Transforming Communities through Hope, Service and Empowerment
Xtra Mile Ministries Community has now grown to 30+ people. The community which began last year meets weekly on Saturday afternoon to study the Bible, share struggles, and develop leaders.
The community hosted elections this past month to elect local leaders as well as a benevolence comission to help counsel, advise, pray, and provide for [...]
During February, the women’s quilting class continued with renewed enthusiasm, as three new women were accepted into the program. After just 2 weeks with the new ladies, it was observed that they are determined, resourceful and dedicated to the task of improving their sewing skills. As with the Intermediate class, it is a constant exercise [...]
During the Months of January and February our team has formed a relationship with the community health center at Ruhuha in the Eastern Province district of Bugasera. With the expertice of our ultrasonographer Lori Kimbrow we have been able to provide prenatal care to women of this sector.
During our preparations for this visit we [...]
We continued with our development of a national Taekwondo team and a Taekwondo federation for Rwanda this month. We were able to host four practices at the Belgian School and trained the clubs from Kigali as well as Butare. They continue to work on their registrations with the Ministry of Sports and after [...]
ATN began preparations for the upcoming youth football tournament. We met with school officials, coaches, and others to prepare for a kids football tournament which will launch in May. The tournament will be called the ATN Peace Cup and will help promote peace and unity among the people of Rwanda.
In addition, ATN coordinated a sports [...]
The work of ATN with the Rwandan Taekwondo Athletes continued in the month of January with three training sessions held at Ecole Belge with an average of ten athletes attending each session. Martin Koonce was able to implement the training techniques used by the Ugandan Taekwondo Federation in beginning the preparation for the athletes [...]
The Intermediate Level Quilting Course has now opened, with the same women who successfully completed the 2009 Beginning Quilting Course. This time, the women are busy making placemats and table runners so they can show their skills and produce an attractive marketable product. This takes time, and with a program that only runs [...]
ATN began a commercial application of the rocket stove development program with the African Bagel Company. Martin Koonce with the help of Robin Smith, developer of the African Bagel Company, built a brick rocket stove for them to use in the cooking process. This allowed them to boil more bagels (a type of [...]
ATN hosted two free sports camps for the youth in Kicukiro District. We conducted a week off football training for 4 hours a day and conducted a week of basketball training for 2 hours a day. Our program served approximately 150 student athletes, boys and girls, in our district, from the ages of 10-18 years.
December was an exciting month for Taekwondo in Rwanda as two master coaches and the women’s national champion arrived for a weekend of training at Ecole Belge for the top Taekwondo athletes of Rwanda. The athletes trained for a total of eight hours from Friday afternoon until Saturday afternoon. Training, technical movements, and preparation [...]
During the months of November, December and January Lori Kimbrow, and Dr. Brian Robinson have been working with KHI (Kigali Health Institute) on undergraduate education in the departements of Radiology and Laboratory medicine. Together with ATN they are working with this institution to improve the quality of care available to Rwandans.
Lori Kimbrow is teaching [...]
This month Martin Koonce held another training session, attended by twenty of Rwanda’s top Taekwondo athletes where we discussed the proper steps for registration with the ministry of sports; the steps required to begin the Taekwondo Federation of Rwanda; and new techniques learned by Martin while in Uganda. There was great excitement generated in [...]
Over the past several months, Martin Koonce has developed many different stove models that use charcoal or wood to reduce the amount of fuel needed to cook a family meal. It is well known that the use of charcoal is a primary cause of deforestation and ATN is looking for alternatives in cookstoves as [...]
During the month of November, ATN spent a great amount of time planning and preparing for our youth and sports camps in December. We met with school officials at St. Josephs and St. Patricks, hired coaches, we advertised and talked with kids and their families about our programs and bought equipment to prepare for December.
The Xtra Mile Education Community members continued to meet on Saturday to spend time studying God’s Word and to exchange experiences. It is also a time to review the past and planning for the future of XMM program. Also this community organized the workshops, trips and events to be done in November and December 2009.
Two [...]