Planting Crops, Gifts from a Marriage, and a Cow Named "Flower"

An Experimental Seed Garden




After trying our patience, the rains have finally started and so is my first American seed garden. This is an experimental garden and, yes, I got down on my knees in the soil and planted the seeds. A young woman helped me and thought the way I planted my seeds was very strange. Next month's update will bring with it news as to whether this little experiment is successful.

A Gift of Trees


Talking about gifts from God. Hope, a house mother at the boy's home, told a family member we were having a hard time getting timbers for building our roof. Trees are scarce here. He called and gave us 300 trees from his property and will help pay the labor to have the trees harvested and prepared for our use.

A Gift of a Cow Named "Flower"



As you may remember, last month Mary Claire, one of our first mama's, was married. Well, in Rwanda, they still practice the tradition of a dowry, and as such, Claire's parents were given two cows. Claire's parents consider us family as well. They brought us gifts here at the village. We were given a large mat woven by hand, two cases of Fanta, a beautiful wooden lidded bowl filled with candy, and lastly and most importantly, a cow named Flower. What a wonderful gift.



The cow is young but a very good breed and will give us a calf and much milk in the future. Out of materials we had on hand we were able to build her a house with enough space for a second cow and a baby calf. We are expecting a second cow from the kind delegates of People to People who visited us in August. That cow will be fresh and will have milk for our baby David.

An Update on David, Our Beautiful Baby



You may remember that last month a baby was found by the side of a road and was brought to us for help.

Well, we're happy to tell you all that at three months old, David is growing strong.  He is lifting his head and focusing his eyes.  He is responding when talked to and putting his body weight on his legs.

This is a different culture and many of the beliefs in Rwanda are quite different from what I practiced in raising my own children in the United States.

Babies are generally kept on their mothers backs and do not learn to look around, sit up, or use their legs until much later in their development.  They are never put on the floor or laid on their stomachs and so do not learn to crawl or to roll over.  Mothers even carry their babies tied to their backs at all times.  Can you imagine working in a field for hours with one of our very active 6 month old children tied to your back? (With a cover over their heads to protect them from the sun of course.)

The mamas here are shocked because I encourage David to grab my hands and pull, sit up and stand with my help.  They say David is too young for such things, but I know that David is strong because of my ways.  Changes may come slowly for mothers and babies, but as things get better in Rwanda, parents will hopefully not have to completely care for their babies and do hard labor at the same time.   Our David will be part of both our cultures, and will a stronger person for it.



David being held by Divine (Our Visitor to America)

Our First Marriage in the Urukundo Family



We have had our first wedding in the Urukundo family! Mary Claire, one of our first mamas, is a beautiful bride, and her new husband a handsome young man.  Mary Claire is now a student at Butare University thanks to her sponsors at Wesley UMC in Bethlehem, Pa. Because of their kindness, this young woman will have a brighter future.

She intends to finish her education and return to Urukundo to return the love that has been shown to her.

Introducing Dr. Jean Bosco and Our Medical Wishlist

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Dr. Jean Bosco is a nurse 1. He can prescribe medicine and do minor surgery. We are blessed that he has chosen to work in Christian ministry and work with Urukundo in our clinic. This past week two visitors from a clinic in Ruhungeri came to see what we were doing and were amazed that we had a Nurse 1. Theirs is a clinic in operation to the community in the north and they do not have a nurse 1. It made me stop and thank our God for Dr. Jean Bosco.

We visited a clinic in another location and witnessed all the medical supplies they had that we needed. This examining table with steps is on our wish list.



It is home made and we can get it here. Our clinic really needs everything but this would be a start.

Our Tiki Hut Brings Us Together

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Since the girl's home is still under construction, we had been struggling for some time because we wanted our kids to worship together and transport was a problem.  Living in two different places poses it's challenges.  One day we will have a chapel at Urukundo Village, but until that day our eyes were opened to the beautiful little Tiki Hut in our garden just below where the boys home is and we are building the girls home.  It was built as a resting place and is in such a beautiful setting. All around is the beauty of the earth. Our Tiki Hut Worship Center is now where our children gather.  It is small but there is always room for others.
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A Look Ahead at Our Future Plans

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I want to share with with our future plans for building a life here for these children that will see them into their future.  Our plans are to one day build a Chapel, a Clinic for the community and our kids, a Nursery School for working parents with small children, An English Primary and Secondary School where English and Kinyarwanda will be the working language, two more homes for Orphans and a home for Street Kids needing a place of refuge.  It may sound like a lot, but look how far we have come.  There is much work to be done and teams are needed and welcome.  Anything you can do to help us in restoring this wounded part of the world is appreciated.
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How do you say no when God sends a baby?

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Surprises come every day here at Urukundo Home for Children and in the month of July we were presented with a great challenge.

This baby was thrown away. No father, no mother, and no name. Just a child of God. He was found in the bush and brought to us by the police asking us to care for this two-month-old baby.



He is very special as he now has a family of 38 brothers and sisters, a mama (me) and a papa (John) who love him very much.  We are not set up for a two-month-old child, but we have the most important thing a child needs: lots of love.  Keep us in your hopes and prayers as we take on another challenge in the children God places in our lives.

Realizing the Need and Stepping up to the Challenge

It is clear to us now that this will not be the last thrown-away child that will come to us.  So we will need to plan for the future of a nursery with a mama and those things needed to care for infants.  Most of the things we need, like diapers, cribs, blankets and clothes, can be purchased here.  I guess the bottom line is that we need the money to buy the things that all babies need and to build a home to care for them.



We can give these babies a future.  I am praying someone or a group of someones will want to help us build the house for babies thrown away because a mother can't take care of them and survival is the key.

Please pray for this child's mother. She must have struggled for two months to care for her baby and could not. I do not know her circumstances, so I do not judge her. I just know how heartbreaking it must be to know that if you keep your child, it will die, and to throw it away may give it a chance for a better life.
I am thinking that this is another reason why God has been so faithful to the work of Hope Made Real. We serve in mission and serve children.

We have named him David Chad Kayitare. Yes, John and Hope have shared their last Name with him.

With this child's arrival comes another: we have found a young woman who is an orphan of the genocide and needs a home and some little money to live.  She is now the mama for David as she will be caring for our new child, bringing two together and helping restore the families and communities of Rwanda.

God gives us so much and expects much in return.  Join us in celebrating this new child in our midst.

Our Visitors in July from Pennsylvania, Vermont, and the United States Senate

We would like to thank our fantastic visitors in July from Pennsylvania, Rev. David Shultz and his son Chad, and our hard-working visitors from Vermont, counsins Kyle Arnold and Olivia Shumlin.  They worked very hard and made a real difference while they were here.  Check out the picture gallery to see their work on the girl's home and a road for the village.

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A Visit From Three US Senators

We were honored to meet with Senators Tom Daschle, Mike Huckabee, and Bill Frist.  Unfortunately, we did not have a camera on hand, but I was able to have conversation with all three Senators on a one-on-one basis and to tell them about Urukundo Home for Children and give them the business card for Hope Made Real.  I do not know what will come of this, but it was good to meet with them.

Progress on the Girl's Home: Building the Roof

Progress on the girl's home continues with the beginning of a roof.  It's remarkable how quickly it is coming together as you can see the last few months progress on the girl's home here for comparison.  It looks like our girls will have their new home as soon as November.



We have been able to hire four young students who are working during the holiday between trimesters.  Not only does this help us get the girl's home done faster, but it helps them earn money for secondary school, improving themselves and the community.

Farming and Weather



The weather continues to be unpredictable in Rwanda.  It is unusual to have rain in July, but it is happening. I am looking forward to September when we will plant our first real garden on our own land.  How wonderful. The land is cleared, leveled and is getting filled.  It will take a lot more fill before it is ready for planting but the soil is rich.

Half of it will be American and the rest Rwandan. We have seeds from America and are going to experiment with them. Lettuce, radishes, peas, carrots, cucumbers, squash, etc. This month, August, I will start tomato and pepper plants. Three months from planting to harvest does not seem like enough time for these vegetables to mature. We’ll see. The best part of all this gardening is I can supervise but fortunately don’t have to do the work nor pull weeds.

Donna Doutt, Presbytery Kiskiminetas, from Yatesboro, Pennsylvania is sending us Mammoth Russian Sun Flower seeds to experiment with. These flowers could give us chicken feed.  Whether a success or a failure, I will send you pictures so you can see how our experiment goes.  This work really is fueled by your ideas and efforts, so our thanks is extended to Donna and all others for their great work.

Meet Jean Paul Nziyumanganya

Meet Jean Paul Nziyumanganya

We have a new boy, bringing our total number of boys to fourteen.

Jean Paul Nziyumanganya is fourteen years old.  He is in Primary 5 and a handsome young man.  His voice is currently changing.  I can hear it when he takes part in the song before meals and I smile.  I remember my boys during this time in their struggles to become men.

His father is unknown.  His mother abandoned him when he was 2 years old.  His caretaker was an uncle or neighbor who can no longer care for this boy.  He came to me on our road and spoke in a broken English “I am orphan.  I want to live with you.”  He was brave to do that and that kind of faith needs rewarding.  We have gone through the process and now we have legal custody and he is ours and has a home and a family who love him.  He is showing leadership ability with the younger kids and our little girls think he is the perfect big brother.  His goal is “to become a doctor for children.”  He is a happy boy and a very positive addition to our family.