Coronavirus update

The pandemic is still with us in Rwanda as it is in the rest of the world, but things are looking better. We were notified our 10 university kids would return to classes on Oct. 21. That happened. The Primary 5 and 6 levels will start school on Nov. 2. Primary 4 classes will start on Nov. 23. This is, I hope, good news. No word yet on Preschool and Primary 1 through 3. Maybe January 2021.

Covid-19 restrictions are still in place. Masks, distancing and washing hands will be maintained in our school. We do not want to invite the coronavirus to our school. Keeping children and teachers safe has to be a priority. Transporting the children to and from school by bus and providing the school lunch program will be challenging. We had hoped to have the new bigger dining room constructed and ready. Work in progress.

October newsletter

In my other life -- it seems like so long ago -- October was the beginning of thoughts of winter. I do not miss winter in Pennsylvania. What do I miss? Believe it or not, I miss trick or treat. This holiday is not celebrated in Rwanda. I miss the trip to the pumpkin patch with my family. It was a family tradition. Visiting a farm, climbing aboard a wagon pulled by a tractor and finding just the right pumpkin to make the best jack-o-lantern was a special family time. Yep, fall is a special time of the year in Pennsylvania, USA.

Mama & Baby Outreach

Our Mama & Baby Outreach needs help. It is no longer possible to get newborn items to Urukundo in suitcases because of travel restrictions due to the coronavirus. The virus has not stopped the birth of newborns and their need for help. The need did not go away.

I am trying to think of a way for you to continue helping. I remember how women at Faxon-Kenmar United Methodist Church in Williamsport, PA, USA, had a baby shower for the mamas and babies. Those shower gifts kept us able to care for the babies for months. Our supply soon will be finished. Our shelves are bare.

Baby clothes can be purchased in Kigali City. Funding is needed. Are you willing to help?

My thoughts: How about a baby shower for Urukundo? Is it possible? This is a baby shower in a new way. Choose a hostess for the shower. Go price shopping as the main event. Enjoy looking at the precious baby clothes. Decide what gifts you would purchase if you were making a purchase. Then write down the price. Add to that price what a card, paper and ribbon to wrap the gift would cost.Then make a donation of at least half of that amount or whatever amount you wish to share.

The hostess will designate a week or month to have the shower. At the end of that time, she will send the funds donated to Hope Made Real, P.O. Box 3222, Williamsport, PA 17701. Designate the donation for Mama & Baby shower.

Gifts to look at are disposable diapers, onesies, undershirts, receiving blankets, sweater sets, dresses, boys sets, any newborn garments. Well, you get the idea.

That is my idea. If you have a better one, feel free to share it with others or go with it.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Chicks on the farm

Chicks upon arrival. Two days old.

Chicks one week later. How fast they grow!

Same chicks in one month (28 days). They are losing their baby fuzz, molting and getting their feathers.

They are so like other animal babies. So cute when they are tiny babies!

Celebration

Urukundo had a staff wedding.

Evariste, our poultry farmer, became a groom. His bride, Grace, is lovely. Their reception was hosted at Hope House.

Fanta (soft drink) was the drink of the day. The bottle of champagne was special, a gift for the bride and groom.

Simple but beautiful. Not the usual Rwandan wedding. Restrictions of the pandemic were met.

Worship

We miss the children’s choir at worship, so Pastor Yves paid them a visit.

It is important they know they are loved.

They sang for him, and he did a video for me. Check the videos. https://youtu.be/G1f9gWa_aOc

School update

Several months ago, I shared with you about the need for wash stations at the school and inside the compound. We needed one wash station for every two classrooms. You were wonderful, and US$515 was raised. I was so happy. Well, as is the norm, things change, and new criteria for the wash station were sent out by the board of education. The changes required a large wash facility to be built at the entrance to the school compound to accommodate the children as they enter the school. It must have running water. Cost now is US$2,500.

Benjamin drew up a plan, and it was approved. By Nov. 2 when school is set to open, hopefully it will be completed.

I’ll follow up with photos with kids next month. The tiles catch the drainage after washing. I really am not sure how this will work. I have questions. As of now, no answers. I am pleased to say that thanks to Forest Hills Rotary in Pennsylvania, USA; the late Tom Nunnally of Pittsburgh, PA, USA; and Rotary International, we already have our own supply of water. Water from the source would be a large added expense.

As the photo above shows, we are in the process of constructing a permanent wash facility with 20 faucets, adding plumbing and drainage.

Not sure this makes sense. The cost has gone from do-able to almost impossible. God in charge.

One section.

There are 20 stations.

Not completed yet. Work in progress.

Sisters come home

University students Giselle and Cecelia came home for a visit before starting back to university on Oct. 21. It was good to see them. This was the first visit in some time because the coronavirus shutdown had stopped all public transportation from Kigali, where they live, to Urukundo Village in Muhanga, South Province. It is surely too far to walk.

Dining room progress

Slowly by slowly (Rwandan term), the dining room is becoming a Hope Made Real.

Spaces for doors and windows are now visible. Long way to go to completion. It will be such a blessing, especially with the virus requiring distancing in the dining room.

This photo shows the location between the offices on the left and the kitchen, with the blue roof, on the right. Someday, a new kitchen with propane gas for cooking will replace this one. Hey, hope springs eternal. This area was where the sunflowers grew last growing season.

Precious face for the month

Beautiful

Audry has grown so much, and she is not afraid of me. I wanted to share this bit of joy. Ismael, our dental chairside assistant, is Audry’s daddy.

Sharing another face. His name is Dale, nickname Dilly. My newest great-grandchild in the USA.

One handsome boy. Bragging a bit. Great-grams can do that.

Appreciation

The theft last month of three computers -- an older one that still played DVDs, the office computer and my Mac Air (can’t live without) -- was a devastating blow. Guess what? You recover and move on. I met the challenge by doing my best to learn to use a PC. Well, at least for sending emails. You can teach an old woman new tricks. Original saying indicates “an old dog.” However an old woman does not change from a Mac to a PC easily.

I want to thank my international board for coming to my rescue and funding a new Mac Air. It was a bit expensive being shipped from Miami, Florida, USA. It was to arrive in Kigali at the Apple Center on Oct. 9. It arrived Oct. 22. I am grateful it arrived.

Thank you to everyone who kept me in thoughts and prayers during this traumatic time.

Closing thoughts

This morning as I sat at my desk looking down the hall toward the kitchen, lo and behold, a little bird came walking out of the kitchen and turned toward my office. I laughed and said, "Hello, little bird." Now I did not expect the bird to respond. The bird took a few more steps toward me, turned, flipped his tail, walked sedately back into the kitchen and was gone. Hmm. That tail flip could have been a response.

Mama