Steve and Barnabas in Tanzania

This week I started getting back to a regular physical workload.  After several weeks of taking computer courses and studying for the tests that accompanied them for my PE license renewal and the ear infection and the flu like symptoms I had last week I have not had a week of just physical work all week for full time days.  This was the week to build myself and this old body back into that schedule. Before I get started I wanted to thank everyone who has responded to me about last week's blog and the wish list from the week before that one.  I have  placed a permanent tab on my blog along the top for the wish list and will keep it updated as items are taken off the list.  Again if you want to sponsor an item please contact me so I can take it off the list and others will know it has already been sponsored.  While we have had great response, I am personally hoping to get enough items funded I can't get them all done this year and have to roll some over to next year. Firs

Welcome back to Conversations with Barnabas Bear. A couple of items up front, the conversation is fictional (hopefully that was obvious) but are pulled from some of my conversations and observations during my time here in Tanzania.  The main purpose of these is to help everyone get to know the people in Tanzania a little bit better while having a little bit of fun.  I would love some feedback on these so I know if I should continue and if so what types of conversations Barnabas needs to be having.  The stories are told from Barnaba’s point of view and because of that they are in English though I try to reflect some of the problems with the English translation. It was a long frustrating week for dad in the village this week that extended into the weekend so instead of leaving Friday afternoon for town, we are heading in on Saturday afternoon.  It is roughly a two hour ride in using the truck and since we don't have any guests it is a quiet ride.  Dad is pensive as he works ov

Overall  sketch of the planned playground area.  The border is the extent of the area with sand.  This takes into account safety zones around high activity areas.  Due to the low activity the imaginative play area may be moved outside the sand area.  The future soccer field (small) will be to the left and the school is to the right. Those who follow me on facebook found out I spent the last week under the weather, maybe a better description would be under the mountain but that is not a real saying.  Regardless I did not really get any physical work done this week.  I did come in to town and got two packages-one from a South Korean friend who had been here for two years which included items for a lot of our Peace Corp friends as well as some Korean treats for me (something I have never had actually).  The other package was glasses from Mauldin UMC's confirmation class via Virginia who has so wonderfully kept that ministry going along with Dick and the confirmation helpers.  It

Welcome back to Conversations with Barnabas Bear. A couple of items up front, the conversation is fictional (hopefully that was obvious) but are pulled from some of my conversations and observations during my time here in Tanzania.  The main purpose of these is to help everyone get to know the people in Tanzania a little bit better while having a little bit of fun.  I would love some feedback on these so I know if I should continue and if so what types of conversations Barnabas needs to be having.  The stories are told from Barnaba’s point of view and because of that they are in English though I try to reflect some of the problems with the English translation. This time we are talking with (from right to left):  Jeremiah, Abraham, John and Maria.  Abraham and John are both Form 1 in Secondary school though they are old enough to be in Form 3 but were not able to attend back when they had to pay the school fees.  Jeremiah is moving up to in Standard 4 and Maria is in Standard 1 i