Necessary maintenance

It is always good to be building new structures, but, like any home, there are times it becomes necessary to do repair work. Urukundo is no exception.

Protecting our neighbor and securing the land at the preschool became a big deal. With the heavy rains in the last months, we saw the bank with no retaining wall begin to collapse. Knowing the real danger of the bank collapsing in front of the preschool and doing great damage to our neighbors’ house, we decided maintenance was necessary. Steps to alleviate the problem took place. Retaining walls are so necessary in Rwanda.

Inspection tour or just a nosy old woman wanting to know what is going on. The work went well. The walk (exercise) is good for me.

It was not only necessary to build a new retaining wall, but the deterioration of the bank caused a brick wall to crack and no longer be safe. Repair was not possible. The wall had to be replaced, and a new gate was installed to replace a damaged one. In a short time, the wall would have been gone. A photo for you to see.

A view of where the wall and old gate have been removed.

New gate in place.

Replaced stronger and reinforced inside the wall and sliding gate. Looking good and protecting our school property, our kids and our neighbors. The shutdown was a good time to do this work at the school.

View of the finished wall at the entrance to the Urukundo Learning Center. It really is an improvement.

New gate and new sign. We are proud of our school and want all passersby to know we are here.

Sunflowers thriving

OK, April showers do bring June flowers.

Our sunflowers came a bit late, but they did come. We will have some for seed and some to feed our chickens. There are many flowers even though it does not look much like a uniform garden.

When I lived in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA, my neighbor had a cherry tree. The cherries were beautiful. The birds thought so too. The owner of the tree bought a big net and put it over the tree. This kept the birds from taking his harvest. Well, I kept that in my memory bank and tried to apply it to the field of sunflowers. We have lots of birds who like sunflower seeds. I explained to the farm manager how we could take old mosquito nets and put the fine nets over the large plants keeping the birds from devouring the seeds and still allow the sun to ripen them. We might then have the seeds to feed our chickens. I imagined a net tent made up of old mosquito nets.

Imagine my surprise when I was given this photo of the understanding of covering the flowers

Makes sense but too much work. Guess nature will have to take its own path. We may have fat, healthy wild birds. We also will have seeds for planting and food for chickens. My farm manager has assured me of this.

The Coronavirus and Urukundo

Our timetable for recovery has been a slow but steady one. Rwanda took steps very early in February to detect anyone coming into the country carrying this nasty virus. In March, the airport closed for all but a few flights coming in and going out. Kyle Jerro, an advisor to the board of Hope Made Real International, and Carol Falke,the board president, were able to catch two of the last flights out.

Kyle to the UK.

And Carol to the USA

On March 21, Urukundo went into lockdown with our university kids and Claude in secondary school coming home. All seven are still home waiting for the travel ban to be lifted. That is scheduled to happen June 1.

We remained in total lockdown until the middle of April when handing baby layettes out the gate for newborns became possible. But still in isolation.

May 1 was the first date for partial opening. At this time, travel was opened but only inside each province. Distancing is to be maintained, and masks must be worn in public.

Our sewing school made masks and distributed them in the compound and to neighbors

Our teacher Theresa models a mask.

No public transportation. Motos and bicycles could be used for transportation of merchandise but not people.

May 16 brought another change. We could now deliver baby gifts to the mamas at the birthing center, observing the center’s rules of conduct. Needed employees were allowed to come back to work. The daycare, church and school remained closed.

I remained in isolation until May 10. It was my delight to be able to walk the compound and on the road in front of my home, wearing a mask.

Weather report

The saying is: April showers bring May flowers. Not so in Rwanda. The rain storms this month have been terrible. They are much worse than usual, and usual was bad enough.

We have not had a total dry season for about a year and Africa's weather has changed so much. Climate change is very evident. It is a bit confusing for the farm people. When to plant is the question. Heavy rain washes away the seeds.

With all the thunder and lightning, I appreciate our donors who sent money for us to erect lightning arrestors at the school and in the village. Those arrestors have saved lives not only for Urukundo but for the community. The land of a thousand hills is lovely but dangerous if there is no protection from electrical storms.

Mudslides from the rainstorms have destroyed many homes, taken many lives and in some cases washed away whole villages. Many of our staff have had home damage (Pastor Yves for one). Mud bricks are susceptible to rain. They’re somewhat like sugar cubes being exposed to drops of water over an extended period of time. Slowly, slowly they dissolve. Best description I can think of.

The US embassy warned of heavy rainstorms on April 18,19 and 20. They were right. These storms have continued. We have dug deep ditches and tried to accommodate excessive runoff to protect the village. The plan was for the water to run past my house to the main road where drainage was available. It did not go past my house. Instead, the deluge was aimed at my house. My home had not been in jeopardy before, but by taking steps to protect Urukundo Village, it was.

The first storm came at night. Lying in my bed, listening to the thunder and watching a late night lightning show is intimidating. The flashes lit up the room. It was like someone was turning off and on a huge flashlight. I am not afraid of thunder. It is a big noise. Am I afraid of lightning? Of course, I am. The two go together.

The second storm was even worse than the first. There was rain, tons of groundwater, heavy wind, lightning bolts and strikes, loud thunder and no visibility. The area around my house was a raging river. My front yard was a boiling lake. I have experienced floods in the USA, but from creeks rising, giving time to evacuate and not from water pouring down from the top of a mountain with no warning. This was different. Neither are any fun, and both are lots of cleanup work.

Progress is being made.

After the first storm, it was necessary to protect the foundation of my home and guest house. To provide an outlet for the water, it was necessary to remove some of the cement blocking the flow. Digging a ditch to connect our excess water to the drainage ditch along the main road required a ditch alongside my driveway. Let's hope it works.

Out my bedroom window. Day worker working hard.

Well, guess what didn’t work. Surprise, surprise.

The protection needed to be expanded. Benjamin and two workers, allowed by the village leader even with the distance rule, extended the ditch directing the water away from my house. Pickaxe, shovel, wheelbarrow and a lot of muscle are what it took to divert the stormwater away from my house.

Latest version of the ditch on April 25.

At the top of the steps lies the garden that flooded earlier. All water at the upper level and the top of the mountain now will travel the new ditch and pass by the red ledge corner of my house and into the drainage ditch at the road.

This one worked.

Storms continued beyond the embassy’s forecast, but now the water bypasses my house. I thank God for the workers who tirelessly continue working to keep me safe from mudslides, floods and the Pandemic virus.

Gift of love

Living in quarantine has been very lonely for me as a people person. Easter Sunday morning found me more than a bit depressed.

On my shelf beckoning to me was a colorful shawl. I felt a chill. I reached out my hand and wrapped the shawl around my body. The warmth I felt was enriched by the message on the tag: “It is our prayer you may feel the grace and peace of God’s ever-present love.”

I needed that message. I send this message to all of you who are feeling alone and wounded. We are never alone as long as there is love to share.

Kids play

With the government-required shutdown, life for kids at Urukundo is different.

December 2019: Ready to play basketball. Aline, David, Claude and Soso. Good friends.

December 2019: Our secondary kids were home. All from different schools. It was good to be together again and to play together. Looking forward to April 2020 and normal school recess.

Shirt is the only thing that stayed the same. David wears it here.

April 2020 is different. One big field, one alone boy. Where are my friends? So sad.

David’s shirt in December 2019 is on Claude in April 2020.

Couldn’t have planned it.

Basketball one-on-one can be fun, but only one is no fun.

What does a short guy do? Just ask Soso. He could pretend he is tall. Well, that does not work so well. Pretending does not make it so.

Claudine joins Claude. OK, two are better than one with a basketball.

Hand washing

While most employees are laid off, some are living at home and coming to work, covering their shift while using protective measures. Ten employees are staying on campus full-time.

Anyone coming in at the gate must wash their hands.

Good old soap and water.

Two methods. Both work.

Construction

How do you move a pile of rocks in a construction project at Urukundo?

These women have it under control.

Not an easy job.
After building a wall, what do we use these smaller chipped rocks for?

We use them as a base for the floor in the new classrooms. Nothing is wasted, not even chips of stones.

Visitors of the month

Pastor Alexis Nzabonimpa and his wife, Pastor Delphine, live in Kigali. They have been long associated with Urukundo. In 2006, both lived and worked at Urukundo.

During their time with us, they visited the farm and were greeted by our rather large mama pig.

Carol and newborn baby girl

Wells Spring Academy’s third-grade students visited third-grade students at Urukundo Learning
Center.

Teachers exchanged ideas. Urukundo teachers are in the white coats.

Kids enjoyed a snack of banana bread and juice. The merry-go-round and slides were great fun.