In the same village, Esther found a school that had 100 children packed into a classroom that only measured 12 feet by 12 feet. It was just a temporary shack made of papyrus reeds, attached to the back of a mud church.

The classroom had no desks, benches or other furniture. The children sat cramped together on the floor. None of the children had books or supplies. The school only had four pencils which all the children shared.

Esther responded in the simplest way. She gave each child a pencil.

The response was unexpected. Not only were the children overjoyed, the adults in the village noticed. They reasoned that if children in Esther’s school had their own pencils, it must be a good school. Enrollment increased immediately.

Through the years, Esther has made improvements to the school, and with each improvement more children enroll. Today there are over 300 students.

Our founder, Esther Taylor, has always loved children. And who couldn’t love Alex, Steven and Moses?

At the time they were severely malnourished, stricken with malaria and near death. Esther used her personal resources to bring them back to health.

From that time on, Esther has been on a mission to touch and change young lives in Uganda.

Esther’s love affair with the children on Uganda began earlier when the Lord brought a son into her life. Like Hannah in the Bible, Esther had prayed for a son. The prayer remained unanswered for many years until one rainy night people heard a baby crying on the doorstep of their church. It was a baby boy that had been abandoned with a note attached, “Take good care of him.” The church notified Esther who immediately adopted him and gave him the name Samuel.

Esther herself was born and raised in Uganda. She came to the United States in 1986 and settled in the San Diego area where she lives with her husband Melvin.

For the last 20 years she has worked as a social worker in San Diego County focusing, of course, on the needs of children. She uses her vacation time and personal resources to advance her passion: helping impoverished children and their families in Uganda.