A mother finds calling beyond her own border

CEDAR HILLS — The idea came to her in a dream nine years ago. Kathy Headlee was in Africa, surrounded by women and children, and somebody asked, "Who are you?"

"We are mothers without borders," Kathy responded. Waking in the night, she rolled over in bed and smiled, knowing that her life would never be the same.

A decade later, here is Kathy, loading a large shipping container with two tons of clothing, medical supplies and blankets in preparation for another trip to Zambia to help orphaned street children. Seven days a week, this is her life now. Planning, packing, raising every dollar she can to help young strangers on the other side of the globe who have lost parents to AIDS.

This month, Kathy will make the journey to the poverty-stricken country by herself, but the founder of Mothers Without Borders is not afraid. Her philosophy is summed up by a sign on her refrigerator: "Do one thing every day that scares you," it says.

Sitting at her kitchen table a few weeks ago for a Free Lunch chat, Kathy switched on her laptop computer to explain why she now devotes her life to nurturing children thousands of miles away.

"This is Martin," she says, as a picture of a 10-year-old boy in a dirty white dress — the only clothing he owned — flashes onto the screen. "He was taking care of his 6-year-old brother when I met him. The boys were sleeping on a flour sack. They didn't even have a blanket."

She flips to the next picture. "Here's Rachel, with her two siblings. The inside of their one-room house was strewn with garbage. There were flies and maggots everywhere, and they hadn't eaten in three days. Rachel takes in laundry to make a little money, but she doesn't get more than a dime a load."

Another snapshot fills the screen. "This little girl, Susan, was 12 when I met her. She had to drop out of school to care for her two brothers." Kathy pauses and brushes away tears. "Look at her eyes — they're almost dead. It's like she's given up. I suppose this is why I do what I do."

Charity work is now a full-time job for Kathy, but the 50-year-old Utah County woman has always been drawn to helping the destitute. While raising her family in San Diego, she invited a cleaning woman and her children to move into her home for three years. The Mexican immigrants had been living in a dark, crowded garage.

A few years later, when Kathy learned about the plight of orphans in Romania, she called her siblings together and proposed a family trip overseas to donate supplies and help out in Bucharest orphanages. After nine trips on her own to the country, she adopted a 2-year-old orphan and brought her home. Elena, the youngest of Kathy's five children, is now 14.