The founders of Caring Hands For Africa are Ken and Karen. They came together, to accomplish a work, this charity, they believe was divinely directed and inspired.

Ken is from Nigeria and Karen is from America. How they came together is another story. As Karen says, “Wait for the book,” but her dear friend in North Carolina said, “I’ll wait for the movie!”

“I love Nigeria!” Ken says and when asked Why, he said the people are courageous and have a perseverance to survive; they work very hard. He finds them intelligent, however their ability to educate themselves is difficult. “Going to school takes money and when you are hungry, food is the priority. Ken knows this all too well for as a child he was hungry. He started doing small jobs, such as sweeping a shop floor for food money and to buy books. He wanted to get the pictorial Bible that was in color. Earning his own money excited him as he realized he could affect his life with this independence. Sometimes, because of peer pressure, he would buy the sneakers that some of his wealthy schoolmates would be wearing and occasionally he would buy used clothing.

From Ken’s firsthand knowledge of how challenging daily life can be, he decided to help people discover themselves and help them to support their dreams. Desiring to give his fellow Nigerians the tools necessary, not only to survive, but thrive, thus the thought of a charity for Uplifting People came to mind.

Caring Hands For Africa (CHFA) became an actuality when Ken and Karen’s paths crossed. Karen was feeling as if something in her life was missing, unfulfilled. When Ken said to Karen, “I want to help the widows and motherless children,” this spoke to her heart and their passion to Uplift People together was born.

In retrospect, Karen feels as if her life was being prepared for this moment in time. Several years prior, her older brother encouraged her to join him in Guatemala where he had been doing charity work. This experience in Guatemala was overwhelming and the tears began to flow. While personally witnessing the poorness, her thoughts drifted to commercials on TV depicting such poverty around the world, but never did she imagine the severity. Those experiences were a preparation for God’s Will in her life. She was drawn to Nigeria.

The poverty in Nigeria is beyond description and comprehension. Many Nigerians don’t realize there is more to living and if they do understand, they have no ability to rise above their situation and so their life goes on, working hard to feed themselves and their families, just surviving. Ken and Karen, together with the help from many generous people around the world, hope and pray to have a positive impact with this charity. While the task at hand seems unsurmountable, their mantra is Uplifting People…One Life at a Time. If you haven’t done so yet, please, visit the other areas of this charity website to see, mostly just the many simpleneeds of the Nigerian people. Helen Walton has said, “It’s not what you gather but what you scatter…That tells what kind of life you have lived.” If your heart is touched, please scatter.

For further information, contact Ken and Karen at admin@CaringHandsForAfrica.org