Hope Centre Container arrives safely:

The long awaited container arrives:
After months of waiting and a number of 'false alarms' the container, sent out from Westhill, Aberdeenshire, has now arrived on site in Gatumba. It was a nervous time for everyone with all sorts of unanswered questions remaining. Would the container be held in Burundi's port for inspection and clearing? Would the customs officers require bribes to let the container through? Would the seals have been tampered with and would there be anything missing from inside.
In the end the container was allowed on site to be processed and it was found to have the seal intact and the contents untouched.

Below the truck carrying the container arrives on site only to get stuck in the soft ground overnight where it had to be emptied by hand and the contents carried into storage the following morning.

Piece by piece the items are removed and taken to the on-site storage facility.
Bags of cement weighing 50kg are carried to the store.

At last everything is on site, and even the new cement mixer is in situ ready to start work. Even the battery which sat idle for a number of months in transit started the mixer first time.
to see the whole story visit the http://www.hopecentreburundi.com/

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Up, Up and Away!

The walls begin on the first house:

A moment of excitement for all concerned as the first brick is placed on the walls of the first house in the Hope Centre In Burundi.

Walls go up!
Soon major progress on the construction will be visible. Most of the work up till this stage has been below the ground and for the uninitiated is invisible, but now we are beginning to see the visible part growing before our very eyes. Now we can see the layout of the interior of the house as well.

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Perpetual Progress:

Final steps before walls go up:
The final stages of contruction, up to ground level are now almost complete on a number of the homes being built at the Hope Centre Burundi. The underground tanks are installed, the floors of the homes are in place, now the team begin on the walls. Over the next few weeks we hope to be able to show pictures of the houses beginning to look like the finished article. We also want to be able to give you news of the arrival of the shipping container where lots of building materials are held.


Below: Still lots of people on site preparing the floors and making the compressed blocks required for the construction of the walls.

Below: The floor cement apron is now laid on the first house so that the walls can be constructed.Below: Stacks of bricks are now ready to begin the wall construction.

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Burundi project construction work continues apace!

Hope Centre makes great progress:

Even through the rainy season, currently in full swing in Burundi, the Hope Centre work has continued. Charles & Val Carr undaunted by the heavy rain and flooding have continued their vital work in the construction of the orphan's homes.

The only way is UP!

Much of the construction work, up to ground level (sewage systems, foundations etc) has been completed. Large amounts of pressed blocks have been created and stored ready for use and the busy team await the arrival of the container which holds lots of construction materials as well as tools and equipment.



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Hope Centre Kids benefit from food donation:

A local trader provides food assistance:

A local trader in Bujumbura, Burundi has provided 150kg of rice and 150 kg of beans to help feed the Hope Centre Kids after having been sent funding from a member of the family in Pakistan. Pastor Leonard Tuyishimire has expressed his thanks to the family in question as has Charles Carr who is currently working on the building project at the Hope Centre in Mutimbuzi, Gatumba.

The Children are thankful for this donation, their health and growth as well as their education will benefit as a result of this kind gesture.
The bags of food are loaded into Charles' car to be transported to feed the children. Mission International has expressed thanks to the family who made the donation. Working together like this is the only way to bring much needed support to the many orphaned children in Burundi.

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Further progress at Mutimbuzi:

Hope Centre work moves quickly on:

The Hope Centre work continues apace now that the block presses have arrived. The red earth, purchased locally, has to be sieved and then mixed with a small amount of cement and water to make the blocks, the blocks are then allowed to dry before they can be used for building. The result is a nice red brick building, as you will see below there are plain blocks and interlocking blocks, as well as interlocking slightly curved blocks (not shown) for building water tanks.

Below the red earth is passed through a sieve to prepare it for the block making process.

Below Charles views the results of the plain block maker.

This block press makes an interlocking block.

Here the local ladies carry freshly mixed concrete in buckets on their heads.

To see more information have a look at the Hope Centre website http://www.hopecentreburundi.com/

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Hope Centre site sees major changes:

Development of the Hope Centre site:
Since arriving in Burundi in mid July Charles & Val Carr have managed to bring about considerable change to the Hope Centre site in Mutimbuzi, Gatumba. Due to the fact that the rainy season will be arriving soon, there is a bid to make sure that the six foundations are in place so that the house building can continue even if there is some flooding on the site. The foundations have been raised to almost a metre off the initial ground level to allow for inevitable flooding and this will be back filled between the houses and landscaped when the building work is over.

Below: The considerable area to be developed is disturbed as the foundations are dug and the building work is initiated.

Below: This building work has caused quite a stir in the area and as a result some of the locals have managed to find work labouring and using their skills to prepare for and build the Hope Centre.

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Cementing relationships?

Cement Company support the Hope Centre:

Click in image to enlarge it.

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Container on its way:

Packed with potential:
A 40ft shipping container is now on its way from Westhill in Aberdeenshire to Mutimbuzi township, just outside Bujumbura Burundi's capital city. The container is loaded with all sorts of building materials, some donated and some purchased at cost price, for the construction of the Hope Centre in Burundi. Charles & Val Carr will travel to Burundi, with three of their boys, to become involved in the final planning and then the construction of the Hope Centre, Burundi.

It is hoped that the Centre will be completed in around a year. Six houses will be built in all, becoming the homes for the 40 children, eight children and a mama to a home and a separate home for Pastor Leonard and his wife and three children. This phase will take up about half of the plot of land and after canvassing the surrounding community, predominantly made up of returning refugees, it is likely that a skills training centre will be built on the other half.

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You can help!

The materials are being gathered:
Charles & Val Carr and their boys are heading for Burundi during July, their house in Scotland is sold and their flights have been purchased, however they are still gathering materials to put in a container which will be used to build the Hope Centre in Burundi. To view the list of requirements and see other news of their trip follow this link -
http://www.eulogia.co.uk/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl

What will it look like?
To give an indication of what the orphan homes in the Hope Centre Burundi will look like Charles has prepared a few drawing a couple of which are situated here. These designs may change a little but are likely to be along these lines.

The children have never known a home of their own, having lost their families during the 13 year war which Burundi has recently emerged from. The small community where the Hope Centre is to be built has in the region of 6000 orphans and so this project is just a start to what needs to be done to help what is now the poorest country in the world.

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What's Amata?

Photogenic bovines:

The grainy pictures below have just arrived from Burundi. They are proof of an exciting new dimension in the bid for sustainability in the Hope Centre project. Prior to our visit at the end of March 2008 Mission International was able to raise in excess of £1000 to help feed and care for the children in this project, from a number of sources including the staff at Angus College where Hugh works. One idea was that we would use the funds to provide a small agricultural project. It was agreed that a cow project would firstly bring an immediate input to the children's health and well being as well as make the best use of the plot of land we have purchased. The locals felt that this land was more likely to produce good grass rather than vegetable crops and fruit trees and so we agreed to use the land for a cow project. The Kirundi word for milk is Amata and so we can be sure that now the kids will get some quality milk each day as part of their diet. We hope also to find the funds to install a fish farming project on this land which has an area of marsh, easily converted into fish ponds. This would provide another quality source of food as well as a potential income generator furthering the whole project's sustainability.







The two adult cows are indigenous breeds but the calf is half European and will be a valuable asset to this growing small herd.

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The poorest country in the world:

Long years of war and civil unrest:
After 13 years of war Burundi is on its knees, the economy is in tatters and the population has become the poorest in the world. Help is needed and you may be in a position to offer that help. As you read this blog please consider supporting this project either by a one-off gift or by giving regularly to sponsor a child.

Orphaned children play unaware of the threat of their surroundings. Mission International is bringing support in the form of sponsorship to such children in the hope that they will become strong pillars of their community.

The Hope Centre - Burundi:

During 2006 I met a Burundian pastor called Leonard Tuyishimire and his wife Jolie, who over the period of the long war came into contact with many children whose parents had died as a direct result of the conflict or as a result of HIV/AIDS or other family tragedy. Pastor Leonard with his wife have taken these children into their care and have struggled to find food, clothing, medicine and an education for them. When Mission International began our first ambition was to find the resources to fund proper accommodation and make sure this family had a sustainable future. Today there has been considerable progress with the purchase of land, the acquisition of a substantial funding package and the recruitment of qualified personnel to get the building work underway. As a result however of Burundi's declining economy and of flooding, poor harvests and an ever increasing population this family found it almost impossible to survive. Nothing daunted pastor Leonard and his wife would beg around the neighbourhood to be able to find enough food to at least give the children a meal a day, but there were many days when they did not eat at all. This poor subsistence created health problems such that a number of the children grew very ill over that period.

The very basic necessities of life are often scarce to say the least. £20 a month can make sure a child like this is given a chance to have a secure future. To support the children in the Hope Centre Burundi via PayPal click here . Alternatively email mail@mission-international.org and we will send you a printable document file which you can complete and return to us.

Our daily bread?
During the course of 2006- 2008 Mission International has managed to find food for this family, now we are at the place where we can, with your help, provide a much more sustainable future.

The children get at least one square meal every day, sometimes if there is enough money they have two meals of rice, beans and on a really good day there is some meat on their plate as well.

Land is scarce:

Burundi is a small country and as a result is limited on land resources especially in urban areas where land for homes is at a premium. Pastor Leonard however was able to locate a piece of land where the Hope Centre will be built, this was purchased by funds supplied by 'Home On The Range Ministries' from the USA and now the process of putting suitable accommodation on the land begins. A further tract of land was acquired at the same time which will be used for a sustainable agricultural project, current plans are for some cows as well as a fish farm to be included on this land.

This piece of land has been acquired for the Hope Centre. We expect building to begin during the second half of 2008.

The Big Meal:

At Christmas time 2007 we were able, with the support of UK donors, to provide a wonderful Christmas meal for the Hope Centre children. They all had their fill of food, including meat, and soda, they had a lovely day together. It is our intention to make an effort for these children at Christmas 2008 providing a Big Meal on Christmas Day. You can help us in this endeavour by donation to The Hope centre Burundi. PayPal- Click Here to give via PayPal. Alternatively email us at mail@mission-international.org and we will send you a printable document file so that you can print our the paperwork, complete it and return it to us.

Here the Hope Centre kids have a Big Meal - Christmas Day 2007.

Pastor Leonard Tuyishimire and his wife Jolie look after the orphans in the Hope Centre as well as their own three children.

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