ill, and identified as Christine Asege.<\/p>\n

Their mother\u2019s daily way of life is that of giggling around Akampala Landing Site in Ochero Sub-county on the shores of Lake Kyoga.<\/p>\n

The twins also have a nine-year-old brother, Denis Eriku, whose father is unknown.<\/p>\n

To make ends meet, Eriku runs errands around the village; at times herding animals for a day\u2019s pay of Shs1,000. That is the money Opio and Acen patiently wait for at the end of the day to have a meal,<\/p>\n

\u201cSince yesterday, we have not had any meal, we have been looking at the footpath that leads back to the house we call home, for our brother to bring something but in vain. Perhaps he has gone herding. I am hungry, and the nights can be cold on an empty stomach,\u201d Acen says in Kumam, her mother tongue.<\/p>\n

The little twin girl (Acen) says at times they take days without seeing their mother. \u201cShe was here five days ago with a piece of fish, perhaps from the landing site,\u201d she says, as she stares at the narrow road for a possible return of their brother Eriku.<\/p>\n

Ms Joyce Alao, who lives about two kilometres away from the home of these children, says all of Ms Asege\u2019s immediate relatives are dead, so her children find themselves in \u2018solitary confinement\u2019 with no close folks to turn to apart from well-wishers.<\/p>\n

On a good day, when there are leftovers from the meal served at the nearby community school, the custodians usher the children in for a day\u2019s bite. That gesture is, however, rare.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a village mate, I don\u2019t know when I last saw their mother. I no longer hear her giggle, because that is the sign that signals her presence,\u201d Ms Alao says.<\/p>\n

The 60-year-old Alao says the village has many destitute children, whose biological parents are unknown.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople come here from different parts of Teso to fish. With the nature and character of people, they sire children who are left to the fate of nature,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

Ms Alao says the situation has worsened due to economic hardship.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a village, we have longed to know the father of these children but it has not been possible, nor does the mother know. We believe someone slept with her in the dead of the night, left her pregnant, and the resultant effect are the suffering children,\u201d she told this publication.<\/p>\n

According to Opio, some well-wishers had enrolled them to school for Primary One but they opted out due to lack of food.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time when people were busy harvesting potatoes, we would move to homes to help peel, then they would give us a basin full of fresh potatoes,\u201d Opio adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cMummy is not there for us\u201d, Opio says, as he laughs at a lake bird flapping its wings over their mud and wattle grass-thatched hut. \u201cWe don\u2019t have clothes, all we have is what we are currently putting on,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Leaders say<\/b><\/p>\n

Mr Victor Rex Ekesu, the chairperson for Kaberamaido District local government, says the matter of child-headed families has become a common trajectory in Ngora and Soroti because of different circumstances, including death of parents and economic conditions.<\/p>\n

As result, in such situations, the elder child takes responsibility of the other siblings.<\/p>\n

Mr Ekesu says leaders have tried to talk to relatives to take responsibility, through the social support system which exists within the clan system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proportion of such child-headed families within the district, ranges between, one to two percent. You find a girl of 16 years being the breadwinner, and helping the other little siblings sail through the difficulties of life,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Mr Ekesu adds that at district level, the community based service have interventions, and once in a while they have helped children mitigate the social challenges.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. Bare-chested with their potbellies greeting the eyes of any visitor who enters the grass-thatched hut they call home, seven-year-old Aaron Opio and Doreen Acen are not merely children but breadwinners for themselves. What they call their place of abode, has the power to invite tears, it is a doorless house with barely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":47787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-47788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nSeven-year-old twins become breadwinners - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bare-chested with their potbellies greeting the eyes of any visitor who enters the grass-thatched hut they call home, se ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seven-year-old twins become breadwinners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bare-chested with their potbellies greeting the eyes of any visitor who enters the grass-thatched hut they call home, se ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-16T22:05:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-16T22:41:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681666549.02.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Seven-year-old twins become breadwinners\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-16T22:05:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-16T22:41:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners\"},\"wordCount\":771,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681666549.02.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners\",\"name\":\"Seven-year-old twins become breadwinners - Uganda\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681666549.02.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-16T22:05:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-16T22:41:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Bare-chested with their potbellies greeting the eyes of any visitor who enters the grass-thatched hut they call home, se ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681666549.02.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681666549.02.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Seven-year-old twins become breadwinners\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Seven-year-old twins become breadwinners\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/\",\"name\":\"Uganda\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Seven-year-old twins become breadwinners - Uganda","description":"Bare-chested with their potbellies greeting the eyes of any visitor who enters the grass-thatched hut they call home, se ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Seven-year-old twins become breadwinners","og_description":"Bare-chested with their potbellies greeting the eyes of any visitor who enters the grass-thatched hut they call home, se ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners","og_site_name":"Uganda","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-04-16T22:05:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-16T22:41:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681666549.02.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Seven-year-old twins become breadwinners","datePublished":"2023-04-16T22:05:30+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-16T22:41:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners"},"wordCount":771,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681666549.02.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Uganda","uganda"],"articleSection":["all news","community"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners","name":"Seven-year-old twins become breadwinners - Uganda","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681666549.02.jpg","datePublished":"2023-04-16T22:05:30+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-16T22:41:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Bare-chested with their potbellies greeting the eyes of any visitor who enters the grass-thatched hut they call home, se ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681666549.02.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1681666549.02.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"Seven-year-old twins become breadwinners"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/seven-year-old-twins-become-breadwinners#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Seven-year-old twins become breadwinners"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/","name":"Uganda","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}