At last an update!

Well its 6 weeks now since the official launch of build an orphanage in a day and what a 6 weeks its been.
It was a crazy rush in the run up to the launch trying to get all the invites out, doing media and promotional stuff, building a website and getting all the print stuff together and remarkably we brought it all together in about 4 very hectic weeks. A big thank you to everyone who helped so much you were all amazing and without you this would not have happened.
We had two launch nights, one in Bangor on the 5th of September and one in Derry on the 8th and both were great nights. We had 200 people in Bangor despite the weather being horrendous and we had similar numbers in Derry.
It was a privilege to finally share our dream and the response we got was overwhelming with so many people giving very generous donations.
On the night both myself and Alan spoke about the project and we showed a number of video clips about the orphanage and about the work in Zimbabwe and we also had a very special greeting from former Snooker world champion Shaun Murphy who has been involved with Alans work for a few years now. Check out this video greeting from Shaun.

After the launch I came down with a bad flu and I think it was my bodies way of saying it needed a rest and then when I got over that I had to get back into work and catch up on everything so that is why there has been such a delay in updating the blog, I do apologise and I hope to give you more regular updates in the coming weeks and months.
We raised a huge amount of money on the launch nights and everyday since there have been envelopes in the post with more donations. Its remarkable how you all have supported this project and your generosity has allowed work to start on the orphanage already.
Heres an update that I got from Alan the other day

“Jabulani is getting a huge facelift! After purchasing the property for abandoned babies we have set about changing all the electrics in the house, we have been knocking walls down and building a new dining room, we have gutted the bathrooms and replacing them and adding 2 new showers and a toilet, adding a new kitchen, we have purchased all the fridges and freezers, stoves and washing machines, we have been cutting trees down and drilling a borehole, praise GOD we found water and will have enough to keep us going for a long time according to the drillers, we have the painters in and its looking great.
We were visiting the local hospital where we found Kuda 5 months ago and they wanted us to take more babies who had been found in the city, we couldnt take them as we await the house finishing and health services finalising our application to open the childrens home, BUT we did see the need for Jabulani as more and more babies are thrown away by dear people who cannot take care of them for whatever reasons, pray for us as we recruit staff and wait on the necessary permits etc,”

If you havent already seen the Orphanage check out this video


Its all happening over there and its so exciting to hear how its coming along.
We hope to have Jabulani up and running by January and with the current crisis in Zimbabwe there is certainly a huge demand for it. With 800,000 orphans in Zimbabwe we are barely going to scratch the surface of the need but with your help we can give a life and a home to many children.
Thank you for everything and God bless!
Alistair Hay