THE RISING SUN IN UGANDA

 THE NEXT STEP FOR the HOME in UGANDA

One of our volunteers- Daniel- has been giving his time to
teach a class of students of the 60+ resident & local
children without the privilege of school

With food more sustained with the farm, we considered new growth (i.e. a second home), but decided to focus on improving the education of the children.Some facts: only about 1/2 of the homes children go to actual school, the rest are taught by volunteers (Patrick, William, the others). They don't have desks, and lack teaching supplies. (Space is also a challenge). And since school fees are rare, we're wondering if its the best use of funding, and we decided a progression into a school would be the way to go. 

Starting with a primary grade, we'll hire a teacher ($75 per month, full-time. I know... sad, we're considering offering more than the average wage) and the any volunteers can cotinue to sustain schooling for the children.

We're hoping to have an official school in 7-8 years, one where kids can prepare to integrate at later stages.

Let us not lose perspective and fail to remember the work we're doing- together- is making an eternal impact, in the lives of children. It's bringing tangible hope in every rising sun in the future of Africa. What better way?

NEWS OF THE HEN-HOME: The deal in a nutshell UPDATED

FINAL DAY OF CONSTRUCTION?

The day has come. left are the door, the ramp on the stairs (so the chicks can climb to one of the few second stories in the village) and some small coverings on the sides.

We are hoping to finish up. Lots of setbacks have happened, but our vision is enduring and we're all eager to see our mission accomplished.

JUMA THE CONTRACTOR:

Juma's a cool guy, but we're no so sure we'll use him for future construction. When we ask for a ramp (for the chicks to enter the 'henven above'- aka 2nd floor) and we get a staircase (no way they can climb it)… we aren’t exactly doing service for the people supporting the cause. So there were a couple similar matters we've had to iron out to try to stay on budget, but all in all, the general construction has received lots of praise b/c as you can see it’s mighty fine’. Solid, more than anything, but ‘space’ appeal both for room and the roof that looks like a spaceship (no thanks to another unapproved modification). Anyways, it’s good & will do the job well- and LAST long.

IN OTHER NEWS:

We chilled tonight (Dec 22nd) and together with 3 international volunteers, Patrick & Willaim (who help lead the ducklings) we met and pondered about the new growth that has to take place at the orphanage to see the lives of these once-street children be enriched & strengthened. It was a good & necessary talk.

A look around the Chicken Farm!

YOUTUBE VIDEO <CLICK HERE>

   Okay, so things are progressing here in rural Bulenga, Kampala. The hen-house looks great so far, with only a few final touches to add and items to finalize. OFFICIAL completed pictures to follow asap, but for now, please enjoy some of the moments leading up to now:

it appears there are one or two people happy about the idea of a hen house

what makse it all worthwhile

"Uncle Patrick" as they call him, with young people crowding to watch his every move, lol. they love him

smile. life is a blessing

stairway to henven (it's what we got when we clearly told Juma to construct a ramp, lol. It is built well though!- and ramp to come!)

the broad side of a barn (combined picture)

if the other smile didn't make it worthwhile..

at night, the floor eagerly awaits the completion of construction, and then to be home to 250-300 chic'kains

At first I wasn't sure if our contractor worked hard. But I am going to start judging people by their gut. Sadly, yesterday Juma fell off a ladder, possibly in his furvor (despite heeds to 'slow down!'). He is currently recovering, and soothing sore ribs, cheekbone and tail bone (& a bruised wallet from the hospital as well. He will bo ok though, and set to finish Friday!)

more construction

this much wall, this much wire. Perfect!

Again, although it's still not quite complete, we want to give a big, sincere thanks to all those who made this possible, especially Randeep & the Sodhi family. I cannot think of a better way to honor the late Mrs. Dalvir Sodhi, than to erect this building for sustainable food production for the home of these children, our brothers & sisters, neices & nephews.
                                                THANK YOU AGAIN!! BE BLESSED!!


Peace & love
Jamie

Foundations & Dedication

The building is nearly complete! As we reflect on the work which will touch the lives of children, we want to turn the focus on how this was made possible.

The farm has been erected & will be established in honor & lasting memory of Mrs. Dalvir Kaur Sodhi. She is the mother of my former (Canada wrestling) teammate Randeep Sodhi, who, together with the support of his 3 sisters & brother-in-laws, and with support from relatives and close friends, raised the entire funds for the project. The chicken farm is 26' x 17' and will house 250-300 egg producing hens on it's two levels.


The family thanks all of the special people who have supported them in this project & making this great sustainable opportunity happen for over 100 children in difficult circumstances. They send a big thank you to volunteers, construction workers, and to Patrick, William and Jamie for helping arrange it.

The day-attending children dance with Patrick & other volunteers committed to educating & feeding them

                     

From the streets to the loving shelter of the home, the farm will serve to produce eggs for children to get the single biggest source of protein added to their diet, as well as sustain an income for other foods.

                                               .

Update: Progress at the hunger-quenchin' hen farm

< YOUTUBE VIDEO > (click here)

The hen-farm from the road

Juma is a great construction manager to work with; he is humble & positive (and hard working). His work isn't perfected but he's always willing to learn.

pass me some wood, would ya?

if there are good hard working men, I think they can finish the work on time. They need to be attentive to instruction and organized to do it though. And apparently have good balance!

... but if they don't, they can always take lessons from this guy (he was 'walking' by the site on stilts he made [which better not be from our wood!])

Sideview: the hen house's two stories. (yes, I've more than once considered living here, lol. It will be rougher looking once it's done though, if that makes sense)

THIS IS NOT OUR CHICKEN FARM Lol!, but I walked by it and snapped it for comparison. Ours is geared to house a coup of 250-300 hennies (and designed to last forever!)

Chicken farm progress: a vision taking shape

Juma and Jamie, tasked with managing the construction

Patrick and the other workers pose for for a snap

am I the only one that thinks these ladders are so cool?

a high "hi!" 

Patrick is so happy about what this will do for the children. "Thank you thank you thank you donors!!"

Left overs: Sunday

Had left over potatoes from fellowship, didnt want to throw them away...

talking bout' giving to the poor at fellowship, I couldn't waste this food.. and really felt led to follow that trail..

So I stepped out in faith, with the conviction that if I followed the leading it would all work as it should.
It was a challenging experience, because after a while of looking for food-needy people (who disappear when YOU look for THEM- but not the reverse, apparently) Doreen & I found someone, but then they were gone after we decided to grab water(for them)  from a store they were next to.
I actually started feeling discouraged, because I felt like I was totally putting myself out there, following this conviction, it was late at night, and it seemed we were getting nowhere. Then, just when I let go of my grumbling, and with encouragement stepped on, we met...

Shaban. Shaban had been wrestling with alcohol, and when he saw us had a bottle in his hand.. but a craving in his eye for something deeper, a craving I could relate to. I told him, through Doreen in Luganda (language), that I felt led to share my potatoes & not waste them, they were untouched- asked if he wanted them. Sure!

 I'd go on to be humbled and yes- led by- him as things went on. He sensed a love that was deeper than our own, and was knew there was a source of our love. He knew it was Jesus. Did I say that- I thought? No man, we didn't say anything about God or religion that I recall. We just followed our conviction, and loved. And when I felt he.. wanted more than booze, I said "Dor, we should give him the water"- when it came out of the bag and met his eyes, I saw and felt his spirit let go, & accept that he was loved, that he was heard, even the whispers of his heart. He accepted the water, but much more- the love... His fears were gone, he was liberated. An I'll never forget the peace in his eyes, the calm as he gave up all that once held him. Forever. Without looking back.

He had asked me to `pray for him`but I told him to talk to his Creator on his own behalf, and I became a part of his radical spiritual journey, humbly admiring his bravery and abandonment of all else for True Love.

This night was amazing, and God showed me what little He could do with just a little faith. He provided all I needed, I just needed to listen to my conviction.
Doreen & Shaban, and Tom (his neighbor- who loves God as well, working in city to pay for his grade 9 schooling) and I spent many nights together after, really being blessed by God's presence. I felt like I was 100% open and so were they, and it was amazing feeling & seeing how clearly & strongly we were speoken to through the Bible, eachother, etc. It was probably my sweetest time in Uganda.

It'd get rivaled, of course- by an Enemy working & using the world- after a few weeks of ridiculous peace I sadly regret our fellowship slowed and we each grew weaker because of it- forgetting the ever-humbling, awesome presence that had rocked our worlds like nothing else in life had ever come close to, and so deeply.
Shaban is still feeding off the reality (recorded history) of his Maker's effect of love in people's lives- loving learning to read & tackling scripture, from what I hear, continuing to be encouraged by the way it's shaped & changed the world so much. I would & do continue the simple task of faith: remebering how loved I am & we are; Shaban also does too. This takes the form of turning back & forth to the world- him alcohol, me food (I shouldn't eat, for my diet- same effect). Anyways, this experience was a blessing, one I hope I don't ever forget.

life of farm- day 2am, the rise of coopopolis

I want to send out a words of thanks again for the supporters f the chicken coop for the children. In all my time in Uganda, this could be one of the most worthy causes, as it  will capacitate not only nutritiously feeding the former street kiddos, but it will also capacitate Patrick to eventually expand so the movement can facilitate more children coming in off of the streets.

Ultimately the reason I believe its a worthwhile investment is because these children grow with a genuine love and authentic faith. So much more than physical needs get met here- so effectively I hope the future has plans of exposing me to this environment on a longer-term basis (i.e. moving in?). Time'll tell

raw timber poles, soon to be raw awesomeness

ahh, the soon-to-be study walls of fort cluck

Our chicken coopster is 25 x 17 squared feet of madness. In this pic, the poles go up

      

I'm pretty sure they dug each of the 21 holes with this machete. <=-o

SOLD!! To the Man in Surrey

CHICKEN FARM PROJECT: Underway...

We met with a man yesterday who won my confidence in the well-contested battle to compose Raising Up Hope's first chicken house. He's a local carpenter who, very honorably cares more about solid building construction than he does money. I think he's a faithful Muslim. Props for walking the faith brother.

Then a man over 5000 miles away had something laid on his heart. Having lost his mother, and moving together with the support of the family, a former wrestling comrade and buddy- with the help of another builder in the BC wrestling community, vowed to see the chicken farm through financially, from start to finish- whatever it required.
Ok, so that's all. Props to the donors, one for giving in the name of his mother- for the sake of love, of humanity, of selflessness, the other wanting to aid when he heard of the cause!

thehenhousebuildingplanningprocessinACTION!!

Our OTHER bro Patrick, from a home geared at improving young (parentless) children's lives through sport. They have a poultry projects and were helping us with the logistical/legal/cost-balancing part of it

this is Robert, another one of the guys helping us establish the farm. He told us about the structure and we came up with a slam-bang design (double decker) with him. He also added to Patrick's knowledge of rearing chickens- Patrick has experience which is perfect, since he'll be around

Chickens from Robert's farm, some of manymanymany

I ask a lot of questions and though I didn't know much when I began, am understanding what a chicken farm requires and what it provides (so much for these young people).

For 3000 shillings (or 1.50) we can get a chicken that'll generously donate an egg a day (for up to 2 years) to hungry children (who can consume or sell it!). SWEEeeettt, what a blessing! Wanna buy one for a child? Visit the place where you can give @ http://bit.ly/aArXgG

WHen you help a child...

When you help a child..
YOU're  really.. MOVING the earth

you're rocking not just one world, though
-that of the child-
but making a statement of love; of
........purpose
...joy
......strength
...endurance
..and setting an standard
through them to the world
a statement of a faith
- in what you believe in- in action.

Consider committing to a child- there are 4-5 that I know could use it.
-instead of selling sugarcane to earn an impoverished living
-at school, boarders get food & shelter guaranteed (sweet!)
-HAVING A FUTURE
-feeling like a somebody, like people care, like never before
-to be blessed (yeah you!) Seldom do we have a chance to impact such significant change on mankind/earth than through investing in the education of a child that I think is a guarenteed investment.                                          ..Let me know if you're interested, I'd love to share with you'll some profiles.
-Consider sponsoring one, in somebody's name, as a Christmas gift.
- it costs about $200 per term (includes all meals, school fees, housing), and I have selfless volunteers here who've helped me with logistics, making sure the kids supplies are met & they're visited @ school
-for non-boarders it'd be about $75 per term, as they 'd still need to buy supplies (which are actually way more than at home- because they stock the school themselves)


Thanks for your time & thought/prayer about this!
I hear there's lots of snow backhome. I can't decide if I want to request a snow-angel, or an igloo... hmmm. Do something in my honor, with snow- for me! (Snowballs work ok too  <=-o)


I'll be home soon anyways (sadly,  a little too soon). December 14th.