DEMOPOLIS-“I knew after hearing the presentation about going to Kenya to help care for the orphan children that God wanted me to do this,” Erin Carr said.

Carr is a 21 year-old resident of Demopolis, who is the daughter of Rev. Tommy and Elaine Carr. She is also a junior (senior in fall) at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

“The Rafiki Foundation was doing a presentation on traveling to Kenya to help the children, who have been orphaned due to their parents dieing of Aids,” Carr said, “And after listening to the message something in my heart said ‘This is me all the way.'”

The Rafiki Foundation is a Christian based organization that was founded in 1985 and has a mission statement that says they glorify God by turning helpless children in Africa into godly contributors in the world, she said. They currently have orphanages in nine countries, looking for a tenth.

“Rosemary Jensen, who is the founder of Rafiki spoke during the presentation at my school and then I applied,” Carr said.

She went to San Antonio, Texas in May for two weeks of training, so she could become better prepared for her journey ahead, she said. The Capital City of Kenya, Nairobi is where she will be stationed during her month long stay.

“I love children and I have always wanted to go to Africa,” she said.

Only the children five and under whose parents have died from Aids are allowed in the program, but the children are not infected with the virus, she said. They raise these orphans into Christian men and women, who will eventually become the leaders of the country.

“I’m looking forward to holding the children and giving them the love they desperately need to survive,” Carr said.

They are setup into villages with cottages each having a housemother to care for the children, she said. They have the orphan school, girl center, where they can learn to read and write, as well as learn arts and crafts.

“I bought a purse that was made by one of the girls at the girls’ center from Texas during my training,” Carr said, “They sell the things in order to buy more materials.”

She leaves on July 2 and will return on August 2, she said. She is nervous, but very excited right now.

“I will be in total seclusion from everyone here unless something happens,” Carr said, “But I’ll have to depend on God to see me through.”