Rwenshama landing site is bordered by Lake Edward at the extreme end and surrounded by Queen Elizabeth national park. Fishing is the major economic activity. Wild animals are more than people in this area. It is normal to see snakes, elephants, buffaloes and other scaring animals during the day and night. Sexual immorality is at its peak with girls of 10years already into prostitution. This is evidenced by high HIV/AIDS prevalent rate of 86% compared to the district rate of 26% and the National rate of 7.3% which is also very high.
It was one bright Monday morning when like any other rural woman I happened to go and fetch water at a distant river. I carried my baby and took a 20 litre jerrycan. No sooner had I finished fetching than I saw a huge elephant from a distance (like 400 metres away). It looked humble and in its own business. I carried my jerrycan but to look back, it had shortened the distance. I decided to hide under a big tree so that I can continue after it has gone its way. To the shock of my life, I had the ground shaking, to look up; the elephant was looking at me from up, taller and bigger than the tree I was beneath. My heart palpitations were already high, eyes protruding out, neck stiff and legs paralyzed. I made my last confessions with my baby on my back and all of a sudden, I heard voice say- “take off as quickly as you can”. As I collected myself to run, the elephant held my arm properly to swing me in the air! I immediately swung my arm in a different direction and got out of its ‘jaws’ but with blood over my arm. It burnt my arm with its ivory and up to this date I still nurse its injuries. By this time it had got so wild, it put its truck around my jerrycan with water and threw it like a kilometer away and broke it as it chased me seriously. Every time I would look behind it was just inches away and the ground was shaking because of its mass. Another voice told me to run in ‘zig- zag’ pattern and somehow it got confused. People from offshore (am told) saw the elephant chasing a kid and they came running towards it to save the kid only to find it was a big woman-Catherine, the size of the elephant was enormous. The whole village shouted at the elephant and it withdrew. This is how I survived but since then I developed high blood pressure up to now!

SUCIDE- THE ONLY OPTION I HAD.

Having survived the above episode, I knew I was destined to live more happily but this was short lived again when my ‘husband’ seemed not to be interested in what had happened and instead rewarded me by marrying another woman in our own house- actuary one room. I was confused but he was serious. I was forced to go and rent in a small room on my own because I could not stand the shame. Life was back to where it had started; no food, no job, no care, no love and no hope. With a series of misfortunes that had characterized my life, I chose to surrender and give up on this planet earth- with my baby pretty.
‘Our’ husband shortened my plans when he forcefully took away my breastfeeding child to his other wife. This drove me crazy and I went to their house to demand my baby. We had a serious fight but I finally took the baby. Reaching home, I got a knife to kill myself; I hit it on my stomach but believe me it failed to pass! I tried four times and it all failed. I up to now have those marks on my stomach. I got my baby and run to the lake around 04:00pm and threw myself into the lake to drown but to my ‘disappointment’ I and my baby were saved by the fishermen. I was rushed to the nearby Rwenshama Health Centre III on a wooden wheel barrow for fish where I was immediately put on drip. It’s unbelievable yet true that at only 16years, I have faced this entire trauma.

HOPE AGAIN ON MY HOSPITAL BED!

It was such a great coincidence that the day and time I was being pushed to the health centre is the time a group of good Samaritans under the auspices of HOPE FOR THE INNOCENT CHILD DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION (HICDEF) was having a community outreach in Rwenshama.
EYE WITNESS
I Brian and Luca (one of the HICDEF staff) witnessed this innocent lady being pushed in a wheelbarrow to the health centre as the whole village followed her. At first I thought that may be somebody had been injured by a wild animal since they are a common scene around the lake but I was later told that somebody wanted to kill herself and was rescued by fishermen. I picked interest in the story and I joined the group and went to the health centre where I found Catherine on drip and asleep. I got some information about her from the health In charge and later got a full story from Catherine when she regained her consciousness.
I discussed her issue with my fellow staff of HICDEF and the In charge and we resolved to meet her medical bills, up keep and on discharge, to take her and her baby away from Rwenshama to our home in Rukungiri town.
Indeed Catherine was later discharged and taken to one of our staff’s home (Honest) where she is receiving daily psycho-social support, accommodation and other necessary support including love and care up to now. To Catherine, life is back to normal and her Hope for better life has been restored.

PUBLIC APPEAL

Catherine, just like you and me deserves a descent life and she is innocent. She is hard working and smart. She is a child at home. Her desire is to go back to school and later do a business course so that she can be economically independent, look after her baby pretty and even support others especially the girl child. Her dreams are flesh and her HOPE alive for the best in life- with your support. HICDEF as a community based organization and an advocate for the vulnerable groups of people kindly seeks for your support to make Catherine’s dream come to reality. It’s possible. We can give her a second chance to live but this time more happily. Yes, I and you can do it.

Thank you for carrying on to reading this touching story.