A wish held back will always be unfulfilled

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 of course had some nice treats for me as well.  So now I am not feeling so much under the weather as weather adjacent and excited for when my taste buds return.  I want to say a big thank you for the generous grant from Journey Foundation that is helping to cover the cost of shipping the eyeglasses. 

When we first started the eyeglass donations many people wanted to participate with us but the cost of shipping glasses over was prohibitive.  If you would like to consider doing that at your church please contact me and I will discuss our options available from that grant to fix that problem.

Before I get into the main part of this blog, I want to start by saying how blessed I feel with the support I get.  First my personal support continues to provide for my needs here without me struggling like many missionaries.  While the country I serve in and the fact I am single keep my need low, I have been blessed that people have not dropped off giving to me and when I am home it is more about showing what their generous support has allowed me to participate in than having to beg for more money.  It is also not just the money, I get support in people who send encouraging emails and facebook posts, people who shower me with food to bring over during my trips home and many prayers.

That support has extended past my personal support to a ministry truck, power tools, a brand new microscope for the medical lab and help any time I ask for it.  Any time I start to get down I just look around at what I have here because of all that wonderful support.

Due to the fact I have been so blessed with all this wonderful support, I have personally tried to be cautious about asking for things.  However I have been involved in missional ministry for many years and the one thing I am always reminded of is that people want to help they just need guidance on how to do so.  I have created the following lists with the help of the FDM board so that all types of group that want to participate can do so.  If you find something on the list you would like to take on, please contact me at steveintanzania@gmail.com.

Class Pen Pals:  If any of you pre-school teachers want to try and set up a class to class pen pal system drop me an email so we can discuss the details.  We typically have 45 kids ages 5-7 that could exchange artwork or singing videos with your class.  In order to make sure all the kids get a chance to participate we are only doing class to class not person to person.

Full Dimension Ministry-Wish List
Please contact steveintanzania@gmail.com to discuss funding items on the list.
Items that have been struck through have been funded.

One Time Only Funding Projects
Priority	Description	Cost
High	Solar Power Generation System for Workshop to charge battery operated tools and provide lighting inside storage area.  This setup will include a solar panel, charge controller, battery, AC transformer, wiring and lights for both the workshop storage area but also for the food storage area that is part of the same stand-alone building.	$175
High	Solar Power Generation System for Pre-school/church.  This setup will provide a low power generation system to power lights and the site’s TV to show educational cartoons.  The setup will include solar panel, charge controller, battery, AC Transformer, extension cord, and wall mounting bracket.  It will also include the purchase of a table to set the TV on.  The TV is the one owned by our missionary on site.	$150
High	Playground Equipment:  Interactive Learning Stations.  This piece of playground equipment will actually be set up using the old rainwater harvesting stand we have not torn down.  It is in the form of an X so it creates four separate areas for low physical activity but can easily be used for games and interactive learning.  Stations will include musical instruments and changing sounds, Frisbee bowling to practice counting, arithmetic station and additional games that can be interchanged on a regular basis.  Many of these stations will be made using recycled materials to both keep the cost down but to also show the importance of reusing materials.	$80
High	Playground Equipment:  Covered seating areas at playground and sports field area for Teachers.  It gets hot out there watching the kids play.  There will be two sitting areas with simple cover roofs to protect from direct sunlight.	$350
Medium	Playground Equipment:  Activity station part of obstacle course.  This station will combine a climbing wall (grips purchased in states and brought/sent over), a walk over platform and a linoleum covered slide. Underneath the walk over platform will be monkey bars protected from the heat of the sun.  This will be a high energy setup and become part of our overall obstacle course activities for the pre-school children.  The cost is for materials only.  We can provide simple sketches if you are interested in this item.	$475
Medium	Playground Equipment:  Rope walk part of the obstacle course.  This will be a simple rope layout in the sand the children will have to run through as part of the overall obstacle course.	$35
Medium	Playground Equipment:  Barrel Crawl part of the Obstacle Course.  This will include using two plastic 55 gallon barrels for the kids to crawl through and framing to keep stable but safe.	$75
Medium	Playground Equipment:  Art Center.   We would build several metal stations that can be folded up and stored out of direct sunlight.  The idea is these stations would be in shapes of things like a house, flower, elephant.  They will be painted in blackboard paint so the children can draw on them using chalk.  The cost is for three shapes to be built. Idea from:	$95
Low	Site Computer for the Medical Clinic.  Currently all records are kept in handwritten books including what the Government requires.  At this time there is no plan for the government to start requiring computerized records since most clinics don’t have electricity.  We would like to get a simple laptop or regular computer for the staff to start learning basic computer skills and how it could affect their job.  This proposal is for the computer, software and upgrading our current solar power electrical system to accommodate the computer.	$350 or donated item
Low	Rebuild Second Gate system.  We rebuilt our main gate last year but the second gate remains broken.  Currently the gate is not used but it would be beneficial in the future as well as provide an entrance closer to the school for the children to enter through.	$300
Low	Playground Equipment:  Imaginative Play stations.  These would include stationary “vehicles” for the children to pretend on as well as an area to play out their own imagined scenarios. Basic idea	$250
Low	Playground Equipment:  learning games.  This would include a multitude of games that can be used by the whole class and the teachers to reinforce some of the items learned in the classroom.	$50

Items to Purchase in USA and bring over with Team
Priority	Description	Cost
High	Small 1 or 2-person dome tents for use when all rooms on site are full.  The ones donated 10 years ago had insect damage last year and with the amount they are used they have completely become unusable.  Getting at least one is a priority but we really need two.	Unknown
Medium	Colored chalk or sidewalk chalk for use in playground area.  Need as much as anyone wants to bring over.	Unknown
Low	Canvas style tool bags.  We would like to place each electric tool and all of the parts that go with it in one bag.  We currently need 5 and need to be large enough for circular saw (skil saw) with blades.	Unknown

Annually Recurring Items or have an annual maintenance budget We would like for a three-year commitment to the annual cost for each of these items
Priority	Description	Cost
Low	Printer/Scanner for site.  While we can currently have items printed in Singida and Arusha the printer would reduce the hassle involved.	Initial:  $210 Annual supplies: $30