When I arrived home in February, we went on GoFundMe to raise enough money to drill one bore hole. Thanks to many of you, we made that quota in 2 days and started drilling right away. Because of the death of one of our drillers, we had to delay the commissioning and we apologize for that. We would like to share with you now the impact of your generous donations. One dear lady in her 80's walked many miles to reach this celebration because she knew that one day God would provide water that she could see through .... what we call "clean water".
The children are all doing well. They're happy and I think to myself sometimes that our home might be the only place in the world where everyone loves everyone. In all this time, I have never heard them quarrel or not share with each other. To hear them say how much they love to go to school 6 days a week is difficult for me to understand, especially when the older ones don't come home until 9pm. They are all so grateful to their sponsors for this gift of education.
James our guard also works at keeping the compound clean and there isn't a time when you don't see one of the kids helping him. Alan is the lucky one today. People always wonder how our Home of Angels stays so clean....this is the reason. Everyone takes pride in their home here.
With our new ovens inside the cookhouse, we only use wood now. It's cheaper and lasts longer
but after the truck unloads it, the staff and kids have to chop it all up. Always with laughter and smiles.
This little girl has nothing. She was born normally while her brother is mentally challenged and she helps carry him for Mom. When they came to our home for food, our older girls noticed her and how sad she was.
Zakia to the rescue......
This is an example of why Edwin and I are so proud of the kids. Zakia decided to share her clothes with her and put a flowered band on her head to match. Her mom told us it was the first time she's ever had something pretty to wear.
This is Sula and his Mom up early preparing food for the only elderly home in Uganda that we know about. It happens to be 10 minutes from our home, so Sula helps her every morning before returning back to Home of Angels for a full days work with the chickens and gardens. This boy has worked for us since 2009 and we wish we could clone him for his work ethics.
Thanks to our dear friend Joyce who supplies the food for these elderly people. They are able to eat meals three times a day and because of this, they are fighting off diseases and becoming much more healthy as time goes on. She has also put in new plastic pipes for clean water which I'm sure is contributing to their improved health.
It's hard for us in the western world to understand the reality of Uganda and many other African countries. There is NO clean water in these swamps. Sometimes these kids walk between 5 and 10 km just to get a full 20 litre jerry can and many time they have to repeat the walk twice a day.
How could we not do something to help? We live in the western world where nothing like this exists, so when we felt God calling us to DO SOMETHING.....that's when Edwin and I jumped into action and many of you followed.
Edwin wanted to show you the clean water coming from an aquifer that we were told will last for many years. You all made this possible with your donations and this community is very grateful.
On behalf of 1000's of people, we would like to thank you all for helping them.
This is a small part of the area that will benefit from the water you donated.
When you give a gift such as water, the culture is to give back. They have nothing right now because of the famine but they managed to find the perfect gift. Beautiful big avocados and I was the one to receive them on your behalf. Edwin and I shared them with others that were hungry the following day.
We've made a video for you to watch the people celebrating the first day of their new gift. There are few words to explain the feeling of watching poverty first hand, but what I can say is, you saved many lives and the appreciation is beyond any words. Thank you from everyone.