Our kitchen staff cooks every day for around 80 people using firewood. We are contemplating of putting up a biogas unit, using the waste from our pigs and cows. So far we lack the knowledge and financial resources to put it in place. It would help us safe alot of firewood and thus safe our environment.

Unsere Kuechenmitarbeiter kochen jeden Tag mit Feuerholz fuer um die 80 Leute. Wir ueberlegen eine Biogasanlage aufzubauen, die mit dem "Abfall" der Schweine und Kuehe versorgt werden wuerde. Bis jetzt fehlt uns dazu aber das noetige KnowHow und auch die Finanzen. Diese Anlage wuerde helfen, Energie (Feuerholz) zu sparen und somit auch unsere Umwelt zu schuetzen.

Firewood/ Brennholz

On Saturday some kids and staff went to the forest to bring a lorry full of firewood for cooking. It looks much but it will last only one to two months! The fire in the cooking stoves burns from morning to evening. Starting early morning with warming the porridge, cooking beans for lunch (they take 2 to 3 hours to get soft, depending on the quality), cooking posho, boiling big pots of drinking water, cooking supper, preparing porridge for the next morning and at last cooking dogs food.

Am Samstag sind einige Kinder und Mitarbeiter in den Wald gefahren, um Feuerholz fuer die Kueche zu holen. Es sieht nach sehr viel Holz aus, reicht aber nur 1 bis 2 Monate! Das Feuer brennt von morgens bis abends. Frueh morgens wird der Porridge fuers Fruehstueck aufgewaermt, dann Bohnen gekocht (brauchen 2 bis 3 Stunden bis sie weich sind, je nach Qualitaet), dann Maisbrei, mittags werden grosse Toepfe Trinkwasser abgekocht, und dann das Abendessen zubereitet. Danach wird wieder Porridge fuers Fruehstueck am naechsten morgen gekocht und zuletzt noch das Hundefutter.

Kids are enjoying their new playing room. Thanks to Mirjam and Markus for their creative work!

Die kleineren Kinder spielen gerne in ihrem neuen Spielzimmer. Vielen Dank an Mirjam und Markus fuer die kreative Gestaltung des Zimmers!

Some Numbers / Ein paar Zahlen

Since this week, CMU supports exactly 100 children inside and outside the home. 71 children are living on the station and 29 children (and adults since a number of them are above 18 years old) are being supported from outside the home. There are 36 boys and 35 girls now. 10 Fulltime staff are taking care of the children, one man is taking care of cows, goat, pigs and chicken, 3 women are permanently digging in the farm, one man comes every evening to watch throughout the night. Alltogether CMU has 14 staff. 37 kids are in secondary schools and higher institutions of learning (colleges and universities).

Seit dieser Woche werden genau 100 Kinder von CMU betreut. 71 Kinder leben auf Station und 29 Kinder und inzwischen Erwachsene werden bei ihren Verwandten unterstuetzt. Es sind 36 Jungs und 35 Maedchen, die hier wohnen und leben. 10 Vollzeitmitarbeiter kuemmern sich um die Kinder, ein Mann kuemmert sich um Kuehe, Ziege, Schweine und Huehner, 3 Frauen arbeiten jeden Morgen auf dem Feld und ein Mann kommt jeden Abend um die Nacht ueber zu wachen. Zusammen sind wir 14 Mitarbeiter. 37 Kinder sind in Oberschulen, Berufskollegs und Universitaeten.

NEW VOLUNTEERS

Its almost three weeks now since we received Mirjam and Markus at CMU to volunteer with us for six months. We are blessed to have this couple work with us. So far they are doing amazing work with the children including visiting their schools, participating in shopping for the children and much more.

In their first week of their stay at CMU they went with one of the staff members and attended a traditional "give away ceremony" of which Mirjam dressed in an Ankoletraditional wear.We pray for joy and a blessing upon their stay in CMU, Uganda and Africa as a whole.

Mirjam and Seerah on the way to the ceremony

Stay blessed.

Happy New Year

Praise God for we are able to see another year of 2012.
We thank everyone that thought about starving, undressed, school drop out, sick, homeless, abandoned and depressed children within any community and we pray for God's blessings upon you all! For that matter we thank you our sponsors and friends for being there for our children and the CMU community.
The New year has begun and we are hoping for God's blessings upon us and our work especially in the children's ministry.
Children are a gift from God and here at CMU we treasure them and we pray that God will continue to make them a blessing to us.
Allow children to be a blessing to you this year in any community that you live in.
The number of needy children has increased and we have more than 250 requests in the file for the needy children that are not yet considered.
These are a few of those that are needy to the extent that they cannot afford to get to CMU station.
Oh God may you help such children to find favour before you and your people on earth.
Please, whoever can help please do and God will bless you.

Yesterday, in the news on one of the television stations in Uganda, a mother threw her own new born baby girl into a pit latrine in which the baby spent a night alive and was discovered in the morning. It was removed and taken to the hospital where it is treated and the report says its out of danger.
When the mother was asked why she had to do that, she reported that she had two children that the father abandoned and the father of the new born had also denied the pregnancy. She was not able to take care of three children without a father. She thought that having the baby died would reduce on her burden. But thank God the baby girl is alive.

Let this year be a year of helping one or more vulnerable children.

Stay Blessed in 2012!

Thanks to our Supporters

Welcome back our dear parents, Mummy Ruth and Daddy Kalafa. We are also grateful for all the support and the gifts that you brought for us, both the children and the staff.
Thanks to our supporters for the good hearts and for the good gifts that you offered to someone that you gave a reason to smile here in Uganda.
Everything that is done for these children and everyone for the growth of this mission is highly appreciated.
May God bless you and enlarge your territories!

We are worried of what may happen next.

Recently a number of people have been killed by lightening while others were seriously injured here in Uganda. The most affected group are the children especially while at school, though there are some adults that have been victims, too. One of the schools lost more than 19 pupils and amongst them a family lost their only four children in the same incident which was so sad. It is a serious situation that we cannot easily avoid and it is all over the country.
There has been different topics about the lightening, teaching people on how to avoid it. Among the ways of avoiding lightening, it is only putting on shoes whenever it is about to rain or it is raining that CMU can afford per say, apart from that others are not yet practical. Even the one for wearing shoes works only, when they are not sleeping because they cannot sleep with shoes on. So far the most effective one is having the Lightening arresters installed on all the buildings which is not yet on our budget especially that the costs of living are higher than before.
We are praying that God will make a way for us to have these children and ourselves lives in a safer place.
God bless the work of your hands.

We are affected by the inflation and the scarcity in the Uganda's economy.

We are going through hardships and financial constraints due to the increase in prices for all the goods and services.
Uganda has been affected by drought and hailstorms that spoiled most of the food crops which most people depend on. Because of that and many other reasons, the food prices went high and other services also hiked the prices. So far in a period of 6 months, most items prices have doubled if not trippled. The item's price can increase by 20% in one night which is so high.
The Uganda currency has lost value to the extent that we are almost spending the biggest percentage of the CMU funds on feeding children. For that matter we find ourselves having pending bills that are not paid.
We are trying gardening which we believe will be of help in the near future if all conditions remain favorable.
We pray that God will see us and Uganda as a country through this situation.

Freundes- und Patentag

Am 23. Juli fand unser Freundes- und Patentag statt. Pastor Mwase sprach morgens ueber die Geschichte von David und Goliath und wie Gott, das was in unseren menschlichen Augen unmoeglich erscheint, moeglich machen kann. Danach gab er einen ausfuehrlichen Bericht ueber CMU Uganda. Pastor Mwase ist der Sekretaer des ugandischen Vereins CMU und mitverantwortliche fuer das Geschehen im CMU Kinderheim.

Nachmittags wurde ein Dokumentarfilm ueber die Arbeit von CMU gezeigt und verschiedene Kurzzeitler, berichteten ueber ihre Eindruecke in Uganda.

Wir sind dankbar fuer diesen Tag und dass viele sich auf den Weg gemacht haben, um nach Rohrdorf zu kommen.

On 23rd July we had our Friends- and Sponsorsday in Germany, Rohrdorf. In the morning Pastor Mwase preached about the story of David and Goliath and how God makes possible what seems to be impossible through our human eye. After that he gave a detailed report about CMU Uganda. Pastor Mwase is the secretary of the ugandan NGO CMU and therefore also responsible about the happenings in CMU children's home.

In the afternoon we watched the new CMU documentary and several short termers and visitors gave their impressions about their work and stay in Uganda.

We are grateful for this day and that so many came to Rohrdorf to join us on this occassion.