Love and Caring with a Purpose

Edwin and I are lost for words when we speak about how this project evolved and how many people have supported us along this journey.  We believe it is all God and that He put you in our lives for a purpose.  To help His children....and that is exactly what you have done.  PLUS.....the odd Grandma and Grandpa.

We have not completed the entire project, but we know that one day it will happen and it will be in His timing.   Thanks to all of you for putting your hearts and trust in us.  Without that, we could never have accomplished so much in so little time.    Yes, we have a ways to go to make it a safe environment with the wall and it is the biggest part of the cost, but we know in time it will happen.  Our little ones who will be coming in are already learning English, learning how to smile and feel compassion towards others and we can see a future in their lives.  They have hope for the first time.  We have to share with you that we told a few of them because of their circumstances.  We can see a difference in their every day life but the most rewarding part is the "smile".  They know they have HIV, they know they are sick but something has changed.  They have HOPE.   Without your help, this would never have happened.  We hope you will continue to follow our journey as we make this dream a reality for 32 little angels...we are so close.

This is Mr. Peter.  He is the man who made a decision to sell us his land which joins alongside ours.  Land values have increased in our area of Mpumudde, but because we were given a donation of $8,000, we were able to barter with him.  Today he agreed to terms with the local leader present.  It is culture to
do business buying land this way and makes it official on paper.  We must come up with $7,000 by
the end of April and the remainder when we can.  Edwin convinced him to drop his price down $3,000  and we are now blessed with a piece of property that will accommodate a Technical school and land for the animals.  I tell you....Edwin you are the best "barterer ever".  You have saved us a lot of money....

This is the most amazing thing that has happened to us.  I said to Edwin one morning, "Why did you buy the men uniforms to dig?"  He said "I didn't".  These are prisoners from the prison in Jinja.  Normally they would never do this but again....Edwin pulled it off.  His friend works at the prison and
volunteered the men to help us dig the 1 1/2 acre trench for the 8' wall.  It took them 3 days instead of  3 weeks.  The neighbours are just shaking their heads....first the electricity goes in, in 5 days and now this.

We were able to pay them very little but Edwin and his brother, Dr. Isaac are going to the prison tomorrow with medicine to treat them for the many things wrong with them such as ringworm, jiggers and fungal disease.   We have two wonderful followers, Carolyn and Warren who donate money for his medicine to help the people.  It has mainly been for the children, but these men truly deserve help after what they did for us.  Thanks again for helping Dr. Isaac.

These are the stumps they had to dig out with a hoe and an axe...

The men are cleaning out the trenches in preparation for the foundation.  It is only because
of the people in the dairy community in British Columbia that any of this is possible.
They have raised a lot of the money to make it happen and we will never forget them for their huge hearts.
The BC Holstein News, edited by Gary and Karen Booy have made a big impact by sharing the
story in the News... Thanks to all of you who helped protect the kids with this wall.
You can read the story at  www.holsteinnews.com

And we begin the construction of the foundation.

Edwin is reading the BC Holstein News.  The article is about Laury and Tom DeGroot donating the sale of "Faithful" the cow to put in all the water, tanks and septic tank.  See story at www.holsteinnews.com

The tanks are in place and lines installed into each apartment.  The one on the ground that you
see is for the community.  The gutters will go up next week and the rainwater will go only
into that 5000 litre tank.  A line will be put into the ground extending to the outside of the wall
for the people to pump water.  As it is now, they travel a distance with their jerry cans and it is so
often the little ones doing the fetching.  Maybe we can give them some extra playing time.
Once again...thanks to Tom and Laury DeGroot for helping hundreds of people have water.
We all love you for this great gift and I know if everyone could speak, they would be yelling it
across the oceans.  Edwin hears every day how grateful they are, so God bless you both.

This is what I call "Barb's Treasure"..... sorry, but I am not a good squatter and I love my toilet.

This is a beautiful story.  I have tears every time I look at this picture, but everyone knows me...I am an
emotional train wreck when it comes to starvation.

Malaina and Ron from Alberta heard about this story.  Grandma raised Jimmy and Simon as their
parents died of HIV when they were little.  Grandma is blind and has no way to feed them.  Jimmy and Simon are at our compound every day working so hard, never asking for a thing.  Lottie bought them a pig to see if they could start a little business and soon after, Malaina asked "what about the food?"  She and her husband Ron decided to send enough money to feed them for a month and this is a picture of them receiving it.  Jaaja (Grandma) has her hand on it to feel it and Jimmy said it was the most food they had ever seen.
These boys are so special to us and I don't know how they ended up so good with what they have lived with.  They are always there for us and work harder than most.  I watched both of them working for 9 hours, only to take a lunch break.  Edwin makes sure they get food daily with the crew.
I have been asked to say thanks to each of you who made their life a little easier.

Do you all recognize this little one?  This is our Joseph and he is feeling so much better. He has
been through a lot, in and out of the children's hospital needing bags of blood to survive.  He has
now had 3 and is holding his own.  He is a perfect example why we are trying to make this all
happen so quickly.  Joseph has never had a real home...Joseph has never had real love from people
who truly care what happens to him.  He now has Simone and Olivia sponsoring him from England and knows they love him.  He has a bed waiting and he knows that God is going to help him get through
this HIV a little longer until we can get the medication to help prolong his life.  I wanted to share this picture with all of you because we almost lost him more than once and now.....look  "another smile".



You know, they say I rattle on... I admit it.... I do.

But when you are there and you see the situations that are going on, you can't help but rattle on.  You can't show pictures about everything, so you try to explain it all.  So much is happening there, as it is all over the world, but in Mpumudde, we are really trying to make a difference to 32 little ones.  I guess what I am seeing that is so inspiring to me is, each child that knows they are coming into our home, is changing.  They are trying to learn, trying to please and prove they can be productive kids.  They have such potential and we see it.  Now that we have this new acreage, we can put up a Technical school, teach them a trade to survive and they will grow to teach others.  God is really with us on this project and we want to show the world that no matter what it takes, a loaf of banana bread or a fund raising project...just do it...You can make anything happen if your dream is big enough.

Thank you for all your love and your donations.  Thanks for your encouraging words and your contribution of everything to help us help our project.  Helping me to bake the banana bread and just your heart.  Some people tell me they have no time but have the money and send donations because they can and know that 100% goes to these kids.  Thanks for trusting Edwin and I.  We will never disappoint you.

We are now a Society

If you would like to help us with a donation, please send it to:

Jaaja's Home of Angels Society
PO Box 734, Stn A
Abbotsford, B.C.  V2T 7A1

God bless you all...