Parents in Africa often do not leave behind photo albums or diaries when they die, due to the continent's strong oral traditions, as well as poverty. But for children orphaned very young, this makes it difficult to find out their family history.
More than a million children in Uganda have been orphaned by Aids. Many of them now live with their grandparents.
The elderly grandparents and HIV-positive parents are being taught how to write a "memory book" so they can pass on their family history and traditions to the children, before they become too ill and die.
The memory book workshops were the idea of a local non-government organisation. The idea has been realised with international support.
The memory book workshops also include a will-writing component.
Having a will is becoming increasingly important because many orphans often have to defend their property and inheritance rights against land-grabbing relatives, neighbours and strangers.
Mary Nyangoma [left] reads her daughter Magret's [right] memory book to her grandchildren. Magret is HIV-positive.
Magret updates her memory book regularly so her children will have something to remember her after she dies.
Simon Bukenya [middle] has cared for his two grandsons since his son left them with him. "I don't want my grandchildren to forget about me or their clan's history," he says.
Biira Brakeri [right] thinks she contracted HIV whilst nursing her son who died from Aids. She now cares for four of his orphaned children together with five other grandchildren.
Madena Mbabazi's husband and father of her four children left her after selling off her family's land. She has written a will to make sure her remaining property is divided between her children when she dies.
The workshop organisers hope the family knowledge of these women will live on in their memory books. [Photos by Kate Holt/HelpAge International]
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