They were given to our orphanage when they were very small boys. Their mother had died, and their father was a desperate alcoholic, and because they were illegitimate none of the living relatives wanted them. Over the many years no one has come to see them.

For three years I have had a social worker trying to search for any possible living relatives, because all Africans have family land passed down from generation to generation and I did not want them to miss out on their rightful inheritance. Steven graduated High School December 2023, and Gideon graduated December 2024. After years of searching, we finally found the land that was passed down to their family, a place for them to belong.

The few relatives on the land at first did not want to know these two illegitimate boys. But after a trip to the local chief, permission was given for the boys to consider this land home. With no place to live on the land, alone in this cold old world, I started to think, what could we do? After some time, it came to me that we should build them a home on the land that they could call their own.

So, we set to work to raise funds (many thanks for those who gave) and build them a house like others in the area lived in, furnish it and have a place for the boys to settle in and make a new life. Today these boys have a place to call home, they are starting to farm the land for food and will keep animals as a way of life. The relatives have welcomed them, and they have found a new family. They live far from a village, but a wonderful kind pastor in the USA gave money to purchase them a bike so they can make trips to the village to get odd jobs and to buy food.

It doesn’t take much to give a child a hand up in life, it only takes a willing heart and a few dollars. I know if our positions were switched, I would be grateful to those who gave me a hand up!