Cat Hare and Helga Schaffrin founded AKIN in the spring of 2000. At that time, they were living and working in a village in Zambia as volunteers with DAPP (Development Aid from People to People), an organization committed to child aid and environmental work.

One day, in a classroom full of children asking questions about AIDS, one student stood up and asked a heart-breaking question: "Sometimes both parents die of AIDS, and then you have to live with your grandmother, who is old and cannot work. So she cannot afford to pay your school fees, but you are doing well and want to continue. What can you do?" She was referring to her friend, Rhodah Habeene, who was about to be kicked out of school for not paying the required fees.

That night, Rhodah's situation sparked a long and passionate discussion between Cat and Helga. After burning through a few candles, they made the decision to start AKIN - Adopt a Kid In Need - as a way of helping gifted children like Rhodah who had no other way to afford their education.

Within four months, they had committed to finding sponsors for 55 Zambian kids. They had collected letters of introduction, drawings, and photographs from the children to be sponsored. They had set up a system for identifying those most in need, using both teachers and village representatives that they had helped train. They had opened a bank account in Zambia. Now they just had to find the sponsors.

And they did. In subsequent months, AKIN thrived and steadily expanded, providing the means for young students in Zambia to continue learning and fulfilling their dreams, continuing to link children one by one to individual sponsors. In 2002, AKIN joined forces with Deep Roots, which shared AKIN's passionate mission of supporting education for children in the developing world. A year later, the two merged, and AKIN was reborn as Deep Roots Zambia.