Thursday, February 21, 2013

Breaking Ground for the 2nd Children's Home

We have broken ground for the second home for children and things are moving along quickly.  While we don't have all the funds necessary to complete this home, my oven is still running continually in an effort to bake enough banana bread to raise the money needed.  We are determined not to slow down and I believe in the upcoming months we will be able to achieve this dream.

My daughter is joining me on my next trip and we will both personally move the first group of children
into their new home.  She will be hosting an online auction in the coming months to help raise money
to purchase supplies for our trip so I will update you on this at a later time.

In the meantime, I had the honour of attending and speaking at the Aviation Leadership Forum in Vancouver.  This was a life changing event for me as I realized the impact of what we are doing.  How I can turn it around for the kids of today and teach them also to be leaders in the community tomorrow.
I am such a "Grandma" kind of person, that lives by old school rules and just does what has to be done, never thinking of the impact that it is instilling onto others.  Thanks to the Aviation community, I am now aware that I must be thinking in a different context.  We must teach the next generation to become leaders by example and encourage them to go out and make a difference in this world.

Save on Food is again taking the bull by the horns and having yet another big fundraiser this weekend.  They are calling it "Gone Bananas 3" and it will be held at the Sumas and Whatcom stores both the 23rd and 24th of February from 10am - 4pm.  Without Save on Foods and Global TV, we would not be where we are today.  Thanks so much from all of us once again.  You are our heroes.

I would like to show you some of the most recent pictures of our compound.  You must realize that in this country there is little equipment to work with.....it's all done with muscle and hands.  I wish we could help them, but we can't.  We just love them for working so hard and we let them know how valued they are and one day, when we can, they will be really rewarded. There are two men that work continuously from their hearts and they are James and Sula....We consider these two men "family".




Ground is now broken for home #2.  We made the decision to take approximately 40 more children.  We have the land, why wouldn't we do this?  We are not sure who they will be at this time, but when my daughter and I are there, we will work closely with Edwin to find these children that are truly alone in this world and bring them home. 






We thank RosaLee and her family for contributing these bricks to start the 2nd home.  All of us are very grateful to you.




James is digging again.....this time in the sock pit.  He dug out the entire septic tank and now this hole.  This is why we call James our family because he works so hard to make this home a place for children to live and he takes such great pride in his work.



Security is complete with the razor wire around the entire 1 1/2  acre wall.  The only thing left to do on the wall now is plaster the outside and eventually paint it.  Thanks again to the dairy community of British Columbia for building this wall in order to keep the children safe.  




Normally these kinds of boulders would be moved by machine but not in Uganda.  It's all done with
muscle and determination.





This is Sula and Daniel and they lifted every one of these boulders to put into the sock pit.  It's hard to
imagine what people will do to to accomplish a task.  They work so hard, ask for nothing and we appreciate them so much.  One day they will get what they deserve.  That's a promise from me. 



Into the sock pit they go.




And now to the paving stones.  To pave the complete compound, we need 20,000 paving stones.
We have approximately 5000 more to go @ $.25 cents each.  We can then start placing them between the homes and the difference in the look of our Home of Angels will completely surprise everyone, including me.  




The most recent stones completed.





This is Erna and she decided this past Christmas to get together with her family and donate money
to our Home of Angels.  Her entire family participated and they accumulated $700.00 between all of them.  We are so grateful for this contribution which made a big difference to the building of our children's home.  Edwin, the children and I thank you all so very much.  




The main house is almost finished.  The glass windows are in, painted inside and out and the patios are finished.  The plumbing and electricity are in and we are almost ready for the caretakers and the clinic
to be in operation.  Dr. Isaac will primarily take care of the children but he will also attend to the community as it's all about giving back to our neighbours that have so little.  




The people in Jinja have not had water for awhile so we have been inviting people to come and use our well.  These are some children living near by that are taking advantage of the invitation.  We feel blessed to have so much water to share with everyone.



We live in such a wonderful country where we don't experience the problem of water or food.  We sometimes take it all for granted, but in some parts of the world people are really suffering.  If we can help them, share and show our love for others, we are doing what God has asked of us.  This is what Edwin and I want to do in our area of Uganda.

Thanks to all of you who have contributed this month, prayed for us and encouraged us to not give up.  Edwin and I really appreciate your caring and your heart to get this finished.  This compound will be completed one day and we thank all of you for your donations to make this dream happen.

God bless all of you














3 comments:

  1. Absolutely amazing Barb, every time I see new photos I am just in awe of what you are accomplishing....men like Sula & Daniel are incredible, that work looks back-breaking.

    I talked with Kim today....what a fantastic trip you two will have in July.

    Take care, Simone Xx

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  2. Barb, it's just wonderful to see the progress you're making, and how God is opening the doors to being able to take in more children! But I just have to know...what is a sock pit??? :) Love to you!

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  3. It is back breaking Simone. They don't know any other way but they keep helping us do so much. I am looking forward to going with Kim so she can see why I am doing this. It will be an eye opener for her.

    And Kari, thanks...a sock pit is connected to the septic tank. We won't have to clean it for many years with the sock pit in place. Just a lot of digging as far as I can see. Thanks you guys for encouraging us.

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