Captive of Conscience: Teen Heads of Households in the Context of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia

HIV/AIDS has caused a significant damage in the socio economic patterns of societies throughout the world with no consideration of race, ethnicity, sex, age and other attributes. Because of this researchers in the past have given a strong emphasis to study the nature and consequence of the disease and ways of treating it and addressing the social challenges that are caused by the epidemic. As part of these efforts studies in the near past have examined and attempted to deal with the effects of HIV/AIDS on children and young people. As a result of high death rates that are caused by HIV/AIDS the number of orphans has increased and lead to the creation of households headed by children and young persons. Despite the growing interest on issues that concerns young people the majority of focus in this area of heading a household has been limited to child headed households. But this paper uniquely addresses the issue of teenage heads of households that are found between the ages of 15-19 in Ethiopia, who took over the responsibility of heading a household because of the death of their parents to AIDS. This group of category come to my mind as a subject of study due to an observations that strikes a thought in my mind during the service at an organization called Hiwot HIV/AIDS Prevention Care and Support Organization for three years which compelled me to do something on it as not much has been done regarding this category of population even in the face of an increase in number and the intensity of the problem. This neglect in the area of research has contributed for the resulting neglect in policies and strategies that are aiming at addressing the problem. Through the life history of four teen household heads it will see deeply into the household life style and the challenges it has gone through from the incidence of HIV/AIDS to the parents to their death and and their current way of life. It also sees in to a changing care giving and household administering roles that are emerging as a result of the formation of these new types of households and its gender and generational aspect and deals with the challenges they face in keeping the family together and the coping mechanisms they adapted as young carers who are assigned with this responsibility at an 10 early age. On top of the above mentioned it will explore the support system that the community and the extended family offers for these teens and their household and the challenges faced as a result of a rupturing societal tie that is mainly aggravated by AIDS.