ABSTRACT
Public health and other socioeconomic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Uganda largely overlooked the voices of children. After the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic by WHO on 11 March 2020, the government of Uganda indefinitely closed all schools, sending home about 15 million school children. This chapter is based on a baseline study conducted with children between June and August 2020 to answer the question: what were rural children's experiences as regards the COVID-19 preventive measures? Qualitative data was collected from 30 rural-based male and female school children aged between 11 and 15 years. Data was elicited using participatory visual methodologies, particularly draw-and-talk, child-friendly focus group conversations, and in-depth interviews. Emerging from the study was mainly expressions of discomfort caused by COVID-19 protective gears, nostalgia for school missing, fear of disconnect with God, social alienation, violence as well as economic anxiety. The study provides insights into the children's experiences of social alienation, spiritual deprivation, hunger, child labour, loss of school time, socioeconomic anxiety as well as sexual and gender-based violence. It was concluded that the COVID-19-related information and preventive measures tremendously dented children's behavioural and psychological development. The situation needs to be ameliorated to prevent possible transgenerational trauma and associated disorders, as well as massive school dropout.
