A message from Mama

Claudine's story is not unique. She is one of many who have benefited because of your love and support. There are so many stories to share. Your donations, dear friends and family, make this ministry possible. Your support is essential if Urukundo is to continue to make a difference in the lives of children such as Claudine.

Please consider making a pledge in 2023 to support the work begun at Urukundo Village and Learning Center. Your support can make a big difference in the lives of so many. My email is brown.arlene30@gmail.com.

Much love and appreciation.

Mama

Newsletter for September 2022

August and September have been wonderful months.

Having so many of our kids home during the school break has been great.

From left, Claude #1, Lucky, Kenilla, Kenny, Forever, Yves and Claudine

I am amazed to see how grown up they are. Several are now old enough to travel alone on public transportation and come home to Urukundo.

Kenny and Kenilla, the twins, were here for two weeks and returned to their biological family. Their grandfather, who is the caregiver for them, is a paraplegic. I am not sure who cares for whom.

My little kids are growing up.

Claude #2 came in August for a week and then returned to his bio family.

I find it hard to believe Claude #2 will start secondary school this year.

Kaboss, Egide and David came Friday, Sept. 2, and Prince arrived Monday, Sept 5.

From left, Kaboss, David, Egide and Prince

From left, Kaboss, Soso, David, Egide and Prince

I needed to get Soso in the photo. He is our ambassador on campus. He meets and greets all the kids as they come home. Sorry to say he will move off campus this October to live in a family situation.

Claude #1, Lucky and Aline are now in Senior 4. Senior 4 is when children in Rwanda must choose a career goal and a school that specializes in the subjects to help them attain that goal.

From left, Claude #1, Aline and Lucky

Claude #1 is going into the medical field. He intends to be a general practitioner and have a family practice. Lucky’s goal is to be a journalist. Aline wants to be a web designer.

I do hope we can help them reach their goals.

News of other children not pictured.

Sarah and Livine were here for a short time, but no photo.

Nelly and Rebecca are fine. They were not able to make it home to Urukundo this school break.

Kavine, Diane, Joyce and Benita all live close by and attend Urukundo Learning Center. I see them most every day.

My little ones, Jacob, Jeanette and Jason, are still too young to travel alone.

Their time will come.

We are blessed to have 26 boys and girls in the younger generation of Urukundo kids.

Urukundo is financially responsible for all of our kids. I am concerned about how long we can continue with their support as donations and child support are trending down. We need all sponsors on board. We need your continued support.

We are just now feeling the impact of covid on donations.. Strange, I would have thought it would have been in 2020 and 2021, not 2022.

Bus update

There is a new sign on the Urukundo buses.

This shows the left side.

Here’s the right side.

Thank you to all who helped us assure safe travel to and from school for our children. We are grateful.

An appeal from Mama

For Urukundo to become self-sustaining, it is necessary to expand and develop the facilities we already have. To do this, I need your help

Urukundo Foundation is setting a new goal for 2022. That goal is to expand dental service in rural Muhanga, Rwanda. Dental care is so needed.

Now that construction of the new residence in a safer area has been completed and Mama has vacated the house by the side of the road, we plan to renovate the former residence into space for our Dental Clinic. It is along the main road and has its entrance from the road, thus protecting the children at the school.

We are using what we already own rather than purchasing land and building a new structure to improve the dental service. The renovation work will cost about $15,000.

When that move is completed our small dental clinic will be a larger facility. We will have space to add a chair for other services in the larger facility.

A chair can be purchased in Kigali City. The cost of the chair alone is $1,450. That $1,450 has been pledged. I thank the Van Dolson family for this gift.

I was naive to think the cost of the chair included all attachments. So with the accessories added to the original cost – you guessed it – the total cost of the chair was much more. So $6,200 is still needed. This price includes what you see and a compressor machine and stool chair. The new chair will let us add orthodontia to our service to the community. Any help to purchase the needed accessories for the chair would be appreciated.

Why an interest in orthodontia? Too many children and adults do not smile because their teeth are crooked and not a pretty sight. So many children and adults in Rwanda suffer from damage done to their teeth. As babies, the cultural doctors destroyed the root base because they cried while teething. Crying while teething is normal for babies. We rub teething gel on the sore gums, but the remedy in Rwanda was to destroy the baby tooth roots to stop the pain. Not well understood by me, but it was the culture.

Now the second teeth come in out of alignment.

Our Claudine is an example of the need. I want very much to correct her beautiful smile.

Are you willing to help?

A gift that keeps on giving

Carol Falke, our Hope Made Real Board International president, is at work. Her love of books and the Urukundo Learning Center library reaches out to others who have like passion.

A book sponsorship was held at Park Forest Village United Methodist Church in State College, Pennsylvania, USA. Children and adults selected a book or two and wrote a message inside for Urukundo Learning Center’s children’s library.

Continuing in the spirit of Christmas giving, a book sponsorship was an event at Trinity Lutheran Church in State College. (L-R) Pastor Ron Miller, Vicar Ted Williams, Linda Leslie and Lacey Sheaffer represented the congregation in this worthy project. What better gifts than books to open young minds to new adventures?

Side note: Carol chooses appropriate books, and others sponsor the books chosen. She then ships them by UPS to the Urukundo Foundation. You can do your part as well. Help is always needed and appreciated to cover the cost of shipping.

My travel continues

Winding down my USA travels, I arrived back in Reston, Virginia, on Dec. 1.

Borrowed van packed with suitcases made the trip from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Reston. The luggage will continue to the next stop, Kigali, Rwanda.

Kathy Kelley, Rosemary Welch and Mary Jackson were there to welcome my daughter Patricia and me.

Driver and son-in-law Dale

On Dec.3, long-time friend Craig Haas and I got together for lunch. I met Craig when he worked in Rwanda 14 years ago. We had so much to share.

Reston was my first stop entering the USA and my last stop leaving. Since arriving in the USA on Sept. 2, I have visited so many long-time friends and family members. And I have made many new friends. Thanks to all for your hospitality and your continued support of Urukundo.

November 2021 newsletter

State College

Ending October, I was blessed to spend time with hosts Steve and Carol Falke, president of the Hope Made Real International Board, in State College, Pennsylvania.

We also had time with other friends in State College.

Joanne and Paul Steindorf

Janet Madore and Esther Lauchle

Ruth and Bob O’Connor

Carol Baney.

Carol visited Urukundo several years ago with a team led by Carol Falke. It was good to connect with her again.

Back in Williamsport

Pastor Susan Halverstadt and her congregation at Faxon-Kenmar United Methodist Church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, were a captive audience. I thank them for their welcome.

Sharing with friends makes for a wonderful evening.

Maryland

On the road again

This time, the destination is the area of Baltimore, Maryland, and a meeting with nursing students at Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland.

The discussion was on health care and a possible partnership between Bowie in Maryland and the Urukundo Foundation in Rwanda.

SLK Health Corp. is the nongovernmental organization for the nursing school.

International recognition

An invitation to take part in Global Health Education Week at University of Maryland, Baltimore, was indeed an honor for me and the Urukundo Foundation.

The discussion was on health care and a possible partnership between Bowie in Maryland and the Urukundo Foundation in Rwanda.

In on the brainstorming discussion were Virginia Rowthorn, assistant vice president for global engagement at the University of Maryland, Baltimore and executive director of the Center for Global Engagement, and Bonnie Bissonette, director of education abroad and international safety at the university’s Center for Global Education Initiatives.

It was my pleasure to meet and be a part of this discussion.

The event was organized and chaired by Valli I. Meeks, DDS, MS, RDH, clinical professor in the Department of Oncology and Diagnostic Sciences in the University of Maryland School of Dentistry.

Valli has visited Urukundo and was instrumental in the start-up of Urukundo Dental Clinic in 2013.