It's All a Gift!

 In 2014, Edwin and I started off with a dream that we never imagined would be become a reality.  When the children in the garbage dumps asked us if they were called orphans, we told them no....they were God's little angels.  Of course, the next question was, would we build a home for His little angels?  At that time, the coffee plantation wasn't cleared to build their dream but the thought never left us. Fast forward to 2025 and look where we are today.  We couldn't have done this without your trust, encouragement and your help.  This was all a gift for us to continue this dream.  Whether it was sponsoring a child or getting us out of some kind of a mess, your compassion and kindness encouraged us all to never give up.  Out of the 116 schools in the Jinja school district, we have recently been nominated #1 in performance.  Thank you for allowing us to provide all that was needed including some of the most experience teachers.

I'd like to share something with you that has been very difficult for all of us.  As most of you know, our girls transitioning out of HOA have been accepted into YWAM.  Hope and Desire passed with excellent grades and today they have good jobs in Kampala.  Zakia and Eva have been accepted and are now entering into their second year.  Mariam and Annette were recently writing their exams just north of us in order to also follow suit.  Mariam finished early and came home on the bus with Annette to follow the next day.  Annette's bus (van) was hit by a container truck from Kenya and 32 people died.  Annette was the only one to survive, but succumbed to her injuries four days later.  Normally the children must be buried in their village of birth but due to these circumstances, the leaders allowed us to start a cemetery on our property for all our Home of Angel's children.

Annet's Story

Annet arrived to Home of Angels when she was 8-years old and had suffered more than most.  Both her parents died of AIDS when she was 2-years old and her aunty took her into her hut.  When she was 5 years, the aunty poured scalding water over her body and she was severely burned.  She went to prison, but when she returned, little Annet was forced to live with her again.  It was a few years later when we learned of this and asked if we could bring her to live with us at Home of Angels.  Because of the brutality on  such a young child, the answer by the officials was yes.

Meet Precious and Edwin, two people that have given their lives to making a difference in this world to raise orphaned children, help the elderly survive and provide food and water to the people who have none.

It was a different Christmas dinner this year.  With the weather and Ebola in the air, they decided to hold off until a later time.  A wonderful donor provided special food and of course their favourite treat.... an orange soda.

The construction of the Ptarmigan hostel has now been completed.  I just wanted to show you the size of the building because to take a picture from below, you can't visualize it with the wall in front.  Imagine the same building with all floors looking like the next picture.

Here we go with the first floor of the hostel.  I never thought I would say, we need a drone to really capture this.  There's a possibly a team may be coming in the summer with a drone and it will be much clearer. Our thanks goes out to Ptarmigan Foundation for all they've done associated with the schools and students.  This education could never have happened without them.  All of us are so grateful to you. 

 

This is "Mikes House".  We had a large sign on the right of the building but it was too heavy to stay attached.  We wanted to acknowledge Mike and Linda for all they've done to provide this home for the 26 new teachers hired for the future.  As you can see the second floor has been started for future staff.

This is the Nursery school entrance.  There are three large rooms for students ages 3 to 5 years old.

At every entrance to Home of Angels, we have hired a guard.

The staff have gone to great lengths to create learning materials in each class.  Precious, Edwin's wife is usually found in this room teaching every morning.  With her patience, I can understand their ability to learn.  She is an amazing woman.

                                      

There was an announcement on the radio for enrolment into Ptarmigan schools.  Over 1,000 people arrived during the day and the children were all prepared for entertainment.

We were able to bring the Hope for Children to our church at Home of Angels.  Pastor Sam spoke with the families and some gifts of food were distributed.  These are the families we have been with for many years providing different tools for survival such as making soap, harvesting their crops and selling 2nd hand shoes.  Precious has helped to set up each family with a bank account and taught them how to control their money.  The village continues to grow and we all continue to help them also.  Thank you.....

A journey describes life in this broken world and when we see a spark of hope in children, our job as adults is to help ignite it.  Thanks to all of you who are igniting hope into these children.  You're making such a huge difference into their survival.  God bless you all!

Love Beyond Boundaries

It was 16 years ago that Edwin took me to my first garbage dump full of children looking for food.  I had never seen anything like that before and it broke my heart.  When they saw my white skin, one little girl asked me "Are we called orphans?"  Edwin and I  answered no and explained they were all beautiful "Angels".  That thought never left us and that's how we began.  I was recently reminded that as soon as the children arrived to Home of Angels in 2011, they were learning that Jesus promised them He would not leave them as orphans and they never forgot.

We cleared a coffee plantation to construct one small building to house a few children. The first eleven  arrived, saw their first real bed, a mosquito net, a trunk for their few personal items and on the bed was a new hand-made quilt made by the hands of the elderly in Canada.  We certainly couldn't have made it without so many of you for your help and love.  We also want to thank you for not giving up on us  because of the all the struggles we've faced both in Canada and in Uganda.  You always believed our dream could be accomplished and for that we are truly grateful.   Because of the new hostel, there will be 200 new students arriving from Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya to begin their first semester in 2025.  This will make a total of 500 students in both Ptarmigan Nursery and Primary schools.  There will be 26 teachers, some local and some from afar that will be housed with us also.

 

                                                                               I'm really going to have to be honest with you all ..... I feel like I'm going down memory lane right now.  This is Barbra with her two brothers Paul and Silas.  The boys were moving in with us, so Barbra, being a good sister, decided to come with them for encouragement. 

A few months later the Pastor who had been taking care of the kids couldn't afford to feed Barbra any longer, so we agreed to bring her in to live with her brothers.

This is probably one of the first letters they haven't had to ask for help writing.  That meant they had to write two to show everyone what they had learned.  When I last visited everyone in 2019, only Junior could help them print these signs.  They have come so far over these past few years and I know from what I'm seeing and hearing on the phone, they have advanced so much in their English studies.  We're SO proud!!

The hostel has been completed.  It will house 200 students from Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda in 2025. What you see on the top are the leftover materials put up with a vision of building a third floor one day.  All that remains is to complete attaching the razor wire on the walls, painting the exterior of the building and finish putting the windows in.  By the first semester of 2025 everything will be finished including hiring the guards.  

Because we had to hire more teachers coming in from quit a distance, we've decided to use our empty homes in order to house them.  This home is equipped with a wall and razor wire also.  If they should have one or two children, they will also have enough room to bring them along.

Our first children, Hope and Desire who came every day to pick our weeds to feed their two blind grandmas in 2013.

 

Hope and Desire have now graduated from YWAM with excellent grades.  Thanks to a wonderful sponsor, they were able to attend Industrial Training after graduation.  Hope decided to take Catering and Desire went in for Art and Design.  

  

Seeing how Hope and Desire loved YWAM and learned so much, Zakia and Eva also asked if they could attend.  They are both very grateful to have a donor who helped them to attend the two-year program. There is also the possibility for the girls to come back to Home of Angels and work if they graduate and want to.  Time will tell all.

 

Joanne had already chosen her future.  She's always wanted to learn to sew like her sponsor Lottie sews.  She has been learning in our sewing room at the Trade Center but when she leaves next year, there has been a good machine hidden to be given to her as a going-away present.  Wish I could be there to see those tears!

Pastor Sam had been requested to visit a village of 2,500 people deep in the north.  He brought along a story from Jesus called the "Water of Life".  They started talking about the water in their district and how it was a 7km walk away.  The long and the short of this story is a donor came forward to install a bore hole for them.  Instead of paying for a drilling truck, ten very strong men asked if they could dig by hand.  They would have to dig 150' down through thick mud.  Permission was given and they made it,  The pipes were set and covered and the pump was installed on top.  The money to be spent on the drilling truck was used to feed the hungry in their village.

                                                                             

This is where we witness the first water out of the ground.  No more walking for hours to fetch water.

The villagers are now begging us to help build a church because they want to understand who this Jesus is who helped them survive.  Our Pastor Sam and his friends are going to help them build a cover from the rain in the near future and assist them on Sunday services.  This is what it's all about everyone.  Helping the helpless and teaching them who Jesus is.

This is our "Hope for Children" village.  There are currently 121 families learning how to survive with the help of Precious teaching them different skills.  I can't help but use this picture because it depicts exactly what these children live with daily.  This little child had been given a new shirt and by the look on his face I think Precious is telling him to show it off to all of us.  Our children at Home of Angels still have their "God's Little Angels Ministry" and are still helping the elderly here also.

There is only one man out of all these families and he has three disabled children.  His wife left him because of the children but he loved his kids and decided he would stay with them and help the village survive.  Because he had no money, a donor sent him $1,000 to purchase 2nd hand shoes to sell.  He's doing well at it and is able to make a difference.  They are all banking about $30.00 per month in their own accounts in town that Precious had set up for them.  

Thank you all for your prayers of encouragement and your help to continue us on this journey.

Simply Trusting

Fifteen years ago, Edwin and his friends cleared a coffee plantation in order to build a home for orphans from the streets.  Not sure what I was getting into, I decided to help him by baking banana bread and I was hooked from that day on.  Our dream became alive and has never stopped since.

By putting our faith into action and loving these kids, God has planted the seed that starts the process of miracles.  We've certainly been blessed with all that has happened.  Today, compounds are joined together with 8' razor wired walls housing our Center of Grace church, a Bible school, a Trade school where the children can learn their choice of a trade before they must phase our at 18-years old.  Both Ptarmigan schools are flourishing and with an excellent staff, we decided to fill it to the maximum.  A decision was made to build a hostel for 200 new students that have been enrolling from Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. The final construction of our hostel will be completed soon. 

Recently two more of our girls phased out of Home of Angels.  A donor has come forward to send them to YWAM and because they passed their entrance exams, they were able to start the following week.  Because this YWAM is only 30 minutes from our home, they will be able to keep in touch with their brothers and sisters at Home of Angels.

Certainly, in these days "our journey" describes life in this broken world we live in.  We encounter joys and sorrows, conflicts and loss, and we must take it as it comes, not as we wish it to be.  Personally, I have to say that today, I never face this journey alone anymore.  There is nowhere we can go that He isn't there helping us. 

Pastor Richard was such a blessing to us and to the poor.  Whatever they needed, he tried his best to help them locate it, but all that changed on the day he was attacked with a sledgehammer and his skull was cracked open.  We were told he would be OK after a couple of months in the hospital but that wasn't the case at all.  When he returned to the Home of Angels, it wasn't long before he succumbed to his wounds and passed on to join the Lord.  Pastor Richard was a great loss to us and our community. It was at his funeral where 3,000 people attended to say their goodbyes that we understood how much he was so loved and will be sorely missed.

                  

 

There are eight villages north of us that have no way to come to our Center of Grace Church. They have requested for Edwin to bring Pastor Sam to their village for an introduction and discuss what they can do.  We have several Pastors to take care of the villages so the issue is how to keep dry in case of rain.

Because Edwin is the Minister of Trade and Investments in the Busoga Kingdom, the village leaders quite often call him to speak about important issues.  This time, it was for the same reason.  To find a solution for a village church.   Edwin gently explains the situation to them and makes them realize it's a plan that we won't forget about.  If we can figure out how to get tents, there will come the time we will be able to help them.

My daughter Kim and her Ugandan doctor friend each established organizations that have worked together over the past ten years.  The Grow Hope Foundation is a North American non-profit that has walked beside Dr. Isaac Lufafa and his non-profit Tusubira Village, an educational compound on five  acres just north of Home of Angels.  Tusubira Village has recently added cottages and a pool to create an income source in support of the educational programs run on the compound.  Thanks Kim and Dr. Isaac for inviting our children to have their first swimming experience.

Africa

Meet our newest little girl into the Home of Angels named "Africa".  It's difficult to tell, but Africa has a large head and most children born this way are named "Africa".  There are many children in our area the same, especially in our LOVE project.  If anyone would like to sponsor this little girl, please contact me.  She's starting a whole new life at Home of Angels and she is going to need lots of love.    

When the chickens died, we had the chance to plant 30,000 conifer seedlings on that land to donate to the country of Uganda.  There were many little hands pushing seeds in these pots and before we knew it, they were ready to be transported.  At a certain height, these trees were then all taken to the eastern side of Lake Victoria where they are today.  

Deforestation is a national issue in Uganda where most people use firewood for cooking.  Also, with the 28 refugee camps, the largest now being 270,000 people, the forests have been depleted due to charcoal production and poverty.  These trees will grow to 9 meters high with a width of 25 centimetres. 

For those of you who remember when we built our second compound, we used these two buildings to raise 1,000 chickens.  When the Avian flu hit they all died.  We then decided to utilize the buildings for our Morning Star Nursery school and the grounds for planting food.  Over time the students outgrew this school and moved to the Ptarmigan Nursery school being build behind it.  This building has now been converted to the Trade Center to be used for HOA children when they must phase out at 18-years old.  Currently, there is an interest from the families of students housing with us, to also have the opportunity to learn a trade. This will also be another source of income to help us to become self-sufficient in the future.

The first two floors of the hostel are almost completed.  Inside walls, floors and windows are also finished but due to weather issues, we couldn't finish it before school started.  It will definitely be completed before the next semester.  We will then be able to have sleeping quarters for the 100 girls on the ground floor with 100 boys on the second floor. 

  

The roof will give you an idea how large this building is.

And truck after truck of beds start rolling in.......

Because of the current situation in Uganda with child-trafficking and also the heavy rains, Edwin and Precious decided they would cut a walkway between the walls separating the home and school compounds.  Everyone would be safer and drier. 

Meet Alice!  Alice is a young girl from the streets.  She's never had an education and both parents have died of HIV.  Her Aunty took her in to live with her and asked  Edwin and Precious if she could learn how to use our "Overlock sewing machine" in our Trade Center.  It's the same as a serger but the stitch is more like a knitting stitch.  With this training, she'll be able to survive on the streets with her Aunties machine.  

Since 2010, all we've ever wanted to do is make a difference in the lives of children, the elderly, the poor and the sick.  Even if we helped one child to have a better life and come to know the love of Jesus, we've accomplished our dream. But I have to tell you, that without so many of you helping us, we couldn't have accomplished this alone.  You've done everything from raising a child at HOA, feeding the hungry, drilling bore-holes for water, supplying mosquito nets to prevent malaria and so much more.  And most of all, helped us towards another dream of becoming self-sustainable.  We might not be quite finished but Edwin and Precious believe that not too long from now, this dream will be fulfilled.  Thanks everyone!! You should all be proud of yourselves for contributing to help the helpless.

End of Year Celebrations

Sixteen years ago, I would have never believed I'd be saying these words.  I'm fast approaching a new season, "the winter of old age".  We've all worked hard to achieve a dream and even though it's not quite finished, we couldn't have done it without your help. 

No matter what the circumstances were throughout these past years, we've trusted God to give us the wisdom and the skills to raise these children, to provide for the sick, hungry and the elderly.  We want you to understand that this is not about only what we've done.  It's also about all of you who played a part in helping us to provide for the orphan and the helpless. Whether it was by donation or through one of the many teams who visited HOA, we all did it from our hearts.  Friends like Joyce for example, who put Hope and Desire through YWAM and is currently putting them through a catering and hotel management courses.  So many wonderful people who cared about the helpless and never gave up helping us to help them on your behalf.  Below, you will understand the impact of what's possible in the future and we're convinced that many children from Ptarmigan schools will make a difference in Uganda.

We live in what I used to call "the bush".  Sixteen years ago there were very few mud huts but today a village has been constructed all around us.  After we built HOA for the children to live in we decided we needed a school.  We already had the two chicken houses with 1000 chickens that died of the Avian flu, so we converted it into a school that we named "Morning Star Nursery School". It filled quickly, so the next decision was to build a larger Nursery school.  Thanks to Richard and his family, we were able do this plus build a Primary school.  Our dream has always been to be self-sustainable with 500 students and the best qualified staff.  The Morning Star school was then converted to a Trade school so children could learn a trade before they phased out at 18-years old.  Also, the parents are now requesting their children would love that too but with a fee.  That's when the media became involved.

I had planned a trip to Uganda recently, but sadly, I had to cancel due to personal reasons.  Little did I know that they had prepared this surprise for me when I was there.  They still went ahead on a rare day the sun came out.  The school compound was set up for 1000 people. Twenty police cars arrived carrying two government officials.  The Commissioner of Education and Sports who issues all the permits to schools in Uganda. She was sent to witness what was happening at Ptarmigan schools in a district outside the City of Jinja, later to share it with the Prime Minister of Uganda.

In the second car was the Minister to President Museveni.  He sent her to witness what everyone was saying about Ptarmigan schools at Home of Angels outside Jinja. She was thrilled and beamed the entire day.  She couldn't believe the quality of education and that the youngest child could speak to her in English.

Because of the radio stations being involved, many parents arrived to find out how to enrol their child.

By midday they had reached their maximum of 1,000 people on the property, including the radio stations, news media and parents wanting to enrol their children.  The Minister was thrilled to cut the few cakes they had and she seemed to beam with a smile at all times.

These are children performing from Nursery school.  They danced and sang in English to Baby Jesus

The Muslim children had a beautiful dance also.  Where we are, everyone is the same and I love that. When we have a Christmas party for our Home of Angels children, it's the Muslims that bring the meat for them.

And back on our Home of Angels property, a tent was set up in preparation for our children to have a Christmas party also.  Because so many of the children were helping Uncle Edwin and Precious, they all aren't here but I thought you'd be thrilled to see how they've grown.  Thank you Laurel for making them so happy.

This was an amazing Christmas party.  I see meat in the rice, flowers on the table and the sun is shining.

We are rapidly building the hostel but with the hard rains, it's not been easy.  Edwin has had up to 75 workers a day and they won't be giving up. It must be completed by mid-January.  All you prayer warriors out there, please pray they can do this before school starts.  It looks like we may have a good enrolment.

This is the first part of a radio series about our Ptarmigan primary school.

 

This rain is heavy and goes all day like this

Wishing you all a Happy New Year and thanks again for all you've done for us over the years.

Our Anchor of Hope

Most of the time, life doesn't warn us of the unsettling experiences coming our way, but our loving Father knows and cares about our struggles and He invites us to bring our fears and worries to Him.  That's exactly what we've done at Home of Angels.  Many places in our world are suffering and we know that we will also go through times of struggling, but we're going to fight with everything we have to make it to the finish line.  What finish line you say?  To be able to operate on our own and still be able to help the orphan and the poor.  To raise more homeless children and for our two schools to equip the 500 students that we have recently enrolled.  

We are currently on our last project and that is our Ptarmigan hostel.  For many kids to come from a distance, they need to have a place to lay their heads.  We believe we will accomplish this, even in the rains. In the meantime, we've had some sad things happen.  Our Pastor Richard was attacked on his motorcycle and hit hard on his head with a sledgehammer, cracking his skull. He's presently being treated by a neurosurgeon that came from a distance and we'll soon know the results.  The rains have been unbearable.  Currently, the roads are all washed out.  For us to bring food in, we now have someone purchase it, drive to a place where Edwin and others can walk, pick it up and carry it back to HOA.  It seems that a safe home remains more of a dream than a reality over there now.

Our contractor and workers are still constructing the hostel but with this hard rain, it hasn't been easy for them. We've relied on them for many years and they have never let us down.  

Edwin managed to get pictures on a clear day and we're happy to be able show you.  Thanks to all of you who have stood with us all these years.  Please pray for Pastor Richard and for the rains to ease up.

   

We'd like you to meet our newest children that have come to live at Home of Angels.  From left to right we have Diana, Sheila and Zaina, all girls from our neighbourhood who have lost their parents.

 

In our last blog, I shared a picture of Corrie, our wonderful friend who has been collecting cans since 2013.  For ten years she never stopped and we wanted to honour her with a surprise present.    So we decided, in honour of her, we would name one of our homes after her.  Just to give you an idea...in 2013 she donated a cheque for $25.00. Ten years later she has collected ....get ready for this..... $34,000.00.

Our wonderful friend Corrie will be 90-years old very soon.

These two girls are in our Nursery school learning to read and write English.

I couldn't resist this picture......

These are our Primary 7 students getting ready to write their exams in the morning. Pastor Richard is praying over the students and their parents.  

And of course they must be a fancy cake to celebrate.  I wonder if they made this in the Trade Center?

This is our road.  We're up the road by that telephone pole.  When it rains, it gets narrower and narrower.

This is one of the homes under water on our road.  You can just see the desperation.  The crops are all looking the same.  Literally no food once again.

Look at that "Blue Sky" 😊

The hostel is coming along and only because the boys will not give up.

Just to let you all know, I'm planning to travel back there early January for a month.  I can hardly wait to see everyone, especially all these little people who I don't recognize anymore.  I'm blaming that on being so old.  I think I'm going to need prayer too so I won't end up in the Congo by accident. 😉