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[ccarr]

Administrator Comment

Hope Centre Report for 28th September 2009
This message has been updated 29th September 2009
Click here to just see the added images and notes
Click here to read about the school in Gatumba

Now that we are back in the UK funds coming in for the building of the remaining three houses have slowed down a lot. However this hasn't stopped the workers and volunteers at Hope Centre from helping in whatever way that they can. The money that is still coming in for the building work is put to use straight away and some building work is undertaken when possible.

Of course what is continuing (and is possibly the most important) is the regular child support donations that allow the children to be fed and clothed. This is so important and every little helps so keep spreading the word.

As you may remember from the earlier reports that Hope Centre workers are now growing their own vegetables. This is impressively successful.

The picture below shows a volunteer from the community and one of the older orphaned boys that look after the vegetables:

Here is one of the workers helping the bricklayer on house number four:

In these next two pictures we see a group of young folk (from the church we used to go to) that have been encouraged to travel from the nearby city of Bujumbura to Gatumba where the Hope Centre Orphanage has been built. It's great to see that others are looking out for the Hope Centre children. I believe that the leaders of the PTI church youth group were wanting to let the youth see the poverty that is in Gatumba and encourage them to be a help:

In the mean time we have had news of others who have been involved in raising money for Hope Centre. If we receive more details and pictures we will post them here for you to see.

Administrator Comment

Here are the new images etc

As you know, Rema Ministries, a local peace and reconciliation organisation in Bujumbura, are helping to oversee the Hope Centre project. Here is one of our friends from Rema called Theodore holding one of the Hope Centre produced water melons:

If you remember the large shed that was built to protect the blocks and the workers then you will see that this has been turned into a very large chicken coop. All they now need is the chickens....

How many children can you squeeze into a school desk and chair???

It's great what is happening in Burundi after many years of trouble. Recent changes implemented by the Burundi President now give all children a chance to attend school and many of these are there for the first time. This is great except for two things. One, a shortage of teachers and two, a shortage of schools. As a result most schools have a shift system whereby some children go in the morning and then a completely different set of children attend in the afternoon. Even with this the schools can't cope with the numbers.

In the pictures you will see that most of the younger children are squeezed into their chairs and many don't even have that privilege so are forced to sit on the floor. Some of the children are Hope Centre kids.

I think this is a great opportunity for schools etc. in UK to help out. It won't take a lot of money to improve the teaching/learning conditions for these children Can you, your school or your church help in any way?

If that isn't possible then maybe a simple donation will be easier for you. Below are PayPal buttons for donating money directly to Mission International. By donating using these buttons you will be sure that the money will be used specifically for the schools desks and chairs.

Donate

Non-GiftAid Donations - Donate towards desks and chairs for the school in Gatumba Africa:        

GiftAid Donations - Donate towards desks and chairs for the school in Gatumba Africa:

Donate

Non-GiftAid Donations - Donate towards desks and chairs for the school in Gatumba Africa:        

GiftAid Donations - Donate towards desks and chairs for the school in Gatumba Africa:

Administrator Comment

Please Remember

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 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 below

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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 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.

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Non-GiftAid Donations:         

GiftAid Donations:

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Here are different ways to contact us in the UK

Email:

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) 847917

Here is our house address:


6 Redwood Heights
Lancaster
LA1 3FG

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Pastor Leonard

Pastor Leonard's Story

Pastor 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.