Introduction This month, the home received, with great gratitude, another group of 20 children bringing the total number of children under our holistic care to 90 (45 boys and 45 girls). Only minor medical problems were discovered amongst the new group and the medical team from Hospice has helped us to handle their health issues to our satisfaction.   Children health All the children seem to be in great health except a few who had to be taken to hospital for medical redress. Ritah had an ENT operation but she recovered and is doing well and we do hope it will greatly improve her concentration in school and definitely her performance.   Dinah was taken to the dentist and about four teeth were removed because they had become rotten. I am preparing to take other children for thorough dental checkups.   Children social interaction The Good Neighbor project still plays an inspirational role and provides a platform for interaction between the children at the home and the community. Many community children have been reached, touched and blessed. The children of Lulwanda continue to look forward to a day of fun and interaction every last Saturday of the month. The home usually takes care of all the children and helps those children who come with some minor medical problems to be addressed. However, one of community project child (Sharon- she is twinned to Rachael Nandudu) lost her mother and the Home went to attend the burial and comforted her. Indeed she was strengthened when she saw the home’s children in attendance and she even came for Saturday fellowship   Children welfare Apart from education, the children’s welfare is of utmost importance to the home and all effort is put in ensuring that all the children are happy and coping well with all the home routines. The environment has been created to ensure that the children feel at home as they participate in different home activities and their input is valued and appreciated.

School/Teachers The school will be opening of the first term of the year on 4 February 2008. However, the teachers have been reporting regularly for training in the newly introduced curriculum for P1 and P2 and to prepare the necessary professional work in time for the opening of the school. In the course of the last week of the month, the old children in P5 and some in P3 visited a bee farm as a study tour and to acquaint themselves with what practically can be done to harness the bees for the good of man. This was the first of its kind and it helped the children to appreciate things from their surroundings.   We are working towards the registration of the school with the Ministry of Education. We have all the necessary requirements including an inspection report from the health department. We shall be submitting all the files to the District Education Officer for onward submission to the Ministry.   Some children visited their homes A group of six children were taken back to the homes of their ancestry. This was something important for us to do as some had spent three years without visiting. Some of the places visited where far in the mountains and could only be accessed during the dry season. We hope to even take others on Saturdays in the course of this year.  The children were accompanied by Teacher Natalie and Jimmy, Maama Christine and the driver Moses   Home/Mothers We are yet to recruit a fourth house mother as the search for one is going on. The available three are doing a commendable job and have so far coped well with the increased number of the children. But for long term and effective service delivery we definitely need another house mother.   Kitchen staff We have improved our kitchen and have adopted and constructed cooking stoves that are smoke free and highly effective in delivering enough cooking power at a reduced charcoal usage. I do believe these will greatly help us to save the cooking fuel for the home.   Garden It has been dry weather all through and we have only managed to prepare our gardens waiting the rainy season for planting

Management work The audit for 2006 is almost done and we are waiting for a report, once this is submitted we shall embark on the audit for 2007 so that we are up to date.   Increased prices for all commodities The major problem that we have experienced since the month began is the increasing pump prices for fuel. This has greatly pushed the process for all other goods upwards and we are praying that the problems in Kenya will be settled soon to normalize the situation which is going out of hand. We continue to do our best to ensure that we live within our means.   New children The 20 children were well received by their colleagues and have already integrated into the system. However, there are some sporadic illnesses that we are still dealing with, including skin rushes, chicken pox and cough among others   Improvements for future sustainability The school toilet (pour and flush pit latrine) is in the final stages of construction. We look forward to embarking on the works on the road improvement during this dry season.   Other pending things that we look forward to in the future include; the medical unit and more class blocks, a library and another dormitory   Land for agriculture is still needed so that we can be able to contribute towards the home’s food needs.   We can also think of some day having a guest house which is open to visitors for use.   Looking many years to the future, investing in building a rental house for every child at the home is a long time investment with lasting benefits to the children currently in the home and for the future sustenance of this project for generations. It is this kind of project that may in the long run have great benefits for the future for the children at the home.