There are two million orphans in the landlocked East African nation of Uganda, roughly 10 percent of the population. Many of them lost their parents to AIDS and water-borne diseases.
Abetting that tragedy is a long history of poverty, destruction and the mass killings wrought by former strongman Idi Amin and the Lord’s Resistance Army in the 1970s.
Next February, Tom and Cheryl Tracht of Auburn and eight of their 11 children, all members of Faith Baptist Church in northeast Tacoma, will sell their lovely log cabin home and tree-fringed property on 53rd Street Southeast and move as missionaries to Mbarara, Uganda.
Once there, they will establish three orphanages housing about 50 kids each, train Ugandans to pastor churches, bring in better medical care and work with churches to place orphans into families.
“We’re basically going to Uganda to take what I would say are the blessings of the Lord, which are really financial blessings, and to help the people of Uganda in several areas,” said Tom Tracht, 50, an operations analyst at Boeing, a part-time realtor and a retired Air Force major.
Of immediate concern to the Trachts is the orphanage in Mbarara that lacks a well, forcing the orphans to drink from a tank of unclean water into which chemicals are dumped to push the nasty stuff to the bottom.
When the Trachts told neighbors John and Jean Chaffee about that tank, the Chaffees were moved to host a community yard sale and carnival bake sale today to raise money to dig a well. This event, called Dig Deep, Get Well, takes place at the Chaffee’s home at 5324 Bridget Ave. S.E. The yard sale starts at 9 a.m., and there will be lattes and Italian sodas and barbecued ribs at noon. Tracht estimates it will cost about $7,000 to dig a well.
“I am so proud of them,” Jean Chaffee said of her neighbors. “They really had a vision, a purpose and joy in what they are doing.”
Tracht started thinking about Uganda in October 2006. He first visited Africa in January 2007 and returned there with Cheryl this past April.
“I have taught at the Air Force Institute of Technology and develop and teach courses at Boeing, so I have a passion for education. I learned that basically, there were open doors in the African schools to actually go in there and teach, including Christian education. And I wanted to see if it would be something I could take my family to and get involved in,” Tom said.
At first, the couple thought they would take in orphans and set up a large institutionalized orphanage.
“But once I got to Africa, I realized I am not set to raise Zambians or Ugandans or whatever,” said Tom. “I would do a horrible job. So what we realized was that the true blessing we Americans have is incredible financial blessings. We’ve got money that is amazing in comparison to the rest of the world. When you meet the African people, there’s a lot they’ve got, but they don’t have money. They’re dirt poor, so they can’t really take on children and stuff like that.
“… We wanted to go out there and do that based on the Biblical command in James 1:27 that tells us that ‘true religion is visiting the widow and the fatherless in their affliction.’ We really felt that the Lord gave us the opportunity to really go out there and make a difference,” Tom said.
For Cheryl, becoming a missionary to Uganda is the fulfillment of long-cherished hopes. She and Tom work in a local nursing home ministry.
“I hoped my kids would go, but I never dreamed we would go. I thought maybe we didn’t make the right choices early enough in life. But God gives us the desires of our heart, and we are going to get to work with people,” said Cheryl.
“We can’t picture any better way to live your life than to just pour it into other people,” said Tom. It will be quite a change for Rebekah, 18, Garret, 16, Kristen, 14, Jacob, 12, Travis, 10, Scottie, 6, Victoria, 5, and Trenton, 3. Katherine, 20, who is in college, will fly out during the summers. Two married daughters will not make the trip.
“I think it’s pretty neat,” said Jacob. “I was really scared of it at first because brother (Bobbie) Bonner — a missionary to Zambia — told us lots of stories about snakes and rhinos and all that coming and attacking. I was like, ‘Oh.’ Now, I am looking forward to it. I remembered that the Lord is watching over us, and whatever happens is his will.
To donate to the bake sale go to digdeepgetwell@gmail.com.
