News
STEALING FROM THE MOUTHS OF ORPHANS Local donors get a peek inside scams affecting Ugandan children in need BY STEVE MORLEY THE WORLD IS RIFE with challenges unique to 2020, though there is no shortage of problems that predate the Year of the Pandemic. Humanitarian need, for instance, has long stood as a gaping hole in still-developing, poverty-challenged countries where food and basics are often in short supply. The use of social networking and other internet resources has become more of a lifeline than ever for charities and humanitarian organizations that rely on donations. Simultaneously, though, criminal abuses of the internet continue to increase in number. In America alone, complaints of internet-based fraud rose about a half a million between 2015 and 2019, totaling nearly 1,700,000 last year. Until fairly recently, I had remained blissfully unaware of the potential difficulties that face native Ugandans attempting to legitimately serve the vast population of orphans and other minor-age children in need. My wife, Brenda, first took notice of Hope Orphanage and Outreach Centre on Facebook in 2017. She’d mentioned being touched by the many photos of the children at the facility, located in Kasese, Uganda, 26 * JULY 2020 * BOROPULSE.COM
and had felt moved to make donations from time to time as finances would allow. In time, she and I would directly encounter an attempt by a scammer to intercept a donation we sent to Hope Orphanage. Over time, Brenda began chatting via Facebook Messenger with the orphanage’s founder and director, a Ugandan man in his early 30s named Mbaju Phillmon. A friendly and industrious fellow, Phillmon was forthcoming about both the Christian basis of his work and the ongoing need for financial support. These individual appeals for assistance initially seemed a bit too forward and a bit suspicious to me, especially in these times when scams like the popular “Nigerian Prince” phishing email and fake charities are commonly seen online. However, Brenda had carefully vetted the orphanage early on. Upon request, she was given two American references who spoke with her and affirmed the orphanage’s legitimacy. For good measure, Phillmon also sent a photo of the facility’s license. A website and a more professionally operated marketing campaign would be more trustworthy and effective, but such
luxuries presently remain beyond reach. Phillmon, a smart, college-educated man with a young family of his own, was doing the best he could with limited resources. In 2018 an American supporter created a Go Fund Me campaign that is currently active. Over $15,000 has been raised since June of 2018, though even with the extremely low cost of living in Uganda, that amount falls significantly short of the $1,500 needed per month for food, supplies and staff payroll. The orphanage, anchored by a school for children ages 3 through 13, owns the property it occupies, thanks to donors. Colorful block buildings provide serviceable classrooms for all, and children are daily served three meals consisting of simple but nutritious staples. Available housing, however, can currently accommodate only about half of the 491 kids who attend school there. Additionally, a smaller campus in a nearby village accommodates 250 children, totaling almost 750. Phillmon’s most pressing expansion goal is to build enough on-campus housing so that children can sleep onsite instead of at the homes of family members. Leaving the premises incurs risk, including road accidents or even abductions. So, wait a minute—if these kids have family, even extended family, then why are they in the care of an orphanage? Hope Orphanage takes in full orphans, halforphans (children with one living parent), street kids, disabled kids . . . essentially, any needy child. More than 80 percent of impoverished Ugandan children fall under the heading of “social orphans,” having family members but lacking basic support. And the number of these is staggering. Of Uganda’s roughly 46 million residents, nearly one-half are under the age of 15. The average birth rate is between five and six children to each Ugandan female, who commonly begin motherhood in their mid-to-late teens. This explosion of births, combined with poverty and skyrocketing numbers of unemployed or underemployed Ugandans, leaves millions of children who cannot be properly cared for. And that’s if they even have a family; many children
More than 80 percent of impoverished Ugandan children fall under the heading of ‘social orphans,’ having family members but lacking basic support. And the number of these is staggering.”
lose parents to floods, violent conflict in the nearby Congo region, and diseases such as AIDS, cholera and ebola. Mbaju Phillmon is one of many individuals laboring to provide a solution to what seems an unsolvable problem. Compounding the challenges is the work of scammers who exploit existing orphanages, even borrowing their good names to create homes where children suffer mistreatment while donations go into the pockets of scam operators. Phillmon has been spared the worst of such exploitation, but signs of potential scammer activity started showing up when his Facebook page began disappearing from view. It’s happened four times, two of those since the beginning of 2020. The shutdowns not only robbed Phillmon of crucial access to supporters but required the painstaking process of starting over with only an older model cellphone. Phillmon never received an email from Facebook regarding the shutdowns, so it’s likely that they were caused by someone with nefarious intent, though clues remain elusive. Clear evidence of phishing did show up, though, when the orphanage director’s email account was hacked. My wife and I found this out firsthand. The day after we sent a sizeable contribution via Western Union (to ensure speedy and direct receipt), Brenda got an email from Phillmon’s address. The sender—using language that sounded exactly like Mbaju’s previous communications—said that he couldn’t claim the donation due to an expired ID card, and asked for the donation to be resent to a different person, whose name he provided. Brenda did as requested and then texted Mbaju, who expressed confusion and explained he hadn’t emailed her, nor had he made any such request. We quickly figured out we’d been scammed, and alerted Mbaju to the misuse of his email account. The payment was stopped in time and redirected to Mbaju as intended, but we learned to be more vigilant about potential deception. Should you be moved to make a contribution, I can personally vouch for the sincerity and integrity behind Hope Orphanage, as well as its worthy work and legitimate, immediate needs. To donate, search for “The Children Need Your Help – Uganda” on the home page of gofundme.com. Meanwhile, Mbaju has a message to impart: “Love from the orphanage,” he says in an email typed through his aging cellphone. “Our motto is ‘God is in control.’”
