Elvis Basudde
7 January 2009
Kampala — NOT far away from Kampala, where our affluent politicians sit and plan for the country, lies an island where residents are yet to acknowledge the importance of the Government.
Kimmi Island, located in Koome sub-county, Mukono district, is in a sorry state without any social services from the Government or non-governmental organisations.
The island lies on 79 acres of land on Lake Victoria and the only means of transport to and from the island is by water. It takes five hours to travel by boat to the mainland at Ggaba or Kasenyi landing sites.
The island is a concentration 'camp' for thousands of people. The standard form of shelter in this slum are shanty structures made of papyrus and wood.
There are two camps on the island; Kiimi Kachanga and Kiimi Banga. The former comprises a mixture of tribes, with over 600 shanty houses, while the latter is exclusively for the Luo, with over 80 houses.
According to the LC1 chairman, Gerald Kiza, there are over 4,000 people in both camps. The main source of income is fishing, but the men spend the money on alcohol and sex. The women engage in food vending and commercial sex to survive.
The HIV/AIDS is rampant at the island as the use of condoms is taboo. Many describe it as "eating a sweet in its wrapper".
"For so long, we have been neglected by the Government. While thousands of projects have been introduced in various parts of the country, we have always lagged behind," says a 62-year-old resident.
Enock Kisule, another resident, is HIV-positive, but cannot access antiretroviral drugs (ARVs).
He says he bought ARVs from a doctor at the mainland, but he soon ran short of money. He was astonished to learn from me that he could get free ARVs, but he did not know where to get them from since there is no health facility at the island.
Another resident, Joseph Kikomeko, is also HIV-positive. He was advised to go to Koome, 30km away to have his blood sample taken for a CD4 count test
However, he says, he has been there thrice without getting any help.
Christopher Kato, a volunteer health worker, says despite the high HIV/AIDS prevalence in the fishing communities, the Government has not done much to help them fight the pandemic.
"None of the over 700 HIV/AIDS support organisations operating countrywide has focused on the fishing communities," says Kato.
In Kimmi, health problems are enormous.
Sanitation is deplorable owing to the high population. The area is well-known for having the highest bilharzia prevalence. HIV prevalence is estimated at 75%. Out of 20 people who were tested, 16 of them were found HIV-positive, according to a survey by the Seventh Day Adventist church.
About 35-45% of the children are malnourished.
According to Kato, about 80% of pregnant mothers deliver at home, with the help of unskilled traditional birth attendants.
Due to lack of health facilities, residents travel long distances to the mainland in Entebbe, Kisubi and Mulago for treatment.
Education at the island is another challenge. Despite the introduction of the Universal Primary Education, many children at Kimmi do not go to school.
The level of drop out is also high. For over 20 years, the island has had one poorly equipped primary school - Kimmi Primary School (which runs from Primary one to Four) housed in shanty structures with only two volunteer teachers. There is no secondary school. Parents who have money take their children to the mainland.
Access to clean water is a major problem, coupled with lack of pit latrines. Most people use 'flying toilets, (ease themselves in polythene bags which they throw away). The island is littered with faeces and when it rains, these are swept into the lake where residents fetch water.
A few people who have pit latrines have shallow ones as they cannot dig beyond five feet. Most of these are full, but people continue using them.
For over six months now, a charity organisation, the Community Care Foundation, has been sensitising residents about the dangers of HIV, while providing them with condoms to minimise the spread of the disease.
Margaret Mugera, the coordinator, says they initially wanted to give general medical care to the residents, but they were overwhelmed by the high HIV prevalence, which forced them to institute a component of HIV/AIDS.
Mugera says there is also need for immunisation services. "Women keep asking us for immunisation services, but we cannot do much.
Kiza says only recently, the resident district commissioner went to the landing site and ordered them to start paying sh15,000 for each boat per year if they wanted to continue operating.
"We have heard about the Prosperity For All programme, but we have not benefited from it. Instead of giving us gloves, wheelbarrows, racks and incinerators, the Government is imposing taxes on us. This will just make us poorer."
He says all the Government programmes end at Koome sub-county.
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