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Congratulations are in Order

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Urukundo was honored by an invitation to the graduation celebration of an amazing school: ESTHER'S CULINARY ARTS SCHOOL, RWANDA. Check out their website.
Esther's Aid trains Rwandan youngsters in the culinary arts at their Heavenly Bread Bakery. I visited this school and was surprised to find as many young men students as young women. Several of our young girls are interested in attending these classes after finishing Senior School.
Urukundo is hoping to build a connection with this amazing organization. It is much more than a bakery. Its director Claire Effiong is doing a great job and is dedicated to making life better for Rwandan young people.  

Serephina is looking forward to being accepted as a student in 2 years.

Urukundo Faith Primary School

Our library is slowly taking shape. Volunteers are coming in March for a few days to give us advice and a helping hand. We still need a long term volunteer.  

Music & Art section

Memory Learning Games and Craft supplies
We want the library to be the focal point for the school.
Teaching children that learning can be fun is our purpose.

Videos available. More National Geographic would add a lot to this collection.

Class room #1                                            

Class room #2                                    
56 children attend Faith School
Our Primary teachers

-Salome Ayigihugu

-Marie MUKANDOLI

The Farm

Rework was done on the protective fences this month which you can see in the pictures.
 
When does one cow equal two cows?
Well, I found out it is better to feed one cow giving 22 liters of milk a day, than to feed two cows, one giving 8 liters a day and the other giving none since insemination did not seem to work for her.  Not even a visit from a male friend worked. Yes, the manure is more for Bio-gas production but the food is also much more costly.
The new farm manager Eugene is very aware, and wants our animal farm to become a successful source of revenue. And so it was decided to sell the 2 unproductive cows and with the money buy a single productive cow.  We now have two cows instead of three.
Making sure you are getting what you are paying for is interesting. Our manager visited the prospective cow when least expected and sat through the milking in order to verify that she did give 22 liters of good milk every day. Only after several weeks of checking did he OK the purchase. She is a much bigger cow and provides the milk needed for our kids with 5 liters of milk available for sale.   

Our milk provider. No name. I find it better not to name the anmals so I greet her in the morning with a pat on the white spot and a "Hello Cow". She doessn't seem to mind one bit.
Mama cow # 1 gave birth in February to a female calf.
So even though two cows are gone we still have two cows and a calf.
News to come: report on the chicken part of our farm next month.
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Memorial Stone Added to the Path of Learning

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In Memory and With Love
Elma was one of the very first to take this mission to heart.
She was an amazing gift giver. You see she decided to handle her estate while she yet lived.
I received word of her gift and assumed she had gone to her reward so sent my condolences to her son Larry.
His reply surprised me: 'My mother is still with us. It was her wish to give her gift while she could see the benefits it gave.'
In 2011 at age 95 Elma went to her rest. She indeed had a loving heart and we celebrate her life.

January Greetings from Urukundo Village and Learning Center

January started off with a bang.  After Christmas our kids went to visit extended family and so New Year was a bit quiet, but there was celebration in the boys' house when the New Year came in. However 2013 arrived with no help from me. I and the little ones thanked the Lord for our blessings and went to bed about 8pm. The older kids and mamas ushered in the new year with juice, sumbosa, donuts and a movie on VHS. I think it was 'The Lion King'.
Welcoming the 45th child into our family on January 4 was an unexpected pleasure. He will need a sponsor. If you're interested, please get in touch  arlene@hopemadereal.org

Waiting for the results of the National Exams and school assignments was a bit tense. How you preform in the exam determines where you can apply for further education. There was so much activity as we searched for Secondary Schools for 23 kids. Changing schools was not as traumatic as I had thought. It amazes me how these children adjust to what ever the circumstances and keep a positive attitude.

With all the secondary kids gone back to school our house hold is very different. The time had come to move our 4, 5,and 6 year olds from the nursery into the big kids' house. They think that is great. It is much like a graduation and the criteria for such a move is no Invura (rain) in the bed at night. The boys have a bigger problem with that than the girls. I seem to remember that from when my kids were little. Then, I was dealing with one at a time. Now I am dealing with 11. They really want the move so the incentive is there and they are doing well. All but two are moved and they will move soon. The nursery will then have
four babies, Jacob, Kavine Nelly, Diane, and Soso.

EXPRESSING A NEED
Children's one-a-day chewable vitamins with iron.

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Water

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Too much water is bad not enough is worse. We now have experienced both. With a torrential downpour we discovered what too much rain can do. I have lived in the flood area in Williamsport and had my home damaged by raging creek water but this experience was more frightening. Crops were washed away, homes gone and we feared for the Solar Panel building and the source tank.

Again God was good. We had some damage with fences down and debris everywhere but our foundation was strong and the house stood firm. Repair took two days. Urukundo paid for the stone and cement but the
community provided all the labor. We are blessed to have such a good relationship with our community.


The pictures show the damage and the project after repair was made.

Julie's Baby

Julie has a baby boy. He is beautiful but has no name. It is the culture that a baby is not named until after he or she is more than a week old. I visited this little boy and his mom and took David, Luki and Claude#2 with me. David thought we should bring the baby home because Jacob needs a friend. He said Julie went to the hospital to find a baby for Mama and she found one and so he is not Julie's baby, he is Mama's. After much discussion it was decided we would let Julie keep the baby because she had milk that God gave her as food for him, and Mama didn't have that good milk.  Kids are awesome.

Perseverance and Determination

John Paul has never lost faith in his ability as a soccer player. When he joined our Urukundo family, he proclaimed that he would some day play for Manchester United in England. Every boy is entitled to his dream and this was JP's dream. John Paul has weak legs but strong determination. At least they appear to be weak, but I guess they are stronger than I'd thought. Many nights after a hard competitive game I would hear him and know he was in pain but when approached he would swear he had no pain.  As his mom I have many times tried to discourage him playing outside of Urukundo. I feared he would get hurt. He is not a big boy in size but in heart he is a giant.
He did get hurt many times at secondary school and at the stadium yet every time he bounced back and went right on playing Foote Ball (coccer). Finally the school called for us to come as he was in too much pain. A severely dislocated shoulder brought him to his knees,  and I was grateful our nurse Nancy Ehrig was here and was able to put it back in place. I could not have done that one. She was great and for a time JP played no soccer recovering slowly. He continued to live with muscle spasms, bruises, sprained ankles that had to hurt and the list goes on. Still he played soccer every chance he got. The doctor said, "Let him play as long as he is able," and so we did, supplying pain medicine and heat rubs as needed, wrapping ankles and elevating limbs to relieve the discomfort. It is not easy to see your child in pain and let him continue doing what is hurting him.
JP was and is the Captain of our Urukundo Soccer team. He is the best and there has been no doubt of that.

Home from taking his National Exam and waiting for the results JP went to the stadium several miles away from our campus every day walking both ways most of the time. He became a part of the team and was
selected by his coach as one of three boys to go to a competition at Butare. The winner would be given a place at a sports school. This school is a special school. You must be good to go there. The competition lasted 3 days. JP came home and looked so tired and a bit sad when he came to let me know he was home. I put my arms around him thinking I needed to comfort him.  That was not the case. He let me hug him and then he said. "Mama I am the winner"
This morning January 25,2013 this boy who would not give up went off to the new school where he has earned a place by pure will power and love of the game with a happy smile on his face. Yes perseverance and determination and faith in himself has paid off. Please keep JP in prayer.