JUNE 2010 NEWSLETTER FOR EAGLES WINGS CHILDREN’S VILLAGE UGANDA

Elisha’s Success Story

Elisha Kayanja came into our lives in the middle of January 2010.   He was brought to our church at the property by Mary, a lady who the father had entrusted the boy into her care with the promise that he would provide money for feeding.   However, the father, Jimmy, was unable to find work digging in the gardens for some little money.   When Mary brought Elisha up for prayers during the church service, we had no idea of the condition of the child wrapped up looking like a little baby.  After the service, we were introduced to Mary and little Elisha.   We thought by his appearance that he was a baby of about nine months.   When we learned about his condition, we were immediately concerned and knew that the only thing to save the baby was to take him immediately to the clinic in Lukaya.  

Elisha was admitted by the doctor into Mukwano Clinic for one week with Mary as the care giver.   We were told that the boy had been suffering from Kwashiorkor and Marasmus which are diseases of malnutrition.   The hair was sparse and had turned a bronze color.   He had developed an open wound on his foot which was open flesh down to the bone.   He could hardly sit up and could not stand.   His eyes had a glazed look.   His little body was skin and bone just like the pictures we had seen in past years of starving children in Africa.   The doctors asked that we provide high protein food for the baby’s feeding when he was admitted.   He was also suffering from Malaria and Typhoid.    After one week of proper medication, feeding, and rest for Elisha, we went back to visit him at the clinic after church the following Sunday.   We were told by the doctor that he would be discharged that day.   Wow, what to do?  Mary had to leave to go back to her own children in a distant village and there was no place to take Elisha.   Ann and I looked at each other.  There was no choice.   He had to come home with us to Masaka. 

We had no bed or facilities for bringing him into our home.   However, we had him sleep between us for some few weeks on our own bed so we could monitor him properly.   Then we purchased a play pen where he could sleep at the other end of our large bedroom.   His feeding continued with high protein soy flour mixed with silver fish flour and milk each morning.  He was given three regular meals per day along with snacks of fresh fruit and lots of sleep.   The staff showered Elisha with many hugs and love.  Within weeks, his appearance began changing as he gained weight and height.   He was able to sit up himself and eventually stand and then walk more recently May 11th.   We found out that he had a full set of baby teeth and was indeed a year and a half old when he came to us, not nine months old.   He just turned two years old in May.   He is now developing many of his skills like a normal two year old child and still talks baby talk.  He knows some words in English and also in the Luganda language.   We see growth with his skills each day.   He now likes to get into cupboards to mess everything up.   He is now feeding himself with a spoon.   He has become a huge blessing to our home at EWCV and perhaps will become the first child of Family #4 in the future.  

The father, Jimmy, has come to church several times to show his appreciation for what has been done for his son.   He knows that there is no way he could provide for his son at home.   The mother had left him and is nowhere to be found.  Through God’s intervention and miracle, this little boy now has hope for his life ahead.    People who have known him since he first came to us remain amazed by Elisha’s improvement.   We give God the praise and the glory for all improvements.  Perhaps Elisha will be chosen to be a future president of Uganda.    God holds his future.   Each morning Elisha is joined by Baby Grace (9 months) whose mother Stella brings her each morning to spend the full day in our home while Stella takes her schooling.  Our home is now truly a baby house!   A visitor has to tread carefully not to trip over small toys scattered throughout the house.  I’m sure that Abraham and Sarah must have had their fun during the first years of raising their son Isaac in their old age. 

Trip to Greece and Egypt

This past April Ann and I flew to Greece for three weeks where we attended the annual Family Conference held by Hellenic Ministries at their seaside property of Skorponaria.   It was a wonderful for us to be able to reunite with friends with whom we had worked at the HM office during our two years in Athens.   It also gave us an opportunity to share our work and news about EWCV here in Uganda.  

During our stay, we were able to meet with the President Johnathan Macris of HM and his brother, Dr. Haris Macris who had flown from the US to join us for meetings and to attend the conference as well.  During the conference Johnathan announced that HM would undertake to commit themselves to building a medical clinic to provide service for the children and staff of EWCV and the nearby community people of Lubumba.   This direction of this project will be overseen by Dr. Haris Macris who will work under HM as a medical missionary as they construct the clinic, provide equipment and staff, and run the clinic.   This will be a Hellenic Ministries Clinic.  Ann and I are still considered to be members of HM from the time we spent two years as volunteers.   I will offer assistance in any area of advise I might be able to give as we work together as partners.

There has been increasing need for a medical clinic during these past couple of years as our responsibilities to the children and staff of EWCV has grown and continue to grow to ten families of 24 children each in the future.   Malaria, typhoid, flue, and coughs continue to be a problem for so many.   Most often it has been difficult to find transportation to take children to the clinics which are each about four miles away.   It is often not possible at night and also is so dangerous. 

Dr. Haris Macris and his wife, Maria, and their four children will be coming to join us at EWCV in the future and will live in Soweto, Masaka, for the start near our head office of EWCV.   We pray for them as they prepare for all the things that need to be taken care of before they come this way long term.

Our friend, Joan Vautour, drove us to central Greece to Larissa where Pastor George and his wife, Despina, hosted us at their church where we were able to share EWCV with members of their congregation at a mid-week Bible Study.   We will be having a team from that church arrive here to volunteer with EWCV on July 3^rd.    This will be the third trip here for some of that team.   Towards the end of October of this year we are expecting a second team to come from Greece to volunteer with EWCV.  In Athens we were able to offer two EWCV presentations at St. Andrew’s International Church. 

On our way home to Uganda we made a three day stopover in Cairo, Egypt, where we were able to spend time with a fellow member of Hellenic Ministries, John Daniel.   We hadn’t seen John for some few years and we now have greater appreciation and understanding of the work he is doing in Cairo as well as in some surrounding cities.  One afternoon we joined the many other tourists at the famous Giza Pyramids where I was able to have a ride on a camel nearby the pyramids.   Cairo is an amazing city of over 22 million people in this one city alone.   When we flew into the airport, we could see below how abrupt the Sahara Desert ends and the city begins.    All life is dependent upon the Nile River. The city never sleeps.   Traffic flows all night long.

New Primary School at EWCV Property

The day after Ann and I returned from our trip, we joined the children at the property and proceeded with the move from the old school to the new school with everyone carrying desks, books, cabinets and chairs to their new classrooms.   What a joy!   We just wish that everyone who has shared and provided funds for the school to be built could have been with us that day especially when we gave thanks to God in our first assembly in the new school.   It was only through the generosity of many, young and old, who gave so we could provide this very fine “Beth Pipe Nursery and Primary School”  for the primary students from Nursery level to Primary Six.   Next year there will be the full range to Primary Seven.   I do hope that those of you who dug into your pockets to help build our school realize the wonderful gift you have provided for many children of EWCV now and into the future.   You have walked with us to see us through this construction phase and can now take pride in this achievement.    We praise God for your love shown to EWCV.  The children pray each day for their sponsors and donors.  

Now that we have come this far, some of you might wish to check our “Current Needs” link on our website:  www.eagleswingschildrensvillage.com   to see how you can help provide items like more textbooks for the children.  

Right now we are completing the wiring for the Solar System of the school and hope to have it done by the end of this week.   Then we are praying that GTZ German Organization will install the batteries, solar panels, and inverter.   This will enable us to run computers in the offices as well as have a computer lab for the students when the good Lord provides.

We now have a very fine library, one of the finest in the Masaka District, I believe. 

We have two young ladies, Harriet and Annet, who were provided vocational training by EWCV for tailoring are now employed to make students’ uniforms, casual wear, and do repairs for children’s’ clothing.    They are working presently in the school library room.   These two ladies are also success stories for our staff as they now have hope in their lives through the training they have received and the jobs they now maintain.  They are now busy making African Dolls which are a challenge to make.  

Volunteers

Two young ladies from Germany joined us at EWCV at the beginning of May.   Jenny Vogt and Maria Dillmann have just completed their senior schooling in Germany and have decided to use their four months break to volunteer at their own expense with EWCV children.   What a blessing they are to the staff and children with the variety of things they do.   They have come to us with a servant’s heart willing to take on anything asked of them.   The children love them dearly and we are thankful that they will be here until the end of August.   They often look after our two babies in our home, Elisha and little Grace.  Both Maria and Jenny are now recovering from a mild case of malaria

On July 3^rd we will be having three ladies arriving from Larissa, Greece to spend a short time with us.    We look forward to having them work with the children.   In October we are expecting a team from the USA from various states to be with us for at least a week and then another team arrive later in October from Greece, good Lord willing.  Ladies are informed about our dress code of wearing skirts and/or dresses only during their visits to show respect to the Uganda ladies who mostly do not wear pants/slacks. 

Prayers Needed

1)      Bishop Patrick Lee of Perth, Ontario, in hospital in Perth after having radiation treatment in an Ottawa hospital.   Also, for their daughter, Sharon, who has been troubled with cancer.   Please pray for Patrick’s wife, Mary Lee and their whole family during this time.

2)      For sister, Vicki McTaggart, who is on the mend after falling and breaking her collar bone, elbow, and two ribs.   Please pray for speedy healing.  

3)      For Sophia Syrros in Toronto having many stresses to deal with moving and building problems.  

4)      For Peter Kizza, a Ugandan Board member of EWCV who has just found out that he has diabetes and is recovering also from Malaria.

5)      For Kizza, 32 year old patient of ours from Lubumba community nearby EWCV property, who was badly beaten four years ago and left as a paraplegic.   His wife then left him with seven biological children and three other children to look after.  He has no income.  He is now in hospital in Kampala under our care of EWCV Extension program.   We need to pray that from the recent x-rays that he will be able to have some of the nerves reconnected somehow in his spine and his spinal column repaired.  We are supporting all of his children in our school program.   Please pray for sponsorship for his seven children.

6)      Please pray for Monica Grinestaff of Houston, Texas, as she is expecting their tenth child August 26^th.   Pray for strength for Monica especially after they recently moved their whole family from Alaska to Texas.    However, God is taking care of them through the wonderful friends in their new church, their new neighbors, and their Real Estate Agent.    Pray also for strength and good health for Katie Swithenbank who is also due for their third child in August.  

7)      Please pray for Ann and I as we prepare to leave next month to travel to the USA as well as to Canada from July 20^th to October 5^th when we will return to Uganda.  We will send our itinerary out to everyone as soon as we have it completed for anyone who wishes to contact us for when we will be in their area. 

Needs

1)     If anyone has a spare vehicle which we could use during our travels in Manitoba and Saskatchewan from August 10^th to October 6^th, would you please let us know ASAP as we are trying to complete our plans for our visits to churches, friends, and relatives?   We will begin our visit to the Prairies in Winnipeg. 

2)     We will also be needing accommodations when we visit the Parkland area of Dauphin/Gilbert Plains from around the end of August 31^st to the 20^th September.   If anyone has an empty house/apartment/trailer which they wouldn’t mind us using, that would be great.   Then we wouldn’t be a burden on anyone.  

Congratulations

1)     To our daughter, Linda Vandenakker, who just completed her 13 mile marathon run in Winnipeg, MB, on Sunday, June 20^th arriving at the finishing line at the University of Manitoba in 2 hours and 30 minutes.   To granddaughter, Jennifer for her performance at her recent dance concert with proceeds being sent to EWCV.

2)     To Harley Dyck who has graduated from Grade 12 in Manitoba, for his awards at the music festival and exams, and for his recent Baptism at church. 

3)     To Mrs. Lorna Best, of Oak Bay Lodge in Victoria, B.C. who will celebrate her 107^th birthday on July 4^th, 2010.   She has the distinction of being our eldest donor of EWCV.

      We enjoyed our visit with her last summer so much.

Triumph is just “umph” added to try.

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”   Galations 6:9

“Springtime is God’s way of smiling.”

From the reports which we receive from back home in Manitoba, Canada, we understand that in many areas the snow has melted, and the Red River is flowing quickly and bulging with ice coming from North Dacota in the USA.   People are thinking about planting seeds for flowers and vegetables.   It is an exciting time of the year when we can reflect that “The whole earth is full of His glory.”  (Isaiah 6:3).

Here in Uganda we do not think about the seasonal changes like those of you back in Canada, but we are now into the wet season of March, April, and May when people have been busy planting their seeds.  By now most of the seeding has been done.   Then the weeds come quickly due to our ideal growing conditions.   It most often rains in the morning hours and then is sunny during the afternoons.   You can almost see the plants grow in front of you!   We have been blessed to have our plowing of six acres done in time when people from Lubumba Village as well as many of the older students from our school came to assist with the planting.   Two acres were planted with only beans, then the other four acres were intercropped with maize and beans.  If we later have an abundant harvest, it will help cutting down the higher food costs with feeding all the children.   Villagers will volunteer to help us again later when weeding needs to be done.

Completion of New School and ECOSAN Toilet

The new Beth Pipe Nursery and Primary School has now been completed with plastering inside and out and the ECOSAN  toilet was also completed this week.   What a joy to know that we have reached this far!   We can praise God for every blessing He has provided for this project.   Preparations of the school compound are now underway and we will prepare for the move of the students, teachers, and their furniture into the new school towards the end of this month.  They will have one week in the new school before semester break for two weeks.   Then they will return to the new school for the second semester.

We still need to have the wiring of the school completed for Solar Power, painting to be done inside and out, and a kitchen built with energy efficient stoves, but that will all be done as the Lord provides.   We are even considering having a coral built near the school having three cows to provide bio-gas for the kitchen instead of continuing to burn wood in the cooking stoves.

Three cabinets have been built by Paul Sekonjako, one of our students, for the library books which were sent by Blumenort Mennonite Church in Rosetown, Manitoba whom we thank once again.  Then we will have some of our volunteers who are coming later this month sort out the books to go into the three cabinets if they are willing.   Paul is going to give the final varnish tomorrow for the last cabinet.  The teachers should be able to use these wonderful books when they return from their two week break.

It is at this time we thank all of you who have contributed towards the building of the new school.  We also thank the International Rotary Club in conjunction with the Cowichan Rotary of B.C., Canada and the Masaka Rotary Club here in Uganda.  We received the good news earlier this week that the Ministry of Water and Environment of Uganda will be providing for us to have another ECOSAN toilet built for the school for the girls at the opposite end of the school.   The present toilet will be shared, one side for the boys and the other side for the girls until next month when the new toilet will be built.

Water Project

Some of you will be interested to know that our solar pump provided from George Grinestaff and his church in Soldotno, Alaska, has been providing some good service along with the solar panel which we installed beside the well.   The water is being pumped uphill to the ten thousand liter tank near the new school.   Now that the plastering of the school and toilet has been completed, we will be able to fill the tank for use whenever needed.   During construction, so much water was being sucked out by the workers that the tank was most often nearly dry.  Our maintenance man, Michael, is now digging two trenches from the main water pipe to be able to divert water when needed to Families 1 and 2 tanks.  They have been having so many times when the town water pumps weren’t working and water wasn’t coming to our property at Lubumba.   Soon we shall be independent of the town water system with our own system.   We are so thankful for your guidance, George, in working all these things out.  The water purification kits have been a blessing also for our children and staff.

Peckham House

We are thrilled to see pictures of the inside of our old house in Gilbert Plains which has been renovated by Richard and Tammy Kowalski.   Our daughter and her family had a one night stay recently and send us some pictures.   Wow!   Great job, Richard and Tammy!    This newly renovated guest house now owned by Richard and Tammy is now being used by people making bookings.  You can contact Richard and Tammy to make bookings by emailing them at:   Kowalski@nwconx.net and/or phoning them at 204-548-4353.   The rates for three bedrooms are:  Queensize Bed at $60, Double $55. and Single $50.  A fourth bedroom is available if you bring your own air mattress.   You are able to make your own coffee and tea.   No pets, no smoking.  You can make inquiries regarding extended stays for special rates.  Central Air is available during summer months along with cable T.V.  A beautiful 18 hole Golf Course is available nearby and is noted as one of the finest designed courses in Manitoba.   There are a variety of fresh water lakes for picnicking, swimming, or fishing nearby.   Gilbert Plains is located in the Parkland Region of Manitoba between the Riding Mountain National Park and the Duck Mountain Provincial Park.  The house has much history attached to it having been built in 1904.   The Peckham family owned and occupied it from June 1946 to 2009.   I understand that many bookings are already being made for this coming summer for families to stay in it when attending weddings, etc.  It is also close to Assessippi Park for downhill skiing during the winter months and there are also many cross country ski trails and skidoo trails nearby for winter recreation.

Trip to Greece and Egypt

Ann and I will be leaving Masaka tomorrow afternoon to drive to Entebbe to fly to Athens, Greece, Sunday morning at 4:30 am.   We can’t praise God enough for providing us with the tickets through our friend, Sophia, in Toronto.   We were invited to attend the Family Conference of Hellenic Ministries of Athens, Greece this coming week out at their seaside property at Porto Astro along with all their staff, many of whom we worked with for two years during our volunteering with their mission before coming to Uganda in 2002.   We will be staying with our friends, Joe and Joan Vautour, in Athens before and after the conference.  On our way back to Uganda on April 17^th, we will be stopping in Cairo, Egypt for three days to visit with our friend, John Daniel, to see how he is doing with his ministry in Cairo.   We will arrive back in Uganda on April 21^st and back to Masaka on the 22^nd.

Future Projects for EWCV

For those of you who have asked us about our needs at this time, please feel free to contact us if you wish further information.   Our website shows some of the 90 students who we are still looking for sponsorship at $40 per month on the student sponsorship link.   We praise God for the nearly 90 students already sponsored from the day students from the surrounding villages who attend our primary school each day.  We are half way with this sponsorship program.   Our Student Sponsor Relations Supervisor, Edith Namara, is in charge of assisting these 180 students.   It has been most challenging for her.   With our staff nearing 40, we now have 24 staff salaries sponsored each month.  Others are still up on the website waiting for sponsorship.

Some of the students who are not sponsored become very sick and need medical attention.  We told Edith to take them to our family doctor, Dr. Jjun Ju, because they need special treatment which they cannot afford.  Their illnesses became serious without immediate treatment.  A couple of the students suffer from sickle cell disease and others from HIV/AIDS, malaria, and often from a lack of food in the home.  I tell Edith to arrange transport and medical testing/treatment for them trusting that God will provide for the expenses even though they aren’t sponsored.  This is one of the reasons that having a medical clinic on our site will be a blessing when God provides.  One of our boys, Ibrahim, in Family #3 needs medical testing in Kampala which will cost us over $500 CAD just for the testing.   Then there are the added costs of providing transport along with the care giver who has to travel with him plus accommodations and meals plus treatment.

Our Thanks

Our thanks go out to those of you who have continued support the children of EWCV with your prayers, financial sponsorship or donations, and letters/cards.   What a blessing you have been to us.   Like we have said so many times before, without your walking beside us with this project, we couldn’t do it alone.   This is God’s project and He keeps providing in miraculous ways we couldn’t even imagine.  Thanks to the volunteers who have come with gifts and energy to do various types of programs with the children.  Just your being here has shown great love to the children.   As I type this newsletter, I can hear the children of Family #3 singing and practicing for Easter Sunday’s program when they join the other children of families 1 and 2 at the property for the service led by Rev. Christopher followed by a meal afterwards.   The plays/acting by the children will be the sermon.   When I hear their singing or spend time with them pushing some of them on the new swings hanging from the tree outside, or just sit with them hearing them read a new book, then I know why we are here serving God with His children in Uganda.  The hope that these children have is the same hope that we have been given by the message of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ after His death for our sins.  The promise of Salvation is the free gift of God’s grace to each of us who accepts it willingly or denies it.  What a gift!

Happy Easter!

“Have a happy Easter,

Fill your heart with song, Delight in springtime’s beauty,

And God bless you all day long!”

From the children and staff at EWCV Uganda

THE SUCCESS STORY OF SUSAN NALULE submitted by Social Worker, Allan Kisakye, EWCV

A girl who spices up Eagles Wings’ official functions the most through her wonderful voice and creative dancing is none other than Susan Nalule. Susan is a thirteen year old, cheerful, and creative girl who wears a smile always on her face. She is friendly, generous and diligent at work. Susan is a very determined, optimistic girl and she has a positive attitude.  At school, she is an influential leader, serving as a prefect for Music, Dance and Drama. Her dream is to become a Midwife. In her free time Susan enjoys making crafts, playing netball, and singing gospel music.

However, Susan lost both her parents four years ago due to HIV/Aids of which she was also found to be infected. In February 2009 when she was enrolled in Beth Pipe Nursery and Primary School, Susan’s health was greatly deteriorating due to the fact that her C.D 4 blood count was below 100.  She was extremely thin with many sores on her body.  She was extremely stigmatized.

Susan was not getting the treatment she deserved because she had no money for transport to the hospital. She had lost hope for living, but her teachers committed themselves to love, care and counsel her.  She was subjected to a monthly food program of which she has quickly responded by putting on 12kg weight within an eight months period.   She was also able to get her Anti-Retroviral Drugs (ARV’s) which she so desperately needs to take regularly every day.   Susan is a delightful girl whom everyone is pleased with.  Our thanks to Calif Berkley of Ottawa who is sponsoring Susan financially, prayerfully, and through encouragement.   “Not to us, not to us, but to God be the Glory, Praise and Honor”.

Two New Arrivals at EWCV

We are presently looking after a two year old boy, Elisha, who looks like a nine month old child because of malnutrition.   He sleeps between Ann and me at night, but we are having him sleep in the little playpen/crib which we purchased for him.   When he was brought to us to our church at the property and we saw his condition, our hearts went out to him as we found it hard to believe that anyone could let him starve like this.   We had him admitted to the clinic for one week for proper treatment which included proper feeding of high protein foods and vitamins to begin building up his little body.  Then his care giver had to go back to looking after her own children.   Elisha needed a place to stay to receive proper care.   We had no choice but to take him into our home.  When his temperature went up to 40 degrees celcius, we took him to our doctor.   He had malaria and typhoid.   He also has kwoshikor and marasmis, two diseases common in the tropics wherever malnutrition is present.  Today Elisha is doing much better.   When we feed him he will eat and eat and eat like you wouldn’t believe.   He had a huge open wound on the top of his little foot which reached deep to the bone.   With proper feeding and anti-biotic salve placed on the wound with clean bandages, this wound is healing nicely.   Please pray for little Elisha as he adjusts.   Ann is a marvelous nurse and I am so proud of the love and care she is showing this little guy.  We didn’t plan to personally be looking after a child so small at this stage, but I believe that God put Elisha into our path to love and care for.  For how long, we aren’t sure.   We are truly being blessed.   Elisha is now smiling much of the time as he feels more security and loved.   He has a winner’s smile.

Another newcomer for Family #3 is four year old Moses Kukiriza.     He is the younger brother to Dan and Caleb in Family #3 as well as brother to Stella Kisakye.   We now have all four children from the one family together out of five children after their both parents died of HIV/AIDS.  The mother died four years ago when Moses was born and the father died two years ago.   The children arrived back from visiting their auntie’s home north of Kampala with their brother Moses where they spent five weeks of holidays.   The auntie couldn’t look after Moses any longer and asked if we would bring him to live at EWCV with his siblings.   Our volunteer, Belinda Burnett from Toronto, Canada, has chosen to sponsor Moses.   He has begun his classes here at Nursery level.   We are also looking after a second baby, four months old, that belonging to  Stella Kisakye.  Little Grace Deborah is left with us each morning when Stella heads for the Senior Secondary School where she is taking Senior Two level, equivalent to Grade Nine in Canada.  The father, Sam, comes early each morning to take over with the baby.   We also have the help from our office staff when things get hectic and we have two babies crying at the same time.  These little ones are getting lots of TLC.  Stella is rooming at our friend’s housing unit nearby us where there are other young teenage moms with babies.   We appreciate this help from our friends from the UK, Alan and Beryl Went, for them allowing us to have Stella stay there.

Back to School

Most of the children in Uganda began their classes in their schools on February 1^st, but we at EWCV started our classes on February 8^th.    The children in the three families of EWCV returned from spending their five weeks of holidays with their former guardians on February 6^th, two days before school.  The staff had all returned from their holidays on the 4^th February.  Groceries were purchased by the House Parents for beginning the feeding of the children upon their return.   The teachers of Beth Pipe Nursery and Primary School spent the week, prior to students returning, in meetings as well as planning for the return of the students.  This is the beginning of the new school year.   We have a new teacher, Dennis, who is teaching Primary Five and we added one new Primary Six class.   In 2011 we will add another class of Primary Seven students giving us the complete range of a Primary School ranging from Nursery of Baby Class and Top Class to Primary Seven.

Please pray for the licensing of our school as the application was turned down over a year ago due to the fact that our roofing is made of grass thatch.  Now we have the new school with proper iron sheets on the roof and our application binders were accepted by the Ministry of Education as we had everything required in them.  We now have to wait until the Commissioners review our files for approval.

We delayed opening our school one week to give us extra time to complete the plastering of all the rooms.  This work has been done, but we can’t move in until we have our new ECOSAN Toilet facilities completed and ready for use by the students and staff.   We are very grateful to the efforts of the Rotary Club of Mill Bay (Cowichan), B.C. in Canada who have partnered with the Masaka Rotary Club here in Masaka, Uganda to apply through the International Rotary Club for funding this important project.   Due to delays, the work on the toilet has begun today and will likely take three weeks to complete.  In the meantime, the staff and students are using the older temporary structure as well as the dining hut of family #1 for the nursery class.   The Rotary Club has also assisted our schools with funding for other items as well.  This makes such a big difference in our budgeting.   Perhaps in a month or two we will be able to begin construction on the kitchen for the new school with two energy efficient stoves.  We need to complete the plastering of the outside of the new school first.

Our Canadian volunteer, Belinda, reported the other day that when she visited the classes which were underway at the temporary school, a cow wandered into the Primary Six classroom from outside.   She said that it was perfect timing as the class was studying agriculture and had a picture of a cow on the blackboard for discussing the proper care of cows.  It was an experience she won’t soon forget.    We were sorry that our other visitor, Dr. Haris Macris, from the USA left us a few days before for Tanzania as he would have certainly enjoyed seeing the cow in the classroom.    Sorry you missed this, Haris!!!   However, thanks for your visit and spending time with us at EWCV.   We appreciated your encouragement so much as things can become overwhelming at times.  With God in charge, everything is possible.  We also appreciated your phone call, Haris, from Tanzania letting us know that you are okay.   Belinda left us yesterday and will be missed by the children and staff.  She also was an encourager with great flexibility for the many things she was faced with.

The congregation of Blumenort Mennonite Church along with Walter and Marilyn Dyck will be happy to know that the 68 boxes of books which were shipped to us from Manitoba, Canada are being transferred finally to the new library of the new school at the property.  Paul Ssekinjako said that he is ready to begin building the cabinets with shelving for the books.   We will be having three cabinets made whereby the books will be sorted out according to readability levels.   What a treasure this will be along with new books which were sent from Canada thanks to Lynda Norton in B.C. and Pat Parish in Winnipeg for their contributions sent through the mail.   Our children are very privileged and blessed to receive such wonderful gifts.   Our new library will also serve as a computer room with solar computers as God provides.

Needless to say, these past few months have been the most hectic since we began this project with many children coming and going from schools and universities plus the various projects which are underway or getting started.  However, God has seen us through everything and to him be the glory.

Agriculture at EWCV

Our work in agriculture continues under the direction of our Farm Manager and the Assistant Farm Manager.   They have completed the harvesting of beans with the help of people from Lubumba Community along with some of the children.  There was a good harvest.   They have now started the harvesting of maize corn with the promise of a fine harvest before us.   Once again the children and others from the Community will help with the harvest.   The produce helps us to keep prices down, but we are still not self-sufficient.   This will take some time.   It is our goal to have the families and farming in general become self-sustaining in the food department.   We now have one cow which produces some milk for the families to mix with their porridge each day.   We are in the process of expanding the corral and shelter for up to six cows in the future.   We are also learning about the use of bio-gas from the manure of the cows to provide gas for cooking purposes in the kitchens of the families.  We are into the dry season by which we need to hire a tractor to come and plow six acres for the next planting season.    Our farm managers have also developed a horticultural area where they are now growing tomatoes, water melons, and egg plants to feed the children.   We still also need to develop a poultry project sometime in the future after the school project has been completed.   We can only do so much as the Lord provides.   He knows our every need.

Our thanks and appreciation go out to everyone who has provided donations towards these various projects, praying for us, writing letters and sending cards, etc. to the children, for sponsoring children and staff, and for your encouragement.    We apologize once again for the delay in getting out this newsletter with updates.  Thank you for bearing with us.  We also send out thanks for the volunteers who have come to be with us and for the work they have done while here.  You all have been most encouraging.   Thanks for the calendars received from Canada and the UK.    We hope you received the sets of pictures we sent out earlier of the Christmas celebrations.  If you did not receive them, please email us and let us know.

Prayer Requests:

1)  For our Brother-In-Law, Lloyd Bassett, for strength and healing as he undergoes chemo treatment for bladder cancer over the next six weeks.

2)     For our new children, Elisha Kyanja and Moses Kukiriza, as they adjust in their new homes.   We are not sure if Elisha will be with us permanently.

3)     For the completion of the ECOSAN project and the completion of the plastering of the new school for opening by the end of March, 2010.

4)     For our EWCV staff and children plus children from Lubumba Community still undergoing malaria treatment.

Contact Information:

Please use our new email address:   bapeckham@gmail.com EWCV Website:   www.eagleswingschildrensvillage.com

New mailing address for the Canadian Head Office of EWCV:

Eagles Wings Children’s Village

c/o Pat Bates

300-404 Desalaberry Street

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Canada, R2L 2G3

Phone:   204- 254-5309 for financial information (Pat Bates)

Phone:    204- 257-2483 for sponsorship information or other programs including volunteering (Francie Humby)

Please note that we can provide contact information for those of you who live in the USA, UK, or Europe for making donations or sponsorships to EWCV if you wish.   Just contact us here in Uganda and we should get back to you.

We are including a success story written by our Social Worker, Allan Kisakye, of one of our children in this newsletter.  This child is Ibrahim Sekalaala from Family #3 who lives with us here at our home in Soweto , Masaka.  We are attaching a picture of Ibrahim Sekalaala for you to enjoy.

CHILD SUCCESS STORY

New Child: Ibrahim

When you hear a sharp birdie voice with a little body running and dancing around wearing a banana smile during devotions in family three of EWCV, you just know that it is Ibrahim Sekalaala praising his God.  Ibrahim loves to sing, talk, run and have fun with the other children, but he wasn’t like this before we brought him to live at EWCV. His mother had abandoned him leaving him with his paternal uncle a week after Ibra’s father’s death. Ibrahim was very sick and extremely malnourished.  Everyone thought that he was infected with HV/AIDS since his Dad had died of the same cause. His uncle’s income was very little, yet he had eight other children to look after. The new stepmother refused to care for little Ibra and left him for hours at a time sitting outside in the hot sun on the house veranda. He would have flies crawling all over him and he would sit with wet underpants. The uncle pleaded for help from Eagles Wings and we responded by having Ibrahim included within family three. Ibra was insecure, could not talk nor walk, and he looked very thin. He came to us on July 7th, 2008. His true age is not known, but we estimate that he will be four years old in January 2010.

Ibra is now a very active boy who involves himself in all family activities. His Family #3 Mother ( Florence ) says “Ibrahim expresses his love to me daily in an amazing way.  Whenever I come back home and stand in the compound, before he gives me a hug he first looks for my chair wherever it is and then brings it for me to sit on.” Ibrahim’s great desire for schooling is daily realized as he imitates others whenever he writes and draws pictures. Even though he is still inconsistent with his toilet habits and still very selective with friends, Ibrahim loves and relates well with others. He is like a bright shining star in family three. Everyone loves him.   His sponsor, Sophia, of Toronto , Canada , is making such a big difference in this little guy’s life by loving him, praying for him, and caring for him.  We pray that Sophia will come to visit us this coming spring to meet Ibrahim along with the other nine children they are sponsoring.

Praise Items

1. Our well is finally working and pumping very tasty water.    We have had a 10,000 liter tank installed near the new school on a pedestal 3 m high.  Water is pumped using a solar pump installed in the casing of the well through a pipeline from the borehole up to the new tank.   Thanks to our friends, George and his son, Levi, who came  from Soldotna ,  Alaska , to be with us for a week.   They brought the solar pump and generator with them.   On cloudy days we now use the generator to pump the water.   One solar panel works fine pumping the water on sunny days.    We also thank their church in Alaska for their love and support with completing this project for us.   What a blessing!
   Last year George brought a water purification kit so we are now able to purify our water.   The cooks in the kitchens of the families no longer have to boil water for a minimum of ten minutes at full boil.  This saves on fire wood and time.  The cooks were so pleased with this new progress for drinking water.  It also serves our school.   Typhoid has dropped dramatically with the provision of clean water.  Our thanks also go out at this time to our anonymous donor from Canada who made the drilling of the well possible.  Maybe someday they will taste this very water they helped to provide for so many people.   What a blessing!
2. The new school has nearly been completed.   It remains for the doors and windows to be installed in the front of the building, perhaps this coming week from donations from our friends, Lyle and Evangeline in Texas , USA , as well as from a donation made from the Family Life Centre in Grandview .  We praise God who has enabled us to move this far with the fine looking roof also installed.  The roof was also a gift of another anonymous donor from Manitoba .   Many of the bricks for the foundation were donated by the school children in Winnipeg from Ecole St. Avila , Fort Richmond , Winnipeg under the efforts of Teacher Rupal.   Money was also sponsored initially by Teacher Alison and her new husband who asked for wedding gifts to be given in the form of donations towards the building of our new school foundation.
3. Shoes and socks have been provided for 176 most needy children from our project.   These shoes are the first shoes ever worn by most of these children who were quite excited to be able to wear shoes.   The students now are on holidays until the beginning of Feb. 2010.    They wear their shoes when they attend our Sunday School classes.
4. Money for Christmas Gift Bags for all the children and three special Christmas meals has been provided by Blumenort Mennonite Church in Rosetown , MB , as well as several other donors like the McBrides of Gilbert Plains.  Praise Him!   We are now feeding the children and adults who attend our church at the property, Lubumba Community Church , after each church service on Sundays.   This might be the only meal they will have that day.  On December 20th it will be an extra special meal for the community people.   December 23rd, the school children from the community will receive a gift bag to share and feed their family on Christmas Day.   December 25th will be the special meal for the three families of EWCV when they receive their gift from their sponsors in the morning as well as sharing with a Christmas Church service.   On December 28th we will have another special meal to feed the former guardians and children of families 1, 2, and 3 before they take the children home to their village for at least one month of holidays.   The day will include our Annual General Meeting for EWCV.  We will also send each child with a special bag of food items to help maintain their feeding during that month.   One donor has provided money for putting a ball and some candies into each gift bag for nearly 225 children.  We have been able to purchase the balls in Kampala and Masaka.   Most of our staff will also go for a month’s holiday on December 29th while the children are away with the former guardians.
5. We received word this week from Deryk Norton of Mill Bay , B.C. telling us that EWCV has been granted money from the 17 Rotary Clubs of southern Vancouver Island as well as from the Masaka Rotary Club here in Uganda for the building of an ECO SAN toilet beside our new school.   Also, money is provided for water conservation for the school.   Wow!  Isn’t that great news?   However, we can’t open our new school until the new toilet has been built for the children to use.  We might also receive another grant from the Rotary Club to help us with feeding the school children for the first term as well as for school supplies, desks for the new Primary Six class, etc.
6. Nearly 70 boxes of children’s’ books were received earlier this year for our new school library which will be opened sometime after the new school has been completed.  The books were sent from the Blumenort Mennonite Church .   We also praise God for the books received from Pat Parish in Winnipeg as well as her sister, Lynda Norton, of Mill Bay, Vancouver Island.  Now we just need Marilyn Dyck to return to help to organize our new library which will also contain a computer lab with solar computers for our students someday, good Lord willing, as He provides.
7. We praise God for the successful Benefit Concert held in Toronto this past November 7th at the Glenn Gould Concert Studio.  Performing artist’s violinist Steven Tsitsos and guitarist Alvin Tung gave a program of Spanish and Tango music to raise money for EWCV through the “Canadian Foundation For The Performing Arts”.   Over $8000 CAD was raised for our children’s’ new school project.   Francie Humby of Winnipeg attended the concert representing all of us from EWCV Uganda and the Canadian Board for EWCV.  We praise God for the efforts of Sophia and Lee of Toronto who spent many hours trying to organize this concert.   Plans are under way for Benefit Concerts to be held in Winnipeg , Manitoba , this coming April 2010 and in Athens , Greece , next May 2010.   A Benefit Concert was also organized by our young friend Stella at the International School in Dubai earlier this year as well as last year to raise money for EWCV.   Our Canadian friend, Joe Vautour of Athens , Greece , also performed with Stella in Dubai .
8. During the tour of Greece , Scotland , and Canada by Ja Ja’s Bill & Ann this past year, we praise God for the 82 children who were sponsored leaving us with 65 more children waiting to be sponsored among the day students from the surrounding villages.  Some of them are posted on the website waiting for sponsorship.   This has made such a difference for the sponsored children whereby we are now able to provide medical care as well as schooling and feeding for them.   We praise God for the many hosts who welcomed us into their homes during our travels and who provided for our every need.   We praise God for the airline tickets provided by Sophia in Toronto for us to travel to Greece , and then to Canada as well as tickets for our side trip to Scotland from George and Monica who live in Alaska .
9. God knew the desires of our hearts when we were able to attend our two granddaughters’ graduations from Grade Twelve in Winnipeg .   First we attended Amanda’s graduation ceremony on the Monday afternoon and then Sheena’s graduation Tuesday morning.   It was God’s perfect timing.  We were also blessed to attend the wedding in Vancouver , B.C., of Grace and Arthur who made us feel very special in this important event.   Our daughter Linda, husband Ken, and their children Amanda, Joshua, and Jennifer also attended the wedding along with son Mike’s daughter Sheena.   Times like this were very special for us.  We were also able to connect with church friends, our town friends where we lived, old friends from the past, plus many relatives.  So it was a total blessing for us to feel the love of the people we know.
10. For those of you who have been asking about Sam who used to work for us, he returned yesterday to a reunion with his parents and ourselves.  Please continue to pray for him as he finds his way forward.

Current Needs

1. Sponsorship for 65 students @ $40 each per month for the students from Lubumba Community who attend our school as day students.  Some are up on the website for sponsorship.   Also, we need sponsorship for some of our staff for their monthly salary including one newly hired teacher, Dennis, @ $160 CAD per month.  They are also to be found on the website.
2. $1000 still needs to be provided for shoes and socks for 176 children.
3. New kitchen and storage room for food for the new school at $15,000 to include two new Energy Efficient Stoves and plumbing for a double sink.
4. Textbooks for nine Primary Three students in Soweto for the new school year beginning February 2010.   The total cost of these textbooks is $330 CAD.or about $7.50 per textbook.
5. Textbooks for 36 Primary Six Students at the new school.   This includes six sets of different courses of English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Agriculture, and Religious Education.    The total cost of the books for this new Primary Six class for February 2010 is $1636 or about $7.50 per textbook.

Merry Christmas from EWCV

Once again we extend our appreciation for your continued support and encouragement.   We remain truly blessed.    May we all remember at this time that:

“Jesus Is The Reason For The Season.” -  Merry Christmas from the staff and children of Eagles Wings Children’s Village Uganda in East Africa .

Please use our new email address:   bapeckham@gmail.com EWCV Website:   www.eagleswingschildrensvillage.com

New mailing address for the Canadian Head Office of EWCV:

Eagles Wings Children’s Village
c/o Pat Bates
300-404 Desalaberry Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canada, R2L 2G3

Phone:   204- 254-5309 for financial information (Pat Bates)
Phone:    204- 257-2483 for sponsorship information or other programs including volunteering (Francie Humby)

Please note that we can provide contact information for those of you who live in the USA , UK , or Europe for making donations or sponsorships to EWCV if you wish.   Just contact us here in Uganda and we should get back to you.

The children and staff of Eagles Wings Children’s Village send you greetings since our last newsletter in March 2009.   Ja Ja’s Bill & Ann Peckham were absent from Uganda since April 1st until August 23rd when we returned.    We spent the five months traveling to Greece , Aberdeen , Scotland , Canada , Israel , Crete and back to Uganda .   Everywhere we went we were welcomed so much and given such fine hospitality.   Besides the wonderful warm hospitality we received in Canada , when we arrived at noon at the property of EWCV, Families 1, 2 and 3 as well as all the school children and all the staff greeted us as they were lined up along the path from the gate.    They all sang, danced, staff included and they had a wonderful meal prepared for us. Wow, it was awesome to feel so welcomed and loved.  It was a whole afternoon of entertainment and fun.  We were given gifts, as well as Rev. Christopher and Harriet for the work they did during our five months of absence.

We praise God that during our trip abroad we were able to attend the school graduation of two of our granddaughter’s Amanda Vandenakker and Sheena Peckham from Grade 12 in Winnipeg as well as attend the lovely wedding of our other granddaughter, Grace Lee, who married Arthur Kam in Vancouver , B.C. on July 18th.    These three events were highlights for us of the whole trip as we were able to be together with our family.   We were planning to send this newsletter out as soon as we returned to Uganda , however, we both developed malaria and a persistent cough and then political tensions developed in Uganda .

Rioting in Uganda September 10th

Rioting and chaos developed in Uganda which affected most of this country, especially in Kampala and our home area of Masaka including the area of our house and compound where shooting persisted during the day in every direction.   Our children were very frightened with the shooting as it sounded like someone was lighting fire crackers in our front yard.   The children rushed from the classroom into the hallway for protection.   This situation occurred due to political differences between the President and the Bugandan Kabaka (King).

That same day, three of our young employees were trying to return with our EWCV truck from Kampala to Masaka with Allan Kisakye (Social Worker) driving.   They came upon a vehicle being attacked and burned ahead of them and the people were being beaten.   Allan immediately backed up, only to realize that three motor cycle drivers had pulled up behind him in the dark.   He hadn’t seen them and he hit them.   Immediately a mob rushed on our truck and smashed the windows.   The three men ran for their lives from the truck.

Four of the five suitcases of cargo were stolen from the back of the truck and the mob forgot about torching our truck and causing further damage as they became engrossed in rummaging through the suitcases and dividing up the lot.  This included many gifts which had been given for our children and staff during our travels including vitamins, toothpaste, clothing for the children, books for the new library, and gifts for the staff.   However, we told the guys that their lives were more important than these gifts which were used as a sacrifice for the three men as we see it.   I’m sure that all of you who gave these gifts would agree with us.  The guys were able to get back into the truck, but Allan was taken by the gang and had to provide money for the damage he had caused.   One motor cycle driver pleaded for Allan’s case and he was freed after paying some money.  We praise God that He protected our workers.  They arrived home the next morning after finding a guest house in Kampala for security and rest.

School Students’ Sponsorship Program

During our travels, we gave many Power Point presentations on Eagles Wings at various churches where we were invited to speak.   We also received extra invitations to speak, but couldn’t fit everyone in.   Everywhere we went we displayed pictures and write-ups of some of the students who attend our school at property from the nearby villages.   These children were chosen from the most needy, many of them orphans, and some of them living with HIV/AIDS.   We have been feeding them two meals per day, providing uniforms, scholastic materials and textbooks, purified drinking water, sports equipment, and qualified teachers.    We saw that all this was providing beyond our means financially due to increased costs in food and everything in this country.

Our Social Worker, Allan, advocated on behalf of the students that we needed to start seeking sponsorship for each of these 148 children who joined us at school everyday from the village.  We were able to find nearly 80 sponsors to commit themselves to sponsoring one or more of our children at $40 CAD per child per month.   This has truly been a blessing for us to continue to provide programs for these children and to move forward to provide medical/dental care, casual clothing/shoes, mosquito nets, mattresses and bedding for them.   Due to the drought which has hit Uganda , many people are starving.  We have another 70 children who still need sponsorship.   Some of them are now on the website:   www.eagleswingschildrensvillage.com under the link child sponsorship.   If you wish to check this out you can even sign up and fill out the form on-line.

We have hired a new secretary for our office as this students’ sponsorship program was developed.   Her name is Agnes Mawanda and her email address is:    agnesnakato68@gmail.com If you are already sponsoring one of these school children, you are welcome to send an email to them through Agne’s email address at certain times of the year.   She will print it and see that it is directed to the school at the property.  Our workers are presently setting up a letter writing procedure and we will need to let you know when the dates are appropriate for you to write.   Right now some of the children are receiving messages from their sponsors and others are not.   The teachers in the school will also work with their children at certain times of the year to write replies to your letters and to answer any questions which you might have asked them.   Their first letters to sponsors should be written before they write exams in November.    In December all the children in Uganda will begin their two months holidays at the end of their school year ending around December 4th.   Then they will begin school again the first Monday in February 2010.

Our former secretary, Edith Namara has been promoted to “Student Sponsor Relations Supervisor” and she is now living full time at the property.   Edith will have her office in the new school when it is completed.   She has been busy with the list of names and sponsors of the children.   She has recently been given this list after we returned from our trip and will be working closely with the Social Worker, Head Master of the school, and the guardians of these children.   During Edith’s transition from her secretarial position into the new job, she hadn’t checked her emails here in town.   This delayed her from answering emails which some of you had sent to her.   We apologize for this delay, but if you have any concerns regarding the child you are sponsoring, Edith will now be printing any messages at least once a week when she comes into our office in Masaka.  Her email address is still:    namaraedith@gmail.com or you can forward your message to our secretary, Agnes Mawanda at the above email address.  We also need sponsorship for Agnes and Edith’s salaries which can be done on our website.

Families 1, 2, and 3.

Due to the increased cost of food and needs for the children, we have to ask the sponsors for all of these children in families 1, 2, and 3 to increase donations from $35 CAD per month to $45 if you are able and willing to do so.   Thank you to those of you who learned about this problem during our travels and have arranged several months ago to make the change for the monthly donations.  The money we are presently receiving at $35 per month clearly does not cover the costs for feeding, clothing, providing medical and dental care, providing all the needs for educating them with qualified teachers, uniforms, and scholastic materials.   If you are able to increase to $45 per month we would appreciate it so much.  But remember, if you are definitely unable, that is okay because God truly does provide.   This will be the first increase since we began taking in children in 2006.  Here’s some news for you of each of the three families:

In family #1 we have just received new House Parents who arrived yesterday replacing Christine Kawuma and Eddie Katongole.    The new parents have met with the 24 children and are today (September 25th) settling into their new home.   Their names are Sarah and Akisofery Angambo who are both used to working with younger children.  Yesterday they were given a wonderful welcome from the students at the school with singing and dancing after they arrived at the property.

Family #2 has a new Night Security Guard who is Joseph Kubwimana replacing Deus.   A fire burned the thatched roofing of the dining hut of family #2 and we had to recharge all of our fire extinquishers afterwards as they were all emptied in fighting the fire.   Thankfully, none of the other thatched huts was burned.  Also, none of the animal/bird paintings on the dining hut was ruined by the fire, thankfully, after Mary Oughtred did such a fine job of creating the paintings for the children.

Family #3 has a new laundry/ironing lady Harriet Kisakye who replaced Juliet.  Also, Stella Kisakye of family #3 has given birth to a new baby girl named Grace Deborah and they are living now with Rev. Christopher and Harriet Muwonge in the hospitality center.   Ja Ja Ann was chosen by Stella to give the first name which is Grace.   It was by natural child birth and an easy delivery.   We praise God for Grace.   A new teacher, Judith Niwamanya will be starting teaching Nursery/Primary One here in Soweto , Masaka, this coming Monday taking over from Ruth who has also had a baby and will be staying home with her baby.

Construction for Family #3 Housing – Once we have the new school up and running next year, we will then concentrate on channeling funds towards the construction of 8 new buildings for housing our 24 children in family #3.     The total cost of that project will be around $70,000 CAD.   Each of the four children’s’ dormitory huts will cost $6000 CAD, the dining hut at $8000, the kitchen/store at $10,000 CAD, the Parent’s House at $12,000 CAD, and the latrine at $8,000 CAD, wiring/fixtures for solar lighting at $4,000 CAD, and plumbing/fixtures/water tanks at around $4,000 CAD.

New School

Our new school has reached the completion of the roofing.   We praise God for this progress when we are trying to see the job completed by February 2010.  If you wish to see a picture of the school, please send us an email and we will send you an email with the picture.   We now have to install doors and windows, do the plastering, complete the wiring for solar, painting, build an ECOSAN toilet and a kitchen/storage room.  The huge roof will enable us to harvest rain water.

Benefit Concert for EWCV in Toronto

Steven Tsitsos (Violin) and Alvin Tung (Guitar) will perform on November 7th at 7 pm at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto with advanced tickets sales only at $40 per ticket.  You can contact Sophia Syrros at    sophiasyrros@rogers.com or    Lee Poka at     lilip7@hotmail.com

Rev. Christopher and Harriet Muwonge of EWCV Uganda will not be able to attend.   Francie Humby of Winnipeg will attend representing  EWCV.

Appreciation

Ann and I wish to extend our hearty thanks to everyone who hosted us during our extensive travels for the five months we were out of Uganda .  We were able to rest In the Lord and saw wonderful love and care given to us by those who hosted us. We were provided with the best of hospitality everywhere we went including over 23 different beds. (Guess what?  We didn’t stub our toes going to the washroom at night – ha ha).   We also send our thanks to those of you who dug deep into your pockets to make donations for EWCV so that we have been able to continue moving forward with projects like our new school, and now in the future, we need funding for the housing for family #3 as well as a medical/dental clinic on-site (We have the land).

Please note the personal email address change for Bill & Ann Peckham from:       bapeckham@ugandamail.com to      bapeckham@gmail.com

Pat Bates in our Winnipeg office has changed residence and the new Eagles Wings Children’s Village Canadian office address is:    Eagles Wings Children’s Village,

#300-404 Desalaberry Street, Winnipeg, MB. , R2L 2G3 .     Pat’s new phone number for our EWCV Canadian office is:   204-254-5309.    The number for Francie Humby to answer any questions regarding EWCV for children’s or staffing issues is:   204-257-2483.    The mailing address for EWCV office in Uganda is:   Box 842 , Masaka , Uganda , East Africa .

Calendars: If you are able to find any calendars over the next few months for the new year of 2010, we would appreciate it if you could send us some with pictures of Canadian/International animals as well as scenic pictures.    We give them out to staff and also for the classrooms of our two schools.

Prayer Items – Please pray for:

1. peace in Uganda between the President and the Kabaka (King of the Buganda Tribe).
2. the completion of school construction to be ready for February 2010 and for the construction of housing for Family #3 children.
3. unity and peace amongst the staff of Eagles Wings and for God’s wisdom for us (Bill & Ann) with the many decisions being made daily.
4. the success in ticket sales for the Benefit Concert in Toronto for EWCV for November 7th.
5. EWCV to have a medical clinic with proper lab equipment and medical staff to test and treat all of our children as well as people from the nearby

After a lengthy delay in receiving a decision from the High Voltage Transmission Line Company in Uganda , they have given us today the good news that we should go ahead with the building of our new primary school on the property.  This news is truly an answer to prayer as they are going to divert the lines totally around our property.   We should be getting this news confirmed in writing soon.  We have the architectural plans for our new school, as well as the land, so can begin next week, good Lord willing.   We have had donations towards the school that will cover approximately one third of what is needed.   The first phase will be the construction of the foundation.

The Well

We have also been holding off on completing the final stages of the well that will provide water for the children and staff at the property.  Our friend, George Grinestaff in Alaska , has been consulting with another well specialist in Kampala , Uganda , Wycliff Jagwe, on which type of pumping system to use.  Because we were originally told that the hydro line would be coming right through our property, we had to hold off with any further developments like the well project and the building of the new school.  Now we will proceed with the well project.  (The experts who are advising us are presently looking into an automated solar pumping system.)   What a blessing it will be to have a supply of water available for making the cement needed in the construction of the new school!  The water purification kit for drinking water that we were given has also been such a blessing.

Bill and Ann Leaving Uganda , April 1st, for Five Months

We praise God for the generosity of Sophia Syrros from Toronto who has arranged, through an air miles plan, to book and pay for our flight from Uganda to Canada .  We have wanted so much to be present in Winnipeg during June in order to attend two of our granddaughters’, Amanda Vandenakker and Sheena Peckham’s, graduations from Grade 12.  What a blessing that we will now be able to attend!  We will also be able to attend the wedding, in Vancouver on July 18th, of Grace Lee to Arthur Kam.   Praise God!

Our itinerary is still filling in for giving PowerPoint presentations and sharing our vision for Eagles Wings Children’s Village.   Major stops for us include Athens , Greece ; Aberdeen , Scotland ; and Toronto , Winnipeg , Gilbert Plains , Vancouver , and Victoria , in Canada .  If you wish to contact us about our itinerary, please email or write to us so we can give you the details of where and when our presentations will take place.

Selling of the Peckham House in Gilbert Plains , Manitoba , Canada

Our house in Gilbert Plains has been sold to Richard and Tammy Kawalski who take possession  this week.  We are very grateful to our daughter, Linda Vandenakker, who has removed so much stress from us by overseeing all the details of selling the house. We are told that Tammy and Richard are wishing to turn “Peckham House” into a Bed and Breakfast in Gilbert Plains .  The house was originally built in 1904 in various stages.  We are thrilled that they wish to preserve some of the history belonging to the house.  Our best wishes to the Kawalski’s.

School Children Sponsorship Program

We are presently providing free breakfast and lunch for 148 needy orphans and other children from Lubumba Village who, everyday, join our children from EWCV at the “Beth Pipe Nursery and Primary School”.   We provide instruction, uniforms, scholastic materials including textbooks and other materials for each child from Nursery to Primary Grade Five classes, without school fees.  Our Social Worker, Allan Kisakye, has spent many hours, over the past few weeks, taking a picture of and providing a profile for each of the 148 children.  He has worked so hard because he is truly an advocate for each of these children, wanting them to continue to receive free schooling and also be given further assistance such as medical and dental care.

Today I came home from Dr. Jjun Ju’s clinic where Allan had taken a nine-year old boy, Stephen, as well as his grandmother, for testing and treatment.  Their little home is infected with Jiggers.   Stephen’s hands and feet have been infected with these tiny insects that lay their eggs in and feed on his flesh.  Today and tomorrow, the nurses are removing the jiggers and are applying a special salve to the wounds on both his feet and hands.  Besides this problem, Stephen has Malaria, Syphilis, Typhoid, and Hook Worms.  His grandmother is nearly blind and has Malaria and Syphilis.

Stephen sleeps at the grandmother’s home on the dirt floor with the Jiggers.  He has only the clothes on his back.  He is one of the orphaned village children whom we wish to reach out to help, along with his widowed grandmother.  They often go without food.   Please help us with this Outreach Ministry to the surrounding village of Lubumba .   Right now, we are making it a priority to help Stephen and his grandmother even though we don’t have any funds coming in for this purpose.  We are stepping out in faith believing that somebody will help.

Stephen’s is only one of the many stories of these 148 children whom we are reaching out to help.  (These 148 children are in addition to the 72 EWCV children who are permanently in our care and are sponsored.)

We do not yet have these 148 children on the website, but we will send the information required to our volunteers in Winnipeg , for those of you who might like to sponsor children at $45 CAD, $37 USD, 27 EUR, or 24 GBP per child per month.  Such sponsorships will enable us to provide medical and dental care, and clothing, as well as education with fully qualified teachers, for each child.  If you have any questions about how to sponsor a school child in this Extension Program, please phone Francie Humby in Winnipeg at 204-257-2483.

Thank You

We appreciate so much the prayers of so many of you each day.  These prayers keep EWCV moving forward.   To God be the praise and glory for what He has done for EWCV.   Thank you for your encouraging emails, letters, pictures, and the surprise care packages for Ann and myself.  The packages of books which have been arriving from Victoria and Winnipeg as well as the 68 boxes of books sent here from southern Manitoba for a new school library will truly be a blessing for the children under our care.  The many volunteers who have come and brought gifts as well as spent time painting, playing, and working with the children will not be forgotten.   Each of you has left a lasting impression towards making a difference in the lives of our children.  We also offer our heartfelt thanks for the many donations and sponsorships that have come to EWCV.

EWCV Canadian Head Office: 61 St. Vital Road, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, R2M 1Z4, with bookkeeper Pat Bates at 204-254-5309.

Inquiries:  204-257-2483 (Harry and Francie Humby)

***VISA is also an option for donations/sponsorship at EWCV Office.

Website:   www.eagleswingschildrensvillage.com

American EWCV Head Office:
“Real Partners Uganda ”, Incorporated
523 Lafayette Blvd. , Brigantine , New Jersey , 08203 USA
Email: eeiko@comcast.net or jggris@comcast.net
Phone number:  (609-264-9142)
Cell:  (609-384-5746).
Be sure to designate the donation to Eagles Wings Children’s Village.

Notes to Financial Statements

December 31, 2008

1. Purpose of Organization

The purpose of the EWCV is to provide the necessities of life (food, clothing, shelter, education) for orphaned children and people in poverty in the country of Uganda , Africa .

2. Significant Accounting Policies

EWCV follows an accrual method of accounting. All transactions are recorded at the time of occurrence.

3. Capital Assets

Eagles Wings Children’s Village in Canada holds no assets. All profit is sent to the Ugandan NGO Eagles Wings Children’s Village.

4. Documentation of Spending in Uganda

Eagles Wings Uganda keeps its own set of books. Their books are audited once per year and the Canadian organization receives a written copy of each audit.

Projects and expenses other than day-to-day operations are approved by the Canadian Board of Directors and are in our minutes.

5.Revenue includes the following:

Our total number of children is now at 72, with 24 children in each of the three families.   Families #1 and #2 live at the EWCV property which is 25 miles from our home in Masaka Town where Family #3 lives.  Our goal is for ten such families, totalling 240 to 300 children, to complete our village.  We are also including 93 of the most needy children/orphans from the surrounding village of Lubumba in the classes at our school that goes up to Primary Four.  Our EWCV staff now numbers 29 Ugandans and is growing in numbers.

Efforts at Improving the Water Supply to EWCV

As many of you know, we have been having a water crisis at the property of EWCV during which we have had to hire men to bring water in jerry cans on their bicycles in order to provide water for the children at the village.   We have finally been able to follow up on having the well drilled, after first having had a hydrogeological survey done to find the best spot for drilling.   The drillers spent about three days doing the drilling.   We waited anxiously for the report that came to us with the news that there was not a good source of water available for the type of submersible pump we had hoped to use.   However, we will try to have a hand pumping system installed so that water can be fetched in jerry cans for use by the families and at the school.

Recently, we had George Grinestaff and his son, Jacob, come from Alaska , U.S.A. , for a couple of days to look over the drillers’ reports and take a look at the well.   George is a consultant and expert at drilling wells for water, and he provides his services all over the world.  He did this job voluntarily for us, along with Jacob, and they donated a new 2000 litre water tank to EWCV to hold drinking water purified by the water chlorination purification kit they also donated.  Many thanks go out to George and Jacob.   They trained our foreman, Dan Ngobya, to be able to keep the water in the tank purified by using the purification kit and testing the water regularly.   George has advised us to go ahead with the installation of a hand pumping system and he is hopeful and somewhat optimistic that, indeed, there may be more water available than was reported.  Our cooks at the property are thrilled with having purified water as they no longer have to boil the water for the children and staff.   Water born diseases are often the cause of sickness and death in countries like Uganda .  We have truly been blessed.

Right now the Ugandan Government is building a High Voltage Transmission Line from the new hydro dam on the Nile River to Tanzania , and their plan takes it right through the middle of EWCV property.   We have appealed for them to build the line around us, but are awaiting word from them.  We were told by the head engineer not to proceed with building anything new right now until they confirm whether or not they are going to divert this line.  This advice has presented a problem for us as our temporary school was refused a licence by the Education Department.   Now that we are ready to begin building the new school, we are being delayed.  We need the new permanent school to be ready for the beginning of the school year on February 2nd, 2009.  Rev. Christopher and I met with the LC 5 Chairman who is the President’s government representative for the Masaka District.   I have already informed him about our problem as well as the RDC (Regional District Commissioner who is another representative of the President).   We just want a quick “yes” or “no” as to whether they are going to divert around us as we were told they can do.   The Minister of Energy for Uganda is being approached by the LC 5 Chairman on our behalf.  Right now we continue with our little temporary school as we complete the third term before the two-month school break that ends the school year.   Please pray for us as we see God’s intervention in our struggle.   As it’s God’s project, we are optimistic that all things will work out for the good since we have hope from all our advocates.

Visitors from Western Canada

Since our last newsletter, we had a team of eleven students and teachers visit our project.   They came from a high school in Burnaby , B.C. and brought many items, including vitamins and toothpaste that are all used up now.   They also brought a wonderful red wagon which our foreman, Dan, assembled.  The smaller children have been enjoying it so much; they have the older children pull them around the yard in circles.   The team spent time volunteering at both our sites with all the three families of children who had a great time playing games and doing crafts, etc.    Family #3 children even got to go swimming at the local pool in Masaka with the team.  Our thanks go out to this team for their time spent with the children and for helping in so many ways.  One of the students, Tessa, even managed to complete a wonderful painting on the outside wall of the children’s’ quarters here in town.  The picture shows a little elephant, “Tessa”, sitting under a tree.  It has really brightened up the entrance veranda for the children and staff.  Thanks, Gabrielle Tambre, for all of the planning you did, for and with your students.

Car Accident

On August 28th, Ann and I, along with our passenger, Teacher Rachael, were driving to Kampala where I had an appointment at the hospital.   As we were nearing Kampala , a tipper truck was passing a long semi-trailer truck on a solid white line coming down a big hill.   The tipper was directly in our path, and I thought for sure that he would move behind the semi.   He just increased his speed to try to overtake the semi in time, but he failed and, as we approached him, he diverted off the road at the last minute, avoiding a head-on collision with us.  I had hit my breaks when we were between the two trucks and lost control.  We hit the tipper on Ann’s side of the car and the back of our car hit the semi.   We ended up stopped in the middle of the busy highway while the tipper hit the embankment and went over on its side.   It was a true miracle that God helped us get out of this accident alive.   Ann had an injury on her knee and a fractured bone in her foot.   Rachael hit her head and needed medical attention at the nearby clinic.  The car needed major repair.  The lady who was a passenger in the truck was helped out, but the driver ran away and has not been seen since by the owner of the truck.  The owner has been to see us several times and is trying to compensate for the repairs we had to make of the hired car.   We praise God for His mercy towards us.   After that time, I was also cured of a lung condition that had caused serious coughing and also was cured from another round of malaria.  Thanks to those whose prayers were answered for healing.

Visitors from Greece

In September, we had our Canadian friends, Joe and Joan Vautour, who are working and living in Athens , Greece , come to spend three weeks with us.   What a blessing to have them with us as they are always such an encouragement for our work with the children!   They brought many things that we needed and the highlight of their gifts were the electric piano and guitar.  I have been missing having a piano so much since we returned from Canada .   The electric instrument has a variety of sounds and I still need to study the booklet seriously to learn the potential of using it properly, especially the percussion part.   Thanks, Joe and Joan, for everything.  On their way home to Athens , they stopped in Dubai for five days to visit our friends, Greg and Nellie Zaralides, and daughter, Stella (16).   Stella and Joe composed some music for EWCV and performed it at the International School Concert in Dubai that Stella organized to raise money for EWCV.   Thanks go out to Stella who worked so hard to organize this concert, along with many staff and friends from the school.  We truly appreciate all your efforts.   This money will go into the building of our much-needed new primary school.  Joe has also been working at raising the money needed to support one of our eleven-year- old boys, Moses, from our “EWCV Extension Program”.  Moses needs a heart operation that cannot be performed here in Uganda .  Joe has put his Harley Davidson Motorcycle up for sale to contribute money towards Moses’ operation.

After Joe and Joan’s departure from Uganda , we have had five young ladies representing Hellenic Ministries in Athens , Greece , come to do volunteer work with our children.  Lena comes originally from Crete and is now living in Larisa , Marisa comes from Athens , Vaso and Katerina Kaffe from Larisa , and Katerina #2 from Thessalonica in northern Greece .   This is a second Hellenic Ministries Youth Missions trip to our project in Uganda ; a team of eight members came last year.  Let’s hope this becomes an annual venture for Hellenic Ministries.   We could use teams for the construction of housing for the children and staff quarters as well as for the building of our new school.   The staff and children especially appreciate and enjoy the variety of gifts and toys that these young women brought with them, along with donations from various individuals in Greece .  Thank you so much for everything.  With the money, we have been able to provide more textbooks and educational supplies for the students and teachers.

Foundation of the New Primary School for EWCV

The land has been cleared at the property to begin constructing the foundation of the new “Beth Pipe Nursery and Primary School” as soon as we get the go ahead from the Ugandan Government.  Thanks go out to Alison and her new husband, Jonathan, who were married this fall in southern Manitoba and who requested in their wedding invitations that all gifts for them be given in the form of cheques made out to Eagles Wings Children’s Village for the new school project.   We were totally amazed at the generosity of this newly wed couple and for their kindness to our children at EWCV.   The donations were the first money raised towards the construction of the slab/foundation of the new school.   Other donations have come from Dubai where the students and staff at the International School have organized a concert to benefit our new school.   We have been totally in awe of how God provides for our needs in His perfect timing.  We have a long way to go towards donations for the school, but what an encouraging start.   Some families are giving towards the school instead of exchanging gifts at Christmas.   With the new system in place at the EWCV Head Office in Winnipeg , donations through VISA are now accepted.   There have been many requests for this system and it is now available for use, I’m happy to announce.  We are also able to provide a complete breakdown of costs for each brick and bag of cement needed to build the school and this breakdown is included on out current need page.   If you are unable to open it, please let us know and we will try to send it to you in another form.   People have been asking for such a breakdown of costs.

Sixty Eight Boxes of Books from Southern Manitoba on their way to EWCV in Uganda

Once again, we are grateful and very appreciative of all the efforts of Walter and Marilyn Dyck from the Altona area of Manitoba for their efforts, along with their church, to assemble and edit sixty-eight boxes of books for EWCV new school library.   The boxes of books should be leaving Canada any time now by ship and might be here by Christmas.   Wow, what an incredible gift once again!   The Dyck family visited us last year at EWCV at which time they helped to build our temporary school structure.   They will be sharing their experiences of volunteering with us at a host church in Winnipeg in December along with the surrounding community to raise awareness.   They hope this will generate money for the new school at EWCV.   It is incredible how God is using so many people to walk with us when we are faced with many challenges as our children’s’ project enlarges under Gods’ direction and guidance.  We rely on God for every aspect of our project and give Him the glory for every step forward that has been made for our children.  We have also received packages of books from Pat Parish in Winnipeg and her sister Lynda Norton of Victoria , B.C.   Pat held a garage sale this fall in Winnipeg to raise money for school supplies at EWCV.   We are having some special cabinets made to house all the books for our new school library once the new school opens.   The monitoring of the books will need special care so that we have some system in place for the teachers for handling the books with the children.  A box of toys is on its way from Toronto from Sophia Syrros who sponsors nine of our children.

The Third School Term Coming to a Close

This has been an exciting term for our school children at both our sites as they are wearing new school uniforms with the school badge neatly sewn on the front.  The colours are forest green shorts/skirts and bright yellow shirts/blouses.   The sewing was assisted by two of the young ladies, Harriet and Annet, of the “EWCV Extension Program”  who were sponsored for sewing classes.    Also this term, the students have been excited with their new textbooks which are the first books they have ever been able to hold in their hands.   Thanks go out to the various donors who have made this possible.  On the last day of October, the children finished writing their tests and exams for mid-term.   Our third term ends December 5th and then there will be a two-month holiday until February 2nd, 2009 when the Ugandan schools begin their next year.  At that time we will need to have our new school constructed and we will also need to have hired a new teacher for Primary Five class students.   During the school break and after Christmas on December 28th, our children from EWCV will be picked up by their former guardians to take them home for a one-month visit.  When the former care givers of the children come on that date, we will host our EWCV Annual General Meeting along with our Ugandan Board Members for EWCV.

In Memory/New Birth

We have recently held two separate memorial services with the children of EWCV at the church at the property to remember two sponsors who passed away -  long-time friends, John La Rue of Winnipeg Beach and Grace Lynch of Gilbert Plains .  We send our condolences to both families.    We are grateful for the donations made in their memory.   This money will be used towards the construction of the new school for the children of EWCV.

Our House Parents for Family #3 have recently added to their own personal family a second daughter, “Trust”, who was born October 14th, in Masaka, a sister for “Treasure”.   Mamma Florence spent one week in the hospital, but is now home resting during her time of maternity leave.  We are thankful for having other staff members who can help to cover her duties.   Tatta Moses is certainly kept busy these days, but the Greek ladies have been a big help with the little children while the older ones are in school for Family #3.   We are now missing their help as they left November 4th to return to Greece .

Presentation for EWCV to be Held in Winnipeg in December 2008

We are pleased to announce that on Sunday, December 7th, 2008, Walter and Marilyn Dyck and their four boys will be giving a presentation about Eagles Wings Children’s Village.  It will be held at Westwood Presbyterian Church at 6:30 pm. The address of the church is 197 Browning Street. We are so thankful that they have blessed us as some of our wonderful ambassadors and advocates for the growing numbers of children at EWCV Uganda.

Our Thanks

We appreciate the support of the people who provide monthly sponsorship of staff and children as well as of the donors who donate to our General Fund and special projects, like the building of the school.  This support enables us to continue expanding and caring for more and more needy children all the time.   We can’t do this work alone and are thankful to have you walking with us as well as praying for us.  We also truly appreciate the work, encouragement, and support given from the heart of volunteers who have been with us.

EWCV Canadian Head Office:
61 St. Vital Road, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, R2M 1Z4

Inquiries:
204-257-2483  (Harry and Francie Humby)

***VISA is also an option for donations/sponsorship at EWCV Office***

Second School Term Began May 26th

On February 7th,  2008,  the first classes for our new school began for the first term.   The temporary school structure was completed just on time for school to begin with a great team of Manitoban volunteers who had helped with the construction.  We are running programs from Nursery to Primary Four classes with eight children in the baby class and seven children in the top class of nursery.  We allow a maximum of 36 children per class from Primary One to Four and fitted in the children from EWCV first.   We had met with the Lubumba Village Chairman who formed a committee to select the most needy orphaned children from Lubumba to fit the classes to maximum.  This meant that 93 children are now attending from Lubumba Village with free education provided by EWCV.

Kitchen and Stove

We realized that we needed a school kitchen and stove all of which we hadn’t budgeted for.   However, after meeting with the village chairman once again, he assembled a team of villagers who came and volunteered to build us a kitchen out of poles, mud, cow dung, and straw along with a thatched roof to match the school.  They also built us an energy efficient stove also out of mud, cow dung, and straw using banana stems to fill in the chimney space and other space where the firewood is fed into the fire chamber.  The stove was allowed to dry for one month and by that time the banana stem shrank in size and could be removed leaving an empty space.  The two large cooking pots had been placed on the top of the stove during construction to form a mold around them so that the space would be perfect for cooking.   Then the pots were removed leaving the spaces above the fire chamber.  Wood is used for cooking, but due to the efficiency of the stove less wood is used than usual.

School Cook

The cook prepares maize porridge at break time in the morning to feed the children and then feeds them portio and beans for lunch.  Sometimes the villagers donate cassava and bananas to feed the teachers for a treat.   The cook, Gaudencia, is a single mom whose three youngest children we are assisting at EWCV with schooling and the two oldest children are away at other schools.  She had lost her husband suddenly two years ago and then the following month her ten year old boy died of meningitis and her thirteen year old boy developed severe arthritis whereby he couldn’t walk to school.  She is so grateful for the assistance provided by EWCV to help her family.  The Head Master tells us that she keeps excellent time with having the meals prepared and has developed quite a wonderful relationship with the staff and children.  We are looking for somebody to sponsor Gaudencia’s salary at $40 CAD per month to be paid through the EWCV office in Winnipeg .   Contact Francie Humby (Pipe) at 204-257-2483.  There are also three teachers needing sponsorship at $135 CAD per month plus the Head Teacher at $200 CAD per month.   There is a great need to purchase class sets of text books and work books from the local book shops here in Masaka and in Kampala when the funds become available.  Right now we have no text books for any of the children and only the teachers have their books needed for preparing lessons.

School Supplies

We had one of our young senior secondary students as well as several volunteers build nearly 50 children’s desks (3 children per desk) at our EWCV carpentry shop so that there was a seat for each child the first day of school.  Cabinets and desks were also built for the teachers to store their supplies.   School supplies including pencils, pens, exercise books, and teachers’ guides, were purchased.   The children from the village were overwhelmed to have all these supplies given to them to use.   Many of them had never been able to go to school before as the distance was too far to walk.  We now have two young ladies whom we sponsored at sewing classes and are now making school uniforms for our children.   One of our large bedrooms in our home in Masaka Town has now become a sewing room.   A group of five families from Steinbach are buying a sewing machine for Annet as she graduates from her sewing class and this will come in handy for her to set up a sewing room in their home in the village near EWCV after she completes the work on our uniforms.   She has been heading her family of two brothers and one sister after both parents died of HIV/AIDS.   These are the types of people we assist through our Extension Program at EWCV as we reach out into the community around us.

Problem with Monkeys

Our Head Teacher is challenging the classes to prepare and develop a garden behind the school as the bush is cleared.   His class planted maize and beans.  However, the monkeys came and destroyed the crops.   This means that there is more bush needing to be cleared near the school to keep the monkeys away as well as the snakes, especially the pythons.   The Mayor of the nearby town of Lukaya donated one thousand coffee seedlings to EWCV.   Most of the seedlings have been planted and this will provide a cash crop as we aim towards self-sufficiency in future years.   He also donated fruit trees and our two families have planted orchards on their sites.   We also now have one heifer cow and a goat ( gave birth to twins last week) and would like to purchase several more cows in the future as we continue to expand.

A Well for EWCV

We have also been waiting to have the drillers come to drill our well.   We are told that the drillers are all in northern Uganda .  We had the hydrogeological survey completed showing us where there is a high chance of finding water on our property.  However, we were having water hauled in on a couple of bicycles during times of water crisis on the property.   Once we can get the well drilled and the water cistern built, then we will need to have a water purification system installed for providing drinking water for the children and staff.

Loss of  House Father for Family #1 at EWCV

Our Family #1 of 24 children had the loss of their House Father, Tatta Caxton Kawuma, April 14th when he died unexpectedly in Kampala .   The children received some good counseling from the staff of teachers and social worker.   Now we have the House Mother, Mamma Christine, back with the children at the property and have hired a single man to act as the new House Father for the children.    He began his position last week and is now settling into his new role.  Our condolences also go out to the family of Wayne and Sharon Gallant of Gilbert Plains with the loss of their daughter, Jennifer.

Solar Installation for Family #2

Ultra Tech Company from Kampala recently installed a solar system for Family #2.   This provides solar power for each children’s’ dormitory hut.   We are very grateful to the German Organization GTZ which provided the solar panels, batteries, inverter, monitor panel, and did the installation for us.  We were responsible for the wiring of the buildings,  connecting the wiring between the buildings, and for the fixtures and solar bulbs.   We were there when the lights went on after installation was completed.   There were many loud cheers from the 24 children and staff of Family #2.   The lanterns and paraffin used for lights were put away.

Family #3

There are now fourteen children living with us as part of Family #3 in our home compound here in Masaka Town .   Our Social Worker, Allan, has another ten children waiting in their villages to come to join us when we are able to provide for them fully.  We are so thankful that each one of these fourteen children is now sponsored as well as the ten children waiting to come.   When they come to us from the villages we provide them with medical testing and treatment immediately as well as a bed, mattress, sheets, blanket, clothing, and other basic needs.   We have a school teacher coming to our home each weekday teaching these children.   Most of the smallest children spend part of their mornings in the sandbox or playing with some of the new toys sent to us recently from two Kindergarten classes in Frankfurt , Germany .

Land Fund

We now have the option to purchase another 130 acres adjoining our property at the rate of $200 CAD per acre.   This land will be used to house further families of children, build a senior secondary school and perhaps a technical school as well as to provide an area to raise goats.  There have been quite a number of squatters who have settled onto some of the land we are interested in purchasing.  This always provides a challenge.   A special land fund is now set up at the EWCV office in Winnipeg until we have enough money to purchase the land and have the surveying completed.

Canadian Board Member Visited in March

We were blessed to have the Chairman of the Canadian EWCV Board, Ken Buhler, visit with us in March from the Parkland Region in Manitoba with his wife, Marg Buhler.  During their visit, they were able to tour our project and get a good overview of what is going on here at EWCV Uganda.  They stayed with our Ugandan Chairman of EWCV, Rev. Christopher Muwonge and his wife, Harriet, at the Hospitality Center .   This was a good time for them to interact and learn many things about the Ugandan culture.  Ken’s expertise in farming was valued with his guidance for our farming program.

Our Thanks

We appreciate the support from people who provide monthly sponsorship of staff and children as well as from the donors who provide for our General Fund and special projects like the building of the school.  This enables us to continue expanding and caring for more and more needy children all the time.   We can’t do this work alone and are thankful to have you walking with us as well as praying for us.  We also truly appreciate the work, encouragement, and support given from the heart of volunteers who have been with us.

Today is the beginning of March and you folks back home in Canada will be hoping for spring to be around the corner as well as the hope that is found in Easter later this month.

Here in Uganda we continue with the same pattern of twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of night each day with the temperatures remaining between 20 to 30 degrees Celcius throughout the year.  Right now it is supposed to be the beginning of the rainy season, but the weather pattern seems to have changed and we don’t know whether it is dry season or rainy season.   However, I tell the Ugandans that this country of theirs seems to have one of the finest climates in the world   Spring Equinox will soon be here on March 20th when the sun’s rays will be directly overhead here at the equator.   With the coming of Easter at that date, we are reminded of the wonderful hope we have in the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

The Blessings of Volunteers

The past eight months has been filled with a variety of volunteers coming and going from different parts of the world bringing with them their talents and skills along with their hearts to share time and gifts with the children and staff of Eagles Wings Children’s Village.   On December 24th, we moved Family #2 of 24 children from our home in Soweto , Masaka twenty five miles away to EWCV 72.1 acres of property at Lubumba Village .  Their housing was ready to be lived in even though there is still much to be done to complete their construction phase.  Christmas was celebrated in the church at the property with both families present.   It was a joyous occasion shared by nine volunteers from Manitoba , Canada who helped to wrap children’s’ gifts of new clothing and assisted many other tasks.   All the volunteers who came during the eight months were a blessing to the children of EWCV.   We thank them so much.

EWCV Staff Retreat

In the month of January we saw most of the children of EWCV taken home by their former care givers for a month’s holiday.   This was also a time for our staff to take holidays before joining us at Prayer Mountain EWCV Staff Retreat at the end of January 2008.  It was a wonderful retreat where we were blessed with some fine speakers on the theme of “Called to the Ministry of the Lord”.   We are thankful for our speakers, Kenneth Rwego, Pastor Jonnes and his wife, Gertrude, and Pastor Kalibala who came from various parts of Uganda to join us as well as our Canadian friends/volunteers, Walter and Marilyn Dyck, who came and shared with us for two of our sessions and also our House Father of Family #1, Caxton Kawuma.

At 2 am one night, I woke up feeling a tingling sensation all over my body.   When I put on my flashlight, I could see that my body was covered by ants.  I woke Ann up as she was also being invaded by ants all over her bed and body.    I went to turn on the light switch and found that the floor, walls, and ceiling were totally covered by ants.   They were biting us and we had to get out of the hut in a hurry.   We went into another place where we were able to brush off and pick off these biting critters.   Some friends came with paraffin and poured it on the floor of the hut whereby the ants curled up and died.  We got our belongings out of the hut and slept the night in another hut.

Beth Pipe Nursery & Primary School

During the month of January we saw the framework of our new school go up with the assistance of some of our volunteers.  A team of volunteers from Lubumba Village came under the leadership of the local councilor to build a mud hut kitchen as well as to build a mud energy efficient stove for the kitchen.  We hired a cook to be prepared on the opening day of school February 7th to begin the task of cooking and serving the children from Lubumba Village who have joined our EWCV children for schooling each day.  Our children are served their meals at their homes whereas the village children receive porridge in the mornings as well as lunch made of portio and beans.   The Nursery children go home each day at 1 pm.

We have allowed 93 children from the village to join our 48 EWCV children at the school as we are setting a maximum limit of 36 children per class.  A village committee selected 93 of the most needy children of the community who are mostly orphaned children to join our school.  Most of them weren’t schooling because of the distance to walk to school and the lack of school fees and supplies.   Our school has been built as a temporary structure until such a time we can manage to finance the building of the permanent structure for which we have the architectural plans and land.   The school has been named after a close family friend who originated from Gilbert Plains , now living with her family in Winnipeg .   The school is named “Beth Pipe Nursery & Primary School” with an extension class at our home in Soweto for Family #3.   We now have a total of six fully qualified teachers at the Primary level.   The staff is trying to come up with the design for a school uniform for the children.  We will have160 uniforms made for our students when the Lord provides at a cost of about $10 CAD per child.

Family #3

We also have brought in four children into our care in Soweto who were in desperate need and they became the first children to join Family #3.   In January we hired new family parents for this new family #3 and during this month of March we will be bringing in the rest of the family of 20 more orphaned children into our care at our home.   Our Social Worker, Allan, has already selected these 20 children and we have placed them on the website for sponsorship.   We will step out in faith to bring them in ahead of having the sponsorship as we believe that the Lord will provide for them.   We have a cook ready to cook for them and will hire a lady to do the washing and ironing of the children’s clothing each day.   We also have some staff on the website for sponsorship of their monthly salaries.   These sponsorships ensure that the staff will be paid each month regardless of whether donations are sufficient to cover all of the monthly expenses.

Bill & Ann’s Retreat

Last weekend we left our home on Sunday for Lake Nabigabo near Lake Victoria where we had some time to rest and to be rejuvenated with time to ourselves and God.  Next time we will leave our phones at home or at least shut them off.  We stayed in a hut by the lake, but this time we weren’t invaded by ants.  The compound is well treed and has some good areas for hiking near the lake.  I even went swimming while Ann was entertained by three monkeys which sat on her seat at eye level watching her every move with the packet of cookies.  After she gave them her share of the cookies, they went on their way.  During one of our walks, it was so funny when we sat down to watch a large group of about 24 monkeys playing beside us in the bush.  There were so many young monkeys and they reminded us of small children at play.  One of the young calves grazing nearby wandered over to me and as he approached to lick my hand, a young monkey came over to chase him away.  It was hilarious.  The next day one of the young monkeys tried to catch a chicken and was chasing him around on the grass.  He didn’t catch the chicken.  On Tuesday morning we had a table set up beside the lake so that we could have breakfast and watch the sunrise at 7 am.   We were served a fine breakfast by the cook and were busy watching the cat having a drink by the shore of the lake.  All of a sudden a banana on the plate of fruit beside us disappeared as one of the monkeys grabbed what he could get away with before being chased away by the manager.  We refused to share any more with the monkeys.

Thanks to the Donors and Sponsors of Children and Staff of EWCV

We wish to offer our thanks to the sponsors who provide support the children and staff each month financially as well as by sending cards, pictures, and letters for special occasions with packets of stickers inside which are given to the teachers for the children to share.   Our children at EWCV do not have places in their huts right now to store personal items, so we ask for things which can be shared among the six children of each hut.  The letters and cards are read and translated by the House Fathers to the sponsored children.  We have matched pictures of the Sponsors alongside a picture of the child they sponsor and have placed these posters on the walls of the children’s dormitory huts.  The children are being challenged to be able to pronounce the names of the sponsors and how to spell their sponsor’s name.   Our Social Worker and teachers are now coming to our aid to have these children of EWCV somehow prepare letters of Easter Greetings to be scanned in our office and emailed to the sponsors before Easter, good Lord willing.   We apologize to all sponsors for not following through with this before now, but we need help in our Ugandan office for scanning and emailing during the next two weeks.   We are hoping that Ann will train Sam Muwonge to do the scanning and emailing when we are overloaded.

We also thank the many generous donors, some giving anonymously.   We are now waiting for our veterinarian doctor friend to provide us with a cow as the corral has already been built and we have the elephant grass growing in abundance to feed the cow.  This cow/corral is being made possible through a generous donor.  Another donor has anonymously provided money for us to drill a well.  We have had the Hydro Geological Engineer come and do the surveying for water.   The results show that there is most likely water at the lower part of the property, but we are now waiting for our contact in Kampala to find us a drilling company.  We have continued with a water crisis, but this well should solve our problems.  A church on the west coast of Canada has donated money towards the purchase or building of a cistern for storing water.  Good Lord willing, we will be trying to have our Foreman, Dan, undertake the construction of a chicken coop for each family so the children can be learning some agricultural skills including working in their family garden.  The school has already begun having students digging and preparing for seeding for when the rains come.   We have replaced the roof of the wooden church and it is now not leaking when it rains.  The church also serves as our Nursery Classroom during the week, but on Sundays, there are about fifty village children now joining us at church as well as our own EWCV children.  Villagers are now coming for the Wednesday evening Bible Study/Fellowships.   We are continually reaching out to the community trying to build a very positive relationship and trust with the villagers.   All the various projects underway are made possible only through the generosity of the donors who are walking with us in this project.  Thank you so much for your interest in Eagles Wings Children’s Village.

Thanks for your prayers

Many thanks to those of you who have agreed to join the number of people praying for EWCV around the world.   Yesterday our friend’s church in southern Manitoba organized a prayer vigil for people to pray 24 hours around the clock for EWCV.   We knew we were being covered by prayer yesterday and this is truly what keeps us moving forward.  To those of you I didn’t contact, but would like to be praying for the children and staff of EWCV, we welcome you and/or your church to join in the many groups who have agreed to pray for EWCV during one day each month.  We appreciate your taking maybe fifteen minutes, thirty or sixty minutes to pray, whatever time you can spare for prayer.  We are praying now for the safe arrival of the Chairman of our Canadian Board of EWCV from Manitoba, Ken Buhler and his lovely wife, Marg, who arrive from Tel Aviv on Sunday and will be with us until the following Friday.  We are excited about their visit and will be encouraged so much by having some time with them.  We pray that they will be blessed by their visit here in Uganda .

Easter is the perfect time to ask the Lord above to keep you always in His care, and bless you with His love.   God Bless You At Easter.

Ja Ja’s Bill & Ann and the Children/Staff of EWCV.

Bus Trip to Lake Mburo National Park

Just after last month’s newsletter, we took 60 children plus 26 staff on a bus trip to Lake Mburo National Park , about one and a half hours from Masaka.  One of our Canadian volunteers, Susy Loewen, paid for hiring the coach bus, and Blumenort Vacation Bible School covered the remainder of the costs, which included the food, sodas, boat ride, and entrance fees for the adults.   We were able to get free admission for all the children from the Ugandan Wildlife Authority.  This trip was an experience that the children will never forget.   Most of the staff had never been to this park either.

Some of the highlights of the trip included the boat trip on Lake Mburo to see the school of hippos in the water, the picnic, the drive through the park to see wild animals like zebras and wort hogs, the games played near the lake, and the bus ride itself.   These were all new experiences and the children returned home at night full of memories (which they talked about for weeks afterwards) and full of smiles of delight at what they had seen and experienced.

Canadian Volunteers

Our two Canadian Volunteers, Susy and Ashley, returned to Canada this past week, with many fond memories of their experiences working with the children.   These young ladies truly ventured out of their comfort zone to come here to join us.  They made a difference in the lives of our children.   We have now welcomed our close friends, Walter and Marilyn Dyck, plus their four boys, from southern Manitoba .   They will be here for two months.

Already Walter is at home driving the truck back and forth the 25 miles to the property at

Lubumba Village from our home here in Soweto , Masaka.   He has been helping with the completions of the housing for Family #2, and he and two of his sons have also helped to get the old stove out of the kitchen at the Family #1 site.  A new stove is now under construction.  The new stove is being built by a professional who knows what he is doing.  Walter and the two boys will also be helping with the construction of the new temporary, four-classroom school building. Construction will begin this week.

Marilyn and their younger boys have started reading with the children at both our sites.  Our children are now out of school for two months so they will appreciate having people who come to read to them.  Marilyn worked hard at compiling two big plastic containers of books with donations from some book stores in Manitoba and from individuals.  There is one tub of books for each family.

EWCV Hospitality Center and Family #3

Walter and Marilyn are staying down at the EWCV Hospitality Center with hosts Rev. Christopher Muwonge and his wife, Harriet.  We have also taken into this Hospitality Center four children who make up the beginning of Family #3.   The fourth child, eight-year-old Malike, just came to us last evening.   Our Social Worker, Allan, brought us a letter from the Masaka Probation Officer, Rita, who asked us to take in Malike immediately because he had been abandoned by his auntie.   The little boy has been staying down at the police station this past week, sleeping under the front counter and eating one meal per day, the same as the prisoners.  Not great food we are told.   He is an orphaned child who was living with his auntie.   A week ago he came home from school only to find the house locked.  Nobody knew where his aunt had gone.  Malike moved to the streets of Kinoni and the police quickly took him in and he was brought to the policed in Masaka.   We had a meeting and decided, once more, to step out in faith and bring him here along with the other three children with Family #3.

Child Sponsorship

You might wish to check out our website -  www.eagleswingschildrensvillage.com -  to see the children that we have listed for sponsorship, as well as several staff who need monthly sponsorship.  We also now need a sponsor for little Malike, at $35 CAD per month.  He will be placed on the website this coming week, good Lord willing.  We will be purchasing a bed, mattress, sheets, blanket, clothing, medical care, and food for him.  If you are interested in making a difference in Malike’s life, please phone Harry and Francie Humby in Winnipeg at:  204-257-2483 or email them at f_humby@hotmail.com,  and let us know here at our own e-mail address.   If you call them, they will record all your information and then we won’t even need to place Malike on the website.  (We will send you his picture and a write-up.)

We have children waiting to come into our care at EWCV, but we cannot move forward without the support of sponsors who decide to walk with us in our attempt to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable and needy children, some of whom are living with AIDS.

With God’s help, we will be celebrating the birth of Jesus at the property with all the children in our care – Families 1, 2, and 3 – together.  Our families are growing quickly.  Family #2 is preparing to move later this week to their new homes at our property (25 miles away from our home here in Masaka Town ).   We are trying to complete their housing and will see this week if things are far enough advanced for them to move.   We have all been praying for this move.

Please pray for us as we will receive more volunteers next week from Canada .  They will be with us during the holiday season.  There is much to be done with the completion of construction for the children’s housing.  There is also the temporary school structure to be built.  We need to have a well dug so that we can be self-sufficient with our supply of water for the children.  Two chicken coops will be constructed early in the New Year, as well as a corral for cows.   We have received funding for one cow thus far and appreciate every donation made to EWCV for the children.

Each child will receive a gift of casual clothing for Christmas plus, in the New Year, a chicken coop built for each family will be built from the donations of the sponsors.  The children will learn how to look after chickens that will provide both eggs and meat to eat.    Thank you, Sponsors, for helping our children and staff this past year and for committing to assist them again this coming year.   May God bless you abundantly.

Our new House Parents have been hired for Family #3 and will begin with an orientation week on January 21st, 2008.   We are still needing sponsorship for the House Parents for Family #2 who are still on the website and will be needing staff sponsorship for the new House Parents for Family #3.  We will be having a staff retreat for EWCV staff on the weekend of January 31st to February 3rd at Kako Prayer Mountain with Kenneth Rwego of Compassion Uganda acting as one of the guest speakers and moderator for the weekend.   This will take place during the end of the time that the children will be visiting for one month at the former guardian’s home in the villages.   This will also be a time for our staff to have much deserved holidays.  The children will begin back to school in their newly constructed temporary school building on February 7th after our staff retreat.

Please pray for speedy healing now for Rev. Christopher’s Muwonge’s wife, Harriet, as she has undergone a four hour operation this morning in a hospital in Kampala .

This Christmas, may God open our hearts to His love…our minds to His wonders…our ears to His voice…our lives to His presence.   Have A Blessed Christmas.

1 John 4:10