December newsletter

A late November visitor

Dr. Martin Seiwald from Austria accompanied our dear friend Dr. Otto Fischer, also from Austria, on Otto’s November visit to Urukundo.

Dr. Martin is a retired general practitioner. He was most welcome. Dr. Otto is a doctor of veterinary medicine who is co-founder of a veterinary hospital in Rwanda.

Another friend of Dr. Otto’s named Barbara visited days later, and I forgot the camera. I have no photo. She also was a welcome visitor and is now a new friend.

In addition, Angelique Westmark from Dusseldorf, Germany, was a late-November-into-December visitor. This was her fifth visit.

Angelique took three of our girls on a trip to the Butare National Museum and places near Butar. Here are Diane, Joyce, Angelique and Benita.

Diane,Joyce, Angelique and Benita

A first-time adventure for our girls.

Learning is part of every experience. Diane was brave and met the challenge. She sat for a lesson on how to weave a pot. This looks more like a top for the pot sitting near the workspace.

Learning Center

These children won the reading competition for grades 1 through 3. They were amazing.

Music director Emanuel accompanies our band on the newly acquired trombone.

On Dec. 14, our school was awarded a certificate of thanks and appreciation because of our excellent performance in national exams last academic year.

Director Jean Marie and Headmaster Viateur Ntwari accepted the award for the foundation. Our students and teachers are to be congratulated for a job well done.

Birthday No. 93

Yep, I had another birthday. My 93rd. Imagine 93 years old and still kicking! I had decided “no more celebrating my birthday” and then I reconsidered. It was a good decision as it got me the perfect birthday gift from friends at my home church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA –  St. John’s-Newberry United Methodist Church. The gift was from Kent and Irene; Keith and Elaine; and Mary Ruth as well as my family. A recliner! Thank you all.

It was worth one more birthday celebration. This met an important health need: getting the legs up while resting. Who would have thought? Age?

The celebration continued.

My birthday gift from Urukundo employees.

What a wonderful gift to me and Urukundo’s lawn garden! Rest and relax.

The wood furniture that was once in my living room works well on the lawn. The perfect area for me to meet and greet visitors to the daycare and the offices during the early morning. Love it. Come for tea and enjoy with me.

And more birthday

My birthday was on a Saturday. The weekends are quiet at Urukundo. Our employees are home with their families. I was sure the birthday was over.

Monday came, and all was quiet. A few stopped with a birthday greeting but work went on as usual. I moved from my office around 3 p.m. to the living room. My mistake. From the living room, I cannot see the activity taking place in front of the office.

At 4 p.m. my front door opened, and an invasion took place.

I should not have been, but I was totally surprised.

An unbelievable cake

Lots of help cutting the cake

What a lovely message!

Christmas trees at Urukundo

In the yard

In the family room

Finally after 15 years, there is a new tree for Urukundo at Christmas. It has lights, tinsel and a star. The hand-carved nativity scenes are so special.

In my office

The crystal bird is new. She has a pink heart in her beak and was a gift to me from my visit to New Mexico for my daughter Solange’s wedding.

Community children's Christmas party.

The only day available for the gathering was Sunday afternoon. The party was in the same building where we worship. Problem? Oh yeah! The party was to be at 2 p.m. This would give us time to worship (10 a.m. to noon) and then prepare the room for the party.

Kids started coming at 9 am. Many (about 200) came into worship and stayed.

They kept coming.The day was getting hot. We had to get the kids out of the sun.

Even though we were not ready, around 12:30 p.m., we opened the doors, letting them come in. The children were our main concern.

In total, about 1,100 children and young adults attended.

We had a plan. Yes, we did. Plans do not always work. Last year, showing the movie on the wall did not work, so we purchased a screen.

Great. We had chosen “The Sound of Music” to be the movie. Well, it was scratched so badly that it would not play. Instead, we played a movie of Christmas songs in a sing-a-long.

The children sang and danced.

The kids enjoyed it.

OK. Now the kids were hungry. We gave out cookies.

Mamas with small babies and children lined up to receive a gift before journeying home.

Director Jean Marie directed traffic to get gifts and lollipops. Once a gift was received, the guests exited the building.

Happy kids outside having received a gift.

Leaving the party. Paper and lollipop wrappers litter the area. Hope the wind doesn’t start to blow!

Clean up, clean up. All the staff pitched in, and it was done quickly.

We prepared gifts for 900. We were happy to have an estimated 1,100. We distributed the gifts according to age from babies up. Running out of gifts was not in the plan. The older kids received no gift but did get another pack of biscuits and a lollipop.

Looking at how this event has grown in an area where kids have so little, I think we need to start preparing for next year now.

Carol Falke, International Board president, is looking and preparing for next year's Christmas. She sent me photos of what she has collected already for Christmas 2024. Thank you, Carol.  

Christmas Day

A special Christmas gift for me on my desk.

Sharing Christmas

I was honored to share the day with a special family from Kigali. This Christmas, I invited a dear friend and his family to share the day with me. Innocent and his wife have two small children,  Lior Kyllian, age 4, and Galia Zoë, age 6.  It was good for me as I had forgotten how energetic  4- and 6-year-olds can be.

They visited the school and had fun with Dad on the playground.

What a pleasure it was for me and I hope for them!

November newsletter

National Geographic has just named Akagera National Park in Rwanda as one of its 30 “cool” places to visit in 2024.

Urukundo can arrange such a visit for our visitors. In February, my son Jerry, at left; my grandson Tim and my great-grandson Mason took a tour with guide Guy and driver Innocent. Akagera is about a five-hour drive from Urukundo.

Just a few of the animals you may see at Akagera National Park.

My favorite animal is the zebra. Like the snowflake, no two zebras have the same stripe design. Amazing. Is that possible?

My first dung art purchased during my first year in Rwanda is a zebra. It has moved with me the many times I have moved to a new residence. It is hanging in a place of honor in the new residence. This should be our last move.

November visitor

Angelique Westmark

Angelique Westmark visited Urukundo from Duesseldorf, Germany. She was introduced to Urukundo by her son, Lennart, back in 2015. Lennart visited Urukundo first and then brought his mother. This was her fifth visit. She has been very active in providing sports uniforms and cleats (shoes) for our soccer players at the school. Both Angelique and Urukundo thank the Adler-Apotheke  for the donated health supplies they sent with her on this trip.

For the first time, we had a visitor to help to prepare gifts for the community children’s Christmas party. The help was welcome.

The highlight for our visitors is taking part in the teaching program at the Urukundo Learning Center.

Spending time with our children at the school was a pleasure for Angelique. We encourage our visitors to spend time with our students.

The opening exercise each morning is the perfect time.

Preschool

It finally was time to get a new camera. These are the first photos using the new camera. Big improvement!

Preschool kids and teachers – looking good.

I am impressed with the improved quality of the photos.

Day care

 Hill house and guest house

I am pleased with our new camera. The photos are much better. What a difference a camera makes!