n the refugee camps near the border with the DRC (the Democratic Republic of Congo), many girls and boys do not attend school and teenage pregnancy is alarmingly high.
UNFPA National Programme Officer Penninah Tomusange met a teenage mother in the refugee transit centre in Kisoro. According to UNFPA's implementing partner in Kisoro ACORD, the girl was defiled in the DRC and does not know the father of her child. A meeting was set up for the girl and Tomusange to talk.
Q: How old are you and your baby?
A: I am 16 and my baby is 3 months old.
Q: Are you here with your family?
A: I ran away with my baby and 13-year-old sister. We've been in the transit centre for two weeks. Rebels came and ravaged our village and as we ran away, we got separated from our mother. I think my mother is in Uganda and my father is still in the DRC.
Q: How have the two weeks in the transit centre been?
A: I am thankful for the support ACORD has given me to ensure that my baby, my sister and me are safe and well. They gave me supplementary feeding to boost my breast milk and did a medical test to check my HIV status and other Sexual Transmitted Diseases that I possibly got from the rape. The lady from ACORD has come to visit me several times and every time I talk to her, I feel good. The other health workers and volunteers are also friendly.
Q: What is your greatest need right now?
A: I want to be reunited with my mother.
From L to R: the supported child mother, UNFPA's Penninah Tomusange and a translator from ACORD.
