Opiro lives with sickle cell disease, a condition that has taken him in and out of hospitals for most of his young life. But every Thursday, he forgets the needles, pain, and hospital beds, because he is drawing and painting.
Behind the Sickle Cell Clinic at
Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, the tables are alive with colored drawings of
parents with their kids, smiling suns, green-haired ladies, and the sick on
hospital beds.
For an 11-year-old George Opiro*
(not real name) whose mother asked that his real name should not be revealed
for fear of stigma, art has become more than just a hobby. It is his therapy.
Opiro lives with sickle cell
disease, a condition that has taken him in and out of hospitals for most of his
young life. But every Thursday, he forgets the needles, pain, and hospital
beds, because he is drawing and painting.
“When I draw, I feel like I’m
travelling to a dream destination. My mind keeps wandering in many places, and I
forget that I’m sick,” Opiro says softly, working on a picture of a patient on
a hospital bed.
This emotional escape has been made
possible by Tackle Sickle Cell Africa, a Gulu-based NGO that focuses on community
screening of sickle cell, and recently incorporated art therapy to boost the
mental health of children living with sickle cell disease.
Sarah Itego, a mother whose child
has sickle cell and gets treatment from the Gulu Regional Referral Hospital,
commended the organisation for the initiative, saying it makes her child happy.
Itego says that when her child is happier, he rarely gets into a sickle cell
crisis.
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Derrick Mutatiina, the Executive
Director of Tackle Sickle Cell Africa, told Uganda Radio Network in an
interview that the project, named the Art Ease project, was started to
complement modern medicine, because Sickle cell disease not only attacks the
body, but weighs heavily on the mind.
Mutatiina explained that because of
the chronic pain children experience, the frequent hospital visits, stigma, and
isolation often lead to anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.
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Mutatiina said the Art Ease project
is aimed at helping the children socialize during hospital visits, especially
during the long hours of waiting for medical personnel to serve them, which can
bring negative thoughts about the sickness.
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The
Acholi sub-region is among the
sub-regions in the country with a high burden of sickle cell disease.
Statistics URN obtained from the
records department of Gulu Regional Referral Hospital indicate that 2,055 children
suffering from sickle cell were registered at the hospital from January 2024 to
February 2025, and 9,788 were registered in the entire Acholi sub-region within
the same period.
Mutatiina argued that the Art Ease
program was incorporated after realizing that medicine alone isn’t enough, so
the goal of the Art Ease is to give children emotional release,
self-expression, and a way to find joy amidst their health battles.
The children work in groups,
building friendships and confidence. Some paint their dreams, others their
pain. Some simply color. But in every stroke, there’s comfort.
Mutatiina said, “Art doesn’t take
away the disease, but it gives them a reason to smile. And sometimes, that’s
just as important.”
Led by a group of medical student
volunteers, the weekly sessions combine drawing, painting, and play. The
children are encouraged to express their feelings visually, whether it's pain,
fear, or hope.
Art is a non-verbal language.
Sometimes, children can’t say how they feel, but they can show it with a
drawing,” said Ashaba Savio, a student of Gulu College of Health Sciences and a
volunteer at Tackle Sickle Cell Africa.
Lillian Akullu, a resident of Koro,
in Omoro district, said she introduced art to her child’s play routine without
prior knowledge that it is therapy for her.
Akullu’s 12-year-old daughter was
diagnosed with sickle cell at 18 months, and her life has been marked by
frequent hospital visits coupled with emotional stress.
A year ago, I gave her a notebook
and a pencil to draw a picture of our dog. I just wanted to be distracted while
I took a nap. But as she drew, I noticed her giggling frequently,” Akullu said.
Akullu, who confessed that she has
only known that drawing and painting calms the warriors during the interview,
now plans to buy more art tools for her daughter.
“If my daughter is happy, I also
feel relaxed and become more productive,” she said.
According to an article "How
Art Therapy Can Help Kids (and adults) with Sickle Cell", published in
xicle.com, art has cropped up in hospital programs in countries such as
Cambodia and the U.S to provide distraction from health issues and pain for its
participants.
“Art also gives sickle cell warriors
a way of conveying their emotions about the struggles they go through daily,”
it says.
Other medical literatures claim that
art teaches children coping skills for chronic pain, since living with chronic
pain raises risks of depression and anxiety by four times, art may raise one’s
quality of life.
Besides, art helps patients develop
a stronger sense of self and improve self-esteem by providing a platform to
express their unique strengths and creativity, connect with others, share
experiences, and develop a sense of community, as they become attuned to their
physical and emotional needs and manage them better.
In Uganda, where mental health management is
often in the back seat, especially for children with chronic illnesses, this
initiative is filling a crucial gap. It is not just managing sickle cell, but
restoring childhood to kids who have had too much pain, too soon.
