Sunday, December 13, 2009

December 13 Update

After the initial week of heavy rain in November, it took awhile for the land to dry out enough for another field to be re-ploughed ready for planting. The boys helped clear away stones and weeds, and some watermelon seedlings have been planted. Even though its monsoon time, this part of Tamil Nadu hasn't had good follow-up rain this month, so the bore water was used to soak the ground again before planting could take place. At the moment water is sent down channels dug between the fields, but soon we hope to have underground pipes that can be used to direct the water to specific areas as required.



Everyone lent a hand to clear weeds and remove stones ready for planting



Water flowing from the bore through the water channels



The boys watching the water flowing out into the fields



Some of the newly planted vegies

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

November News

Hooray! The rains have finally come...but when the monsoon breaks in India, it pours. The boys recently woke up to find a huge puddle of water surrounding them. The only way out was to wade through the water, and the bus was bogged for a couple of days.



The Home and bus surrounded by water.

The latest news
  • Thanks to the rain and our new bore, vegetable gardens and more banana trees are now being planted.
  • Unfortunately the rain has delayed work on the cow shed, but once it's done, Israel will buy the KBC Kid's Church cow.
  • One of the boy's Grandfathers has been appointed as the new cow and farm caretaker. His farming experience will be invaluable as Israel works to establish the farming side of things.
  • The nights are getting chillier, but thanks to the gift of new blankets from a local Pastor and his family, the boys are keeping warm.
  • Israel's been having trouble finding a replacement tutor from the local area, but it looks like Christy, (our old tutor) will be able to come out a few times from Madurai to help the boys on the weekends.
  • We now have sponsors for 3 of the boys, for which we are very thankful.




The baby goats are getting bigger now.

October News - Karen's Visit

During October, I (Karen) had the chance to visit the boys and spend some time with Pastor Daniel and his family. It was great to see the boys well settled into the Home and everything going well at their new schools. Unfortunately the delay of the monsoon meant only one field of corn and a few banana trees had been planted. Many farms in the area hadn't been able to plant any crops due to the lack of water, but thanks to a donation from one of Geoff's cousins, we were able to sink an irrigation bore during my visit. The new bore and and irrigation system will ensure crops can be planted and watered all year round. I've posted some photos below taken during my visit.



Some of the boys enjoying breakfast in the dining hall.



Morning study time.



Washing clothes.



The partially constructed cow shed.



We now have 5 goats, 3 chickens, 3 turkeys, 5 peahens and 2 dogs.



Getting ready to drill for water.



Water was struck at 85ft but drilling continued to 300ft.



A submersible pump was positioned at 270ft.




Thanks to a donation from the King Small Group at KBC, we took the boys to the Water Park as a treat.



The boys had never done anything like this before, and they had a great time.




Karen trying to keep out of the sun.



Israel, Matthew and the boys at the Water Park.



Beulah giving the Year 9 boys a Maths lesson.



Karen and the boys at the front of Pastor Daniel's Church
.



You can see from this picture how dry everything was. The green bits are our field of corn and grass for the goats.



We attended a special meeting and served lunch to a group of blind people.



50 blind people came from surrounding villages.



We also presented them with gifts of new clothes.



The boys with some gifts from Australia. Toothbrushes, textas and bookmarks.