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Report for Hope Centre:I haven't received any images from site yet but when I do I will upload them as soon as I can.Today: 3rd June I received images from Burundi. Some are a little out of focus but we still appreciate having them:
The children's sandals outside the front door: When I first arrived in Burundi I found that almost everyone, that worked or played or wasn't well off, wore these plastic type sandals. I made a point of buying them and wore them most of the time when I was working on site and most places that I would go. I even ware them here in the UK now that I am home again.
Shoes are so important to the Burundians. Almost everyone would first look at your face and then your shoes. It obviously indicated if you had money or not. I wore them to relate to the workers a little more at their level. They cost me about £1.50 at the market.
Pastor Leonard and his wife (Jolie) have managed to find a mama to employ for one of the houses. Here she is preparing food and making beds:
As you know there is not enough money yet to finish the six houses let alone build anything else (Please keep praying about that one) but food still has to be prepared. In Burundi, like many other African countries, the food is prepared out side under a simple shelter. Preparing food in side the house is really only an option for the wealthy (You and I) as this requires either expensive gas or electricity. Most families cook with charcoal and this would be difficult to manage in these houses so food needs to be prepared outside.
Without money the cooking areas that we designed will have to wait so in the mean time we had them erect simple wooden frame huts with tin roofs to act as a temporary outside kitchen. This has all been done since we left. We are happy to see that they have been working within the funds available.
They have also almost completed the very basic outhouse building that the Hope Centre permanent workers and night workmen will be using to wash etc. This contains a toilet, sink and shower:
Some children on their beds. This is luxury to what they were previously living in. Also mosquito nets for some of them You should see some of the earlier pictures to see their original living conditions. Things can only get better as you keep Hope centre in your thoughts and prayers:
Now that Pastor Leonard, his family and the most of the orphans, have moved into the three houses the amount of workers have now been cut. We now have 6 workers for the ongoing building work and 2 watchmen. Even though there is still not enough money to complete the project (six Houses) we still have Vincent working and hope to keep him employed for as long as possible.
The electric company haven't brought power to the site yet but Hope Centre has this money set aside for this part of the project.
The message that we have received from Pastor Leonard is that everyone is enjoying living in their new home and as a family. For now they have employed one mother to take care of the children. They all send their greetings, love and gratitude for all you did, are still doing and planning for their betterment.
We don't want to forget about Hope Centre and it's on going needs for funds to keep the building work going but now, more importantly, we need to make sure that having built the houses that they have enough money to live in them and be able to employ the mamas and buy the necessary food etc.
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 Burundi 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.
Our new contact details can be found belowHouse 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 the UKEmail:
Val Carr = vcarr@HopeCentreBurundi.com
Charles Carr = ccarr@HopeCentreBurundi.com
New Mobile Phone Numbers:
Val Carr: 0781 365 8682
Charles Carr 0780 542 4558
Our New House Phone Number:
Phone: Lancaster (01524) 847917Here is our house address:
6 Redwood Heights
Lancaster
LA1 3FG
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.
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