Associated Press - November 21, 2008
Amy Bowen

In 2007, Jan Hanson of Sartell helped build a wall around a school to protect a donated playground set from vandals.

That experience, along with helping out with two of the country's orphanages, spurred her to start the nonprofit organization 200 Orphanages Worldwide. Her nonprofit, which started this summer, will help raise money for physical structures needed by orphanages around the world.

"That was so touching for me," Hanson said of her volunteer experience. "To be able to build something that would bring a smile to a child's face - someone I never knew."

Orphanages submit applications to Hanson's organization. The orphanages are asked for financial information, references and building plans. For example, Kenya's St. Kizito Orphanage Center recently asked for help raising $152,000 for a building that would help with accommodations, offices, classrooms, a library and counseling and dining facilities.

Hanson determines whether she can help the orphanage, then reaches out to donors for support.

Such support is incredibly necessary, said Sandy Peterson of Maple Grove. Peterson is the U.S. coordinator for Hope for Africa International and the country director for Zambia. Hope for Africa International works with orphans and with children of sick or dying parents. Peterson has worked with Hanson in connecting her with those in need.

Help is needed, Peterson said. Here, systems are in place for people to be cared for. It's different in Africa, she said.

"It seems that so much in Africa is 100 years behind here," Peterson said. "When you go over there and see how they're living, you feel so helpless. It's desperate."

AIDS, hunger and poverty are just some of the issues, she said. When Peterson visits the 17 orphanages she oversees in Zambia, children cling to her.

"They just want to be touched," Peterson said. "They want to be loved."

These stories need to be told, Hanson said. Hanson wants to bring awareness to the issues facing the world's children, and she said she believes people will donate.

"Call me a hopeless optimist," she said. "There are people out there who want to give."

So far, Hanson also has agreed to work with orphanages in India and all over Africa.

Hanson also is working with Nibakure Children's Village in Rwanda. Executive director Floriane Robins-Brown and her work partner, John Kremer, both of Hudson, Wis., would like to raise $8 million to $10 million during the next five or six years to build a campus for orphans.

It will include 15 houses for 150 orphans, schools, two facilities for vocational training, a public clinic, auditorium, chapel and an agricultural area. The campus' facilities will be open to the broader community, as well, Kremer said.

"At this point money is the big issue," Kremer said. "We've had very smart people help us with the plans."

Every penny is needed, Robins-Brown said. Rwanda has about 1.5 million orphans, she said. Someone needs to take care of them, said Robins-Brown, who was raised in the country.

"Children are tomorrow's generation," she said. "If we let them perish, there won't be tomorrow for Rwanda."

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