Week 42
Hope Centre Progress ReportIt's been three weeks since our last update here so I'm sure you will be looking forward to hearing how things are going at
Hope Centre.
As you may know we, as a family, were away on holiday for two weeks. This was our last chance to let the boys see more of Africa and it's wild life. We drove to Uganda where we met up with our other son Josh, Val's sister Maggie and Andy, her boy friend and Val's brother Kenneth. We also took our friend, Jillian, along with us. We had a great time as a family and returned last Friday. It was a little too late to try and put a progress report together and we were a little tired from the long drive.
The last report included images of how the Bensteads got on whilst they were here. We are still so blessed by their visit and what they are continuing to do for
Hope Centre. With us moving to Lancaster on our return to the UK we are delighted that they will be able to keep up the interest in what is happening at
Hope Centre and we will hopefully be able to generate even more new interest in Lancaster so it's all working out good.
On our return it was clear that much work had been done on site and this last week was equally as busy. In fact, Vincent, Pastor Leonard and all the workers are so determined to have the three houses complete for the children to move in before we leave that they have decided to also work on Saturday (today) to push things ahead. Will they hit the target date before we leave? Well at the moment it looks almost possible but we will do our best and see what happens.
We are flying out of Bujumbura at midday next Friday (15th May) so Thursday will be our last day. The boys thoughts are already turning to food that they will be able to get in UK, such as 'drinkable milk' (John), Mueller yoghurts (Samuel - he read something about the Geiger-Muller gauge in his physics' book this week and began to dream about creamy yoghurt) and Rice Crispies (Matthew). I don't imagine that we will be able to put up a final report before we leave but you never know? This week we will be bringing in the bunk beds and all the bedding that you have donated along with the donated curtains etc.
House Number OneHouse number one is almost complete and is basically ready to move into with some minor things still to be done
Here is how the house looks from the front:
Here is how the house looks from the back:
This week I have been concentrating on finishing the electrics such as the sockets, light switches, lights and consumer units. Working in the attic space beneath the tin roof with very little ventilation is really like working in a sauna. My shirt was soaking wet after being up there. These are the sockets being fitted:
House Number TwoHouse number two obviously has more to be done to complete it but the workers have pulled out all the stops to push it further.
House two is on the right:
This is looking at the rear of house no2. You see even Vincent, in red, is working hard to get things finished:
Some finishing work to the front veranda on house no2:
One of the rooms in house number two where the walls are being painted:
A view from a window in house number two looking at house number one:
House Number ThreeAlthough house number three really only started to be concentrated on a month ago it is almost at the same stage as house number two. I have my doubts whether this house will be as complete as we would like before leaving but there is still a good chance that it will be livable with some work still to be completed. We will see:
These last few images are taken from outside looking back at the three houses:
Continued support still required:Can I just say that it is great how many of you have donated or been involved with this project in some way however there is still much to be done and even after the houses are complete there is still the need for a vocational school and clinic in the Gatumba community. This, however, only scratches the surface of the problem here in Africa so please encourage many more people to get on board and find ways to help where they can. This requires a lot of sacrifice with your time and money but every little bit of help goes a long way.
Please continue to give of your time and money to this project and other projects like this.
Jangano 2009While we were in Uganda we met two families - Robert Adams, Nicky Harford, Max (15) and Alexander (9); and Gus, Amanda, Jake (13), Ben (9 ) and Max (6) Le Breton. They all live in Zimbabwe, but have been on a mammoth overland journey to see Africa.
On 21st December 2008 they set off from Harare, and drove fast straight to Cairo as their starting point. They are now making their way back down to Cape Town, taking a slower route through many African countries and plan to be home in Harare in June 2009.
Val had talked briefly (like 5 minutes) with them whilst we were in Uganda as she saw the labels on their cars and wondered if they might be travelling through Burundi. They had been advised that Burundi was unsafe to travel though, although they were hoping for some good news that might allow them to visit. Val told them that we live there and have never experienced any problems and invited them to get in touch if they did plan to come through our beautiful country. When they did call from Rwanda Val, being aware that there was no such thing as a campsite in Burundi, invited them to camp in our garden for a few days, which they did.
It's amazing really how you can meet complete strangers and get on so well. We even visited the beach together:
Here they are as they set off on their expedition:
Having arrived at our house they very quickly set up their tents in our garden:
They wanted to see Hope Centre so we took them there and gave them the guided tour of the site:
They had brought a windup and solar powered radio with them and were looking for an opportunity to donate this to a worthy cause as they had been given it by the
'Freeplay Foundation' This was gratefully received by Pastor Leonard:
I believe that both the families were touched by the experience of visiting Hope Centre. The children obviously felt that they wanted to help and donated all their pocket money directly to Pastor Leonard. That was such a blessing to see.
After their visit to site we took them to our favourite beach where we enjoyed the warm water and all our kids played together:
Rema and the BikesIf you remember, Rema Ministries took all the bikes that we brought in the container and had them repaired ready for use. It was agreed that half of these bikes would be for Hope Centre and the remaining bikes would go to other people that they knew were needing a bike:
This week they gave us pictures of these bikes being presented to the new owners by the staff of Rema. If you donated a bike then it may be one of these:
Felibien from Rema Ministries on the Left:
Francios from Rema Ministries on the Right:
Frederick from Rema Ministries on the Left:
UgandaWhilst in Uganda as a family we had a chance to do white water rafting down the Nile. There are more photos of the rafting and safari on Val's facebook but, yes, this is us in the raft:
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 ourselves 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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