How We Started

An Adoption that changed everything

Life can be crazy can’t it? Who knew that one family’s quest to find their daughter would end up changing so many lives?

After the difficult labor and emergency delivery of their son, Asher, in December 2004, Dave and Morgan Hansow decided that the next child they would welcome into their family would be through adoption. In 2005, they began the process of adopting a child from Uganda, East Africa.

About that time, Uganda began to take a spotlight in the media with Oprah, Invisible Children, and other celebrities. Dave and Morgan began to read up and learn more about Uganda and the horrific civil war with the LRA rebel group and felt called to action knowing their child was somewhere in that country.

After a year and a half of waiting, they got a discouraging email saying that the process could take another six months. And so in a single day, they made what other people might consider a brash decision - they decided to quit their jobs, rent out their home, leave their friends and family, and move to Uganda to meet their child.

All the while, they knew they wanted to start a non-profit organization.

In March of 2007 Light Gives Heat was formed with the intent to 'simply go and meet real needs.' Rather than presuming they knew answers to needs in Uganda, Dave and Morgan decided to travel first, listen second, and act third. Plane tickets were purchased, and the point of no return was breached.

All along, Dave and Morgan knew that they might not succeed. But, they would rather fail having stepped out and risked than living with the ‘what ifs.’ Two months later their belongings were all packed and and they got on the plane to Uganda with their two year old son.

The next six months were spent in Uganda, and it was a crazy adventure. The Hansow family found their beautiful daughter, Jadyn Suubi Hansow, and were granted custody of her on her first birthday.

After her adoption, the Hansows met some incredible women with unbelievable and inspiring stories. They began the SUUBI project offering displaced women from war-torn Northern Uganda the opportunity to earn a consistent income each week.

Lives were forever changed on that trip to Uganda. The women of SUUBI have shown us a great deal about what life looks like when it is lived with hope. They have proved to us over and over again that our past does not determine our future, that circumstances in our lives don’t have to affect the love and joy we live with, and that hope is a choice!

Because all of us at Light Gives Heat have been so changed by the people we work with in Africa, we want to use our platform to share stories and bring others into our story. Light Gives Heat has grown substantially both in the US and in Uganda. We've launched new projects and are continually trying to think outside the box. We are incredibly humbled and extremely grateful for this amazing adventure that has become our lives!