Oleke Christopher, Blystad Astrid, Rekdal Ole Bjørn
Centre for International Health-University of Bergen, Armauer Hansens Building, N-5021 Bergen, Norway.
Soc Sci Med. 2005 Dec;61(12):2628-38. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.04.048. Epub 2005 Jun 27.
It is estimated that two million of Uganda's children today are orphaned primarily due to AIDS. While recognising the immense impact of HIV/AIDS on the present orphan problem, this article calls for a broader historic and cultural contextualisation to reach an understanding of the vastness of the orphan challenge. The study on which the article is based was carried out among the Langi in Lira District, northern Uganda, with a prime focus on the situation of orphans within the extended family system. The data were collected through ethnographic fieldwork (8 months); in-depth interviews with community leaders (21), heads of households (45) and orphans (35); through focus group discussions (5) with adult men and women caring for orphans, community leaders and with orphans; and also through documentary review. A survey was conducted in 402 households. The findings reveal a transition over the past 30 years from a situation dominated by 'purposeful' voluntary exchange of non-orphaned children to one dominated by 'crisis fostering' of orphans. Sixty-three percent of the households caring for orphans were found to be no longer headed by resourceful paternal kin in a manner deemed culturally appropriate by the patrilineal Langi society, but rather by marginalised widows, grandmothers or other single women receiving little support from the paternal clan. This transition is partly linked to an abrupt discontinuation of the Langi 'widow inheritance' (laku) practice. It is argued that the consequential transformations in fostering practices in northern Uganda must be historically situated through a focus on the effects of armed conflicts and uprooting of the local pastoral and cotton-based economy, which have occurred since the late 1970s. These processes jointly produced dramatic economic marginalisation with highly disturbing consequences for orphans and their caretakers.
据估计，目前乌干达有两百万儿童沦为孤儿，主要原因是艾滋病。在认识到艾滋病毒/艾滋病对当前孤儿问题产生巨大影响的同时，本文呼吁从更广泛的历史和文化背景来理解孤儿问题的严峻性。本文所依据的研究是在乌干达北部利拉区的兰吉人中开展的，主要关注大家庭体系中孤儿的状况。数据收集通过人种志田野调查（8个月）；对社区领袖（21人）、户主（45人）和孤儿（35人）进行深入访谈；与照顾孤儿的成年男女、社区领袖以及孤儿进行焦点小组讨论（5次）；还通过文献回顾。对402户家庭进行了调查。研究结果揭示了过去30年中从以非孤儿儿童的“有目的”自愿交换为主导的情况，转变为以孤儿的“危机寄养”为主导的情况。研究发现，在照顾孤儿的家庭中，63%不再由父系兰吉社会认为在文化上合适的足智多谋的父系亲属担任户主，而是由边缘化的寡妇、祖母或其他从父系氏族获得很少支持的单身女性担任户主。这种转变部分与兰吉人“寡妇继承”（拉库）习俗的突然中断有关。有人认为，乌干达北部寄养习俗的相应转变必须从历史角度看待，重点关注自20世纪70年代末以来发生的武装冲突以及当地畜牧和棉花经济的瓦解所产生的影响。这些进程共同造成了严重的经济边缘化，给孤儿及其照顾者带来了极其令人不安的后果。
