The Comfort Transformation Centre (CTC) is our biggest ever financial undertaking as a charity and we are so excited about the transforming effect that it will have on thousands of lives, partnering with local heroes to provide safe accommodation, education, community, nutrition, leisure facilities, a hub for Comfort Rwanda activities and much more. There has been lots of progress and we want to keep you abreast of all that’s going on.
Building progress
The concrete work, footings, framing, ground beams and plinth columns are all completed on the ground floor, with the ground floor ceiling, which doubles as the first floor concrete flooring, and first floor columns for one of the main wings also completed. The ‘trunk’ (the part of the building between the wings) is now having its ground floor ceiling and first floor concrete flooring put in place. It’s great to see the building take shape. We appreciate the hard work of Comfort Rwanda moving this forward. Many of the teams who went out last Summer were also able to get involved with the building work and our special thanks go to all of the amazing volunteers from Brechin High School, Arbroath Academy and all the other teams from last year!
We have also been amazed by the contribution of many of the older and graduated children from Street Kids Rescue projects. It is a great testimony to the transformation in their lives that they are so willing to give time and skills free for the sake of other children following in their footsteps.
Ongoing need
There have been two confirmations over recent months of the urgent necessity of the Transformation Centre. The first is the challenge of street child drug use. Nearly all street children in Kigali, from a very young age, take drugs and alcohol, sniff glue and petrol and do whatever they can to blot out the pain of life on the streets. They are usually heavily addicted by the time they come on the projects. Most stop drug use more or less immediately – the hope of a better future, the support of the Comfort Rwanda team, and often the help of a meaningful faith brings radical change.
Some, like Sifa (not her real name) pictured right telling her story recently, struggle over the years and eventually triumph. However, for a substantial number, especially those where there is drug use in the home (for those whose families are local) or among the peer group, it can be very difficult to escape the drugs. Some children, despite the best efforts of the team, have been arrested and taken to ‘rehabilitation centres’ which have received a fair amount of criticism for the way the children are being treated, although, for some, it has helped. One of the key benefits of the Transformation Centre is that it will provide much better support for those wrestling with drugs – it will be well away from where they have been accessing drugs and will enable children to be fully supervised until they are free from drug use. As such it will be critical for many children who otherwise would struggle to make progress.
The second confirmation was the discovery of a significant number of children at Kanombe in Kigali living on the streets. A new project was urgently needed and the children began receiving immediate support but finding suitable accommodation has been a considerable challenge to providing all-round support for the children in the early months of the project. We are hopeful that this challenge is solved, but it highlights the need for an immediate place of refuge and support for the children. The temptation for them to go back onto the streets, when they do not have a safe secure place to live along with loving consistent care, is a real concern. Some children went back to parental or familial homes and were badly abused, with other accommodation needing to be found. The CTC will give that ability for a much better response when children are found on the streets.
So we are praying, trusting and working towards a better future for the children at the Comfort Transformation Centre which we believe will be a place of hope and joy for hundreds of children over the coming years. Thank you to everyone who has been involved in this amazing project so far, and please continue to pray with us, tell people about the CTC, and raise funds so we can make this a reality sooner. Thank you!