Joys and Excitement of 2014

2014 has been an amazing year.  Early in the year we made a decision to start our sustainability programs rather than bringing in another 35+ children right away.  The reason being, many of the children we are choosing are sick and for us not to give them protein and the other nutrients they need, it would have hindered their development.  These are a few of the programs that are in progress at the moment.

Thanks to everyone who donated towards our chicken project. We were able to purchase and successfully raise 1000 layers and 1,650 broilers so far.  The layers will be laying eggs very soon and the broilers are selling as fast as we can raise them.  David has established a good market for selling our eggs, in fact so good, we are thinking about just raising layers in the future.  The children will also benefit from the protein they so desperately lack.

We recently planted a large passion fruit garden that will be starting to produce fruit in the near future.  Our gardens are full of vegetables and greens and our maize crops are the best yet.  We were able to store some for future use.

As soon as the concrete poles and chain link is installed, the 200 goats will be purchased and we can start raising them to sell.  The sale of meat on the international market will be another source of income to help with our costs, and in time these goats will multiply.  Thank you again Thomas for this wonderful donation.

In the meantime, it is the Christmas season and we truly rejoiced.  We shared the story about the birth of Jesus with many and at the same time were able to feed both the elderly and the children with soup from the Gleaners.

We have been blessed once again by Northview Community Church.  Funds have been put in place for us to complete our second children's home along with funding to finish our team apartment.  All of us at Home of Angels thank you very much for caring and hope you will be one of those teams to visit one day.

Edwin's father (75 years old) has generously volunteered to let us use his 30 acres to raise goats.   In order for that to happen, we have had to set up concrete poles and chain link on 7 of those acres to keep them contained.  We had 3 trucks of concrete posts and 4 trucks loaded with chain link make it's way through blinding dusty roads to his remote village north of us.  George was there to meet each truck to help unload, while his village friends were working to install the fence.  No one asked for wages as George had planned to pay them in food that he himself planted in his gardens.

George also planted a banana plantation for me a year ago.  He planted 300 trees and it will reproduce to 600 trees in a period of 2 years.  Once he heard we had two ovens, he assumed I would need bananas in Uganda to make banana bread.  I have started and have it almost perfected.  I am now in the process of teaching our girls to bake this bread and with the results I am seeing, they might have a little business going here one day.  It's better than mine.......

Our little Ivan is so excited to be able to go to school in February.  Edwin is working with him to teach him is ABC's and his 123's.  The other kids are also working hard with him every day to teach him the basics.  He is now one of our "angels" and will get lots of help to catch up.  

Our showers went in last month thanks to Sandra Sequira and her friends.  What a blessing this was for the kids.  Jowell wanted to experiment first and feel the water falling on her.  It's amazing what we take for granted in the Western world.

We had a HUGE Christmas party for the little people in our community.  Only the little ones were invited.  We started preparing the Gleaner food the night before and at 6am, we met together again in the cookhouse to finish cutting the cabbage and onions.  Guess who got the onions??  Aunty Aidha and Aunty Joy love working for us and continue to give endless hours in helping the less fortunate.

We have 20,000 children in our immediate area.  I was so worried how Edwin would ever pull this off without a riot.  We could only invite approximately 100 kids but little did I know Edwin had a plan.   He went to one area and told the mothers that he needed 40 children.  They all knew him so 40 appeared within minutes.  No one knew where they were going but because it was Uncle Edwin, they trusted and followed.  

By the time we finished, a total of 177 kids had eaten and enjoyed a soda.   Before they ate, Edwin told the story of Jesus and how it was His birthday today.  That's why they were there....to celebrate His birthday.  He explained the importance of the meaning of Christmas and as he spoke there was silence.  Sula, one of our workers then preceded with a prayer to bless the food.

OK, your right....I was having far too much fun here.  Every one of these kids said thank you and were the happiest we had ever seen them.  Next year we will definitely do this again but increase the numbers to 250 children and also show the Jesus video.  The rains came this year so we were unable to do that.

Now it was time for our 2nd Christmas party for our Home of Angels kids.  Again with balloons, meat, rice, matoke and soda, they were so grateful.  Little Alan even say "fankyou" three times.

Thanks to a generous donor, the elderly and mentally challenged home just down the road from us had the chance to celebrate with food at Christmas also.  The oldest gentleman in the front is 96 years old and this was his first real Christmas.  He insisted because he was so old that he get 2 sodas.  No one argued.


We would like to express our thanks to all of you, whether it be following our journey, donating to special projects, sponsoring a child or just helping me with a banana bread sale...."Thank you".
We have a wonderful team of people that are very dedicated and we are so grateful to you all.
Please remember that as of January 1, 2015, all donation and sponsor cheques are to be written to TOIS.  You can send them to the same address which can also be found at the top of the blog under donations.

God bless all of you and we wish you all a very Happy New Year 2015.

Exciting Times

We would like to share with you some wonderful news.

God has opened yet another door for our Home of Angels and we are very pleased for many reasons.  As of January 1, 2015, we will be working together with the Timothy Outreach International Society (TOIS).  TOIS is a Christian charity that operates schools, clinics, community development and other ministries in Uganda.  Throughout this past year, we have gotten to know some of the TOIS principals in Canada along with the leadership team in Uganda.  We feel that God has paved the way for the connection between our two organizations and we will be able to work together effectively to develop and operate ministries that show God’s love to some of the most needy people in Uganda.

Effective January 1, 2015, all donations and sponsorship money should be sent to Barb Giraud, #96-32691 Garibaldi Drive, Abbotsford, B.C.  V2T 5T7.  Cheques are to be made out to TOIS and Home of Angels written on the subject line below. Tax receipts will then be issued by TOIS.

We have had a very exciting past two months and we are all looking forward to Christmas which is almost upon us.  The children have chosen to stay together for Christmas where we can all celebrate the birth of Jesus together.  Presently they are  attending a Bible camp in Entebbe with Dolly and Welli, our dear friends originally from Abbotsford and having the time of their lives both learning and making new friends.

We have a new little boy named Ivan who has recently come to live with us.  Ivan is 11 years old and has come from a village in the north where Serving His Children has an outreach.  It was a difficult start for him but today, 3 weeks later, he is thriving with his new brothers and sisters.  We realized with Ivan that in the future, when we bring in other children, we must do it slowly to give each one the individual attention they need to adjust. It is mandatory to have this time to accomplish the transition for these little ones. Most of them have come from very difficult situations and they need a lot of love and encouragement.  We feel so blessed that God has given us this gift of bringing hope and love into these children at our Home of Angels.  

We would like you to meet Jeff and Shannon Dyck.  They are the leadership team already established in Uganda by TOIS.  Jeff and Shannon are originally from Canada and with their 4 lovely children, are now living in Masaka/Kibaale.  They both are very knowledgeable in running both the Kibaale Community Centre and the Timothy Outreach International Society in Masaka.  They have already been instrumental for us with advice towards running an operation such as ours.

The day finally arrived when we greeted little Ivan at our gates.  Renee and her team from Serving His Children brought him over to live with us as Renee realized how happy our children were and he would have a good family to live with.  We are so grateful to have this little guy (with Edwin).  He has struggled with the unimaginable but with a lot of love and encouragement, he is already adjusting to his new family.  We are looking for sponsors for him if anyone would be interested in helping him.

What's a welcome without a party and cake?    

How could anyone not want to belong to this family?  We just have to keep remembering that they were all scared the first time they entered that gate.  They seem to feel each child's fear and make an effort to change it with a smile and a hug.

The girls are all learning to sew.  Each day we learn 2 new stitches and they are tested at the end of each week.  I am now watching them teach the Aunties what they had learned that day.  Edwin and I will be setting up a sewing room to teach them on a machine next.

I never thought I would be doing this here.  OK, so what does a person do when they have an entire banana plantation of 300 trees and the bananas are everywhere?  Bake of course, but I got smart.  I thought of teaching this art of baking to the girls.  Today I did and they loved it.  Matter a fact, their bread was better than mine.  They shared one loaf with everyone and will plan to practice again tomorrow.

Mariam celebrated her birthday on December 10th.  We baked a birthday cake and while surprising her, Desire poured water over her head as this is the tradition.  Couldn't resist this picture of shock.

Our passion fruit is getting tall and already flowering.   To utilize every space possible, kale has been placed between the plants so that the children will have their greens for nutrition.

These are our 300 broilers that are now ready to be sold.  Because it's the Christmas season, they are selling very quickly.  We have another 200 birds that will be ready for sale at the end of the month with one purchaser requesting all of them.  






























Our first load of 40 birds going out of the compound.  Yes, you are seeing this correctly and they are being transported all the way to Kampala like this (80km).  They have since returned for another 100 birds for the same journey.  Apparently our birds are very tasty.

These are some of our 1000 layers.  They will be ready to lay eggs in 2 weeks in their new nests and we are very excited to see the results of our labour.  Thanks to David we will have an outlet for the eggs but what is more exciting....we will have protein for the children.  We are still in the learning stages but we are so proud of our few workers who have kept them alive and in good health.  Many people here will lose 1/2 their flock to disease, but ours are still in tact.  Thank you James and Sula.

Exciting times are still to come and we are continually witnessing what God has done in the lives of these children.  They sit and chat together about how they are going to help the next child or how they will teach the new ones the alphabet if they have never gone to school.  It truly brings tears of joy.

Love and Hope

A child never experiencing real love or hope has less chance of succeeding in life, especially in a community like ours.  Most of the time life is only focused on what you will eat that day and hours are spent trying to find your next meal.  Your entire life is looking for food and water and trying to just exist.

Our goal is to find these homeless children, get them off the streets but always with the intention of finding next of kin.  In the meantime we bring them into a warm loving home, feed them, teach them life skills and just love them to death.  To date we have 11 children with only 2 having 90+ grandparents.  In the short time we have been open, the changes are something I personally would never have imagined.  They've learned survival skills from the aunties; learned to grow crops successfully; take care of each other; teach others about God and to believe in themselves.

One year ago, these same children brought home their report cards.  Nothing above a 40% and as low
as 11%.  One year later, they came home with their grades again.  We had a meeting to discuss their results and to our shock.....nothing under 50% with most scores within the 80%-90% range.  Our little Saika who we recently took out of the garbage dumps scored almost everything in the 90's.  That's what happens with God in their lives and having hope and love in this home.

These children have never had a birthday party before.  Edwin and I decided to let them decorate the grass hut, blow up the balloons and decorate two big cakes we made with our new ovens.  Everyone had a small bag of frosting and attempted to make flowers.  The results were amazing and very tasty.
They have now decided to celebrate this special day by having one family birthday party a year.

This was their first cake and they loved every morsel, but the fun was making it themselves.

Our 1000 layers are doing very well with only 5 more weeks before we start to see them laying.  It will be part of the children's chores to collect the eggs but with knowing they will get an egg a day, I'm sure it will be done with a smile.  Thanks to David we have also been blessed to have a market for selling them daily.

Our broiler chicks are growing fast.  We have decided since the there is a high demand for good chickens for Christmas dinner, we are going to sell them where we can get the most profit.  The ones left will be bought by one buyer.

We would like to thank Marlaina once again for her monthly gift of food to Jaaja.  Every Sunday the children help an elderly person but this particular day we found out Jaaja was at his friend's burial.
This is Marian's 98 year old grandpa and we will be making it a priority to go back soon and help him do his chores.

We were very happy to host Dan and Mimi at our Home of Angels.  Dan was a huge inspiration for Edwin, teaching him about the chicken business and offering his help to set up spreadsheets to keep track of our business.  We visited Edwin's father in the village and he showed us the land he is letting us use for raising the 200 goats that were donated by Thomas.  What a blessing

Meet Emily who came to visit us from Word of Life in Entebbe.  Emily resides in my hometown and is currently helping teach at Word of Life.  We were so happy to have her here for a few days to help both the children and myself.  Thank you Emily for helping the kids get their shoes for Bible camp.  We love you.

We were also happy to have Miranda come for a visit.  We only had one full day with her but we packed a lot of activities in to give her the feel of our Home of Angels and our community.  By the way, we now have 2 Aunties with the same dress and they are loving being twins here.  

Thanks Mir for all the gifts you bought from your church with you....we are finding the best homes for them all. 

Alan has a new suit for church.  I have to tell you....it's amazing here.  Our kids all go to Sunday school with many other children.  We have street children that come in dirty clothes, we have children from the richer part of town or just the orphans like our kids.  No matter who, clothes are not the issue here.  Clothes are never an issue.  Everyone helps each other and everyone learns about Jesus.  And yes, I certainly do have a sewing project on my hands here.

Our gardens are thriving.  We have everything from green peppers, cucumbers, maize, kale, spinach and so much more.  We have all the passion fruit in now and even a guava and jackfruit tree.

Our little Joseph is the head gardner.  He seems to be able to produce anything but his biggest thrill was to plant the cucumbers.  Every time they get big enough, he brings one to each brother and sister.  Two years ago we almost lost this little one twice in one week.  Today he is healthy and happy.  I again attribute this to "love" and "hope".

Miranda bought gifts from the Sunday school at the Baptist Church in Princeton B.C.  The children had made paper bag hats for our kids with their names on them. What a nice gesture from these children as it meant so much to our kids that others around the world cared   enough to do that.

Happy faces

We have so many happy events happening at the moment in our Home of Angels.  We know that God is with us in a big way as all our dreams are starting to come true.  Yes, we still have a long way to go but we know in our hearts, it will happen.  One day we will have our second home built, 30+ more children off the streets and our sustainability programs in full operation.  The biggest success are these children who we can see are starting to grow into leaders at this young age.

Thanks everyone for sharing this dream to help the helpless.

The Right Foundation

Foundation…. a very important part of our Home of Angels.  The right foundation makes a difference between something that lasts and something temporary.  God's truth is the only bedrock worth building on as far as Edwin and I are concerned and that is the home we are providing for the children who currently live there.  We have children coming to us from every situation imaginable.  Many due to family dying of HIV/AIDS.  There are those who fled to the garbage dumps because of orphanages closing and had no where to live.  We have children where mothers died giving birth to them and grandmas not being able to feed them due to housing 10 grandchildren already.  We are determined to create a solid foundation for these kids both spiritually and mentality and with God's blessings, it will happen.

As I am no spring chicken and Edwin has never done something like this before, look what's happened to this project since we started in 2010.  We did not do this….God did.  In the past month alone, I can list things that happened way beyond our wildest imagination.  I wrote in the previous blog that we needed 200 goats.  Thanks to our  friend Thomas in Hong Kong, he answered that request.  Edwin's father in turn donated 30 acres in his village to raise these same goats so that we could sell the meat on the international market.  Oh my goodness, he even planted banana trees for me to make banana bread in Uganda….ouch….not sure about this one.

We have always wanted to have a medical clinic on the property and between Carolyn and Warren Bebble and Marian and Rich Vanderwal, we started.  But, with situations changing around the world, we have been offered a medical clinic in the form of a kiosk to be placed outside our wall to help both our children and the community.  Another gift from Thomas and his partners and a much wiser idea.  Thanks to all of you for helping us.

The big item left, is to finish our second home as we need to house the remainder of the children.  We are working with a Probation Officer in Jinja to find kids that are truly orphans.  When located and the home finished, we will bring them in slowly, allowing them to adjust and get used to life there.  The kids living there now are so excited and will treat them with such love and understanding as they had come from these places themselves.  In the meantime, we are still looking for sponsors if anyone would like to help.

As there have been heavy rains this past month and power failures constantly, we only have a few pictures this time but the warm weather is coming.

We are presently installing showers into the kid's latrine.  It is a big process as the sump pump is on the other side of the property, but as you can see, the encasing for the pump is almost finished.  The water will run underground across the yard to a 3000 litre tank that Laury and Tom DeGroot donated.  That tank will be put up alongside the latrine so gravity will allow the water to flow down.

This is Frank, one of our guards.  Because of the issue of guns, we had decided to use bows and arrows to defend our compound in case of an incident and I better not hear any of you laughing.  But we have now decided that we would be wise to also purchase one rifle.  Hate the idea, but this is a place where even the grocery stores have a guards with AK47's  inside and out protecting their property.  

The greens are flourishing.  The kids were very excited to see so many because they love them and they are so healthy.  Not sure what kind of green this is but will let you know once I am there.  The rains have helped the gardens thrive…just hindered the power and road situations.

The maize is also thriving.

Our 1000 layers also doing very well.  Looks like James and Sula have mastered the art of raising chickens.  They have kept the 1000 alive for more than one month now.  They hopefully will be laying  by the end of the year so the kids will have eggs for protein and we can sell to the places already requesting them.  

A few weeks ago, I was invited to attend a Save on Foods awards banquet.  I felt very honoured to be asked. After dinner I was invited up on the stage to say a few words and have a "selfie"
taken.  I had no idea what this word meant but I went along with it and you are seeing the results.
These wonderful people are just one store that has made me feel like family and have done so much to promote our Home of Angels.  They have been a big part of changing little lives in a country that has many struggles. Thank you.  If anyone wants to come to our banana bread fundraiser on October 25th, we will be at the Sumas store in Abbotsford from 10am - 4pm..  Love to see you.



16 more sleeps and we are off to Uganda.  Our director and his wife will be coming to see the wonderful things you have all had a part in creating and we are excited to show them.  As Dan and Mimi are big chicken farmers in the Fraser Valley, they will be able to advise Edwin and his crew with their expertise.  I will be taking lots of pictures over the months ahead and be sure to keep you all updated.  The weather will be better, the sun will be shining and there will be lots of wonderful things happening.  Thanks for continuing to follow our story.

God bless you all

Promoting Unity

I decided today to sit quietly and read the 65 blogs I had written in the past.  I felt as if I had floated back in time remembering every step so vividly on how our Home of Angels came to be and all the people who made it possible.  So many adults and children who helped change a life.  Whether it had been helping a widow, an orphan or Edwin and I to build this compound, we always knew that without God at the helm directing traffic, none of it would have been possible.  He knew that we could accomplish more together than we could alone.

We started building in 2010…I made enough banana bread to send Edwin $500 at a time for bricks.  Over and over I sent money for more bricks.  I didn't tell anyone.  One year later we had one single home almost completed and Global TV came into the picture and helped us to find donors by airing our story.  Following that, Save on Foods became our community partner supplying all my ingredients to bake with.  We were then on our way.  Today, 4 years later, we are at a point where we are struggling to complete.  Our goal is to have 50 children and be self-sustainable.  We want to operate from Uganda and not always rely on the people in North America.  Presently we have 11 children and cannot accept any more until we know we can take care of them.  The kids we will have living with us are kids that are truly alone due to death of family or abandonment.  To abandon them again would destroy them.

Everyone knows this next part is very difficult for me.  I never ask for help for anything but we never know how strong we are until we are challenged, right?  Could I ask for your help?

As you know, we presently have 1000 layers and we are bringing in 500 broilers between the layer cycle.  We have just planted 140 seedlings of passion fruit in order to supply the demand at the market.  Edwin's father has offered to raise 200 goats in his village knowing it will multiply to 400 in a year. The intention is to sell goat meat internationally as the demand is high.  All these ideas are for self-sustainability but more importantly, our kids will live much longer with all this provided nutrition.

If you would like to help us with any part of the following items, we would be extremely grateful.

The 2nd children's home will cost $18,100.00 to finish.  This is the most costly item needed but until completed, we cannot bring any more kids in.

We will need to build a septic latrine with showers for the children.  This includes digging a hole 8'x15'.  Constructing bricks inside that hole and plastering it with water proof cement.  A slab is constructed on top to build the actual latrine including showers.  This way our latrine will be able to be emptied annually and will last for 40 years.  Total cost will be $6,000.

We have one generator and it is presently being used for the chickens in case of power failure.  We are going to need a powerful generator for the main compound to keep electricity, water and appliances running.    Cost is $3,700.00

As our community helps each other, we in turn have been able to help them by providing water.  In times of drought we have invited them to come and fill their jerry cans on our property.  These are mostly orphans and widows who come.  Until we can fix our roof to accommodate these people with  rain water into a tank, we are eventually going to need to purchase a new sump pump costing $1,800.00.

We finally received our 1000 layers from Israel.  It has been challenging with the rainy season and the power going out daily but Edwin and the boys have managed to keep them alive except for a few chicks that died trying to keep warm.

This is our friend Godfrey's passion fruit orchard up the road.  He is helping Edwin with the one we
are presently planting, giving our crew all the important tips for making it a success.  Thanks Godfrey
for this…I love this about our community…everyone helps everyone and doesn't think of rewards.

Meet Sam our oldest boy.  He is following Godrey's direction and digging a 2' x 2' hole for all 140 seedlings.  He fills the hole with a mixture of ash and chicken manure before the seedlings are planted.
The poles and wire will be constructed next and what happens after that…I am not sure.  All I know is that on Godfrey's land, the passion fruit is thriving.

The children had a chance to play on a slide and swing set at Word of Life.  Mama Hope and Mama Jowell were helping little Alan to have the time of his life.  I wish you all could have seen where these
kids came from and where they are today.  It's thanks to all of you that they are so happy.

After I previously posted this picture, I received a message:

A message from Rachel and Mark Peru….This is such a lovely photo Barb, I am so excited that Mark and I have just got married and we asked for donations to your charity instead of wedding presents. So far we have received £1400 which adds to our playground funds for your playground. I can't wait until next year when this will become reality for them . X

This is a picture of what love and hope can do.  These kids…out of the garbage dumps…out of terrible conditions with absolutely no one to care for them and so much suffering…. look at them now.
Thanks to all of you who prayed and who helped us make a home for them.

Edwin and I would like to thank everyone for following our story and mostly thank God for all that He has done for us over these past 4 years.  He has never abandoned us.  It is He that placed you all on this journey with us and we  hope you will continue to watch this unfold.  In the meantime, if any of you would like to help us, we all would be so grateful.

Please see the link at the top for how to donate.

Until next month…….

Challenges

When I look back at the 64 blogs written over the past few years and the 54,000 hits that I didn't even know were a huge amount, I realize now how green I am.   People write me all the time and ask how we did it and I just keeping answering, trust in God, don't quit and it will happen.  To be really honest with you though, we had no idea this would grow into such a wonderful project with children so enthusiastic to learn and want to help others as they do.  We are aware how truly blessed we are.  God knew what He was doing when he designed this plan, but what we didn't know was what He had planned for our future.  Amazing things are starting to happen in our little jungle community….

We do realize though that we have some issues to deal with in order to complete our Home of Angels.  Thanks to Northview Church, we are able to complete the entire chicken project.  This was an enormous gift and we are so grateful.  With a few projects like this under our belt,  we can make it work in the future, but we still have some big issues to deal with.  It will be some time before there will be any profit on these broilers and layers.  In the meantime, we need to complete the 2nd home before we can bring any more children in and until we can finish this and know we can provide enough food and wages, we are not out of the woods yet.

About Edwin…. we realize that this is a lot of work for one person so we decided to hire his brother David part time.  They have had their challenges also.  Last week they were pushed into a raveen because someone got impatient with their speed and the car was totalled.  Both are OK.
The following week, when Edwin and David took our little Joseph to the hospital to check his CD4 counts, they returned to find their locked car broken into and completely gutted, removing everything of value.  This vehicle belonged to another family member who was storing it in our compound for safety.
Total cost of $800.00 for repairs.

The children are doing well except for Joseph.  Please pray for this little one.  So many times we have come so close to losing him but he continues to rally.  If we can get our chicken project off the ground and be producing meat and eggs, these kids will have a much better chance with the protein in them.  We believe that every life is precious and Edwin and I will not quit until this project is completed.

The Gleaners is a place I love to brag about.  These are the people that gave us 500,000 meals for our container and we were able to help so many people fight hunger.
Not just in our community but in areas to the north also.  Our children will have food for 2 more years because of this organization and I am proud to say "I am a volunteer".

This was a container that arrived from Saskatchewan with 84,000 pounds of high protein lentils and peas.  All donated.  You can check them out at http://www.fvgleaners.org

Here we have the 2nd children's home that we hope to fill with 40 more children one day.  We did get the doors and windows secured but we must wait now until we have enough funding to complete it.

Thank you Lauri Bach for bringing my large envelope to Edwin and the kids.  None of these children knew when they were born but always wanted to have a birthday.  They chose a date in the year  and I sent them all a real birthday card with stickers and balloons.  I miss them terribly.

Here comes the rain….

 Our plans have always been that when we can, we will bring in these two children.   Meet Sammy.  This little guy is a brother to Hope and Desire and has been taken to the north to work as a slave…that's right, a slave.  He has been hidden in a northern village all this time but we found out where and there are now people looking for him.  If found, Sammy will be coming to be reunited with his sisters and have a chance to go to school and be a normal little boy.  We really need prayer for this to happen.

Alex, the other boy is at this time with his mom in the hospital watching over her as she goes throughout her final stages of AIDS.  You might remember is brother Nathan who passed a few years ago due to the same disease.  To give her final peace, we promised 4 years ago that we would bring him to live with us.

At least we could get this vehicle back inside the compound.  They stole the lights on the outside and...

...everything under the dash.  This was a car that Edwin's brother had lent them to tend to the children's needs but also store in safety until he returned.

On a very happy note though, I would like to tell you about two Secondary schools, one in Port Moody and one in Richmond, where students worked all year to raise money for our Home of Angels.   I especially want to say how proud I am for all the banana bread they baked.  I personally know this challenge and know it's not easy.  The video below is from McMath Secondary and I know you will enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXw2pxoOhBk

You may remember Rachel from Heritage Wood Secondary School in Port Moody.  She and her friends Rachel, Amanda and Rebecca have been raising funds for us for the past two years by having banana bread fundraisers.  They were able to raise $1,494.93 and all of us are so grateful for their efforts.  Thanks for all your hard work.

Thanks girls for all your efforts
to make a better place for the children at Home of Angels.  We love you ….













For the past 4 years, I have always said that I wanted to do something for the "Kids helping Kids".
It haunts me because we need to show the people in our country how dedicated they are in trying
to make a difference to the less fortunate.  Our kids are awesome and I am so proud of them.  The time is going to come where we can introduce them to you.  Most of you reading this blog have been with us and supported this cause the entire time.  I have had the pleasure of meeting most of you and been able to verbally say "Thanks".  What an amazing project we have where all your money has gone to make a difference.

God bless all of you.