Westhill family on a mission in Burundi
A DONSIDE family who sold their house and moved thousands of miles to help build homes for orphaned children in Africa have begun work on the project.
Charles and Valerie Carr and their three sons John, Matthew and Samuel, left their home in Morven Drive, Westhill, and moved to Burundi, East Africa, in July.
The couple are working with Dundee-based charity Mission International on a project known as the Hope Centre Burundi, to build orphanage houses.
Work is now progressing well on the site, according to Valerie, and they are delighted that by employing 25 people from the local community, they are providing an income for these 25 families.
Foundations have been laid and filled and drainage holes and septic tanks dug out.
They have been living in a friend's house since their arrival but are due to move into their own rented house.
"We have been in Burundi for 11 weeks and are really settling into life here now," she said. "We are woken each morning at 4.45am by the Muslim call to prayer and the local dogs howling along.
"We have to be careful after dusk to avoid the mosquitoes and we all sleep under mosquito nets, which are tucked in, to prevent anything climbing up into the beds also. There are usually a few lizards running around the house, but we don't mind them as they eat the cockroaches and other bugs. We have to keep all of our food in sealed containers to stop bugs getting into things.
"We eat mostly vegetables here. Any meat we do buy, we get from a special butcher shop where things are kept in refrigerated counters, rather than the market, where the carcasses are bleeding over large tables and covered in flies as they are being chopped up.
"The fruit and vegetables are all fresh and organic and there is no processed food so we do feel we are eating much better here.
"The things the boys miss are cereal (just not available unless you are willing to pay in excess of 10 a box), crisps, and sweets and biscuits. Any imported confectionery is, again, extortionately priced.
"There are no supermarkets, just small shops which sell a real mix of items."
The idea for the family's momentous move had arisen following a church meeting. Thinking of selling their house anyway, they decided the equity in the house could be used to help others less fortunate. Money from the house sale will enable them to be self-financing for a year to complete the project.
Charles, a former member of Westhill Community Council, worked at Deeside Timber Frame in Stonehaven and Valerie worked part-time for Covell Matthews Architects and was based in Shell head office at Tullos, Aberdeen.
"We do not often go out in the evenings, it can be dangerous," said Valerie. "Apart from the threat of 'petit bandits', a lot of the vehicles do not have lights at night, and there are no street lights so, combined with the very rough roads with lots of potholes, this makes driving at night very dangerous.
"At the weekend we sometimes go to the beach where we have to look out for hippos and crocodiles, although the beach we usually go to is quite safe.
"The boys started school on September 9 and are at an English speaking school, which is very multi-cultural, multi-ethnic. Most of the children are Burundian, some from the Middle East or Asia. There are a few American children but ours are the only ones from Europe.
"When we first arrived, they found communication very difficult as French is the second language here, and not many people speak English. They were pleasantly surprised when they started school and discovered so many Burundian children speaking English. They have made many new friends now.
"They start school at 7.30am and finish at 1pm, although they have PE one afternoon a week from 3pm to 4.30pm. They get a lift to school in the morning (we can't quite get ourselves organised for them to be out of the house before 7am) but walk home at lunchtime."
Burundi has been devastated by decades of fighting between the two main ethnic groups, leaving the economy in ruins.
The country is now attempting to restore relationships between the different groups returning from refugee camps in neighbouring countries and rebuild the economy.
The Hope Centre will accommodate Pastor Leonard Tuscheiri - who currently cares for around 40 orphans, some of them older teenagers - and his family.
These children have been orphaned as a result of the war and genocide in the country and, more recently, as a result of the AIDS epidemic.
Pastor Leonard was himself orphaned during acts of genocide and has reached out to children in similar circumstances. He told the Carrs of his struggles to care for the increasing number of children and how many people have tried to make him give up.
He said that, at one point when he was really struggling financially, even the poor people around him told him to give up because his situation was more desperate than theirs.
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Monday 21 May 2012
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