Visitors for February, 2009

Molly Treynor  from Maumee, Ohio has come on and extended mission trip.

Kathleen Fleming from Vancouver British Columbia arrived for a 3 month stay. Kathleen and her friends in Canada presented Urukundo with money needed to construct a waterline for our village.  That water line is in place. Thank you Kathleen and friends.

Brittney Merryweather also from Vancouver spent a month getting to know Urukundo and has now moved to Kigali where she is working with a school getting even more experience for her future goals.

Pictures for these visitors will, I hope, appear in a future newsletter.

Our First Month of the New Year

Greetings and best wishes for the new year 2009. The new year came in with a bang and not all of it good. We have been victimized with an enemy known in the US as "the flu." It has gone through the kids and some of the staff. So far it has not found me. I hope it does not. I am so grateful for the vitamins we have received and are giving to the kids every day. I am sure it would have been much worse had the kids not been in good health. David has had the worst time. We took him to Dr. Theo yesterday and he has developed Pneumonia and Bronchitis. Please pray for him and all the kids.

- mama Arlene

Our Secondary School Kids

Our kids did exceptionally well on the National Exams. The extra study time with a teacher in the evenings payed off. They are very pleased and the younger kids now know how important those evening classes are.

Secondary school is equivalent to High School in the United States.  Going away from home is always scary and it is no different for the 7 kids from our family. Secondary school is a boarding school. King David Academy, a school in Kigali, has accepted to take our kids at a reduced rate because we are a home for orphans and abandoned children. We are blessed as we could not send the kids to a better school nor could we afford the full tuition cost.

Leaving them there was difficult and the first week they all wanted to come home. It is better now, but the food is not as good as home. Sound familiar?

Divine, Anett, Esperance, Lucie, Penina, Alexandre, and Tresard Divine, Anett, Esperance, Lucie, Penina, Alexandre, and Tresard

An Update on Turkey Time

Well, as you all know it was my desire to have all white turkeys on the farm. Too that end we bought a white Tom for breeding with the white hen. I also bought a black Tom and several hens to be our Christmas dinner. Sounded like a good plan.

Didn't work.

The day before Christmas I sent word to the farm manager to slaughter three turkeys for the Christmas dinner and he did as directed. However he wanted me to have the biggest turkey for our dinner and so the white tom was selected and is no more. Needless to say Christmas dinner was not good for me. The kids had no such problem and enjoyed the meat very much.

Our turkey population is growing as we now have 6 chicks hatched from our own eggs and I hope one of them is a white Tom. We shall see.

Next Project in the Vision: Education

Ed Keller & Sandy Walker from Bloomsburg, PA along with two of our boys break ground
Ed Keller & Sandy Walker from Bloomsburg, Pa along with two of our boys break ground for the first class room in our efforts to build a school for our kids and the community.  This first building will be our first attempt at a two story building. (need prayers). 

The first floor will be a class room for English as a second language.  English is now the preferred language in Rwanda.  The second floor will have two rooms one will house a library, the second a Computer Learning Center.  All necessary for the future of the kids and the community.   

Progress so far: The foundation must be strong and deep. Progress so far: The foundation must be strong and deep.



If your interest rests in Education come and help build and support this project with gifts as you can. We need partners to help us grow. Short term and long term visitors are welcome.


In Our Favor: a New Guest House

The 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.

Our first Scholarships for 2009

I am preparing an end of the year report and will send that progress report in January 2009, but for now December has been a wonderful month at Urukundo village.

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We are able to award sponsorships for education in a new neighborhood of children.

Johnny, a youth leader in our area and two mothers receiving the scholarship gift. 26 kids in this poor community will attend primary school 2009. We are making a difference.

We are very close to reaching our goal of 300 orphans and poor children living in South Province and Kigali City. I am sure those gifts are on the way. I will be pleased to announce our success in the progress report in January which should be finished soon.

We have posted many pictures on the web site. These kids are a few more and the caregiver from Mpushi who loves them.

I do want to thank everyone who opened their hearts and gave so that these children and others will have an education. The Spirit of Christmas was evident as many gave education gifts to our children as a gift to honor family members and friends.

This is one grateful mama.

An Update on Laki and David

Laki Laki

A healthier happier boy. The hair is coming back and his legs are stronger.

David and Esperance David and Esperance

David is sitting alone and trying to stand.
Thank you for prayers and gifts sent for both of our baby boys and for all the children connected to Urukundo. We shared some of the dolls, marbles and stuffed animals with our neighbors. This was a special day for them because of the gifts you sent. Thank you