Her name is Arlene Brown, and this former resident of Old Lycoming Township, Williamsport and South Williamsport, returned to her home state for a two-month visit back in September.

In 2002, she established the Urukundo Foundation in Rwanda, Africa. The original purpose of her foundation was to give aid, comfort, and a home for young, vulnerable girls in Muhanga District, Rwanda, Africa. Her visit back to Lycoming County was to spend time with her supporters, friends and family.

During her visit, she spoke to a group of 6th graders at Ward Myers Elementary School in Muncy and explained how her organization changed in the preceding decades. It’s quite amazing, since she turned 95 in December 2025 and is still feisty and going strong.

The website Hopemadereal.org has a history of the foundation that includes both a Learning Center and a village.

Urukundo Village has grown from a home for girls to include a home for boys, Mama-Baby House, dental clinic, daycare, house of music, guest house, sewing center for adult education, and a farm with animals that supply milk, eggs and meat for the foundation’s use and public sale.

“Many changes have taken place in the 23 years she has lived in Rwanda. The foundation was dedicated to improving the lives of orphaned or abandoned children and to serve the poor and vulnerable adults of Rwanda. Its dedication has changed with the times. The Urukundo foundation became a 501(c)3 in 2002. The Urukundo Learning Center was founded in 2011. Education is now the primary focus of the foundation,” the site said.

With the support of her family in the United States, along with friends in many countries, including the U.S., a Learning Center was added that included Preschool, Kindergarten and Primary classes through Grade 6. The Urukundo Learning Center enrolls over 1200 children ranging from 3 years to 13 years of age.

The foundation employs 118 Rwandan citizens. A project this size requires funding and gifts.

Brown, also known as “Mama Arlene” in Rwanda, said, “Toys are a luxury in Rwanda and donations of clothes and suitable toys are appreciated.”

One such gift came from Lillian Hein, a retired older woman from South Williamsport who remarked, “At 72, it is time I start getting rid of things that my children probably would throw away, and that would break my heart.”

Hein had a collection of rag dolls and wanted them to go where they would be appreciated. She met Mama’s son, Jerry Brown, a resident of South Williamsport.

“Jerry and I got to talking, and he told me about his mother and her ministry for children in Rwanda. I went to her website and started reading all her stories and saw her pictures. I wondered, ‘Could they use some dolls?’ said Hein.

After contacting the elder Brown, the answer was a definite yes. Arrangements were made, and the dolls were on their way to Urukundo.

The dolls were transported to Rwanda, and when Hein saw photos of the children with her dolls, she said her heart melted.

“Those children were cheerful, and I was happy to see them loving the dolls. It makes me want to cry happy tears,” Hein said.

She added, “I’m hoping to find more things to send over because I know they could use baby clothes, girls’ clothes and it has to be something that is good to use.”

Hein said in a recent telephone chat that “Mama Arlene” is still an inspiration to her.

“Arlene is an amazing woman. And at her age, what she’s still doing after all these years for those kids,” Hein said. “Those children deserve everything (they can receive).”

Mama Arlene has spent 23 years in Muhanga District.

She made her first trip to Africa in 1996 when she went on a mission trip with the United Methodist Church to Zaire, now Congo. Her ministry then was to work with refugees from the Rwanda genocide

“As founder and director of this foundation, and knowing the diversity of religions in the country, I came to Rwanda purely as a humanitarian to share love and compassion with those suffering from the results of the genocide. I’m not a missionary,” Arlene said. “I’m simply a woman with a mission, and that’s what it’s all about.”

She began her sojourn in Africa at age 65 after retiring from the workforce in the USA. “After several mission trips to the African continent, I went back permanently to Rwanda at age 72,” Brown said.

When she started out, her intentions were to have a home for girls seven years old and up. Boys were added after a year, but she insisted no babies.. “At my age I did not feel I could deal with babies,” she laughed.

She said there was a need for street boys to have a place of refuge, “So, I decided to open a home for boys, but I reaffirmed, no babies.”

That lasted about a week.

“In no time at all, a policeman came with a baby boy and said, ‘This baby needs a home’,” Brown said. “As a ‘mama,’ she had a heart that could not say no to a baby, and in the following years, 26 babies became part of the Urukundo family.”

What has helped is that the Rwanda of today is not the Rwanda of 23 years ago. Rwanda has President Paul Kagame, who Brown has called an amazing man who has brought peace and stability to the country.

Brown explained, “Rwanda is the safest country in Africa.”

With Rwanda safer, now “Mama” Arlene can make sure her foundation continues forward for years to come.

“I will do what I can to make sure the foundation is sound and will remain long after I am gone. Slowing down is difficult but inevitable as I continue into my 90’s, the foundation is set up so that if something happened to me today or tomorrow, the foundation would go on. The school would not close, and everything would continue,” she said.

She concluded, “I am secure knowing Hope Made Real International Board of Directors, and Urukundo National Board of Directors, along with the people in administration locally who appreciate, love, and are dedicated to the work, will continue in the path I have set. I’m pleased knowing that this legacy will go on and the foundation will continue after I have gone.”

But she said with a chuckle, “I don’t expect to go soon.”

To find out more about the Urukundo Foundation and Learning Center, visit the website hopemadereal.org.