In September of 2005 the current facility, consisting of two main buildings, was completed and the children and staff moved in. The building is located on three acres of land leased to CCC from the local government. It was built with generous individual donations and corporate donations.
The larger building has two wings, one for boys and one for girls. Each wing contains two bathrooms and four bedrooms. Recently, one bedroom in the girls’ wing was converted to a nursery for the youngest children, ages 3-6. The other bedrooms have bunk beds. The facility can house 64 children. On the lower level of the main building, there is office space, a nurse’s office/medical supply room and a library which also functions as a study hall and a preschool classroom.
The second building has a large dining room, which also serves as a community room and gathering place for children and staff. It has a small kitchen with running water, and storage for food. In 2008 a larger outdoor kitchen was added to accommodate the large coal oven and stove necessary for feeding our growing brood. More recently, a goat shed, chicken coop, and garden were added to the grounds to supplement purchased food supplies and provide the children and staff with a source of fresh vegetables and fruit. Because the city water supply is often unavailable for days at a time, a well was dug in 2010. Although it takes a constant effort to fill enough buckets to meet the cooking and washing demands of so many children and staff, it is much appreciated.
The outdoor areas include playground equipment that was donated and installed soon after the facility was completed. It is a gathering place where the children play and sing and the younger children especially love the swing set. For the older kids, both boys and girls, a newly level soccer field is a source of great pride and pleasure. The children love a “pick-up” soccer game and many of them are amazingly good-even. Importantly, the field has also given CCC and the children greater access to and interaction with the community by allowing them to host soccer matches with other schools and children’s homes in Soddo.
The older children (young adults) live in an Aerie Africa-sponsored transition home. This home is in the Soddo community about one mile from the CCC home. The home is divided into a girls' section and a boys' section.
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