WASHINGTON CITY — When 15-year-old Kai from Ethiopia got word that he was going to be coming to America to live with the Brandon and Darci Burke family, the first question he asked was, “can I call you mom and dad?”
For Kai Burke, growing up without a family in Ethiopia was a little bit of hell, he said. But Kai held onto hope that one day he would find a family and that God would not forget him, said Darci Burke of Kai.
Now, after a months-long paperwork process, Kai was finally able to join the Burkes in America. Kai is in America on a student visa and will live with the Burke family as he continues his education.
He was given a heartwarming welcome July 17 from neighbors and friends upon his arrival home.
A heart for Africa
Though he didn’t know it at the time, Kai’s journey to America began two years ago when Darci Burke took her first trip to Ethiopia with a humanitarian organization called Ordinary Hero.
According to the organization’s website:
Ordinary Hero is an advocacy organization that partners with impoverished communities, advocates for the vulnerable, and empowers ordinary people to change the life of a child.
Impoverished communities like Korah, Ethiopia, known as the trash dump community where 10,000 people rely on the dump for food, Darci Burke said, and it’s where they scavenge for plastic bottles to sell for money.
Darci Burke heard about the organization from friend and fellow Southern Utah resident Deborah Schone who is a team leader for several of the Ordinary Hero trips to Ethiopia.
While in Ethiopia, Darci Burke said, the group does humanitarian work in the most impoverished areas of the country including visiting orphanages with which Ordinary Hero partners.
Darci Burke’s first trip was in July 2014 and, though she met Kai at the orphanage where he lived, she didn’t know then that two years later she would be welcoming him into her home.
That first trip to Ethiopia was fueled by her dual passion for travel and humanitarian work, Darci Burke said, but she soon fell in love with the people of Ethiopia, especially the kids.
“I immediately fell in love with the Ethiopian people and with the kids out there and just what Ordinary Hero – what their mission was – and I couldn’t wait to go back,” she said.
Darci Burke returned to Ethiopia in January 2015 and by then a part of her heart belonged to Africa, she said. Darci Burke wears a gold necklace in the shape of Africa that sits directly over her heart.
After her second trip to Ethiopia, she was approached about the possibility of welcoming Kai into her home so he could attend school, Darci Burke said.
While one might expect to react with shock or disbelief at being approached with such a life-changing decision, Darci Burke said she felt peace and excitement.
“I just felt really good about it,” Darci Burke said. “I always felt like there was more purpose to me having such a strong desire to go back (to Ethiopia); so for me it just kind of put everything together.”
On faith and family
Both Darci Burke and her husband, Brandon Burke, said they had a good feeling about bringing Kai to their home. That is not to say that the decision was made without some trepidation.
The Burkes already have four children of their own, ranging in age from 5-13, and they were comfortable with their family unit, Brandon Burke said. The idea of inviting a new person into the mix was scary.
But the good feeling was stronger than the fear and powered by the desire to bless Kai’s life.
“We’ve been blessed and we wanted to do something to bless somebody else, to help somebody else that really, really needed it,” Brandon Burke said.
The couple, along with their two oldest children, traveled to Ethiopia in May where Brandon Burke met Kai for the first time.
The couple has a strong faith in God and attributes many miracles in the process of bringing Kai to America to their faith in and prayers to God, Darci Burke said.
For most of his life, Kai had been praying too, Darci Burke said, praying that someday he would find a family.
In his 15 years of life, Kai Burke has never celebrated his birthday. In fact, Darci Burke said, until they started the paperwork process to get his student visa, Kai was not even sure when his birthday was.
Kai’s mother lives six hours away from the orphanage where he grew up. Though she did the best she could, Darci Burke said, she could not provide for him. Kai never knew his father. The only family he knew were the other kids in the orphanage.
Kai spent nearly eight years in the orphanage, and although he is very grateful for all they did and the opportunity he had to go to school there, Kai said, finding a family has made him “big happy.”
It is a feeling mutually shared by the Burke family, Brandon Burke said. Darci Burke added that their other children have not left Kai’s side since he arrived.
And what of Kai’s future?
Kai will start his sophomore year at Pine View High School in August. His favorite subject is math and he said he has dreams of becoming a doctor so he can one day travel back and forth to Ethiopia and help the people. Currently, Kai said, in his home country there is 1 doctor per every 37,000 people.
Brandon Burke has more intrinsic hopes for Kai. He said:
Although right now Kai says he wants to be a doctor, it really doesn’t matter to us what educational or professional path he follows. We just want him to feel loved and be happy.
Kai’s birthday is Oct. 7 and the family plans to have a huge party for him.
Ed note: The story has been changed to clarify that Kai is in America on a student visa and will be staying with the Burke family while he attends school and continues his education.
Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.
Kai experiences the ocean for the first time before coming to his new home, exact location and date not specified | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
Kai experiences the ocean for the first time before coming to his new home, exact location and date not specified | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
Kai greets his friend Anwar at a welcoming party for Kai in Washington City, Utah, July 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
Kai with Brandon Burke. Kai experiences the ocean for the first time before coming to his new home, exact location and date not specified | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
Kai experiences the ocean for the first time before coming to his new home, exact location and date not specified | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
Neighbors and family gather at the Burke home to welcome Kai to America, Washington City, Utah, July 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
Neighbors and family gather at the Burke home to welcome Kai to America, Washington City, Utah, July 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
Welcome signs were hung around the neighborhood where the Burke family lives to greet Kai as he arrived to his new home in Washington City, Utah, July 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
Neighbors and family gather at the Burke home to welcome Kai to America, Washington City, Utah, July 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
Neighbors and family gather at the Burke home to welcome Kai to America, Washington City, Utah, July 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
The Burke family enjoys a special hug after bringing Kai to America, Washington City, Utah, July 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
Kai arrives to the Burke home in Washington City, Utah, July 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
Kai greets his friend Anwar at a welcoming party for Kai in Washington City, Utah, July 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
Kai and Darci Burker enjoy greetings from family and friends in Washington City, Utah, July 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
L-R Deborah Schone, Anwar, Kai, Darci Burke pose for a photo at the Burke residence, Washington City, Utah, July 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
Brandon and Darci Burke and their two oldest children visit Ethiopia, May, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
Brandon and Darci Burke (right) and their two oldest children (left) along visit Ethiopia and meet with Kai (middle), May, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
The Burke family visits Ethiopia, May 2016 | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
Brandon and Darci Burke and their two oldest children visit Ethiopia, May, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Darci Burke, St. George News
Resources
- Learn more about the Burke family’s trip to Ethiopia and how you can help Ordinary Hero advocate for children here
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Twitter: @STGnews
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.
If the guy wanted to become the savior of africa he should have gone to medical school and become a real doctor. I doubt that most Ethiopians would have much use for orthodontics when so many of them don’t have anything to chew on in the first place. Someone is probly gonna get triggered, but the truth is the truth…
The truth is BOB… You are a disgusting excuse of a human being and you should probably shut …* up about things you know nothing about, so basically just stop talking period… Idiot.
Ed. ellipsis: …*
Thank you SGN for deleting BOB’s first ridiculously disgusting comment, feel free to delete the second as well and don’t stop there…. Why not just delete BOB?
I figured someone would get triggered by the truth, since I know u LDS’ers like to think the world is all rainbows and cotton candy… i stand by my 1st (vanished) comment, and predict this doesn’t end well. Plus there are plenty of American blacks in the foster system who could use a home. We should take care of our own first… the 3rd world will always be there.