Resuming Our Work

I feel that I need to reintroduce ourselves since it has been so long since I have done any writing.  Foundation of Hope has been quiet, but very busy.  The team leaders:  Heritage, Brian, and myself have been working on developing our mission and clarifying goals.  We have a new director of FOH in Rwanda, Felix, who has been essential in our continued work.  Felix has provided essential information and is developing a proposal to submit to the Rwandan government to begin the process of official status in Rwanda and to develop primary and secondary schools.  I am getting excited!  We have worked so hard and it has included many bumps along the way, but God is so faithful and He has many exciting things in store for us.

The FOH choir has been invited to sing at two concerts coming up:  The African Heritage Network Conference and at the WMI luncheon at General Conference held at Roberts Wesleyan College.  Both concerts are in July and will expose our group to people from all over the United States! 

I am going to try to be more diligent about writing about our group.  Just of note, both Heritage and Richard are Fathers!  Congratulations to them both!

Keep us in your prayers as we continually seek to complete God's work.

Kim

Women and children collecting drinking water.

Continuing God's Work

Time to send out some updated information!  Heritage and Prudence have been back from Rwanda since Nov 1st!  They look great!  I missed them so much.  Now, time to get back to work.  There is so much information to sort and organize about each child.  It is so exciting.  I am getting to know so much about them just by reading their responses to the questionnaires.  Soliel wants to be an accountant when she grows up, and Aimee likes to play tennis!  As we begin translating our documents, I get more excited and more determined to continue to help these children.

Elizabeth told me a story about meeting Veterne, the young man who requires assistance to get around.  He either crawls or is carried, since his legs are not functional.  Veterne was placed into an orphanage by his father because his father is also disabled and cannot care for his 2 sons.  Elizabeth went to the village where Veterne is now living and upon arrival, found an orphanage that was without power, food, water, furniture, little clothing, and no adult supervision at the time - the woman had to leave for a short time and there were no other adults there.  Elizabeth said that the woman truly wants to have a safe place for these children, but she no longer receives any outside support.  Veterne needs a wheelchair, and one that has "mountain bike" style tires since the area is rural and very hilly.  We are trying to find a wheelchair before Jan, since Princesse is returning to Rwanda for her schooling and she can take it to him.  Elizabeth took Veterne and his brother from the orphanage for the day and they spent time with their father as well.  They were returned in the evening.  Elizabeth said that is was so dark at the orphanage.  When it was time to go, she asked if she could just hug the boys one more time, and all the kids there lined up for a hug, taking advantage of the situation!  She loved it!  I know that she would love to see Veterne and his brother able to live with their father again, so she is actively looking for a way to set up a business for their father that will allow him to work despite his disability.

More stories to come!

Children from the Village where Veterne lives

More children from Veterne's Village.  They loved Beck!

Rachel, one of the sweethearts FOH supports.

Kevin R being interviewed by Seth.

They are almost all back!

In just a few short weeks, Heritage and Prudence will return from Rwanda.  Everyone else returned safely and with lots and lots of stories.  I will have Elizabeth write down some of the highlights when she gets a chance. 

The "Kid's Day" did happen, despite a few glitches.  The first big problem was that the event was scheduled on the one day of the month that is declared "cleaning day" in Rwanda.  It is mandatory that people clean up their homes and neighborhoods.  There is to be no other activities and unnecessary travel for certain times during the day.  This meant that the event had to begin very early in the morning - 5am is when the workers started setting up.  They were able to get updated pics and info from the kids and guardians.  Most of it is in Kinyarwandan, so I am waiting for an opportunity to get it interpreted.  It has been delayed due to school starting back up just before the information returned from Africa!  I will post a few pics.  I hope there will be more to come!

Update

Three of our friends have arrived back in Rochester this week.  I am still waiting to see or talk to any of them, but I know that they are here!  I am sure that they will have many stories to share and I can't wait to publish updates about the orphans and post pictures.   Heritage and Richard both are now married to two lovely women.  I have heard that Heritage's wife is quiet and shy, while Richard's wife is outgoing!  Prudence and Rachel are still in Rwanda, along with Heritage and Richard.  They will return in a few more days. 

Stay tuned from more updates, and a lot more information and pictures to follow!