A Cradle of Love

By Divine Design News Service

Earlier this year when Betty Bengo received a phone call informing her that a teenager in her home of Uganda did not want to give birth to her yet born child, she flew from Texas to her native country to meet with the young hospitalized girl.

Bengo, who practices family and civil law in North Texas, pleaded with the teenager to have the baby, and to allow the new born to be raised in an orphanage that Bengo and her family started in Uganda four years ago.

“The mother had been raped,” Bengo said.  “The girl was only 14-years-old and she found herself alone and without any hope. I asked her to have the baby, and I promised that my orphanage would take care of her, and give her a good life.”

The baby, now two-months-old, is named Malaika, a name that means angel in Swahili, a common language spoken in East Africa. “The mother is named Harriett, and she is breast feeding the child. In a few months she will leave, and the staff of the orphanage will care for Malaika who was named after the children’s home that Bengo and her family founded.

Operating under the name, Malaika Orphanage Children Foundation, this East African “cradle    of love” for children opened its door with ten orphans. Today, the home provides a safe haven for 211 children who range in age from two months to ten. They are cared for by a staff of ten professionals.

“There is such a great need for what we are doing,” said Bengo, who for the past three years has been an active member of the Arlington Great Southwest Rotary Club. “Rotarians and churches throughout North Texas are among our greatest supporters,” she said. “God placed them in the lives of Ugandan Children.

There is a great need for the type of work that we do in Uganda,” said Bengo who was trained as a lawyer. “Newly born babies are abandoned by their mothers in hospitals, are left on the steps of churches, dumped in toilets and placed on the sides of roads,” she said. In Uganda, there are nearly 3 million children who are orphans, according to United Nations data.

While living in Uganda, Bengo worked for human rights organizations.  “When I left I promised those who had supported me that I would return one day and contribute to the community that nurtured me and allowed me to grow, said Bengo whose husband, Peter, and sons, Peter Jr.,  Joshua and Daniel are active passionate supporters of the orphanage.

“I was raised in a family of ten children and young people are my passion,” said Bengo who directs youth outreach for her Rotary Club. “We are actively looking for people who will adopt children by paying for their education, their medication, their clothing and their water. We are looking for angels in North Texas.

Bengo invites Post Tribune readers to visit www.mocfusaug.org to learn how they can touch the life of a Ugandan child.