A five stall barn.
Fenced area for the cows.
New milk cow and her baby. A gift from the District to Urukundo's children.
From the Farm
The roof is going on. Soon the cows will come. Thanks to you who helped get it the materials for the barn. It will be such an asset for our farm and providing milk for the kids is the objective.
The barn nears completion.
Our kids and Cyakabiri school learn about feeding animals. These baby lambs lost their mother when they were born and the farmer has kept them alive by bottle feeding. The idea is to show the children different ways to provide food for babies. The milk is cow milk and the children felt the container to know the milk is heated before it is given to the babies. The lambs follow the farm boy everywhere. They think he is their mother. He is the source of their food.
Update on Daisy the milk cow : after eye surgery Daisy has no more pain and doing well. She is expecting a new baby we hope. Vet will verify next week.
The Farm
Mary had a little lamb. We have two, born on June 12th,2011. Cute!
Day old chicks arrive in four boxes, 50 in each.
A dwelling place for cows. What a view!!
The old cow shed is at the bottom of the picture
The Farm
Baby chicks.
Baby rabbits.
After just one week - wings are appearing.
Surgery on our Farm
Not your typical operating room, nor the normal procedure, but it works in Urukundo Village. The combined expertise of a vet from Rwanda and two vets from Austria has made a difference in our lives at Urukundo Home for Children and for our favorite and only milk cow DAISY.
Daisy is our source of milk for all 43 children and she had a problem that threatened milk production. When Daisy was very young a cow herder hit her in the eye with a stick. She lost vision in that eye and it petrified. For some reason recently the eye began to water and enlarge, protruding more and more and causing Daisy pain.
Sam, our farm manager, was our driving force. When he heard that our visitor was a surgeon for animals he set things in motion to get Daisy the help she needed. Anesthesia was the critical need. Drs. Otto and Tina joined our on site vet in performing surgery.
A happy team after the successful operation.
Otto and Tina also spent time with the babies. Here they are with (l-r) David, Mama and Kenny, Rebekah.On the Urukundo Farm
Daisy has a baby girl which means fresh milk for our babies!
Newest Addition to our Animal Population
OUR FIRST LAMB
Urukundo Village farm is growing.
At the Farm
Building with mud bricks
Progress is slow but the animals don’t seem to mind.
Cows and Sheep roam the hills together
Our first baby turkeys
Cute and little. I am told they grow fast.
I thank John for caring for our animals on his farm.
It is good to have a caretaker and pasture for our cows and Turkeys without taking play area from our kids in the village. Urukundo does supply a supplement to John's grass land for food and care of our animals.
Animals need more than just pasture. They need salt and mash etc.
We have one milk producing cow at the village. The milk from this cow (Dolly) takes care of the babies and those who require milk in their diet for health reasons.
Counting Dolly we have we have 4 cows. At the farm we have a 7 month pregnant cow named Pansy. Her baby will make number 5. We are hoping for a girl calf. We have a one year old calf, and a one 5 month old calf, all females. We hope soon to have enough fresh milk and butter for all the kids and some to sell.
I am learning a lot about the care and feeding of livestock.
In the long run it benefits our kids.
We now have our own milk, eggs, and limited meat.
The Urukundo Farm
John has acquired a piece of land in another location and we are moving part of our farm from the village to that new location. This will give us more land at the village to develop for housing and schools. The chicken farm will remain where it is but the cows, turkeys, goats and sheep and larger animals will move to John’s location. There is just not enough ground in our village to expand or to allow for grazing animals and so another location is necessary. This allows John to own and develop a land and home for his children while working with Urukundo Village. There is just not enough ground in the Urukundo Village to expand for animals and John has agreed to grazing and caring for our animals. John has not given the farm a name yet maybe "Urukundo Land of Joy farm". Hokey???
This location will also one day be the new 'Home for widows with no means of support". This is John’s vision fulfilling his dream to repay the women who sheltered him in his youth. The new area is in Inyanza, South Province and is about an hours drive from the village also in South Province. Pray for this to be a wise move. My prayer is for wisdom all the time. “God in Charge.”
Grazing for the cows. This farm is part of our commitment to serve the Lord and his children.
Our own source of water at the farm. Further development is needed. Water on our property is a pure gift from God.
Support for the farm can be designated as "farm development" through Pay Pal on the web site or a check to Hope Made Real, Pittsburg address OR Saint Johns/Newberry.
This location will also one day be the new 'Home for widows with no means of support". This is John’s vision fulfilling his dream to repay the women who sheltered him in his youth. The new area is in Inyanza, South Province and is about an hours drive from the village also in South Province. Pray for this to be a wise move. My prayer is for wisdom all the time. “God in Charge.”
Grazing for the cows. This farm is part of our commitment to serve the Lord and his children.
Our own source of water at the farm. Further development is needed. Water on our property is a pure gift from God.
Support for the farm can be designated as "farm development" through Pay Pal on the web site or a check to Hope Made Real, Pittsburg address OR Saint Johns/Newberry.