Our Story

The story of Peter’s Heart Inc. began on September 11, 2001. In response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Dr. James Anderson felt called to join the Army Reserves as a physician. In 2007 he was deployed to Iraq and became good friends with three Ugandan men, Robert Waheye, Geoffrey Seruwu, and Tom Masa, employed by the U.S. military as security guards. James quickly learned that Robert, Geoffrey, and Tom were driven to leave their families to find work, a response to the high unemployment rate in Uganda. Their wives also worked abroad, sending money back to relatives that cared for their children.

Committed to relationship and bearing one another’s burdens.

Saddened for these men, separated from their families for years, James felt compelled to help them return to Uganda and their families. James approached his family about supporting these men once they returned to Uganda. Family and friends quickly backed this cause and in 2014, Robert, Geoffrey and Tom were reunited with their families in Uganda.

Once settled in Uganda, Robert, Geoffrey, and Tom were tasked with finding a worthy cause to support and were required to volunteer their time with local charities. They were quickly drawn to the poorest and most vulnerable, those living in the slums of Kampala. With prostitution and alcoholism common in the slums, many children are forced into work at a young age — education is not part of the landscape. The mission came into focus — to give slum families a chance to educate their children and to provide vocational and emotional support to the mothers.

This is when Dr. Anderson’s oldest brother, Ward Anderson, played a critical role in influencing the next step.

Ward Anderson had been to Uganda and knew the plight of the people. On learning of the trust between his younger brother and these Ugandan men, he simply said to James, “We must go. We must go now.” He knew we could build something good through these relationships. That was the beginning of the first trip to Uganda in 2015. During that trip, Ward was so moved by the plight of the single mothers and children in the slums that he said to James, “One day we must get every child out of here.” When they left Uganda in 2015, Ward had made commitments to help a mother and an orphaned child with education and training. This was the initial step towards mothers and children in the slum.

Since that trip, Ward and his wife, Martha, have made trips with teams of family and friends to the slum in Kampala. Their leadership, influence, and compassion have molded the mission of Peter’s Heart Inc. into what it is today.

Faithfully serving with hope for change.

Geoffrey, Robert, Tom, and the team identify children in the slums most at risk of harm and exploitation. We enroll them in safe, progressive schools, provide host families for those most at risk and support parents and guardians with vocational and spiritual support and training.

Thanks to the hard work of our Ugandan team, with the oversight of Scripture Union, we now have 48 children out of the slums and enrolled in schools.

We all feel privileged to be a part of these families' stories. If you are excited or intrigued by this story, we encourage you to stay connected and get involved.