Dorcas

“We heard that there were 266 Ebola Orphans in this part of Sierra Leone. I wanted to go to the village to see the orphans firsthand. It was so sad! You should have seen the children in this village! Devin and Ali were there with me and we were all in tears. I couldn’t sleep because these orphans were continually on my mind. I could not stop thinking, ‘What can we do? Let’s do something!’ We can’t afford to take care of all 266 kids but if we can even help 50, we need to try! I will give it everything I’ve got!”

What would possess a brilliant, highly educated, possibly 70 year old(?) grandmother living in the United States to leave all of the comforts of her home, the familiarity of family and friends, a successful career and ministry to live in a remote village of Sierra Leone, Africa serving the most vulnerable, needy children there? This is the story of Kumba, now known as Dorcas and to answer that question, we must go back to the very beginning of her remarkable journey.

Young Kumba, who was named after her grandmother, was born in the village of Bendugu, Sierra Leone, to Muslim parents. At that time there were not birth records kept in Sierra Leone and so she does not know exactly when she was born or how old she is. Her dad fought in WWII on the British side. Life changed drastically for Kumba’s family once her father returned from the war, especially when he could not get a job because he had not been educated. He had strongly held convictions that were revolutionary and counter-cultural at that time: he believed that every child should go to school and get an education, including the girls. He didn’t want his children to be disadvantaged and desired for them to be able to read and write. The leaders of the village refused to listen to him and continued to only educate the boys. Kumba’s father was eventually forced out of the village and went to live in another tribe, the Mendi tribe. He couldn’t even speak their language but bravely moved his family to this faraway village to join this new tribe because they were willing to educate both boys and girls. It was at this very young age that the seed of the high value of an education was planted in Kumba’s heart.

Dorcas now speaks very highly of her parents, saying, “My parents really loved us. They had nothing but they gave us everything they had.” With the importance they placed on education, they enrolled her in the best local school which was a Christian school in their province. She thrived academically, particularly excelling in math and science, literally devouring every book she could get her hands on. It was at this school that she first learned of Jesus, an encounter that would transform the trajectory of the rest of her life. “As I studied the Bible, I admired the fact that Jesus loved and cared for people. He was so humble and didn’t lord his powers over anyone. At age 13, I converted to Christianity. My parents were very surprised but I said, ‘I want to be like Jesus, to feed the hungry, to help people.’ I was baptized and changed my name to Dorcas because in the Bible Dorcas is known for her kindness, always doing good and helping the poor. Dorcas died and everyone cried for her. She was raised to life and I was coming back to life as a Christian. I would bow down to God and pour out my heart to Him, ‘God, use me as your instrument. Let me be your child.’ ”

Dorcas’s hard work and potential were readily seen by an American couple, Hope and Les Law, who had become like family to her. This very special couple helped Dorcas get a scholarship to complete her high school education in Sierra Leone and then chose her out of 350 girls at Harford School to bring to the US to get her nursing degree. With immense bravery, she left her family, friends, culture and entire way of life and moved to the US to become a nurse. It would be years before she would ever see or speak to her biological family again. She worked two jobs while in nursing school, including being a housekeeper at the hospital and cleaning toilets in the dormitory so that she could send as much money as possible back to Africa for her family. This ambitious leader worked incredibly hard to earn 3 Masters Degrees and become an ordained minister in the Methodist Church. Dorcas married her now partner in ministry, Daniel, a fellow Sierra Leonean who was getting his doctorate in the US and the two have just celebrated 44 years of marriage. Dorcas and Daniel raised two amazing children, Hopenet and Ali who share their faith, love for their country and a desire to make a difference in the world. Just recently Dorcas finally retired after a long career as a nurse in the US.

While this might seem like the end of a story of a life well lived with a grandmother finally being able to relax, perhaps learn to crochet and enjoy the much deserved break of her retirement years, a new chapter in Dorcas’s life was just about to begin. Her heart was literally broken and drawn to the plight of the suffering of hundreds of orphans fighting to survive in her beloved country of Sierra Leone. Not surprising to anyone who knows this energetic, huge-hearted woman well, she clearly has not lost her zeal to follow in the footsteps of Jesus who had such compassion for others.  In a huge answer to prayer, God has blessed the charity with the most amazing woman, mother and grandmother imaginable to be caring for the 7 precious orphans currently living in Mamaland. Not only does she provide a great deal of hands on care, affection, connection to their culture and mentoring to the girls, she has been instrumental in training a team of Sierra Leonean women to also provide the highest level of nurturing to these girls who have endured so much in their young lives. Just as Dorcas’s father instilled the value of getting an education into her, Dorcas is passionate about making sure that these girls have every opportunity to reach their full potential in life. “Grandma” (as she is called by the girls) Dorcas’s own words sum up her heart and mission best: “My goal is that the children will grow up to know the Lord even though tragedy has happened in their lives. God has a wonderful plan for each one of them!”