Her name is Abigal. Abigal comes to work with us from Kenya. She is a teacher in our Preschool and she lives in Urukundo Village.
Gathering for practice.
Abigal works with the children teaching new songs and special activities.
Sports at Urukundo
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.
Agriculture in Rwanda
How many of you have a banana tree with bananas on it in your front yard? Well I do. These are the little bananas that taste as sweet as a candy bar. The purple pod at the bottom of the hand is the seed but you do not plant the pod. New trees come up from the root and grow as the bananas ripen. FYI: A banana tree only produces fruit one time and then the tree dies and the shoot takes its place. This process takes two years. Maybe that is more information than you need to know, but I find it interesting and worth telling you about!
Greetings from Urukundo Village - April 2014
April is a very happy month for Urukundo and for me. My kids are home from boarding school and Urukundo village is alive with activity of a different sort. Teenagers do make a distinctive noise!
THE CHILDRENS FARM
Meet Charlie goat and his companion Matilda.
Matilda
Charlie and Matilda are milk producing goats. Well, maybe Charlie doesn’t produce milk but he and Matilda together produce babies and if they are girls they will produce milk. We are moving away from goats for meat only toward goats for milk and milk products. This is new and rather interseting. I did not know there was a difference. I learn something new every day.
Enjoy our newsletter this month, and the updates on our all our education initiatives. It is my hope that many will come on board and help build our school, keep the dental program going and encourage education for needy children in Rwanda. Gifts can be any size. There is no such thing as a small gift. Funds are needed and much appreciated.
You can donate online, or by check to the address below:
HMR
Po Box 3222
Williamsport Pa. 17701
USA
Thank you for your prayers and support.
Mama Arlene
Building Primary Three
I sent out an appeal for stones and sand to prepare a foundation for Primary 3, the next step in completing a primary school for Urukundo Learning Center. We need many stones for this two-story building. It is much different for a two-story building, saving land space, than for a one-story building. This finished building will house P3, P4, P5, P6, and two classrooms each. Once the foundation is laid we can build one section at a time.
Building P3 is now our priority. In order to meet Government regulations we will build upstairs and downstairs classrooms a section at a time, making the downstairs classrooms handicap accessible.
Some funds have come and we thank you who took this need seriously. We have 3 loads of stones and need 20 more. A $50 gift can pay for a load of stones. A $25 gift can pay for a load of sand needed as fill for the stones and to mix with the cement to make the foundation solid.
The foundation is large, covering an extensive piece of land. When completed, with the classrooms we have already built, it will house our entire Primary school including offices for the school and administration.
Dental Initiative
We are so grateful to all the dentists out there who contributed to make this much needed service available at Urukundo Village.
Our first day we scanned 85 children from Urukundo Primary School. 55 needed dental attention and 29 of the 55 needed urgent care.
Notices were sent home to the parents of all children seen. Follow up calls were made.
Saturday March 1st 29 were seen with their parents.
Saturday March 15th 33 were seen with parents.
Parents and children sitting on benches on the porch of the Girls' House waiting their turn.
Little benches outside the Tiki Hut, our dental workstation.
How do you like the grass roof? We really need to get a new roof, but I think this one adds character. What do you all think?
Dentist, Dad and patient.
Dentist, Mom and another patient.
Most times the parents are more anxious than the kids.
Saturday March 22,2014
After covering the Home and school we are opening care and treatment to the children and adults in the community.
Our continuing need is funding for Novocain, Amoxicillin to fight infection after extractions, Ibuprofen for pain and sterile gloves. These can be purchased in Kigali Town as needed.
On Feb 28 our Dentist spent an afternoon explaining and demonstrating dental hygiene to the Primary classes. Our Dental Initiative is an all-inclusive program.
Toothbrushes, toothpaste and smiling kids!
The Cutter
Putting it together.
When grass is high I fear snakes, and high grass is hard to play soccer on. Thanks to a good friend we now have a cutter. You may think of it as a weed whacker but believe me it does more than just cut weeds. We now are able to walk everywhere in short grass. Praise God.
The Farm
Planting & Harvesting
December is when our gardens grow. This year the rains have been perfect. A beautiful lush green picture which has been hard work but worth every second.
Kitchen Garden cabbage this year. We rotate crops. Most of our seeds for this planting came from friends in New Ringgold PA and we are very grateful!
Corn & beans
Flowers make the gardens even more lovely.
The Animals
Our papa pig did a fine job. Mama gave birth to 9 babies.
Christmas at Urukundo
Sharing Christmas with the kids from the neighborhood was awesome.
I had the usual qualms. What if nobody comes? I need not have worried. Over 150 kids from the very youngest up to secondary school age arrived. The little ones learned to play HOT POTATO & DROP THE HANDKERCHIEF and the big kids played football, basketball and volley ball.
Cookies and juice were served, lolly pops and a small gift was given to every child under 12. A chocolate was given to the older kids after cookies and juice. Chocolate is a special treat here.
From the youngest to the oldest all had a good time.
Gifts for the children from the community. Not enough so many received a packet of cookies. Next year we will
prepare more.
Vitamin Time
How exciting to get up in the morning and eat a Lion, Hippo or an Elephant, all in different flavors and then to get a hug from Mama!
A great way to start a day for the kids and for me.
I think the very best news are the facts. Thanks to all of you who collected vitamins and sent then, and to those who gave them to me to bring home in my luggage. It is gratifying to see results when you and I have put forth a combined effort. I am so happy to share with you who helped us with Vitamins.
THE EVENT.
The kids come to my room every morning. This is a two-fold blessing. They come for VITAMINS and I get to check on each of them. Our children are doing well. We have fewer colds, runny noses and sick days. We are passing through the second rainy season and I am sure it is the vitamins that are making the difference.
Pictured below is the check off book. Each child's name is in the book and I keep a record each day as to who got their vitamin. With 20 kids and one Mama it is not possible to remember who did or did not get the vitamin so Mama's book and Janet's pen are vital to the process. Each kid has his favorite animal and would gladly have more than one vitamin a day just to eat the animal!
What a surprise for me to discover the vitamins are animals the kids know live in Africa.
During my visit in Williamsport my daughter-in-law Janet gave me a flowered pen. The kids loved the pen and it is the only one used to mark off who got the vitamins. Not only do they bring the vitamin bottle to me but they also bring the book and Janet's pen. The kids know where their name is in the book. Thank you Janet the pen is great fun.No More Candles
A near tragedy and our eyes were opened to how dangerous candles are.
We have been using candles when the electricity goes out from the very beginning at Urukundo. The electricity goes out most every day for a time and that time is usually at the evening meal. Since it is dark by 6 pm and dinner is 6:30 pm, light is necessary for the kids to see to eat. It was time for devotions so I walked up to the homes. The children were still in the dining room - the lights were out and candles were lit. The first thing I saw was 6 year old Nelly holding a burning candle and trying to get it to stand up. This apparently is not unusual because no Mama paid attention. I went to Nelly and took the burning candle from her, and told her how dangerous it was. While I talked to Nelly, Becca, a four year old took a lit candle from the table without being observed since the lighting was very poor.
She went into the little girls' bedroom. We heard a scream and thank God she had not closed the door. She had set a box of papers on fire. Flames were shooting up. Becca was screaming. The mamas handled the fire well before it got out of hand while I took care of a frightened Becca. The point is it never should have happened. If the blankets, curtains or her clothes had caught fire it would have been a tragedy I could not live with.
That night was a warning. There will be no more candles used in our compound.
Our friends THE WILLIAMS FAMILY from Michigan some time ago started a solar light business in Kigali. They had given us some for free and some at a discount. We used them in our guest rooms and each night guard had one. The Boys' Home had one and there was one in the Girls' Home but they did not keep them charged. The nursery had one but did not know where it was. Why did I not think about the dining room? Our eyes were opened and each table in the dining room will have two and every room in the kids house will have one, thanks to an appeal to HMR's board of directors. They really came through and the kids will no longer be in danger from burning candles.
Our need was for K-lights for the dining room. These are the solar lights available to us here in Kigali City.
They are also for sale in the US and work better than flashlights that need batteries.
Day to Day at Urukundo
Doing laundry - every day is laundry day!
Mixing sand and cement, for construction projects like the basket ball/volley ball court.
Loading the wheelbarrow.
Cutting firewood.
Chopping cow grass for the animals.