Photo Update Courtesy of our Canadian Visitors

Our friends, the Janzens from Shantz Mennonite Church in Kitchener, Ontario, were visiting last month with three young men from their church to do a number of service projects.  They were very good about updating their blog and taking loads of pictures, so here are a couple of highlights from their visit.

Their first project was repairing a water cistern and doing some minor repairs and upgrades at the home of a pastor we work with a lot, Pastor Joseph Buna.  

 

Jane went with me one day for a Mama Maisha client meeting while the guys built a new home for a very vulnerable family.  At the end of the project, they prayed to dedicate the home.

Terry's birthday happened during their visit, and I made him a birthday cake so we could all celebrate together.

They also helped install a water cistern for a teacher they met last year during their first visit.  She hosts an HIV support group in her home, and her intention is that the clients will benefit from the water.

The major reason the team came was to work on the bathrooms for the vocational school that Fred has been working on for years now.  The music department that Jane oversees and the choir that Terry participates in did a benefit concert that raised all the money to build very sophisticated bathrooms for the school.

The team was supposed to do one more house build for an HIV+ widow and her two adolescent children.  The night before they intended to go build, the news came that the mother had died that afternoon.  They reorganized their schedule and built a sunshade for a paraplegic patient of the palliative care program.  He spends most of his day in the sun and rain, so this shade will be a huge benefit to him.  The house for the new orphans was built after they left.

We so enjoyed having the Shantz team here, and hope it's not the last time we see them here!  Thank you to Shantz Mennonite, KCI Music Department and the Janzen family for caring so much for the people of Rorya District.