AIDS and orphans in Uganda: geographical and gender interpretations of household resources

Abstract

Ugandan households provide crisis fostering for the orphans of relatives who have died of AIDS. Using the household as the basic unit of analysis, this research noted the gender of the household head and the location of the household on a rural to urban continuum in order to determine differential outlays of the household’s resources for the education of orphans. Significant differences were identified. Indigenous children in men-headed households were enrolled in school at a higher rate than school-age orphans in the same households. In contrast, rural women, who have the lowest levels of education, showed no partiality in enrolling both indigenous children and orphans in school when they were the household heads.

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a grant from the Office of the Dean, College of Natural Resources, Utah State University, Logan, and by an Atwood grant from the Association of American Geographers. The author wishes to thank William Stinner for valuable suggestions based on his review of an early draft of this article.