Divine is on a journey.
Saying goodbye is not easy. We will miss her, but she will be back in a year. Experience is the best teacher, and this journey will be an educational experience for her.
Divine is on her way to Germany for a year of special training in entrepreneurship. Our prayers and best wishes go with her.
Our girl Claudine is on her way to see Dr. Piet. Accompanying her are our driver Oswald and Chantel, co-director of the day care. It is our prayer that she finally will get new glasses. This depends a lot on how she has progressed over the last two months. Prayers, please.
Walk down Memory Lane with me.
Claudine’s arrival at Urukundo.
Dr. Piet with loving care.
The smile that brightens my day. A happy little girl. We are blessed.
Some vision restored. The eyes shine.
Now a teen.
Love abounds. Precious gifts appreciated.
Her graduation. Ready to face the world. She is doing an internship in early childhood care. Claudine is a Hope Made Real. Urukundo is so proud of this young lady.
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.
These are just a few of the precious faces we enjoy at Urukundo daycare and Urukundo Learning Center.
Love this photo. It appeared on my camera unexpectedly.
What could he be thinking? If the shoe fits, wear it. Put your best foot forward. Naw!!!
Claude’s message was this: “Look at my new shoes for school, Mom.” I looked. He calls them his basketball shoes.
As a mom, it’s hard to believe my kids are old enough to think of marriage although I know it is true. Tresor brought his girlfriend Sandra home to introduce her to me and the Urukundo family,
My memories of Tresor are in my book, “Hope Made Real: The Story of Mama Arlene and the Children of Urukundo” on pages 85-86.
Older brothers Tresor and Amin with older sister Seraphine posed for a photo with the younger generation: John, Claudine, Sarah, Benita, and Soso.
Amin hides his eyes as big brother Tresor steals the show. It was so great to have Amin, Seraphine, and Tresor spend some quality time with the younger set.
Sarah and Kaboss are doing well.
Juliette, Delphine and Oswald accompanied Sarah on the visit to her foster family celebrating Eid al-Fitr. Olive was there, but someone had to take pictures. She was elected.
Smiling neighborhood children greeted our car as they drove to visit Sarah’s foster family.
A visit to our boy Kaboss by Olive was surprising. How he has grown and changed! Our short kid is now a tall young man. Kaboss has one more year in primary and then will begin his journey into secondary school and experience boarding school.
Having read my book ”Hope Made Real," you may remember David. He’s on Page 117. He was our first baby and was the reason we started a preschool in 2010.
At times David, like all kids, doesn’t consider the consequences of his actions.
In April the secondary students had a two-week break before starting the last term of the school year.
Rather than having the parents travel to the school to pick up their kids, the school transports the students by bus to the stadium in Muhanga town.
It is then up to the parents to pick up the kids and get them home.
David made a bad decision. Coming off the bus he headed straight home to Urukundo. That’s a long walk from the stadium to Urukundo Village.
The walk was not a problem. The problem was David needed permission from his parents to come home.
Yep, you got it. He did not get permission.
I was happy to see him and assumed he had permission. Hugs were exchanged, and he showed me his report card with pride.
Being the mom, I asked Olive to call and let David’s family know he had arrived safely and was OK. When Olive called, they were not happy. The moto driver had called them to say he could not find David at the stadium. David had come home to his mom and Urukundo, causing worry for his foster family.
I had to talk to him about obeying rules and respecting his foster family and his school and send him back to his foster family.
David's tears broke my heart. I do wish he had asked for permission before coming.
After returning to his foster family David was given permission to spend three days with his Urukundo family.
David home for a short visit. His foster family has shared time off from school with us. Welcome home, David.
Our kids are always in our hearts.
Olive and Oswald visited Jason this month. He is doing well in his new home and new school. Growing so tall!
His smile is still the best.
Our boy Claude came home for a visit. He wanted to spend some time with his Urukundo brother, Soso. The boys had a great time. School started for Claude on Nov. 23.
Claude is in Primary 4 this year. Soso is in Primary 3, and he is one of three children who remains at Urukundo.
Here are some others who made a visit home:
Esperance
Now in her last year of secondary school, Esperance was delighted to find her Urukundo sister Belise at home when she arrived. Although the girls are in the same level of education, they go to different schools. The schools are very far apart, so coming home at the same time is a real event for the girls.
Belise
Her smile brightens our world.d
Belise came to Urukundo when she was 4 years old. She was the first girl under age 7 to become part of the Urukundo family. The story of Belise is a chapter in my book on Pages 75-78. She is in her final year of secondary school (high school). Her graduation has been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bosco
Bosco, who was home for the day, came to be part of the Urukundo family in 2007. He was one of eight boys brought to Urukundo by the village leader. He is now a university student in his second year. He is enrolled in Mount Kenya University, Kigali campus.
Yes, there is no place like home.
There were early morning good-byes as the girls carrying their treasures started off for university. Now that public transportation is back, they were able to board a bus and return to their studies.
Their younger Urukundo brother, Claude, assists them as they walk to the bus. A helper who also carries school supplies is important.
University students Giselle and Cecelia came home for a visit before starting back to university on Oct. 21. It was good to see them. This was the first visit in some time because the coronavirus shutdown had stopped all public transportation from Kigali, where they live, to Urukundo Village in Muhanga, South Province. It is surely too far to walk.
Beautiful
Audry has grown so much, and she is not afraid of me. I wanted to share this bit of joy. Ismael, our dental chairside assistant, is Audry’s daddy.
Sharing another face. His name is Dale, nickname Dilly. My newest great-grandchild in the USA.
One handsome boy. Bragging a bit. Great-grams can do that.
