Urukundo Village

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Library

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Preschool and Primary 1 shelf.

This bright attractive shelf greets the little ones as they come in the door. The books are books they can take from the shelves and set on the mat and enjoy. It is great to have books and nobody keeps saying 'don’t tear the pages!'  They will learn this in time. Our books are in Kinyarwanda and English.

On our wall a map of the world. Luki is showing you were we live. My, how that boy has grown.The Bible & religions of the world section is for children and adults.  Even though Christmas is over, Claude and Luki found a new book about Christmas they had not seen before. It was a two part play and the boys think it would be a good play for next year and on our new stage. They never cease to surprise me and please me very much.

Luki introduces the library to Amie, his good friend from the community. Amie and others spend a lot of time playing with Urukundo kids.Trying to get a better picture we tried to cover the window with a sheet. It did not work well. Ok so I am not the best photographer. The Head teacher Irene is trying to help. He is a bit taller than me.

The books on the first shelf include geography, science books and books about animals. Not to be confused with story books with animal characters. Books on the shelf below the globe are adult books left here by visitors and chapter books for kids in P3 and above.  These shelves have two sides.Not sure what happened to my camera but the art room sure looks sad. It really is a bright, beautiful room with a sink for washing up after making a creative mess!

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Project with a Purpose

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Serious work has started on the MOM & BABY LOVE HOUSE.

It gives a new meaning the term RAISING THE ROOF. The celling was two low for the cabinet we needed to move into the room so in Urukundo you look for a shorter cabinet you just raise the celling thus raise the roof. It is amazing the difference in your prospective when you don’t have funds to just go out and buy new but you adjust to fit what you have. We already had the bricks from renovation the other house and labor and cement for the project cost less than a new cabinet and finding what to do with the old one still in good shape.

The house as a guest house and house for the older girls on holiday. Can’t wait to see what it will look like next month. There will be more update on this project as it moves along.

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Last but not Least

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Thanks to a generous patron of Urukundo we have a new car. Ok so it is not new but it is newer than the one we had that was making every trip to Kigali a trip filled with fear and trembling.

Our good friend rode in the car and said this car won’t last much longer. Before you are let stranded on the mountain let me help you get a better vehicle. He did and this is it.

It carries 9 passengers without luggage and 5 with luggage in the boot.

It is beautiful. It has a running board (for you who do not remember cars with a running board) A step up before stepping into the front seat. As I am finding out I really appreciate that little step up. I also like the hand holds to grab to get you inside.

We are so blessed at Urukundo to have such good friends. Thank you God.

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December Newsletter

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It is hard to believe another year has come and gone. 2014 was a good year for Urukundo. The farm is doing well, the gardens produced; The Urukundo Learning Center now has 384 students. We have 54 employees and 3 more were added to our teaching staff.  Three babies came to live with us and be a part of our family.  70 children graduated from Kindergarten, one finished Primary School and five graduated from Secondary School. We had one graduate from University. All in all It has been a very good year.

Shelling beans.

Harvest time at Urukundo. Mamas and children work together. I take pictures. Even the 2 year olds get involved.

Soso is very proud of his work. Good job Soso.

Kitchen manager Cecelia in orange and Delphine, our Home Manager, show the way.

Libby, Chantel and Anithia lend a helping hand. It is a big job.

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Progress Report

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In November’s newsletter I shared with you the joy a gift from a dear friend REV. MARJORIE GLASCOW after she departed this life made and how it allowed another HOPE to be MADE REAL.

Pictures of the house and the land purchased from the gift she wished Urukundo to receive are in November’s newsletter. 

Renovation to make the house part of the school started at once.

The HOUSE OF CULTURE will soon be a reality.

The Inspection Team.

General Foreman: Mr. David.

LANCE GASKILL Our music & Art consultant.

Day two. Outside walls came down.

Bricks are salvaged for later use. Claude is foreman on this job.

Olivier hard at work.

Tresor and John Paul are good at demolition on the wall.  We are blessed with young men who are not afraid of hard work.

Luki joined the brick brigade.

Holes began to appear and the dust was awful. Facemasks were borrowed from the Dental Imitative.  This sure helped the breathing problem.

Bathrooms dismantled.

The work goes on. More in the January Newsletter.

Dental Initiative Report and Reliable Electricity

Have you ever experienced this? You are at the dentist. Sitting in the chair having a cavity in your molar repaired and the electricity goes out. You wait for four hours for the electricity to come back on so the dentist can finish the job and you can go home.  Not at all a pleasant experience but it can and did happen here. Is there a solution? Yes there is.

THANKS TO A GENEROUS DONOR.

This yellow container (a generator!) cured the problem. Our dental patients no longer have to be concerned about the loss of electricity. Thanks to a gift from a mission-minded person we now have a generator that comes on when the electricity goes out so that work can continue. The generator serves multiple purposes. It is big enough to supply emergency electricity to the farm, kitchen, children’s homes, Nursery, and residence. What a blessing.

The electricity goes off in our area between 6 and 9 pm on a regular basis. These are the dark hours in Urukundo Village. Daylight is gone.

6:30 is also the exact time the evening meal is served to the children. Eating by candlelight or flashlight may be romantic in some cultures but for little kids it is no fun.  The generator is set up to provide cover for the essential buildings. The houses where the children eat and play and have devotions in the evenings are included in the network. Thanks to this wonderful gift our children no longer eat and spend the evening in darkness. Because of our supportive friends in Rotary dependable light has come in to our lives.

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Changes at Urukundo Village

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Maggie who was coordinator for our school is now a businesswoman. She has opened a shop where she hopes to start a career that will provide a wage for herself and her child.

Maggie goes from being an employee to working at Urukundo Village as a volunteer. It is good to know we are not losing Maggie because she is loved by the children and will continue to work with them.

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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.

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Drying Dishes

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The first Dish dryer, given to us by God. Not electric but very effective.

Wash, rinse and place on the platform for the sun to do the rest.

The Sun

Clothes dryer.  Lines and fences work just fine but bushes also are a drying option.

Not better than a washing machine but then there's no breakdown when the electricity is turned off. This is an all day job every day but Sunday.

We also have a medium sized electric Dryer for drying baby clothes and school uniforms during the rainy season. The dryer was a gift from a friend from United Christian Parish in Reston, Virginia, USA.

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New Construction

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As promised, construction is completed except for re-attaching the gutters.

I want to thank our donors for their help in developing this project.

What started as a project to replace the Nursery bathroom has been enlarged to include two teaching rooms and an office for dentistry. 

Reception area.

New Dental Office.

Class rooms with new PCs and a printer. A gift from European Union Organization.

New bathroom for the nursery.