Hope For Life October 2012 Update

A note from our volunteer: Torey

Generously supported by my family in California and Colorado, I’ve made my way to Rwanda to work with Hilliary for the next four months. Along with general administrative tasks, my main focus will be empowering the families of those being reintegrated. To help with this task, five interns from my alma mater business school at CU Boulder are partnering with us. They will be researching income-generating projects for the boys and their families along with potential partnerships with other NGO’s in the area. We’ll keep you posted on the progress!

With sustainability in mind, Stuart and I have spent much of our time with the boys farming at the home.  With a new plan in place we hope to save $100 USD every three months by growing our greatest food expenses! It’s quite a scene with the older boys hard at work breaking up the solid dirt, the younger boys climbing the trees to avoid their morning chore, and the whole neighborhood gathering to point and laugh as three, white “muzungus” are out farming alongside everyone. With the language barrier extremely visible, it’s been a great way to bond over our task at hand. Stuart and I are so excited to be here and grateful to be apart of God’s plan for HFLM!

Our two volunteers: Torey and Stuart

We have witnessed God’s faithfulness in guiding HFLM the last four years and believe that the new season we are entering is the next step in continuing to follow His direction. The Rwandan government is in the process of reintegrating all children from institutes into families. In compliance, we are working to do what is best for the boys by intentionally reconnecting them with their immediate families, extended families, and church sponsors. We are confident that this new direction of partnering with Rwandan families will offer our children an improved loving and supportive environment.  Our goal is to take a holistic approach to place each of our boys into loving families by December 2013.

In the year ahead we are working to prepare the boys for returning to their families, empowering the families to receive their children, and equipping them with the skills to provide for their children. In preparation to accomplish these goals, we have recruited two interns, Torey and Stuart, who are counseling the boys and preparing the families.

One of our strategies in this process has been developing a network of families through a newly started mentorship program. In joint venture with the local church, we have paired each boy with a participating family. This program works to help our boys have a godly male role model, experience a healthy family setting, and begin to dissolve the negative stereotype towards Rwandan street kids.

This past Sunday, Simeon’s mentor who is the Pastor at the boys’ church, took him overnight to join in with a family party.  Simeon was thrilled to report that he got to drink Fanta, eat plantains and cassava, and played with other kids. Paul’s mentor declared, “Paul is now my son, and if he ever doesn’t have somewhere to go, he can come in my house as a son.” We are so blessed to see how God is alive in the hearts of our community.

Claude seeing his sister and grandmother for the first time!

One of the boys who we were worried it would be difficult to reintegrate was little Claude. After a year long search for any living family of little Claude’s, we finally made contact with his grandmother who had lost all hope that Claude was alive. Claude’s excitement at visiting his grandmother could be seen in the bounce in his walk, his energetic demeanor, and a smile that would not leave his face. When we took Claude to visit her, it was indeed a joyous reunion and they eagerly took Claude into their home. The grandmother was overjoyed to see her grandson again and Claude couldn’t stop hugging his sister. We are so grateful that we were able to reunite Claude with a loving family, and we feel confident that he will prosper in his new home.

With all of the children being reintegrated, we are looking at options for the future of HFLM.  We would like to continue running HFLM as a family centered home for street children and are searching for someone to come alongside of Hilliary to help carry the torch. In the meantime, we are continuing to work with government officials to verify homes like ours will indeed be allowed to remain open after 2014. Please be praying for us in these three powerful ways: 1) for God to give us clear direction and wisdom with the reintegration plan, 2) for a torch bearer, and 3) for the future functions of the home. Thank you again for all of your encouragement and continued support!

Hope For Life September 2012 Update

These past few months have been a very fruitful time with so many blessings that fill us with gratitude.  We have witnessed continued spiritual development, prepared for reconciliation, welcomed visitors and interns, and even built a composting toilet.

The boys had a craft day and made masks out of materials Andy brought

Two visitors came from America to volunteer at HFLM this last month. Andy Frank came with a suitcase full of soccer balls, games, crafts, and snacks! The boys had been begging almost every day for soccer balls and were absolutely thrilled to receive 3 new balls. Elizabeth Primus spent 2 weeks at HFLM helping with various activities, the largest project being building a composting toilet. Yes, a toilet that composts human waste and safely turns it into compost that can be used as fertilizer.  Although we have not yet built the shelter around the toilet, several boys excitedly reported that they have already used the toilet.

Elizabeth teaching the boys to make the composting toilet

We will be reconciling eight boys with their families this December, and a handful of boys were worried about going home because they don’t have a toilet. We are grateful for this new skill of building eco-friendly toilets that was taught by Elizabeth, so that our boys and their families can benefit from having a toilet.

Elizabeth also brought funds with her that were raised in the USA to treat our boys to an outing. We took them to a local hotel to swim for the afternoon.  Even Veterne, who has limited use of his legs, was able to join and swim for the first time in his life. Although he was a bit terrified, he was thrilled to be taking part with the rest of the boys and by the end was swimming by himself with a life vest.

Veterne swimming for the first time in his life

We have been proud of our boys in their continued spiritual development. They have been leading Saturday morning devotions, encouraging each other in their faith, eagerly participating in prayer times at their church and are excited to share their faith with others. We shared in Daniel’s joy this last month, because after completing three months of Bible courses, he publicly proclaimed his faith by being baptized.  

Daniel being baptized

This last month we were sad to say goodbye to Gwen, our intern from Moody Bible Institute. The boys and staff will miss her dearly, but the mark she left on the ministry will not be forgotten. On the other hand, we are excited to welcome two more interns, Torey Rozario and Stuart Cornutt, who will be spending the next 4 months serving at HFLM. Torey will be heading up our self-sustainability projects, primarily focusing on training the boys in self-sustainability skills and passing those skills on to their families as a means of income generation. Stuart, who just completed his Masters in Counseling Psychology, will be aiding in counseling the boys and developing a more thorough counseling program at HFLM.

Please keep in your prayers the boys at HFLM as several of them are preparing for the transition of returning to their families. Also, please be praying for Stuart and Torey, and the rest of the staff, as they will be instrumental in the successful reconciliation of these eight boys in December. Thank you so much for your support and prayers.