AIDS and orphans in Uganda: geographical and gender interpretations of household resources

AIDS and Orphans in Uganda: Geographical and Gender Interpretations of Household Resources HELEN RUTH ASPAAS* Utah State University

Ugandan households provide crisis fostering for the orphans of relatives who have died of AIDS. Using the household as the basic unit of analysis, this research noted the gender of the household head and the location of the household on a rural to urban continuum in order to determine differential outlays of the household’s resources for the education of orphans. Significant differences were identified. Indigenous children in men-headed households were enrolled in school at a higher rate than school-age orphans in the same households. In contrast, rural women, who have the lowest levels of education, showed no partiality in enrolling both indigenous children and orphans in school when they were the household heads.

AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), which results from HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), has attained pandemic proportions in sub-Saharan Africa where it is spread primarily by heterosexual contact. Individual adults may have multiple sexual partners. Many men have relations with commercial sex workers who also have multiple clients. Because of limited access to health care, sexually transmitted diseases remain untreated, which in turn increases the likelihood of acquiring the virus from an infected partner (Caldwell, 1995). Large urban areas are estimated to have 20 –30% seroprevalence, and rates between 5% and 20% are reported outside of the urban areas. Two-thirds of the world’s HIV/AIDS victims live in a region that has come to be known as the AIDS belt which includes Kenya, Tanzania, Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda.

*Direct all correspondence to: Helen Ruth Aspaas, Department of Geography & Earth Resources, Utah State University, UMC 5240, Logan, Utah 84322-5240. Telephone: (801) 797-2532. E-mail: [email protected]. The Social Science Journal, Volume 36, Number 2, pages 201–226. Copyright © 1999 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISSN: 0362-3319.

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The government of Uganda estimated that by 1993, 1.5 million of the country’s 16.5 million Ugandans were infected with HIV. Ninety percent of the reported cases were adults between 15 and 45 years old. AIDS is the leading cause of death for this cohort. Although the sex ratio is roughly parity among reported cases, more females than males are reported infected among the population under 30 years of age (Uganda AIDS Commission [UAC], 1993). While many aspects of Ugandan society continue to be profoundly affected by the impacts of AIDS, this study focuses on the situation of children who are orphaned by the disease. The government of Uganda designates an orphan as any child less than 18 years old who has lost one or both parents. Single orphans are those who have lost only one parent; double orphans have lost both their mother and their father owing to any cause (Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning [MFEP], 1995c). The Government of Uganda estimates that 12% of the country’s children are orphans, but specific data relative to the number of children orphaned by AIDS are unavailable (MFEP, 1995c). Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the extended family has provided a safety net to care for orphaned relatives. Traditionally, at the death of parents, children are sent to live with another member of the extended family (Museveni, 1992). A legitimate concern, however, is that the challenge of absorbing ever-increasing numbers of children into households that have limited resources may surpass the material ability of Ugandan households, regardless of the willingness or desire to help. The government of Uganda recognizes this as a serious social problem (UAC, 1993). Owing to the loss of adults between the economically productive ages of 15 and 45, an increasing number of orphans are relying on elderly relatives who may lack sufficient resources, both mental and physical, to provide for them (Apt, 1996; Barnett & Blaikie, 1992; Beer, Rose, & Tout, 1988; Eberstein, Serow, & Ahmad, 1988; UAC, 1993). Another precarious situation is the child-headed household wherein children live alone and manage the household without guidance and economic support from adults (Barnett & Blaikie, 1992). Unfortunately, baseline country-level data on the characteristics of families that are caring for children orphaned by AIDS are unavailable. Ankrah (1993) suggests that in the short term, case studies generated by independent scholars and nongovernmental organizations may be the most reliable source of the socioeconomic and cultural impacts of the disease on Ugandan families. The goal of this paper is to increase our knowledge of the kinship and household structure of those families that are caring for AIDS orphans. Using a data set generated from household heads’ responses to questionnaires, the paper reports on the locational and kinship structure of the households. The research emphasizes the social, demographic, and economic characteristics of the households, their heads, and the ability of the household heads to allocate resources for the education of the orphans. Education is used as an indicator of resource outlays in order to better assess how household cash resources are distributed relevant to AIDS orphans. Because Uganda is a developing country, national resources in the form of capital and infrastructure to assist and improve the situation of orphans are limited. Since no country-level data are available, intensive case studies in separate districts are helping to build a clearer picture of the impact of HIV/AIDS on Uganda. The results of this research should provide a more detailed indication of the situation of AIDS orphans and their care givers in order to facilitate a more equitable and efficient distribution of assistance based on an awareness of those in greatest need.

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After a brief discussion of some of the past research foci relevant to the AIDS pandemic in Uganda, this research places AIDS orphans within the broader discussion of the African cultural institution of child fostering. The research then addresses spatial and gender variables as they affect household decisions for educating AIDS orphans.

CRISIS FOSTERING AND AIDS ORPHANS The spread of AIDS throughout Uganda is associated with numerous conduits. Spatial studies have examined diffusion corridors and the spread of the disease from initial infection heartlands to other regions. The earliest identified cases of AIDS in Uganda were reported in 1982 in Rakai District, where the prevalence of the disease was attributed to those engaged in illegal trade operations dependant on Lake Victoria as a transportation route (Government of Uganda and Uganda National Council for Children [GOU], 1994). Proximity to major roads, higher levels of urbanization, and labor migration characterize regions that are heavily affected by the disease (Cliff & Smallman-Raynor, 1992; Obbo, 1993). The spread of the disease through the southern margins of Uganda was amplified by the presence of the major east-west highway transportation corridor. Truckers and lorry drivers bringing goods from Mombasa’s port to Kampala and on into the interior countries of Zaire (as Congo was named at the time), Rwanda, and Burundi served as carriers of the disease (Obbo, 1993). The social and civil upheaval in Uganda between 1972 and 1985 is also credited with spreading the disease beyond the southern portions of the country. Additional subgroups of the population who were at greater risk of acquiring HIV were identified in early studies. The list included soldiers, commercial sex workers, and migrant laborers (Konde-Lule, Musagara, & Musgrave, 1993; Obbo, 1993). In response to the rapid spread of AIDS into pandemic proportions, early research focused on cultural and behavioral patterns that promoted the transmission of the virus. Researchers hoped to identify intervention practices and prevention initiatives (Adamchak, Mbizvo, & Tawanda, 1990; Orubuloye, Caldwell, & Caldwell, 1993; Ulin, 1992). By the early 1990s, research interests diversified as scholars addressed the social and economic impacts of the disease on different strata of society. The loss of productive, often well-educated young adults to the disease was perceived as a serious problem not only for individual families but for the country as a whole (Abel, Barnett, Bell, Blaikie, & Cross, 1988; Cohen & Trussell, 1996). While families lost the contribution of economically productive workers, they also faced the dilemma of providing sustenance for orphans while relying on diminished resources. Child fostering is a culturally sanctioned procedure throughout sub-Saharan Africa whereby natal parents allow their children to be reared in other households or by adults other than the biological mother or father of the child. The institution of child fostering challenges the dominant conceptual household model that places the responsibility for raising a child to full adulthood on the begetter or bearer of the child (Bertrand, 1993). Fostered children often live in different households from their biological mothers or agnatic kin. In cases where fostered children live with their biological mothers, other adults are the primary care givers (Castle, 1995, 1996). A body of literature examines the dynamics of child fostering in West Africa and provides case studies that address diverse

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dimensions of child fostering in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Mali (Bledsoe, 1990; Castle, 1995, 1996; Goody, 1982; Isiugo-Abanihe, 1985; Page, 1989). The fostering of a child within a household other than that of the natal kin usually entails an agreement between the two families who are involved. In most cases of child fostering, the process is a function of a need to reallocate resources within the extended family or among related kin so that the survival of individual households is ensured and ties with extended kin are strengthened (Isiugo-Abanihe, 1985). If the child is sent by urban parents to relatives in the village, ties with the rural areas are expected to become stronger. The same is true for rural households hoping to strengthen linkages with urban relatives. In their 1982 study of the Mende in Sierra Leone, Isaac and Conrad concluded that the motivations for child fostering had locational, kinship, educational, and economic considerations. For young children (age 1 to 4), the location of the fostering family in rural or urban settings was not important, nor was the leading occupation of the family. Rather, for these young children, the strength of the kinship structure was the motivating factor. For children between the ages of 5 and 14, occupation and locational factors played an important role in the decision to foster a child. Isaac and Conrad (1982) found that natal parents were concerned to place their children in homes where educational opportunities appeared most amenable. Therefore, children tended to be placed in urban settings with relatives who were perceived as economically successful. Natal families hoped to enhance education and social networks so that employment opportunities when children attained adulthood would be guaranteed (Bertrand, 1993). Other perceived economic and social advantages support a family’s decision to foster out some of its children. Child fostering provides the natal family with a means for managing the consequences of high fertility. Fostering with relatives helps to minimize transaction costs and reduces burdens of monitoring and supervision. Alternatively, nonparent care givers are recognized by natal families as better disciplinarians. Incentives also encourage families to accept foster children. In rural areas, the addition of children to households means extra farm labor. Assistance with domestic chores is also a consideration for accepting foster children into both rural and urban households. For women who have no children or whose children are grown, a foster child brings companionship and upon the child’s attaining adulthood may provide social and economic advancement. Fostering is viewed as a means to gain future potential benefits when the child becomes an adult (Bledsoe, 1990). In summary, the practice of child fostering is generally perceived by the natal household and the fostering household as an opportunity to strengthen social and kinship ties through short-term and long-term benefits to both parties, including reciprocity obligations, social security, and investments in both households’ futures (Bledsoe, 1990; Castle, 1996). While studies in West Africa generally suggest that child fostering contributes to mutually recognized benefits for both the natal and fostering families, the incidence of crisis fostering is a deviation from this norm. Crisis fostering occurs under unexpected circumstances such as death or some tragedy within the natal family that depletes essential resources. Goody (1982) suggests that families disrupted by death are likely to send a child to another household for fostering. Crisis fostering, then, is a normative social obligation rather than the politically and economically motivated rationale depicted earlier. Goody (1982, p. 33) states that “kin who have the right to claim a child in

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purposive fosterage have a duty to accept the role of foster parent in a crisis.” Reciprocity issues appear to be dismissed or deemphasized in the event of crisis fostering. In the context of AIDS orphans in Uganda, the situation is clearly an example of crisis fostering under very serious circumstances. Children lose one or both parents and family resources are often depleted in caring for the sick and dying parents and subsequently paying funeral expenses. Traditional practices, then, generally assure that orphaned Ugandan children will be absorbed through family fostering systems into the extended family network. Researchers suggest that as long as the extended family can accept AIDS orphans, it should continue to do so. However, as the AIDS pandemic affects more and more households, this traditional way of caring for orphans may lie beyond the extended family’s ability to cope (Ankrah, 1993; Hunter, 1990; Rutayuga, 1992; Seeley et al., 1993). Early AIDS studies by Hunter (1990) and Barnett and Blaikie (1992) helped to draw attention to some serious situations faced by AIDS orphans. Hunter’s work from Rakai District provided a profile of orphan status in the district most seriously affected by the AIDS pandemic. Daily sustenance for the children was highly problematical and opportunities for schooling had been nearly eliminated, especially for double orphans. Barnett’s and Blaikie’s work addressed the deterioration in Ugandan agricultural production as a result of the loss of essential labor sources. Children whose parents had died from AIDS endeavored to maintain agricultural practices but did so without access to essential labor or important agricultural inputs. Farmsteads that were once active producers of cash crops produced primarily subsistence resources. This research endeavors to enlarge our knowledge of the Ugandan family’s efforts to serve the needs of AIDS-orphaned relatives. Uganda itself is one of the poorest countries in the world and one might expect that the survival situations for AIDS orphans would be universally difficult. Circumstances exist, however, that may be particularly precarious. Factors that may affect variability in the living and survival situations of AIDS orphans include but are not limited to the household’s location, the gender of the household head, and ultimately, the resource base of that household. The resource base of the household is not limited to subsistence food crops or cash resources, but includes social factors that affect the emotional and mental well-being of the household members. One reflection of resource availability is the willingness of households to invest in children’s education, for indigenous children as well as orphans. This research examines three characteristics of households, namely, the location of the households in rural areas, market centers, or towns; the gender of the household head; and the resource base of the household and its implications for investing in orphans’ education.

LOCATION OF THE HOUSEHOLD The first variable to be examined in the context of households that foster AIDS orphans is their location. The location of a household in a rural setting, in a market center, or in an urban setting may determine the range and value of resource options available to that household and subsequent distribution of resources for the benefit of the household’s members. Variations in access to resources can be both qualitative and quantitative; the number of resources and their material or monetary contributions vary, as do the types of

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resources that are available. A rural household has an implied (though not guaranteed) access to land for generating cash and subsistence agriculture with possible additions of wage and informal-sector activities. Urban households may be associated with access to higher wages, and proximity to a population with greater disposable incomes may result in profitable informal-sector activities. Other characteristics of the household such as age structure and education level of the household head vary by location. Eighty percent of Uganda’s population lives in rural areas, and two-thirds of the country’s households depend on subsistence farming for livelihood (MFEP, 1995a). Although AIDS rates are highest in the larger urban centers, rural areas have a high concentration of AIDS orphans. As parents become victims of the disease, they tend to send or take their children back to the rural areas so there will be guaranteed care by surviving kin (GOU, 1994; Rutayuga, 1992). Likewise, as the disease spreads into the rural areas, the number of orphans indigenous to rural areas will also increase. Research has examined child spacing decisions, child fostering decisions, housing conditions, even women’s informal-sector activities in relation to rural-urban differentials (Andreasen, 1990; Babb, 1989; Carael, 1981; Isaac and Conrad, 1982). This research examines variations in the sociodemographic structure of households and variations in allocation of resources for the education of orphans based on three spatially distinct categories:

Rural Agrarian Households These are households whose principal resource base rests on agriculture, either in subsistence or cash cropping or a combination of the two. However, as families engage in multiple economic activities in order to assure survival, participation in wage labor and informal-sector activities is increasingly common.

Rural Market Center Households While these households are located in rural market centers, their major resource base may rest almost completely on subsistence and cash cropping. Village dwellers maintain strong linkages to the rural hinterland primarily for crop production and access to the extended family network (Trager, 1988). Market centers show characteristics of both rural and urban areas. While many market center households have ties to the land for subsistence and cash crop production, members may also engage full time in wage employment or in informal-sector activities.

Households in Towns These may be situated within the boundaries of the town or located in housing estates. Estates are often located within walking distance of town and serve as bedroom communities for urban workers who are primarily engaged in wage labor or informal-sector activities on a regular and continual basis, thus guaranteeing incomes for monthly rental payments and cash to purchase daily sustenance.

GENDER OF THE HOUSEHOLD HEAD The relative position of women in African societies suggests that access to resources for meeting the needs of the family may vary depending on the gender of the household head.

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A large and respected body of literature examines women’s access to resources relative to the amount of labor they contribute to the well-being of the household (Lado, 1992; Mwaka, 1993; Obbo, 1986; Russo, Bremer-Fox, Poats, & Graig, 1989). The literature concludes that women’s access to resources is generally limited when compared to access enjoyed by the male household head. Scholars and policy experts agree that women’s responsibilities focus on the primary welfare of their children. However, these childrearing responsibilities are faced in the context of limited resources relative to those held by men (Blumberg, 1988a, 1988b, 1989, 1991; GOU, 1994). Two reasons support investigating women’s roles in caring for orphans. First, pooling of resources is not commonly practiced in African households. Theoretical and empirical research emphasizes the different spending priorities and responsibilities of individual household members and focuses primarily on gender- and age-specific obligations (Blumberg, 1991; Chafetz, 1988; Kabeer, 1994; Momsen & Townsend, 1987). Special attention to the sub-Saharan African household is provided by Clark (1984), Ekejiuba (1995), Fapohunda (1988), Robertson (1988), and Trenchard (1987). All of these sources acknowledge that responsibilities for family welfare are split along gender lines and that as a result, gender-specific income and expenditure patterns evolve which have important implications for household and societal well-being. In spite of the usual maintenance of separate purses, the mother and father each accept culturally defined obligations for rearing the children. The woman is responsible for certain provisionary roles. Traditionally, African women have shouldered the responsibility for the daily nutrition of the household’s members. This responsibility is met primarily through farming on land acquired through usufruct rights (Davison, 1989). Other traditional activities that women continue to perform include preparing food, washing clothing, cleaning the compound and house, and collecting firewood and water. This is accomplished in concert with bearing children and providing primary child care as well as performing kin-related duties. Most commonly, the literature suggests that the male household head will accept responsibility for regular payment of school fees and related educational costs (Bertrand, 1993). However, when the men fail to meet their obligations for educating the children, women must accept the responsibility. The second reason for addressing women’s roles in caring for orphans is the increasing number of households that are headed by women. Women-headed households are an increasing phenomenon throughout the world, and Uganda is no exception. Estimates of the number of women-headed households vary throughout the world and no precise census data are available. Between 20% and 50% of sub-Saharan African households are headed by women. This variation is accounted for by the location of the data collection and different interpretations of what constitutes women-headed households (Gibbings, 1996; International Affairs, 1995; Lycette, 1995; Social Statistics and Indicators, 1995). For a number of reasons, no consensus has been achieved for adequately designating women-headed households as distinct from men-headed households in sub-Saharan Africa. Enumerators use differing criteria; conditions within the household vary from time to time and the multiple roles that women must play all give different meanings and interpretations to the category of household headship. The most commonly accepted distinctions are de jure headship and de facto headship. De jure household heads are those individuals recognized as the legal head or represen-

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tative of the household and are usually acknowledged to be responsible for providing material goods and making decisions for the physical and emotional well-being of the household’s members. In rural Africa, women frequently find themselves placed in a position of responsibility whereby they provide for the family’s welfare but are not recognized as the legal head of the household. Such a situation is de facto headship. The male household head may work in a distant city, returning infrequently to the household. Likewise, the male head may become incapacitated for various reasons, and the wife must accept responsibility for the household’s survival. Women in polygamous marriages may experience limited access to their husband’s resources and consequently become de facto household heads because they must carry the responsibility for providing for their children as well as themselves (Folbre, 1991). Marital breakdown as reflected in divorce or separation is common in Africa (Bertrand, 1993; Gregson, 1994). Widowhood is common as well. Women who have married men some years older than themselves usually expect to spend considerable years as widows. In African societies, widows are generally supported out of current household production by the kin group (Goody, 1982; Obbo, 1986). Divorce rates and widowhood rates are estimated to range between 20% and 40% of all adult African women. For Ugandan women older than 15 years, 17% are widowed or divorced (MFEP, 1995a). The prevalence of AIDS increases the number of widows, but this may only be for a short time because many of the widows themselves are infected with HIV (Caldwell, 1995). For many AIDS-infected couples, the husband is usually the first to die, leaving an ill and failing wife with the responsibilities of caring for their children as long as she is able. Research suggests that women live with HIV for a shorter period of time than do men, so their period of widowhood is generally 1 to 2 years (GOU, 1994; UAC, 1993). The negative impact of the lack of a male household head is felt in many ways. The complete absence of financial or material contributions places women who head their own households in more tentative financial circumstances than their peers who have a male head. Likewise, the absence of a male household head means that access to nonmarket production is diminished and may be completely omitted from the women’s resource base. Often this includes income from agricultural land or access to land for subsistence agricultural activities. Women who head their households must balance time and mobility constraints in acquiring resources necessary for maintaining their provisionary roles along with home-based reproductive responsibilities. Based on this awareness of gender stratification in African societies, this research seeks to identify sociodemographic and economic variations between male- and female-headed households that are fostering AIDS orphans.

EDUCATION AS AN INDICATOR OF RESOURCE ALLOCATION Developing countries acknowledge the role of an educated citizenry for advancing development. To attain the goal of a fully literate population, many countries have embarked on national programs to promote universal primary education. Success stories are reported in sub-Saharan Africa. Kenya and Botswana have achieved near-universal primary education for both genders (World Bank, 1995). Formal education is also valued at the household level. Parents know that children’s opportunities for economic advancement are contingent upon attaining as high a level of education as possible (MFEP,

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1995b). The family can anticipate increased economic and social benefits to the household when educated adult children attain wage employment and reciprocate by assisting the extended family. Access to education is generally determined by the household’s cash resources. Household cash outlays are required for paying school fees and purchasing books, school materials, and uniforms. Poverty is one of the major deterrents of children’s access to a formal education but gender inequalities, low parental literacy, and a poor distribution of schools, particularly in rural areas, are also inhibiting factors (GOU, 1994). Educating a child in Uganda requires a substantial and regular allotment of household cash resources. When household cash resources become depleted, school fees, which represent a comparatively large cash outlay, are forgone and children are kept at home. In some instances, children may only miss one or two terms of school while the family replenishes its cash resources. In other cases, access to necessary cash is so limited that children are kept out of school on a permanent basis or never attend at all. The rationale for examining educational access in the context of households with AIDS orphans is threefold. By focusing on school enrollment data for orphans who are being fostered, we may be able to generalize about the future prospects of these children when they reach adulthood; likewise we may come to some possible conclusions about the societal impact if indeed orphans in such great numbers reach adulthood and are illiterate. Secondly, by focusing on education, we can make some generalizations about households’ access to cash and willingness to use that cash on behalf of the orphans fostered there. Finally, we can generalize about possible biases within the household regarding resource allocations when there are both orphans and indigenous, natal children living under the same roof. Because of the complexities of the extended family network, we know that orphans are seldom the only children in the household. The fostering family most often has children born to the adult household heads. These are commonly referred to as indigenous children. Child fostering studies in West Africa have examined possible differences in resource allocation between fostered children and children indigenous to the household. Castle (1995, 1996) noted that while fostered children’s diets may be somewhat less diversified than indigenous children’s, their nutrition levels are adequate. While resource allocations for fostered children are lower than outlays for indigenous children, the fostered children generally experience adequate diets and attain educational levels on a par with children indigenous to the household (Goody, 1982; Isaac and Conrad, 1982; Isiugo-Abanihe, 1985; Page, 1989). We do not know if this is the situation for Ugandan AIDS orphans who are being fostered under crisis situations where the extended family network is responsible for ever-increasing numbers of orphaned relatives. By examining educational enrollments of orphans, we can better understand possible differential treatment between AIDS orphans and indigenous children within Ugandan households.

SITE SELECTION Jinja District in eastern Uganda was selected for this study for several reasons. First of all, case studies available for reference at the time of the research focused on districts in the western part of Uganda because of high HIV/AIDS prevalence in those areas. No research

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was available to validate the impacts of AIDS in the eastern districts. This study may help to broaden our understanding of the consequences of AIDS in another part of the country. Because Jinja District contains rural and urban populations, locational comparisons could be made. The town of Jinja is the second-largest city in Uganda, with a population of 65,000, so access to a large urban population was guaranteed. The urban population comprises 23% of the district’s population of 290,000 (MFEP, 1995a). The district also contains a large rural population that is engaged in subsistence and cash cropping. Subsistence crops are mainly maize, sweet potatoes, matoke bananas, and cassava. Coffee is the principal cash crop, although food crops, when abundant, are sold in local markets and to middlemen for transport to Kampala and other areas. The major east-west transportation highway for Uganda and landlocked countries in central Africa passes through the district. The district borders on Lake Victoria so water transport also connects Jinja with other parts of the country. Because of these transportation ties, the district is included in the critical AIDS corridor that surrounds Lake Victoria (Cliff & Smallman-Raynor, 1992). Finally, AIDS is prevalent throughout the district. The HIV seroprevalence rate among antenatal mothers at HIV sentinel surveillance centers in the district was 22.0% in 1991, and even though it dropped slightly, to 19.8%, in 1992, the rate remains high. Although these figures reflect only one part of the population, one can appreciate the general magnitude of the problem (UAC, 1993). Three villages were selected to represent the rural population for the research. Buwenda, Bugembe, and Wanyange contain families whose livelihood is based primarily on subsistence and cash cropping on small plots of approximately 1 to 5 ha. The market center that was selected for the interviews is Buwenge which lies approximately 15 km north of Jinja town. It is serviced by a tarmac highway that connects Jinja town with the region to the north. Its population is involved in informal-sector activities and wage work, and maintains close ties with the rural hinterland where many households are engaged in cash and subsistence farming. The urban areas that were chosen for interviews were Jinja town and three of its neighboring estates. Walukaba is a housing estate approximately 2 km from the center of town. Most residents are renters, and the quality and size of the homes vary from simple one-room apartments to homes with several rooms. The housing estate commonly known as Danida in the local parlance is named after the Danish governmental project that provides housing in a former slum area. The majority of home owners in Danida are women who work for a cement factory established by the Danish government. The women are purchasing their homes through payment plans defined through their work. Masese, the last of the estates, borders Lake Victoria. Some of the occupants are engaged in fishing but most dwellers have wage employment in Jinja town or operate small businesses.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The data collection took place from early October to the end of November in 1993. The population under study was those households in the district who were caring for orphans. In order to identify households for interviews, the Resistance Council I Officials and Resistance Council I Officials for Women were approached in each of the sites. The main

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requirement for their appointment is that they must be familiar with the household situations of the families in their jurisdiction. Therefore, these officials were visited early in the research and were asked if they could identify the households who had orphans. The officials were given certain criteria for identifying possible participants: a range of ages for the household heads, men- and women-headed households, and location throughout the village. The officials responded positively from the very start and made a serious effort to introduce the research team to potential participants. The officials were apprised of the nature of the questionnaire and in turn they discussed the interviewing procedure with their constituents, answered questions, made appointments for the interviews, and introduced the research team to the participants. Participants were given the opportunity to ask the research team any questions or express concerns they felt about the interviewing process and the ultimate goals of the research. The interviews in each locale took place during a number of repeated visits to ensure reliability and validity. Households with AIDS orphans and children who were orphaned by other circumstances were included in the study. This study focuses solely on the households with AIDS orphans. One hundred three households in the sample reported having AIDS orphans. Questionnaires were designed to gather a range of quantitative and qualitative data from rural, market towns, and urban residents. The respondents were household heads. If the male household head was absent, his wife or an adult child responded to the questions. The household heads were asked how the orphans’ parent or parents died. Only those responses that clearly designated that death of an orphan’s parent or parents was due to AIDS were used in this analysis. This was based on self-assessment by the household head. Many of the younger widows acknowledged that their husbands had died of AIDS, but not all of them stated that they too were HIV positive. During the course of the interview, each household head’s name, age, gender, marital status, and education level were recorded. A roster of household members was collected identifying those who were orphans, the ages and gender of all the household members, and which of the school age children were in school. The relationship between the household head and the orphans was recorded. The household head was asked to identify the household’s included wage labor and wages per day, informal-sector activities, estimated earnings per day, access to remittances, source and type of remittances received, and access to land for agricultural purposes. Informants described if the land was used for cash or subsistence cropping or a combination of the two. Finally, informants were asked if they received assistance from any social welfare organizations and if they responded affirmatively, the nature of the assistance and the name of the organization were recorded. The sampling procedure benefited from the assistance of the Resistance Council members. Their awareness of intrahousehold relationships and economic situations helped in verifying the participants’ responses.

SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HOUSEHOLD HEADS Table 1 lists the sample size for each of the three geographical subsets and indicates the number of households headed by men and by women. All of these households contained orphaned children who had lost one or both parents to AIDS.

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Table 1. Sociodemographic Information for Heads of Households by Location and Gender: Mean Age and Mean Education in Years Gender Rural Men Women Total Market Center Men Women Total Urban Men Women Total Total Men Women Total

Sample Size

Age (years)

Education (years)

15 28 43

52.70 44.30 47.20

6.00 3.60 4.39

9 14 23

45.00 47.40 47.00

2.60 3.40 2.80

16 21 37

34.60 40.10 37.40

5.70 4.90 5.30

40 63 103

43.80 43.50 43.60

5.94 3.95 4.70

Table 1 also presents the mean ages and levels of education of the household heads. In most cases, the household heads willingly told their ages. For some of the elderly who were unsure of their ages, the interviewers made an estimate and indicated it as such on the questionnaire. The average ages of the household heads show a trend when we compare the geographical settings. The rural areas contained the oldest household heads for the combined genders. The ages for the market centers varied little from those of the rural population. The urban household heads were the youngest. No data from the Ugandan census are available for comparative purposes, but the general consensus among demographers is that the rural areas tend to have older adults because of the younger adult migration to urban areas. During the interviews, the household heads were asked their highest level of education attained in formal schooling. More traditional and rural settings are frequently associated with lower education levels for both men and women, and the data for women are consistent with this generalization. The average education of the rural men in this sample surpasses even their urban counterparts. The government of Uganda reports that for rural populations, almost 39% of the adult population has never completed the first level of primary school while in urban areas that number is reduced to 14% (MFEP, 1995c). In the sample, women’s levels of education show a gradual increase from the rural areas to the urban, and the gender gap in educational attainment also decreases.

HOUSEHOLD DEMOGRAPHICS Table 2 lists data for the composition of the households. This includes the total household size, number of orphans, and number of indigenous children. Total household size varies little between gender of household head and between geographical areas. This is likewise

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Table 2. Household Demographics by Location and Gender: Mean Number of Orphans and Indigenous Children and Mean Household Size Gender Rural Men Women Total Market Center Men Women Total Urban Men Women Total Total Men Women Total

Orphans

Indigenous Children

Household Size

3.87 3.32 3.60

1.13 2.54 1.84

7.80 8.00 7.93

4.00 2.23 3.10

1.67 2.50 2.10

9.00 7.20 8.04

4.47 3.00 3.38

.94 3.25 2.58

7.59 7.24 7.30

3.87 2.98 3.43

1.49 2.76 2.13

7.90 7.57 7.74

the case for a number of orphans. The major difference, however, is the number of indigenous children in households headed by women compared to the number in households headed by men. In all three geographical settings, women-headed households have more indigenous children. One explanation is the focus on those women who had recently lost their husbands to AIDS. These women were then the heads of their households and their children were considered to be AIDS orphans since they had lost one parent to AIDS. These children are categorized as indigenous for this analysis because they were living with their mothers and may account for the greater number of indigenous children in women-headed households. The data values for household size are considerably larger than those listed by the government census for Jinja District. According to the government census, mean rural household size for Jinja District is 4.8 persons and mean household size for urban is 4.1. In this study, the mean rural household size was 7.9 and urban was 7.3. In the government census, men-headed households have 5.2 people per household and women-headed households have 4.3 people per household (MFEP, 1995c). Comparable figures from this study are 7.9 for men-headed households and 7.6 for women-headed households. In all cases, the sampled areas reflected a larger number of people in the household than is reported in the government census. For Jinja District the government census reports that 8.7% of all children between the ages of 0 and 17 are orphans. These are children with at least one parent dead. No census data are available for making comparisons between the number of orphans and indigenous children per household. Neither are there baseline data for the number of children who are orphaned by AIDS, so no comparisons between this data set and government statistics are possible.

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HOUSEHOLD RESOURCES Preexisting patterns of resource access that have become culturally established may undergo transformation as unexpected, but nevertheless overwhelming societal or household changes occur. Such changes may result in redefining, altering, reordering, substituting, or eliminating productive and consumptive activities as access to resources is modified. The household is recognized as a unit of analysis by development researchers, but issues relating to change, fluidity, and adaptive mechanisms are frequently underrepresented in the literature and have not been fully addressed in the context of households touched in any form by AIDS (Curry & Seibert, 1989; Smith & Reeves, 1989; Van de Walle, 1990; Wilk, 1989). Basic survival needs for household members center on food, shelter, clothing, sanitation, and access to clean water. Additional needs include medical care, education for the household’s children, and guarantees of basic human rights. Resources available to household members for meeting these needs can be varied, but in the context of this research have been classified into the subgroups capital resources, labor resources, and social welfare resources. Capital resources include ownership of land or access to land, the practice of commercial or subsistence farming or a combination of the two, and capital goods and cash reserves as well as items that can be readily converted into cash or used for barter. Productive labor resources in the household are reflected in wages, earnings from informal-sector activities, or remittances. Reproductive labor resources maintain the household’s daily operations and social development. Social welfare resources include the kin network and social or institutional services that offer material or emotional support. This list may not be all-inclusive, but it does address the principal needs and potential resource base of most Ugandan households. Table 2 presents sociodemographic information about household heads and the number of people for whom they are responsible. However, such responsibility has minimal meaning if we do not know the resource base available to the household head for meeting the needs of the members. Table 3 summarizes two aspects of households’ resource base. Total income reflects household heads’ estimation of their average daily income from wage or informal-sector activities, and in some cases a combination of the two. Participants were asked if anyone in the household held wage employment, and if so, what the wages were on a daily basis. Rural wage labor in most cases was casual farm labor (digging). Respondents identified a variety of informal-sector activities from which they received earnings. The list included sale of farm produce in local markets, tailoring, shop keeping, weaving of mats, and boda-boda (bicycle taxi) operation. Gender differences in total income are smaller for the urban areas than for the rural areas and market centers. The lowest incomes were reported by household heads in the rural market center. This locale also had the lowest level of education for men; the women were slightly older than the rural women and the sample size was smaller. These factors may account for these lower income values. Access to cash-generating resources associated with wage labor and informal sector activities does not necessarily give a complete picture of the resource base for the household, especially when we consider rural households that engage in subsistence level agriculture. Consequently, the second part of Table 3 summarizes the number of economic activities reported by the households. Participants were asked to indicate if they had access

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Table 3. Household Income per Day and Resource Base by Location and Gender Gender Rural Men Women Total Market Center Men Women Total Urban Men Women Total Total Men Women Total

Income per Day*

Number of Resources

774 620 697

2.3 2.3 2.3

133 326 230

2.1 2.7 2.4

718 714 716

1.9 1.7 1.8

780 586 683

2.0 2.2 2.1

*Income is Uganda shillings, which were approximately 1100 shillings to U.S. $1.00 in 1993.

to land and if the land was used for cash crops, subsistence crops, or both. More detailed follow-up questions encouraged participants to indicate the amount of land they had, what specific crops were grown, and whether they were owners of the land, rented it, or used it from the public domain. Even in the urban areas, families manage to grow subsistence crops. This activity is usually performed on land that is part of municipal areas, or private land that is left vacant for a period of time. In these cases, the respondents commented that they had to cope with theft of crops and uncertainty, not knowing how long the land would be available for their use. Many respondents acknowledged that the land was sold before they could harvest their crops. Interviewees were asked if they received assistance from kin to keep their households functioning. Respondents indicated the source of the remittance, what was received (goods or cash), and the frequency of the remittance. Few households received remittances but of those who did, two-thirds were headed by women. Only six of the total sample had received any assistance from social welfare organizations. The recipients were all women-headed households. It is worth noting that while these recipients expressed gratitude for the help received, the assistance was generally quite small. A family might receive a single item of clothing or school fees for a single term for only one of the children. The categories of resources, then, were cash cropping, subsistence cropping, wage labor, informal-sector activities, remittances, and social welfare assistance. The total number of household resources for rural areas are higher than for urban areas. Rural households are engaged in a broad spectrum of activities: cash cropping, subsistence agriculture, informal sector activities, wage employment, and the receipt of remittances. Urban families focus on wage income and informal-sector activities, but many

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manage to grow subsistence crops in limited urban spaces. Within all three geographical locations, women’s and men’s numbers of resources were nearly the same, ranging from 1.7 to 2.7.

EDUCATION OF ORPHANS AS AN INDICATOR OF CASH OUTLAYS The final focus of the analysis is the education of AIDS orphans. Education serves as an indicator of the intention or commitment on the part of the family to allocate resources for the benefit of children. Other research has used children’s nutrition status in much the same way as an indicator of the allocation of resources for children’s welfare (Desai, 1991). This section shows that in some instances orphans in households do not receive the same educational opportunities the indigenous children in the same household receive. When crisis fostering occurs and when families have a large number of children (indigenous and orphans) to care for, education differentials start to appear. In order to compare orphans’ education to that of indigenous children, an Education Index was derived. This index is a value calculated for each household that compares the number of school-age orphans to the number of orphans who were actually in school at the time of the interview. The same index is calculated for the indigenous children; that is, the number of school-age indigenous children was compared to the number of indigenous children enrolled in school. An index of zero for orphans within a family means that all orphans of school age are attending school. The same is true for indigenous children. A number greater than zero indicates the number of school-age children who are not in school when compared to those in school. Table 4 lists the mean education indices for all locales and by gender of the household head. In all locales and for both genders, no education index ever equaled zero. Indices greater than zero were an indication that children of school age were not enrolled in school. Differences in magnitude of the Education Index appear when we compare the education index for the orphan subgroup to the education index for indigenous children. With two exceptions (market center women and urban women), the orphan index is always greater than the index for indigenous children. So, orphans generally tend to experience less schooling opportunity than the indigenous children with whom they live. Differences in location were also observed. The orphan education index was higher in the rural areas, but the indigenous education index varied minimally between geographical locations. When we examine the gender subsets within each locale, other differences are evident. The orphan education index for women-headed households is consistently lower than the orphan education index for men-headed households. Conversely, the indigenous education index in women-headed households is greater than the indigenous education index in men-headed households. Indices for indigenous children in men-headed households are closer to zero than comparable indices for indigenous children in women-headed households. This difference is substantiated when we compare the orphan education index to the indigenous education index for men-headed households. We see greater differences between the two indices than we see for women-headed households. Indigenous children

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Table 4. Education Index by Gender and Location: Orphan Education Index (OEI), Indigenous Education Index (IEI), and Comparison (OEI-IEI) Gender Rural Men Women Total Market Center Men Women Total Urban Men Women Total Total Men Women Total

Orphan Index

Indigenous Index

Comparison (OEI-IEI)

2.3 1.7 2.0

0.5 1.1 0.8

1.8 0.6 1.2

2.0 0.7 1.4

0.6 1.2 0.9

1.4 20.5 0.5

1.9 1.0 1.5

0.2 1.1 0.7

1.7 20.1 0.8

1.7 1.3 1.5

0.4 1.2 0.8

1.3 0.1 0.7

in men-headed households have a higher level of school enrollment than their counterparts in women-headed households. This is consistent for rural areas, the market center, and urban areas. Such a discrepancy between orphans and indigenous children is not obvious when the household is headed by women. In fact, market women and urban women show slightly higher enrollments for orphans. This may imply women’s commitment to balance resource outlays equitably among the household’s children. As a result, some of the household’s indigenous children may have to forgo their educational opportunities. Another explanation may be that the orphaned children have come into the households with sufficient resources to provide for their schooling. Additionally, women who head households may be receiving remittances that will assist the orphans in their schooling. Because of these observed differences, the data in Table 4 were tested for statistically significant differences between locales and between genders. An alpha level of .05 was used for all statistical tests. When differences were identified, the socioeconomic data were also compared to identify possible statistically significant differences. In order to more accurately assess possible intrahousehold differences between the education of orphans and the education of indigenous children, only those households that contained both indigenous children and orphans were tested for statistically significant differences. This reduces the sample size but makes generalizations more accurate because intrahousehold comparisons are made. Table 5 lists the results of t tests for the total sample and Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks Tests (a nonparametric test suitable for small samples) for the individual locales (Norusis, 1992). Statistically significant differences were identified between the education index for all indigenous children and the education index for all orphans when all locales are combined. Subsequently, individual locales were tested and statistically significant differences were identified between rural

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Table 5. Comparing Orphan Education Index (OEI) to Indigenous Education Index (IEI) by Location Using t Tests Location All Locales Rural Market Center Urban

Pairs 33 16 8 9

OEI 2.00 2.81 1.50 1.00

IEI 0.91 1.24 0.78 0.33

Significance* 0.009* 0.026* 0.398 0.180

*p , .05

indigenous children’s education index and rural orphans’ education index. No differences were identified in the market center or urban area. Because sociodemographic and economic data in Tables 1 through 3 showed differences in education, household size, and income based on the gender of the household, the gender of the household head may be associated with the differences in educational access. Consequently, the educational indices for orphans and indigenous children were then compared in the context of women-headed households and men-headed households. The results are listed in Table 6. Again, only households with both indigenous children and orphans were used in this sample. When the education indices for orphans and indigenous children were compared for households headed by women in all locations, no significant differences in the educational index were identified. This is not the case for the households headed by men. For all households headed by men there was a significant difference between orphans and indigenous children. No gender differences were identified within individual locales. The final question associated with gender differences in orphans’ access to education relates back to the social, demographic, and economic characteristics of the household. Since some demographic, educational, and resource differences were shown by the data for gender and because tests for the education index showed statistically significant differences, tests for statistically significant differences between men-headed households and women-headed households were performed using the social, demographic, and economic data sets. The results of these tests are listed in Table 7. No differences were identified when comparisons for all locations were made using a t test. When comparisons were calculated for the three geographical subregions using the Wilcoxon test, education levels of the household head were statistically significant in the rural areas. Women who head households in rural areas have significantly lower levels of education than their men counterparts.

SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION The child fostering provided by Ugandan households is a current example of crisis fostering whereby the extended family gives care for the orphans of relatives who have

Table 6. Comparing Orphan Education Index (OEI) to Indigenous Education Index (IEI) by Gender of Household Head Using t Tests Gender All Men All Women *p , .05

Pairs 19 14

OEI 1.53 2.64

IEI 0.68 1.21

Significance* .031* .100

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Table 7. Comparing Sociodemographic and Economic Information for Men-Headed Households and Women-Headed Households by Location Using t Tests

Gender All Locations Men Women Significance Rural Men Women Significance

Age (years), Household Head

Years of Education, Household Head

Household

19 17

37.0 41.7 .945

6.8 3.5 .207

9.6 9.8 .850

1026 964 .390

2.05 2.17 .343

7 9

40.1 40.0 .920

6.9 2.5 .012*

8.9 9.2 .73

1250 1160

2.4 2.2 .759

Sample Size

Income

.784

Res.

*p , .05

died of AIDS. AIDS orphans are found in all locales of Jinja District, and households throughout the district are providing care for orphaned relatives. Because Uganda has no country-level data base that identifies the impacts of AIDS, this case study of Jinja District may add to an understanding of the social impacts of AIDS on one cohort of the population, namely, AIDS orphans. This research has examined orphans’ educational opportunities by emphasizing the household as the basic unit of analysis. The study focuses on the gender of the household head, the location of that household on a rural-to-urban continuum, and outlays of household resources for the education of AIDS orphans. Education represents a substantial allotment of cash at regular intervals throughout the year. If families are experiencing depletion of resources, there could be a tendency to show partiality in deciding who will attend school. Such partiality may be reflected in a number of ways: boys’ education may be emphasized over girls’; older children may attend school while younger ones remain at home; indigenous children may have priority over orphans. This research has focused on differences between indigenous children and orphans. The Education Index was devised to compare a family’s number of school-age children to the number of children who were actually enrolled in school. The index was calculated for orphans and indigenous children who belonged to the same household and comparisons were made for location and gender of the household head. In none of the subsets was an education index of zero identified. This means that for all subgroups, there were children of school age who were not attending school. For families that contained both orphans and indigenous children, statistically significant differences were identified for rural areas and for households headed by men. Rural households showed a partiality for educating indigenous children. No differences were identified for market center households or urban households. Rural households have some characteristics that may help explain this favoritism for educating indigenous children over orphans. The level of education among the household heads may be lower overall. The analysis showed that women’s education in the rural areas was significantly lower than men’s. While the levels of education of women (3.6

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years) and for men (6.9 years) are higher than those for the market center, they are still lower than the urban figures and represent minimal primary school attainment. Parents who have lower levels of education tend to place less value on education; hence they are less likely to invest in their children’s schooling which may be reflected in lower enrollments for the AIDS orphans (Kakande & Nalwadda, 1992). The rural adult population tends to be older, and an older rural population may be influenced by a world view that is based on more traditional values; education may not be perceived as important from this perspective. Economically, the orphans may be required to provide labor for farming activities or do household chores. The research on child fostering in West Africa suggests that foster children are an important source of labor for the rural fostering families. As economically productive adults succumb to the AIDS pandemic, labor shortages in farming areas may result in increased use of children’s labor for farming (Isiugo-Abanihe, 1985; Page, 1989). Also, while the AIDS pandemic is now virtually ubiquitous throughout Uganda, the length of its impact in the rural areas of Jinja District is more recent than its impact in the more urban areas that were hardest hit by the pandemic in its early stages. Consequently, crisis fostering and adaptation to increased household membership by the advent of orphans may be a fairly new experience for many rural households in Jinja District that are still adjusting to all aspects of the pandemic. Strategies have not yet evolved for balancing obligations for all children in the household head’s care. Access to schools may be a final factor. The Ugandan government acknowledges that poor distribution of schools in remote villages plagues students’ educational opportunities (GOU, 1994). Many rural schools have maximized their enrollment, so households may make a decision to send only indigenous children under these constraints. Conversely, the market centers and urban areas of Uganda contain an adult population that is more youthful. Hence, an attitude toward educating all members of the family may prevail simply because of higher levels of educational attainment among decision makers in the households. Improved locational access to schools may also guarantee that more family members may attend. Finally, because AIDS was originally recognized as an urban phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa, market center and urban families may have had time to adapt to the social and economic impacts of the disease and develop useful strategies. Hence, attitudinal adjustments within the household may have been made so that nondiscriminatory practices toward orphans are the norm. When comparisons of children’s educational enrollment were made based on the gender of the household head, men-headed households showed partiality for educating indigenous children who were enrolled in school at a higher rate than school-age orphans in the same households. Even though the household size, the age of the household head, household incomes, and access to resources are not significantly different between the population of households headed by men and those headed by women, we note that women who head households show the least partiality in determining school enrollment for the children in their care. Other literature suggests that women-headed households are inevitably poorer because they lack access to resources normally provided by a male household head (Chant, 1997). This research was unable to identify differences in access to resources between menheaded households and women-headed households. The important finding is that women

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show less discrimination in allocating resources for educating both orphans and indigenous children. To explain this difference, we need to refer to the literature that addresses women’s roles in the sub-Saharan African household. The literature supports the principle that women will direct resources under their control to the benefit of household members— especially children (Blumberg, 1988a; Desai, 1991; Ekejiuba, 1995). This research suggests that women’s provisionary roles include a supportive attitude toward education and a willingness to pay for the education of all children under their care. Research on intra-household resource distribution also casts interesting light on assumptions about child disadvantage in that, . . . expenditure is often biased in favour of nutrition and education in female-headed households, whereas in male-headed households more money may be spend on ‘non-merit’ goods such as alcohol and tobacco (Chant, 1997, p. 57).

This research suggests that women’s provisionary roles are inclusive of all children placed in their care, indigenous children and orphans alike, and that provisionary responsibilities include guaranteeing an education for these children. Chant’s (1997) recent work on women-headed households emphasizes women’s roles as providers and decision makers in households that contain extended family relationships, including children who are not related to the female head yet benefit from her provisionary care. When women head their own households, they have vital decision-making roles whereas women in men-headed households may share the same provisionary attitudes but lack the decision-making power for enhancing more equitable attitudes toward orphans’ education. Therefore, in a woman-headed household, attitudes that favor children’s education, nutrition, and other factors related to children’s well-being are reflected in relevant deeds. Finally, Chant (1997) suggests that altruism may not necessarily be the only explanation for women’s desires to promote the well-being of the children under their care. Women who head households may place great importance on educating all children under their care as a means of ensuring their own security, especially in old age. Educated adults can provide for these women’s needs. The child fostering literature suggests women’s willingness to accept foster children because of the expectation of companionship and material security when they become aged (Goody, 1982). The results from this section of the findings are encouraging. Even though this is an investigatory study and is based on a single round of data collection, the results of the analysis provide encouragement regarding the status of children who are generally perceived as being at high risk because they live in women-headed households. The results also provide an optimistic view of the role played by women who head their households in assuring equitable education privileges for all children in their care. The results suggest that these women who head their own households are worthy of further investigation. Factors of age, conditions under which these women became heads of their households, the role of the extended family, the women’s education, and skills for remunerative work all warrant more careful investigation in the context of the crisis fostering they provide for AIDS orphans.

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Because this research was unable to identify significant financial differences to account for school enrollment variations between orphans and indigenous children, the recommendations that arise from this study suggest that behavioral and attitudinal changes may be an important goal. Families may respond positively to counseling and encouragement to avoid discriminatory practices that favor indigenous children over orphans being fostered by the households. If the district-level government is aware of these possible differences, it can provide mandates for informal counseling or advising that may work best through established social structures. These include but are not limited to the Resistance Council I leaders, the Resistance Council I leaders for women and headmasters, and teachers of local primary and secondary schools. Other leaders respected by village residents may also be included in efforts to bridge the gaps between indigenous children’s and orphans’ educational opportunities. These are local religious leaders, clan leaders, and respected elders in the villages. More importantly, the women who are showing equitable treatment for indigenous children and orphans could be asked to help serve as mentors. These women who head households could then perceive themselves as leaders whose expertise and example are worthy of recognition and sharing within their home communities. Empowering these women and leaders to speak honestly and encouragingly at the household levels may yield important attitudinal changes. Because this is an initial investigation of possible differences in the circumstances that AIDS orphans face, further research questions could inquire about choices household heads make in determining who will be enrolled in school. Other than the indigenous— orphan divisions, we need to know if primary age students receive priority over secondary students, and if boys are more likely to go to school than girls. We also need to know about specific financial and labor demands within the households that keep children out of school, both in the short and long term.

CONCLUSION Until baseline data and national-level analyses of the situation of Ugandan AIDS orphans are available, case studies such as the one presented here may be the only source for determining special needs of orphans. For more effective programmatic initiatives, donor agencies and indigenous and international nongovernmental organizations require data indicating the specific conditions of households containing AIDS orphans. This work suggests that decisions about the welfare of orphans may be a function of the gender of the household head and the location of that household on a rural-to-urban continuum. The results of this research may be used to direct assistance and counseling programs more effectively and efficiently to the orphans most in need. Acknowledgment: This research was funded by a grant from the Office of the Dean, College of Natural Resources, Utah State University, Logan, and by an Atwood grant from the Association of American Geographers. The author wishes to thank William Stinner for valuable suggestions based on his review of an early draft of this article.

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