Virginity Becomes a Commodity In Uganda's War Against AIDS

After the service, church members sang a harvest prayer and went outside to auction off baskets of yams, pumpkins and corn.

A crowd surged around the auctioneers. Men rushed to get a good price, then handed baskets to their wives and daughters. Alibakinza huddled in the back, weeping. She had no money, and no one to buy anything for her and her 7-month-old daughter, Agnus.

Anatolius and a priest led the girl to a shady spot and began speaking with her.

Alibakinza said she had been struggling for a decade. In the winter of 1994, her mother died from complications of AIDS. In the spring of 1995, her father died, too. Various relatives took her in, passing her on when the money ran low. Her grandmother, already caring for seven orphans, raised her the last few years.

"We were all suffering," she said. "I needed to provide for myself."

Nearly two years ago, she met a boy who was about to graduate from high school and had a job driving a motorbike taxi. She needed money for tuition, a new roof and her younger sister's clothing.

"He convinced me he would pay for me to finish secondary school and even send me on to nursing school," Alibakinza said as she cradled Agnus. "She was the only thing that came of our union, but I had no options," she said. "He possessed everything I needed."

Anatolius said he wondered whether the scholarships would end up demonizing girls like Alibakinza. He wondered whether he should talk to Madada about providing a scholarship to buy sewing machines instead.

"Maybe girls like this need a chance, a different kind of chance," he said.

Alibakinza asked if she could apply for a virgin scholarship anyway. She suggested she could hide Agnus, or give her away.

Anatolius, looking uncomfortable, said no. Then he asked if she could speak to some girls at the abstinence clubs about her experiences.

She thought for a moment and agreed.