The tsunami claimed the lives of almost a quarter of million individuals, over a 166,000 were in Aceh, leaving behind many orphaned children. Our goal was to provide a hopeful future to these orphans one at a time. We set out to build a permanent orphanage to house 50 orphans at the earliest. The orphanage would provide a living residence, library, computer lab, and a multifunctional hall with a learning and activity center for the children staying there. Our short-term goal was to provide monetary support to the families taking care of orphans till they have a place to move in.

Dian Alyan’s family donated 3,000 square feet of land to build the orphanage. Funds began to pour in from generous donors and volunteers worked around the clock. Within seven months from the ground breaking ceremony, our very first orphanage became a grand reality. On December 26, 2005, exactly a year after the Tsunami, Noordeen Orphanage opened its door to fifty children that now have a haven that they call home.

The orphanage was named Noordeen after Dian’s great grandfather. It was a fitting tribute to a man who had once participated in the effort to free Indonesia from Dutch colonization in 1930-1934 and was a highly respected man of this tiny village. Amongst his community and family, he was remembered as a stern yet loving and fun man that taught his children compassion with more actions than words. The Noordeen orphanage was built on his land, a legacy to him and his admired actions.

Noor means light and deen means to give. That was the inspiration behind naming our foundation as GiveLight Foundation. The vote of the volunteers in choosing this name was unanimous. These dedicated volunteers became the GiveLight family. We’ve been primarily run by volunteers since then.