New start for at-danger Edna

Meet little Edna, the newest child here at KNA, with Shiela (my fiance) who's had a slight change in her work and is now the main carer for Edna.

Just two years old, she is settling in amazingly well – and already looking much healthier. She has put on weight as she was malnourished and in poor physical condition when she arrived. 

Edan is the younger sister of Anna, another one of the children here. We tried to help their family about a year ago when their house was in very bad condition. Some of us guys went to fix their house, even making new walls for it. But the next day the father got drunk, as he often does, tore down the new walls and burned them. 

Edna was about to be taken by the Government as all their other children have been, because the parents are unable to care for the children – but they agreed instead to hand her over to KNA to be with her older sister. 

She has recovered from her first shock and nervousness of being brought here and has become a very smiley, happy and cute little girl. She is doing well and has a bright future. She's safe because of Duncan’s prompt communication with the social workers and his willingness to take on a new child with very little warning. Also, I think, because God’s got plans for her.

Timber-r-r-r-r-r-r

The felling and cutting up of trees is now in full swing to produce all the timber we need to replace the walkway that runs through the middle of the Badjao village, built on stilts over the sea.

The sound of the farm animals has been replaced by the roar of a chainsaw and crash of falling trees. You can see me here working with Dong to cut down a total of about 60 trees over about a six week period. Because we have many children and animals here on the farm, we don’t want to cut all the trees in one go leaving mountains of wood and branches – which would also make it hard to move between then to prepare the wood.

So at the start of each week I fell around ten trees and remove all the branches. I have a chainsaw licence and relevant experience, so I am doing all the chainsaw work. Then the long trunks can be measured and marked for me to cut into the correct log lengths. 

After that, the clearing team (some of us from the team with some Badjao) chops up and tidies away all the branches and moves all the wood to its correct stacks... large wood, posts, wood for cooking on and compost etc. Every part of the tree can be used and is not wasted; what is not used for the Badjao project can be used on the farm or for cooking. 

Then we slice up the large wood into slabs and planks, much of which uses the chainsaw and takes the most time. It’s then ready to be treated and used on the Badjao bridge. Once the area has been cleared, I fell the next batch of trees and the process starts again.

Much of my time here on the farm at the moment is working on this project, other than when I’m helping care for the kids. It is tiring work, but very rewarding and I am enjoying it and know it is for a good purpose.

Attitudes are changing

We’ve been welly-deep in rubbish, mud and human waste under and around the houses at the Badjao village. It’s preparation time for our bridge-building project here at the village and have been clearing several times over the last few weeks. 

Our focus is clearing around the rotting, broken bridge walkways which we will be soon replace with new wood. Removing the rubbish will make it easier to work in the area building the bridges. It is hard, smelly work cramped under the houses and walkways – because they have no toilets or sewerage systems, just holes in the floor that lead directly to the mud and sea bellow. 

Despite all the difficulties, I enjoyed my time in the rubbish. I loved the way we were there working side-by-side with the local people, helping them to clean and improve their village. We went in as a small team with all the gear and lots of the locals joined us and received the help happily – eager to improve their living conditions. 

Until now all of their waste and rubbish was thrown straight into the sea below, but we hope that way of thinking is starting to change – now that many of them helped us clean up. Already of the elders came along and said to those helping and watching that they should start to put rubbish in the bin not the sea – that others should not have to clean up their rubbish. 

For us, as preparation for the main project of rebuilding the village main walkway, it was a way to get closer to the community and give a small example of God’s love for them… and how Jesus can clean away all the rubbish from their lives.

Click here to see lots more pictures.