by HFAAC - JUNE 2020
Dear Friends
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Dear Friends
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This whole adventure started in July 2016 when I helped a friend with his third adoption of an orphaned Ugandan toddler. It was on that trip that I became aware of the great need to assist these orphaned children. The government of Uganda was putting an end to international adoption, as there was so much corruption that had entered into many phases of that system. That toddler was one of the last two international adoptions allowed out of Uganda.
Upon returning home I kept being reminded of the great disparity between my comfortable life in the United States and the very bleak one that these orphaned children were living. Many of the children would get just two meals a day, usually a porridge made from ground corn. On the occasions that I have seen them eat this meal, there was hardly a need to clean their dish as not a speck of porridge remained. Most of these children have only one set of clothes, and many are without shoes.
The stories of their parent’s death are varied; vehicle accidents, AIDS, typhoid or malaria. In some cases their mother was raped as a teenager and with no means to raise a child, she abandoned the baby shortly after birth.
I was inspired to return to Uganda where I formed a team and we created the foundation, Hands for an African Child. In the U.S. an IRS approved non-profit was set-up with the same name. Thanks to the help of many generous people, funds were raised and small miracles happened. In January 2019 a beautiful 102 acre property was purchased after a lengthy 18-month search for a location that met our needs for a farm based community. Attached is a short video showing the progress we have made over the past 17 months, transforming the undeveloped land into a farm, where crops and animals are being raised to provide food for the 200 plus orphans, their foster families, school teachers and others who will live in this community.
Upon returning home I kept being reminded of the great disparity between my comfortable life in the United States and the very bleak one that these orphaned children were living. Many of the children would get just two meals a day, usually a porridge made from ground corn. On the occasions that I have seen them eat this meal, there was hardly a need to clean their dish as not a speck of porridge remained. Most of these children have only one set of clothes, and many are without shoes.
The stories of their parent’s death are varied; vehicle accidents, AIDS, typhoid or malaria. In some cases their mother was raped as a teenager and with no means to raise a child, she abandoned the baby shortly after birth.
I was inspired to return to Uganda where I formed a team and we created the foundation, Hands for an African Child. In the U.S. an IRS approved non-profit was set-up with the same name. Thanks to the help of many generous people, funds were raised and small miracles happened. In January 2019 a beautiful 102 acre property was purchased after a lengthy 18-month search for a location that met our needs for a farm based community. Attached is a short video showing the progress we have made over the past 17 months, transforming the undeveloped land into a farm, where crops and animals are being raised to provide food for the 200 plus orphans, their foster families, school teachers and others who will live in this community.
