We are so grateful to our very kind friends who have helped with giving towards the many aspects of keeping children alive at the Orphanage of Hope. It is very difficult times with COVID having a huge bearing on our logistical planing especially with commodity prices souring . We are so blessed that we now have our very own source of timber …which is a plantation of +70,000 trees …..the NZD $13,000 was gifted from a number of people ….this is going to be a tremendous asset in the future both as a day to day firewood resource but also as a long term asset including material for building the Hope Education school. It is very close by so it will save time as all wood is carried on mens shoulders. Timber prices are climbing and timber is a very valuable commodity.
August is going to be a huge month for us financially …. We need to raise $34,553.00 to include the first instalment of $10,000 needed to buy 2 seperate and very close by fertile blocks of land to grow next seasons crops. Currently all the wonderful vegetables that we grow are having to be carried a round trip of 34Kms by walking and carrying on mens heads….each bag weighing 50 kilograms. Presently our land is leased and the lease is about to expire . Planting of all crops starts in September the beginning of the wet season.
The men have started this week on the second block of classrooms. It involves digging the foundations, smashing by hand the rocks that form the hardcore , putting in aggregate and cement , rods and wires then the red mud bricks finally the large concrete blocks …..within 3 weeks the second building will be looking very similar to the photo below. We then need to roof both buildings ….and this is the big expense ….close to $18,000…..
that will ensure all the brick work will not wash away in heavy rain….1656 mm or close to 5 feet of rain a year!!!! So a lot is happening……and for new readers buy a brick $5 or a bag of cement $13 or some roofing iron $25 would help enormously . Every dollar counts….every dollar is used to build a much needed orphanage school ….18 months of lockdown In a house .
PS ….We harvested our first honey….all 112 kgs …we thank Gwen and Blayze for making it possible….more honey will follow in September ….photos will follow in next blog 😊
Thank you for reading
Lindsay and Dalaine
