Love "is" Honesty

"Honesty".... what a powerful word. 

I want to share with all of you about two situations that happened to Edwin this month. 

Four Pastors from 4 different districts in Kamuli travelled 200km south to visit with him and find out his theory of success in building our Home of Angels.  Edwin told them first of all, it was God.  Secondly, it was about being honest, because without honesty, there is no way to be successful in serving God.  Apparently we have not only inspired our own community but the districts around us. After some hours of hearing how Edwin and his crew had built this beautiful compound, mostly out of love, they left to travel home to report to their own district.  I see something big happening here.... a new trend maybe?  

 The next day there was a knock at our gate and a woman named Sarah was there to present Edwin with a chicken.  It is a high honor to receive a chicken.  She was there on behalf of our local community to give thanks for making their community a better place to live.  It can be difficult to understand for those of us living in such a different part of the world, but for them, they consider us the catalyst for others creating development in the area.  They were grateful for jobs for their men and children, the water we share with them daily and eventually having their own pumping station, being able to sell fruits daily to the workers on our property, helping the widows start micro-lending businesses and so much more.  And there are more things that we hope to do.  Edwin is working on street lights on the road leading to our compound and fixing the roads that were so damaged over the past 2 years with truckload after truckload of bricks and other heavy materials.  These people are our neighbors and even though the community is a large one, everyone is grateful for what we are doing there and it makes us smile.

July is rapidly approaching and it is almost time to house not 12 but 13 children...Yes, we have a new child and his name is Sam.  He is 11 years old, homeless and very attached to Edwin, Dr. Isaac and David.  A wonderful boy who will be an inspiration to the others.  We recently found Sam a sponsor (thanks Bennie) and even though he has been through some difficult times recently, he will do well living with us.  I see great hope in his future.

Enough rambling.... Here are some recent pictures to show you.  We never planned to make this project as large as it is and God only knows how we are ever going to feed everyone, but we did make a decision to bring in 45 more kids that have had their home taken away.  We also needed a new wall to build around our 2 acres of gardens and chickens for sustainability.   We are so thankful to the Heronbrook Foundation for providing funding to start the building of this wall.  It's people like you who really make a difference in this world and we are all so grateful for your big hearts in helping the less fortunate.  Thank you

Sarah is presenting Edwin with a chicken from the community in honour of all that he had done for them.  So many people have benefited by our Home of Angels and we feel good that we could have helped so many to provide the basics for their families.

Meet Sam...This is one special boy that will be an inspiration to the other children.  With love, hope and education, Sam will prove to be a productive citizen in Uganda..

This will be the new home for the children coming in later. In the future when our wall is built and we have a way to provide for them, they will live in this new home and call themselves brothers and sisters.  We are dreaming for this day to arrive.

A different view of the 2nd children's house.  The paving stones are almost made and installed and everything is complete except for the interior.  That will all come in time.

We had to make a new veranda.  When this home was built in 2010, we were still learning and through experience, we discovered a new and more efficient way for construction.  This will last for years to come.

A view of the main house.  The stone slate on the patio in front and the paving stones are all installed leading up to the main gate.  The grass is now flourishing and hedges following along behind.  

This is our Electrician Dennis and he is installing all the electrical fixtures in the homes, the main gate and the guardhouse.  He also will be working on the submersible pump where our water will be turned on with a switch in the house.  He is considered one of the top electricians in the entire area and has such a heart for the poor.

These three kids and their father painted our homes inside and out and what a beautiful job they did.  They made enough to support their family for a year.  In our country it's called child labour...in theirs, it's called survival. 

This is our cookhouse for the children.  The far left is where the cook will prepare the food with 100 vents installed for ventilation as to prevent smoke accumulating within the room.  The window in the front will be a pick up station the children to get their food as we don't want them going into the actual kitchen. The room on the right will be for the storage.

We want to help our community.  This is the garbage dump at the end of our road and we have people already cleaning it up.  Once this is gone, we can start working on the road going up to our home.  One step at a time but the most important thing is...everyone wants to make a difference here and they are willing to work to better their neighbourhood.

This is the road leading up to our home and the many trucks building in the area now have basically destroyed it.  Edwin is speaking with officials to bulldoze it and fill in the holes and make it a more easily travelled road for everyone.

The growth you see beyond our wall is the 2 acres recently purchased.  We will start building an extension of the main wall to enclose the gardens, fruit trees and animals  which will be our long term sustainability program.  Thanks to the Heronbrook Foundation, we are able to do this.  

Edwin and I speak every day and we try and think of the perfect words to say to make you understand how life is in Uganda.  It's not just Uganda, people are suffering throughout the world and we read about it every day.  Most people want to be more productive citizens but have little to work with to make that difference.  If we can just take a few kids with your help and change their lives to where they have hope, love and care, we have done our job.  


Thanks from all of us at our Home of Angels for listening and staying with us throughout this journey.  It means so much to us.

Surrounded by Love

Our Home of Angels began in June 2010 and in this very short time we have blossomed into a beautiful compound.  It started with the word "love" and almost 3 years later that love has grown so strong in many different ways.  All of you have demonstrated this with your donations, prayers and now wanting to be a part of our team through sponsorship.  Mother Teresa quoted "It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving".

We have had people all over the world wanting to help, from Hong Kong to Poland.  Fundraisers in London, England to raise money to build us a playground.  So many people with huge hearts wanting to do something to help someone.  Kids being encouraged to take a step and go overseas and volunteer, but the most important thing I am discovering is...people want to do something to make a difference but don't know how or where to do it.  Edwin and I are so happy that many of these same people are wanting to visit in teams to help us help the children, the widows and the community.

There is also the "love" that is growing daily in these kids. This is huge.  They are all becoming friends and the family bond is forming.  The 12 children coming to us in August have sponsors and the love that these people are pouring out to them has changed their lives.  We thank all of you so much and hope you will come to meet your child in the future. Yes, we still need to work on sponsoring the next 45 children and if any of you would like to be a part of our big family, just let me know and I will add you to the list.

Our project still has a long way to go.  The 2nd phase, which will be the long term sustainability program, will begin with the construction of the wall around the gardens and chickens.   We will also be starting a bakery to provide bread within the community.  The equipment and staff have been offered to us at a very low cost and this will definitely be a means to help with operating costs.  We still have no idea how we will feed this many but with God's help, we will figure a way.

We have decided to put a small clinic in one of the apartments and since this decision, we have received some donations of major equipment.  In addition, two wonderful people in Canada donate money monthly for medicine for Dr. Isaac who then provides free care to the impoverished.   Our dream is a separate building for a clinic on the 2 acres we recently had donated.  That would be ideal but definitely a future plan.  All we know for sure is that God's leading us to help the poorest of the poor and that is exactly what myself, Edwin, Dr. Isaac and David are going to do.

The framework for the roof of the 2nd children's home is almost completed.

The back stairs to the kitchen of each apartment are finished.  

The latrine has been painted.  This week the showers will be installed with the pipes extending
down to the sump pump.  We estimate this first latrine being completed in May but with 57 children
moving in now, we will need to build another at a future date.





Construction on the cook house has started.  One side will be a storage closet for the bags of rice, beans and porsho, the standard items prepared in their culture.  The other side will be where the cook will prepare meals.  We have asked the same woman that most of these kids had known in their prior home to continue cooking for them and she has said yes.  Our home is going to be a happy place to grow up in and we owe it all to God our Father who loves us so much.  I believe He picked all of us individually in order to make this home a special place and is helping us find the perfect people for the jobs to run it.

The paving stones are almost laid out to the main gate.  A few more to make and we will be done with this massive project.  The stones also have been painted on the patio and I see that the grass just planted is taking root.  It will be as plush as the rest in no time.

I wanted to show you the paving stones leading up to the children's home.  The veranda has been completed and the rooms are just waiting for 12 little bodies to be sleeping under the fluorescent stars that will be on the ceiling.   My stomach is fluttering as I write this.  What a day that's going to be.

Our well is open to these kids daily and Edwin and the men help them get as much as they need.
These little ones are very special and will eventually be coming to live with us.

And of course there are the boys....the boys who always make you laugh and seem to always be
having so much fun with so little.

Around the time when we first started our project, Edwin found Hope, Desire, Sammy and blind Grandma on the street selling charcoal.  With Grandma blind, these three kids had to help her to do everything.  They have now been sponsored by two wonderful women who expected to send all three to school.   Hope and Desire got to go but Grandma wouldn't let Sammy leave her because she had no one to be her eyes and she was scared.  Can't really blame her.  She has given permission for Hope and Desire to come and live with us but for Sammy, he must stay with her.  Life isn't always fair but Edwin and I are not giving up on Sammy.  We will find a way to help her and maybe she will release him to be a little boy again.

Hope and Desire came to the project to see their new bedroom.  They are so happy to really have a home and people around them to call family.  Of course Grandma and Sammy will always be welcome and I am sure we will find a way to help all of them.  Look at these two...they still have their Christmas dresses on.

Thanks again to all you for showing your "love" to all of us involved.  There is truly only God, Edwin and myself doing this with all of your help.  Thank you for buying so much banana bread and sending donations when you can.  We will never stop thanking Global TV and Save on Foods for starting all this and continuing to never give up on us. 

But most of all.....thank you Lord for your "love".  You are truly our strength to get through this.

Very Exciting Times

Happy Easter to everyone....

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

A Glimpse of "Hope" for more Angels

In 2010 we decided to build our Home of Angels, always saying that we would make it small
to provide a home for children who were truly orphaned suffering with HIV/AIDS.  Well, that has obviously changed.... why should I sit in a country where everything is at our fingertips, when thousands of children are dying every day in a country such as Uganda?  I might be getting on in years but I still have the ability to tell our story to the hundreds of people who want to help, but just don't know how or who to trust in Africa.  When you see these children suffering from starvation and preventable, treatable diseases and know they are dying by the thousands, how can we not do anything?  Edwin and I made the  decision to try and make a small difference and that is why we are now expanding to build for more than 32 kids.  Actually...57 kids now.  We have started construction on the second home.  The  decision was made the last week I was there in January when many little kids came to ask us if they could pick our weeds.  For me, this was unbelievable but they were starving.  Each day they came for weeds until one day we bought rice and tomatoes and made a weed stew.  They were finally full and with the water we continued to provide for them, they left. We decided at that time we were going to build another home to help kids like these.  We don't know where those particular kids are now but we will find the most vulnerable and bring them in to show them there are people in this world who will care about them.  We need to do something and that is exactly what we are going to do with the extra property we have to build on. Edwin and I have no idea what is going to happen, how we are going feed them or treat them medically but we will watch for God's perfect plan for their lives to unfold.  We will not leave them as orphans.

We try and help all children but this was a real eye opener to me being from the Western culture.  Weeds and more weeds and they survive eating them.  I have a lot to learn, but by living there I will experience the devastating circumstances these people live with daily and hopefully with God's help, make a "huge" difference to all the kids we house.  I am so blessed to work with a man like Edwin, a trusting soul who's dream is the same as mine and together, we WILL make it happen.  

The 2nd home will be directly beside the existing children's home.  We have decided to call the first one "Nathan's House" for our little guy that died from cancer a year ago.  He also had HIV/AIDS but the cancer took him with 27 tumours on his head.  The second home which is now being built will be the "Lydia house" in honour of our architect that has given her time to support us. This home will be for the girls.  Thank you Lydia for your wonderful design and hard work.

With the foundation completed, the aggregate, boulders, lake sand and plaster sand has been delivered for the next stage.  

If you look into the distance, you will see a cement mixer.  Our crews have always done this by hand

but now we can mix the aggregate, lake sand and plaster sand to make the mortar in 1 1/2 days.  If the men had done it by hand, it would have taken 6 days and the cost of labour would be that much more. 

And the house goes up.  These men are working on Canadian time now....not Ugandan.

I am so proud of them.

The gatekeepers house is finished except for the door and window.  Beside this house will be the cook's hut where the food for the children will be prepared.  Oh, how I hate to cut more Palm trees down, but necessary.  The land that has been cleared in front will be covered with paving stones for all cars to park entering into the compound.

Black and Gold.....The gate is painted.  Paving stones will also be placed outside this gate.
You can't see by this picture but the spikes at the top are also painted in gold.

And these are some of the 25,000 paving stones to complete the project.  Only 5000 more to go and we are finished.

The crew is preparing the roadway for the installation of the first paving stones.  We have the bags of lime and dirt all in place to start placing these stones this next week.  I watch this work being done many times a week on Skype but this is one job I don't want to see until it is finished.  I know it will bring tears as it is the final step.

Who would have ever thought that I would be invited to the Aviation Leadership Forum to speak about our Home of Angels?  This was the most amazing experience I have ever had because it was about leadership.  I never considered myself a "leader" but after I left this conference, I knew I was.  We are all leaders when we take on a project and make it happen.  Of course I could never have done it without all of you, but we are coming up to the completion and I realize....it's because of the children, the Mom's and Dad's, the handicapped and many others who are making our Home of Angels grow.  It takes many and I am proud of all of you.  Thanks for letting me lead you towards something that will make a huge difference in the lives of children.  We are ALL leaders, not just me.

Save on Foods has supported us from the beginning.  We could not have done it without

them as they supply all the ingredients for me to bake the banana bread that provides the funding

to build our Home of Angels.  Global TV has also been there showing the public how we have grown.  Without these two, we would never had made it and I cannot say enough thanks to each one.  I honestly don't think either one knows what they have done until they see it themselves.  They have saved children's lives by making our story real and because of them, we are able to keep fighting.
The last fundraiser was a surprise for us.  We had no idea the Abbotsford firefighters would show up with lights a blazing to help up raise money.  Thanks Station #7 for all your help at the Sumas and Whatcom stores.  What a difference you made.

As I finish this blog, Edwin is still sending me pictures of updates.  I have to leave them all for the next time because I can't keep up with him.  I would never have dreamed that we would get this far so quickly.  I don't know from moment to moment where the funding will come from and when I think of how we are ever going to survive with this many children, I close my eyes and pray.  57 kids now...that's a lot of food, a lot of sponsors and a lot of prayer.

I really want to thank all of you for your encouragement and the emails I receive daily from so many of you.   It's because of you that I don't get discouraged and don't give up, but also because of God as I know He is with us every step of the way and wants to see His children taken care of and be loved.
This is getting really exciting now to see what is happening.  We are so close to the end.

Thanks to all of you.....