The compound is in disarray at the moment with many different projects going on at the same time.
The second house is up to the roofing stage, the paving stones are being placed, the guardhouse has the door and most of the finishing touches done and the verandas have the slate rock on. The men are finishing the back stairs and the only thing that is not done on the main house is MY painting work. Yes, I have my very own job and since I didn't finish this past trip, I can now. The red mud from the
rains were discolouring the rock so we decided to wait until the verandas were completed before I start painting again.
I talk to Edwin on Skype very often and it always excites me to see some of the children that will be moving in just sitting and watching the workers. I try and imagine what they are thinking. They are
so excited and I am sure are counting the sleeps before they crawl into their first bed. I really want to
share this day with you all.
We would like to show you some of the most recent pictures so you can get an idea how
your donations have been used. We are very grateful to all of you who help and pray for us. We
know that all of this is done in God's timing and we will conquer all obstacles as they happen. It's
normal to come to the end of a project and the realization hits. The kids are coming...how are we
going to feed them all? What Edwin and I realize is, we would never have gotten this far without
Him and He is not going to abandon us now.
The house fits perfectly and still we have lots of land for the kids to be kids. The roof will be going on this week and soon we will have our girl's house. We have decided to name the boy's home after our little Nathan that passed last year with cancer and not AIDS like we thought. "Nathan's Home" will be the first one that we built and the second, for the girls will be named "Lydia's Home" after a very sweet person who loves kids enough to give of herself in a very big way. Thanks Lydia from all of us.
A year ago I caught Edwin spending the money I was sending him for food on these paving stones.
He wanted to help from his side of the world and thought he would slowly get them made, so that at
this point, when we needed 25,000, he would have a good jump on it. Bless his heart, how can you
ever get upset with that. These will eliminate all the red dirt brought in with the rains. I know how
lucky I am to have this boy in my life...
This is starting to look amazing.
The grass is thick, the hedges are starting to grow and I see my avocado birthday present in the background really flourishing.
In Uganda, a veranda is a 1 1/2' ledge that circles the entire house. As you can see, the red dirt is
starting to change the colour of my newly painted rock. Oh Oh, I have to redo it this year.
John our Contractor came up with the idea to put this slate rock on so the rain will wash right off and
cause no discolouration. He's the best....it's working.
James will be planting flowers all along the back wall. Our clothes lines will go back here as there
won't be any dryers and the smell of fresh sheets will be a wonderful change. We still have to
place the slate around the back to stop the red from staining the rock.
I would like to introduce Rachel to you. Rachel and her friend Rebecca have been very involved
in helping us in Uganda. They attend Heritage Wood Secondary School in Port Moody and
are baking banana bread to raise money for us. Since Rachel became involved, her family
followed. Her father, Thomas in Hong Kong has now donated a very powerful solar lantern
for our home. No more darkness when the electricity goes out. We are so grateful to this family
and Thomas's company who are now "Lighting up Africa".
Do any of you remember the old transistor radio? They are run by battery and very popular in
Uganda. If anyone has one of these that they would like to donate, we would all be so happy. The one you are looking at is the one that plays all day at the project when the men are working. I think it may have had a full life soon and I just wanted to get them one before it crashes but having difficulty to
locate one.
Well, lots happening, lots getting done and all of us, including the kids are really getting excited.
Our electrician Dennis is hard at work. He is installing all the electrical wires throughout the
main house. He will also be working on the submersible pump that will be operated by one switch.
The 5000 litre tank that will supply the community will be turned on by a switch when empty and when full, switch will go off. This way, the community will always have water. Both from our well and from the rain water running off the roof into the tank. A pumping station will be built outside our wall but we need a little more funding for this to happen.
We are going to have a home and we are going to help a huge community....who would have ever dreamt from a loaf of banana bread only 2 1/2 years ago, that we could make this happen. We have been very blessed by all of you. Also, by the many workers in Uganda that are so proud of what they are doing, that they ask for little. There is never going to be enough "Thanks".
Myself, Edwin, David, Isaac and all the kids wish all of you a very Happy Easter. Our Lord died on the cross for all of us and His glorious promises of eternal life for all who believe in Him.
Oh...and I forgot. We have a quote on starting a bakery. We have the opportunity to raise money
to feed the kids by baking and we have a way for distribution. When my daughter and I go back
in July, we will investigate this. A very good possibility in the future to raise money.
Oh Willie...we sure will need you now......lol
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