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5/24/2018

Restorative Dance

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Family Restoration Stories: Ibra

You may have heard that, in honor of their birthdays, we're having a friendly competition to see which of our founders - Bucky or Julie Rogers - can raise the most money for our Transitional Homes. Our goal is $10,000 or one full year of Family Restoration operations. That may seem like a big goal for just 3 months, but it's just that important. Here's why:

Ibra Believed He was the Problem

For as long as he can remember, Ibra's mother and father have been separated and while he was young his father cared for him. When his father took a new wife, she refused to cook for Ibra and his siblings. Naturally, they told their father and, to their surprise, he immediately kicked their step-mother out of their home. Soon after, their father regretted his actions, knowing they were made in anger, and pleaded with his new wife to return.
Ibra believed that he was the problem; he was the cause of his step-mother's banishment. When Ibra heard that his step-mother might return, he fled out of fear that she might blame him for his father's actions and mistreat him. Ibra was only 10 years old.

Life on the Street

For the next 4 years of his life, Ibra was homeless and lived on the streets of Kampala - the capital of Uganda. Each day, he dug through rubbish pits for food and re-sold plastic bottles in front of street shops to try to earn money. At night he would sleep on the sidewalk and hide from policemen, ordered to arrest homeless children and send them to Reprimand "Rimand" Houses. Throughout the years, a few non-profits occasionally fed him, but none did anything to get him off of the streets.

If our Transitional Homes didn't exist,
​Ibra's story would end here.

If our Transitional Homes didn't exist, Ibra's story would end here. He would continue to roam the streets of Kampala, like many children before him, and be one of thousands. No one would know his name, remember his birth day, or care to hear his story. But God had another plan.
Ibra was found by Benjamin House staff. He moved into our Transitional Homes, where his House Parents, Abraham and Phiona, lovingly took care of him for 3 months as his social worker dove into his case in order to discover whether Ibra had any living relatives who would care for and raise him. The bonds formed between the Rogers family, Abraham, Phiona, and Ibra during those months will not quickly be forgotten.

Ibra goes Home

After 4 years of homelessness as an orphan and 3 months of rehabilitation and family research, Ibra has a family. On Thursday, May 17, 2018 Benjamin House Ministries reunited Ibra and his birth mother! Her ex-husband never told her their son had run away and you can only imagine her horror as she discovered that he'd been living as a homeless orphan.
In 12 short weeks, Ibra's life is radically different than it was before. He has a future, a family, a home.

In 12 short weeks, Ibra's life is radically different than it was before.
He has a future, a family, a home.

So far in this friendly birthday competition, donors have given a total of $1,083.35 - enough to fund 5 weeks of family restoration in our Transitional Homes! Will you help radically change a child's life and a bring child, like Ibra, home?

Help Restore Families

Picture
From Julie's birthday (May 9th) until Bucky's (August 7th) birthday, we are hosting a friendly competition to see who can raise the most donations for funding Benjamin House's Transitional Homes! Our goal is $10,000, which would fully fund our Transitional Homes for one year!
If Julie wins, Bucky has to learn a traditional Ugandan dance and perform it for us! If Bucky wins, Julie has to learn and perform the dance! If we reach our goal of $10,000, they BOTH dance! The best part is that no matter who wins, we'll all be helping to restore families in Uganda!
Donate here to choose your dancer! (choose whose fundraiser to donate to in the "My donation is for" drop down box).
We'll post a video of the dancer here once the competition has ended!

Choose Your Dancer

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5/7/2018

Why Transitional Homes?

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Family Restoration Stories: Hakim

One of the first questions we're asked when people hear about Benjamin House Ministries is whether we're an orphanage.
Actually, we're not! Benjamin House Ministries is a family restoration non-profit.
There are over 2.6 million orphans in Uganda. To give you some comparison, the number of orphans in Uganda is equivalent to more than 50% of the population of South Carolina. Children are without parents for a multitude of reasons ranging from civil war, disease, abuse, and overwhelming poverty. The average Ugandan has a monthly income of $30. That's just $1 a day. For many Ugandans, being a "good mom" or a "good dad" just isn't on the radar. Survival is. Every day, Ugandan parents are faced with a choice: either I can keep my child and when they're older they'll struggle with life just like I do now, or I can take my child to an orphanage where they'll get 3 meals a day, an education, and a chance for a better life. We believe that's a choice no parent should ever have to make.
Family Preservation
While the quick fix to the orphan care crisis in Uganda is to build orphanages and give kids the most comfortable life possible, in the long term it makes the situation exponentially worse. Kids need families! Our desire is to remove the barriers that might keep a child from their family or tribe of origin so they can grow up learning what family looks like.
For families that are already together, but are on the brink of falling apart with children who may soon become orphans, we created our Child Sponsorship program. BHM Child Sponsorship exists to preserve families. If the expense of school fees or providing enough food for the family is the challenge, we offer sponsorship for the child so that he can stay with his parents. Building another orphanage would essentially put a bandaid on the Ugandan orphan care crisis. We want to provide solutions at the root of the issue!
Family Restoration
Then there are the families that have already fallen apart. The children who are already without parents, living on the streets of Kampala and sleeping on the sidewalks at night. Every child has a story and there are 7,000 children living on the streets of Kampala. A girl whose father abused her, causing her to run away. A boy whose mother got Malaria and passed away. A refugee who fled Northern Uganda during the civil wars. These children don't just need homes. They need a place to restore their hearts, souls, bodies, and minds. Seeing this overwhelming need in the heart of Uganda, we sought out to restore families through Transitional Homes. In these homes, orphans receive counseling and love from our social workers and House Parents. There are no more than 8 children in a home at one time and we aim to find a forever family for each child within 6 months. One of these sweet children is Hakim and after 4 years of living on the street, he is home! This is his story.
Hakim goes Home
When Hakim was young, his parents separated. After his mother got remarried, she and his step-father wouldn't let Hakim, his sister, or his brother visit. Their father took Hakim's siblings in and Hakim went to live with his Grandmother. After some time, Hakim's father and siblings visited. His father decided to take Hakim with him this time and leave his brother and sister with their Grandmother. She had no choice but to give Hakim to his father.
Hakim was 10 when he went to live with his father and step-mother. Immediately, his step-mother began mistreating him and eventually she influenced Hakim's father to abuse him, as well. When their abuse became more serious, Hakim fled to the streets of Kampala.
In February, Hakim moved into our Transitional Home and in just a month we found his Grandmother! She and Hakim's siblings have heard nothing about Hakim from their father since he took Hakim away, 4 years ago. Although his family was eager to have him return, our social workers felt that Hakim needed more time to recuperate. After 2 more months of counseling, rehabilitation, and adjustment Hakim, his siblings, and Grandmother were reunited!
​Hakim is living with his Grandmother and siblings now and was given a "Welcome Home" present by our staff including a new mattress, mosquito net, pillow, clothes, food, and school supplies, and 2 pre-registered terms at the nearest school. Our social workers will continue to check up on Hakim and his family throughout the year as he adjusts to being a kid, again, in his forever family!

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