ROUGH PAST INSPIRES ADOPTION A passion for Christ led junior Anitha Kobusingye to adopt 12 children and place 41 others in loving homes by age 22. Kobusingye was orphaned in Uganda after her mother died in childbirth and her father was killed during the 1984 genocide in Rwanda. She lived in an orphanage until age 5, when she was adopted by an abusive Ugandan family. Kobusingye said she stayed there for two years, until she escaped to the streets of Kampala, Uganda, where she lived among thousands of homeless children. "I think I understand the pain of those [homeless] children more than anyone does because I have passed through that," Kobusingye said. After a few months on the streets, Kobusingye went to an orphanage in Kampala for help. A German couple, George and Helen Hawkes, who were missionaries in Africa, adopted her when she was 9 years old and took her back to Rwanda with them. While living with the Hawkeses, Kobusingye "lacked nothing" because of their love, but the pain from her past prevented real happiness. At 16 years old, Kobusingye reunited with her biological father's family in Rwanda. In 2003, she started attending Cornerstone Leadership Academy, where the principal Mr. Johnson showed her love and grace. Kobusingye was touched and asked him how she could repay him. Johnson told her to love others the way Jesus loved her. Kobusingye became a Christian shortly after. She wanted to keep doing the Lord's work, and that desire led her to adoption. At 18, she adopted her first child and lived in a house donated by a pastor. A student from Rwanda, junior Anitha Kobusingye, shows love to orphans through adoption Kobusingye adopted 11 more children over the next two years. "The moment I received Christ as savior, I said, 'Okay, now I'm going to become a single mom, and maybe this will keep my focus on loving this child and trying to take care of her just as someone took care of me,"' Kobusingye said. While in high school, Kobusingye wrote, produced and acted in her own film called "Lusting for Something." She used the profits to adopt and support her 12 children. Christians from Arkansas met Kobusingye on mission trips and, inspired by her work, offered her a scholarship to Arkansas Baptist College. Kobusingye decided to get a nursing degree to make a better life for herself and her chilldren, so she left her kids with friends and family and headed to Arkansas. After two years at Arkansas Baptist, which did not have a nursing school, Kobusingye transferred to Harding. Kobusingye shar~d her story at different venues, gathering supporters with her gracious spirit according to Linda Weir, who housed Kobusingye during her time at Arkansas Baptist and supported her and her children. "Instead of allowing her horrible past to defeat her, she has used her past experiences to benefit others who are vulnerable: the little ones of His kingdom without hope living on the streets," Weir said. Kobusingye planned to return to her children after graduation and to do mission work in Rwanda and other developing countries. Kimberly Miller Juniors 1143
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