Upcoming Events

200 day old chicks are scheduled to arrive in March.100 layers & 100 broilers.

The small cyber cafe will open in a few days.

Rabbits will soon become a source of meat for the kids.

Purchase of a new guest house. 3/4 paid for from a personal donation, remainder pending help.

Prayers and financial help needed.

I hope you enjoyed Februarys newsletter. It has just been fun for me. The kids make Urukundo a wonderful place.

Newsletter Supplement - Important News

Blessings flow. Prayers needed.

From the very beginning of this ministry the unexpected has happened with GOD IN CHARGE. This faith ministry has been awesome.

My mission goal was to have a Home for Children but I was timid and asked God for a small house. He gave me a big one.

The next request was for a home for boys and I was given a house and a chicken farm. Needing to move the chickens out of the compound for the boys, I asked for a piece of land. God gave me five.

Slowly by slowly (Rwandan expression), enough land was added and Urukundo Village became a real place.

In the village is a Home for Girls, a Home for Boys, a beautiful nursery, a kitchen, a small guest house that only has room for two guests and a Multipurpose House for Worship, the Library and Community Center for meetings and celebrations.  We have what is called a farm with some chickens, 5 sheep, 5 goats and rabbits, a Cow for milk and her calf and the other animals for meat for our kids.  Our land has a kitchen garden planted with vegetables - cabbage, carrots, beans, peas, cassava, corn.

After all this, now God is moving us forward at a great speed. 
A preschool is in process, A community water project is underway, a small Cyber Cafe is in the works and best of all, a compound has become available on the main road that could serve as a house for visitors.

Urukundo Village Guest House. The price is reasonable and the owner is willing to give Urukundo some time to come up with the amount needed.
There is also a piece of land belonging to this property and it can be ours in a package deal.   This property connects to Urukundo Village directly behind the boys home.  This is a well-built house with landscaped grounds, parking space in the rear, water, electricity, two modern baths, four large sleeping rooms. and a master bedroom with bath.  A large front room for use for meetings and events and a lovely porch for just enjoying the beautiful weather.  The necessary walls are already built to protect the property and give our guests privacy.


Read on.
God has opened this door. 

Stepping out in Faith I have deleted my account for my old age in America thinking this is possibly my old age and am praying hard for the balance needed for the purchase to take place.

Buying this property solves many problems.  
The house and grounds I occupy now would become the first building for the preschool. 

There is a walled-in yard in place for the children.  
For a school to operate Government regulations require a clinic and an office. Both are already there.
God plans well. 
The preschool would be in operation while we build for the future. 

Now we would have a guest house with visibility and easy access for our volunteers and visitors. 
The first building of our Education system would be ready for use and at less cost and time than expected.

Prayers and support are needed as decisions are made. 

Mama Arlene

Greetings from Mama Arlene in Rwanda for January 2011

 Happy  New Year from the Urukundo Kids and Mama Arlene!
2011 came in with what started out as a noisy party - singing, dancing, watching videos and listening to music. The kids were excited! We played games, had refreshments and then by 10 pm the kids decided the New Year could come in with them sleeping in their warm beds. By midnight our group had dwindled to a precious few.  Divine, Esperance and Annet remained awake - just barely - until midnight.  There was even a short firework display and noise. Not great, but certainly fun to see.
2010 in Review

 42 children live in Urukundo Village
8 are in the Nursery
3 attend Preschool
15 are in Primary
16 are in Secondary School
5 of our staff attend University thanks to generous sponsors.
 
5 children were added to our family in 2010 - all but one child at Urukundo has a sponsoring family. 
 
All children and staff are covered by medical insurance.
Every child has a Jr. Savings account at Fina Bank offering further security for their future.
Urukundo became part of the Prison Ministry for Children - we are now working with the government. 
 
The first graduating class from Urukundo English Language School was a big event.
 
Claudine is wearing her first pair of glasses. Her health & vision are much improved. She is creeping, standing, walking with holding one finger and talking. It has been a big year for her and for us.
 
 
Mama and Lilliane visited America for 3 1/2 months. The trip included time in Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Washington DC, Arizona, California and Texas.
 
Todd and Andria Ellingson from Arizona, and Nancy Ehrig, a nurse from New Hampshire, filled in for Mama while she was away.

Construction and Development

 
A retaining wall was built to stop erosion at the Residence and the Chicken Farm.
A banana plantation was started.
A stone sand-filled road was built between the Residence and Urukundo Village.
The inside of the Boys' Home was painted and hopefully 2011 will see the same work undertaken in the Girls' Home.
The kitchen had a remodel : poor construction required the addition of ventilators.

Mission Outreach

A well for the community at Nyanza was constructed and is in operation.
This was developed on John's land in Nyanza for the benefit of the community and his land.
Over 300 children are attending Primary school because Urukundo Foundation is in Rwanda.
  The really big news was construction of the Nursery.
 

On the farm, we now have one cow and a young calf, five sheep (2 males and 3 females). We have goats, but they are currently on John's land in Nyanza. We hope to bring them home to Urukundo farm as soon as possible.

 Urukundo Foundation was given official  status as a Non Profit Organization and Mama Arlene was given a permanent Visa by the Immigration Department.

Our first visitors in 2011 have included two working teams of 9 and 18 boarding volunteers, some long- and short-term visitors as well as several day visitors wanting to know more about Urukundo.


Our Goals for the Year Ahead

 In process:
  • Urukundo Home for Children is no longer an organization. The official organization is Urukundo Foundation which is now staffed by employees not volunteers.
  • Urukundo Foundation pay Social Security and income tax are deducted for all employees starting January 2011.
  • It is our desire to produce more of our own food by building kitchen gardens on our own land - 3 are already built.  We intend plant beans and peas in open fields not being used for construction at present.
  • Constructing a well to serve the community and Urukundo village year round and during the dry season.
Thoughts for future income: 
  • Restocking the Chicken Farm.
  • Purchasing a second milk cow.
  • The start up of a Cyber Cafe in Cyeza sector. None exists at present.
  • Construction and start up of an English-centered Preschool on property already owned by Urukundo Foundation.  
  • Developing Hope House as a community center (for weddings, meetings etc) along with its many other purposes.

Photographs - January 2011

The memory card for my camera has died so I have no pictures from Urukundo Village to share this month. Luckily, Meredith did get some new pictures of the babies which are posted through this Newsletter.  I think they are great - they make me smile! 

 

Future soccer team for Urukundo Home for Children.

Aline, Molly and Claude.

Aline.

Luki and Claude - potential stars.

Volley Ball - another challenge.

Neighborhood kids join in.

Off to preschool - Claude, Luki and David.

First and Second and Third Graders!

Boys at home.

Girls at home.

Thoughts from Mama

As in any family everything does not run smoothly; there are ups and downs.
We take each day as it comes and place our trust and hope in the Lord.
2011 is a new page to be written on. 
Hope Made Real and Urukundo Foundation are built on a firm foundation, not on sand, but on a rock (our mountain) - the welfare of Rwanda and its children are our main concern.
We are nurturing the future leaders of Rwanda.   Their lives must be blessed with education and the preservation of their culture and Urukundo is here to build and preserve what the Lord has established.
I invite all who love children and want what is best for their future to join Urukundo as partners in mission for the children of Rwanda.  Thank you for a wonderful year 2010 and a bright future in 2011.



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Greetings from Mama Arlene in Rwanda for December 2010

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Greetings!
December has come and gone and what a month it was. 2010 is on its way out. We look forward to greeting the NEW YEAR,  2011. I had a birthday. Usually we have cake and juice for birthdays on the last Saturday in the month but this month the children and I celebrated our December birthdays together the first Saturday  to allow time the end of the month for Christmas and New Years' celebrations.
The children made many cards. These are on the wall in my reception room for all to see and enjoy. The art work of the children is beautiful.

The children made many works of art and gave me a bouquet of flowers.

The cake and juice were very good.

There is no way I can express my appreciation to all who made my 80th birthday special. 

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From the Nursery

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 A sand box in Rwanda which we designed ourselves.  Yep, it is made of bricks, sand and cement. 
Now that should be simple - but it is not! Sand comes from water sources like oceans, lakes and rivers. We have none of these close to our mountain.  It was necessary to travel a distance to a small creek and buy bags of dirt called sand here.  The sand used in contruction was too coarse. 
The kids love to play in the sand!  We're also looking at a wading pool which will be constructed along similar lines to the sand box.  Not sure how that will work - but kids love to play in water.