Pastor Boyd and his wife Shirley served in the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda for 6 months. Their schedule was a bit busy but they found time to visit and play with the Urukundo kids. Even had mama to dinner at their house. It was such a treat and pleasure for me. They were good customers at the Sewing Center.
Pastor Boyd’s shirts will make him the envy of every man who sees him.
Each year Urukundo shares Christmas with the children of our staff and the children in the community. We serve simple juice and a cookie and give a small wrapped gift. The staff usually wraps the small gift. This year we thought it would mean more to our kids if they helped prepare the gifts and plan the party. Our children in P2 and P3 along with the secondary kids who were home gathered at Mama’s table and wrapped the gifts. It was great fun and taught the kids about the true meaning of Christmas. “SHARING & GIVING” The giving part is yet to come. Last year over 100 children came from the community. This year we prepared for more and expect about 200 children.
Pictures of the gathering will be in the January Newsletter!
Boys' Home tree.
Girls' Home tree.
Mama's Home tree.
A peace lily in honor of the season - a gift to you all.
MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR
Making your own decorations can be great fun too.
ALL GLORIOUS CREATIONS.
When you do it yourself the presentation has more meaning.
From this.
To this.
November started of with a bang. A dental team of 3 came for 3½ days to take part in our dental program and also work with our head dentist Edmund at Kabgayi Hospital Clinic.
Brittany did scaling at our facility while the other two worked with fillings at Kabgayi. During her days here 34 patients were cared for and the kids got lots of love. During her stay with us she received a new name. She said jokingly with the kids 'My name is Potato' because they were having trouble remembering Brittany! So her Urukundo name is Potato. I suppose she is a white potato. For sure she is a sweet potato!
Charmaine and Troy Michelson and Brittany made a super team. They are very special people. Troy played piggy back with the kids the night they arrived. That was fun especially for the kids. I think they called him a horse. This was play our kids had not experienced before!
The time goes so fast. I think it has something to do with age. There are never enough days in the week and yet some days are too long.
Urukundo moves along at an amazing rate. Soon it will be 2015.
Time to think about the month just passed. We do not celebrate Thanksgiving here at Urukundo but we have so much to be thankful for. I do hope all of you who celebrate the day had a great day - enjoyed Macy's Christmas Parade, family, lots of good food and football.
The people I am most thankful for and in a list of their own include:
The members of my family in the USA who continue to love me and support my ministry in Rwanda.
The list here at Urukundo Village begins and there is no end.
1. Sponsors are at the top of the list.
I am so thankful for the faithful sponsors who make this ministry possible. We depend on our sponsors in order for us to care for our children.
2. Our children are in good health.
In a big way this is due to the vitamins they receive every day - thanks to gifts from our generous donors.
3. The rains have been good and our vegetable gardens are producing. Celery has been added to my garden this season. I am delighted that it grows. I’m not quite sure how the stalks develop but I will learn.
4. National exams are over. Senior 3 and senior 6 students are waiting for grades.
5. Tresor has finished his testing for the Mastercard Scholarship. Now it is a matter of time until we learn the results.
6. Benita has a sponsor.
This is just a little of what I have to be thankful for at Urukundo.
MISSION OUT REACH
November and December are the months of giving thanks and giving of gifts. The gift of education is a gift that never stops giving.
Please keep the Education Fund in your heart. We can help local children in need of an education, but whose parents have too little income and struggle to feed and clothe them. Your gift helps Urukundo Learning Center provide education for these wonderful children. $15 is a small amount but makes a big difference for the children here.
SUPPORT US DURING YOUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING AND YEAR ROUND
Shopping at AMAZON for Christmas? Check out AMAZON SMILE. Name your favorite charity and while you make shopping simple for yourself, reach out and help others. You are going to spend the money any why not make it a double gift. Both HOPE MADE REAL and SPIRITWORKS (our partner in ministry) are listed among those charities.
SHOP AND SHARE BECAUSE YOU CARE!
Five of our Secondary kids finished High School this year. A lot depends on the scores made in the National exams where their future lies. We can make a difference. A gift to the EDUCATION FUND is one way you can help these kids obtain higher education and a brighter future.
Because you cared this group of young adults dare to dream. Their dreams for the future are do-able. Can you help make it happen?
Anett hopes to be accepted at Akilah Institute for women.
Lucie, Her dream is to become a pastor and serve in ministering to others.
Divine has a heart for aviation and is applying to Nairobi Aviation College Flying School.
Esperance wants to go into the field of medicine. KHI (Kigali Health Institute) Medical or Dental.
Alexander's future lies in Computer Technology and Computer Science. KIST for his Bachelors and Carnagie Mellon Rwanda for his Masters.
CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES. WELL DONE.
WE ARE PROUD OF YOU.
Their goals are within reach with your help. Funding is needed. Check out the web sites for these schools and see where your heart leads you.
Have you ever experienced this? You are at the dentist. Sitting in the chair having a cavity in your molar repaired and the electricity goes out. You wait for four hours for the electricity to come back on so the dentist can finish the job and you can go home. Not at all a pleasant experience but it can and did happen here. Is there a solution? Yes there is.
THANKS TO A GENEROUS DONOR.
This yellow container (a generator!) cured the problem. Our dental patients no longer have to be concerned about the loss of electricity. Thanks to a gift from a mission-minded person we now have a generator that comes on when the electricity goes out so that work can continue. The generator serves multiple purposes. It is big enough to supply emergency electricity to the farm, kitchen, children’s homes, Nursery, and residence. What a blessing.
The electricity goes off in our area between 6 and 9 pm on a regular basis. These are the dark hours in Urukundo Village. Daylight is gone.
6:30 is also the exact time the evening meal is served to the children. Eating by candlelight or flashlight may be romantic in some cultures but for little kids it is no fun. The generator is set up to provide cover for the essential buildings. The houses where the children eat and play and have devotions in the evenings are included in the network. Thanks to this wonderful gift our children no longer eat and spend the evening in darkness. Because of our supportive friends in Rotary dependable light has come in to our lives.
As many of you are aware Urukundo was not able to construct the two-story building needed for the 2015 school year because of the extraordinary cost of the foundation of a two-story building and so we prayed for a solution to our problem. The problem was a need for two classrooms for p3 students.
The solution came in two steps.
GOD IN CHARGE
Step #1
The large house that sits surrounded by Urukundo land became available for a reasonable sale price. That was great however there was no money to buy at any price.
Front view of the house. Over looking the Primary school and along side the preschool.
Additional outbuildings and land which are so needed.
Blue roof at the bottom of the photo is the Primary school.
Truly, acquiring this property would solve so many problems in the expansion of Urukundo Learning Center.
Step #2
There is a stone on the PATH TO LEARNING in memory of Rev. Marjorie Glascow put there 2 years ago at the time of her passing.
Rev. Marjorie Glascow served the Oval UMC in Pennsylvania. She came to Africa with a mission team and was very supportive of Urukundo Home for Children and me.
This very dear friend of mine and of Hope Made Real departed life much too soon. In her love for this ministry she had informed those in charge of her estate that a gift should be given to Hope Made Real in her name and with her love. Now 2 years later that gift arrived when our need was great. It was enough to meet the purchase price of the house that will now become an important part of our Learning Center.
Thanks to Marjorie’s gift we have space to move the Library, Music and Art classrooms into the new building and the Primary 3 students can move into those vacated rooms.
GOD IS GOOD
When renovation is finished the new building will be dedicated:
THE URUKUNDO CULTURAL CENTER: In Loving Memory of Rev. Marjorie Glascow
It's time to hire teachers for Primary 3.
At Urukundo it is a process. We have 19 applicants for 3 teaching positions at Urukundo Learning Center. 6 candidates qualified with credentials. Testing is the next step and took place on November 25, 2014 followed by interviews. A hard decision to make but necessary.
By the end of the day we would have three new teachers in position.
Teachers monitor the testing, helped by the Head Teacher.
When I was a little girl my grandparents lived on a big farm and on Thanksgiving all my Aunts, Uncles and cousins would gather there for a great and exciting event.
Grandpa was the expert and so everyone in the family who had raised a pig transported the pig to the farm and a butchering day took place.
Not much fun for the pigs but it was a wonderful time for all the cousins.
I remember with fondness those Thanksgiving days.
Pork in any shape or form is my favorite meat and is not readily available in our part of Rwanda. It seemed to me if we had pigs I should have pork and the farm manager said he would make it happen. We did not make the butchering a special occasion but the farm boys butchered a pig, cut it up and put it in the freezer. There were no special cuts. No chops, loins, bacon, ham and of course no sausage.
A friend traveling to Kigali found a shop owner that actually sold ham in his shop. He agreed to come out to Urukundo and teach my boys a little about butchering and cutting meat and curing ham. The ham is delicious. I am thrilled but we have a long way to go and a lot to learn. He did what he could in one day and is coming back to work with Cecelia our head cook. I love the ham but pork chops and bacon would be a treat.
The new meat has been introduced at our house and already there are inquiries as to when we will have the meat for sale. That is not in our plans. We will still raise the piglets to sell and occasionally we will add pork to our already varied types of meat. We have these meats available for the children: rabbit, goat, beef, chicken, turkey, fish and now pork. No, we do not raise fish nor do we supply our own beef but the rest does come from our farm. We have meat once a week and on special occasions only. The farm with its vegetable produce, fruit trees, meat, milk and eggs manages to supply quality food for the children. Fortunately I am not the farmer just the driving force.
