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Communication with the Kids

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It is awesome how much jow a simple birthday card can bring. This beautiful card came to Claude from his support person in the US.  He is one happy little boy.
The kids show our visitor Clare and her niece Jessica from England how to build with Legos. The Legos remain the favorite play time activity for the kids.
Jessica.
Some of the Legos the kids have decided to keep built.  Well, for now anyway.
Amy, our volunteer at the school, brought her sister Ann to see where she was working during her holiday from another school in Rwanda.  We so appreciate Ann and her willingness to give up her holiday to help out at Urukundo Learning Center.
Kirsten our volunteer nurse from the Netherlands.
Kirsten is a such hit with the kids. So much better than this more aged person! She is learning much about medicine in Rwanda and will visit the Medical Center below our compound to get a first hand experience in Rwanda Government Health Care.
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Mission Outreach - Education for Women

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We had no idea when we decided to offer English classes for women who had small children in our preschool and wanted to learn English along with their children that the response would be so great.
The class was for mothers but grew to include all community women who wanted to learn English as a second language and to read and write.
120 women responded.
Monday through Friday at 2 pm you will find more than 90 women in class at Hope House, our multi-purpose building.
The teacher Maggie is doing a great job and for the first time these women who do not live close together but are in the same community are getting to know each other. They talk, share concerns and work together to solve them.
Maggie, the ESL teacher.
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More Outreach

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Adopting a rural school has turned out to be a great experience for Urukundo Learning Center.
To begin the last term of the 2012 school year Urukundo presented chalkboard and chalk, exercise books, paper, pencils, crayons, coloring books and some clothes to the students and families of our adopted school.
I am in awe.  With all their needs they wanted to show their gratitude and presented Urukundo Learning Center with a rabbit.  Such a wonderful gift.
Legal representative Alain, Jean Marie from Urukundo and Marieta, head teacher at Cyakabiri Nursery School.
It is a compliment to Cyakabiri Preschool to be in partnership with a sister school where the help is so needed and we share a purpose worth so much.  Our community outreach continues.

On the Farm

When the district gave a cow to Urukundo it was with the understanding that we would then give a calf to another family and then they in turn will give a calf to another family. This keeps the prosperity going.

It was our turn to follow the tradition and so we gave our first calf to this gentleman and his family and now it is up to him to continue the tradition. 

It is a very special occasion so we presented the calf with much ceremony.

The village leader inspected the calf to make sure it was a good one.  He approved.
We have now fulfilled our commitment to the district and the cows given to us now belong to Urukundo. The culture and traditions in Rwanda are interesting and benefit the population.

Celebration of Marriage

After her gradution from University: Julliette is in the news again. Urukundo kids and staff attended her marriage to Felix. Urukundo kids now have an older Uncle - Julliette has been an Auntie in our family since 2006 and now works in our office. Felix is an Agronomist. (Hope I spelled that right!) His degree is in agriculture. Julliette's degree is in Accounting.
Congratulations Julie and Felix!
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In the Nursery

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UPDATE ON CLAUDE
Some things are hard to believe but believe this. After two hospital stays and treatment for various symptoms, a chance remark by the local clinic gave us an end to the dilemma of our little boy Claude. It seemed impossible that this one child could suffer from malnutrition and be so ill when all the children eat together and eat the same food. Why did not every child have the same condition? Treating the symptoms with antibiotics and a protein supplement he did not have to chew gave the impression he was getting well, but as soon as the antibiotics were completed he became ill again.
We had decided to take him to our friend Diane Longson and ask her to start from scratch as we did not trust the tests given to him so far. There just had to be an explanation soon or we would lose this little boy. Malnutrition is dangerous.  Again the symptoms returned and we took him to the local clinic. The  diagnosis was the same but a nurse there suggested he had a problem with his teeth. 
Because of our connection with the dental program we had been a part of with Dr Richard Reckmeyer and Dr. Drew Cahoon at Kabgayi Hospital, Claude was given an appointment to see Kizito, the technician they had trained. What a blessing! Claude had one severely abscessed tooth and another malformed tooth that gave him much pain, and so he was moving his food to other children. When he did eat something he would throw it up.  This dear little boy could not eat because he did not want the pain. Kizito put him on an antibiotic. That again took care of the infection but this time after a week the problem teeth were removed. Problem solved!
Now Claude does not like Kizito when he has his doctor's coat on but Kizito came to Urukundo to check on Claude without the coat and he and Claude are friends again.  
 
Claude is now one happy, healthy child.