A New Sport: "Baseball"

Our kids were again introduced to baseball. Tim Brown first introduced baseball when he brought gloves and a ball last year and now Tracy and Mike have introduced T-ball. The kids loved it but unfortunately we have no equipment. They were on the way to set up a sport center and had to take the equipment along because it was promised. I am sure this is not the end for baseball but Tracy, Mike, our boys couch, Debora, Kofi and baseball.


Just the beginning.



Aline takes a swing. Not bad for a first try.

Meet Meredith, Our Peace Corps Volunteer

Meredith

Meredith comes to Rwanda from Seattle, Washington.
She is one of the first volunteers to return to Rwanda with the Peace Corps after an absence of 15 years. We welcome Peace Corps back to Rwanda and are pleased that Meredith choose Urukundo Home for Children as her second project. Meredith is posted in our sector and has become a member of the Urukundo family.

The Wall is Finished

The safety wall is now finished. It is now safe for Laki and the kids to play in safety. Thank you for helping make this real.

Signs of Our Times

When you come to visit look for the sign. We are now official and the sign points the way from the main road.

A Soccer Team Update

The team is standing at 12 wins and 2 losses. Not bad.



Team and coaches. One key player, John Paul, was not present.

Hope Made Real Vs. the Flu

Wonderful news for everyone: David has recovered from the pneumonia and bronchitis and is full of energy again.

The flu has made its presence known. All the children have been ill this month except for Luki, and he has had the sniffles, so that really does not count I suppose.  Our staff has also been down because of illness.  We had a bad scare when one of our staff tested positive for Malaria and Typhoid.  The test proved to be defective and we breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God.

A Look at What We Accomplished in 2008

An amazing amount was accomplished in 2008.

With your help, Urukundo has acquired the necessary land to construct a home for the boys, a home for the girls, a larger and better kitchen, bought some equipment for our small clinic, purchased 500 layers for egg production, built a house to raise chickens for income, cleared land for a soccer field, and built a very nice guesthouse for teams and individuals who want to come and work with us.

We started on the path to being more self-sustainable by building the chicken farm for eggs. It is not yet paying for itself, but it will soon. We now have a guaranteed market that will buy all our eggs and broilers when we have them. La Galette Bakery and German Butchery is doing this to help our kids. This is a real plus. We have completed a house for broilers to produce more income. We have also acquired a milk cow and two calves. The land we purchased is being farmed to supplement our food needs.

We also made sure the roofs of our children's homes capture the rainwater for our day to day use.

Progress at the Village

The larger kitchen necessary to feed kids and staff is completed. I'll have a picture next month.  We do one project at a time. 

In Our Favor: a New Guest House

John Kayitare, our administrator, his family and the ministry have combined resources and we now have a guest house on site in the Urukundo Village.  It is beautiful.  We  have the facility to care for teams who want to come and help build for the future.  This new home eliminates the rent we paid at the old guesthouse. It also gives visitors more time to be with and get to know our kid.  Make your reservations now.  We look forward to having you.

Progress on the Home for Girls

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The girl's home is still a work in progress. The inside needs shelves, curtains, more tables, etc. The outside needs spouting, a tank to catch and hold water and beautification. God is good and so the girls have a very nice home that will only get better.

Thanks to all who have made this possible.

The Girls Have Moved into Their New Home

Construction on the inside of the girls home is now complete. We finally have glass in the windows and the girls have moved in.  Blankets to cover the windows will work until we get material to make curtains. The windows keep out the mosquitos and the blankets at night give them privacy.

It is beginning to look nice as you can see in the picture, although there is still much work to do on the outside of the building.

It is so wonderful to have a real home for the girls and we thank you all for your support as we create a stable and solid home for our children.

Laundry Day (and a look at how we use our water efficiently)

At Urukundo Village, where the children in our direct care live, we wanted to give you a look not only at Laundry Day in the back yard, but also how we make the most of our resources.  This tank gathers the rainwater from the roof so that every drop we capture gets put to good use and helps us to further make ourselves self-sustainable.

Laundry day in the backyard.