Let me tell you something: some people live tough lives. Can you imagine being born to a mother who lives with a mental illness, with no place to call home, one who moves around the village day in day out and sometimes spends a night in the bush? Then you grow up with your sibling only to be told by the community members who your father could be, and your father- your alleged father actually denies he is? But rumors in the village linger from your childhood to adulthood that your father is so and so, a man you met and know well in the village. You grow up with your sibling into your teenage years as you take turns looking around the whole village to locate your mother to come to a makeshift home to sleep every evening, for she doesn’t stay out there in the bushes, in the rain at night.
Last week, I visited a village in the southern part of Uganda, and I met a young man of 19 years old. I will call him Miracle for this story, so I don't use his real name. I sat down with Miracle under the shade of a tree for over 5 hours as he told me his life story. To sum them up is to call them trials, tribulations, and triumph.
Miracle remembers that by the time he was around three years old, he and his mother stayed out in the dark during the night. He remembers several times when he would wake up only to find himself soaked in coldness, wind, and sometimes in rain. During those cold, wet nights, he remembers that his mother would hug him tightly till morning. In the morning, Miracle and his mother would go straight to the church, and the priest would give them yellow bananas and tea. After that, Miracle and his mother walked all day begging for food and money.
Miracle remembers that there was a particular woman who would welcome them into her home and offer food and drink, but this was not the favorite place his mother wanted to go always. Every time they finished eating, the host lady would ask Miracle and his mother to bathe and change clothing. This was disturbing. Miracle's mother never liked to bathe or change clothing. She preferred to stay unkempt and in the same clothing. It would take a lot of convincing for her to bathe. After some time, the good woman left the village. Her house was taken over by a couple who were rude. They would shout at Mirach and his mother whenever they approached the house. So they stayed away. They would somehow find leftover food, especially at the nearby school dustbin. The boarding secondary school also had a pigsty. They would serve food to the pigs and keep some nearby. Miracle and the mother knew where the food was always kept, covered in large jerricans; they would pick only what was enough for the day and stealthily move away.
After some years, when Miracle was about 5 years old, his mother got another child, a girl I will call Blessed. The time when the mother was pregnant was tough. Sometimes she didn’t have the energy to go with Miracle to look for food. Miracle would go and pick up enough for both him and the mother. They survived. He has no recollection of how the mother gave birth. But he remembers that one morning, he found himself at the local health center with his mother, and the Mother had a baby. The mother was sick for some time and stayed at the health center. During that time, Miracle would run to the place he knew to get food and pick some. He would bring it to his mother too. After a few days, they left the health center and returned to their makeshift home with a new family member.
Life was the same, but this time with another family member to fend for. With time, Miracle started realizing that he and his family lived a rather different life. He began to recognize that his mother feared meeting people and preferred to stay hidden. He began to realize that his mother never liked to use the main village path but preferred to go through bushes, hiding. He began to recognize that his mother would be speaking loudly when alone. His mother would beat him up badly for small mistakes. She would beat up the young baby girl nearly all the time.
One morning, when Miracle had gone to get food, he decided to run away to nowhere. He was about six years old. He lived on the streets in a nearby town. He found other boys like him. They did all sorts of bad things, including pickpocketing. He became a notorious street boy. One time he was arrested by Police. His turning point started there. They took him to court; the judge decided he should serve a year in a remand home. He was about 11. While in there, he enrolled in school. He did courses in welding and metal fabrication. He was top of his class. At the time of discharge from the remand home, he was equipped to work. But he had to have a welding machine of his own. He went back to the village. He found his mother and his sister. He now recognized that his mother had a mental illness. People in the village called his mother a ‘mad woman’. That sort of stigma evokes sadness in Miracles mind. He says his mother is not a 'mad woman'.
Miracle, who was about 12 or 13, started doing odd jobs looking for money to support his mother and sister, Blessed. He was employed at a local metal fabrication place. He got good people who encouraged him. He got his sister into primary school. His mother remained rotating around the village during the day and coming home at night once in a while to sleep.
One day, someone convinced Miracle that his mother would be treated at the Hospital if she agreed to. Miracle tried convincing her, but she refused. She reasoned Miracle wanted to take her to the same prison where he had been. It is then that Miracle came to know that his mother knew that he had been in prison. One morning, Miracle and his friends forcefully ‘arrested’ and took the mother to hospital. She was admitted to the mental health ward. She stayed there for three months. All looked good. She showed signs of recovery. But then, one evening, she escaped from the hospital; she went back home. To her makeshift home.
Miracle is an enterprising young man now with his own small business. He stays in a rented room near his mother's makeshift house. He is starting to build the family house. Every single evening, either Miracle or Blessed has to go out looking for their mother to come home and sleep. Sometimes she moved far to another village. Especially when there is a puck gathering, party, or burial celemony. She may even stay overnight after the children cannot find her.
These days, Miracle's mother looks sickly and frail. She detests going to the hospital. She wakes up so early to move to the villages. She keeps speaking loudly to everyone who cares to listen, saying that she doesn’t want to stay home because Miracle and Blessed will arrest her and take her to ‘prison’. She calls the hospital prison. Whenever Miracle thinks about what his family has gone through, sometimes he breaks down and cries.
Miracle has a circle of good friends who encourage him. He belongs to a church fellowship. He has learned how to play the piano and is very good. He is the pianist at his church services. One evening, he was at the church practicing how to play the piano; the next, he was moving around looking for his mother to come home and sleep. This is Miracle's routine.
Whenever you see a woman or man moving around with unkempt hair, torn clothing, sometimes quiet or shouting, they have a story around them. Be kind to them. A child at home could be waiting for them. It could be their spouse of sibling looking for them.
According to the
State of Uganda Population Report 2025 released by the Ministry of Health, mental health is officially declared a "silent emergency" affecting millions of citizens. The report estimates that about 24.2% of adults and 22.9% of children in Uganda are affected by mental health conditions. Despite the burden, fewer than one in ten people who need care receive appropriate support.
Be grateful, my friend!
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