Hope Made Real

You may remember that last month a baby was found by the side of a road and was brought to us for help.

Well, we’re happy to tell you all that at three months old, David is growing strong.  He is lifting his head and focusing his eyes.  He is responding when talked to and putting his body weight on his legs.

This is a different culture and many of the beliefs in Rwanda are quite different from what I practiced in raising my own children in the United States.

Babies are generally kept on their mothers backs and do not learn to look around, sit up, or use their legs until much later in their development.  They are never put on the floor or laid on their stomachs and so do not learn to crawl or to roll over.  Mothers even carry their babies tied to their backs at all times.  Can you imagine working in a field for hours with one of our very active 6 month old children tied to your back? (With a cover over their heads to protect them from the sun of course.)

The mamas here are shocked because I encourage David to grab my hands and pull, sit up and stand with my help.  They say David is too young for such things, but I know that David is strong because of my ways.  Changes may come slowly for mothers and babies, but as things get better in Rwanda, parents will hopefully not have to completely care for their babies and do hard labor at the same time.   Our David will be part of both our cultures, and will a stronger person for it.

David being held by Divine (Our Visitor to America)

We have had our first wedding in the Urukundo family! Mary Claire, one of our first mamas, is a beautiful bride, and her new husband a handsome young man.  Mary Claire is now a student at Butare University thanks to her sponsors at Wesley UMC in Bethlehem, Pa. Because of their kindness, this young woman will have a brighter future.

She intends to finish her education and return to Urukundo to return the love that has been shown to her.

Dr. Jean Bosco is a nurse 1. He can prescribe medicine and do minor surgery. We are blessed that he has chosen to work in Christian ministry and work with Urukundo in our clinic. This past week two visitors from a clinic in Ruhungeri came to see what we were doing and were amazed that we had a Nurse 1. Theirs is a clinic in operation to the community in the north and they do not have a nurse 1. It made me stop and thank our God for Dr. Jean Bosco.

We visited a clinic in another location and witnessed all the medical supplies they had that we needed. This examining table with steps is on our wish list.

It is home made and we can get it here. Our clinic really needs everything but this would be a start.

We had some fantastic visitors this month.  Check out the photo gallery to read about our different guests.

We welcome visitors and work teams at Hope Made Real Village.

Since the girl’s home is still under construction, we had been struggling for some time because we wanted our kids to worship together and transport was a problem.  Living in two different places poses it’s challenges.  One day we will have a chapel at Urukundo Village, but until that day our eyes were opened to the beautiful little Tiki Hut in our garden just below where the boys home is and we are building the girls home.  It was built as a resting place and is in such a beautiful setting. All around is the beauty of the earth. Our Tiki Hut Worship Center is now where our children gather.  It is small but there is always room for others.

I want to share with with our future plans for building a life here for these children that will see them into their future.  Our plans are to one day build a Chapel, a Clinic for the community and our kids, a Nursery School for working parents with small children, An English Primary and Secondary School where English and Kinyarwanda will be the working language, two more homes for Orphans and a home for Street Kids needing a place of refuge.  It may sound like a lot, but look how far we have come.  There is much work to be done and teams are needed and welcome.  Anything you can do to help us in restoring this wounded part of the world is appreciated.