and.. we also had a small fire...
Some of the older children were using an appliance in the RELC library, which became hot.They responsibly put it away when it overheated, but placed it on the school musical instruments which were flammable. The result was a small fire that was alarming but easily extinguished with a fire extinguisher. The drum and lyre and some teaching materials were lost and there was quite a bit of clean up from the extinguisher. Thankfully the kids were safe and learned an important lesson about heat, fire and electronics !

On October 21, the Rehoboth clinic was used for “Free Eye Mobile Check-up” which was led by the Lions Club Association. There were 59 people who received their new eye glasses. Ten (10) of those were Rehoboth staff and the others are from the local community of Sampaloc.

In the month of October, there were 8 babies born at the clinic and as of November 21st we had 2 births for November.

The Pogi boys  (an affectionate name for our farm workers) are still preparing for mushroom cultivation - as with many things, they need a few more items to get it all happening. While preparing for their mushrooms, they were also busy with other crops. This month, they will harvest mustard, pechay, raddish, and chili (we have a buyer for our chilli leaves each week).  A few weeks from now, they will harvest more of the same crops as well as eggplant, string beans, baguio beans and papaya which the children love to eat during merienda (snack time). They also planted garlic and onion.

Our piglets weren't growing well and costing us too much to feed for the rate they were growing.... so we ate them for dinner. We purchased another 5 piglets, which have more growth potential according to Kuya Eric. He will be the one in-charge of taking care of the pigs - so we are confident these new ones will grow much quicker ! Eric is our master gardener, maintenance guru, mister fix-it, site manager for projects and all around wonderful staff member and leader of the Pogi boys. We are so thankful for his long standing contributions to Rehoboth.

Water @Rehoboth - Do you know what a pozo is?

The Pozo is a small well in the courtyard of Rehoboth. The “sapatilya” aka shim and gasket or pump of the pozo has stopped working. It is very old and is disintigrating. When the pozo is ready to use it can help to decrease the cost of the water bill. Elson looked like he had the most fun dismanting it to find the source of the problem.

Van Need - Update

We are excited to start the journey of getting a new van. We received  AU$2000 from Nancy and Geoff in seed money to get us underway. In November around USD$5000 (we are still finalising the amount) was added to the contributons from a fundraiser that Michael and Maureen held in New York. It looks like this car will be pieced toegther from around the globe ! Here is the car situation as of today... In October Elson changed the carbon of the starter. On November 17 he changed the two tires at the back. The van is still being used but it is getting to the point of becoming a little dangerous. In fact, the floor of the van has become so rusty that Elson has had to put some cardboard from boxes to support the flooring and ensure that glimpses of the road can't be seen as we drive along ! Underneath the side window (pink stripe above wheel in image below), around the back window and the side mirror are also rusting - so our van which has served so well for so many years is disintigrating with each trip. 

If you would like to add to the funds set aside please go to the website to the general funds donation page , and add a note that you would like your donation directed toward a van. 

Fundraising
A magnificant event was recently held in Tarrytown, New York to raise funds for Rehoboth. Michael and Maureen Verdeschi and their sons and some friends spent countless hours arranging a formal Casino night event with silent auction for the sole purpose of supporting Rehoboth. Michael and Maureen and their boys welcomed Sammi Euan into their family just a year and a half ago from Rehoboth. 

You may have noticed the pie chart/graph I included last newsletter, outlining the sources of Rehoboth's funding. At the beginning of the year, we can with some certainty anticipate the sources of about 65% of our funding. We are so thankful to have child sponsors and regular donors, church partners and visitors who regularly give. Families who adopt also give a gift to Rehoboth via the childcare support fund. We anticipate a hole of about US$51,000 each year...with sources unkown.

Looking at the books and anticipated needs for the end of the year, we were faced with a $20,000 deficit. A huge mountain in our minds. Michael and Marueen raised enough to fill the need until the end of the year and also contribute toward the purchase of a van. We are so thankful for all the time, effort and energy that went in to the event. 

The lovely thing about Rehoboth is that across the globe, we all work together so that kids can have a loving and caring family. The budget puzzle is incomplete without the $5 pocket money gift, the $35 a month child sponsorship, the bake sale money, the percentage from a small business profit, the quarterly church contribution, the partner organisations or the fundraising events...and the budget is one of many puzzles. Thank you to each of the people who give, who pray, who offer words of encouragement to the staff and spend quality time with the kids while visiting, who welcome Rehoboth kids to their families forever, who love the staff, who are the staff! Thank you for working together to make positive changes in the lives of these little ones. We can only do this together.

If you have been to Rehoboth recently and would like to share your experience in our newsletter, please contact me