We are a hands on organization that believes in going into the field and making sure that 100% of the donations are accounted for and spent on the projects they are donated to. We are staffed with volunteers only, there are no paid positions.
The founder of Amazi International, Tammy Stump, has traveled throughout the world, focusing on visiting developing countries that have been affected by war, civil unrest and areas hit by the December '04 Tsunami.
There are three constant things she has noticed in each country: lack of water, lack of education and a breaking up of families due to poverty, war and natural disasters.
Tammy has been joined by Patrick and Bonnie McCullough and Vicki Jackson, who serve on the Board of Directors of Amazi International. They all have various experience in the mission field. Their heart is for the destitute and hurting. They have joined together to make Amazi International a successful organization that reaches out to those in need. They have been a strong source of encouragement and support during Tammy's travels and are an important source of wisdom and guidance to the organization.
How it began:
During the trips that Tammy took, she lived in orphanages or people's homes. This is where she began to experience what their daily life was like. This was truely an eye opener. She saw the struggles they faced and what they needed to do each day in order to survive. This was both heart wrenching and joyful to experience.
In 2003, while volunteering at an orphanage in Malawi, Africa, Tammy hears of, and later meets a young girl, Nester, who walks about a mile carrying her sister on her back, so she can attend school. She is repeating the 8th grade just so she can continue to go to school. Since there is no money, 8th grade is as far as she can go. After meeting Nester, Tammy began to see even more problems and needs. The mud hut Nester, her father and siblings lived in, was falling down. Her mother died about 2 years prior and her father was left with 5 children he was unable to feed. A prior injury left him unable to work. Tammy saw this as an easy fix: build a new mud hut. But to Nester and her father, without money it was an impossible feat. For 80 US dollars, and help from local college students and orphanage children, this family stayed together. They now have a home that won't leak or fall apart. Nester is in High School now and has a chance. Her father can now feed his family. There is ongoing help for this family through others who got involved.
This brought the realization that children were going to orphanages, not only because a parent or both parents died, but because there was no way for the surviving parent to care for their children.
In 2005, Tammy spent 7 weeks visiting a girls home in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka on the east side of the country. On the east side of the country, the government and Tamil Tiger Rebels are in conflict. She witnessed the devastation of families due to the ongoing war and the Tsunami. Girls were brought to this home when one or both parents were killed during the fighting or the surviving parent could not feed or clothe them.
The greatest impact on Tammy was meeting a young girl of about 8 years old who came to the girl's home. Her mother had been working in the ocean harvesting oysters when the Tsunami hit. The young girl's name was Katica and December 26, 2004 her life changed forever. Unable to care for his daughter, Katica's father brought her to the girls home in March 2005. The frightened look on her face, as she came to this new place where she knew no one, was unforgettable. She had lost everything: her mother to the Tsunami, and her father and siblings to a tsunami camp where they could no longer care for her. For days Katica would sit on the steps of the girls home alone and cry. If there had been a way for her father to earn an income, she could have stayed with her family.
Nepal
In March of 2005, while in Nepal, Tammy made a short visit to another orphanage. Emotionally exhausted from viewing the devastation and loss in the previous countries, she could not volunteer. Reluctantly, she went with a friend to see this orphanage. There were 14-17 children per room (8x10 at best), sleeping on the floor. There were no toilet facilities except a brick outhouse, a small pump outside for water and no privacy to bathe. Children orphaned during the conflict between the Nepal government and the Maoist Terrorists had no schooling and no means to support themselves.
After Tammy's trip to Sri Lanka and Nepal she felt the Lord's guidance to start an organization to help in these areas. The trip to Rwanda was the starting point of how to help.
Rwanda
In March 2006, Tammy spent a month in Kigali, Rwanda Africa. She lived with a Rwandan pastor and his family in a village on Kigali Mountain. She saw child after child carrying water up a steep mountain to their homes. These children couldn't attend school because they had to fetch water on a daily basis. Besides this, there was no money for school.
Rwanda was devastated by The Genocide in 1994 and is still trying to rebuild. For villagers there are no jobs and no way to send their children to school. They can barely feed them. Tammy saw their daily struggles while she lived in the village with Pastor John Mihigo and his family. Tammy was amazed at their faith and smiles despite their situation. Many woman were widowed, the children parentless and many people were affected by AIDS.
After seeing the great need throughout her travels, Tammy knew there had to be a way to keep families together through projects that would allow them to become economically independent. She saw that by partnering with orphanages founded locally and working with the local community, great change could happen.
This was the beginning of Amazi International.
Ms. Stump wishes to thank all her friends and family who followed her journeys through emails and pictures. Their prayers and encouragement were invaluable while she experienced difficult and heart wrenching situations.
Most of all she is thankful for the opportunity the Lord has given her to travel to these countries, meet the people and to start the organization.