Preparing our Angels

Have you ever heard the phrase "Prepare the child for the road, not the road for the child?"  Instead of trying to remove all obstacles and prepare the way for the children in our Home of Angels, we are in the process now of preparing and equipping them to deal with the difficulties they will encounter on the road ahead.  No matter what those difficulties are throughout their lives, we want them to be prepared to face them in the strength of our Lord.  To know He protects and fights for all of us as a loving parent.  We are currently in the process of doing just that and when the time comes for the older children to leave and spread their wings, they will be prepared.

Thanks to technology, even I get to watch the construction of the primary school on the same compound as the existing nursery school.  It will be a 2-story structure accommodating 240 kids.  The local school will be closed within the next few weeks due to internal problems which means our children will all have school in February when their holidays are over.  It's also sad to know that 250+ kids in our area will not,  but over time, when we can work out the kinks, we can bring many in.

We have also decided to use the empty apartment on our home compound to train the children for a trade that will help them when they leave.  Education is important, but for our kids and what has happened to them in the past, they really struggle.  When we go back in January, it will be discussed in a meeting how this will all look. We already have some very good ideas and will share them soon.

It's been difficult for Edwin to take many pictures because of the torrential rains but he did manage to get some important ones.

The nurses from the main hospital in Jinja came to our nursery school to administer measles shots.  The other children had theirs earlier in the year.

Our aunty Hadeja is finally healed enough where she is able to come back and help the other aunties with light jobs only.  When her baby died she was in the hospital for two months and every 12 hours, either aunty Joy or Edwin's wife Precious would take shifts to be with her.  She was never alone.

There are currently 15 crew working on building the school.  It was perfect timing because the nursery school children are on holiday and the noise won't affect their education.  A hoe, large hammer, shovel, LOTS of muscle and a 10-year-old wheelbarrow is all they have to work with.

Edwin and the Uganda board decided to move the location to face the nursery school so that the open area at the end will be large enough for the playground donated by the Tsawwassen Rotary.  We will still have six banana trees and our mango tree.  That was one tree we all dreaded losing.

The entrance gate will now be moved to the middle of the wall giving easier access from the road into both schools.

The rocks are delivered in large piles everywhere.

The men take large hammers and smash them one by one until they look like gravel.

You can imagine the hard work this all entails but you will never hear a complaint because of the gratitude they have for the work.  7 days a week from 7am to 7pm.

Our nursery school teachers are amazing.  They really care about the children's education and will provide a party at the end of the year to celebrate their enthusiasm and good grades.  We will also be hiring the same quality teachers for the children in primary school.

I honestly don't know how Edwin does this.  He can go to the market and choose exactly the right size of clothes and shoes for every child.  He can look at a foot and can tell the size or length of the dress or skirt and honestly, they're really lovely.



I really want to express how much we believe God is in full control of this project both in Canada and in Uganda. The CRA processed our charity application in only 2 months which allows us to accept donations in other ways than the cheque.  We are blessed to have a place for testing malaria and to help burn victims.  (lots of pictures in the next blog) and also the perfect location to train children for a trade.  It's all about "Preparing our Angels"

Without all of you helping, we could not have done any of this.  Thank you so very much for helping us to change these children's lives.