General

Greetings from Mama Arlene in Rwanda for November 2011

Greetings from Urukundo Village and Pittsburgh, Pa. November has been eventful for me and this ministry.  
The beginning of November saw us saying goodbye to our visitors Jan Brown and Carol Falke and sending the first of our teachers (Louise) to the US for some teacher training. Our administrator will make the trip at a later date.
All school kids now are on what would be called SUMMER BREAK in the US. This is a big event in Urukundo. All the children were home for one week.  Then the exodus started as the older kids go visit their home villages to be with extended family and friends for a month. Divine and Dada are visiting their aged grandmothers, some have aunts while others go to friends. It is important they keep a connection with family. 

 

About the middle of the month my trip to the US for R&R took place.  I am in Pittsburgh now and will be until Dec. 26th when I will return home to Urukundo. After some problems with a Visa I finally was able to board the plane and was on my way. I arrived at Dulles, Washington and more complications but Cathy Leatherwood from Reston came to my rescue and I reached my family safe and sound. I will return to Urukundo the day after Christmas arriving the 27th. and the older kids will come home the first week in January.

DELAYED CHRISTMAS

Our Toddlers and infants will celebrate the birth of the Christ Child on Christmas day but we will do Fanta, Sombosa, Cake and gifts from sponsors after we are all home together the second week in January 2012. Hard to believe a whole year has come and gone. 
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Sports World Headlines

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News Flash
After their team won the Basketball championship in Muhanga District, 3 of our boys - Amin, Bosco and Abis, were chosen to receive sports training in Nyanza, the capital of South Province. They really are champs.
The training will take place from November 27 to December 12th.
We are so very  proud of our boys!
(l-r) Bosco, Abis and Amin.

Truck Transformation

With the farm expanding it was decided we needed a truck to haul food for the animals and transport our products to the market, so we started looking for a truck. Everything available cost more than Urukundo could afford. A supporter of Urukundo and a good friend came to the rescue offering not only to help with the purchase price, but also with the work needed to ensure that the truck passed the required National Inspection. Oswald, our regular driver, found this one. It was in bad shape but the price was right. It sure was a fixer upper!

Exterior damage apparent.
Tires bald and dangerous, the bed in need of repair, windows that did not close. Not a pretty sight.
Same truck.
The mechanic in charge did a fantastic job and changed the wreck into a car that passed requirements.
Amazing what a lot of interior work, a paint job and a new roll bar can do. 
We are again blessed.
A new truck. Awesome.
Thank you Tom - you made it all possible.

Greetings from Mama Arlene in Rwanda for August 2011

Greetings from Urukundo Village and all who abide there.  August has been a very busy month with a houseful of volunteers -  11 in total. All 16 of our kids in Secondary School were home, There was a spelling bee, a debate, a fashion show and a birthday party all organized by the Urukundo Kids.  Painting the trim in all houses was a project accomplished. Pigs were added to our farm. The barn was finished and a pen for the pigs is now under construction. Look out for a picture next month. Except for colds caused mainly by the rains that are out of season, we are fine. Our school opened on schedule for the second 3 month term.
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Umugunda

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Umugunda is a very important event in Rwanda. Every last Saturday of the month the government has set aside the morning hours for all citizens to work together in their neighborhood to make it look good. We at Urukundo are a part of that and as a team the work is done well and is fun.
This month was special because four of out toddlers became a part of the team. Vincent and Grace supervised them in their work.

The guards pitch in.

Serephine, Belise & Aline clean up trimmings.

The toddlers join in for their first Umugunda day.

Kenny, Kinela, Agid and Claude part of the team.

Vincent, Grace, Agide, Kinela, Claude, Luki, Neli & another Claude.

Piling trimmings Claude in red and Agide in yellow shirt and tan pants

Filling the bag.

Job finished.

Moving to next clean up area. Can you pick out the toddlers and name them?!

 

Greetings from Mama Arlene in Rwanda for July 2011

Hello from Mama Arlene, Urukundo Village and all its 42 kids. At the end of July all 16 of the kids from King David Academy, Shogwe & Lysee are home and it is a busy place. 
We now have children in three secondary schools. As they finish Senior 3 they move to a school more in keeping with their goals and ambitions.  Birthdays will be honored for July and August with Sumbosa and Fanta. The babies have cake and juice with candles to blow out. Such fun.
July has been blessed with visitors from the US and England and the weather has been wonderful.
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Trip to Akagera National Park

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In May Jan Brown, the Cyakabiri teachers and the girls visited Akagera National Park.   The animals are wonderful and a delight to see.
Not to be outdone by the girls the boys with their benefactor Lisa, our visitors Talia and Nicole and several staff member made the trip also.
Each trip was different and the kids appreciated being invited to go on the 5 hour journey each way.
They packed a lunch and then munched on bananas on the ride home.

It was a long journey and a good time was had by all.

Animals include cape buffalo, warthogs, zebra, water buck mama and calf, impala, giraffe, older male baboon and hippos.

Urukundo Foundation and this mama want to thank both Jan Brown and Lisa Martilotta for giving such a wonderful opportunity to be shared by our children.
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Greetings from Mama Arlene in Rwanda for June 2011

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Greetings from Urukundo Village and from all the kids at Urukundo Home.May, June and July are the dry months in Rwanda but we have had just enough rain to keep our vegetable gardens producing. 

The great news for June is that the  Ruli Public School where our Primary kids attend has been selected by the government to participate in the ONE CHILD ONE LAPTOP program.  Vincent, administrator for Urukundo Home visited the school with the kids and we were given the laptops to bring home for the 10 kids who are in P4,5 & 6.  They are very colorful, light weight and fun to use.
The dining room in the new guest house is perfect for a learning center and it has electricity and wireless. Our children are moving ahead into the computer age.   Without the new house this would not have been possible.  Awesome how God works.
The kids are excited and Lisa Martilotta from Long Island NY a Saturday volunteer for teaching advanced English to our staff has volunteered to teach computer to the kids. She is an excellent teacher and started that very day June 25th teaching computer fundamentals and Internet.  Thank you Lisa.

Reminder

Hey all you wonderful people who never throw anything away! Please look in the attic and see if you have a VHS player stored there just in case some one might need it some day.
This is the day. Urukundo needs a player and if possible a rewinder. Ours has gone bad. We have wonderful tapes.With no way to share them with the children.