A group of nine Samford students traveled to Peru during spring break with Tyler and Allison Pittman Fuqua ’06, the co-founders of Not Forgotten, a Peruvian organization dedicated to caring for abandoned children in the city of Iquitos.
Throughout the week, they served at the organization’s two children’s homes: Las Lomas, located on 100 acres in the jungle, for boys ages 3-10 years old and Aporcar, a property in the city for teenagers as they develop into young men. While it can be easy to see the goodness of God’s provision when walking these two properties, Tyler and Allison would be the first to tell you, the work didn’t happen overnight.
“You know, Psalm 119 says, ‘Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.’ But it doesn’t say that God will reveal all the details to you,” Allison said. “I think if we explained all that has happened over the last 20 years to our college selves, we wouldn’t believe it.”
Tyler first traveled to Peru the summer before enrolling at Samford. He fell in love with Iquitos, so much so, that he returned often as a Samford student, using his spring and summer breaks to lead groups of his friends to serve at an orphanage in the city. In these early visits, he met a Peruvian man named Gene Idlett.
Gene also had a passion for caring for the orphans in the city, and together with his wife Patty, Tyler and Allison established Not Forgotten with dreams of offering a family centered, holistic approach to orphan care rooted in their Christian faith.
“The work we set out to do was hard,” Tyler said. “Not only did we have to build something from scratch, but we also had to convince a lot of people that it was a good idea. We purchased property, hired and trained employees, acquired needed resources—the list goes on and on.”
While Gene and Patty managed this work from Peru, Tyler and Allison worked from their home in Birmingham. After graduating from Samford, Tyler became a physician specialized in internal medicine and pediatrics, and Allison worked as a social worker. Today, they have three children who now join them when they visit Iquitos.
“What motivated me to keep going when the work felt hard was knowing that God cares for these children more than I ever could. The growth of Not Forgotten is not a reflection of our success but of the Lord’s love. He built these properties and continues to provide us with everything we need,” Tyler said.
In 2025, Not Forgotten entered into an agreement with the Peruvian government to pilot a foster care program for the country. They started placing children in local foster families earlier this year with a hope that one day the program will eliminate the need for children’s homes in Peru.
