When George Srour arrived last summer at Meeting Point Kampala -- an orphanage in the slums of Uganda’s largest city – the William and Mary senior was almost simultaneously swarmed with hundreds of welcoming hands.

The nearly 1,000 Ugandan children who live and go to school at the orphanage could not hold back their excitement over the stranger from the United States.

“They all reached for my hand at once to say hello,” Srour said. “I felt awful coming in with empty hands but they just wanted someone to give them a hug. While I could offer that, I knew I had to find a way to get back and bring a bit more with me.”

Srour will get that chance this Winter Break when he heads back to Meeting Point Kampala to bring a special Christmas surprise to the orphans. Joined by William and Mary classmates Jayme Place, a junior and Shannon Bremer, a senior, Srour will present the orphanage with enough money to build a new permanent school.

“Most of the kids we’re helping have lost both of their parents to AIDS and are infected themselves,” Srour said. “Some come from Northern Uganda where they’ve been able to escape abduction by the Lord’s Resistance Army, and others have literally just been left on the streets. But no matter their story, or what has brought them to the orphanage, they all have a thirst to be cared for and shown some love.”

William and Mary senior George Srour is swarmed last summer by hundreds of welcoming hands at Meeting Point Kampala, an orphanage in Uganda’s largest city. Photo courtesy of George Srour. Related content: Visit Christmas in Kampala Web site.

During his visit, Srour said, he was given a tour of the bamboo-built school house – a cramped one-room building that is eaten away by ants at least three or four times a year. In passing, the school master mentioned the need to build a concrete structure that would be made of durable materials. They already had plans drawn up for the new school, the school master told Srour, but unfortunately they didn’t have the money.

“The building they had was in dire shape,” Srour remembers. “I just inquired about the cost. When she said $8,000, I figured that with some help it could be done.”

Shortly after returning from Uganda, Srour organized a fund-raiser to help the orphanage.

With the help of the William and Mary community, as well as members of Key Club International and other groups such as United Nations World Food Programme -- the organization that brought Srour to Uganda last summer as part of an internship – Srour’s “Christmas in Kampala” fund-raiser has been a, enormous success. So successful that when he arrives at Meeting Point Kampala on Christmas Day, he’ll bring with him a holiday surprise – a check for more than three times the amount needed to build the new school. The remainder will be used to buy the students critically needed classroom essentials such as books, crayons, geometry sets, and paper – even new school uniforms.

Srour said donations have come pouring in from William and Mary students, faculty and staff, as well as members of his home church in Indianapolis, Key Club International and the World Food Programme. The orphanage has no idea about the fund-raiser.

“It’s actually a surprise to the children and school administrators at the orphanage,” said Srour, adding that the fund-raiser has collected more than $30,000 so far in donations. “We’re also planning on providing them with a special Christmas dinner.”

Srour and his classmates will leave for Uganda on Dec. 21 and won’t return to the United States until New Year’s Day. That means they’ll miss Christmas Day with their own families – but they won’t miss out on the holiday spirit.

“It will be great to show up, knock on the door, and surprise the staff of this orphanage with a check to cover the amount of construction, thousands of dollars worth of gifts and supplies and a buffet line for Christmas dinner for 1,000 people,” said Srour, who has been involved in a variety of volunteer projects on campus, including raising nearly $18,000 this fall to replace trees lost on campus during Hurricane Isabel.

Srour got involved with the World Food Programme after talking with its executive director, who also happens to be a member of Srour’s church back in his hometown of Indianapolis. His internship last summer had him working in Rome for a little more than a month and then he went to Uganda for the remaining two weeks.

He said it didn’t take long to realize he needed to do something for the orphans.

“Whenever I get a tug on the shoulder and realize there’s a need somewhere that I might be able to help with, I’ve just put my heart to it and have tried to do all I can,” Srour said. “In all I’ve done, I’ve been helped by wonderful people, be they students or administrators. More than anything, that’s made projects like this truly exciting.”

And when he arrives in Uganda, Srour will get all the reward he needs – hundreds of little hands excited to see their new friend return.

This time, Srour won’t feel empty handed.