Before 200 Orphanages was just a thought bubble above my head, I unloaded heavy adobe blocks in sweltering heat from a van to build a security wall around a grade school in Ayacucho Peru. I joined a group of volunteers intent on finishing the security wall to ensure the children could safely enjoy playground equipment in their school yard.
It was this moment tears welled up in my eyes as I imagined children I would never meet laughing and enjoying a carefree moment on the playground. This is the moment I knew my life would ever be changed. The sweat mixed with tears of joy moved me and I knew my life’s trajectory had to change. I needed to spend my life helping orphans smile.
I was recently reminded that it will soon be 10 years since Fred Cornforth and I met in his office in Idaho sharing our mutual heart for orphans. It was then that Fred said, “I have a vision to build 200 Orphanages.” That stirred in my heart and the work was born. We began to build an organization that would help provide safety, shelter and sustainability for orphans.
So, almost 10 years on, we’re still building building building. We’re building supporters, partners and projects. We’ve funded dormitories, security walls, clean water wells, building repairs and renovations, agricultural projects and school buses. We work with multiple partners projects in Tanzania, Uganda, Cameroon, Burundi, Rwanda, India, Haiti, Guatemala and Myanmar. Today, we’re reaching out to find donors for solar lamps, a sick room in India, a well and generator in Haiti, the remodel of the dormitory for special needs orphans in Guatemala, and the finishing of the dormitory and well in Burundi.
You are our partners in this work, each one a supporter of the kids in big and small ways. We can’t be more appreciative of each one of you. We’re in this work together, brick by brick! Here is a collage of some of your work over the years. I can only imagine what the next 10 years will bring! Let’s keep building as the need is great!