A Tale of a child-woman – Tumaini – Struggling to keep her family together following the successive deaths of her father and mother, because of AIDS. What is left of the family is TUmaini’s fourteen year old brother Kamanzi and her sickly six-year old sister Furaha. 

The story takes us through the painful journey of the children struggling with bewilderment, fear, anger and most of all a triple loss: of parents, of the family home and of each other; torn apart by relatives. 

The journey of the children, orphaned by AIDS is eased by those members of their community who are moved in their various ways to offer support and protection. Mzee Alphonse the elder; comes to symbolise both the tragedy and the resilience of communities that are devastated across the continent of Africa.  

Here we witness the continental loss of the younger adults , leaving vulnerable youths and children to survive in often urban cities. In the end, Tumaina is a take of hope for millions of children and youth made orphans by AIDS. The young child-woman, not only survives but is part of a changing attitude to love and responsibility. 

Tuymaini was made with the generous support of the royal Norwegian Embassy