Ok, here is yet another house construction story, we hope you aren’t getting tired of them, I know we aren’t. They just represent how much lives can be changed with so little money. We have money donated for seven more homes as of this week, thanks guys!!

 

Joyce is a widow who slept on a porch with her two grandchildren until just this week. Her daughter-in-law left her son and the kids a while ago and her son has no interest in raising the children. We met her because she was the owner of a small plot of land in the Banda slums that we had heard might be available to purchase for Deborah, the woman in the next part of this story. This land had been left to Joyce by her late uncle but she never had the money or manpower to build on it. Tim made her a deal: if she sold us half the plot to build a house for Deborah, Tim would build her a house on the other half. Joyce happily accepted. Joyce’s house was paid for by a really neat family from Alberta (they are my relatives, so I’m a little biased!)

 

Deborah is a widowed mother of five children; three girls and two boys, two of her kids are attending our school. She was two months behind in her rent and her landlord had confiscated all of her belongings until she could pay. Deborah’s income just wasn’t enough, she had been washing clothes for university students for mere pennies a piece and this time of year made it even worse since the students were all on break, she was really struggling. As Tim, Matt, Wycliffe & Moses constructed her house, she was there everyday to lend a hand and has now settled into her new (and rent-free) house thanks to another caring family from Ontario. We were given a little extra by this family which really makes this story special because we needed a little extra to purchase her land and pay off her rent debt to get her stuff back, very cool! Both Joyce and Deborah also received enough mattresses, blankets and mosquito nets for their families.

 

A second family from Ontario is taking care of Deborah by giving her a micro loan to begin a charcoal selling business so she can greatly improve her earning capacity and thus provide for her family. Awesome!

 

Please click on the youtube link to see the construction of Joyce and Deborah’s house.