Courtney Anderson has never experienced so much heartache as she has with Nigeria.
A friend was beaten to death by Nigerian police. Another so-called friend tried swindling her. An orphaned baby in her care died because the Nigerian government wouldn’t allow that baby to come to Canada for needed medical attention.
And yet, Anderson will not give up on the impoverished country known for its corruption.
“It’s like a second home, I guess,” Anderson said at her first home in Chilliwack. “I go through ups and down, but honestly, most of the time it is my home. I love the relationships I’ve built there.”
Anderson is the founder of the Wanted Children Foundation, a non-profit organization working to better the lives of orphans and street kids living in Nigeria. She was just 23-years-old when she started the foundation three years ago, dreaming of building an orphanage, medical facility and educational facility that would give these kids long-term safety, security and love.
She hasn’t lost sight of those dreams, if anything they’re now bigger.
“This is what I do,” she said.
It’s her passion.
Anderson was forced out of Nigeria last October, after 11 months there, when a French humanitarian in West Africa was accused of child trafficking – suddenly all humanitarian and foreign aid workers in Africa had black marks on them.
“There was a safety meltdown in the region,” said Anderson’s dad Steve Anderson. “Canadian Foreign Affairs told us to get her out of there immediately.”
Since October Anderson has been working three jobs so that she could send multiple care packages – consisting of food, clothes, medicine, toys and photos – to staff and friends in Nigeria every two weeks.
She traveled to Australia to meet with friends in the fashion industry to brainstorm ideas for starting up a Wanted Children line of clothing and accessories, which would act as another fundraiser for the foundation.
And she’s constantly been fielding phone calls and emails regarding potential land deals for the project, new kids coming into the foundation’s care and dealing with seemingly never-ending bureaucracy.
“It’s difficult being here,” she said, tears welling in her eyes when the conversation moves to Aine, the orphaned baby who died three months after Anderson’s departure.
“It’s hard not making it personal,” she said. “She was very personal to me. She belonged to me. I felt like I should have been there. I couldn’t do anything.”
Anderson is heading back to Nigeria on July 3 as long as there are no visa hangups.
She currently has five permanent children in her care, and 24 prospective children coming into her care, one of whom was banished from his family because of a skin condition.
“They thought he was cursed,” said Anderson.
She plans to expand the structure of her feeding program, aiming to feed even more malnourished kids in the region.
She’s looking to secure a $160,000 land deal, consisting of 50 acres of gentle, sloping hills to accommodate the foundation’s dream of having an orphanage, medical facility and educational facility all on the same property.
And she’s going to be building on to the orphanage’s current facility.
“We’re going to be really pushing ahead,” she said. “Food. Medical care. Clothing. We’re there for them.”
And as heartbreaking and frustrating as the experience has been in the last few years, it’s been just as rewarding.
“It’s really caused me to reevaluate everything,” she said. “Like, do I really need name brand shampoo, or can I go for the cheaper stuff? Out there, I don’t need stuff.”
She believes her money is better used helping Nigerians in need.
For more information, or to donate to The Wanted Children’s Foundation visit the website www.thewantedchildren.com
krobinson@theprogress.com
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