On the tranquil waters of Lake Victoria lies Sowe Island, a place where beauty masks heart-wrenching reality. Located in Mukono District, about an hour’s boat ride from Busabala shore, Sowe Island is home to a resilient community grappling with dire circumstances. Here, the absence of nearby health facilities turns pregnancy into a perilous journey, and everyday life is a relentless struggle for survival.
A Visit to Despair
When I visited Sowe Island on February 22, 2020, I was unprepared for the overwhelming despair that greeted me. The island, which seems almost picturesque from a distance, quickly revealed a stark and heartbreaking reality. The people of Sowe, especially the women, live in conditions that would break the strongest of spirits.
The Cost of Life and Death
Tim Janet, a 40-year-old widow and mother of seven, has called this island home since 2006. She describes life here as a taste of hell on earth. Accessing health facilities requires a costly boat ride across the lake, a luxury few can afford. “It costs about 6,000 Ugandan Shillings to cross over,” she laments, “a sum I can’t manage from the meager earnings of my small hotel.”
For pregnant women, the stakes are even higher. Janet’s voice trembles as she recounts the trauma of expecting mothers. “Pregnancy here means death. If a woman wakes up in labor, she faces the very real possibility of dying on the way or the boat not arriving in time due to lack of money.”
A Community Stricken by Tragedy
Janet’s story is one of many. Amondig Norah, a 36-year-old widow of four, moved to the island after her husband’s death in the military. Initially hopeful, she soon found herself trapped by the island’s limitations. Her children, unable to attend school due to financial constraints, now face a bleak future. Her daughter, pregnant at 13, is a stark reminder of the island’s harsh realities.
The community leader, Naluwanga Shamillah, a widow of six, echoes these sentiments. She describes a place where HIV-positive women struggle to access necessary medication, risking their lives and those of their unborn children. “It’s hard to access ARVs here,” she says. “Many opt to live without the medicine due to the cost and distance.”
A Call for Action
The island’s challenges extend beyond health. Education is a distant dream for many children. With only two teachers and two poorly equipped schools, most girls drop out after primary seven. Many, lacking options, marry early and face the same cycle of poverty and illness.
Naluwanga highlights the dire need for basic necessities. “Girls don’t have access to sanitary pads, leading to infections and further health complications. We need support to change this.”
The lack of infrastructure exacerbates these issues. Most families live without mosquito nets, leading to high rates of malaria. The island’s few clinics lack proper equipment and staff, forcing residents to self-diagnose and rely on inadequate treatments.
A Cry for Help
Kimera Ben, the chairman, and William Muramira, the head of security, both plead for government and NGO intervention. They dream of a day when Sowe Island will have its own hospital, proper schools, and reliable transport. “We need a hospital to save lives,” Muramira urges. “A proper school could give our children a future,” adds Kimera.
Naluwanga calls for equipping women with skills and providing mosquito nets and sex education. “We need financial literacy and health education to break this cycle,” she implores.
Hope on the Horizon
Despite the overwhelming challenges, the spirit of Sowe Island’s residents remains unbroken. They continue to hope for a better future, one where their children can dream and their lives aren’t dictated by poverty and neglect.
As I left Sowe Island, the stories of these resilient women stayed with me. Their plight is a call to action, a plea for help that cannot go unanswered. For the sake of Janet, Norah, Naluwanga, and all the women of Sowe Island, we must respond. Their survival depends on it.
