Back in Action Again!

Four days before setting off for my November mission trip to Rwanda I had a bad fall and ended up in hospital with a nasty fractured hip. The original surgery did not sort the problem out and I was out of action for several months until a second operation corrected the problem and I am now on the road to having a fully working hip once again.

This unexpected setback meant an end to my planned travels to Africa for the whole year. However, I was able to maintain good contact with our ministry partners in India and Burundi during the year which meant I could continue to send out funding as needed. Unfortunately I was not able to get to Rwanda either, as we wound up our operation in that country in 2014. Our work there was complete after many years.

Our main focus just now is the construction of a 50 bed community hospital in a very poor suburb of Bujumbura. The need there is extreme as the poor have no access to medical care other than tiny roadside pharmacy booths. Many people are dying of simple diseases and women die in childbirth, so the provision of this hospital/clinic will make a massive difference to many lives. Our partners in this are a Burundian NGO called Cup of Cool Water headed up by a wonderful man of God - Charles Ndikumana.

Building work began in April 2014 and continues. It should be completed by the summer of 2015. The work is going very well and we are optimistic that it will come in on time.

Lift up your eyes and look about you. Isaiah 60:4

This has been a busy week here in Rwanda. We received a visit from our dear brother Charles, who travelled up to Kigali by bus - a six hour ride from Bujumbura to spend two nights with us at the ministry centre. This was a very important meeting to have time to pray together and to discuss and finalise plans for our joint project, the building of a 50 bed polyclinic on some land we purchased in a suburb of Bujumbura city a couple of years ago.

Hazel and Charles arriving at the OEW ministry centre

This clinic is the On Eagles Wings major project for 2013-2014 and fundraising is now well under way. We wanted to clarify together the project stages and costings and talk about timing and goals etc. It is so much easier to sit down and discuss at length together, rather than trying to do everything by email! During his stay we were able to set up a small video camera and record some clips to make into a short video to show to churches, mission groups and prayer partners. In it Charles speaks about the clinic and why it is so vital in that part of Bujumbura city.

Charles Ndikumana of Cup of Cool Water

We also covered the goat farm project which is almost complete. Last year OEW conducted a "Kids for Kids" campaign to buy goats for poor families in Burundi. Around 60 goats were donated. However we all felt it would be a much better plan to build a goat breeding farm on some land east of Bujumbura and thus establish an ongoing supply of goats for distribution to destitute families. The volunteers from the local church are working to make 9,000 bricks just now - they have already made 4,000 which is a fantastic start. Once these have been baked the building work can get going. The farm should be up and running by September this year.

Brick making for Cup of Cool Water goat farm

We were able to donate a large suitcase full of supplies for Cup of Cool Water to use in their ministry of "uplifting critical communities". This included good quality clothing for babies, infants and children; it included medical supplies - sterile dressing packs, sterile urinary catheters and some moulded leg splints. All these gifts were donated by people in Scotland and carried out to Africa as part of our baggage allowance. We would like to thank the parents who passed on outgrown children's clothes, East Lothian NHS Trust and the Edinburgh branch of the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists who all gave generously. All these items will be put to very good use where the need is greatest.

Julie and Charles inspecting the case of goods

Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honour and life. Proverbs 22:4