Cape group raising $100,000 for orphanage

EDITOR'S NOTE: The spelling of John Bardis' name has been corrected.

Chris Edmonds said he wanted to get involved with something meaningful when he decided he would help orphans in Africa.

As you get older, the 45-year-old Edmonds said, "you realize that you want to have an impact that is different from when you were younger."

Edmonds said he found his answer in being part of Celebrate Hope, a Cape Girardeau Christian faith-based group of about 20 people that is raising $100,000 to go toward the construction of an orphanage in the southern African country of Swaziland.

About $35,000 has been raised so far, said Raelenna Ferguson, co-coordinator of Celebrate Hope.

Celebrate Hope's contribution is for Heart for Africa, a not-for-profit organization that will run the orphanage, which is part of its larger project, Project Canaan. The multibuilding, multimillion-dollar orphanage will rest on 2,500 acres and is hoped to house about 2,000 orphans, said Randy Sparkman, who is helping to organize Celebrate Hope.

For the past four years, Heart for Africa, a Christian faith-based organization, has been assisting six orphanages in Swaziland and Kenya by providing clean water and growing food. Project Canaan is the first time Heart for Africa has tried to manage its own orphanage.

"Now, with some years of experience, we felt we were ready to set up our own homes," said Janine Maxwell, co-founder of Heart for Africa.

Maxwell also said the orphanage is important because the number of orphans in Swaziland is rapidly increasing.

At 6:30 p.m. Feb. 27, a fundraiser for Celebrate Hope will be held in Cape Girardeau at The Venue, where Maxwell will give a talk about the future hope for Swaziland, she said. Maxwell is the author of "It's Not Okay with Me," a book about her experiences with orphaned African children who have AIDS and the start-up of Heart for Africa.

Some local restaurants have donated food for the Feb. 27 event. To help raise money, an auction will be held that includes selling two tickets to the 2010 U.S. Open in Pebble Beach, Calif.

There are about 200,000 orphans in Swaziland, which is bordered by South Africa to its north, south and west, Maxwell said. About 1.2 million people live in Swaziland.

The high rate of orphans is largely caused by HIV/AIDS, which claims the lives of many parents, Maxwell said. According to a 2008 U.N. report on Swaziland, about 7,700 children and adults died of AIDS in 2001. About 10,000 died in 2007. The World Bank estimates that in 2008 about 26 percent of Swazis were infected. Maxwell said Swaziland has the highest percentage of citizens infected with HIV of any country in the world.

In addition to providing food and clean water, Project Canaan would also provide mentors for abused children, nutrition specialists to make sure children are eating right

and educational equivalencies for high school diplomas and post-secondary job training programs for professions such as farming, sewing and home-based health services, Maxwell said.

Maxwell said she hopes the orphanage can be operational by fall.

The desire to help raise money for the orphanage spread after Sparkman gave a copy of Maxwell's book to Ferguson and others at La Croix United Methodist Church. After reading it, Ferguson led a group of church members to Swaziland as part of a Heart for Africa trip designed to see the orphan problem up close. On returning to the U.S., Ferguson said she and other members were determined to help out.

Sparkman, general manager at Med Assets Inc. in Cape Girardeau, said he was given Maxwell's book by the company CEO, John Bardis of Atlanta, who donated $1 million to Heart for Africa. The donation bought the 2,500 acres.

"We are such an incredibly blessed nation," Edmonds said. "This is an opportunity to give back."

For more information, go to celebratehopecape.com.