Carrying Forward Healing, Compassion and Hope
“Humanitarian support is often the difference between hope and despair or in some cases, between life and death.” —Dr. Joe Mamlin, an AMPATH founder
Joe and Sarah Ellen Mamlin
Joe and Sarah Ellen Mamlin have been a lifeline of compassion and healing to thousands - in Kenya, in Indiana and around the world. During their twenty years in Kenya, they poured their hearts into the lives around them, giving not just their time and expertise, but their love and presence.
They led with care and hope. They believed in people - deeply and unwaveringly. They did not lead from podiums, but from patients’ bedsides, along dusty village paths, and in quiet conversations with those the world too often overlooks.
Their support - drawn from their own salaries and strengthened by the generosity of donors - was grounded in one simple truth: every person deserves the chance to live a life of health, hope and dignity. These gestures, though often humble in size, changed lives.
To honor this extraordinary legacy, we are establishing the Joe and Sarah Ellen Mamlin AMPATH Humanitarian Fund—a living tribute that will continue to serve the people of Kenya and beyond by delivering direct, meaningful support to those who need it most.
IU Center for Global Health is seeking to raise $1.6 million in philanthropic gifts over the next three years (2026-2029), creating an endowment that will sustain humanitarian aid in perpetuity and eliminate dependence on the unpredictability of annual gifts.
YOUR DONATION SUPPORTS PEOPLE
“On the American continent, I can easily count my grandchildren, but in Africa, I cannot begin to count how many children I have. Among them is Miriam. In 2008, during violent clashes near Mt. Elgon, marauders set Miriam’s home on fire. Her mother was killed before her eyes and Miriam was left with devastating burns that would take years to heal. After two years in Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and reconstructive surgeries at another hospital, she was brought to the Amani Shelter—a place of refuge created in 2006 for women and children cast out of their homes after revealing their HIV status.
Over time, Amani became home for children left behind—orphans, the abandoned, the ones too old for other shelters. Today, up to 16 children can live there.
Miriam has grown up surrounded by the love of Amani caretakers and donors sponsoring her education and surgeries.
Her laughter—quick, contagious and bright—belies the pain she once endured. The ease with which she breaks into joyful laughter reminds us there is always HOPE amid any disaster.
Now a recent graduate of clinical officer training at Kabarak University, Miriam stands as living proof of Amani’s mission: to bring ‘amani’ (peace) where once there was only loss.”
— sarah ellen mamlin
“Grace was 42 and the mother of four when I first met her in a small settlement near Lake Victoria and the Ugandan border. It felt like the end of the earth—one of those remote stops on my weekly rounds to ten HIV clinics.
That day, I joined the team reviewing patients whose HIV had slipped out of control despite modern treatment. Grace’s name surfaced. Although her infection had been fully suppressed, it had now returned. The team questioned her gently, searching for a cause. Her story was one I knew too well.
She had run a small roadside food stall, earning enough to support her children and stay on her medication. Then her husband left, taking with him her stability and income. To survive, she took work in nearby rice fields for about a dollar a day—leaving before dawn, returning after dark. Exhaustion and despair followed. She struggled to feed her children or take her medicine. Her health—and hope—unraveled.
The team listened but had no clear solution. I remember the silence that followed, heavy and familiar.
But help came through the Humanitarian Fund. With that support, Grace rented a small roadside stall for $7 a month. We provided charcoal, sugar, beans and flour to restart her business. Gradually, her life steadied—her hours regular again, her medication on schedule, her children back in school. The total cost to restore her footing was $185.
Looking back, I’m struck by how little it took to change everything. Grace’s story reminds me why I kept making those long, dusty trips—to witness resilience and to remember what truly matters.”
-Joe Mamlin
The Mamlin Humanitarian Fund will:
Provide lifesaving care for the most fragile patients - including medical tests, medications, food for the hungry, transportation costs to clinical care and other urgent needs. Funds will be used to help patients facing immediate, life-threatening barriers.
GOAL: $600,000 endowed, generating annual funds to help more than 200 patients per year
Shelter homeless orphans and vulnerable children – providing a safe home for children who have lost parents or lack stable homes. At AMPATH’s Amani Shelter, children receive care, emotional support, education and a sense of belonging every child deserves. The Shelter was lovingly nurtured by Sarah Ellen and Joe for many years.
GOAL: $1 million endowed, generating annual funds for shelter operations
Join us as stewards of this legacy and extend it to the most fragile among us who are still waiting for help. You will provide lifesaving care where it’s needed most and help to rewrite life stories.
This fund will bear the Mamlin name, but it represents all of us who share this kind of love for humanity and respect for human dignity. Together, we extend the healing ripples the Mamlins helped launch.
YOUR GIFT HONORS JOE AND SARAH ELLEN’S LIFETIME OF GIVING
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Provide lifesaving care for the most fragile patients - including medical tests, medications, food for the hungry, transportation costs to clinical care and other urgent needs. Funds will be used to help patients facing immediate, life-threatening barriers.
GOAL: $600,000 endowed, generating annual funds to help more than 200 patients per year
Shelter homeless orphans and vulnerable children – providing a safe home for children who have lost parents or lack stable homes. At AMPATH’s Amani Shelter, children receive care, emotional support, education and a sense of belonging every child deserves. The Shelter was lovingly nurtured by Sarah Ellen and Joe for many years.
GOAL: $1 million endowed, generating annual funds for shelter operations
Join us as stewards of this legacy and extend it to the most fragile among us who are still waiting for help. You will provide lifesaving care where it’s needed most and help to rewrite life stories.
This fund will bear the Mamlin name, but it represents all of us who share this kind of love for humanity and respect for human dignity. Together, we extend the healing ripples the Mamlins helped launch.
“Visiting Eldoret, Kenya, and seeing the work AMPATH does convinced me beyond any question that this is IU at its best!! Better than men’s basketball, better than football, better and more important than anything IU does! And yet too few people know about it. Once you see it up close and personal, you will understand. Add to that a chance to go on safari and this will be the trip of a lifetime!”
