St. Bartholomew's Orphanage

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

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