Ten Talents International Blog

my true love gave to me… 9 backpacks!
(8 sets of bedding, 7 place settings, 6 jerry cans, 5 comfy cushions, 4 cooking pots, 3 bicycles, 2 dozen nets, and a propane cooker and tank!)

It may not be back to school time in the USA, or wherever you are reading this from, but here in Rwanda the school calendar runs more in line with the actual calendar.  They begin the school year in January and finish in October or early November.  So right now the kids are on their long holiday before starting the next school year.  What kid would not appreciate having a new backpack for carrying his supplies back & forth to school?

Can you help the kids in the Home of Innocence receive a new backpack before school starts?

9 backpacks: cost $6 each, $54 total (purchase one or as many as you like!)

You can give right here on our website by clicking on the “giving” tab and selecting general fund.  Once you get to your paypal payment screen there is a note section where you can state “12 Days” and what item you are giving towards.

God Bless You,

Lisa

my true love gave to me… 8 sets of bedding
(7 place settings, 6 jerry cans, 5 com-fy cushions, 4 cooking pots, 3 bicycles, 2 dozen nets, and a propane cooker and tank!)

A set of bedding would include: pillow, pillow cover, sheets, and blanket.  As we bring new boys into the Home of Innocence we need to provide more bedding for them.  Also, for some boys we need to replace their bedding as it gets worn out.  Can you help provide a more comfortable nights sleep for these boys?

Eight sets of bedding (pillow, pillow cover, sheets, and blanket): cost $25 each, total cost $200

You can buy one set, or all eight, any amount you can give will help us to make each boy feel welcome in their new home.

You can give right here on our website by clicking on the “giving” tab and selecting general fund.  Once you get to your paypal payment screen there is a note section where you can state “12 Days” and what item you are giving towards.

Thank you & God bless you,

Lisa

my true love gave to me…
six jerry cans!
(5 comfy cushions, 4 cooking pots, 3 bicycles, 2 dozen nets, and a propane cooker and tank!)

Jerry cans are used for carrying and transporting water.  If you ever travel in Rwanda, or many other places in Africa, you will see jerry cans being used by everyone.  Even though the Home of Innocence has running water, there are times when the “running water” doesn’t run.  Water does not run all the time to everyone, and if you are in the dry season and run out of water then you need jerry cans.  You can go and get water from a public pump to bring home.

6 jerry cans: cost $2 each, total cost $12

On the Seventh Day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

7 place settings

(6 jerry cans, 5 com-fy cushions!, 4 cooking pots, 3 bicycles, two dozen nets, and a propane cooker and tank!)

A place setting would include: plate, cup, fork and spoon.  We have added more boys to the home, with more to come, and we need to make sure we have enough place settings so they don’t need to share!

7 place settings (plate, cup, spoon, fork): cost $5 each, total cost $35

Can you give towards one or more of these items?  You can give right here on our website by clicking on the “giving” tab and selecting general fund.  Once you get to your paypal payment screen there is a note section where you can state “12 Days” and what item you are giving towards.

Thank you for your gifts and prayers for the Home Of Innocence.

God Bless You,

Lisa

my true love gave to me… five couch cushions!
(4 cooking pots, 3 bicycles, 2 mosquito nets, and a propane cooker and tank!)

Inside the Home of Innocence there is a living room (sitting room they call it here) with a love seat, couch, and three chairs. There is one problem though, they all look like this…

Yes, they are just wooden frames. You see, they used to have cushions, but have I mentioned that this home has 12 active young boys in it? The material on the foam cushions just wasn’t up to the task, so now the boys are sitting on wood slats. They don’t ever complain about it, but we would really like them to be able to be comfortable in their own house.

Can you help them this Christmas?

Cushions for five pieces of furniture: $170 total.

Update: the cooking pots have been purchased! Thank you!

Please visit our giving page & you can make a contribution with a note that says “12 Days of Christmas” and the item you are donating towards.

God Bless You,

Lisa

my true love gave to me… four cooking pots
(three bicycles, 2 dozen mosquito nets, and a propane cooker and taaaank!)

This is one of the boys, Emmanuel, in the Home of Innocence who stepped in to help out the house auntie for a minute.  He looks a little self concious about being caught on camera, doesn’t he?  Cooking pots are a very simple thing, but as our household at the Home continues to grow we want to make sure our sweet auntie has what she needs in order to cook for all these hungry growing boys!  Have you ever seen how much teenage boys can eat?  Now imagine cooking for 12 (or more) of them! 

4 cooking pots, Cost: $7 each, or $28 total

Can you help provide this item from the Home’s wish list?  Please visit our giving page & you can make a contribution with a note that says “12 Days of Christmas” and the item you are donating towards.

Thank you for helping!

God Bless You,

Lisa

my true love gave to me… 3 bicycles! (And don’t forget: 2 dozen mosquito nets, and a propane cooker with taaaank!)

A bicycle is something not taken for granted in Rwanda.  It is a blessing.  While we may view a bicycle as something for pleasure, for many people in Rwanda a bicycle opens up whole new worlds to them.  If you do not have a car and take yourself most places by foot, a bicycle would save so much time!  There are even bicycle taxis in Rwanda- you ride on the back and they take you down the bumpy dusty side streets that the public bus system does not visit.  But with your own bicycle you can get yourself places without having to pay someone else to get you there.

Of course, there’s nothing saying that bikes in the Home of Innocence woudn’t also afford the kids the opportunity to just ride for fun like kids the world over do!  Kids deserve to just be carefree & have fun sometimes too!

Can you help provide a bike (or bikes) for the Home of Innocence? 

 3 bikes, cost: $100 each or $300 total.  I can imagine the looks on the kids faces if we delivered bikes to them- I guarantee you it would be worth every penny!

Please visit our giving page and under general fund indicate “12 Days of Christmas” and the item you are giving towards.  The items from day one and day two are still available to purchase also – see previous posts.

God Bless You!

Lisa

P.S.  Remember to look for Ten Talents International on facebook & “like” our page to be connected with us there.  Thank you!

my true love gave to me… 2 dozen mosquito nets!

Most of you have probably heard of malaria. In case you don’t know much about it, let me borrow this information from the World Health Organization: Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells.

Symptoms of malaria include fever, headache, and vomiting, and usually appear between 10 and 15 days after the mosquito bite. If not treated, malaria can quickly become life-threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs. In many parts of the world, the parasites have developed resistance to a number of malaria medicines.

A very cost effective and simple way to help prevent malaria is to sleep under mosquito nets.  The Home of Innocence needs new mosquito nets.  Can you help fill this item from their wish list?

2 dozen mosquito nets.  Cost $4 each, or $96 total.  Buy one, buy several, or buy them all.  Instead of giving a candle or tin of popcorn to someone, why not buy a mosquito net to help protect a former street child in Rwanda? 

Please visit our giving page and under general fund indicate “12 Days of Christmas” and the item you are giving towards.

God Bless You!

Lisa

P.S.  Look for Ten Talents International now on facebook & “like” our page.  You will get our updates & you can easily share these with your friends.  Thank you!

my true love gave to me… a cooker with a propane taaaaank!  (You’re singing this in your head, right?)

Right now, the Home of Innocence auntie cooks for the boys using the traditional Rwandan method- over charcoal outside.  Providing her with a propane cooker would not only give her an option that is easier and cleaner than charcoal, but propane also costs less to cook with and would save the Home of Innocence money. 

One cooker with propane tank: cost $100 — warm Christmas feelings and satisfaction from being generous come free!

Can you fulfill this item from the Home of Innocence wish list?  Please visit our giving page and under general fund indicate “12 Days of Christmas” and the item you are giving towards.

This is going to be a great Christmas!

God Bless You,
Lisa

Today is 12-12, what better day to kick off a very special “12 Days of Christmas”?  We would like to give everyone the opportunity to make this Christmas one to remember, both for you and for the boys in the Home of Innocence.  Each day, for the next 12 days, we are going to be highlighting one area that you can give towards.  Most are items needed in the Home, with the wish for the 12th day being that our “true love” would provide sponsors for 12 more children (the children waiting for sponsors are not in the Home of Innocence, but children in our “At Risk” program).  

Are you ready?  Join in the fun with us!  Just go to our giving page (see tab above) and give under the “general fund” just make sure that you write, in the note section “12 Days of Christmas” and what the donation is for.  Donations can also be mailed (see our address under the “contact” tab).

Here’s a sneak peek of what each day will look like- who doesn’t like to get a peak at their presents early, right?  (More information will be given on that specific day).

1st day: one propane cooker and tank, cost- $100

2nd day: two dozen mosquito nets ($4 each, or $48 total)

3rd day: three bicycles ($100 each, $300 total)

4th day: four cooking pots

5th day: 5 couch cushions

6th day: six gerry cans (for transporting and storing water)

7th day: seven place settings (plates, bowls, cups, forks, spoons)

8th day: eight sets of bedding (sheets, pillow, pillow case, blanket) 

9th day: nine backpacks (cost $6 each, or $54 total)

10th day: ten towels for bathing

11th day: eleven bags of charcoal (the main cooking fuel they use, cost $10 each, or $110 total)

12th day: twelve children sponsored (cost $35/month…  eternal benefits: priceless!)

Which of these items sounds interesting to you?  You don’t have to give all of a certain day’s item, but a part is fine too.  Subscribe to our blog (see the left sidebar) and you will get each day’s update.  Stay tuned for great reports and lots of fun to come!  This is way better than heading to the mall!

God Bless You,

Lisa

Another team was here last week from Texas and coordinated by All God’s Children International.  It is always a blessing to be able to share with visitors the work going on here in Rwanda.  We enjoyed our time with this group of 7 people, both children and adults, and we were even able to host them here in our home.  They have safely made the journey back across the ocean now & we pray that God continues to seal in their hearts the things he showed them while they were here.

Out of the many activities the team did during the week they were here, two made a special impact on our Ten Talents sponsored children.  The first was they took several hours one afternoon to host a mini- Vacation Bible School for the sponsored kids.  It is their long break from school right now, the time between when they have finished one school year and are waiting for January to start the next one (like the summer break we have in the US).  We invited all sponsored children to come and participate, and by the showing of around 40 kids (including those in the Home of Innocence) I would say just about every one of them was there.  They had a great afternoon of crafts, activities, songs, and Bible teaching.  As the afternoon was winding down, we had the (almost) daily rain storm come in.  No problem, the kids just moved under a covered area next to the Home of Innocence and someone brought out the big drum.  They started singing and dancing.  It was a great sight to behold everyone, big and small, just purely enjoying themselves.

Another project they worked on was done alongside a few of the older boys in the Home of Innocence.  Together they built two rabbit hutches.  Our intention is that the boys will eventually be able to build them on their own and be able to sell the hutches.  We also are going to give them rabbits so they can start raising rabbits both for themselves and to sell.  We hope that both of these projects will be a great investment and benefit to the Home.

I would also like to add that we have brought two more boys into the Home of Innocence.  Alex & Frank are total orphans, brothers, and although they had been living with a man (unrelated to them) they were about to get kicked out.   These boys are about 13 and 14 years old.  Please pray for their transition into the Home, as well as for all of our boys in the Home.  We are praying for God’s guidance as we look to add more children to the Home, but we want to make sure it is in His timing & under His direction.

God Bless You,

Lisa