Hope Made Real

We have a new boy, bringing our total number of boys to fourteen.

Jean Paul Nziyumanganya is fourteen years old.  He is in Primary 5 and a handsome young man.  His voice is currently changing.  I can hear it when he takes part in the song before meals and I smile.  I remember my boys during this time in their struggles to become men.

His father is unknown.  His mother abandoned him when he was 2 years old.  His caretaker was an uncle or neighbor who can no longer care for this boy.  He came to me on our road and spoke in a broken English “I am orphan.  I want to live with you.”  He was brave to do that and that kind of faith needs rewarding.  We have gone through the process and now we have legal custody and he is ours and has a home and a family who love him.  He is showing leadership ability with the younger kids and our little girls think he is the perfect big brother.  His goal is “to become a doctor for children.”  He is a happy boy and a very positive addition to our family.

Check out the picture of the girl’s home under construction last month.

Now check it out in this picture taken on June 25th.

The progress in less than four weeks is great.  The girls are watching the work very closely. This is their home and they are excited. I really want for all of us to be in one place and so I am praying that we will be able to raise the funds to complete this house by November.

Thank you again to everyone who is helping to make this great work possible.

I’m sure everyone is well aware that the price of fuel has been going up.  It’s been straining us here too.

Charcoal has become very expensive here because of the ban by the government on cutting trees.  This is, however, our least expensive way to cook.  Electricity is currently not possible for us and gas is expensive and can only be purchased in Kigali.  So we spend $20 to retrieve it and for $86 purchase a small tank that lasts less than a month.  There is no truck to deliver gas like in the US.

Looking for a solution, we discovered a new, much more efficient design for a cooker.  We had it build in a single day.  It is made of cement but has three cooking holes and uses a third of the charcoal and can burn scrap wood.  We have lots of that from old scaffolding.  It’s a step in the right direction and makes sure we all have properly cooked meals.

It may be reaching a bit, but it reminds me of the old Iron cook stove in my Gram’s house when I was a kid.  Any way you look at it though, we’re please to be doing more with less, making better use of the materials and gifts available to us.

One day, a day care or clinic will be on this land, but until the funds come, the land will not sit idly by.  As children tend to do, praise God, our boys see the open land and immediately use it to play football (aka soccer.)  The boys are now using the basketball court and the cement is hard on the balls as well as the knees and elbows of the boys when they fall which is often.  Much like life, soccer is a fall down, get back up, and keep on going kind of game.  I think we need some kind of protection for the knees and elbows but until then falling on dirt will be much better than cement.

In Rwanda, we are dealing with the change.  The dry season has finally come.  The wet season which normally lasts three months, lasted five.  You would think that is good but it surely confused the crops and those waiting to begin the harvest. Even though the rains continued, the growing season stopped.

The farmers are not sure when to plant the next crop.  We wonder, will the dry season also last five months?  When should we prepare the soil and plant?  This was not my problem but now that we have farm land and plan a garden, I also am concerned. I will however leave these decisions to those who are more experienced than I.

I had hoped to share pictures of Cindy Grieshaber and her daughter Jillian from Bethlehem, PA teaching Tennis to our kids, but alas my computer crashed recently.  Hopefully they will be recovered soon and I can share them as well as pictures from the visit of my Grandson Timothy Brown from Williamsport, PA.

I want to thank them for all the help and work they did while they were here. The kids want to know when are they coming back.  Me too.

Today, I’m posting all the great news that took place in June.  I am fine even though you have not heard from me.  Computer problems continue to plague me.  This time it was not the internet, but actually my computer that took a turn for the worse.

Most computers can be repaired in Rwanda, but the Mac is not yet supported here.  The repair people won’t even look at it, which I guess is good since they could do more damage by not being trained for that work.  There’s a job opportunity for someone versed in the Mac who’d like to come to Rwanda.  More and more people are needing that service here, not just me.  The Mac seems to be very popular with Americans coming to work in Rwanda.

Fortunately, two wonderful people from the U.S., Paulette and Rich Whitekettle, parents of my friend Christie who works with Food for Hungry, were ready to return to the US and offered to take the very sick computer to the Apple store where they live.  The sad part is that the technician at the store said there was water in the PC and the cost of repair would be over $800 USD.  This is a lot of money for me.

I am currently working on a Dell now and a gentleman from Austria gave me his old computer, a Toshiba, but alas I know his intentions were good but the thing is in German and I do not know German. Oh, he did tell me I can go on line and get the words I need to use it.  We’ll see.

Enough about the communication problems. I’m back with the Dell and am praying for the return of a good used Macbook to replace my old one.  Fortunately, I still have a backup of all my files.

There is much to report for the month of May on Urukundo Village. For those new to Hope Made Real, Urukundo Village is our new home that we are currently trying to build on land that we actually own so that our work and these children have a place they can truly call home.

Our Great Progress

We have purchased 2.4 acres of land and it is ours, completely complying with all Rwandan government regulations, bought and paid for.  We are so happy to have land to call our own, to grow our good works, and to give these children a true sense of the word “Home”.

The boys moved into their new home on April 23rd, 2008 on what was a joyous day and a small house for the caregiver in charge is also completed. It will initially be where I live and then for whoever follows me.

We have also bought a small house close to the boy’s home and are renovating it to use it as a charcoal kitchen.

We have built roads to the existing buildings for easy access. Electricity and water have not been easy to get connected to both houses.

The Girl’s Home in the Early Stages

In this photo you can see the foundation is nearly completed for the girls home. We need your help to complete this project both financially and with your thoughts and prayers. Living in two different areas is not good for us and hopefully we will be rejoined once the Girl’s home is completed.

Our Play Area

Lastly, we have completed the play area to keep our kids safe. This consists of a basketball, volleyball and tennis court combination and a Karate practice area. It is good to see our children doing the thing children should do: just enjoy being kids.

Your Help and Support Make It Possible

Thank you again for your contributions and support. Please help bring our children together in one place enabling us to better care for them. God has been good to us. Things are changing here and making the right decisions is so important. Please pray for wisdom for yours truly as we proceed.

We now have 350+ chickens. It is incredibly exciting.

This will create income for the Urukundo Village, helping us to be more self-sustainable in the years ahead.

There is a lovely garden where a Chapel will be established. In that garden currently stands our Memorial Center in the form of this simple tiki hut. It is to remember those who have supported Urukundo Home for Children in Hope Made Real Village.

Ada Esther Griffith, deceased
Herbert Beaver, deceased
Mary Richardson’s Mother, deceased
Elma Arlene (Musser) Gsellman, In her honor.

Your memory and contribution to our world will always be with us.