Newport News, VA based Share HEART in Africa is raising funds to help children affected by the Ebola virus

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Dec. 25, 2014 - PRLog -- The nonprofit wants to ensure orphans continue to have access to education, are placed in foster care and build an orphanage for children who do not have any family members or are abandoned by their relatives. This is so important for the future of the children and the Sierra Leone community.

The founders, Russ and Saffiatu Harper and a team of volunteers, were planning to be in Sierra Leone in the early part of December 2014, to distribute Pack and PRAY items, oversee the completion of a school library in Grafton, Sierra Leone and pay home visits to orphans and their new families but their trip has been interrupted by the Ebola virus in West Africa.  Saffiatu, a native of Sierra Leone says that they are using this time to raise the much-needed funds to ensure orphans are placed in loving homes and are able to continue their education. Those who they cannot place with a family will be placed in an orphanage.

Share HEART in Africa works with clinics, schools, and churches in Sierra Leone to minister and support children and families in need.  “Our dream to build an orphanage to provide a place of refuge for the under privileged in Sierra Leone is no longer a dream but a necessity,” said Saffiatu. “Thousands of children have been orphaned by the Ebola epidemic and most don’t have a place to go due to poverty, fear and stigma of the virus.”

As you celebrate the Holiday Season with loved ones this Christmas and New Year, please pray for families who will not be publicly celebrating Christmas and New Years to prevent the Ebola virus from spreading.

“When I was in Sierra Leone,” said Saffiatu, “we went to Church on Christmas Day, and then visited family members, and then on the day after Christmas, Boxing Day, we would go on an outing to the beach.”

Sierra Leone has now overtaken Liberia to become the worst hit country in West Africa.  More than 9,000 people have been infected with the virus and over 2,500 people have died in Sierra Leone. The country has been in a state of emergency since July, which prohibits public gatherings including going to school.

Donation to Share HEART In Africa can be made at http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/empower-ebola-orphans-in-sierra-leone/