The end of a hard week !

Its been a long hard week trying to pull everything together for the official launch of build an orphanage in a day.
We have been working frantically for the last 3 weeks since we found that Alan and Dorothy would be in Ireland for a couple of weeks at the end of August. We knew that when they were here it would be the perfect opportunity to kick this project off properly.
Firstly I want to thank all the people that have helped me so much in pulling this all together.
Clare has been amazing putting together the website, graphic design, brochures, posters, t shirts, invites, stickers, and many other things. She has been patient with me every time I called to ask for something else.
Paddy and Peter have done a great job at editing and compiling the DVD's and video presentations even though they didnt have the time they still fitted it in. I definitely couldnt do it without you.
Alan Lowry has pulled in at short notice and has made so much happen and has set up the Bangor launch night which is set to be an amazing night.
Alan and Dorothy who got out of bed with terrible colds to do some video clips to share with you all.
Donna Boyle who has been here stuffing envelopes full of literature and organising the mailing and will be handling all the media contacts in the next few weeks.
And a special thank you to my wife Kim who hasn't seen much of me in the last few weeks but has rarely complained. She is my inspiration and my rock!
And also a big thank you to everyone else who has pulled in and offered to help with the launch nights you all make a big difference.
Even as I write this I am moved by how much support I have received in the last few weeks. I came up with the vision for this project but without the help of so many others it would stay a pipe dream.
Over the next weeks and months I will be doing regular updates here to keep you informed with the fund raising and with the renovation and construction of this orphanage and will also be posting as many new video updates as possible.
This is an exciting time and I hope you will get involved and help build this orphanage.
In the mean time here is our new introduction video
Alistair

Welcome from Zimbabwe

Dear Friends, we greet you in Jesus name whilst lying in bed having been knocked over with a flu bug which is rampant over Harare at the moment. We have been out of the picture for a week or so now which corresponds with the amount of time our phone has been down! major power cuts have been hitting us for months now which means you cannot rely on the phones, which run on batteries apparently, if we have no power which is true for 90% of the week then we have no water! The zim dollar has been devalued and they have knocked 10 zeros of the currency, YES 10 zeros, an apple was costing 50 billion dollars! it now costs 5 dollars with the devaluation, of course there is no money in the banks, the maximum allowed out when they have money is the equivelant of 50 UScents a day, it really is a battle every day to live and survive here in zim.....BUT GOD has been helping us, we lack no good thing, We are fortunate to be able to travel to South Africa periodically and get food etc which is ok for us but the local people have no such luxury, there is hunger and want on every corner, pray for us as we seek to source food for the orphanages and schools, it is available at times but only at US dollar rate at extortianate prices.

Some exciting news now re JABULANI CHILDRENS VILLAGE, after praying and speaking with various friends here in Harare we have decided NOT to pursue our original idea of building a whole new village for the children, there are a number of reasons, the main one being Government interference and then planning permission and Dorothy always thought we should be in the city rather than rural areas as the childrens opportunities for education and further up the line jobs would be limited in the rural areas.

So believing God is leading us, we have found a property on 2.5 acres of land just 5 minutes from our house in Marlborough for £70000 sterling Hallelujah! it needs some work done on it, a new kitchen, some more showers and toilets etc but it looks ideal for what we want to do. We hope to have the sale etc finished by mid September and then get the work done before Christmas which would enable us to open up in early january with our first babies ...Hallelujah we are soooo excited. The country is full of babies who have been orphaned and abandoned, especially here in Harare, we have some contacts in Social Welfare and we will have no problem getting 10 babies to start us. We will have the main house at the beginning for the first babies and then plan to build cottages for 6 children as they grow and move them in there, we hope to have around 24 children in total, perhaps more we will see what God says. We are still disturbed by God with this vision to rescue babies, this will not impinge on our CEF work as we will not be involved in the day to day running of Jabulani, I imagine we will be there at some stage of each day but our goal is to keep preaching the Gospel wherever and whenever we can amen

Please pray for this project, we need finances, people, favour with the authorities, energy! and lots more to make this happen, most of all we need GOD, who can do exceedingly more than we can ask or think Praise God...pray also for 300000 ( three hundred thousand ) Wonder Devotional books which have arrived in Zimbabwe for us to distribute at Good News Clubs and schools, these will be such a blessing to the whole country, we need favour with the Govt to distribute these, pray God will open the door. Schools close next week which means we will be involved with Holiday Bible Clubs in many areas of Harare, the team will be stretched but the children are waiting, pray for an outpouring of Gods Spirit on all our endeavours. We also have teacher training classes throughout August and the whole team are taking computer classes which will help us all to be computer literate!! some of us anyway!

Last but not least, Kuda continues to woo everyone who meets her, she is almost double the weight she was when we found her in the hospital, or was it she found us! she is nearly 5kg now, she will be 9 months on 10th August, despite what the doctors say about her we see her growing in every way, pray for her and us as we seek to raise her up in the ways of God and show her the love she needs so much. Our prayer is that she will grow in stature, wisdom and in favour with God and man....He who began the good work will complete it Amen Primrose is also a real blessing, a quiet wee girl who is full of fun and joy, she just loves being with us and is a real sister to Kuda.

All our love and prayers to you our dear friends,

Alan and Dorothy

Kicking it all off !

Welcome to my first post for Build an Orphanage in a day.
To Kick this off let me start by explaining the background to this !

Why I want to build an orphanage in a day

In November 2007 Myself and my wife went to Zimbabwe to work with Alan and Dorothy Graham in the Orphanages and schools that they support. It was our 10^th wedding anniversary so we wanted to go on a special memorable trip but little did we realise how life changing it would be.

Coming from a life of plenty in Ireland to see people with no money, no food and for many no hope was quite an experience but the shocking thing was that through everything these people are experiencing they still had a smile on their faces and were genuinely grateful for what little they had rather than being bitter about what they didn’t have. Their attitude really blew me away and humbled me.

I am a guitar builder by trade so I built a guitar for Alan to use in his work but when Alan heard how much the guitar was worth he asked me to take it home and sell it because what the people really need is food and medicine rather than a guitar. I thought about it and decided to leave the guitar with Alan as a blessing to his work but went home and listed a guitar on ebay with all the proceeds going to Zimbabwe.

The response was amazing and rather than selling one guitar I actually sold 2 and raised US$3,000 for their work. To build these guitars took a small amount of effort for me but the money raised will have a huge impact in Zimbabwe where a teacher only earns US$25 per month. That means that what I was able to earn from building 2 guitars could pay a teacher for 10 years. That is an incredible thought and it made me realise that each and every one of us in the developed world can have a massive impact by giving just one day of our time and skills no matter what that might be.

This was the moment that build an orphanage in a day came to life. Ordinary people doing ordinary things to create extraordinary results. Your one day spent in your office or driving a taxi or working in a factory or washing windows or whatever will pay for a carpenter or a builder or a plumber etc to build that orphanage and everyday you give will provide many days of labour locally. Not only does this help us build the orphanage but it also provides employment locally in an area where there is 80% unemployment so every one wins.

I hope you will share my vision and see this orphanage built using your one day!

Alistair Hay