Food Gives New Life in Uganda

Life in Uganda has not been easy for 13-year-old Ebil and his 4 siblings, since his parents were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Ebil’s mother was bedridden for months and then passed away. When friends and neighbors became aware of the family’s situation, they stopped visiting and providing support, even though it was needed more than ever. Ebil’s father became weak and depressed. He stopped working and discouraged his children from associating with the neighbors, which further isolated the family. Ultimately he had to sell their animals to pay for medicine, and as the family’s situation worsened it was not unusual for them to go to bed hungry.

Everything began to change when Ebil and his father learned of an ACDI/VOCA food distribution program for people affected by HIV/AIDS. The family now receives food rations and monthly visits from program staff who teach proper food utilization and hygiene. Everyone’s health has improved and they are no longer afraid to openly discuss their status. Ebil’s father is happy and has returned to work. The family will soon graduate from the food distribution component of ACDI/VOCA’s program and participate in the project’s income-generation component.

Ebil and his family are among the 42,000 Ugandans affected by HIV/AIDS who receive food rations from ACDI/VOCA through a 5-year, $74 million USAID-funded program. Aside from direct food distribution, and nutrition and hygiene education, the program alleviates food insecurity by providing technical assistance and training to approximately 140,000 farmers in agronomic methods, post-harvest handling, group savings mobilization and management, collective marketing, and natural resource management.

Although direct distribution is not a large part of ACDI/VOCA’s worldwide portfolio, we recognize that in order to promote economic opportunities, we must first ensure that people meet their basic household needs and reduce their vulnerability to future crises.

To learn more about ACDI/VOCA's work in Uganda, click here.

PDF version of success story (782 KB)

This success story, written by Timothy Kalugye of ACDI/VOCA-Uganda, was a runner-up winner in ACDI/VOCA's 2008 Success Story Contest.