St. Ameria orphanage is located in Uganda in the small city of 
Mbiko, located also near the larger city of Jinja on the shores of Lake Victoria. Edith is the founder and headmistress of the orphanage and was an orphan herself on the streets of Mbiko. Out of that experience, Edith has an amazing heart of compassion for the orphans and street children of Uganda.
In 1994, St. Ameria was founded when four orphans were dropped off at her home, and she began to care for them. When the children of Mbiko found that there was a place of refuge for them, they flocked to Edith. Today, fifteen years later, the orphanage supports 75 children full time, another 70 orphans who live in the home during the school year(these children have distant relatives who care for them during the school break times), and about 150 other children who come from the community to the school during the daytime to receive education.
These children are orphaned by many different tragedies. The first is HIV/AIDS. Many of the children at St. Ameria’s have been orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Others have been orphaned by the human tragedy of war in Uganda that has been waged for decades. You may be aware of the Invisible Children of Uganda who have fled the war in the North. Many of them have escaped to the South, and have found refuge at St. Ameria. Many of them have seen their parents and family killed in front of them, and bear the spiritual, emotional and physical scars of those tragic experiences.
The conditions at St. Ameria are some of the most critical of any of the orphanages we support. With so many children, and no other visible Western support, other than from Streams of Mercy, the conditions are absolutely desperate. Not one building has electricity. The children sleep stacked together because there is no other place for them. There are no beds, and no mosquito nets to protect their frail bodies from yellow fever and malaria. There is no proper bathroom, only a series of “pit toilets” installed by a short term volunteer team. The facility is a group of three buildings, part of them missing walls and roofs. BUT, as desperate as the conditions are, they are hundreds of times better than the children living on the streets.
We are making an amazing difference in the lives of the children of At. Ameria’s. Will you consider helping to change the lives of Uganda through giving to this need?
Thanks for your hearts of compassion!
