Reunited With Family: Eric’s story

While other children retired to their parents at home after school, Eric would go to his uncle's house —a place he called home. Eric and his three siblings became part of their maternal uncle´s family after his mother abandoned them. Her whereabouts still remain unknown to him. His uncle continued to support the family with daily needs, including providing two basic meals a day. The situation worsened when his uncle was sent to prison. Eric and his siblings had to drop out of school when they were in primary two.

The environment at home turned out to be miserable for Eric before the uncle got arrested. The man who was now Eric´s father figure, would subject him to verbal and physical abuse. At times, he would be starved as punishment for his mistakes. When his uncle´s abuse became unbearable, Eric made a decision to flee  to the streets of  Gulu. He longed to have a loving, affectionate and peaceful family. Upon arrival in Gulu, he met other street children who welcomed him, and after staying there for two weeks, they decided to pay for his trip to Kampala. The city life was extremely hard and unbearable for him. He hardly had any food to eat and he would sleep under the bridge or veranda every night. For Eric, this was better than going back to a place with no love, a place he would be beaten mercilessly despite his endless pleas. He had endured enough already and had no other choice left.

In June 2021, Eric was identified by the Dwelling Places team who were conducting  a joint outreach programme in Kampala and taken to a safe shelter. He was later rehabilitated and when asked about his family, he completely became reluctant to disclose any information about them. Fortunately, through the psychosocial support sessions and the life skills lessons he received, he finally agreed to share details about his family.