International Team

Tom Dale

Chief of the Board of Directors

I was raised on a 100 acre farm near Beeton, Ontario, and new of the hardship of being poor in Canadian standards. I went to the University of Toronto and became a dentist and set up practice in Kitchener /Waterloo. After 27 years of practice I became very ill and after a long search found out that I had mercury poisoning due to removing old amalgams that are 51% mercury. The high speed drill vaporized the mercury and I breathed it everyday even through a mask. I am now on permanent disability and doing well. I was first introduced to African needs when I went on a safari in Tanzania and visited an orphanage. My wife Sandra and I decided to visit Uganda through a local agency that was doing work to help the poor. This is where I met Henry and the boys and the rest is history. I have been blessed to have good disability insurance and a love for travel that took me to Africa. The boys call me "Jaja" which is Grandfather - I have two girls of my own, one granddaughter in Canada and 15 grandsons in Africa.

Melissa Maertens

Overseas Program Manager/Administration Officer

My name is Melissa Maertens. I am a founder of The Sanctuary and have a huge heart to meet the needs of children living on the streets in Africa, specifically in Uganda. I grew up in Gorrie, Ontario, a small town out in the middle of nowhere, and LOVED it! Later in life I moved to Waterloo to continue my education, where I graduated from Heritage Bible College with my Lay Counselling Certificate, and also received my Early Childhood Education Diploma from Conestoga College. I am currently working at a daycare in Waterloo, but my heart is in Uganda. I had the privilege of living in Uganda for 5 months earlier this year, and am so excited to see what God has in store for all of the boys at The Sanctuary!

Rich Maertens

Board Member

I am Melissa's dad and I have two sons as well. I am a retired elementary teacher and am now working as an assistive technology consultant. When Melissa returned from Uganda in 2009, she told me that she was going back and that I "had" to join her. Little did I know what my trip to Uganda would do to my heart. Like Melissa, I was deeply touched by her "boys" and their stories. I wanted to help as much as I could during the five weeks that I was there, so I worked with the boys to get their home ready to move into. It was very exciting to be a part of "moving" day! I was sad to leave Africa because I made some very close connections with the boys. Now that I am home, I have decided that I need to continue being a part of the work that my daughter started. I am pleased to be on the Board of Directors and I look forward to seeing the exciting things that God is planning for the entire Sanctuary team in the future!

Ann Goerz

Communications/Fundraising Manager

I grew up in the small towns of Elmira, ON, then, St Jacobs, ON. From a very young age God placed it on my heart to go and spread His love to the less fortunate around the world- specifically, Africa. Throughout high school I travelled up to northern Ontario to a First Nation Reserve called Aroland doing short term missions serving and getting to know the community. As a teenager I was very involved and excelled in theatre at school though and loved being on stage. For a while I pursued drama as my future career and viewed missions as secondary. However, it was not long before God reminded me what He first called me to as a little girl. In time, I was amazed to see how so many of the skills I learned in drama were transferable to the mission field. Now I would not have it any other way. In 2008/09 Mel and I travelled to Uganda where we first met the boys who now live at The Sanctuary. Since then, I attended Heritage Bible College for missions, served in Cambodia, and met and married my husband Mike Goerz. I am super excited to see what God will do next and am so blessed to be a part of the Sanctuary family!

Sandy Dale

Administrative Assistant

I am the wife of Tom Dale and behind the scenes supporter of Tom and Mel , as they guide and direct the work of The Sanctuary. I have been to the African continent 4 times, in Jinja twice and met the boys at the Sanctuary for the first time in January 2011. I was so encouraged to see how The Sanctuary has created such a warm loving, God-centred environment for the boys to learn and grow. I support the work by serving as the Administrative Assistant on the International Team and selling African crafts to raise extra funds for the work.

  Our Uganda Address: Our Canada Address:
                P.O. Box 1365,                                                   376 Green Acres Drive
                Jinja, Uganda Waterloo, Ontario

Email Address: ugandastreetkids@gmail.com