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Greetings from Mama Arlene and the Urukundo Family for June 2012

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June has been an exciting month for me and for Urukundo Village. 
Pink eye hit the secondary schools and two of our kids were home for treatment. Then John Paul dislocated his shoulder playing soccer and also returned home for treatment. Otherwise we are all in good health. 
We have been blessed with volunteers from many countries. They worked in every facet of Urukundo. The young people who came were from 8 different countries. 
Our very first mama has graduated from University. She is the fourth University graduate sponsored by Urukundo. Juliette was the first full time mama when we started our home for girls in Kiibirigi in 2006.  
The Governor of South Province paid us a visit and a delegation from the Provisional Government in the capital, Kigali, came to view the water project. A delegation from the Local Muhanga Government came to carry out the yearly evaluation and finally the Ambassador from the United States paid us a visit. Cramming all that into just four weeks made it a very interesting and busy month. 
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Another Big Event in the Life of Urukundo

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Oswald's vision has been to have a business of his own so that he can support his family. He has been the driver for Urukundo since 2006. He will still take care of our driving needs but he now owns his own minibus. It has happened!
Isn't it a beauty. Congratulations Oswald! THANK YOU to all who helped make this happen. You have truly made a difference for this family.
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Visit from the Governor

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The Governor and a delegation from South Province visited Urukundo Village to view the water and solar pump project.
Our water system, thanks to Rotary and many friends of Urukundo, is an innovation in the area.
Gary Ehrig did the honors for Urukundo. He is a good ambassador.
Everyone there was pleased and thanked Urukundo for making South Province and Muhanga District a better place to live. 
The Governor of South Province  and our Muhanga District Mayor at the water project.

News from the Volunteers On Site

Louise our volunteer from the UK teaches YOGA to energetic boys & girls.
Louise is working on research for her PhD in Rwanda and comes each weekend to spend valuable time with our kids.
Volunteers Kyle from Texas, USA and Charley from Canada work with our ten o'clock group in Hope House activity room.
The map on the wall has proven to be worth its weight in gold.
Our kids and volunteer Camilo from Columbia discuss where Camilo's home is.
This month there were 12 visitors at Urukundo Village. These visitors are youth, and vary in the time they spend. Some came for several days, others came for weeks and yet others come for a month or more. 
We are blessed by these visitors and the work they have done while they were here.
8 different countries were represented : CANADA, COLUMBIA, FRANCE, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, UNITED KINGDOM, SWITZERLAND, UGANDA AND RWANDA.
Nikki and Lelia from NY, USA stand at attention with the students. They were excellent teachers' assistants.
Lelia assists teachers at Cyakabiri school for small children.
Jolly, a regular volunteer from Rwanda, does journal work with the students.
Maggie from Uganda came not only as a volunteer but became part of our permanent volunteer staff.
Our picture of Maggie did not turn out well - we'll try again so look for a picture of Maggie in next month's Newsletter.
Cornelia from Austria visited for a day and has vowed she will come back and stay longer next time.

Bruce and Margie Krogh, here from Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University, shared their visitors with Urukundo. We were honored by a visit with Hedda Schmidtke, a teacher from Carnegie Mellon.  Anita Kim and her husband Hyong Kim also from Pittsburgh.  It is always a pleasure for me to introduce new friends to Urukundo and its kids. Staff members Vincent, Oscar and yours truly got in the photo.
Mike (California), Charley (Canada), Camilo (Columbia) and Kyle (Texas) doing hard labor preparing the road to the land for the hoped-for primary school.
We are looking for partners for this project.
The old man of the volunteers getting in a few digs.
Gary from New Hampshire, USA.
Camilo from Columbia supervising.
Sore muscles tomorrow for Gary.

Urukundo Learning

Tom the turtle is the OFFICIAL mascot for Urukundo Learning Center.
Our preschoolers love the turtle.
What a delight it was when Vincent brought a flag with a picture of our mascot from America. This gift was very special for Urukundo Learning Center.
The thought behind the turtle comes from the folk tale about the TURTLE AND THE HARE.
SLOWLY, SLOWLY BUT STEADILY BRINGS SUCCESS.

 

 

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Path to Learning

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The Path to Learning continues to grow. Four new stones were added in June with two more on order.
UMW Saint Paul's State College, Pa.
Chanel is Mama's great-granddaughter. This stone is to honor her graduation from High School and start of University.
In Loving Memory.
This stone was a gift from Anita and Hyong Kim, who believe that education is the path to the future.
The children are some of the students who will attend the primary school. 
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Development in Progress

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Site of the future Primary School.
The land for the primary school is being leveled and a local contractor is willing to go ahead with the building having faith that Urukundo will receive the funds needed for the project and will pay him. I am awed by his faith. 
There will be three class rooms in this first building project.  They will extend the length of the bamboo fence in the picture. This building will be similar to the Preschool building but with an additional classroom. 
Help is certainly needed to build this school. 
From this area the volcano is visible on a clear day. The view is breath-taking.
Please pray with us for the success of this project.
Mama