The children in the village of Lutisi, Uganda, captivated Mattie Cannon during her visit in September 2007. After her 2008 high school graduation, Cannon returned to Uganda to volunteer for a semester.

Cannon was one of eight Key Club International members to travel with Building Tomorrow (BT) to Uganda in the fall of 2007. Key Club raised $35,000 in 2006 to fund the BT Academy of Lutisi. BT and the local community broke ground at the site of the new school in May 2007, and Cannon and her peers visited to help with the construction and meet the future students.

“Playing and working with the kids in [Lutisi] (left a huge impact on me). Getting to know them added a whole new level to the horrors you hear about going on in Africa,” said Cannon.

Cannon’s interest in helping African children began a year before the trip with her involvement in the Invisible Children campaign. The Key Club at her high school, Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy in Pennsylvania, was very active, inspiring Cannon to join. Key Club’s partnership with BT gave Cannon a tangible way to help vulnerable children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Cannon arrived in Uganda with open arms and an open heart.

“The kids there can make you laugh and cry in the same moment,” Cannon said. “They were almost always joyful and would play games with you, giggle at each other and get you to just fall in love with them. Then you would realize how little they had, and your heart would break.”

The trip helped open Cannon’s eyes to the harsh realities of life in sub-Saharan Africa.

“I know that there are children in this world who don’t have enough food, clean water, shelter, or just love,” she said. “That became so real to me when I was in Uganda with Building Tomorrow.”

To continue her service in Africa, Cannon returned to Uganda in September 2008, where she volunteered at The Love And Care Family, a small orphanage in Kampala.

Cannon said she has realized anyone can help improve the problems in the world. “Building Tomorrow helped me see that I can make an impact in the children’s lives, help give kids what they need most. That is why I [went] back, to give these kids… a chance at a better life.”