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Week Eleven's Work is Complete

New Contact Details:

We have a new rented house and a new phone number. It's expensive for us to call the UK but by using a special number calling from the UK it will only cost you 4p per minute so if you get a chance then we would love to here from you. The new number is:


Dial: 08444 287287 & wait for a voice and then..
Dial: 00257 22259608

To read another newspaper report about our experience here in Burundi then follow this link to the relevant page of the Donside Piper:

http://www.donsidepiper.co.uk/news/Westhill-family-on-a-mission.4551454.jp

If you buy the paper then please consider keeping a copy of it or scan it into a computer and send it to us or we could collect when we return for Christmas.

In case you missed it. Last weeks video clip is now also on YouTube. I have added a link at the foot of this page.

Progress on site:

Because the rains are coming it is important that the workmen and woman have a shelter and that the materials and blocks can be protected so we have built this shelter which is almost complete. This will allow the block production to continue.  To allow the shelter to be built we employed even more workers this week. There were a total of 35 workers this week. As I write there is now another soil block press sitting at the airport ready for collection. This additional block press will insure that we have enough blocks to complete all six houses within the one year and provide additional work for two or three more workers.

Work is going extremely well and well within the time limit that we had allowed but we do know that not all the money that will be required for completion has been donated yet so please consider how you can help. We will need at least another £33,000 to complete the basic build and a little more if we are to landscape the site with paths, flowers, trees and children's play things. Furniture etc is cheep but that will also be an additional cost. If we run out of funds then work will just have to stop but I would hate to see the workforce being temporarily laid-off. Every little helps so there can be many different ways to help. Check out the Mission International pages for fund raising ideas. 

Some of the woman cleaning out the buckets and returning them at the end of the day:

And now something you have always wanted to see. This is the new site toilet. Basically a very big hole in the ground covered in wood but with a hole in the middle. Both men and woman use this:

Friday is pay day on site and to keep a record of all payment we ask each worker to sign a sheet but as in these images many of the workers are uneducated. This is something that we are hoping to address with the building of a vocational school after the orphanage is complete. So many of the workers can't write or sign their name so they provide a finger print in place of a signature:

Yet another very busy week for us. We have moved out of the temporary accommodation that we have been living in for the last three months and into rented accommodation that should see us through to the middle of next year.

The house has all the beds, tables and chairs but almost nothing else. We have had to find and purchase everything that a house needs for us to be able to cook, sleep,  and clean etc. We have become experts at bartering in the markets. Basically everything that is imported is very expensive, much more than we would pay in the UK and everything that is made locally is ridiculously cheap.

For some reason there has been a problem with water and electricity this week. The water keeps going off for many hours at a time. A real problem when you need to shower. The electricity has been off for the last three days so the fridge/freezer has fully defrosted. All our laptops have now fully discharged. This is being written on my pda as it's the only peace of technology with any battery life left. This is also the reason that the progress update is a day late but power has finally been restored. Having said all that we are really enjoying our selves. The kids are happy and living by candle light is fun.

The following image was taken this week on our veranda. The house is large and beautiful as you can see but the rent each month is no more than what our oldest son is paying to rent a flat in Aberdeen. For those that are considering or have already donated to the project then please be aware that your money is not being used for our accommodation. All money's received are 100% used for the work of hope centre. There is no payed or subsidised staff working for Mission International.

Incidentally, also as I write, Val is in Uganda for a few days to give support to Hugh Henderson (Mission International Director) and a team of students from Menzieshill High School in Dundee who have saved up and traveled to Uganda to help out there. Val used to also be a student at Menzieshill High School.

The Burundians that you see in the picture are mostly members of Rema. They came on Saturday, our day off, to welcome us into our new house. They couldn't believe how little we managed to rent the house for.  It was actually a Burundian friend who found it for us. I ended up being a spectator to what became a passionate discussion about the problems in Burundi and how they could be sorted.

Armed police here often stop vehicles and some times they are just looking for money so if they find anything wrong with your vehical or documentation they will ask for a fine. This is ok as long as you get a receipt but with me traveling many miles every day to and from Gatumba some days I may be stopped two or three times. Often thy don't ask to see my document but ask for a bottle of water or a fanta. I have never given them anything and tend to give them a lecture about their abuse of their position. This normally takes them by surprise and they wave me on.

One day this week as I was heading into Gatumba I was stopped by this police man that was standing on the road with his hand up. The police often stop you there as the Gatumba road is know for it's ambushes so I asked him if he wanted to see my documents but instead he asked me where I was going. I said Gatumba and Hope Centre. He said that he was also going to Gatumba and proceeded to get in. I didn't really mind so was just going to accept it but then he signaled to three of his friends to also get in the car. At that point I said NO, and told them all to get out of the car and proceeded to give the policeman a lecture  about him abusing his position and warned him that I should report his behavior to his superiors. After this he thanked me and waved me on.

I did do something wrong this week that merited a fine. I made a U-turn on a duel carriageway that everyone makes U-turns on all the time but there was a No Left-turn sign on one of the opening on this dual carriageway that I hadn't noticed. This was because the paint on the sign was almost completely worn off. I only saw it later.  Unfortunately for me I did this maneuver right in front of three armed traffic police who immediately blew there whistles and forcefully made me pull in to the side of the road. I could see that they meant business and they started to talk to me in French but I only speak English and told them so. They all looked at each and other obviously decided that they weren't going to get any where with the communication and just waved me on. I have now decided not to learn French as it may end up costing me more money. 


Movie Footage of Hope Centre Burundi now on YouTube

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