FOSTER CHILD:
Bonifance Oketcho
Birthday: April 12, 2001
Language: Ateso
Religion: Christian
Community: Opedede
A Little Bit about Bonifance
Bonifance lives with his Grandmother, Florence, who was born in 1957 and is a peasant farmer. He also lives with his Uncle Alfred, who was born in 1980 and is a peasant farmer too.
Bonifance’s family lives in a house made of mud and wattle with a straw roof. They live in Osukuru, a rural community located in Tororo District in the Eastern region of Uganda. Osukuru can be dry and hot – long periods of drought are common.
Bonifance attends primary school which takes him about 30 minutes of walking to get there every day! He is generally healthy and has not suffered from any serious illness.
The family obtains water all year round from a borehole with a hand pump, less than a kilometer away. The family uses a hole in the ground to go to the bathroom! They use paraffin candles and firewood for cooking.
The nearest health facility is about two hours away.
Some quick facts about Uganda:
Population: 25.8 million, of whom 85% live in rural areas – the opposite of Canada, where 79% live in cities; Canada’s population is about 32.5 million!
Size: 237,000 sq km – about half the size of the Yukon.
Life expectancy: 45 years old – compared to Canada’s average of 79 years.
Language: The official languages are English and Swahili, but most people also speak one of 30 indigenous languages.
History: 1962: Dr. Milton Obote, a Lango schoolteacher, leads Uganda to independence.
The majority of families in Osukuru live in temporary or semi-permanent huts, built of mud walls with grass thatch. These are small round huts often of one room with one or no window. Typical home furnishings include wooden stools, tables, beds, local mats, earth pots, cooking pans and plastic eating utensils. Our sponsored family owns a little piece of land where they grow sorghum, finger millet, cassava, maize, beans and peanuts. This is often not enough to feed the family, as they have to sell some to buy clothing, soap, paraffin and meet other domestic necessities during market days. Malnutrition is a serious concern, not only among children but also among adults. Our foster family also has to pay for any medical supplies or treatment, which they can ill-afford.