Meet The Children

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Greetings from Urukundo Village - August 2014

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Hello from Urukundo

August has been very busy. Our kids out of school, visitors from abroad, construction for the nursery and dental initiative. There was just a lot going on.

Arlene's Advice

I would give  this advice.  Do not eat papaya like cantaloupe, and do not eat peanuts before your stomach is recovered from excess papaya. If this is not clear, drop me an email and I will expound on the subject.

Lesson Learned.

OUR SECONDARY KIDS

Having the big brothers and sisters was very exciting for the little kids and for me. It is really a fun school vacation time. Even though they study during the time it is more relaxed.  They take part in the evening devotions and play with the little ones at Hope House.

Our Photo Shoot for August.  Secondary Students, some not all. How they have grown! All are now taller than me and better looking. Abis second year secondary.

Lucie our candidate for the ministry. She graduates from Secondary (High School) this year. Her goal is to be a pastor.

Divine

Amin

Claude

Esperance

Immanuel

Bosco

Cecelia

Jason

He does not expect to graduate from Secondary School until 2032. Please be there for him.

Feast

A pretend cooking event and a great imagination is all it takes to have a wonderful meal on the bottom of mama’s bed.

Matt our visitor heard me say the girls had only 2 cups and a tiny teapot to have pretend tea parties. He presented the kids with a set of pots, pans and fruits that they could play with. What a wonderful gift. Now I am served strawberries, bananas, grapes and cabbage on a little plate and I pretend to stuff myself with the wonderful fruit. It is a great diet for losing weight.

Amin

Amin is in Culinary school.

We appreciated his help in the kitchen during the Holiday. He also returned to school on the 11th of August. The kitchen staff hated to see him go. At the end of this term he will serve an apprenticeship at a local hotel. Where is yet to be decided. He then will have the opportunity to work at Urukundo with the kitchen staff to give him experience.

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Three Choirs and a Trio

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All three singing groups are Urukundo Kids. This event only happens during school breaks. It's a concert of the best kind. Soso is dressed for Alaska I think!

Precious Gems - 5 & under

Urukundo Kids 6 & up

Urukundo Teens Choir made up of secondary kids home for the holiday.

Trio: Tresor, Divine, Anitha. With accompanist Lennart Westmark from Germany

The music was spectacular.

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Newsletter for July

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Saturday Morning at Urukundo Home is special. There is no school so the children have an extra hour of sleep and then gather outside for breakfast.

I am sending you an invitation to join the children for a breakfast of porridge and chapati on the porch at the Girl’s House.

Jacob likes Chapati too.

Cups hold porridge.

You met Josh and Audrey from Canada in the June Newsletter.  Their visit extended into July.

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Greetings from Urukundo Village - June 2014

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May used to be the beginning of a dry period in Rwanda. Now it starts in June. Could this be “global warming"?

This has been a tough month for me starting with what I thought was a cold.  It turned out to be an allergy complicated by all the symptoms related to the not so common cold. Never having had an allergy I had no idea you could get so sick.

I spent most of June in my room managing Urukundo from my desk and bed. I am a hands-on person so this was not easy but the Urukundo staff were great. Things ran smoothly much to my surprise and pleasure.

Photo Shoot

Rebecca

Claude

Johnny

Soso

Yves

Kaboss

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Sports at Urukundo

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KARATE:

There are 20 kids in the Saturday morning Karate class.  9 are our kids, 11 are from the community and the group comprises both boys & girls. It is awesome to watch these kids and the master at work. It is work with dedication.

Our 5 first and 4 second graders love karate!

When the team is ready they will compete with other teams of their age.

Our master teaches as a volunteer. 

We could not afford ready-made uniforms from stores in Kigali town so our Sewing Center took a pattern, bought material and made uniforms. They are great. Good work, sewing students!  These uniforms are also available to the neighborhood parents. They can buy them for their kids at an affordable price.

I think the kids look great - comments from our readers are appreciated!

One of the neighborhood kids has a yellow belt. I'm not sure what that means in terms of advancement for children even though my son Ted is a black belt!

Volunteer Master & kids: Pete in a brown belt. He is very good with the kids.