The boys enjoying a Saturday racing bikes
9 years ago, in October 2008, PCC opened its doors. Since then, children have come and gone, and some of the original children are still here. Most stories start on a low point: A child who has been abused needs a safe haven; a child without family needs to be supported; or one of many variations on those same themes. But most stories develop into something good and joyful: A child who was abused learns to laugh and play; a child without family finds their importance in a big, loving family.
Pulane Children’s Centre is not a perfect solution. The perfect solution to children in need is to have loving parents who are able to look after them. Anything else will fall short. Our aim has been, and continues to be, to give these children the best lives possible with what we have.
To do this, PCC needs to be in a state of continual development: improving on old ways, growing and changing in order to best meet the needs of the orphaned and vulnerable children in the surrounding community.
Over the past year, our focus has been on empowering the local staff at PCC. They are a special group, who are not just here because it’s a job, but because they want to make a difference in the lives of children. From the stableman and the builder, to the house mothers and fathers, we believe each person here is motivated by love.
Emily, Jane and I
It’s been a joy to watch the staff take on more and more responsibility. They are coming up with ideas for how PCC can improve what and how it is doing things. The local staff are taking initiative to propose changes in their individual areas of focus. Whether it is how we manage the gardens, or purchase food, they make sure that PCC is always examining itself and improving.
Emily, Jane and I moved to PCC last August, with the goal to ensure the staff had the tools, the procedures, and the accountability in place to run things without an outside director here every day. We knew at some stage school for Jane and my flying career would be things that would require us to live elsewhere.
On of MAF Lesotho's planes landing at Nkau
With these factors, and the future of PCC in mind, our family has been in the application process to serve with Mission Aviation Fellowship at their Lesotho base. We are very excited to share that we have been accepted to MAF, and will be with the organization from January 2018. In Lesotho, MAF primarily fly medical staff and patients between the rural clinic airstrips in the high mountains and the hospital in Maseru. For those of you that have made the long trek to PCC, you will understand how difficult it can be to travel anywhere! Being able to connect people in remote villages with health care is an exciting mission for us. We are thrilled to become part of it.
Here is what that means for PCC, I will remain as the director of PCC, and with help from Emily, we will always be in touch with our management staff, and will visit PCC regularly to continue oversight. PCC will not be slowing down, or changing in any big ways. The way things work now will continue into the foreseeable future. Visitors and church teams are still always welcome. We will still be the contact people for PCC, and we will still be in charge of fundraising.
We are excited for the future of PCC, and encouraged by what our staff have been doing. We are also excited for our own future, as flying with MAF in Lesotho has been a dream of mine for many years.
We will continue this monthly newsletter as a means of sharing Pulane News. Our family will also be starting a family newsletter for anyone that wants to follow our journey with MAF. We also will be sharing our stories on a blog at www.strugnellcrew.com.
Thank you for you help, encouragement and support of PCC, its children and staff. Without you we couldn’t last a day.
