Week 37
Each week we introduce you to the children of Hope Centre Burundi. We upload a picture of one child and give you their story.
Jean Barengayabo
Jean's StoryJean is 15 years old.
Although Jean is 15 he is only in grade 6 at school.
In February 2000 Jean's father died of HIV/AIDS and then, the same year, after many months in the hospital, his mother also died of HIV/AIDS.
Thankfully Jean is HIV Negative.
Two years later Pastor Leonard got to know about Jean's situation as he was living near his church. He was upset to see the kind of life that Jean had and agreed to introduce him into his family although this was financially difficult for him at the time.
Currently he is living with some friends in Buyenzi but Pastor Leonard is continuing to provide for him.
Progress Report for Hope CentreAs a result of the decisions that we made last week to finish three houses and have many of the children move in, we have now been able to bring back most of the workers from the community that we had previously let go. We also brought in a few more brick and cement workers. I would say that at the end of this week's work we are slightly behind in where we need to be to meet our time-line target, so next week we will bring in the rest of the brick and cement workers that we will need. Having said this you will see how good the progress has been on site this week.
For Val and I it has been a slightly difficult week with our own car needing repairs. The car was at the garage for much of the week hindering our time in Gatumba. The car is particularly required as we will have the Benstead family with us from Sunday onwards. We are so looking forward to their arrival. You will see how they get on in next week's report so please leave feed back posts/messages here as it is really encouraging when we know that you are reading the reports. I'm sure that they will appreciate that.
House No 1You will see just how close we are to completing house number one. Here the cement banding is being completed and to a good standard:
The shower and sink are now fully plumbed in:
Many of the ceilings and walls have been painted:
House No 2House number two is heavily populated with men and women working hard. The walls are being finish rendered:
The ceilings are being created:
And some just like having their photo taken:
House No 3The workers are now also concentrating on house number three. There is a lot more work to be done here but they are progressing well with the main structure:
Workers HutThe hut that the permanent
Hope Centre workers will use is also now going ahead. It is a basic construction and won't take long to complete:
Help From a FriendWith the car being off the road, on Friday we couldn't easily get to all the places that we needed to get to so one of our friends here in Bujumbura, called Jillian, came to the rescue and chauffeured us to the bank and to the site so that we could pay the workers their wages:
Val's Thank You GiftThe school is now off for the Easter holidays and the children have all completed their exams but Val was asked to make one more visit to the school as they had arranged a surprise gift and card in thanks for her support of the children. Here she has received her card and wrapped gift. It contained a shoulder bag and a scarf that she wears proudly around Bujumbura, well not the scarf, it's far too hot for that:
Below this text are 148 images of our time here in Burundi.
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House no 1 = funds already in hand for completion
House no 2 = funds already pledged
House no 3 = funds already pledged
House no 4 = £7,000
House no 5 = £10,000
House no 6 = £10,000
The actual cost will be more like £18,000. This is if we make all the blocks ourself but if we substitute clay bricks for the inside walls then we may be able to bring this down a fair bit.
Total to Complete all of the Houses = £43,000
The following is also required:
Water to the site: MI has temporarily forwarded the funds for this
There is mains water available in Gatumba and to have this piped to the site will be = £2,200. Work will begin on this this week but we still need the funds to come in for this.
Electricity to the site:
There is mains electricity available in Gatumba and to have this delivered to the site will be = still to be confirmed.
N.B: We have been given prices between £1,500 and £10,000 by the electricity company so we haven't been able to confirm a realistic price yet.
The latest quote this week is £4,200
Workman's/Security Guard's Hut:
Basically everyone has employed workers that act as security guards and do general gardening and repairs etc. The cost of employing someone to do this is only a few pounds a week. They are normally provided with a place where they can rest and get cover from the rain and get cleaned up after a days work. We have already put the foundations in along with the necessary plumbing for a small workman's hut. We will still need to build this up above the foundations. It will be a very basic construction. This is over and above what we were originally requesting but now that we are here we see that this is an essential for Hope Centre security. Money required to complete = £1200
Perimeter Walls:
At the moment we have a temporary building site type fence surrounding the whole of Hope Centre. This has been very successful for providing some sort of security for the site however this can't be a permanent arrangement. We had hoped that Pastor Leonard would be able to try and raise the required finances to build a perimeter wall but, although he has been successful in getting trees and exoneration certificates etc, this one may be a bit of a problem for him. So we would also like to try and raise the additional funds to build a very basic wall built with stones and red earth. This is pointed with cement later. This is a system that is commonly used here and can last many years. If possible we would like to be building this wall now.
The estimated cost is reported to be: £2,800
Outside Cooking Area:
Cooking is normally done outside with charcoal on a small charcoal burner. It is not practical to do this inside so we will need to provide each house with a small covered area, just to the rear of each property for cooking. These will be very simple constructions and the cost of these will be = £300 each.
Outside Toilets:
Included within the area that we have built the houses on is a large piece of ground situated within the area where the trees have been planted. This will be a great area for the children to play ball games etc in the relative safety of the Hope Centre grounds. Each of the houses will have a toilet but we have already put the foundations in, along with the required plumbing, for an outside toilet block with a shower. This will stop the children from traipsing in and out of the houses. Outside toilets are more commonly used here than inside toilets. The additional cost for this will be = Still to be confirmed.
Non-GiftAid Donations: 
GiftAid Donations: 
Here are different ways to contact us in BurundiEmail:
Val Carr = vcarr@HopeCentreBurundi.com
Charles Carr = ccarr@HopeCentreBurundi.com
New Mobile Phone Numbers:
Val Carr: (00257) 79239810
Charles Carr (00257) 79239809
Our New House Phone Number:
Use this number sequence and you will only pay 4p per minute.
Dial: 08444 287287 & wait for a voice and then..
Dial: 00257 22259608Please email us and let us know if you don't manage to contact us on these numbers.
Pastor Leonard
Pastor Leonard's StoryPastor Leonard was born in 1971, the youngest of five children. His parents were killed in a mass killing of their ethnic group in 1972. The children struggled to survive and look after each other for many years.
As a teenager Leonard was full of hatred and wanted to avenge the killing of his parents, but he became a
Christian when he was 18 and was able to meet and forgive those who had killed his parents. He felt God told him clearly that he was to look after others who were orphaned as he had been.
At the time his circumstances did not allow him to do this, but he was ordained as a Pastor in 1996, and was able to take in his first orphan in 1997, just before he was married.
His wife partners him in this ministry and they now care for over 40 orphans in addition to their own three children.
Around about April this year Pastor Leonard's land-lord for the house that he was staying in asked Pastor Leonard and all the family and children to move out of the property which they were renting. Obviously this was an impossible situation for them. Latterly Pastor Leonard managed to negotiate a compromise with the land lord whereby his immediate family and a few of the orphans could stay in the property until his house was built. This meant that the remaining orphans had to be farmed out to friends that would be willing to take them. Pastor Leonard continues to provide food and clothing for these children which is now even more difficult for him. Thankfully though you have helped him greatly with your regular child support donations.
February 21, 2009, 02:49:41 PM
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