Meet The Children

New Arrival

In May we received Eugene (Egade) from the District. He is an abandoned child. His mother tried to drown herself and this precious child. She was pulled out of the water and both were saved but she is mentally not responsible for herself or her child. The District has placed him in our custody.  He is precious and needs a sponsor. Any one interested????
Egade is in the colorful pants. David and Kenlia are his protectors now.
Aline (big girl) and Sarah bonding with Egade.
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Nursery News

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Claudine is walking alone. 

Chairs and two tables were a gift to the Nursery from Helen Kweskin from the US.
Thank you Helen and "one hill at a time" Check out this web site.
Snack time!
Legos and tea party.
You must be under 8 or over 2 1/2 years to be included in this Tea Party. 
Sitting on the floor is a must. This adult does not do that well and only under protest. I get to prepare and serve but am not a guest.

Photographs - January 2011

The memory card for my camera has died so I have no pictures from Urukundo Village to share this month. Luckily, Meredith did get some new pictures of the babies which are posted through this Newsletter.  I think they are great - they make me smile! 

 

Future soccer team for Urukundo Home for Children.

Aline, Molly and Claude.

Aline.

Luki and Claude - potential stars.

Volley Ball - another challenge.

Neighborhood kids join in.

Off to preschool - Claude, Luki and David.

First and Second and Third Graders!

Boys at home.

Girls at home.

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From the Nursery

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 A sand box in Rwanda which we designed ourselves.  Yep, it is made of bricks, sand and cement. 
Now that should be simple - but it is not! Sand comes from water sources like oceans, lakes and rivers. We have none of these close to our mountain.  It was necessary to travel a distance to a small creek and buy bags of dirt called sand here.  The sand used in contruction was too coarse. 
The kids love to play in the sand!  We're also looking at a wading pool which will be constructed along similar lines to the sand box.  Not sure how that will work - but kids love to play in water.
 



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Rocking Chairs a Big Hit

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With the space available in the new nursery, we have room for rocking chairs and I am very happy about that. 
We now have two rocking chairs where this Gram can enjoy holding and comforting babies. We contacted a local carpenter and asked for help. He was not sure he could do what we asked.  The carpenter made the chairs from a picture. Because this was a first try for the carpenter he only charged us 20,000 rwf each ($40 USD).
The chairs need some sanding and have now had safety stops added to the front of the rockers - the trick is to not rock hard and overbalance the chair!
The picture was on this web site - check it out!  This could be a great way to raise funds for us older women. What fun sitting & rocking.
 



Luki going solo.

Claude in the chair - he is adventurous and let us know the danger of rocking too hard.  Leave it to Claude.