As of 2009, founder Nathaniel Dunigan reported that more than 3,000 children had received care and treatment through Aidchild's inpatient and outpatient services, including a laboratory, two clinics, homes, and academies in Masaka and Mpigi, Uganda.
"[3]) During a one-month trip variously reported as at the behest of the Governor's Office on AIDS[1] and "a nondenominational religious organization from northern Arizona,"[3] Dunigan volunteered as an HIV-prevention educator in Uganda, where he met many children who were suffering and dying.
[1] Two years later, USAID, which had already provided financial assistance, responded positively to Dunigan's application for a $750,000 grant to help Aidchild establish a second location and create enterprises to help fund the work.
[1] According to Dunigan, international travel guides have called the businesses the very best in Eastern and Central Africa, including a citation by Lonely Planet, which rated the Equation Café "first class."
[5] Before he started Aidchild in 2000, according to his own reports, Dunigan had had no previous experience in AIDS/HIV education, prevention, or treatment, outside his one-month volunteer gig, nor fostering or residential care of children.
[2] According to investigative reporting by The World, adults who lived at Aidchild homes as children recount how they began to experience neglect when Dunigan returned to the States in 2009.
[2] One government official reported that a 2009 inspection revealed that this treatment facility housing sick children was unsanitary and lacked on-site medical personnel.