Firstly, apologies for not having updated the website for a while. I'm right into my university studies at the moment and this tends to be a bit all consuming. However, I'm happy to report that things are going well at
Hope Centre.
As you will see from the following pictures, the staff at
Hope Centre are still being very productive with their vegetable project.
When it gets dark in Gatumba it gets very dark as there are almost no street lights so from about 6pm each evening the children of
Hope Centre have had to depend on candle light whilst going about their business and school work etc. However, as you will also see from the pictures, the local electricity company have finally brought in, and connected, the power cables to the site. This will make a huge difference for the staff and children of
Hope Centre.
The last pictures also show the progress on house number four. With some more money having been made available this allowed the construction work to continue on this house. It's now at a good stage..
Burundi Visit August 2010We are hoping to take a small team to Burundi in August 2010 to do further work on
Hope Centre. This will depend on the political situation being stable, as there is some uncertainty about the outcome of the elections planned for July 2010. At the moment, however, we are making plans to visit, so please let us know if you would be interested in joining us then.
Below are images of the home grown vegetables at
Hope Centre:
Children help with installation of the new power cables:
House number 4 now at a good stage of construction with the roof providing protection from the rains.
Hope Centre's Chicks. This is the start of the chicken farm project:
This week we have even more work completed on the forth house. It's great to see this house at such an advanced stage. Well done guys:
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.[/admin]
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.
June 12, 2009, 08:13:05 AM
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