Annah Frances Emuge was born in the village of Agu, in the Teso district in Northern Uganda. When Annah was in her first year of primary school, she witnessed the suffering of four schoolmates whose parents had died, leaving them in the care of an aged grandmother. This was her first introduction to the existence of orphans. She could not conceive of a life without her strong, loving parents.  At school, she was being taught that God always answers the prayers of children, so she knelt under a bush one night and prayed,  “Please, God, I am scared and I don’t want my parents to die. God if you will let my Toto and Papa live, I promise when I grow up I will take care of all the orphan children.”

Annah never forgot her promise to help orphaned children, so today she directs the Atai Orphanage, where her Toto raises and sustains the children of her native village who are left without parents by the ravages of war and disease. Although it is a daily struggle to provide the bare necessities for them, these children know that they are absolutely loved and cherished—by God and by their “Mama Frances” in America.

Through fundraising and through the sale of her book "The Moon in Your Sky - An Immigrant's Journey Home", Annah provides enough financial support to supply 54 orphaned children with food, clothing and education.  Annah was also able to finance the purchase of 9 acres of land which is used to grow crops that now feeds over 200 Teso residents two meals a day every day.

Annah recently announced her next big goal of building a private school that will give the children of the Teso district in Northern Uganda the opportunity to attend school in a more intimate classroom setting.  A school with a student to teacher ratio of 15:1 vs the 70:1 ratio that occures in the public school system.  The smaller classroom size will encourage better concentration levels and better overall test scores.

Annah needs our help funding this new school.  Annah expects it to take as much as $100,000 to build a strong brick building with enough room to provide several small classrooms, a lunch room and a nurses office.  Students who attend the school will also be provided both breakfast and lunch to help improve concentration and classroom participation.