A place of hope
Deacon Hugh and Marty Downey and their family of hundreds
By Stephanie Riggs
Forty years ago, the U.S. Army unwittingly sent the best soldier to reach out to Africa. Little did the Army know assigning Hugh Downey as a communications specialist to an outpost in remote East Africa would save so many lives.It all started when Downey's tour of duty led him to a part of the world known for its breathtaking scenery and wildlife. But most people in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Kenya are too overwhelmed to notice. Extreme poverty, poor health care and AIDS force most Africans to live for the day. This is the place that changed him, and then he changed the place.
Recently, photojournalist Bill Masure and I flew halfway around the world to Kenya, more than 8,000 miles from Denver. From Nairobi, it's a 14-hour drive on roads that barely qualify to be called roads. Only the locals know how to negotiate through this part of the world. We traveled through Kenya's most violent weather. Then the storm passed and we followed a brilliant rainbow to our destination, a place the Africans call Lalmba, meaning "place of hope," on the shores of Lake Victoria.
In what feels like the middle of nowhere, Deacon Hugh and Marty Downey see them first — children, dozens of them running, dancing and singing. They are welcoming the Arvada couple home.
Deacon Hugh knows each child by name. In each face he sees a future. And perhaps more important, these children see it, too.
Kenneth Omondi wants to be a doctor, "if God bless me, because doctors can help you extend your life a longer time." This 13-year-old considers Marty and Deacon Hugh his mother and father.
"I take them as my parents because they take care of me just the same as my parents could have taken," he said.
Over the years, this is the 40th, the Kenyan government has given the Downeys full responsibility for Kenneth and hundreds of other orphans like him.
"I hope God will bless them for what they have done for the Africans," Kenneth said.
The Downeys — Hugh is a deacon at Spirit of Christ Parish in Arvada — visit Africa every six months. They have help from dozens of American volunteers and forty paid Kenyan staff. They have devoted their lives to Lalmba, which they founded in Eritrea in 1963, because they love children and three other important reasons.
"This area had the highest infant mortality rate and highest illiteracy rate in Kenya, and there was no development here," Deacon Hugh said.
It's estimated one in seven Kenyan adults is infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The result is 1 million parentless children. It's not unusual to see an 8-year-old responsible for his brothers and sisters — their parents are gone. AIDS and a poor health-care system continue to wipe out the adult population.
Deacon Hugh knows from experience simple acts set in motion today will go on for future generations.
"It's where you put your values," he said. "It depends on what is important to you in life. Personally, there is nothing more important to me than a child."
He's almost like a farmer, planting seeds of hope.
"These children can grow up and make an impact," he said. "They can be teachers, health-care workers, farmers. I don't see it much different than I did 40 years ago."
Using private donations from Colorado individuals and small businesses, the Downeys changed the course of a country. They transformed a once-barren field beside Lake Victora into a medical clinic and a children's home for orphans. The children sleep under mosquito nets to protect them from malaria, No. 1 killer in the developing world. They eat beans, rice, flat bread and kale.
"It's amazing," Hugh said. "Some of these kids come here and the next year you see them and say, is that the same kid? He or she is so healthy."
The Ongoro children's home is a group of grass huts. The compound appears similar to the homes where the 24 children were born. Lalmba pays for their medical care and education. Lalmba's care reaches 500 more children in the region. They want to take in 500 more children this year.
It's impossible to estimate how many children the Downeys and their Lalmba Association have embraced. Many of the children walked two to three hours to join Lalmba's annual party — a chance to be a child in a part of the world where children rarely get that opportunity, all thanks to a Colorado couple who brought salvation to a corner of the world that knew only despair.
"There are some things in life that are important, some that are vital," Deacon Hugh said. "Making a difference in the life of a child is everything. The inconvenience of living in Africa is a small thing."
While they're in Africa, the Downeys share a grass tukul hut with a family of bats. In Arvada, and Africa, they raised a son, Mikael, 33, now stationed with the Air Force in Saudi Arabia, and a daughter, Keren, 30, a social worker with Adams County Social Services who was named after the Eritrean city where her parents married in 1965.
"I had superheroes when I was growing up, but they were my parents," Mikael said. Keren said she feels part of an extended family,
"I see these kids who needed family, needed parents, needed belonging," she said. "Until we came along and all got together like a village and created our own family."
Another member of that extended family is Mohammed Ibrahim, 47. He is the first orphan who came to Lalmba.
"I consider Hugh and Marty my parents and my family forever," he said. "In this part of the world nothing can be certain, but I will predict that as Marty and Hugh get old their children (us) will carry on their work ... The purpose and interest of Lalmba will live on long after Marty and Hugh are gone."
Deacon Hugh offers another perspective: "These lifelong experiences have enriched us beyond anyone's ability to understand. I think we are two of the richest people you will ever meet."
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A decade later, Hugh and Marty Downey's dream of giving hope to Africa is perfectly taking shape. Several like myself who upto a few years ago had no hope of getting good education inspite of a great potential can have a reason to smile, thanks to the Kansas couple. Bob Modi is almost graduating with a degree in Education and I, Kenneth, isn't far either with a degree in Pharmacy. And several others have got a chance in middle level colleges and high schools!
We are happy for you mom and dad because for the first time you been recognized with a papal award for your positive contribution to humanity. I think, like Abraham Lincolm, that no man stands taller as when he stoops to help a child. This gesture will forever remain engraved in the hearts of the people you touched!
Nevertheless, as we continue with persuit of our education we pray for good health and Godly honours to this great couple. You have started a journey that will not end soon. God bless Hugh and Marty, Long live Lalmba. Adapted from http://www.archden.org/dcr/archive/20021127/2002112703ln.htm
News 4 to broadcast special report on Lalmba
Stephanie Riggs, Emmy-winning reporter and news anchor for News 4, and photographer Bill Masure recently completed a documentary film on Deacon Hugh and Marty Downey's Lalmba relief agency in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Kenya, focusing on Kenya. The Downeys provided additional video they shot later in Eritrea. Portions of the video will be shown on News 4's 10 p.m. newscast Nov. 27 (today), and on First News at 4 on the 28 and 29. A longer segment will be aired on CBS' "Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood" at a time to be announced. Riggs wrote this report for the Register.
Living conditions in both Eritrea and Ethiopia have deteriorated almost since Lalmba's founding, in part because of decades of civil war, and starvation has become more widespread recently because of severe drought.
Donations to Lalmba can be sent to Lalmba, 7685 Quartz St., Arvada, CO 80007. Information about Lalmba, including volunteer information (a two-year commitment is requested), can be obtained by calling 303-420-1810. Mary Alice Reedy manages Lalmba's office in Arvada, which also maintains a Web site: lalmba.org
