Hauling Water

Dry season in Rwanda means that our city supply of water runs out so we have to haul water from natural springs. The water is a 15 minute drive away. We fill four large containers and six smaller ones and carry them up a steep hill to our Toyota SUV. The whole operation takes about 1.5 hours for one trip. We usually need two trips to get enough water for cooking, cleaning and construction. Around mid September the rainy season begins again and the water supply comes back.

Hillie at Four Months

Hillie aka "Soso" at 4 months was having a bad hair day! We are delighted that he is putting on weight and getting chunky!

Visitors for August

The Society of Rural Physicians of Canada brought a team of doctors to Urukundo. After a tour and dinner the children put on a talent show. Later the doctors presented Urukundo with a Certificate of Appreciation and a suitcase full of toys for the kids. Thank you so much!


Yvonne and her son Edu, came to stay for a few nights. They are from Spain and came to Urukundo through Volcanoes Safaris Tour Agency. Edu enjoyed playing football with the boys.


Kathy Lesnar is Todd Ellingson's high school classmate - she is also Immaculee Ilibagiza's personal assistant. Kathy and Todd reconnected on Facebook recently and found out they had a similar love for Rwanda. So Kathy brought her tour group with Immaculee to Urukundo. Immaculee wrote the book "Left to Tell" on her survival of the 1994 genocide. We were so blessed to have Immaculee and her group visit. In this picture everyone is checking out our baby Hillie!


Ornella Umubyeyi stopped by on her way back to Wisconsin's Ripon College. She is from Rwanda but has been attending school in America since the age of 16. Each summer she returns to her home country to donate and volunteer. She stopped by Urukundo to donate a suitcase full of clothes. Thank you!

Stateside News from Mama Arlene for July 2010

Mama Arlene's complete schedule can be found here.

Greetings from Urukundo's traveling ambassador and sidekick Lilliane! Here is an abbreviated update of our travels to date.

Lilliane met her sponsoring Gram and family on our second day in the US. She is having many new experiences on her visit. Here are just a few.

Erin, Cassidy, Lilliane, Gram Carolyn

Shopping

Pedicure at "Neat Feet"

Time at amusement park in Pittsburgh.

Visit to a Zoo

I have had 23 engagements in 30 days. These have included a wedding, several luncheons and many speaking engagements. In PA, I visited Turtle Creek, Saint Johns/Newberry, Fairplay Gospel, Heilman, Warrensville, Wallace Run, Loyalsock and Rose Valley as well as New Life Christian in North Carolina. I surely am blessed.

Our goal for this visit is to create awareness for the need to complete the Nursery, work on which is already underway. We aim to build a Preschool and Kindergarten, starting our school system on Urukundo Land, and to embark on the initial building phase of the Clinic for our children and the community.

Gifts have been received to hopefully complete the nursery. Any additional funds received will go toward the additional projects detailed above.

Sally and John, who have been visitors at Urukundo

Pastor Mike and wife Fairplay Gospel Church Pa.

Tina & Dana, North Carolina

Border of Virginia and North Carolina

Sunrise out my bedroom window. Barco N.C


Next month will be just as busy. Keep Lilliane and I in prayer as we share the story of the kids at Urukundo Home and Village and this "God in Charge" mission.
The Lord be with you.
Mama Arlene

Greetings from Todd Ellingson in Rwanda for July 2010

Arlene is busy on her whirlwind speaking tour in America so I have the honor of telling you some of the news from Urukundo. For those who don't know me, I am Todd Ellingson. My wife, Andria and I moved permanently to Urukundo to help Arlene manage the home for children. We are very excited about this new adventure in which God has led us.

A team from North Phoenix Baptist came to visit. Their travels to Urukundo were somewhat eventful. The team flew into Johannesburg and missed their midnight connecting flight to Rwanda. So instead of arriving on Wednesday they arrived Thursday night late. On the way to pick them up at the airport our sedan broke down. We were stuck at a gas station with one good vehicle and one not so good. What do we do now? The team is arriving in 30 minutes and we are still trying to get our second vehicle going. We need both cars because the team is too many to fit in one.

We called our friends Isaac and Serrina from Victory Orphanage. They own an old model Land Cruiser that has seats in the back that run perpendicular to the front seats. Finally we got a hold of them and were on our way. Long story short, we picked them up in the "safari mobile" and were headed home to Urukundo (an hour drive). What an adventure!

Friday was filled with laughter and sharing. Andria's junior high youth leaders were Dan and Cindy Snead, so they had fun remembering some youth trips to Mexico and other places that Andria's faith was formed. It was like have family visit. Very encouraging!!

We showed them Urukundo and future spots for a school and clinic. We then took them to the market for a fun, chaotic experience of what it is like to shop for your daily needs. Our final destination was John's farm. A 45 minute drive and we were at his property. Kids came swarming and wanted to meet the visitors. Cameras took some great shots as children crowded around to see what they looked like in the little windows of a camera.

Overall it was a fun day and Saturday came too quickly as we took them into Kigali for some craft shopping, lunch (German Bakery) and to the airport. Thanks to Pastor Dick, Juan, Jennifer, Cindy and Dan!

Kids Play International

Kids Play International, led by Tracy Evans, a three time Olympian, is a nonprofit organization who use sports to educate and empower youth. Urukundo was fortunate to have them come this summer and bring with them hundreds of dollars of donated sports equipment. Not only did they make a lot of Urukundo kids happy but also local schools and neighborhood kids also benefited from their visit. Kids Play International (KPI) spent hours donating their time helping the children learn new skills and better their self esteem. They taught Urukundo children skills in basketball, baseball, volleyball and soccer.

KPI also set up a "Sport's Room" where all the donated equipment will be neatly kept for years to come. Already we have seen the excitement grow in our children from the use of all their new equipment. Thank you KPI for making so many children's lives that much better! www.kidsplayinternational.org.


the girls show off their new football (soccer) uniforms

Deborah ready to hit!

Baby Dolls

A group from Minnesota and North Dakota donated enough baby dolls for all the little children (even the boys). Aline shows off her doll that she carries on her back like "a real mamma" carries her baby. We put everyone's name on their babies so we don't mix them up. It seems like we have babies everywhere now!

Sunday Morning Worship

The Urukundo Choir sings during a worship service on Sunday morning. Worship services are led by the children. There is a service leader, speaker, two Sunday school helpers for the younger children, head usher and two choirs. Adults are the translators and one adult also gives a sermon each Sunday. The services are very lively with a drum beat accompanying the singing.

Bath Time!

Rub a dub dub - Claudine, Johnny and Sarah enjoy their morning bath!

High School Holiday

Our secondary (high school) students are home from boarding school for a holiday. They will be here for almost a month. The presidential election for Rwanda is August 9th and the children won't return to their boarding school until after the election. It is good to have all 10 children home for this time. They learn important disciplines at boarding school and are good role models for the younger children. In this picture Esperance (a high school student) shares with Solange and Obis.

Meredith (a Peace Corp. worker and Urukundo Board member) gives Lucia a welcome home hug. Lucia is also on her break from boarding school and will be returning to King David's Academy after her month long break.

Sewing and Saving

Betty enjoys sewing so we got the old pedal machine working for her. With 37 children there is a lot to sew. Within a couple of days Betty had everything sewed that needed mending. We hope we can save money by doing some of the sewing ourselves. If we have the local vendors sew it costs us 40 cents per job. While that doesn't sound like much it is an expense that adds up to a significant amount in our budget. Here is to saving a penny!

July Visitors at Urukundo

Part of the team from England stayed at Urukundo's Hope House (the two women stayed at Real Motel). The team from a community church in England spent their days traveling to schools and other places to share the love of Jesus through puppets and games. On their final Sunday, Sam shared his testimony of how God's grace had been passed down through his grandfather. The picture above shows the guys playing football (soccer) with Papa John. The children enjoyed running circles around some of the "old timers" on the football field!


Talia was one of our summer interns. She and Sarah were enjoying watching the football game when this picture was taken. This is Talia's second trip to Urukundo. She is now a sophomore in high school and found that loving the children at Urukundo was such a great experience last year that she came back for an entire month this summer. Thanks for all the loving you gave to the children!