Emily Wierenga did not start out to set up a non-profit organization, but that all changed after the mother of two, soon to be three children, went on a trip to Uganada and Rwanda in January of 2014 with World Help.
World Help is a faith-based non-profit organization that helps people in impoverished communities, most notably Africa, by providing humanitarian, and educational assistance.
World Help sponsored the trip, taking five bloggers on a five day tour of Uganda and Rwanda, in an effort to help tell the story of how extreme poverty is affecting the people of the two countries and how the organization is trying to help.
Besides being a mother, the Neerlandia resident is a blogger, a regular contributor to a number of Christian publications and an author of five books.
“I am not the type of person to start up a non-profit organization, but after what I experienced on my trip, I knew I had to do something,” she said.
After a lot of personal reflection and prayer, Wierenga said she formed the Lulu Tree.
The Lulu Tree is a non-profit organization dedicated in preventing children from becoming orphans, by helping their mothers in Katwe, Uganda. Katwe is the poorest of the slums in Uganda’s capital city Kampala.
Like many people, Wierenga sponsors a child through World Help, but after she met the young boy she sponsored, she began to wonder if it was the right course of action.
“I am not saying people should not sponsor children,” she said. “There is certainly a place for that, but we need to do something else as well.”
Wierenga decided in addition to all the other things charities and other non-profit groups were doing, she wanted to do something closer to the root of the problem.
One of the reasons Katwe and other impoverished regions have so many orphaned children she said, is because there are so many widows and single mothers who can not provide for their children.
She gave the example of the young boy that she sponsors.
The mother of the boy, a peasant farmer, was forced to give her son to an orphanage after her husband died from HIV/Aids. Wierenga was able to meet the mother after she had walked more than four hours to thank the woman (Wierenga) who was helping her son.
“It is that experience that haunts me. Seeing her and seeing him I wondered why I was paying my money to him when I could be giving it to the mother instead, helping her keep her family together.”
That is why, through the Lulu Tree, Wierenga decided what was needed was to help the mothers.
“I thought there is a step missing,” she said “By helping the mothers, we are helping the children. As our vision statement says, we are dedicated to preventing tomorrow’s orphans by equipping today’s mothers.”
To help Wierenga and the Lulu Tree help Katwe mothers help themselves, the organization has recruited a group of 48 volunteers located across North America and Uganda.
In addition to those volunteers, the organization has hired one full-time employee, located in Uganda, to help organize the program on the ground.
“Esther is just wonderful. She is a single mom with two kids,” she said. “Helping guide and mentor her is our national co-ordinator, Carol, who has decades of experience working with non-profits.”
To provide additional support, the Lulu Tree has partnered with a local Katwe church, Remnants, which also oversees a number of other churches in the area.
She said partnering with churches has helped the group get established quickly, in large part, because they provide shelter to countless of Katwe’s homeless.
People wanting to help the Lulu Tree can do so in a number of ways. Of course, Wierenga said monetary donations are always welcome, although the group is not able to issue receipts for tax purposes yet.
She said the organization officially became a non-profit organization in June and are in the process of applying for their charitable status.
People can also sponsor a mother by donating $25, $50 or $75 a month.
However, Wierenga said, most of the organization’s funding comes from the Lulu Tree On-line Boutique.
Through the boutique men and women can order a wide variety of handmade clothing, jewellery and other accessories.
“I have a good friend Jodie (Vanderzwaag) who gave up her own very successful business to manage the boutique. She also makes many of the items herself,” Wierenga said.
All the funds the Lulu Tree receives are lumped together in one large pool where it is accessed to help mothers the organization is sponsoring, as needed.
Currently the Lulu Tree sponsors two mothers, each of which has a small business. One of them sells bananas, while the other sells produce from a small garden.
“Our goal is to invest in the women’s businesses in an effort to get them to be self-sufficient, while at the same time investing in them holistically,” Wierenga said. “Not just give them money, but to help them become emotionally and spiritually healthy.”
The Lulu Tree’s ultimate goal is to provide every woman they sponsor with the ability to own their own home.
“No one in Katwe owns their own home. They either are homeless or rent some rundown shack,” Wierenga said. “Our desire, is to somehow help these moms own their own homes, outside of Katwe.”
For more information on the Lulu Tree organization visit www.thelulutree.com.
