The Land/Building Project Fundraising
The Land/Building Project
Currently, Ronald has opened up his home to the 35 orphans at The Lord's Mercy Foundation and space is extremely limited. While there are many smaller projects going on, our biggest project right now is the purchasing of land to build a real orphanage on. We have a vision of building a home for them so that they have plenty of space. You can see the home that everyone lives in in the background of the below photo. The children are literally lined up along the walls of the bedroom and hallway to sleep on the floor each night. Now they have their mattresses to sleep on but space is still extremely limited.
Ronald has selected a plot of land large enough for the building and, in his words, has enough room for a playground too. The initial plot of land that he had chosen was $5,000 dollars. However, that piece of land has been sold, so he has selected another plot of land. This one is a little smaller so it is $3,000. We know that God is big enough to provide the home that the children need and deserve, so we are going to put God first and believe in this dream of a nice home for the children! We recently received a very generous donation of $500 at the organization and Ronald and I have decided to use it as a building block for the land fundraiser. We also received a smaller donation of $30 and also had some funds left over after the purchasing of the mattresses; so we are now at a total of around $600 towards the land. If you feel led to do so, please help us and contribute to this project so that we can literally begin the foundation of the orphanage!
Once the plot of land has been bought, we are putting together a trip over to Uganda to help him in the construction of the orphanage. The trip will take place sometime in 2019. I would like to bring a group of volunteers to help with the construction of the building and purchasing supplies while we are there. Men will be great for the construction but we also need women, as I would like to coordinate the women to visit with the 10 widows in Ronald’s care at their homes, as well as help with the cooking and cleaning, and of course, the best part of all... playing with the children! We also need teachers, as the local teachers would benefit from resources and strategies that would not otherwise be available, and farmers, to assist the 10 widows in planting/harvesting and teaching any new farming techniques. Anybody is welcome, as there is no trained skill requirement and no shortage of needs! Our schedule is for 7 days total, with 5 days in Uganda, 1 day travel there and 1 day travel back. We will also be attending church with them on Sunday.
If you would like to come along on this trip and are able to, please stay tuned as the months go by for updates on the fundraiser to purchase the land. I have been to Uganda in 2017 and will be available to answer any questions that you have.
This is certainly an exciting time for all of us and I urge you to pray and seek God’s guidance as to what part he has called each of us to play, whether it be financial or physically volunteering.
*** Click on the Donate button below to contribute to our Land/Building project.***
OTHER CURRENT PROJECTS:
- 10 More Bibles are needed. The children currently share 10 but need 10 more.
- School Fees (see details on our Daily Bread General Fund page)
- Mattresses for the widows
PREVIOUS PROJECTS:
1. Mattresses for all of the children.
Earlier this year, we successfully raised $700.00 to be able to purchase 35 mattresses for all of the children at the foundation. We were also going to be raising funds for bunk beds after that, but we realized that the more immediate need was land for the children to have a real orphanage on. I believe Ronald is accurate in feeling that a home with space is a higher priority at the moment than bunk beds. So once we are able to give the children enough space, we can work on raising funds for the bunk beds again.
We have bought three piglets for The Lord's Mercy Foundation. They are named Wilbur, Babe and Piglet. The piglets live in a homemade shelter on the grounds of the property. The older children are involved in caring for the piglets. All of the piglets are female. Once the piglets are grown and have piglets of their own, Ronald will sell the new piglets for income to help take care of the children. He has a neighbor not to far away with male pigs that will contribute when the female piglets are grown.
A generous donor has also purchased 3 adult goats for The Lord's Mercy Foundation. Goats are a source of milk and meat for the citizens of Uganda. Ronald built a shelter for the goats and the children help care for them and play with them. Unfortunately, one of those goats died, and she was a pregnant female. The children had grown attached and were very sad. However, another generous donor then stepped in and purchased 3 baby goats for the foundation.
Originally there was no restroom. Ronald had constructed a small area at the side of the house with sticks and banana leaves for the roof. Thanks to faithful givers with genuine hearts, he was able to build a brick shelter with theee holes and a tin roof over it. Now the children have facilities to use the restroom.
Walking miles back and forth each day takes a lot of time and energy while carrying 50 gallon jugs of water. You will often see these bright yellow containers in the backgrounds of pictures. Adults and children alike take these daily trips. A water tank is an efficient way to store water on site and cut back on the daily trips. Cost was $30.
5. A Roof over the Eating Area
Meal time is a feat when you don't have a roof over your head to eat! The children have always eaten outside and Ronald constructed a small eating area out of wood from the trees, but it was lacking a roof. He needed a tarp and nails to hold it down. The tarp was purchased and now the children are able to eat in their eating area during rain and also have shade from the sun.
6. Chairs for the eating area
The children were used to sitting on the floor while they ate, as there were no chairs before. Now we have raised the $280 needed for 35 chairs and the children are enjoying sitting in seats while they eat.
7. - A New Food Preparation Area
In Uganda, the kitchen is an area with no electricity or plumbing, usually separated from the house. It is a food storage area where the food is also prepared. Residents will build a small fire with wood and boil water in a kettle over it. Fruit will also be cut and prepared in there. The old kitchen at The Lord's Mercy Foundation was made of a few branches of wood tied together as beams and palm branches over the top; it was completely open to the elements. Therefore, it flooded in the last rain. We were able to raise enough money to build a small brick structure with a roof, door and window, to safely house the food and maintain protection from rain and animals.