Decades of civil war, cattle rustling, disease, poverty.  Kaberamaido, Uganda is a village of survivors.  But when Sarah Asayo’s aunt traveled to visit the place where she was born, she couldn’t keep her thoughts far from the most vulnerable members of community, the children who had been orphaned.

When she returned home, her heart remained with the orphans in Uganda.  She told Sarah and her family about these children, and they began to take turns sending money to a priest to feed a couple children each Sunday after church.

Word spread.  Soon dozens of children were coming to the priest each Sunday for a solid lunch, a luxury for kids who often had to work to find their next meal.  Some of the kids, with nowhere to live, would stay at the church awaiting the next Sunday’s meal.

“There were too many kids to feed,” Sarah Asayo said.  “It became overwhelming for the priest and overwhelming for us.”

Judd Simpson was also concerned for the orphaned children of Uganda.  He had seen a video by Invisible Children about vulnerable children in Uganda, and it touched him.

“There was something that spoke inside of me that said, ‘I’ve got to make a difference.’”

Judd and Sarah had met at Impact Training.  Judd knew Sarah was Ugandan herself.  “I asked her, ‘What would you do if you could do anything?’” Judd explained.  “She said, ‘Judd, I really want to start an orphanage in Uganda, in Kaberamaido where I come from.’  And I said, ‘Let’s just create it, let’s do it.’”

Judd’s friend Gwen Louw had volunteered at orphanages in Central and South America with the Orphanage Support Services Organization.  Judd asked her to be involved, and the three set out to build a website and apply for charity status.

“It happened really fast,” Gwen said.  “We started planning in January of 2007, and we planned a trip to go to Uganda in March, just a couple months later.”

The trio financed the trip to Kaberamaido to meet the children that the Asayo family had been feeding and register with the government as a Ugandan Foundation.  Sarah’s uncle, Charles Kobong, a lawyer, helped them with the official paperwork.  The group surveyed land and construction materials and drew up plans for the orphanage, which have evolved into today’s plans for the Children’s Village.