Preserving the Rwanda Family

Urukundo Home for Children has taken on a new role. It started with the twins Kenny and Kinelia.  There are children here who are not orphans and are not abandoned but family circumstances warrant a better place to live and be cared for. These beautiful twins have a grandfather who lives his life in a wheelchair, loves them very much, visits them at Urukundo but can not support nor care for the needs of these very active children.  It is the goal of Urukundo to care for children in need and help them keep in contact and preserve their Rwanda family.
Grand papa and Social worker, Kenny and Kinelia visit while Johnny inspects the workings of a wheel chair.

Newest Member at Urukundo

Let me introduce you to Nelly. Nelly arrived at Urukundo and became a part of our family in September. Nelly has a mama who loves her but needs to get an education so that she can later care for her little girl. King David Academy is giving mama this opportunity and Urukundo is providing a safe and healthy environment with lots of brothers and sisters to keep her company while Nelly waits for her mom to prepare for a better future for both of them. Urukundo congratulates KDA for helping to make this possible and inviting Urukundo to be a part of it. Nelly is 5 years old and now attends Cyakabiri School in the afternoons. 
She is a happy little girl.
Nelly joins Belise, Alina Molly and Aline. They are now the "FABULOUS FOUR". They are now bunk mates and are taken care of by Auntie Betty. A very interesting combination. A bit lively and very precious.

News from Urukundo Kids Farm

It may not look like much but I am pretty proud of the pen for our five pigs.
Food troughs designed by Benjimin the builder. Bricks covered with a thin layer of cement.
Papa Pig.
Prospective mamas - we expect to breed and sell the piglets. A new venture.

Baby pigs.
I should write a story about the 5 pigs. Naw, that was done long ago and it is called
"THE THREE LITTLE PIGS."  Yes there is also one played on the toes : "THIS LITTLE PIGGY "

Visitors for September

International team at Urukundo Village.

Front row : Shona, Scotland; Katrina, Australia.  Second row : Nancy, Texas; Kathleen, Australia.  Top row : Caroline, UK;  Mary Ann, UK.

This team arrived about 10 am and moved a ton of bricks. They worked very hard.
Troy from Australia, Stephanie, France and Deborah from Cyprus had been here two days ago but could not come on photo day and so are not in the picture.  It is unusual for a team of 9 to be from 6 different countries!  The afternoon was spent at Hope House with the children.
David and Sam.
Sam Buck from UK spent 7 weeks at Urukundo and returned home Sept 9th. The boys come down in the mornings asking 'Where is Sam?'. They think he should be back at Urukundo by now.
Presbyterian delegation from Pa visited Urukundo for a day.

Good friends Marilyn Ely from Trout Run, Pa and Meredith Bakke from Madison, Wisconsin came to share in the activities at Urukundo Village.
Their time here included a visit to see the Gorillas up close and personal (a bit scary!) and to experience Rwanda's ancient history before, during and after the Kings.

Greetings from Mama Arlene in Rwanda for August 2011

Greetings from Urukundo Village and all who abide there.  August has been a very busy month with a houseful of volunteers -  11 in total. All 16 of our kids in Secondary School were home, There was a spelling bee, a debate, a fashion show and a birthday party all organized by the Urukundo Kids.  Painting the trim in all houses was a project accomplished. Pigs were added to our farm. The barn was finished and a pen for the pigs is now under construction. Look out for a picture next month. Except for colds caused mainly by the rains that are out of season, we are fine. Our school opened on schedule for the second 3 month term.

Further Developments

We were able with a loan from Fina Bank to purchase one of the problem properties (there were two) and we have eliminated a real danger to our kids. The property sat in the path between the kids' homes and the house where mama lives and was being used as a garage to repair moto bikes, bicycles and trucks. Fear that a toddler might wander trying to find mama and get hit by a vehicle is now a thing of the past.

We plan to close the road at this end of the wall with no access for traffic.

The brown gate on the left goes directly into the Kids' homes and the blue one on the right to my residence and guesthouse.  You can see the danger for visitors and kids. 

This is a view inside the new property. There is a second house behind the front one that is not visible.

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Cyakabiri School Report

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It is for sure we need to have more rooms for students. There are many more 3 to 5 year olds waiting to enroll. We need the space and teachers.  Volunteer teachers interested in being a part of this adventure in education in Rwanda, Africa are welcome to inquire and learn more about the goals of the school. This may be just the opportunity you have been waiting for. You will make a difference in the lives of small children.
Learning to match. Learning through doing.
Sun glasses and a worker's helmet. What fun! Morning snack is also good.
Claude from Urukundo Home for Children. We now have 7 children from our Home enrolled in our school for small children.
Dress up and pretend. Imagination is a new nation for the students.
Morning greeting.
Different expressions in one photo - I wonder what their thoughts are.
It is in the eyes.
The toy pig gets a house...then a wall so he cannot run away.  It's amazing how quickly the pighouse becomes a garage for moto cars!

Quilt Tales

Pastor Sunny from Christ Church, McKeansburg, PA.
Megan Bensinger second time visitor to Urukundo.  Megan is a dancer and brought her toe shoes and a costume to dance for the kids.
Quilts arrived from the quilters at McKeansburg.
Miracles do happen - the quilts arrived two days after the team came. God is good and the team were able to give the children each their very own quilt. The kids call them SLEEPERS.
Mama has the honor of fitting the quilts to the babies.. Notice the babies on the backs of the little mamas!
Then the toddlers got theirs.
The whole Nursery in sleepers.
The quilts are beautiful!
The older children also received quilts and there was one for me. Thank you quilters!