Hakim Kambere wasn't there when his aunt, Anifah Barobi, collapsed, overwhelmed by their beautiful new home in Ogden, Utah.
He wasn't there for the dramatic reveal of the six-bedroom, two-story, energy-efficient home gifted to his family by HGTV's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
At the time, Hakim was serving a mission in Colorado, but he had been there with his family through the unspeakable hardships that lead them to where they are today.
As a child, Hakim fled the Congo with his siblings after rebels killed his parents and his youngest sister. Hakim and his siblings wandered the war-torn country for a month, relying on strangers to tell them where to find food. Eventually, they reached the border of Uganda, where a stranger offered to pay their bus fare to the Kyaka refugee camp, according to KSL.
Against all odds, Hakim and his siblings were reunited with Barobi and her daughter on the first day at the camp.
With the help of Catholic Community Services, the family was resettled in Utah, where they made their way to Ogden, according toKSL.
And now the family has the home they always dreamed of.
"This family that has gone from just horrific circumstances to come here and have a chance to live in a free country to do what they want to do, live the way they want to live, to be able to be what they want to be, this gives them a great head start,” said David Wadman, CEO of Wadman Corp., the contracting company that built the home.
Read the rest of the story at ksl.com