UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

NOW HERE IS HOW IT ALL STARTED ON THE OMIDYAR NETWORK :)

Unbelievable DonationPosted to: Ray B-r-o-s-s-e-u-k (CCAL30) (1414) by Ray B-r-o-s-s-e-u-k (CCAL30) (1414), Fri, 21 Jan 2005 22:00:13 PST Edited: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 08:28:55 PST Feedback score: 2010 (* * * * * * * * * ) Tags: community success Comments: 1356 by 62 members (most recent: 9 weeks ago by Lois *~end all wars~ Brayton (CCAL30) (346)) Viewed: 18672 times by 552 members

Original first Post.

My wife and I were just given two transport truckloads of construction nails, 37 tons, all in 50 lb boxes. We will be shipping them overseas to be used for the rebuilding in the tsunami region and also some into the south pacific for the building of schools and dormitories ect.

I can't tell you how incredible this is. I went home this week to unload all of them into my warehouse; I am a little sore right now. It will take more than five, forty-foot containers this year to get all the nails shipped. We will be able to put roughly 7 or 8 tons per container and the rest will be clothes, shoes, food ect, otherwise the container will be to heavy, maximum weight forty two thousand pounds.

These nails were from Tree Island Nails in Vancouver It just goes to show you that there is really good people out there. All we have to do if we want to make a difference in this world is believe we can and move forward (action) with that belief and commitment and it will happen. I asked the owner why he would give such a large donation and he said he was inspired by what my wife and I are trying to do and just wanted to help. So it just goes to show you that if you just start trying even if the nay sayers say it can’t be done keep on trying

Pictures

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2 005-1/938053/IMG_2608.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2 005-1/938053/IMG_2610.JPG

Thanks again

Ray

Almost 3 years have gone by since this first post on Unbelievable Donations.

Here is the overview of what happened in 2005, 2006 and 2007

January to April 2005 Donated items start to come in.~~ April 2005 tried to send a container to Sri Lanka for Tsunami relieve, unable to, due to political problems in Sri Lanka~~ April 24/2005 Shipped a full 40 ft container to Fiji, with some items going on to Papua New Guinea. Arrived May 27th~~ June 20th/2005 Shipment of items to Tanzania, Toye Wigley’s project~~ September 16th/2005 Shipped computers, clothing and schoolbooks to Belize Central America~~ September 30th/2005 another 40ft container to Fiji, arrived Nov 16th.~~ August 7th/2005 40ft container to Phuket,Thailand, Meron Moroz project~~ October 3rd/2005 40 ft container to Ghana,West Africa.~~ November 2005 Started working on a project with David Bale for Bread Line Africa to ship containers to Africa.~~ December 2005 trying to send items to Moses’ school project in Sudan.~~ December 2005 started working on sending a 40 ft container of dehydrated food, clothes and tents to Gabriel’s Project in Sudan Africa. I think this is the most exciting and meaningful project to date.~~

I want to say that this has been an amazing year and it could not have been done without all of your support.

Ray and Jackie Brosseuk

SUMMARY OF 2006 PROJECTS

Breadline Africa Kids in Cans, thanks goes to David Bale~~ Stop Genocide wristbands Completed, sent the wristbands that we did not sell along with a check to Gabriel.~~ The Sudan & Chad Refugee camps project Completed, all the money was sent to Gabriel.~~ Sudan School project with Moses We raised money and sent it to Moses.~~ Shipment to Fiji in May Completed, A close personal friend donated the funds required, Jackie and I sent cash to help pay for the distribution costs throughout the islands.~~ Shipments to Swaziland Children’s Aids Orphans Two containers a 40ft and a 20ft were sent in Feb.~~ June 25th another 40ft container to Swaziland Arrived, distributed.~~ Kamae Children Money sent to them in August.~~ Oct 15th another 40ft container to Swaziland Arrived Dec 18th, All Paid for and distributed~~ Nov 15th another 40ft container to Swaziland Arrived, all Paid for.~~ Kitchen Building for the kids under the tree Completed, we gave them a container to use, they are trying to sell it and then use the funds to build a block building.~~ Second Life, Better World Island Jackie and I were asked if we would take over Better World Island in 2006, we are thrilled with the potential of this Virtual world and the enormous possiblities that lie ahead.~~

2006 was an amazing year, Thanks to the O-Net community and to all of you who helped make this happen.

Ray

SUMMARY OF 2007 PROJECTS TO DATE

February 2007 Swaziland & Lesotho I flew down to clear the container thru customs and to help distribute both of them. While I was there, I met up with Anna & Beth from Salt Spring Island and Meron Meroz flew down and joined us 2 weeks later. We all helped with the distribution of the items. It was one of the most rewarding and memorable trips (fun too:) Meron and others from her community countinue to support the people in Lesotho and are arranging the shipment of another container this year. Cost of both containers was $17,190~~ May 2007 Fiji A 40 ft container sent, $7,960~~ June 2007 Swaziland a 40 ft container sent, arriving soon cost $8,700. August 2007 sent another container to Swaziland, cost $8,700.~~ October 2007 sent another container to Swaziland, cost $8,200.~~ October 2007 sent another container to Lesotho, cost $8,100.~~

Jackie and I are commited to continue sending containers of much needed items to the unfortunate children of Africa and other parts of the world.

Total expenditures for 2005, 2006, and 2007 to date, were well over $200,000 U.S.

As you can see, it has been an amazing journey over the last three years and it's great to be able to continue sharing the stories with you here at NED.

Thanks again for all the support each one of you have given and most of all I want to say THANK YOU on behalf of all the children you have helped through out the world. I know if they could write to you here, they would say thank you for giving me some clothes and the soup for me to eat and for the toys I play with now and the books I learn to read and most of all, thank you for showing me that you love me

Ray & Jackie Brosseuk

Partners For Others

Looking forward to a great 2008 at NED

Here are some links to videos taken over the past few years

Also here is the link to the stories behind the videos

http://www.ned.com/group/pfo/new s/4/

Lesotho

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F wUfwFiNXns

Fiji Boat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6 Vt-3FTTQAc

Swaziland water tank

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=GL iUwDwraLA

Namatakula Fiji

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u y61miKL4Xw

Boy with one leg Fiji

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s w8HS9ReJw4

20 yr School Reunion Fiji

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=IY B5deJZsIo

Last comment added: Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:31:09 PST

Comment 1 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

glad to see you here Ray!

Comment 2 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Thanks, it's good to be back on.

The only problem is I left it to long and now I can't remember everything that's happened since Sept 7 but I'll try.

Ray

Comment 3 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Well here goes the trying.

I last posted about a container to Swaziland on Aug 10th, well it arrived about 3 weeks ago and the distribution is going great.

I've been speaking with Mfana a lot about all the needs and how he is managing the distribution and we felt that it would be nice if he could be able to take pictures and videos and get them over to me some how so I can share them with everyone.

Well about 3 weeks ago I sent him $600 U.S. and he went and bought a new Panasonic 80 gig digital video camera. He says it’s amazing and he can’t wait to send us some video.

This week I decided to send him another $2,000 so he can buy a new Computer and be able to hook up to the internet via a cell phone card. He will be able to make videos and up load them up to youtube for all of us to watch soon:)

I am going to invite him here so we can get the up to date info all the time. I like this idea, I think it’s going to make my job a lot easier.

Ray

Comment 4 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Well I’ll start telling some of the stories and let Jackie and Mfana fill in the details later.

Mfana and us have been working towards setting up sustainable businesses for people we have been helping. One of the projects we are starting right now is to help 10 women in a village buy some goats. The project is costing us about $2,000 U.S. Mfana and the women have done a business plan already and set up a repayment plan so our little micro fund hopefully never dries up:)

He has also involved the Ministry of Agriculture in this project and they will be advising the women on all sorts of things like breeding, feeding and helping with sales of the meat. The ministry is also going to take some of the money to go and buy the best kind of Billy goat for meat from South Africa, they will also do the paperwork to bring it into the country for the ladies.

Next on the list are chickens for another group of women.

Ray

Comment 5 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Wonderful to see you here Ray. I know you've been missed.

: )

Comment 6 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Ok today is the day:)

Meron has managed to orginize another container to Lesotho. She has raising all the funding and the collection of items to send. (which is not an easy thing to do, so hats off to her:)

I am on my way up to Hope B.C. were we will unload the 2 trucks coming from Salt Spring this morning and reload it all into a container and then off to the port of Vancouver.

The container will go thru the the Pacific ocean to Asia then down past Australia, then thru the Indian Ocean to Durban South Africa, then by rail to Lesotho. Only 42 days this way instead of 55 across Canada and the Atlantic ocean.

Well have to run, will tell you how it went tonight.

Ray

Comment 7 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Fantastic to see you log in Ray. Happy to see the container get off the island as well.

Comment 8 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Great to see this thread here.

:-))

We "Neded" it !!

Comment 9 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Thanks Mark and Michael, great to be here:)

Well one of the uhaul drivers got lost for an hour and the rain was coming down heavy and most of the people who said they would help load didn't show up, but we managed to get it done.

Container arrived at Hope at 12:30pm, by 2pm the uhaul trucks from SaltSpring arrived and we started loading. I must say there was some really nice stuff collected from the people of Salt Spring.

By 5pm I was slowing down alot but I kept thinking of Mamello's smiling face and it kept me going, managed to finish by 6pm. Then I raced to drop off the uhaul drivers for the 7:20pm ferry to SaltSpring, missed it by 4 minutes so they stayed the night and caught the early morning one.

All in all it went well, I know for the next few months it will be like Christmas for Mamello and the kids as they open up bags and boxes.

Thanks to all who helped Meron pull this off.

Ray

Comment 10 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Friday morning I was getting ready to head home when I received 3 phone calls. First one was from the truck driver who brought the container to Hope on Thursday. He had 1200 lbs of dried peas for me to pick up, so I raced down to his yard in Richmond and loaded them in my truck.

Then I got a call from Julian Tile who said they have 6 pallets of ceramic tiles (about 10,000lbs) for us to pick up.

Then another call from a paint warehouse in Surrey saying they have 6 pallets of 1 gallon cans of latex paint about 100 gallons per pallet.

Needless to say my truck would not even begin to haul that much weight so I have hired a transport truck to pick it all up this week and bring it to us.

While I was juggling all this this week, I managed to finish my dealers liscence course and recieved my dealers liscence. Then I went to the dealer auction in Vancouver and bought a couple of cars and trucks to sell which will help pay for all the containers going out.

Anyone looking for a good car, call Meron:) she bought a nice 2005 Pontiac SunFire:)

On the drive home I called Mfana in Swaziland to see how things were going, he and the boys were actually out in a rural area down by the eastern border distributing clothes and stuff when I called. They were so happy I could hear all the people in the back ground laughing and shouting and Mfana said he was so happy.

He said, thank you for sending us these things so I can help my people, I have never been so happy doing anything else in my life, helping people gives me a joy that I can't even find words for.

He said they were taking video and as soon as the new computer and internet were up and going they would start to put it on youtube:):):):)

Ray

Comment 11 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Happy to see you Ray here and the Unbelievable Donation Thread.

Comment 12 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Wow time is flying by, sorry I’ve been neglecting to post but I’ll try and remember everything that has happened and fill you in.

I finished clearing and leveling all the land on our farm for the new charity warehouse. I went and bought an excavator and bulldozer to get it all done before the snow fell. I cleared an area about 110 m x 60 m (340ft x 190ft) I plan on starting to build around the first of May when all the snow is gone. I am estimating that the new building will cost about $65,000 to finish, and will take about 3 months to build.

Clothes have been coming in at such an incredible rate that we hired Jackie’s mom to come and help us run the warehouse. She has sorted, folded and baled over 600 bales (40,000lbs) since she arrived.

So much stuff is coming in that we will be shipping 3 containers in Jan to clear it all out. Clothes, Soup mix, 2000 gal of latex paint, 26,000 lbs of ceramic tile, shoes, purses, belts, computers, medical equipment and supplies, 6 tons of fruit bars, school books, fabric, welders, generators, chainsaws and grass cutters and much more.

Ray

Comment 13 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

I am currently in Swaziland because Jackie and I got an email from a Canadian lady who was in Swaziland in Nov, she said she went through the Mbabane hospital (ward 8 the children’s ward) and she said, she saw a little baby girl who had been abandoned at birth, found then dropped of at the hospital back on Sept 11. As soon as we read the email Jackie and I really felt something about this little girl, so I made some call to see if we could help her in anyway. After talking to a few people who we know there, we were told that when babies are abandoned at the hospital they usually end up there for a very long time because there is no room at any other place.

So Jackie and I talked and we decided that I should fly over right away and see what I could do for the baby, it just broke our hearts too think that she would spend years in the hospital without someone to really love her.

I arrived in Swaziland on the 10th of Dec and went straight to the director of Social Welfare to explain to her why I was there and to ask her if we could help this little girl. She listened carefully and then said “well we already know you from Kieara’s adoption and from all the work you are doing for our orphans here in Swaziland so if you want, you can adopt this little one too” Jackie and I had discussed this option and could only wish that it may be possible but here I was and the lady was saying just what we so wanted to hear:):):):)

I asked her, how soon could we have her and she said “just a minute I will make a call”, she called the Social Welfare lady who handled the adopting of Kieara for us. And when she hung up the phone she said “you can go to the hospital right now and get her if you want”:):):):)

I drove right up to ward 8 and asked for the head nurse, when she saw me, she said, “I don’t know who you are but no one comes into my ward without any papers and gets one of my babies. I swallowed hard and said, didn’t Mrs. S call you and let you know I was coming over, she looked at me for a minute and said “yes she did and I don’t know what you did to be able to get her so quickly but come with me”.

She took me down the hall of ward 8 to the very end and asked me to write down all my particulars in a hospital logbook and to sign it. After I did this, I saw one of the other nurses in the corner starting to change a baby. My mind was racing, wondering if she was the one? Then the head nurse said, “Where is the mother”? I said she is in Canada and will be coming soon, she looked me over again and said “so who will look after the baby till she comes” I nervously said, I will along with some maids at my home in Manzini, she frowned a bit and I assured her that I have 4 other kids and was able to do this. She looked at me again and said, “Ok where is your baby carrier and all the things you will need to look after her”?

I said in the car, she said, “ok go and get it and show me. I ran back to the car and grabbed everything and brought it in, she pulled everything out of the dipper bag and then smiled and said” ok it looks like you have everything” At that moment I was whispering Thank you Jackie, as she was the one who put the diaper bag together for me before I left:)

Two of the nurses came over and took the bag and started pulling out all the stuff again, I could see that they liked everything they saw. They picked out an out fit and started to dress the baby, then I knew at that moment that she was the little one, so I went over and waited till they were done and then one of the nurses picked her up and handed her to me. I can’t tell you all the emotions that I went thru at that moment, I immediately called Jackie while I was just standing there to tell her I was holding her baby girl:) she started weeping for joy. I tried to hang on to it in front of the nurses but with little success.

Now that we have her, the next part of the process has begun. I changed my return ticket home from Dec 23rd to Jan 13th, this is when Jackie and Kieara will fly down to Swaziland and the older 3 kids will stay home with Jackie's mom until I fly home on the 13th to ship 3 containers and then return to Swaziland with the rest of the kids on the first of Feb. We will stay in Swaziland until the first week or so of April when the adoption process will be completed and Caela Theresia Temhlanga (pronounced Temshlangya) Brosseuk is all ours and we can go home with our newest addition to the family.

Ray

Comment 14 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

On Christmas eve I was sitting at Mfana’s house (the young man who we are working with here to help with all the distribution) a container that we shipped at the end on Oct arrived, it drove in and the driver jumped out and said you got 4 hrs to unload it. We made a few quick calls and in a matter of minutes 12 young men from the community were there to help. It took us 3 hrs to unload it, we put everything into the two containers we had on the ground there and now we are ready for some more distribution.

We put together our first micro financing project last week:) 15 ladies from one of the near by community came together with a plan to help the orphans of their community. The plan was to raise goats and sell them, They said they would come up with 3 goats each and all they needed was the money to buy some more goats, plus a large breeding male goat, a special kind from South Africa which is better for meat. The money needed was also for constructing a building and an enclosure for the goats and medicines.

We read the business plan and it sounded really good so we started asking around to see if we could get some people back home to fund it, We had a few people say they were interested but they never came through so Jackie decided to supply the $2,700 cnd her self to get it started (I am still trying to figure out were she got the money from????) We purchase 36 more goats and all the fencing posts and the wire to build the enclosure and all the timber, roofing tin and wire mesh to build the building for the goats. It is all set up now and the 15 ladies of the community are herding goats, will fill you in on the success of this micro project as we await baby goats:) The ladies say because we bought them so many more goats they will have no problem pay back the loan Jackie gave them.

We are working on another plan and I will share it with shortly.

Ray

Comment 15 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Ray and Jackie -

You are my heroes. You bring so much light and hope to the world that I am sure the sun doesn't set when you are in town. Your faith blows my mind and the minds of everyone I tell about you.

Thank you for being. Thank you for showing all of us how it is done.

All of my love and respect... Linda

Comment 16 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Miracles of miracles, I bought a new cell phone and managed to hook it up to my computer and I'm stting in our house in Swaziland right now on the internet. :):):):)

Only 2 rand per Megabit (25 cents) and it's real fast.

Ray

Comment 17 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

I drove Heather and Eswen over to Lesotho on Sat the 29th and met up with Memello and Ben again.

One of the containers we sent in Nov had arrived for ADRA Lesotho and the other will be landing at Memellos in 2 weeks. I only stayed one night and then drove back to Joberg to return the rental car, then flew back to Swaziland.

I purchased 2 vehicles last week, one for the charity to use full time and one for us. The charity one is a Volkswagen Van, seats 10 for 30,000 rand ($5,000 U.S.) and ours is a Volkswagen Fox car, don’t know what it is about Volkswagens, just got a great deal on both of them:)

Well I was gone; Mfana and the boys went out and put a new roof on a small mud hut for an old lady in their village. They said it was so bad, that there were only a few sq feet in one corner were she could sit and hide from the rain and as many of you know, when it rains here, it rains.

Ray

Comment 18 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

We went and did a distribution on New Year’s Day to about 180 People in an area about a half hour from our property. Over a hundred of them were children who were either orphans or from single parent homes. I was so impressed with Mfana and the boys they had a real system going that was so organized and efficient.

I quickly new by watching them that they truly care for their people and that we had joined up with the right guys. They quickly identified 4 young girls in the village that were between the ages of 13 and 17. These girls were left to raise their younger brothers and sisters because their parents had died of Aids, one of them was looking after 5 siblings, the others had 3 to look after and one of them had just had a baby of her own.

The boys took them aside first and gave them soup mix and clothes. They talked to them about their situation and asked them so many questions about their families, how far along in school did they get, before they had to drop out. They asked if their homes were safe and weather proof, did their parents leave them any gardens, chickens or goats? I stood there with tears in my eyes as they each told their story and it was the same for all of them, their houses are falling down and leaking and they had to sell everything their parents left, to try and survive. They were all very concerned about trying to send their brothers and sisters to school but didn’t know how they could do it.

I was so proud of the boys when they told the girls that we are their family now and we will be there for them and if they need help or are in trouble, they must call. Mfana found one of the grandmothers of the village and told her that she must watch over these girls from now on and report back to us if they need anything. Then he asked which one of the women in the village does sewing and would be willing to teach these girls how to so, when a lady stepped forward he instructed her to come to his place to pick up lots of fabric and to return to the village and teach these girls how to sew and to sell the garments, so they will have a means of income.

He turned to me and said this is what Community Conextions will be; we will find the most vulnerable of a community and help them first. He said these girls need the hope and security of knowing someone care for them and will help them through the terrible struggle life has put upon them, they need to know that they don’t have to give away their bodies to survive they need to know they can hold there heads up high and be proud young women of the community.

Next they called the grandmothers forward who are looking after orphans and distributed goods to them and then to the others in the village who were struggling. The whole day was so amazing and I am proud to be apart of such a dedicated group of young men.

Ray

Comment 19 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

i somehow missed this thread until today. Ray and Jackie, you are angels on Earth....i wish you all a blessed New Year and thank you so much for sharing your spirit with us here.

and great job Meron on container!!! Do you think you could teach me how to do such a thing here in Franklin?

Comment 20 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

3 weeks ago the boys and I were talking again about the real need for our own piece of land to be able to build a distribution warehouse on.

The area of Swaziland we are interested in is so beautiful, it’s situated at the base of the mountains in the Ezelwini valley where a large river is running by, making it a very green and fertile area. We decided to go to the Chief of Mahlanya village (pronounced Mashlangya), we asked if he would give us some land, he said lots of foreign groups have asked him for land and he has watched many of them over the years and they never stay very long, so why should I give them land? I was starting to feel a little down as I listened to him but I decided that if we were supposed to have a piece of land here, it would work out somehow?

Then he said that he has watched us for almost 2 years now and he can see that all the people of Swaziland are benefiting from our work, not just his people, so yes he will give us a large piece of land :) and it will be close to the road so our containers can easily reach it. He took us down and showed us the land, which also included a fresh water spring. This spring was the original source of water for the village years ago. The land is absolutely perfect and the spring is quite big, I will need to try and find a water purification system to install at the spring and then all the people nearby will have clean drinking water. The land is situated right next to the very first group of orphans Jackie and I helped when we first came to Swaziland. It’s the place were we bought the water tank for the orphans.

Ray

Comment 21 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Our new Daughter!!!

That's Heather's hand in the pic :)

I can't wait to kiss this baby!!!

Comment 22 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

She is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!

Congratulations to all of you - what a stunningly gorgeous and "meant to be" story. WOW. :)

Comment 23 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

She's ADORABLE! I can't wait to hold her. I'm jealous that Heather got to touch her 1st. : )

Comment 24 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

It.s 10:26am Sunday morning and the little angel is napping on the floor beside me:)

26 minutes after midnight at home, just finished talking to Jackie as she needed to get some sleep. She is coming over to Swaziland with Keiara next week to switch places with me:) I will head home for two weeks, ship a few containers and then come back with the rest of the kids for a 2 to 3 month stay, we want to make sure the whole plan with the charity work is well under way before we head home.

Ray

Comment 25 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

The boys started at 6am yesterday morning sorting clothes and then we went to a rural area in the southern part of Swaziland and did a distrubution to over 700 people

It was one of the biggest distrubutions we have ever done and it had a few challenges but it went well. It took over 40 bales of clothes to make sure everyone got at least 4 garments each and two barrels of soup mix in order to make sure all the people looking after orphans and the elderly got some.

We blew the water pump on the volkswagen on the way there and left it on the side of the road, everyone climbed into the back of the 4 ton truck on top of all the clothes. After the distrubution we went and loaded the van onto the back of the truck and carried it home, reached home and fixed it, all done by 7:30pm.

All in a long days work in Swaziland:)

Ray

Comment 26 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

That's a really cool new toy you have there. It's wonderful to be able to keep up with what you are doing in real time. Keep 'em coming Ray!

Comment 27 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

You two are amazing! And your new daughter is a lovely and very lucky girl.

Comment 28 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

An Idea in the making

After walking around on the land for a few days and trying to figure out where to put the new warehouse, I started thinking about the micro goat project Jackie funded, I thought to myself; we should be practicing what we preach. If we are telling the ladies that are looking after the orphans to become self-sufficient, then we should be doing the same? I thought, if something should ever happen to Jackie and I, then all these people who have based their future hopes on us, will be left out in the cold.

So I have come up with several plans that we are implementing right now to get our Community Conextions Charity here in Swaziland totally self-sufficient as soon as possible.

Since receiving the land a few weeks ago, we have already fenced in the whole property and started building a distribution warehouse that is 15m x 25 m (45ft x 75ft). We have started a separate company to run along side the charity to operate in the beginning, 6 new business ventures. All the profits will be rolled into the charity as they come in.

Here’s an overview:

Concrete Block Making.

I purchased a block-making machine and the boys have already made 800 six-inch wide cement blocks, the first 3000 blocks will be used for our new Warehouse and then they will start selling the rest.

Here is the business in simple terms. Blocks sell in this country for 5.50 rand each (0.83 cents U.S. each) our cost to make them is 3 rand (0.45 Cents U.S. each). We will sell our blocks for 4.95 rand each (0.75 each) A nice profit of 1.95 Rand (0.30 U.S.) each We are currently making 150 blocks a day but as soon as we get a cement mixer ($2000 U.S.) we can go up to 800 blocks a day ($240 U.S. a day:):):) Huge money in a country like Swaziland. The only reason the people themselves can’t start businesses like this on their own, is they don’t have the start up capital, just like the ladies with the goats.

Saw Mills:

The country has lots of pine forests and gum trees, we have 2 portable band mills at home in my shop and I will ship them over next month. We will set one up permanently on the land and the other will be pulled around the country cutting timber for rural villages so they can build schools or what ever they need. The second one which is fully portable, will work on a basis were we take just enough of the boards we cut to take care of costs about 20%, the rest is for the village.

The first one will be able to cut about 600 lineal meters of boards a day (1800 board feet) About 20% is cost, so we should see about 3000 rand or (400 U.S) a day in profits. This will be up and running by the first of April.

Wood Working

In Feb we will start building a wood working shop, this is were we will teach young boys and girls from the orphan center next door how to make furniture and stuff to sell. We will use some of our own wood cut by the sawmills. Not sure what kind of value added profits will come out of this one yet, but I am sure it will be good.

Mechanical shop

One of the guys is a good mechanic and wants to start a shop to be able to take on jobs so he can teach the young orphan boys how to be mechanics so they can go out on their own and make a living some day. Girls too:) To start this business, I am going to buy about $2,000 U.S. worth of tools at home and ship them over in the next container. I’m a heavy-duty mechanic, so I know exactly what to buy. I was pricing tools here and it costs 5 to 6 times more then back home. To find someone here who has even a screwdriver in there home is rare, because of the costs, so this one I know will really be good :)

Equipment Rentals.

In one of my recent conversations with Jackie, I asked here to look up when the next Ritchie Bro auction was in either B.C. or Alberta, she did and it happened to be the very next day. So I called the auction and asked if they had any small generators and water pumps and sure enough they had lots. I set up proxy bids because I could not be there in person and 2 days later they called me and I had won all my bids. I ended up purchasing three diesels, 3-inch water pumps, three Gas, 3-inch water pumps Thirteen small portable generators, one portable 250-amp welder-generator and a Honda pressure washer. 40 chain saws and 40 gas powered weed eaters for grass cutting.

We are going to run an equipment rental business, we have calculated that if we only rent out 4 of any of these items a day we will see about $600 rand profit ($100 U.S)

We are also putting in bids or tenders to the government for easement clearing along the roads of Swaziland. When we win a contract we are going to employ the local young men in that area to use our gas powered weed eaters and a few chain saws to do the clearing. This will give local employment and we should see a healthy profit too.

I had to higher a government machine to clear and level our new land last week. It cost 350 rand an hour ($60 U.S.) I wanted to rent a cheaper smaller one but no one has anything like that here. I have a small Sumitomo excavator and a small Mitsubishi bulldozer at home that I am done using on our land. They are small enough to put inside a container so I am going to ship them over next month. Then we can rent them out, with our own operator who I will train. I can see a huge opportunity for this business; we calculate that each machine will easily rent out for about 175 rand an hour ($27 U.S.) for a combined total of 2800 rand a day (425 U.S.) After fuel, repairs and maintenance we should see about 2000 rand a day profit (300 U.S.)

Water Wells

My Lawyer back home says he has a client that is in the drilling business and he is going to see if we can get a drilling rig from him. If we do, we will ship it over to begin drilling water wells. We will run this business from the profits of the other businesses, this way we can drill the wells for free.

My dream is to get all these businesses running at a profit as soon as possible so the charity can then use the profits to help fund micro projects that directly help orphans. I estimate everything I’m trying to do here is going to cost us about 465,000 rand (75,000 U.S).

I know we have taken on a huge commitment in time and money and we’re happy to do it because I know im my heart it's the right thing to do. If any of you, want to be a part of these projects, just let us know as we could sure use the help this time.

Thanks

Ray

Comment 29 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

With all this going on it looks like you are going to need a bookkeeper ; )

Comment 30 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

That is great of you to volunteer your time as bookkeeper, Meron! ;-) Knowing you and your generous heart, I'll bet you are even volunteering your expenses to go to and stay in Africa!

Comment 31 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

~Linda said: That is great of you to volunteer your time as bookkeeper, Meron! ;-) Knowing you and your generous heart, I'll bet you are even volunteering your expenses to go to and stay in Africa!~

LMFAO!!! ; )

Comment 32 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Your hired Meron, how did you know I needed a bookkeeper????

You can start next week when I get home, oh ya bring your shovel.

Ray

Comment 33 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Ummm, shovel? I'm guessin' that paperwork has piled up pretty high or is it for diggin' through your BS? ; )

Comment 34 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

No no, it's for all the snow in the driveway, Meron! :)

I can't believe you would even think that I would keep paperwork like that :(:(:(

It's all in neat little piles. I even went thru all the effort during the year to stack it by date for you:) Jan on the bottom Dec on the top, I think ?

Rat

Comment 35 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

10am here and I am on my way out the door, I'm heading for Joberg 500 klm (300 miles)to pick up Jackie & Kieara from the airport :):):):):):):):)

I'm staying here for 1 more week, then back home for 3 weeks to send down 3 more containers loaded with all the goods to start the businesses here. (cost is $24,000 if you would like to help?)

The boys here printed up 12 tee shirts that say "Community Connextions" on the back in big letters and on the front in smaller letters "We Are For Social Profit"

Ray

Comment 36 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

I forgot to tell you that the other day the women who are sewing all the fabric we are sending over came by and asked if they could all come and sew in the new warehouse when it's finished?

so I thought about it and we decided to do a design change on the main warehouse for them. We had already poured the foundation so it's still 15m wide x 25m long. We decided we could build 16 units down each side of the building. (only an additional $4,000:)

Each unit is 3m wide x 4m deep (9.9ft x 13ft)this will allow about 4 or 5 women and their sewing machines to work in each unit, When they came by the other day and we told them what we decided to do for them, they just sat down and cried :)

I haven't said this for a while in my posts so for any of you out there thinking about taking some time to help the less fortunate in this world. All I can say is take the time, because there is no greater "HAPPINESS" in the whole world than this.

Ray

Comment 37 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Jackie and Kieara arrived and we are back home in Swaziland:) At this very moment (5:26pm) Jackie is passed out from exhaustion. It took her 47 hr from the time she left the house in Canada till getting to the house here.

More to come later

Ray

Comment 38 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

~Ray said:

No no, it's for all the snow in the driveway, Meron! :)

I can't believe you would even think that I would keep paperwork like that :(:(:(

It's all in neat little piles. I even went thru all the effort during the year to stack it by date for you:) Jan on the bottom Dec on the top, I think ?

Rat

If it's all the same to you Mr. Rat, if I have a choice between up-to-your-eyeballs-in-snow Revelstoke and Africa I pick Africa!!!

My best to Jackie when she wakes up!!! XoX <<< those are for Jackie and those lovely babies :D

Comment 39 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Mr. Rat would answer for himself but he's gone into hiding due to spelling error mortification!

I've finally gotten the jetlag behind me and am enjoying these baby girls and seeing Ray after over a month!

The new babe is a GEM and Keiara loves her...she adores Keiara and gets this absolutely delighted look and big smile when she sees her.

Glorious lightening and thunder last night knocked our power out for a few hours, but ahhhh the lovely coolness it brought...I was an eskimo in africa and my pitiful whiteness was slowly becoming flourescent redness LOL

luv to you all!

Comment 40 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

LOL!!! When I read to mortification and it was spelled correctly I knew that it had to be YOU, Jackie, posting under Ray's account LOL!!!

Wonderful to hear from you and that you made it safely to Swaziland. Give those two lovely babies a hug and kiss from their Auntie Meron. Can't wait to meet the newest edition to the Brosseuk family in person.

Comment 41 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Big news today!

Caela's adoption order was GRANTED so the family has officially grown to 7 :)

It's so hot here that I'm melting into a little puddle of canadian perspiration :)

it's not often that you can upload pictures from swazi..especially using the cell phone modem, but today was a good connection day and I've got pics of the progress of the new warehouse.

ray's been gone a week today and we have the slab all finished, the one side foundation started and over 2278 blocks drying nicely in the sun :) that's halfway to what we need to finish the project!!!

nice view of side foundation and slab covered with blocks drying in the sun

hand shoveled sand and crush, wheelbarrow, mix by hand with bags of cement on ground, wheelbarrow, shovel carefully into block makers, shake and tamp by hand, cure in sun, carrying cans of water to sprinkle with periodically...and that's what makes the building dream become a reality. Oh and did I mention these guys are volunteers???

Comment 42 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Wow! That's wonderful news about Caela!!! So when are you going to adopt me??? :D

Comment 43 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Had a brief telephone conversation with Ray this morning. He's going like the wind as usual, organizing and sending off FIVE containers to various destinations around the globe AND getting the rest of the family packed up to leave for Africa on the 11th.

Jo (recent SOLID volunteer who is going to Sipho's orphanage in Swaziland at the end of April) and I are going to Hope on Sunday to deliver the boxes of wish list stuff she has collected to put in the container that is leaving from there next week.

Oh, and he also offered me a ticket to Africa! If I have to go to Swaziland to be adopted by that family then go to Swaziland I will : ). I'm still wondering what the catch is though. hmmm, maybe it's just a one way ticket, he did mention he needed a bookkeeper there!!!

PS: Apparently Jackie does a lot of Ray's wheelin' and dealin' on both sides of the ocean ... she has all those bricks you see in the above photos sold already!!! :D

Comment 44 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Will it shock anyone else to realize that this thread has no (ZERO) points? It says something for the caliber of work around these parts that this thread is considered ordinary. I am here to tell you that - at least I hope- I will never come to regard the work that Ray and Jackie do, the the extraordinary lives that they lead as an example to all of us, as ordinary. I have rectified the point thingy.

Comment 45 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

OMG - yes - shocked and shamed - and now in on the "points thingy". :)

Comment 46 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Jackie Brosseuk said

Big news today! Caela's adoption order was GRANTED so the family has officially grown to 7 :)

Woohoo .... Ned's very own Jolie-Pitts!

Congratulations Jacquelina and Rad. :D

Comment 47 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

<giggles @ Gayle> time to let BIG SECRET OUT

Well I've been hiding a secret from all of you, I've begged Ray not to tell you about it based on the fact that you will all know that we are officially insane, but we've actually added another baby to our family as well.

We heard that she was dumped by the AIDS testing clinic in an old sweatshirt, still with umbilical cord attached and all, and so we agonized about making our family any bigger, we went by the hospital to see her and decided that if Social Welfare would let us adopt again that...we just couldn't leave her in the hospital..so tiny and helpless...Social Welfare said yes... so I took her for testing, she's completely healthy and I brought her home here with me on Wednesday. She was born on the 13th of January and weighs about 6 pounds I think

We've named her Kiahna Maire

yes that makes 8 of us now....

so I'm pulling a MARATHON here, I've got a 20 month old, and 4 month old, and a 20 day old...I'm not sleeping and I've counted over 25 diapers a day that I"m changing... to say that I"m anxious for Ray, Cass, Kyle, and Katie to get here and lend a hand would be the understatement of the century.

I've got three car seats on my old VW Fox and we are a bunch of girls buzzin' around Swazi :) :)

Oh yeah, and you are right Meron, Mfana and I have also sold all the blocks :) should be about 3000 rand profit which we desperately need to help with the project.

So Meron the catch is...we needed a NANNY! LOL LOL LOL

and yes...that is slightly hysterical laughter.....

Comment 48 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

>><giggles @ Gayle> time to let BIG SECRET OUT Well I've been hiding a secret from all of you, I've begged Ray not to tell you about it based on the fact that you will all know that we are officially insane, but we've actually added another baby to our family as well.<<

Holy cow. Congrats. Holy cow.

I feel like this is somehow going to become a TV series on Oprah's new network.

25 diapers a day...gads.

Well, again congrats... head still spinning.

Comment 49 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

OMG - Ditto on everything Mark just wrote x 1000!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS

Comment 50 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

I am totally awed.....I would take my hat off to you all but I haven't got one! You all amaze me.

Meron...diapers not accounts!

Comment 51 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Holy 16 legged cow!

Congratulations Jackie - you absolutely, totally insanely kind-hearted woman you. I am blown away that you have just committed your life to being the mom of these 3 babies! Aren't they lucky to have a mom like you to teach them about life as they are growing up. Congrats to the rest of the family too!

Something tells me the trend of unbelievable donations in your lives is not going to end any time soon.

Comment 52 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Somehow this latest news doesn't surprise me at all!!! : ) Well, what does surprise me is that Rat was able to keep it a secret ; )

You want me to come to Swaziland to count diapers???!!! :P

Comment 53 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

CONGRATULATIONS !!

Speechless, so I gave thread points instead....

:-))

Comment 54 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Thanks for the exclamations and congratulations all of you, reminds me again what a treasure trove of friends we have here...truly blessed :)

luv you all :)

Comment 55 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Wow, Jackie let the baby out of the bag:)

So now that you all think we are crazy, here is a bit more to add to the pile.

As Meron said, I am loading out 5 containers right now, 4 for Swaziland and 1 to Fiji.

I had originally planned to come home for 2 weeks and only send 2 containers but I got an email from Gleaners just before I left Swaziland and they gave us 160 barrels of dehydrated soup mix (36,000lbs) Each barrel has eighty 2.2lb bags in it (12,800 bags) and each bag feeds over 300 kids, if they have a little rice with it. 3,840,000 Kids

So I immediately called the freight broker and asked him to book another container. Then about an hour after getting off the plane, I received another call from a group of church people near Vancouver B.C. and they asked if I could use a 40 ft container full of clothes and hospital beds and other stuff in Africa. I thought for a minute and said yes but I’ll have to check on my finances, as they cost $7,000 each to send. He quickly interrupted me and said they have the money to ship too, so no need to worry about the money:)

I then called the freight broker guy again and asked if he could book a 4th container:) He said he would try but it’s getting close to sailing time and there might not be any space left on the ship but after an hour he called back and they had the space.

Then I made it home and went into our warehouse and could not believe my eyes. After measuring everything I realized we had way to much stuff for 4 containers, so I decided to send one to Fiji too:)

So as of this moment we are a family of 8 ? and we have successfully loaded out 3 of the 5 containers and we are loading another one tomorrow and the last one on Wednesday as the ship sails on Thursday, I know, cutting it close but that’s the way I like it:)

I also managed to run around amidst the chaos and buy the 20 chain saws and 10 weed trimmers and all the other things needed to run all the businesses we are setting up down there and I even called Meron once:).

The worst thing I had to do so far is, go out to the farm and dig out the little cat and the little excavator, they where buried under 8 ft of snow and no I’m not exaggerating. The little cat was so buried that I had to take the excavator and dig a path out to the road in order to get it out. The snow here is insane and it was 30 below zero well I was doing all this, even I, was questioning my sanity?

Well if I think of any more evidence I’ll post later LOL

Ray

Comment 56 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Kiahna Maire Brosseuk:):)

When I saw her in the hospital she was so small, I think she was less than 4 pounds.

Comment 57 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

You know, I'm almost too nervous to ask how you guys will top 2008 - particularly given it's only bloody February!!!! LOL

Even the sight of the name of this thread makes me smile these days!

Congratulations to "Rad and Jacquelina" - and the 3 little bubbies and the 3 big bubbies.....and everyone whose path you cross because I cannot think of a pair that walk their talk quite like you two.

What a big, fat JOY!!!

with hugs and love and super happy thoughts sent your way,

Gayle :)

<edit - coz I changed my mind about what I wanted to write!!!>

Comment 58 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Thank you Gayle, you know it took a little sole searching this time to know what to do about Kiahna when we saw her.

I stood there in the ward 8 of the hospital and looked at her laying there knowing that this little child’s future depended on us and that we were the ones who needed to advocate for her. I new that no one else would do anything for her, not because they wouldn’t but just because they didn’t know she was there. Jackie and I slowly walked outside and got into our car and we cried as we seem to always do when we leave that hospital.

After talking for a while and looking at all the other things we might be able to do for her, we asked ourselves some pretty basic questions like, can we give her the love she needs? and the answer was YES, can we financially afford another child? and the answer was YES, how will all our other kids be affected by this? and the answer was, they will be happy and blessed from having another sister. When we asked them they all unanimously agreed to adopt her, in fact they were upset that we didn't bring her home right then and there :)

The crisis in Swaziland is getting worst, new figures just came out and they showed that the population is declining from AIDS and that the orphan crisis has increased from 70,000 to over 100,000. In situations like this were a new born is abandoned at birth, the only place they can take them is ward 8 at the Mbabane Hospital because none of the care centers can manage a new born, they are so over crowded and understaffed. The hospital has to keep newborns that are abandoned until they can walk and are potty trained and until one of the care centers agrees to take them in. The child needs to be basically independent enough to survive on their own in a sea of other children. The knowledge of all this, is what led us to opening our hearts and our home and to say yes we can and will love this little girl for the rest of her life.

Jackie and I were sure having a difficult time trying to think of another C or K name LOL

It wasn’t until I landed at the Vancouver airport and I went and picked up Katelyn, our 6 year old from Jackie’s mom. Katie and I were driving the 500 klm home when I was on the phone with Jackie, we were still talking about different names when Katie spoke up and said “I like the name Kiahna” That was it, as soon as she said it, we both said yes that’s it! So Katie is the one who named her and she is really pleased with herself too :)

Ray

Comment 59 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

WOW. Going to add my wows.

Where do I send the crates of diapers?

What a wonderful family! I love the pictures. The girls are beautiful.

More soon. Sending lots of love and hugs?

Comment 60 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Well container #4 is done and gone but it was a little over weight. We are allowed to put in 43,000lbs but when it got to the scales, it was 45,900lbs.

The scale guys could have been real nasty and made us unload some of it but after a while they let us go and it's now on the ship and on it's way:)

We will be loading the 5th container for Fiji tomorrow. We are all pretty tired but happy because were heading for the airport on Monday.

Jackie has been calling us and sending us lists of all the things she needs, I think she's worried I might forget something:) I keep telling her, don't worry, be happy but I don't think she finds that amusing LOL. I think she is a little sleep deprived at the moment:)

Hang in there Jack, we'll be home this Wed, then you can get some sleep:)

Ray

Comment 61 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

LOL - tired after loading 4 containers, eh!!! Roll on next week! Safe trip - kiss the babies for me. G. xoxoxo

Comment 62 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Number 5 is done and on its way to Fiji:) 39,000 lbs of clothes, soup mix, medical supplies, bikes, tile, paint and more.

Very tired:(

Ray

Comment 63 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Well the house is all clean and we are heading out the door in an hour. Hope the Hwy are open today, we have had 2 weeks of non stop snow, so yeasterday they closed all the hwy out of here :(

The hwy going east to Alberta is closed due to a major snow slide, they say 3 days to clean that one up. The hwy going south has been closed for a long time now and the hwy going west (the one we need to take to Vancouver) is closed in 3 places, the first one is only 10 miles out of town due to a transport truck accident and a snow slide. It's also closed over the mountain pass 200 miles for us and an alternate hwy around is also closed to snow.

TOO MUCH SNOW

MERON if you want you can bring your shovel and do the books while I'm gone?

Our van out in the street in front of the house.

Comment 64 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

~Ray asked: MERON if you want you can bring your shovel and do the books while I'm gone?~

LMFAO!!! Only if there is a ticket to Africa in it for me ... oh wait! already got that ; ) Let me think of something else.

Actually Ray, I'm really looking forward to putting you through bookkeeper boot-camp and you have to be there for that. We are going to have sooooo much fun ... trust me :D ???

Comment 65 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

The kids and I made it back to Swaziland last Thursday but I came down with a nasty flu, high fever, chills the whole thing. I ended up in bed for days and still feeling a bit under the weather.

The guys made huge progress on the building while I was gone, they almost have all the block work done ready for the roof. I should have put Jackie in charge a long time ago :)

Yesterday Jackie and I went down to the site and decided to share the 3,000 rand ($400US) profit from the sale of our first blocks with all the workers. Since we started they have only been working for food and I really felt it would encourage them and show them that this is what it's all about, Empowering them to help themselves.

Well you should have been there and seen the looks of pure joy on their faces when they each recieved 100 rand ($14US:) They claped and shouted for joy, it was so cool to see joy and pride in the faces of those men and boys who had just reaped the rewards ($$)of thier own hard work.

They clearly saw and understood in a tangable way ($) the long term plan we are trying to impliment here.

I have no doubts on the future of this project now, it's already a success :)

I'm not one to ask but we could sure use a little help with the financial end of things here, Jackie and I are stretching our budget pretty thin, I think we have already spent $100,000 U.S but I know it's the right thing to do. I just found a 7 ton truck for sale and we really need one for hauling the bulldozer, logs and stuff. It's worth 140,000 rand ($20,000 U.S.)and I can get it for 90,000 rand ($15,000 U.S.) It has a brand new motor just put in last week.

Well I better go and feed all the kids as Jackie has gone for a much needed and deserved 2 day rest and I am trying to hold down the fort.

Will try and post a picture of the building?

Ray

Comment 66 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

~Ray said: I should have put Jackie in charge a long time ago :)~

After all these years you are only figuring that out now? :P

Comment 67 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Well done, Ray - just outstanding and inspiring. Straight out of Knut Hamsun ("Growth of the Soil")!

I have a question about the milling. How much would it run you to lay a slab and put up a nursery for seedlings? There is such a need for effective reforestation on the continent. If you are close to trucking, perhaps even large trees for landscaping ventures...

I missed the story of how you all acquired the land to build on - clearly there is lot more to read! Are you guys n' gals taking visitors? Maybe there is a way I can share an art effort with the young'uns a put my paws to work for a spell later this year...?!

Comment 68 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAY!!!

Comment 69 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Thanks Meron, now let me tell you the best birthday story :)

As most of you know I have been looking to buy a big truck to haul logs to our new saw mills and to deliver blocks and boards to our customers and most of all to delliver clothes and food to the orphans.

Well I found one yesterday, actually Somebody Bigger than you and i found one for us:)

The Truck is a 1999 MAN 8-ton Diesel with only 228,000 Klm on it, formally owned by Coke Cola. It comes with all the service records that show it has been well maintained and it has an 18ft steel flat deck on it.

The truck has a value of about 185,000 rand ($32,000) If you service it properly, you can easily get a million Klm out of a truck like this before you need to do any major work. A bunch of the Coke trucks including this one were sent over to a mechanic shop for maintenance and repairs, this particular truck was there to get the differential changed (cost 15,000 rand ($2500) some rear broken leaf springs repaired 6300 rand ($1200) 2 tires 2400 rand ($400) and a broken passenger seat 900 rand ($150)

When the new Coke president saw the quote for all the repairs he decided to sell the trucks instead of doing the repairs, so the owner of the mechanic shop bought all of them and is now in the process of fixing them all up and selling them, this is how we heard about the truck.

A friend of our mechanic was going to buy this truck but when he heard we were looking for one for the charity he called and told us that he would like us to have it instead of him.

So Yesterday Mfana and our Mechanic went over there to look at it, the owner of the shop told them that he thinks he has it sold already to a guy in Mbabane for $138,000 rand ($23,000) but if we had the cash we could have it. (The buyer he is referring to is the friend of our mechanic :)

They explained to him that we needed the truck for a charity we were running and asked him if he would come down on the price a bit. He responded by saying that it was worth an easy 185,000 rand ($32,000) when the repairs were done. So they called me and told me all this and asked me to come down and look at it right away.

I drove down and looked at the truck and couldn't believe what great shape it's in. We have been looking around for a truck for a week now and found nothing even close to this kind of truck for this price. I knew I didn't have this kind of money available right now but I told Pila the mechanic to run in and get the owner so we could start it up and test drive it, when the owner of the service shop came out, he immediately recognized me. This guy is the president of the Lions Club and I did a presentation at the Lions Club last year when I gave them some of the eye glasses, which they sorted into different categories by prescriptions for us, then we were able to give them to a local doctor called, Mr. Ponds This doctor now runs an eye clinic in Manzini out of a borrowed space beside the Saint Theresa clinic. We donated one of our 40 ft shipping containers to him, which is being converted into a nice building with windows and doors and will be set up on the clinic property permanently.

People can come there and for $30 rand ($5) get an eye test and a pair of glasses. We ended up giving the whole 80,000 pairs to be dealt with this way.

Anyways this mechanic / president of Lions club guy looked at me and said I really admire what you are doing for the people of Swaziland. I think I can do a little better on the price now that I know who you are:)

We checked the truck over and test-drove it and he told me exactly what all the repairs are and the costs. He also has a nice 2003 Nissan Hard Body P.U. from Coke and we could sure use a little truck to, it needs a rear window Battery and 4 tires about 6000 rand ($1000) so we talked about it too and he said he could sell it for 45,000 rand ($7500) I asked him how good of a price could he do for us on both and he said let me go talk to my wife for a minute as she runs the books and I'll be right back.

He soon came out and said you can have the big truck for 80,000 Rand ($12,500) and he'll throw in a 2003 Nissan Hard body P.U. for 20,000 ($3200) God is so good.

The total cost above will be about $21,000 but there is always a few unknowns? so I think I can get it all done for $25,000 any body out there with some spare change LOL.

Ray

Comment 70 on UNBELIEVABLE DONATIONS 2008

Happy Birthday, RAY!!!! (sorry if the wishes are a bit belated)

Cool - very cool - on the trucks deal. What a price!

Goes to show that you reap what you sow. Good blokes always get looked after in the end. :)