The Hoffmans

Please watch this: http://vimeo.com/27995418

The video link above is of one of my favorite families. The video was made by a friend and documents this family bringing home their newst daughters, Mebrate. I can’t watch it without crying. Maybe it’s because I love this family, I’ve been around them through the process of adopting her, or I want to adopt so badly.  Whatever it is, I love this family a ridiculous amount.  They have a non-profit to send formula over to two partner Ethiopian orphanages.  The Hoffmans have a unique, heartbreaking, and inspiring story. I met Laura when I signed up for a Bible study and she was the leader.  It wasn’t too long before I knew Laura very well and I knew she was someone I wanted to be like.  Laura and her husband had an adopted daughter from Africa and were beginning the process of adopting another little girl when I met them. Meron, their daughter, however was not the first child. After Tymm and Laura found out they would be unable to get pregnant, they excitedly pursued the chance to adopt. They found an adoption agency, filled out the massive amounts of paperwork, participated in a home study, and waited anxiously.  Then one day, their whole lives changed. They received their referral for their son, which means they got the name and picture of their child.  His name was Brighton and he was an orphaned infant in Ethiopia. They were ecstatic, but the joy was short-lived.   At 76 days old, Brighton passed away, most likely from malnutrition in combination of poor living conditions. 

            Tragically, infants and young children passing away is not a rare occurrence in Africa. In fact, it happens every day.  Laura and Tymm were devastated, but they were not going to wallow in self-pity and after spending a lot of time praying and researching, they decided on sending formula.  They choose formula for several reasons. First, the formula in Africa is very low quality, incredibly expensive for orphanages and has few nutrients. They prefer powdered formula over liquid because it weighs less and feeds more.  Finally, sending formula is a tangible way for people here to get involved. Individuals can go to the store and buy the formula that an orphanage will actually use.   They named their organization Brighton Their World (www.brightontheirworld.com) and have sent over 40,000 bottles worth of formula since they started.  To say their organization is growing is an understatement. It began by just telling their friends, but it has since expanded. It is not unusual to receive an email from a stranger saying, “Hey, I’m driving through Atlanta and have a car full of formula, can we meet up so I can give it to you?” They’ve driven to Texas and back (and other places) over two days to pick up formula to send it over to Africa. They generally get it to their partner orphanages by “mules” or individuals heading to the area. Laura and Tymm will buy an old suitcase from Goodwill, pack it with formula, and pay for the extra baggage fees of the individual. Customs can be tricky to get through in almost every country in Africa so recently they’ve had to buy formula in-country. While it’s not ideal, the children certainly receive more than they would without any formula. 

            I’ve had several people ask how they can get involved with helping people. This organization is an excellent way.   I personally know this family and have been around them for two years.  You can do several things.

Donate: you can donate money and they will buy formula with it. 100% of the money goes to helping the children. 

Host a party: Host a formula party. With the holidays approaching, instead of giving gifts to one another, have everyone bring a can of formula.  You can contact Laura and Tymm on their website to get more information or to help you.

Spread the word: Tell your friends, family, anyone about what they are doing.  This organization has grown by word of mouth.  They have a Twitter and Facebook that you can link up to as well.   They also have a blog they update daily about their life and family (http://littlehoffman.blogspot.com/) and as you can see from the video, their daughters are beautiful and they are just as sweet too.

Sammy

I remember when I went to Kenya in 2007 so well. I was beyond excited to finally be in Africa and it was an incredible trip. I had been sponsoring Musa for four years at that point and although I wasn’t going to the country he called home, I was right next door. I went with my high school ministry at church.  We went for two reasons. The first reason was to interact with high school students and talk to them about HIV/AIDS and Jesus. The second reason was because my best friend and the guy I was dating at the time had raised around $20,000 his senior year to build a well in Kenya. We were going to meet the community where the well was going to be built. In total, twenty-two people went on the trip. Eighteen of us were students and four were adult leaders. 

Buses and large vehicles are not that common in Kenya and so we had four safari vans with drivers. Our drivers were awesome. The one my group often rode in was with a guy named Francis. He spoke very little English. For example, if we said stop, he went into reverse; or when we asked him what animal that was, his answer was always gazelle. Even if it was a monkey-type creature.  We affectionately named his van and the experience, the Fran Van. There was one driver, in particular, I wanted to talk to. His name is Sammy and he was the leader of the drivers. He owned the driving company. Typically, it was Sammy and one other driver, but because we needed four drivers, he brought in two more.  Sammy was one of those people you instantly wanted to be friends with.  He laughed a lot, but he didn’t say much. When he did speak, everyone listened. He was very wise and I just wanted to know about him.

One day, when we were traveling to south Kenya, we stopped at this restaurant. It had the tallest, most beautiful waterfall I’ve ever seen.  For some reason, my best friend and I were a little late to sit down and so we sat at the drivers’ table. I began to talk with Sammy about Kenya and the AIDS epidemic came up.  My last semester of my senior year (I had just graduated from high school) was spent researching and writing a paper on the AIDS epidemic in Africa.  I had plenty of knowledge about the subject, but what I didn’t have was perspective. The kind of perspective from hearing about the impacts from someone whose life is greatly impacted, from someone who has seen the devastation with their own eyes. I didn’t want to know because I was curious, but because it’s heartbreaking. Sammy was very open about what he had seen and whom he had lost. He also understood a lot about the disease as well. The way he talked about Kenya, you knew he had great pride in his country.  He loved it.

This is Sammy

What saddened me the most was that he was so surprised someone like me would care or want to know about his country or the epidemic. What Sammy didn’t know what was that only deepened my love for this continent.