Topic: Week 31 (Read 3696 Times)

ccarr · « **on:** February 21, 2009, 02:49:41 PM »

Week 31

Each week we introduce you to the children of Hope Centre Burundi. We upload a picture of one child and give you their story.

Francis Nshimirimana

Francis' Story

Francis is 11 years old.

Both Francis parents were killed during the war in 2000. At the time Francis was 2 years old.

The old couple who took him were very poor and not able to provide the proper care that Francis needed, and he had no other relatives. In 2001 Pastor Leonard had some discussions with the couple and agreed to take Francis and look after him.

Pastor Leonard took Francis to live with the other orphans that he was looking after but now Francis is living with one of Pastor Leonard's friend in the Kamenge area until Hope Centre is completed.

Currently Francis is in primary three.

(click to show/hide)

Work On Site is Progressing Well:

Work on the roof for house number one is now almost complete which gives a good impression of how the finished houses will finally look both inside and out. On Monday work on the plumbing and electrics will commence within the houses. This needs to happen even if there are no water or electrical services to the site. We have to assume that these will be available at some point.

Rather than putting plain old corrugated tin sheets on the roof we opted for a more attractive profiled sheet which will last much longer and is more aesthetically pleasing:

Here is a view from the road just outside the site:

A Little Sadness Hits Hope Centre:

One of our key workers, the one in the picture below, has been with us since the the beginning of the block making process.

He, and his wife have a baby which suddenly became ill this week and the baby died the same day. When you know the people and work with them every day it's amazing how this can emotionally affect you. I had to turn away for a moment when Vincent, our site supervisor, told me what had happened. Vincent had spent a few hours the previous evening comforting the family.

Vincent said that this often happens as there is no doctor in Gatumba and with most people not being able to purchase a car they can't get to Bujumbura fast enough.

I asked how we could help. As a result I ended up making a small coffin out of the available wood that we had on site.

I wasn't sure if I should show this but it is probably important that I present life here as it really is here. The picture shows it unfinished:

Normally the people here would only be able to afford a grass mat to bury their dead in. I think what surprised me the most is that by midday the child was being taken to be buried. We would be used to a time of mourning that would last a few days before the burial but that is not possible here, for the poor anyway, due to the climate etc.

For a fairly small amount of money (£40) Vincent and Pastor Leonard managed to hire a bus for the child's parents, the parents' close friends and relatives. With all of our site workers travelling in the back of our site truck, they visited the burial site to show their support, and then returned to Gatumba where they had some cokes and fanta's waiting for them.

Unfortunately I couldn't be with them. With Val now being in the UK for a week or two to sit her viva, I had to be back for the boys who were returning from school. However I heard that the child's father was very appreciative of the gesture.

Here the bus arrives at the site: