Goats for Families

Hello all! Isn't it a wonderful thing when you see the final product of a project/goal? On September 29th I was able to experience that feeling; goats were given to Mt Hope students and their families!

I started fundraising in May for this project for 30 goats. By mid July I didn't have complete funding; however, my church beautifully paid for the rest of the 9 goats I needed.

Then Jean Claude messaged me and said that they accepted 10 more kids to Mt Hope, which was amazing! That did mean getting money for 10 more goats though.

One of my best little friends, Elizabeth who is 10 years old, went to the front of her church asking for help with funds for my trip. Wouldn't you know in that one Sunday all the money was raised for the 10 remaining goats; wow God!
 

I would like to thank everyone who purchased a goat for families, on behalf of myself, Mt Hope and the students and their families!

I spent almost a full month in Rwanda and one of the sweetest moments of handing out the goats was saved for the last day I was there. Let me share my day with you!

Teacher Ann Marie does a great job engaging the students with lessons in the morning! They have number lessons, discovery of words (like animals and food) and Bible. The Bible lesson can be a memory verse they are working on or a song.

Next is lining up for a bathroom break. Facilitating bathroom breaks for 40 kids is no small feat!

Handwashing is next which is one of my favorite times, being able to hold each hand!

Then we move to serving breakfast. One of the best sounds is the silence and quiet smacking that comes over the room of happy students enjoying their breakfast!

After breakfast is playtime, and playing with balls is a favorite for these kids!

We then move onto English lesson, which I had the privilege of teaching. Before I left for Rwanda a 3rd grader asked me how I was going to teach English if I didn't know the Rwandan language. It was a very good question! I kept it very simple, because they are little anyways, and I pointed to a lot of objects and had them repeat it. To make the lesson more interactive, I had kids come up and I'd point to different parts of their outfit, their hair and such and that made it more exciting for the students. They also learned about 4 songs. I think The Wheels on the Bus was their favorite!

Next on the schedule was taking pictures. Look at these cuties!

Finally, the moment we had been waiting for, the students/families receiving their goats! Even though there are 40 students we were only able to give out 30 at this due to to price increases, but rest assured, all 40 students/families will receive their goats! I was also able to pray a blessing over the students and their families and that was very special to me.

Being able to work alongside the staff of Mt Hope Christian Academy was such a joy, blessing and privilege! I am so thankful that God worked it all out for me to be here. 

I am looking forward to seeing all that God does at Mt Hope Christian Academy and being able to share the beautiful updates with you. God bless you!

The beautiful photos were taken by Theogene Ntamuhanga!