When the big, bad wolf comes calling, even the problems of poverty, guerrilla warfare and AIDS take a back seat to immediate survival.

Last December, screaming winds and a deluge of rain threatened to strip Kekulina Nanjala and her nine grandchildren of one of the few valuable possessions they had left - each other.

Storms often wash away all that is unclean in the villages of Uganda. This one washed away the family's one-room mud home.

Nanjala, who thinks she's about 85 years old, does not have the strength to work enough to support her large family, much less raise enough cash to build or buy a new home.

All that was left was a separate kitchen area for them to live in. With a roof of dry leaves and walls consisting only of about a dozen poles with large gaps in between, it is not a suitable home.

Without a roof to shelter them, the grandchildren, offspring of two of Nanjala's deceased sons, were in danger of being taken away from their only remaining adult relative. The grandmother is raising Henry, the oldest at 12; Joshua, the youngest at 6; their siblings Robina and Enoch; and the four children's cousins, siblings Justine, Monica, Joyce, Topista and Specioza. The children had already lost their four respective parents to AIDS. For them, a country roughly the size of Oregon was about to become a very lonely place.

That's where Bob Martindale comes in. The Mount Prospect man recently helped complete a successful fund-raiser to build them a new home. This one will be made of brick. If the big, bad wolf comes again, they'll be ready.

It's the most fulfilling project into which Martindale, a volunteer at Warm Blankets Orphan Care in Rolling Meadows, has ever put his 47 years of marketing experience.

The details of the problem came in waves. For charities, there is never enough money to solve all the problems they come across. Partnerships are not uncommon.

So when field workers for the Alpha Childcare and Community Development Organization found Nanjala, they, in turn, reached out to Warm Blankets.

Warm Blankets extended the call to donors via the Internet in an emergency appeal. Martindale designed and placed ads on various search engines.

"I just operated on faith," Martindale said. "Right away I had a sense that something powerful was directing us. It's an amazing feeling and a joy."

One month later Martindale had raised enough money to start building the home.

Nanjala and family will remain a family. All nine grandchildren are in school now. Henry wants to be an electrical engineer. Specioza hopes to become vice president of her country.

Martindale hopes to continue helping widows and orphans.

"They're helpless," Martindale said. "They need people. They need love. They need support. It's a walk of faith. The impact and the visible results of changing people's lives is just the ultimate feeling."


© 2004 Daily Herald, Paddock Publications, Inc.