Rehabilitation Project
A new well has been dug for over 100 orphans in Southern Sudan!
We're also very excited to report that another donor has come in behind the original project and offered to upgrade the pump so that running water can be brought indoors to serve the infant nursery and other buildings. This is a fantastic project that will have a dramatic impact here at the orphanage.
As of April 26th, they were awaiting the installation of the submersible pump. Soon, clean, safe and abundant water will be flowing!
Below, you'll find two great stories of all the wonderful things happening here at St. Bartholomews.
Location: St. Bartholomew’s Orphanage Home
Story from the Administrator
Samuel was a Teacher in one of the Primary Schools in the Refugees camps, in Uganda.
During the time when the Sudanese took refuge in Uganda. He came to this Orphanage three years ago.
According to him, this Orphanage was started by a
group of widows under the leadership of a widow by the name of Abiku
Susan. It was started in 2003, with the aim of providing parental care
to those children who lost their dear parents. Some of these Parents
died a natural death, while some of them were due to the civil war and
HIV/Aids.
The Orphanage was supported by some Canadians.
They started by constructing some huts for the children to use as
Dormitories .However in 2007, The Orphanage received some donations from
well wishers for putting up permanent buildings as can be seen in the
photographs. One of the constructions was for the Infants while the
other was the grown up children from the age of 7 to14.
He went on to say, “The Orphanage has a number of
challenges; such as shortage of food, water and medication, not only
that we had limited staffs” Samuel went on to explain how the cooks were
trying to help these children, “our cooks used to walk 4 miles to get
water. However in 2006 we were bless with one bore hole which was
drilled by one of the NGO’s. This bore hole was to save both the
Orphanage and the community around.”
Today we are drilling a new bore hole for this
orphanage; this well is located right at the compound of the Babies
home. When asked of how it would work, Samuel said that their big
problem was how to bring the water near the house. This is a great
achievement to them since the plain is to connect it to the houses.
As l was talking to him, one of the cooks came
around she looks sick. “This woman had been suffering from typhoid fever
even some of them did the treatment. The children were also suffering
from worms, skin infection and malaria,” Samuel added.
However Samuel thanks the person who donated this
well for the Orphanage “this well is a great blessing to these
children, secondly it is my prayer that may God bless the people who
gave us this well.”
Photo and Story by: Godfrey Lilea
Village: St. Bartholomew’s Orphanage
Names: Kelly Amsler and Ali Moody
When you first approach St. Bartholomew’s
orphanage, you see a humble facility, with basic buildings on an
adequate plot of land; however, it’s not the appearance of the compound
that tells you the success of the orphanage. Instead, it’s the sight of
seeing 20+ kids running to you, screaming, laughing, with arms open wide
just waiting to be hugged, or picked up and thrown up in the air. These
children, the children who have had the odds stacked against them, have
been given a second chance to know what life is.
St. Bartholomew’s Orphanage is sponsored by two
main donors; Christian Horizons Global out of Canada, and a British
lawyer named Glenn Winter. The generosity from these two donors are
currently transforming the lives of over 105 children. There are two
sections to the orphanage; the primary orphanage, housing children aging
from 5-15 years old, and the nursery for the infants and toddlers.
It’s incredible to hear the stories behind each
child’s arrival. Some children are the last of too many kids and the
parents simply don’t have the means to take care of them, whereas other
children come because their mother died during childbirth due to severe
blood loss or malnourishment. Whatever the haunting story behind the
arrival of another child, it just doesn’t matter because of the love
that pours out from the 30+ employees that are determined to give each
child a second chance at an even better life.
Each child, despite its condition upon arrival, are
fed the necessary amount and given the proper medical care to help them
reach optimal health as soon as possible. The orphanage then sends each
child through primary school (through 15 years of age) and after that,
they even send the children to secondary school. One the children reach
18 years of age and complete their secondary schooling, they are then
sent into the world to make their own way.
It was only five years ago that the civil wars
ravaged Southern Sudan. The land was desolate and lifeless, with AK-47
shells and shrapnel littering the ground. To steepen the lasting effects
of the civil wars, minefields were scattered all over Kajo Keji,
killing hundreds even after the war had ended. St. Bartholomew’s
Orphanage is a remarkable place, because it sits on what used to be one
of those minefields.
Kelly Amsler, a 23 year old volunteer from Seattle,
Washington, said, “there were four men that told me that they used to
send a cow into the field to test for landmines right where the
buildings sit now.” She continued, “they said that they prayed to God
one day that if it was His will, that He would build an orphanage in
this very location. It’s amazing to think that where there used to be
death, there is now a second chance at life.”
Kelly, alongside her close friend Ali Moody, are
both now entering their ninth and final month at St. Bartholomew’s
Orphanage. Kelly graduated from the University of Miami where she
studied Marketing. Kelly and Ali met through an organization called
Urban Ministries, which used college students to implement the urban
families in order to build trusting relationships and eventually share
the good word. “Ali has always wanted to come here,” Kelly recalls. “But
me? No way! To get me here was a struggle.”
Kelly originally had it in her sights to attend a
Bible School somewhere in South America, but when Ali asked her if she
wanted to go to Sudan with her after graduation, Kelly knew that God was
calling her to do otherwise.
“I was immediately brought to my knees in prayer,” Kelly explained. “And I realized that there was a point in which my fear
and faith ascended to a point of meeting. There was so much I just
didn’t know, and that scared me, but that’s how I knew I needed to be in
Sudan.”
Kelly’s choice to come to Sudan was very much
hinged on the confidence and persistence of her good friend, Ali Moody.
Ali (22), originally from Baltimore, MD, is a Neuroscience and
Psychobiology double major from University of Miami. Ali was inspired to
come to St. Bartholomew’s from a friend, Caleb Brown, who actually was
her partner in starting up Urban Ministries. Caleb had spent a full year
serving at St. Bartholomew’s and throughout the experience; Ali grew
the desire to follow in his footsteps.
Caleb helped by being the pioneer for Ali’s career
goals. He was the first to come out here to St. Bartholomew’s and serve
in a medical fashion. “I have always wanted to be a doctor,” Ali
explains, “just without all of the formalities.” The orphanage acts as a
clinical in a way, allowing both Ali and Caleb to put into practice
their training in college. “My favorite part about the whole thing is
treating the kids,” Ali exclaims.
Ali has been serving for the past 9 months as the
lead medical practitioner on site, and simply to see her eyes light up
while speaking on the topic lets somebody know just how much she loves
what she’s doing. “I can look at those who should’ve died and I find
myself treasuring their life that much more; their smiles, their
laughter, even their tears.”
Ali and Kelly both have experienced their fair
share of difficulties, from sicknesses like Malaria and Guardia to the
obstacle of altering stubborn cultural views, but both have leaned on
God’s guidance to push them through. Each of them have seen the beauty
of God’s love and strength, and never more so than throughout this
experience.
St. Bartholomew’s is guaranteed to catch its
visitors off guard. It’s nearly impossible to not feel a powerful
dichotomy of emotions, of apologetic sympathy, and sheer joy and
thanksgiving, all jumbled into one reaction…tears. You gasp at the sight
of some of the children’s conditions, malnourished, sick, and upset,
but then you laugh uncontrollably when you become overwhelmed by the
sensation that these children have been given life. They have the chance to run
and play like other children, to receive and education, and to go out
into the world to better it. St. Bartholomew’s is the story of second
chances, and the love that makes it all possible.
Photos and Story by: Cole Gorman
