Ashley Lee is spending Christmas with her family — and about 30 orphans.
The UF occupational therapy senior has a special place in her heart for the needy families she has helped in Panama. For the past five years, she said she served rice and beans to orphans.
But this Christmas will be the first time Lee plays with those children in the orphanage her father and others from their family’s Jacksonville Beach church founded.
"I just really like helping people," the 22-year-old said. "It’s a great experience, and it’s an experience like no other."
The orphanage is called Manos de Fe, or Hands of Faith. Lee said its emblem is a pair of cupped hands, one holding the Panamanian flag and one holding the American flag.
"It’s a symbol of those countries coming together in the Christian faith," she said.
Her father, Mark Lee, is one of the orphanage’s co-founders.
After a friend of his adopted a child from Guatemala several years ago, Mark Lee worked with other members at Beach United Methodist Church in Jacksonville Beach to build an orphanage.
The church congregation originally wanted to build it in Guatemala, but Panama proved to be easier, Mark Lee said. However, they still had difficulties with the Panamanian government.
After the church sent the papers to bring children to their new home, the government switched hands, so they had to start the process all over again, Ashley Lee said.
This summer, the group received permission to house the children.
However, Ashley Lee said she doesn’t think the work is done.
"There are still a lot of girls in these underdeveloped countries that need our help," she said.
This past June, Ashley Lee traveled to Panama for a week through UF’s Global Medical Training program, where she said she assisted with medical assessments and treated locals with 54 other students. She plans to continue her service with GMT in India this winter.
Mark Lee said his daughter’s passion for philanthropy stems from traveling abroad with him while she was growing up. He said he wanted to instill a drive to help others.
"I guess it worked," Mark Lee said. "I’m very proud of her."
Ashley Lee said she also supports children through her involvement in UF’s chapter of She’s the First, an organization that raises money to support girls’ education in developing countries.
This past summer, she attended the She’s the First Leadership Summit in New York City, where she met the organization’s co-founders. She was also there when UF’s chapter received the award for Outstanding Achievement in Community Engagement, she said.
But she still makes time for the children in Panama.
With five houses, Manos de Fe will initially house about 30 children. Ashley Lee said they are also planning on building more houses in the future to fulfill their hopes of housing 100 children.
Each house will also have a tía, or aunt.
"She will do the cooking and the cleaning — pretty much being their mom," Ashley Lee said.
Before they could house children, Ashley Lee said she and other church members would feed local families, provide water filtration and play with the children. The church’s program helped feed more than 50 families.
It costs $400 to feed a family for one year, according to the orphanage’s website.
Manos de Fe will focus on housing Panama’s Ngobe-Bugle indigenous Indian population.
Ashley Lee said the children will be responsible for chores based on their age, such as picking fruits and vegetables.
But before all of the work begins, the group will be celebrating with the kids.
"We bring all the kids in Panama Christmas gifts," she said.
Ashley Lee plays with a baby on a parachute during a Christmas party held at Manos de Fe for the Ngobe-Bugle tribe of Caisan, Peru on Dec. 25, 2014.
Lee holds a young boy at an elementary school in Panama after a long day of giving medical care during her past GMT trip.
