Witness was born in 2002 and her younger brother Ali followed in 2003. Their exact dates of birth are unknown but they were assigned birthdays of September 27 for Witness and April 19 for Ali.

Ali and Witness lived with their mother until May 2007 when she died of AIDS. They don’t remember their father because he abandoned the family when the children were very young. Without their mother, Witness and Ali’s 12 year old Aunt Margaret became their caretaker, but she was too young to care for them and attend school.

All three of them moved in with their elderly great-grandmother as Margaret’s mother, (the grandmother of Witness and Ali) had also died from AIDS. But she was too old to properly care for them. Being a widow herself, the grandmother was barely able to provide for her own needs. So Ali, Witness and Margaret all came to live at Treasures of Africa on July 7, 2007.

Except for having ringworm and being very dirty, all three children were in good health when they arrived. It did not take long to see their beautiful personalities come to life. Ali is a bundle of energy. He loves to play and makes friends with everyone that visits here. Witness has a tender, loving heart. Her smiles lights up the room and you can always find her lending a helping hand to one of the other children or the workers.

All three of the children are doing well. They are happy and healthy. When asked what she liked best about TOA, Witness answered, “I like the way I’ve been shown love and affection by the workers here. I have never experienced this before.” When Ali was asked what his favorite thing to do was, he answered, “I love to play football (soccer) and swing on the swingset!” He also loves to draw. (See Margaret’s profile for her details)

These two siblings are thriving at Treasures of Africa Children’s Home and they have an infectious joy about them that is a gift to everyone who meets them. They both are looking to the future with hopeful hearts and it is a pleasure to have them here with us at TOA.