Big Building Projects Completed in 2017

Our “Honey-do” list is always a long one at Upendo Children’s Village! This past year we did a lot of maintenance on our existing facilities. We parged the surface of the brick wall surrounding the village to keep the bricks from eroding, put gutters along the front of the houses to alleviate ground erosion, reglazed the exterior of the second story windows on the guest house to prevent window panes from falling out, and fixed some corroded and leaking water pipes.

We also were able to complete several infrastructure projects which will greatly improve the quality of life for the children and staff at Upendo. We installed solar lights in the residential houses so the kids can do their schoolwork in the evenings. This worked out well and so we installed a solar street light in the courtyard to allow for group activities after dark.

Most recently we finished building a new outhouse to replace the one that washed away in a heavy rain. Another improvement that was made to our “plumbing” in 2017 was installing a filtration system for the municipal water supply in the compound to prevent clogging of pipes and damage to faucets from sand in the water.

This year we also built several picnic tables in the courtyard for meals, crafts, and homework, and expanded the playground with two new seesaws and a new swing set for the smaller kids.

But perhaps the biggest hit were the two new go karts we built!

Visit our Projects page to find out more about our plans for 2018 and how you can help.