Building a Village: Phase 2
GOF leadership is forever grateful for how you all have made Bolingo a part of your hearts for the past seven years. From the beginning, when it was just an idea to the current reality of giving children a better life every day.
We are making significant progress and taking steps to ensure that Bolingo can serve many generations of children to come. For example, the expansion of the insect farm to reach the current capacity of the building. This program growth allows us to:
feed the children in the village a meal three days per week
fund the purchase of other protein sources for other meals
provide funding for Bolingo Village to have egg-laying chickens (enough for each child to have one egg per day).
Your support laid the groundwork to make these steps possible. This focus on insects is just one example; we are also focusing on expanding and cycling traditional crops and getting dairy goats which will eliminate milk and manure as monthly expenses.
We currently have four single-family houses. Now, we are ready to get started on the next phase of building!
We’re excited to impact the lives of more children. Phase one included buying the land, building our first buildings, setting policies, and working out operations issues. Step two is all about growth and sustainability. While phase two of Bolingo Village is through the year 2023, GOF is laser-focused on the improvements we want to see in the next year.
We want to build three new houses, one for US staff and hosting volunteer trips, and two single-family homes. These houses, their furnishings, and a septic system will cost $135,000. We will also need to add irrigation and a new well. These improvements will be around $30,000. The new homes and well will bring our total for building in the next few months to $165,000.
These houses will create space for children and foster families to belong; for children to feel loved and cared for. Each family home will have a kitchen, living and dining room, bathroom, and three bedrooms. The houses all have running water and septic systems and will be fully furnished and ready to become family homes.
Our new well and irrigation system are vital to the sustainability of Bolingo Village. Our farm staff currently waters our crops by hand, creating a lot of work that could easily be done by this system allowing our staff to focus on new crops, livestock, and insect farming. Expanding these other areas will allow us to increase farm yields and income without increasing staff and regular expenses.
These projects will allow us to bring in 20 more children. These children will grow up knowing love, a sense of belonging, a quality education, and never know hunger because of you.
If you or someone you know might be interested in supporting these projects, please let us know!