Dear friends, family and supporters,

The month of February has been a busy one for us here inUganda.  All children have now returned to school during the past month, which has kept us on our toes, our Eagles Wings Secondary School has officially opened and is now operating, mosquito nets have been delivered and installed for all Eagles Wings children, a large container from the US has now arrived, Rev. Christopher Muwonge and his wife, Harriet, visited the Holy Land and the long-awaited shoes for the children have arrived.

Please read more about all of this in the articles below:

                                                    Batcher Goes to School for the Deaf by Joan Davidson Vautour (EWCV Volunteer)

Upon my arrival, Paul (EWCV Carpenter), had come to me to talk about Batcher, my sponsored deaf boy.  Both Paul and Allan, our Social Worker, were concerned about Batcher’s future as a deaf child at EWCV.  He was not doing well at school and was working with Paul and helping Anatoili, our Farm Manager, at the Eagles Wings property.  Batcher is a hard working young man and seemed to excel at everything he was asked to do at the property.  We all wanted more for Batcher.  As he is my sponsored child and a boy whom I met here in Masaka begging on the streets in 2003, I felt a responsibility for his welfare and future.  After discussions with Ann and Bill and with the advice from John and Doris (my cousins inCanada) and their experience with deaf children, it was suggested that we take him for a hearing test.  We took Batcher to the Kampala Audiology and Speech Center and his results showed that he was deaf and also showed that no hearing aid or devices could be of any benefit to him.  They recommended that we find a deaf school for him to attend. After visiting one school which was not suitable, God directed us to the Uganda Society for theDeafVocationalTrainingCenterinKampala.  This was just what all of us wanted, a place for Batcher to be able to communicate in his own language and excel in his passion for Art, Design and Carpentry.  He was accepted and I took on the commitment of his education for the next three years.  Please pray that I will be able to fulfill this commitment and that Batcher will excel in his endeavours.  He was so excited.

On Fed 5^th, Allan, Kurt (Canadian Missionary) and I left with Batcher forKampala and School.  We arrived on Sunday and were blessed to attend the Emmanuel Church for the Deaf.  It was overwhelming for us to watch Batcher as he entered the church and realized that it was a church for the deaf and that everyone was praising God and singing by signing.  He had arrived home.  He didn`t even sit with us as he went directly to the front of the church and sat with all the other young deaf people.  He was raising his hands, praising God and singing (signing).  We realized then that he knew more sign language than we had thought.  He just could not communicate it to us. Batcher came out of that church a changed young man.  I felt the power of the Holy Spirit moving in that church.  No words were spoken, just the love of God communicated through signing.  It was powerful!

We stayed overnight with Lawrence (our long time Ugandan friend) who has also known Batcher for many years, and together we all went with him to his new school.  It was wonderful for me to witness this love of young men, all who have supported each other through the years, all brothers in Christ and connected to Eagles Wings.  God is amazing.  As I look back over this process, I again can see the hand of God in everything.  I felt so proud of Batcher who came from being a little boy begging on the streets of Masaka to a young man starting on a new adventure in life.  Praise God.

Joan Davidson Vautour (EWCV Volunteer)

                                                                       Mosquito Net Distribution & Installation by Kurt Petersen (EWCV Volunteer)

After a full year of fundraising, prayers and decisions, mosquito nets for the children of Eagles Wings Children’s Village finally became a reality!  With the help of dedicated Eagles Wings’ social worker, Allan Kisakye, and his wheels, we motored and walked through numerous footpaths, trails and dusty dirt roads to the doors of hundreds of poor village homes surrounding Eagles Wings Children’s Village orphanage -  I praise God for the protection he gave us during our travels.  With a sac of 30 mosquito nets (at a go), we were able to greet, explain, educate, deliver and install mosquito nets to children (and needy guardians) at a near rapid pace.  Of course this took some practice on our first day out in the field, but by the second day we had a system down.

Here’s the process:

1. -Arrival at the child’s home 2. – Received special greeting from all at the household (all women/girls kneel on the ground/floor inUgandatradition) 3. – Explain the reason of visit 4. – Received overwhelming gratitude 5. – Educate on caring for the mosquito net and prolonging its life 6. – Enter the home and determine where the child(ren) sleep 7. – Install mosquito net using strings and/or nails 8. – Received overwhelming gratitude (sometimes with gifts incl. groundnuts (peanuts), papaya, eggs, sugarcane) 9. – Continue to next home.

Out of this entire process I was given the first-hand look at how these village people live without electricity, running water and even natural light within their homes, among other things.  Most homes are constructed of mud (walls) with thatched roof, while others are constructed of brick (walls) and metal sheets for roofing.  All floors are mud creating the possibility of jiggers.  As I mentioned these homes lack even natural light due to the absence of windows and electrical light bulbs.  I found this to be one of the challenges that we met during installation of the mosquito nets, simply because we couldn’t see clearly without using some kind of flashlight or candle (during the middle of the bright afternoon).  Windows are not common because of reasons such as affordability and security.  Without such windows, it also creates poor ventilation which creates hot conditions inside, so most house members remain outdoors until the weather cools in the evening.

During mosquito net installation, it also became clear to me that most children do not have beds nor do they have even a mattress to lay on for sleep.  Most sleeping areas are made up of straw (weaved) mats and blankets, creating somewhat of a bed, so we were able to determine where the child(ren) slept in the home and install the mosquito net accordingly.  As I struggle with the fact that most of these children do not have proper beds to sleep on, this may be a great idea to invest in in the near future with my Pennies 4 Change project.

After the surrounding villages were completed, the 72 children of Eagles Wings Children’s Village orphanage were next!  Wooden poles were made (4) for each bed to ensure that each mosquito net hung fully and properly over each single bed.  I was blessed enough with God’s timing to be able to experience few interruptions during this process as the children were away on holidays at this time.  I was also given the assistance of some students (from surrounding villages) to help me accomplish this task.  Once the children returned from holidays near the end of January, they were excited and thankful for what had been done.

This was a wonderful experience for me as it enabled me to share the many blessings that God has given me with so many children and guardians through this mosquito net distribution and installation project.  I’m pleased to report that over 300+ people have now been provided a mosquito net to protect them against malaria, praised God!

God bless,

Kurt Petersen (EWCV Volunteer)

                                   Rev. Christopher & Jajja Harriet visit The Holy Land

During the month of February, Rev. Christopher Muwonge (EWCV Co-Director) and his wife, Harriet, were given the opportunity to visit theHoly Landfor 10 days.  After weeks of passport, visa and other trip preparations, God paved the way for them to take on this journey to land where Jesus walked and worked.  They met up with a wonderful Canadian group (Bridges for PeaceCanada), who welcomed and treated them as fellow Canadians.

They visited several sites inIsrael, including Joppa,Nazareth, Galilee, the River Jordan,Jerusalem,Bethlehem, the Knasset (the Israel Parliament) and theDead Sea.  The uniqueness of the country was like no other they can think of.  God’s presence inIsraelwas made very clear to them which has excited them and encouraged them to someday return to theHoly Land, God willing.  Nonetheless, this was an experience that has inspired them and will be one they will truly never forget.

We give thanks to God for the doors that were opened for them to visit theHoly Land, for the support from many people who helped make this possible and the protection upon them during their travels.

                              Container Arrives from USA, including 200+ Shoes for EWCV Children

In early January, God blessed us with the arrival of the Macris family fromUSA.  Dr. Haris Macris (with Hellinic Ministries), his wife, Maria, and their 4 children have committed themselves to stay in Uganda to construct a clinic on Eagles Wings Children’s Village property, which will be a blessing to serve the EW children and surrounding areas.  As they planned for a long-term stay, a container was also expected to arrive with several things to help them during their time inUgandaand with many other gifts and items for Eagles Wings Children’s Village, including more than 200 pairs of children’s shoes, donated by Soles for Souls.

With delays at the Port inMombasa,Kenya, we all kept wondering when will the container actually arrive inUganda.  Word then arrived that the container was now on its way fromMombasatoUganda, which prompted Dr. Haris Macris to meet the container at the Kenya/Uganda border to ensure its clearance through Customs.  EW Social Worker, Allan, also tended to the mission with Dr. Macris to ensure it would arrive smoothly.  After some delays and many prayers, the container arrived safely and without problems in Masaka.

The container has now come and gone and the sorting and organizing has begun.  Through the sorting process, we have been blessed to receive new, quality shoes for more than 200 children at Eagles Wings.  We praise God for the safe arrival of all the items within the container and give thanks to the Macris family for saving space for these items and other items that will be benefitting Eagles Wings Children’s Village.

Volunteers, Kurt and Joan, and some EW staff have now begun sorting and fitting shoes for the children who need them.  Shoes are very important for children to have, as they help to keep a child’s foot clean, may increase they’re endurance, but especially to help prevent jigger-flea contraction.  Jiggers are small larvae that live in dusty dirt floors and can penetrate into the skin, burrowing inside causing pain and discomfort, so we give thanks to God for these shoes.

Our thanks for the many cards, letters, emails, phone calls which we continue to receive. It is wonderful to receive parcels, cards and letters arriving from all over the world.   The care packages are always greatly appreciated which are sent to us with many surprises inside.  We have received some beautiful calendars recently which are of great use for the staff and the school classrooms.  Thanks to those who have sent them.  We continue to receive blessings because of your continued faithful support.  Without God, none of this would be possible. Many thanks and blessings to you.

Contact Information

Eagles Wings Children’s Village

C/O Pat Bates

#300-404 Desalaberry Street

Winnipeg,Manitoba,Canada

R2L 2G3

Please visit our website: www.eagleswingschildrensvillage.com

For financial information, contact Pat Bates:   204-254-5309 – Email:  pmbates@shaw.ca

For child/staff/general information, please contact Francie Humby:  204-257-2483 – Email:   f_humby@hotmail.com

Donations

From the UK can go through “Love in Action” (Email: alan@ugandamail.com);    USA – Real Partners Uganda, 523 Lafayette Blvd., Brigantine, New Jersey, 08203 USA (Email:realpartnersuganda@gmail.com);  from Europe – Hellenic Ministries, Lydias 12, 11527, Athens, Greece (Phone: 30-210-77.79.845 or Email: marina_karavas@hotmail.com).

                                   ***    Please indicate that your donation is for Eagles Wings Children’s Village in Uganda.    ***

James 1:27 says “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”  

                                                                        January 2012 Newsletter from Eagles Wings Children’s Village Uganda

New Primary School Painted on the Front Exterior

Thanks to our volunteer, Kurt Peterson, who hails fromVancouver,Canada, the outside front of the new primary school was given several coats of light yellow paint with white trims.   Our young deaf fellow, Batcher, assisted Kurt with the painting.   Batcher loves to paint and do carpentry with Paul.   It was completed several days before the first of the many events taking place at the property around December 1st.   This was the first paint applied to the primary school.  Kurt also managed with Batcher’s help to do much of the painting inside and outside of the renovated senior secondary school.   We still have much painting to do for future volunteers who will be coming to spend time with us.   All the childrens’ huts need painting once again inside and outside.   We need you back again, Amanda Wray.

Social Worker, Allan & Harriet’s Wedding December 3rd, 2011

Even though we began the wedding two hours late, it turned out to be a wonderful wedding.   There had been many challenges during the morning as this was the day after the couple had attended their Introduction ceremony nearKampalathe day before their wedding and arrived at 3 am in Masaka to get a few hours sleep.  However, the sun was shining on the wedding day with a few short showers which cooled everything down nicely, the choir provided fine music throughout the service, the preacher was powerful, the church was packed to overflowing with more people outside, twelve of our children took part in the wedding party and looked so smart, the church was nicely decorated, Rev. Christopher did a fine job of leading the service, over 700 people mostly children were fed at the reception where there was a special childrens’ line for serving food.   Our two volunteers, Kurt and Joan, said that this was the most joyous wedding they had ever attended in their lives.  It was agreed that the church and reception were full of the joy of the occasion.  Usually the churches are quiet, but this time it was jubilant.   Several youth commented that usually children are not included, but in this case children were given top priority to be in attendance although most were outside watching through the windows.   The children felt special.  The Bridal couple traveled toKigali,Rwanda, for their honeymoon where they were treated royally by a close friend.

Head Master, Samuel Wasswa and Joan’s Wedding December 17th, 2011

The Head Master of Beth Pipe Nursery and Primary School was married to Joan on Saturday, December 17th at theChurchofUgandahere inMasakaTown.   The service started about 40 minutes late, but went smoothly with the leadership of the new Bishop of West Buganda Diocese who also did the preaching in the Luganda language.   The choir of this church is always great.   We were able to take 10 of the children from Family #3 from our home inSowetoto attend with us and to represent the rest of the children from EWCV.  After the service was over, we went to the Tropic Inn Hotel in Masaka where the large tents were specially arranged around their huge swimming pool for the reception.    Once again a feast was provided for the 400 guests which included several government dignitaries.    Many of the staff of EWCV were in attendance and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  One of the highlights was when the Groom took over the microphone and sang a special song which he had composed himself to his new bride, Joan.   We were all surprised with his skills in the music field.

Christmas Meal Served to over 500 Children/Adults

On December 18th, our church at EWCV property,LubumbaCommunityChurchhosted over 500 people to a Christmas Meal for the people of the surrounding villages.

The church was nicely decorated once again to provide a colorful background for a wonderful service.   The people assisted with food preparation, serving, and cleaning up afterwards.   It was a big job but everything went well with the teamwork of the committee of community people.

Christmas Gift Bags of Food 

On December 22nd, our school children from the community surrounding the EWCV property came to attend a short service in the church and afterwards were given their gift packages class by class.   These bags contained food for them to share with their families at home so that they would have a meal on Christmas Day.    We were able to include in the bags a handful of candies individually wrapped and also a couple of books appropriate for their reading level which Rachael worked on.   These books were from the boxes of books sent to us in the second shipment fromBlumenortMennoniteChurchinRosetown,MB.   The Nursery Students also received the gift of an Izzy Doll.  We owe our thanks from everyone to those of you who most generously gave donations as you have each of the past few years to make these programs possible to cover expenses.   We have been blessed to have a team of staff who work together to do the shopping of items in bulk order ahead of time to beat the high Christmas prices.  Then they spend time assembling the items into the big green bags for the children to take home.

Christmas Day at EWCV

A Coaster Van arrived at our home in town Christmas morning around 9 am to pick up the 26 children and staff of Family #3 to take everyone to the property.   A church service was held atLubumbaCommunityChurchonce again.   Afterwards the children from the community went back home.   Our children from the three families joined together in the church to enjoy a Christmas Meal provided by a team of workers.   The church was still beautifully decorated for the occasion.   The children were all given one Christmas gift which consisted of casual clothing.   Several goats were slaughtered for the meal.

Holiday Time for Children/Staff at EWCV

On December 28th the Coaster Van came once again to our home in town to take Family #3 children and staff to the property.   We had invited the former guardians of our children to come to the property to take their children back to their homes in the villages for a month’s holidays with their families.   We began with a short church service and followed this by the Annual General Meeting for EWCV.    Afterwards everyone was served a meal before heading back to their villages with these children from the three families.   Each child was given a gift bag to take along with them to help with the food shortage which they might face during their stay away from EWCV.   Our Social Worker took care of the few children who had nobody to pick them up and delivered them to their villages.   Now it is very quiet around our compound of our house in town.

The children will return to the property on January 28th, a couple of days before school starts again on January 30th for the new school year.

Mosquito Nets for EWCV children/staff

This past week Kurt Peterson has been staying out at the property to work at distributing mosquito nets to the most needy families in the communities surrounding us.   He had been working hard all the past two years inVancouverto raise the money needed to purchase around 400 mosquito nets for the children of EWCV.  He had formed “Pennies for Change” which has been a huge success as a fund raiser.   Kurt has been traveling each day this week with our Social Worker, Allan Kisakye, on the Motor Cycle in every direction from our property to the many homes in the villages.   He said that at first it was a slow procedure, but they developed a system whereby they were able to become more efficient with the installations.   We are so thankful for Kurt and Allan’s efforts because malaria has been rampant lately with this being the height of the malaria season.   They will make a big difference in the health and well-being of our children of EWCV.   These are high quality nets which are treated and are going into the homes of people living in poverty.

Family #3 Housing

We are so thankful for the money raised for the construction of the two boys’ and girls’ ECO SAN toilets which are now completed and also the Dining Hut which was completed first.  We have had another donation which will allow us to complete the first of the four childrens’s huts.   That will still leave us also to build the kitchen/storage room as well as the Parent’s House.   Once this has all been completed, then we will move Family #3 from our home in town out to their new home at the property which is 25 miles away.   Then the children of Family #3 will be able to attend Beth Pipe Nursery & Primary School with the other two family’s children.   Meanwhile we will keep providing for their schooling here in our home in town with our two teachers covering the load of multi-class levels.

Senior Secondary School for EWCV property

The new Head Teacher, Apollo,  for “EaglesWingsHigh School” was hired as well as the other eight teachers who will begin teaching at the end of this month.  We are offering to teach eighteen subjects to Senior One students of two streams of 40 students per stream.   We are starting small right now with the number of students and our school has been undergoing renovations to prepare for the opening.   Our young carpenter, Paul Ssekenjako, has been working so hard to complete everything needed including furniture and desks for the students/teachers.   Our Maintenance Man, Michael, has been working with his assistant to reconstruct temporary kitchen facilities for both the primary and secondary schools under one roof made with iron sheets this time.   The walls have been built with papyrus reeds with a frame of eucalyptus poles and plastered with mud/cow dung mixture.   The kitchen stoves will be homemade right now to facilitate three stoves in each of the two kitchens.  Both of the schools will run an agricultural program on pieces of land we give them to use hoping that they will cut down the costs for their feeding programs of two meals per day being morning porridge and 1 pm poshio and beans.   Our Head Master of the High School will teach Math and Physics along with his administrative duties.   Our Bursar will also do Secretarial work as well as teaching Computers.   The Deputy Head Mistress will teach History and Religious Education and assist with administrative duties .

Praise Item:

The Macris Family have arrived here inUgandaand are now settling into their home here inMasakaTown.

Rev. Christopher and Harriet have been granted VISAS to join a Canadian Bible Study Tour of Israel with Pastors and their wives through Bridges for PeaceCanada.  They will leave in a month.

Prayers Needed For:

1)  Gloria Bassett as she prepares for surgery January 18th inMoose Jaw,SK.

2)  Mary Lee undergoing chemo therapy once again inPerth, Ontari/o.

3)  Jag Malik of Gilbert Plains as he recovers from surgery which removed a tumor from his spine – inWinnipeg,MB, Rehab Centre.

4)  Our Maintenance Man, Michael Kiwanuka, as he prepares for his Introduction Jan.19th and his Wedding to Jennifer on January 21st this month here in Masaka.

5)  Bernadette undergoing Chemo treatment for cancer inZimbabwe.

6)  Joyce struggling with cancer inPerth,Australia.

7)  Dr. Haris Macris and his wife Maria and four children as they settle in here inMasaka,Uganda, now that they have arrived.   Please pray that their container will arrive safely inMombasain a week and that it will clear customs okay for the trip here by semi-trailer throughKenyaandUganda.  Their youngest daughter, Evanthia (5), has been having a high fever, stomach upset, and poor appetite since they arrived.  Please pray for her.  A guest also arrived shortly after the Macris family at the airport and visited with us all here in Masaka for one full day.   Alexis stopped over here on his way back toGreecefromTanzania.   He is a landscape architect and is interested in helping us with the new medical clinic to be built.  We praise God for his visit and fellowship during his short stay.

Our thanks for the many cards, letters, emails, phone calls which we received during this holiday season.   It is great to still have parcels and cards/letters arriving from all over.   We appreciate the care packages which are sent to us with many surprises inside.   We have been thoroughly blessed this past year with the love shown to us and the children/staff of EWCV.  If you are able to obtain any free calendars, would you please mail them to us?   We like to give them to staff and especially for the classrooms of the schools.   Please don’t send old calendars.

Contact Information:  Eagles Wings Children’s Village,#300-404 Desalaberry Street,Winnipeg,Manitoba,Canada, R2L 2G3

Website:     www.eagleswingschildrensvillage.com

Phone Pat Bates for financial information:   204-254-5309 – Email:  pmbates@shaw.ca

Phone Francie Humby for child/staff/general information:  204-257-2483 – Email:   f_humby@hotmail.com

Donations from the UK can go through “Love in Action” (Email: alan@ugandamail.com); from USA – Real Partners Uganda, 523 Lafayette Blvd., Brigantine, New Jersey, 08203 USA (Email:realpartnersuganda@gmail.com); from Europe – Hellenic Ministries, Lydias 12, 11527, Athens, Greece (Phone: 30-210-77.79.845 or Email: marina_karavas@hotmail.com).  ***Please indicate that your donation is for Eagles Wings Children’s Village inUganda.

James 1:27 says “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

“I carried you on eagles wings and brought you to myself.”

Exodus 19:4

Email

  in

  Winnipeg,

  Canada:

pmbates@shaw.ca

or

f_humby@hotmail.com

If

you

have

any

questions

regarding

methods

of

payment

available

such

as

using

VISA,

PAYPAL,

MASTERCARD,

etc.

***Information

required

by

anyone

from

UK,

or

Europe,

etc.

wishing

to

make

donations

or

sponsorship

of

children,

please

email

us

at:

bapeckham@gmail.com

“I

carried

you

on

eagles

wings

and

brought

you

to

myself.”

Exodus

19:4

   U.S.A

   Mailing

  Address

  for

  checks

  to

  be

  sent

  in

   USA

  :

Real

Partners

Uganda,

Inc.

523

Lafayette

Blvd.

Brigantine,

New

Jersey,

08203

USA

Please

earmark

all

checks

for

EWCV

and

be

sure

to

provide

directions

to

go

to

“Eagles

Wings”

for

sponsorships

and

donations.

Email

  Addresses

  at

  Real

  Partners,

   USA:

eeiko@comcast.net

or

jggris@comca st.net

We are indeed changing our email password frequently now for protection.   We haven’t tracked down the hacker yet, but we know that it is a person from within Uganda which is the second country listed with the highest hacking record next to Nigeria.   We have to as wise as serpents!

PayPal is soon to be available in the Winnipeg office for Canadians or anyone in the World, I’m told.

We arrived in Uganda last Wednesday after six weeks in Greece and back to Masaka to our home on Saturday when we received a wonderful welcome from the children.   Our thanks to everyone in Greece for the warm hospitality we received during our extensive travels.    The money for our return airline tickets and other expenses didn’t come from EWCV, but from ourselves as it was our treat to ourselves for five anniversaries.

Our daughter, Linda Vandenakker, of Winnipeg is running the half marathon on Father’s Day, June 19th as well as Jaimee Schmidt of Brandon who is also running in the same event in Brandon.    They are both running for our charity of EWCV and specifically to raise money for Family #3 housing so that those children can move into new housing at the property before Christmas Day, 2011.   The dining hut has been nearly completed, but there are 7 more buildings to be constructed.   Donations towards this cause is being sent to our Winnipeg office through Pat Bates:    email:   pmbates@shaw.ca     If it is your wish to contribute towards one of these two marathon runs, please give instructions as to your wish for designation of the donation towards “Family #3 Housing”.

Mailing Address:
Eagles Wings Children’s Village
#300-404 Desalaberry St.
Winnipeg, MB
R2L 2G3   Canada

We have just received the second shipment of 60 boxes of wonderful books from Walter & Marilyn Dyck’s home church in Rosetown, Manitoba which is “Blumenort Mennonite Church”.   They also provided money for bookcases to be built.   We now have one of the finest collection of books of any primary school in Uganda, I believe.   Our sincere thanks to the congregation in Rosetown.   There will also be books left over to provide for Eagles Wings Senior Secondary School to be opened February 2012, good Lord willing.

Many thanks from the children and staff for your continued prayers and support.   May God Bless you in abundance.   To God be the Glory!

Ja Ja’s Bill & Ann & little Elisha

Recent Visitors from United States and Canada

What a wonderful experience we had hosting a team of ten engineers along with a videographer for nine days.   Yes, it was a hectic time, but we enjoyed every minute they were with us.   They were a professional team put together through eMi (Engineering Ministries International) including Civil, Structural, Electrical, Landscape and Architectural, and Surveying Engineers.  

L to R. Philip (California), Daniel (Florida), Erica and Henry (Colorado), Jaimee (Brandon,MB), Pat (Kamloops,B.C.), Wes (Kansas), Kevin (California), Patrick (Kelowna,B.C.), Joyce (Vancouver, B.C.), Tyler (Videographer,California)

The first major job for some of the team was to survey the property.   We now have a proper topographic map of the property on which others from the team were able to locate exactly where future buildings will go including all ten family units.   The Landscape and Architectural Engineer, Erica, was able to give us a final sketch of what our 72 acres will look like with every building in place.  She also showed where the roads and the water lines can go.   Some nice designs for buildings were shown on a power point presentation at the final meeting with most of our department head representatives of EWCV present.  Here is a clip for you to watch.  It was put together by Wes who comes from Kansas:  

http://www.southvolutsia.com/uganda/uganda/Entries/2011/2/19_Trip_Video..html

The second clip was produced by Tyler who is a Videographer from California. 

http://vimeo.com/19824880

Our thanks go out to the team leader, Philip Greene, who put the team together and organized their time here with us.  One member of the team, Jaimee Schmidt (Civil Engineer), came to us from Brandon, MB.  She was able to spend a few days with us before the rest of the team arrived.  We have known Jaimee and her family from Dauphin as they belong to our home church, Parkside Gospel Church.  Jaimee is sponsoring two of our children and got to meet them in their homes in the village and again later when they returned from their holiday to rejoin their family units.  This was a unique experience for a visitor.  Engineer Kevin Nelson also got to visit the young boy he has taken on to sponsor and went to his home in the village to meet the boy’s family and then got to see him in school in another setting.   Kevin indeed thought this was a unique experience. Our thanks go out to all the team for coming to help us at EWCV.  We were responsible to provide for the teams’ transportation, accommodations, and feeding during their stay with us.   They each paid for their own airline travel.  

Christmas Feeding Program

Our thanks go out to those of you who made it possible through your donations to pay for the entire feeding program during the Christmas season.  1)   We were able to have the Christmas meal after church the Sunday before Christmas for the people from the community.   2) Then three days before Christmas, 190 school students from Lubumba community came and picked up gift bags of food items including dolls from Westwood Presbyterian Church in Winnipeg for each child.   This food enabled the community families to have several meals around Christmas Day.   3)  On Christmas Day we had a big meal for the 72 children of the three families 1, 2, and 3 along with the staff and their children.  4)  On December 28^th, the former guardians of the children of the three families came to pick up the children to take them home for five weeks for a holiday.  We provided a big meal for these people along with the children before they left.   We also had our Annual General Meeting for EWCV with these people and the staff.  

After everyone left us, the staff started their month’s holiday.  The children came back to the property on February 5^th and started back to school for the new school year on February 7^th.   We praise God for your generosity to make all this possible for the children.  We will try to get some pictures into the website of these events as soon as possible. 

Full Primary School-New High School Needed

Our school is now running a full nursery and primary school program with eight teachers and one Head Master at the new school at the property.  There are also two teachers in Masaka Town to teach Family #3 children (Nursery to P.4).   We have had to hire three teachers before school began as one former teacher is continuing studies at University, one is staying home due to pregnancy, and one is needed for the new class of Primary Seven students.  These P.7 students will be the first students from Beth Pipe Nursery and Primary School to write their National Primary Leaving Exams in November of this year.  We are now in need of preparing for these 27 students as to where they will attend school next year at Senior Secondary level.  It will be very expensive to send them away to a Boarding School. 

All of our teachers received a two day training the week before school started in February with trainers who came from the Christian Schools Association International.  We are a paying member of the Association and the teachers were trained to provide them with skills to be able to incorporate scripture from the Bible into the lesson planning.  When the students complete their primary schooling, then we wish for them to be able to continue in a Christian school atmosphere at the Secondary level.  We need to prepare to have a Senior Secondary School on our property.   We would like to build facilities for them to begin next February 2012 with Senior One level at “Eagles Wings High School”. 

We have the land to build a Secondary School and also know the exact location where the new High School can be built.   We also have architectural plans for this with each classroom costing about $7,500.   To be able to go ahead with these plans, we will need to have a new volunteer Christian Head Master/Mistress to run the new High School and volunteer Christian teachers who are trained to teach at this level.  If you know of anyone who might wish to come to Uganda to commit themselves to at least one school year, we would love to hear from you.   The administrator needs to have certification in administration with teaching experience to qualify. 

The school year consists of three terms each running three months.  Christmas Holidays include two months (December/January) off before the new school year begins in February each year.   We will be needing volunteer Christian teachers to teach science subjects beginning at the Senior One level

(Grade such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Math, and Home Economics plus arts subjects including English, History, Geography, CRE (Christian Religious Education), options include: Commerce, Accounts, Entrepreneurship, Technical Drawing, Office Practice, Agriculture, Computer Science, Fine Art, and other Languages.   We will also be needing laboratory equipment for the sciences if anyone wishes to provide.  We are already receiving books for the library.   This all seems like a mountain before us, but we believe that with God, anything is possible.   If we have to use our old temporary school structure built by Canadian Walter Dyck and his two oldest boys three years ago, then we will re-roof the old thatched roof building with iron sheets until the Lord provides for a new structure.  We will also need to put in a wooden floor in each classroom because the old dirt floor attracts too many jiggers when it is dry and dusty. 

Family #3 Housing

The 24 children of family #3 who live with us in Masaka Town in our compound have been living with us for a couple of years now waiting patiently for their housing to be built at the property.   They are anxious to join families 1 & 2 who also began by living here in town with us until their own housing was completed for them to move.   It is 25 miles from our gate here in town to the 72 acres of EWCV property.  When the team of 10 engineers came recently, they showed us where we can build the housing for family #3 and eventually all the remaining families up to family #10.   With each family consisting of 24 children plus any children of the House Parents, then we are looking at 240 lone orphaned children by the time we have constructed all 10 family units of housing. 

Our friends in Germany, Maria and Jenny, worked with the people in their church to run a Christmas Craft Sale two weeks before Christmas.   It was a huge success and everything was sold.  We truly appreciate the efforts these people put out for the benefit of our children.  Well Done!  The money raised by this sale was donated to EWCV with clear instructions that the money was to be put towards starting the construction of Family #3 housing.   We have decided that at least we will be able to begin building one hut for the children from the 5,000 EUR raised.   As the Lord provides, we will build further huts and buildings.   Each hut will cost about $6000 depending on the cost of construction materials, especially cement.  We are aiming at improving the quality of our buildings by using a ratio of one wheel barrow of cement to three wheel barrows of sand for the ground slab, support columns, and the ring beam.  The approximate cost for all eight buildings for Family #3 will be over $70,000.   Our prayer is that this project will be completed by Christmas 2011 and that the children of Family #3 will move in before Christmas Day as the other children of families 1 & 2 did in the past. 

Ugandan Elections  

For those of you interested in politics, the election of the President of Uganda plus MP’s was held last week on Friday, 18^th February, which was declared a National Public Holiday.  Then the election of some of the Local Councilors was held this week.   President Yoweri Museveni was re-elected President of Uganda for his fourth term with a 68% tally.  Our next door neighbor, Joseph Kalungi, was elected as the Local LC 5 Councilor for the Masaka District.  He will represent the President of Uganda in the Masaka District.  There were celebrations going on for the two days following the announcement of Joseph’s being elected.  Tomorrow we are going to attend the Thanksgiving Church Service and celebrations (speeches) being held at his home.  They will be using our front yard for parking space.   We also will be having children’s’ birthday celebrations later in the afternoon so it should prove to be an interesting day.   The government of Uganda pumped up the security throughout the country to the highest level ever.  Armed soldiers and police were to be seen everywhere.   The atmosphere was one of fear during this time because people didn’t want violence to break out as happened in other African countries recently.   People around the world were praying for Uganda to have peace and stability during these elections.   Yes, these prayers were answered. 

Water Crisis

They have been having a continual water crisis at the property during the past month at least because the new cistern developed a leak and the full tank had to be pumped out to make repairs.  Also, the water table had dropped so we weren’t always able to pump water to the upper tank using the solar pump.   The Lukaya Water Department didn’t have their water system working and the town of Lukaya was without water and we weren’t also receiving water from them.   The local pump at the Bore Hole broke down so the local communities around our property were without water.  Our cistern has been repaired and the pump from the well has been working.  However, we had to hire two trucks to haul 10,000 liters of water to our tanks on Thursday.  

The good news is that a family from California has donated money towards drilling a second well on our property near Family #2.   Our engineer friend, George Grinestaff, in Houston, Texas, is overseeing the future development of our water system and has contacted a driller who might come to drill well #2 in April, good Lord willing.  We are hoping that this will provide a more secure water supply during the dry seasons in the future. 

Contact Information for Canada and USA:

Mailing Address for Head Office for EWCV in Canada:  “Eagles Wings Children’s Village, c/o Pat Bates, #300-404 Desalaberry St., Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2L 2G3 Canada”.                                                             Email in Winnipeg, Canada:     pmbates@shaw.ca   or    f_humby@hotmail.com  

Mailing Address for checks to be sent in USA “earmarked” for Eagles Wings Children’s Village:         “Real Partners Uganda, Inc., 523 Lafayette Blvd., Brigantine, New Jersey, 08203  USA.”                         Be sure to provide directions to go to “Eagles Wings” for sponsorships and donations.                                           Email:  eeiko@comcast.net or jggris@comcast.net    if you have any questions regarding methods of payment available such as using VISA, PAYPAL, MASTERCARD, etc. 

***Information required by anyone from UK, or Europe, etc. wishing to make donations or sponsorship of children, please email us at:      bapeckham@gmail.com

Please Pray For:

1)   our Farm Manager, Anatoli Lutaaya, who lost his wife, Christine, aged 42 this past week.  She leaves behind their six children.   Pray for comfort for this family.                                                                           2)   the children and staff who are receiving treatment for malaria.   It has been rampant this past month.  A shipment of 350 mosquito nets are to be provided from Kurt Petersen of Vancouver, B.C. later this year, good Lord willing.                                                                                                                                 3)  Dr. Haris, wife Maria, and children Alexander, Christine, Constantine, and Evanthia as they prepare to come to Uganda to set up a medical clinic at EWCV site under Hellenic Ministries of Greece.  They have many issues to deal with before they can come to join us in Uganda from the USA.                                                                               4)  Ja Ja’s Bill & Ann as they pray for God’s direction as to whether they should travel to Germany and Greece in April to promote EWCV.                                                                                                                     5)  new volunteer high school teachers to come to teach at “Eagles Wings High School” for at least a one year commitment starting February 2012 at their own expense.  Senior Secondary starts at Grade 8.        6)  funding for classrooms for a new senior secondary school.

BACK IN UGANDA

After having been away from Uganda from July to October, we have now been back at our home in Uganda for a month.   There have been many challenges since returning, but with God in charge everything is possible.  Our arrival was marked by some wonderful celebrations by the staff and children.   It was quite overwhelming.

We need to be so thankful to people who provided for our International airline tickets as well as the flights within the USA.   Not only that, we were provided with a very fine car in Winnipeg to use for the entire time we were in the Prairies.  We put on so many miles driving in Manitoba as well as Saskatchewan.  Everywhere we went. God made provisions for accommodations which even included a fifth wheel camper unit for us to use during our stay at the Gilbert Plains camp grounds.   We send our appreciation to so many people who in one way or another provided for our every need.   Every Sunday we were able to share EWCV at churches and during the week with many contacts.  The local Exponent Newspaper included an update on EWCV for people in the Parkland Region. While in Moose Jaw, SK, we were able to attend the wedding of our nephew’s son plus enjoy the fellowship with family.   Every minute spent with family in Canada was so valuable to us.  Our camera provided many happy memories for us to bring back to Uganda, even fishing on the Red River with our daughter, Linda, and her husband, Ken.

UPDATE ON KIZZA

We had written in our last newsletter in September a write-up regarding our young paraplegic friend, Kizza, who had nine children living in his home in the village.  Kizza had spent some months in hospital here in Masaka before being sent to the hospital in Kampala for the treatment of bedsores.  Then he appealed to the doctors and our Social Worker, Allan, that he be released from hospital to return home to his children in the village.  His bed sores were not healing.   He was released from hospital and taken home.   He spent a week with his children before being transferred to the Kalungi Clinic where he died Wednesday morning, October 27^th.  We made all the arrangements for the funeral which was held the next day and he was buried next to his home.

We have made arrangements for his children to have two of their aunties live with them in their home to look after them.  Three friends have agreed to sponsor eight of the children and we have one girl, Pheona, left for sponsorship at $40 per month.  If you are interested, please let us know.   Kizza’s wife left him three years ago and he had the burden of looking after all these children but it was his eldest two boys, Dennis and Geoffrey who looked after everyone including the father.   Kizza died knowing that his children would be taken care of.   Our American friends, George and Michael, were able to visit him and pray with him a few days before he died.

We are going to have some repairs done to his house and will be providing bunk beds for all the children plus bedding and mosquito nets.   Medical care, clothing, food, and education will all be provided for all nine children.  We praise God for the sponsors who have agreed to take on eight of the children.   What a wonderful Christmas gift for them.  This is all a part of our Extension Program at EWCV to reach out to the community around us.   These children attend our school & children’s’ church services each Sunday.  They will each receive a Christmas Gift bag three days before Christmas along with the other village children who attend our school as day-scholars.

EDUCATION AT EWCV

A big thrill for us upon returning to Uganda was to find a very fine playground structure in place in front of Beth Pipe Nursery & Primary School.  It was a joy to witness the children playing all over the equipment.  Our thanks, once again, to “Kids Around the World” who made the donation and came to assemble the structure.

We have been able to receive around 99 sponsors for the nearly 180 students of the school.   This enables us to feed all the children two meals per day from the money coming in from sponsors, but we still need sponsorship for another 85 children.   Every child is fed in this program whether sponsored or not.   These children were chosen from the neediest of children from Lubumba Village.  We also provide medical testing and treatment for every sponsored child as well as shoes, socks, and uniforms.  Now they will all need new shoes and uniforms for the next school year starting in February 2011.    Please pray for more sponsors for the remainder of the children.

Right now the children are nearly finished writing their final exams for their school year which ends the first week in December.   Then they will have a two month break from school before starting the next school year beginning of February 2011.   The present Grade Six students will be candidates for writing the Ugandan Government’s Primary Seven (Grade 7) National Leaving Exams next November 2011.  Those exams will be written in English.  They will be the first students of Beth Pipe School who will write these important exams.  We are hoping to be able to provide facilities by 2012 to start a Senior One classroom which will require us to hire several senior secondary teachers.   Perhaps some of you would like to come to teach as volunteers in two years time at that level.   It would be equivalent to teaching at the Grade Eight level in Canada or the USA.   We will need to begin building a classroom each year until we can accommodate up to Senior Six or “A” Level schooling.  Our Primary School is licensed right now, but we are going to try to get the school registered by next school year in February 2011.

If you are sponsoring a child with EWCV, you should be receiving a report card as well as a copy of the hand written letter from your child through our secretary, Agnes Mawanda, before Christmas.   The children are now in the process of writing letters to their sponsors.   If you don’t receive these items, please email Agnes:   agnesnakato68@gmail.com

AGRICULTURE AT EWCV

Many of you have been enquiring about the progress of our agriculture department.   Our Farm Manager, Anatoli, and his Assistant, Ronald, have been busy trying to move forward with “Farming God’s Way”.   People who have visited their farm have been amazed by the excellent crops which are coming up using God’s Blanket (mulching) to conserve moisture.  They are also following faithfully the instructions given to them by the training team in Kampala with regards to preparing the land without plowing this small area, planting with specific measurements, and harvesting a bountiful crop (we are anticipating this). They have started their practice with a small area and will increase it each six months when the rainy season begins.   They will use less and less plowing.  This will likely become a model farm for visitors to see wonderful results, good Lord willing.

Ronald has been focusing his efforts in horticulture with the growing of tomatoes, cabbages, egg plants, pumpkins, lettuce, and spinach.  However, due to a lack of rain during this rainy season, many of the plants did not germinate properly.  The workers are developing a cistern on the edge of the hill which will collect rain water which comes across the property and channels towards a certain area.  When we have this cistern dug, we are hoping that we will be able to collect some good amount of water to be used for irrigation of the horticultural crops and also to provide for our cow.   December to March should be a dry season and then three more months of rainy season.

With the area which has been plowed, they planted maize corn and beans.   However, the yield will not be as good as the small area planted using God’s Blanket.  You can find “Farming God’s Way” on the internet, by the way.

We are also looking at the possibility of building a corral for six cows near the school so we can also include a digester tank to collect urine and manure to produce biogas for being piped to a new school kitchen where there will be special stoves for using biogas.   We still await funds to move ahead with this project which includes purchasing five more cows and building the kitchen/storage room.

VOLUNTEERS

We were blessed to have five volunteers from the USA with us recently.   They stayed at our hospitality centre having Rev. Christopher and Harriet as hosts.   Two came from Houston, Texas, two from Alaska, and one from Hawaii.   The three ladies, Rachael, Aspen, and Daneille, ran a Vacation Bible School program with our children in town and also at the property.   The children enjoyed this program immensely.   The two men, George Grinestaff from Houston, and Dr. Michael Kaminski from Alaska, worked at the property each day testing for water.   Michael is a physicist who developed a method of detecting water sources underground.   George is an Engineer with a Norwegian Oil Company in Texas.   He is also a specialist in water wells along with water treatment and collection.   They managed to find another better source of water nearby the Family #2 site on the EWCV property.  Now we just need to wait for funding somehow to drill this second well.   We have had a water crisis so often as the present well dried up during the dry season.  The town’s water line has also been very unreliable with their own problems.

The Chairman of the Canadian Board of EWCV, Dale Myhre, along with his wife, Sharon, and their ten year old boy, Aaron, arrived at Entebbe Airport to begin a stay of one month in Uganda.   They were picked up and driven to the Namirembe Guest House in Kampala for an overnight stay.  The next morning they were brought  to our home in Masaka.   We were waiting to greet them.  They are staying at the hospitality centre with Rev. Christopher and Harriet.

Dale will be able to have an overview of the progress of EWCV to give feedback to the Canadian Board when they return to Canada along with feedback for some of our many sponsors.  Our two farm managers have been meeting with Dale as his specialty is in agriculture.   This week the two of them attended a workshop in Kampala with Dale on “Farming God’s Way”.   Unfortunately, both Dale and Sharon have had colds which have required that they get some extra rest. Sharon has developed malaria. She went to the doctor’s for testing and treatment so is now on the mend.  Please pray for their health.   On Tuesday they received a warm welcoming by the school children and staff with a special four hour program of singing, dancing, etc.  They were able to spend some time meeting their sponsored child.

In February 2011 we are expecting a team of Engineers (EMI) to come from Canada/USA to help us with planning our way forward with our project of EWCV.   Included in the team will be Jaimee Schmidt of Brandon, MB., who is a Civil Engineer sponsoring two of our children.  Jaimee originally grew up in the Dauphin area of MB and attended our home church, Parkside Gospel Church.  We are hoping that Jaimee will stay for some time after her team departs in February.

DR. HARIS AND MARIA MACRIS AND FAMILY UPDATE

We have also had people asking us how things are progressing for Dr. Haris and Maria Macris and their four children to come to Uganda.   They left Toronto to drive back to Dearborn, Michigan, where they sold their house recently.  They have been making new contacts in Toronto to raise their support to come to Uganda.  Our friend, Sophia Syrros, of Toronto has been instrumental in them meeting new people who are also friends of EWCV.  In Michigan they will meet with friends once again to share their vision.  The Macris family will return to Chicago to prepare for another trip which will take them to Boston, MA and then south to Florida to continue with their deputation.  We continue to pray for their safety as they travel.   Perhaps they will join us in Uganda somewhere around April 2011.  We were able to meet with them in Winnipeg as they were driving back to their home after touring the northern US and southwestern Canada.   They were able to meet with some of the Canadian Board Members at the home of Harry and Francie Humby where they enjoyed some wonderful hospitality.  This was our first time to meet with Maria and their four children.

Christmas Feeding Program

With the weather here in Uganda being the same all year long despite the changing rainy/dry seasons every three months, there is no hint of Christmas being around the corner. There has not been any hint of snow.  Not likely here at the equator, eh?    However, we know that the Christmas programs will catch up to us quickly.   We have already had some nice donations to nearly cover the Christmas Feeding Program for the community children as well as for our own children of Families 1, 2, & 3 and church members.  For those of you who made donations to this program, we extend our hearty thanks for your generosity.  Others have made donations towards a new school kitchen.   These are great Christmas gifts for the children of EWCV.   Most of the children of Families 1, 2, and 3 will likely be going for a visit with their former guardians from the end of December to the beginning of February when the new school year begins.   We will have all these children with us during Christmas.  Community children will receive their Christmas Gift Bags three days before Christmas to take home so their family will have some food for Christmas.  We send our Christmas greetings to you and yours from all the staff and children of EWCV along with our thanks for your continued support and prayers.

***WE WELCOME ANY NEW CALENDARS FOR 2011 WITH PICTURES OF ANIMALS AND SCENERY OF CANADA, ETC.   (SEE UGANDAN MAILING ADDRESS BELOW).

Condolences to the families of:

1)   The Rt. Rev. Patrick Lee, former Bishop of Rupertsland in southern Manitoba, Canada, who

passed away in Perth, Ontario, September 26^th.

2)   Thomas Cosmades who died in Germany September 20^th.

3)   Gladys Stoney who died November 11^th in Stonewall, MB.

4)   Gwen Demerais who died October 29^th in Dauphin, MB.

5)   Nettie Schulz, died November 5^th in Killarney, MB (Peter Schulz’s mom).

6)   Pat Agar. Died November 2010, Brandon, Service Monday, November 22 in Brandon, burial in Gilbert Plains

Tuesday November 23,

Mailing Address for cheques to be sent to EWCV in Canada:

Eagles Wings Children’s Village

c/o Pat Bates

#300-404 Desalaberry St.

Winnipeg, Manitoba

R2L 2G3 Canada

Email in Winnipeg, Canada:  pmbates@shaw.ca Ask about the use of MASTER CARD OR VISA

Mailing Address for cheques to be sent in USA “earmarked” for EWCV:

Real Partners Uganda, Inc.

523 Lafayette Blvd.

Brigantine, New Jersey

08203  USA

Email in USA: realpartnersuganda@gmail.com Ask about the use of VISA, MASTER CARD or PAYPAL

Ugandan Contact Address for EWCV:

Eagles Wings Children’s Village

Box 842  Masaka, Uganda

East Africa

Email: bapeckham@gmail.com Website for EWCV:    www.eagleswingschildrensvillage.com In Europe it is possible to use VISA or MASTER CARD to have automatic withdrawals made through the Winnipeg office in Canada each month or whenever you wish.  Just email that office.  In the UK, donations can be forwarded to us through Love in Action in Essex, England.   Please enquire from Bill & Ann in Uganda or our new accountant, Samuel Kanaye:   kanayesamuel@gmail.com about the UK transfers.