Katine's alcohol problem: a local perspectiveRichard M. Kavuma
Wednesday July 30 2008
We recently reported on Uganda's hidden alcohol problem. Here, Richard M Kavuma talks to Katine villagers about the issue and discovers how alcohol abuse affects the lives of women in particular. Read Sarah Adeka's story
I interviewed four Katine villagers ahead of International Women's Day in March about the challenges they faced as women, I noticed a common thread running through their tales – Katine's men, it seemed, were married more to alcohol than to their wives.
Women, I was told, did a lot of the gardening, finding food, clothing children, providing the family with medical care. What then, I asked, do the men do?
Drink.
This of course, was an extreme reaction, but a telling one. It is normally women who make ajon, the local brew made mainly from millet flour and water. And it is normally women who sell alcohol, mostly to men. But it is also usually women who suffer the consequences of alcohol abuse.
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