By, Crystal S. Kauffman, Contributing Writer

Meet Daphine
 
This three-year-old, young adorable girl is named Daphine and she is looking for a sponsor to help her receive her daily care and food. Little Daphine lost both of her parents and she has been with our orphanage for over sixteen months now. She is happy and well adjusted so far, but she has but she has big dreams. She wants to become a lawyer when she grows up and help others who may need her help. She enjoys dancing, playing with her dolls, and she enjoys visiting the local zoo. Her favorite meals are rice, chicken, Irish potatoes, and her favorite flavors of ice-cream.

Meet Varnessa

Varnessa is five-years-old and she has spent two years in the orphanage, since losing her father to HIV/AIDS. Her mother also had HIV/AIDS and she could no longer provide for this beautiful little girl. She is studying in primary 1 and dreams of one day becoming a doctor to help others who are sick. Varnessa needs a sponsor to help provide her daily needs and help her stay in school. She enjoys singing, dancing, visiting the local zoo, playing with friends, and she loves watching cartoons. She also enjoys rice, chicken, fish, nuts, sweets, ice-cream, and biscuits.

Meet Juma

This sweet little boy is named Juma and he is eight-years-old. So far, he has never had an opportunity to go school, which is why he is in need of a sponsor that can provide daily needs and help him finally achieve his dream of attending school. Before coming to the orphanage, He was found sleeping in car garage and that is where the volunteers found him. He was in need of help and he didn’t know who his parents were, but he is well adjusted. He loves playing with his friends, football, and riding his bicycle. He love eating maize, fish, matooke, chicken, and ice-cream. He wants to enroll and succeed in school, so when he is older he can become a master mechanic.

Meet “Lucky” Reign

Reign is a lucky little girl, so many volunteers cal her Lucky, because she was lucky to survive the house fire that killed her parents. This adorable little girl is called “Lucky” Reign and she is three-years-old. She needs a sponsor to care for her daily needs and eventually help her go to school, so can work on TV in the future. She loves singing, playing with friends, visiting places, and she love creating artwork. Reign enjoys rice, matooke, meat, fish, Irish potatoes, sodas, sweets, ice-cream, and biscuits.

To learn more please visit Reallife Orphange Home on Facebook and check my other article about the orphanage.

©2016, Crystal S. Kauffman
 

By, Crystal S. Kauffman, Contributing Writer

Meet a Volunteer: Kakande Muhamad
 
I am Kakande Muhamad and I am a volunteer, who is running the Reallife Orphanage Home. I am a native thirty-two-year-old, who is currently caring for twenty children. Additionally, I am working with several volunteers to care for these lovely children. Some of these children have lost their parents in the war, some were abandoned, and others lost their parents to illnesses like HIV/AIDS. These children are vulnerable and need sponsors to get the daily food, as well as medications or school items.
                                            
Our Mission at the Orphanage  
 
As volunteers our mission is to provide, love, support, and daily care for the vulnerable children in the slum communities near our orphanage. Our long term goal is to find each child a permanent home and someone to love them. Currently, we need sponsors that can help us keep the orphanage open, as well as help provide these children with their daily needs. We need food that will not perish like beans, maize, rice, and other foods that help nourish these precious children.
 
How I Began Helping These Special Kids
 
I was born and grew up in Bwaise neighborhood which is a slum, but during this time I saw many children die for many reasons. I have seen children thrown into water channels or drainage systems, which hurt me deeply, because these poor children died. Unfortunately, I have also seen other children living in old broken down houses and along the streets. These children would sleep wherever they could sleep and I wanted to do something to help the orphans in my own community.  
 
After seriously soul searching, I decided to open an orphanage, which does not turn these vulnerable children and babies away. However, I need to have sponsors to help me keep the orphanage open and caring for these special children. We must pay house rent, as well as get the daily things children need like food and bathing supplies. The children’s sponsors will also help buy clothes, mosquito nets (Malaria Protection), medicine, and educational needs.  
 

Meet Baby Hope
 
This little girl is fourteen-months-old and she is known as baby Hope. She is currently living at the Reallife Home Orphanage and no one knows who her parents are. Sadly, baby Hope was found late at night and she was lying curled up next to a toilet in a Kampala, Uganda neighborhood called Bwaise. This run down neighborhood is known for prostitution and sex workers. She was alone and desperately needed help, so the volunteers brought her to the orphanage, but at this time she doesn’t have a name.
 
Therefore, I have chosen to call her baby Hope and the volunteers need help with someone to sponsor this beautiful little girl. As a sponsor, you will make sure she eats daily and gets medication when she is sick. Baby Hope deserves to be happy and cared for, even though she has had a rough start to life. She is now in the care of volunteers, who want to help her live a long happy yet full life. 

Meet Simon Mugerwa

This is Simon Mugerwa and he is five-year-old boy, who is one of our special orphaned children. Unfortunately, Simon lost his father in 2014 and his mother could no longer care for this handsome little boy. He is a happy little boy, who has dreams of being a doctor, so he wants to get an education. However, he needs a sponsor that can help him realize his dream, due to the required school fees.

Simon loves to play with his friends at the orphanage, he loves the volunteers, and he enjoys riding his bicycle. Additionally, he loves watching cartoons and he is a very energetic little boy, who is full of love for everyone. Currently, he needs a sponsor that can help us get him into school, as well as helping with his daily needs like food and medication. Therefore take a moment to learn more about Simon and his friend baby Hope.

 Information
 
Any sponsors who may want to help our orphanage or sponsor a child, please feel free to contact me on my Facebook page Reallife Orphanage Home. We have limited internet contact at this time, so bear with us as we hope to grow and make a difference in the lives of these special children. We are hoping to build a website and other ways to help you learn more about our orphanage. The children and I send much love, peace, and light to you all. May God bless you!
 
© 2016, Crystal S. Kauffman

PS: Please come back and meet more of these special children from the orphanage. The orphanage's legal papers are posted below.   

By, Crystal S. Kauffman, Contributing Writer

Meet Daphine
 
This three-year-old, young adorable girl is named Daphine and she is looking for a sponsor to help her receive her daily care and food. Little Daphine lost both of her parents and she has been with our orphanage for over sixteen months now. She is happy and well adjusted so far, but she has but she has big dreams. She wants to become a lawyer when she grows up and help others who may need her help. She enjoys dancing, playing with her dolls, and she enjoys visiting the local zoo. Her favorite meals are rice, chicken, Irish potatoes, and her favorite flavors of ice-cream.

Meet Varnessa

Varnessa is five-years-old and she has spent two years in the orphanage, since losing her father to HHIV/AIDS. Her mother also had HIV/AIDS and she could no longer provide for this beautiful little girl. She is studying in primary 1 and dreams of one day becoming a doctor to help others who are sick. Varnessa needs a sponsor to help provide her daily needs and help her stay in school. She enjoys singing, dancing, visiting the local zoo, playing with friends, and she loves watching cartoons. She also enjoys rice, chicken, fish, nuts, sweets, ice-cream, and biscuits.

Meet Juma

This sweet little boy is named Juma and he is eight-years-old. So far, he has never had an opportunity to go school, which is why he is in need of a sponsor that can provide daily needs and help him finally achieve his dream of attending school. Before coming to the orphanage, He was found sleeping in car garage and that is where the volunteers found him. He was in need of help and he didn’t know who his parents were, but he is well adjusted. He loves playing with his friends, football, and riding his bicycle. He love eating maize, fish, matooke, chicken, and ice-cream. He wants to enroll and succeed in school, so when he is older he can become a master mechanic.

Jacksonville, FL. /Feb. 9, 2016- For six months now, William “Ruben” Ebron and Lonna Lauramore Barton stayed silent about what had happened to the precious blue eyed, blonde hair toddler named Lonzie Barton. According to ActionNewsJax, this vibrant and adorable toddler lost his life on July 23, 2015, when he was reported missing by Mr. Ebron. Then, the boyfriend and mother began lying immediately and the continued lying for the next six months.

According to Jacksonville.com, the police said Mr. Ebron claimed that someone stole his orange Honda Civic with a black hood. He claimed that Lonzie Barton was left in the car, while he admitted that he was inside his apartment using drugs. According to Jacksonville.com, Ruben Ebron has also claimed that the five-year-old sister got out of the car and came inside the apartment, just before the car was allegedly stolen. Police immediately proved he was lying and he was arrested promptly and soon after Lonna Barton was also arrested for two counts of child neglect and lying to police.   

However, six months later, we have learned that Lonna Barton has plead guilty in January 2016 to child neglect and lying to police. She was given up to a six years sentence and agreed to testify against Ruben Ebron at his trial. According to ActionNewsJax, Ruben began cooperating and led investigators to Lonzie’s body in the Bayard area and the investigator found the toddler under some tires. This innocent toddler won the hearts of the First Coast residents during the last six months.

Unfortunately, the six months that went by before he was found, has made it difficult for the medical examiner to determine this toddler’s cause or time of death. According to News4Jax, little Lonzie did have fractures and broken ribs that were mending, which points to Little Lonzie being abused. Ruben was able to enter a sweetheart plea deal for aggravated manslaughter and he was sentenced to twenty years in a federal prison.     

Many of the residents of the First Coast community were stunned and angry with the plea deal he was given by District Attorney Angela Corey and other involved in this frustrating case. According to ActionNewsJax, Ruben pointed fingers at Lonna, because she put Lonzie in the bathtub and locked him in the bathroom. He admitted that they were having sexual relations in the other room, while Lonzie was drowning. According to ActionNewsJax, the couple found little Lonzie dead and they said that they panicked. No one has mentioned where the five-year-old sister was during little Lonzie’s death and her mom and boyfriend was having sexual relations.

Mr. Ebron said Lonna knew Lonzie was dead before she went to work at Wackos Gentleman’s Club. According to News4Jax, co-workers say that she acted as if nothing had happened, while working as a stripper or exotic entertainer that night. According to FCN, this adorable toddler deserved better than being thrown away like trash, which is what ultimately what happened to this adorable little boy. According to News4Jax, this toddler never made it to two-years-old, because the adults around him didn’t put the child first.

The adults could have called an ambulance and took whatever punishment would have been given to them for the drugs and child neglect. Instead, they just lied over and over about every detail of what happened to this toddler. However, according to WOKV, so far witnesses said Lonzie Barton had some type of head injury and that he looked pitiful right before he disappeared.

Therefore, the First Coast residents are not convinced that Ruben Ebron is telling the truth. Additionally, Lonna and Ruben both know what happen to this vibrant toddler, which he may have told the truth. Mr. Ebron may not have told the entire truth, because of the reports of Lonzie’s head injury.

If this was truly an accidental drowning, why did he throw little Lonzie away like he was just a piece of garbage? In addition, if Lonna Barton knew that her baby boy was truly dead; many First Coast residents wonder if she will face additional charges in this case. However, according to ActionNewsJax, currently, she is being in held Baker County on unrelated drug charges with Lonzie’s father Chris Barton. Many residents helped search for this beautiful toddler, actually believe there was no Justice for Lonzie Barton with the plea deals.

According to News4Jax, this precious toddler fell through the cracks and he paid with his life, because everyone in his life failed to help him…even his own drug addicted mother! Baby Lonzie should be celebrating his second birthday and enjoying life, but instead he is waiting to be laid to rest. The witnesses and the family members could have possibly saved his life with one phone call to the proper authorities. May little Lonzie Barton rest in peace, but those who let him suffer will have to live with what they didn’t do to help this precious little boy.

References:

ActionNewsJax (2016) Ebron Points Finger at Lonzie Barton’s Mom in Her Son’s Death
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on Feb.5, 2016
http://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/ebron-points-finger-at-lonzie-bartons-mother-in-her-\
sons-death/63960586
 
ActionNewsJax (2016) JSO: Lonzie Believed to be Shoved Away, Drowned in Bathtub 
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on Feb.. 9, 2016
http://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/jso-lonzie-believed-to-be-shoved-away-drowned-in-bathtub/63646806
 
News4Jax (2016) Sorting Truth from Fiction in Lonzie’s Death
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on Feb. 9, 2016
http://www.news4jax.com/news/lonzie-barton/sorting-truth-from-fiction-in-lonzies-death
 
ActionNewsJax (2016) State Plea Deal Was Only Way We Could Recover Lonzie’s Remains
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on Feb.  9, 2016
http://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/state-plea-deal-was-only-way-we-could-recover-lonzies-remains/63858343
 
First Coast News (2016) Ebron led JSO to believed Lonzie Barton remains in Southside woods
Retrieved from World Wide Web on January 12, 2016
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/local/2016/01/11/jso-investigating-wooded-area-southside/78629890/
 
Jacksonville.com (2015) Man who reported Lonzie Barton missing charged with neglect; was using drugs at the time, affidavit says
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on July 26th, 2015
http://jacksonville.com/breaking-news/2015-07-24/story/man-who-reported-lonzie-barton-missing-charged-neglect-was-using
 
News4Jax.com (2015) Lonna Barton’s coworker opens up about the night Lonzie vanished
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on August 20, 2015
http://www.news4jax.com/news/lonna-bartons-coworker-talks-about-night-lonzie-disappeared/34808628
WOKV (2015) Police: Missing toddler’s mother arrested; toddler was injured before disappearance
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on August 20, 2015
http://www.wokv.com/news/news/national/jso-lonzie-barton-injured-disappearance/nnMkt/

Jacksonville, FL./February 1, 2016-A woman with severe brain injury is missing and has been for over six months now. The family is praying that she will come home soon, so they are trying to get the word out about her disappearance with pictures to share on Facebook and other social media venues. According to News4Jax, Michelle’s family reports her missing from the Riverside area of the First Coast on July 10th, 2015 after not hearing from her.

She was headed to the store according to her friends, but she never returned from the store and hasn’t been seen yet. The family has been desperately searching for the missing 49 year-old woman Gina “Michelle” Ennis. According to News4Jax (2015), she has not been seen since July 10th, 2015 when her friends said the she left their house on Stockton St. and Edison Ave. while heading to the store. Unfortunately, Michelle had a severe, yet traumatic brain injury in the late 1990’s.

The doctors had surgically removed part of her frontal lobe of her brain. However, the family reported that procedure affected her judgment and her family thinks she could be vulnerable in her condition. According to New4Jax (2015), the family told the police about her brain injury, so they can help find out exactly what may have happened to her during her walk to the store. The family thinks that someone may be keeping her against her will and they just want her to come home.

Michelle’s family members believe that she would never run away or disappear on her own, because she is a mother, grandmother, sister, and she is loved by many people. However, according to New4Jax (2015), she did live as a homeless person or transient before her sudden disappearance. Every few days, Michelle would call one of her family members and so far she has not reached out to anyone. Her family said she always carried her suitcase with her, but she didn’t take it when she left to walk to the store.

Her family says Michelle has not and cannot drive, so her relatives are begging everyone to look for her in their own area of town. Her relatives are afraid that someone has either kidnapped her or she met with foul play. According to New4Jax (2015), Michelle’s friends and family are praying that she has not been thrown away like piece of household trash. If you have any information on this case or the whereabouts of Gina “Michelle” Ennis, then please call the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office or CrimeStoppers.

References:

New4Jax (2015) Sister of Missing Woman: ‘We Just Need Her Home’
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on Feb. 2, 2016
http://www.news4jax.com/news/local/sister-of-missing-woman-we-just-need-her-home

Jan. 30, 2016/Jacksonville, FL– A 22-month-old toddler was killed after becoming a victim of a possible gang related drive by shooting on Friday night. According to Action News Jax (2016), the toddler has been identified as Aiden Michael McClendon and he was sitting in a car with his mother and his grandmother at a home on Spearing St., which is on the Eastside of Jacksonville, FL. Suddenly, without any warning, bullets began spraying the car and the house.

As the first responders reached the scene, the toddler was still alive, despite being shot once in the shoulder and twice in the stomach area. According FCN (2016), baby Aiden McClendon was the only person who was shot in this drive by shooting. The toddler was rushed to UF Health, where he immediately underwent life saving surgery. Unfortunately, the police announced to the public on Saturday that the adorable toddler died due to his injuries.

This senseless, yet violent tragedy has the family and police asking the entire First Coast Community to turn in the suspect or suspects. According to Action News Jax (2016), the city leaders have agreed to offer a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons that who killed this innocent little toddler. No one else was hurt in the drive by shooting, although the house and car were struck by a barrage of bullets.

This innocent baby lost his life, due to the senseless violence and the police has vowed that they are not going to rest until they have the person or persons that are responsible for this toddler’s murder. According the FCN (2016), Chief Tom Hackney said, “Turn these people in, they do not deserve to be walking the same streets that you and I walk.”

The police believe that someone is the house was the actual target of this gang related shooting, but instead this toddler became the victim. According to Action News Jax (2016), police say some witnesses have about a white car that sped away from the scene. However, there is no clear description of the suspected shooter or shooters or the car that they used. Some witnesses stated that a white car may be involved, but police are asking anyone with information to come forward.

References:

Action News Jax (2016) City Leaders Vow to find the Shooter of the 22-month-old killed in drive-by
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on January 30, 2016
http://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/city-leaders-vow-to-find-shooter-of-22-month-old-killed-in-drive-by/50440672

Action News Jax (2016) Jacksonville Toddler Dies After Friday Shooting
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on January 30, 2016
http://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/baby-dies-after-friday-shooting/50235274

FCN (2016) JSO: A 22-month-old Caught in the Middle of Gang Related Shooting Dies
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on January 30, 2016
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/crime/toddler-dies-in-shooting-near-sports-complex/25145455