Update: from Uganda, (23 Sep 11)

News from the home & the progress of the chicken farm & taxi-van project

http://raising-up-hope.blogspot.com/2011/09/praise-god.html

"THANK YOU thank you THANK YOU!!"

 Dear brothers! 
  I dont know how much i can say but at the moment i cant say anything all i can say THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!!!
We have got the taxi and its now in our hands and Ruhu we can see where we are going.
yesterday it was celebration day for us here at RUHU.

will tell you more

love you all and thank you for all you are doing for us here

love 

patrick


 

TAXI!!

So how do you go about making 44 children rescued out of slums being cared for by a 20-year old (formerly in their spot), his 25 year old friend, and a volunteer house mom sustainable? Well, when their full-time gig is love & care (and teaching in between), they don't have time to raise their own funds. You could continually support them OR you could see a solid, sweet, spirit-led & passionate gang of community help them out by purchasing them a taxi in their honor.
   In the memory of Randeep and his mother Dalvir, we are in the process of a taxi-van purchase.

WHAT IT DOES:
- hired out to a company/driver
- it carries 14 passengers at a time- operating like a mini bus
- should provide an income of $15-30 a day to the home
It'll serve to curb future shortage of FOOD, medical care, and other bills.
[It'll be a great companion to the CHICKEN FARM already built, soon to have chick's & in 7 months EGGS (for food & a small income). School fees & school support will also come from these causes]. YeaaAYHHH! JOY!

Packed like a sardine can on wheels on a hot day

Bustlin' taxi park

PROJECT RAVI: COMMENCING

Drop a pebble in the water: just a splash, and it is gone;

But there's half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on.

Spreading, spreading from the center, flowing on out to the sea.

And there is no way of telling where the end is going to be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nobody could tell how,

but I think we all knew that Randeep's generous spirit

would find a way to reap a harvest for the seeds of selfless sacrifice

he sowed while he was with us.

I'd like to officially announce the commencement of "PROJECT RAVI", the building of a 

school in honor of the ever-present spirit of love exemplified by Randeep Sodhi, our friend

I'm really looking forward to working with the community that has arisen to honor 

a brother & cousin to many, family or not; it has tremendous possibilities

as we are aiming at securing a large plot of land on which to build the school

and a sports field for the children of Bulenga community.

"Thank you thank you thank you" was RUHU's response.

We are blessed, all who get to be a part of this vision.

~  J ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Drop a pebble in the water: in a minute you forget,

But there's little waves a-flowing, and there's ripples circling yet,

And those little waves a-flowing to a great big wave have grown;

You've disturbed a mighty river just by dropping in a stone.

Hungry hungry Hippos

These poor kids- didn't eat for the past 2 days, at all. "We had no food". "What about the money I gave you to buy the chickens when the order is complete?" "William said we can't use that, he doesn't want to cross funds"

"Patrick, don't go hungry again man. Just call"
If I hadn't have been there, I might not believe it, but they actually went 2 days without food, and in a situation where i may have cursed God, they praised Him. That is an enduring spirit, and the synergetic blessing comes back to me, to feed my heart with a hope not often found in the western nation, but not entirely void either. But the faith & positivity I see.. wow.
   A lot of people have strung together to serve this cause- Patrick & William & the house mother- moving together to rescue neglecteded children from the slums of Kampala. THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE HELPING! The reward is yours, something lasting & substantial to look back on in a culture searching for jus' that.

RANDEEP SODHI: A SPIRIT OF QUIET CARING

I first saw Randeep on TV, when I was a juvenile in high school- at the 2000 Olympic Trials in Toronto, fighting his way into the finals of Greco roman. I hate to say it, but he looked like a nice guy. (I’d find out later how true this really was). And of course, needless to say, he had a fighting spirit.

In 2004 I had the opportunity to go to the Tropheo Milone tournament in Italy with a decent sized Canadian contingent; there happened to be some kind of funny flight issues, and we stayed back in Rome 3 days, our expenses paid. We all visited the Vatican, and it led to a late night conversation with Randeep & a couple others; we all felt a healthy scepticism of aggrandized religion, and Randeep unknowingly challenged us by meekly sharing about how he and a couple of buddies set up a table one day a week to hand out food to whoever needs it. I was moved & challenged by his quiet thought & care for others.

Some years passed, and I bumped into him now & then at tournaments, retiring to a coaching role in 2007 and he did as well. As he caoched & led Hargobind this past year, I took part in a sports administration Internship situated at the Uganda Olympic Committee, in Kampala, Uganda (East Africa). I’d met some cool people, and towards the end of my time ran into an old lady on the sidewalk, without family & with a broken leg. We took her to the doctor, and she needed $600 worth of surgery (her leg was severely broken and she’d been down for over 3 weeks!). So a Facebook post & fundraiser went up, and Randeep responded kind of out-of-the-blue, amidst smaller but sincere pledges. I won’t say what he offered, because Randeep didn’t ever like me talking about it- ha ha- but when we found out that Jja Jja (Grandma)’s leg could be healed in a cast, he asked if there was any other causes he could help. “Well, honestly, I have to tell you about this young guy I met...”

Patrick, a teen dressed in a t-shirt, was who showed up to my office when I called an orphanage and asked for their director to meet & connect about a possible sports program. As the 19 year old founder of the orphanage told me his story as a 'volunteer', I sat in awe. At age 13, he became an orphan on the street, caring for his 11 year old sister. Living in the slums and eating what scraps he could, he stayed faithful. One day he was found by a lady touring the capital, and she was captivated with his genuine optimism despite his situation. Through her, he was provided living & school- which he was travelling to one day a few years later when he stumbled upon a 2 year old who’d be thrown away. Meeting her needs & taking her in, he’d find himself doing the same for a boy in a ditch, in the rain- saving his life from pneumonia, and taking him in- as his parents had also died. At age 17 he’d gathered 8 others into the small apartment, and liberated them from life on the street- but got an eviction notice; not losing faith he shared his situation via email, to those he knew. (His email sent from an Internet cafe met an American woman whose sister had very recently passed away, and left $30,000 to a ‘good cause’- a cause for which Patrick was found to be suited). With the money he saw the purchase of a home on the city’s outskirts, with several rooms to which he added many 3 story bunk beds. Patrick’s frequent trips back to the ghettos of Kampala would see him build relationships and reach out in love (and in sport, hygiene assistance- whatever he could bring to them) and by the time I met him, had filled his house with 43 former street children. They are inspiring little people too!

Randeep was moved by what Patrick was doing, and wanting to be a part asked how we could help. I asked Patrick, as we’d already discussed the possibility of a chicken farm, and he came back with the estimated costs. Randeep was as zealous to get started as Patrick (or more! no slight to Patrick), who had no stable income for the children, being a full-time “uncle” and teacher to the children. Understanding that they sometimes struggled for food (such as this (current) past week for 2 days, for example) it was Randeep’s mission for the farm to happen; he committed not only to the full cost, but made sure my flight change was taken care of so I could stay to see it through, which he felt was the wisest move time-wise (which it indeed turned out to be, contrary to my initial estimates, and despite the cost to him).

The construction & all the details are on my blog (below), and Randeep was especially patient to see the final stages finished as sadly our contractor had some issues, including the tragic loss of his father. But construction progressed from Canada as I came home on Christmas. Randeep told me it was being built in honor of his mother, whom I never had the honor of knowing, save through the impact of love she’d left on Randeep’s heart. With the help of some of Randeep’s community- his caring family, and friends like Nazir, the farm was completed this February 27^th, thanks fully to the support that Randeep garnered. He really came through, and the idea that will soon facilitate a food/income generating project for these sweet children would not exist without the love Randeep embodied to bring it into being.

When Greg Edgelow called me with the news of Randeeps’ passing, I found it hard to understand because I didn’t realize how tough he had had it- nor do I think many of us did. I think maybe Randeep did, and he didn’t let others know- perhaps this inspired his enthusiasm in life, a quiet bravery- or perhaps he didn’t know and his heart was proved gold through his consistently generous character.

...I’m thinking about what Randeep might want to have seen, after he departed, apart from happiness for those around him, fearless pursuits from those he coached, and peace for his family and friends.

If you would like to contribute to his honour, I would be happy to consider putting funds towards a school project for the orphanage, to be built & named in honor of him. This would begin to establish a school for the home, which we hoped to find a way to build next. I would love to see the giving spirit that Randeep embodied live on through his community to those who struggle to go to school. Whether that happens or not, Randeep showed me by his actions, as little as I knew him from the National team, how faith should come forth in loving action; uniting people & transcending boundaries to achieve real-life victories that will make ripples on, and on- the end of which is immeasurable.

.

“Get together, my brethren, and remove all misunderstandings through regard for each other.”
GURU BASANT RAG
.

Jamie Macari, friend, teammate on National team, and honoured acquaintance of Randeep Sodhi.

.

.

“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to care for the fatherless children and widows in their time of trouble, and to keep one's own self unspotted from the world.” James 1:27
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"You don't have a soul. You are a soul." C.S. Lewis

DONE! It's done! It's really really done!

Ha ha, I laugh as I'd been bothering Patrick for finished photos, who was struggling to find batteries for his camera for some time (but I'd told I'd left rechargables for him, which I lent to another- confusion!) and I found they'd had these photos for the past 2 weeks all along. So we laugh, and here she is, the completed farm!                                                                              So much has gone into helping these children. Giving and sending money is great, but we one-uped it with building infrastructure, and at the same time making an investment- not only to produce food, but to produce an opportunity & work ethic in the children to rear & raise it up. Rasing up chickens, and raising up hope- that's what this project has been about.

We look forward to the lil' chickens which were ordered & paid for about 2-3 weeks ago, so we're excited!

Chickens are planned for the main floor, and it can house more chicks or a schoolroom for a burgeoning home-school up top

Yes, indeed it has. And as we remember her, her love still moves forward   

Dedication of the Chicken Farm

Something so sweet. In times of political and economic instability, one family, led by one Canadian man, pulled together to honor their mother with a symbol of love: caring for those less fortunate than they are, providing for hungry children in need, in the real world.

STRENGTHENING OUR COMMUNITY

I was encouraged to find out a guy from Chicago- Preston- is in Kampala & helping raise support for the Home-phanage. He helped found RUHU and is currently finishing a visit to the home. Here are his web-spots

http://trekforchange.blogspot.com
http://www.toraiseupachild.org

A video tour of the home can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rapTQCyVu54&feature=player_embedded
Thank you- especially the two major donors- and everyone who wants to see lives these lives blessed. My hope is that we can strengthen the relationships of everyone involved together.
                       Shalom (peace),
                     Jamie

What's Update: 2010 in a glimpse

What's HAPPENED!?

Soon I hope to post an article summarizing all the sweet mayham that's gone on under my nose in my time in UG. But for right now, a minor update:

- the chicken farm is nearly complete: we await some very small logistical stuff- like troughs for the food/drink, and the door to be affixed; PLEASE KEEP JUMA, OUR CONTRACTOR, ON YOUR HEART. HIS FATHER, A LOCAL AREA CHAIRMAN, WAS SADLY KILLED IN HIS HOME ON SUNDAY. WE'VE GIVEN HIM OUR CONDOLENCES & A LITTLE MONEY & FOOD.
- We are looking at having a grant provide money for the orphanage farm's chickens (wise!)
- Jja Jja is safe at home & under the comfort & care of Amos & Dora. They will be wrestling to pay rent this month (hey, that makes 2 of us, lol. k, not quite) but are continuing to care for Jja Jja & Kenneth (their nephew). They are (or should be!) looking for work, though Amos is honorably dedicated to his congregation & their needs.
- Bubedea- she has had enough money (provided by generous donors) to pay for the term in school, and to pick up all the supplies she could need for the year.
That's all for now!