Thank You!

Being the week of Thanksgiving I felt it was a good time to give thanks to many of those who help me and the school this year.  The difficult part of that for me is that I only know who supports me or someone who gives to the overall ministry because they went through me to do so.  There are so many folks supporting the overall ministry of Tumaini School that I would hurt someones feelings because I was unaware of their contribution and therefore forgot to mention them.  

So I hope you can simply take my heartfelt thanks for what you do.  If you prayed for the school, our kids, the teachers or me, then thank you.  If you donated money to help support the school, students, me or a special project we were fundraising for, then thank you.  If you have made a video for our Virtual Mission Trip and "Reading With Barnabas", then thank you.  If you organize, help at, or participate in one of the fundraisers for the school then thank you.  If you come to hear me talk or help me set up a chance to talk to folks, then thank you.  If you read my blog, comment on it or share it, then thank you.

There are quite a few people or groups that have helped our school provide a better quality education and I would like to take a chance to recognize them and their groups.  Lily and Lila Burke have read several stories for "Reading with Barnabas" program and sent them over.  The Mauldin UMC youth group just recorded some stories as well.  Storyline Online deserves a big thank you for putting up their literacy program online so I could use it to get the  "Reading with Barnabas" program started.  Akili and Me also deserves a big thank you for their educational cartoons that are produced in Tanzania and therefore are more relevant to our kids.  We use those regularly and look forward to adding in some Ubongo videos in the coming years (Ubongo is like a sister program for higher grades and Akili and Me is more designed for Pre-schoolers and Standard 1).  FreeSchool is another group I have been getting videos to show the kids.  They have a large variety of school topics as well as learning videos on animals that the kids love.

I asked the head teacher if we could get the kids to make thank you cards using some of the crayons, drawing pencils and paper I bought with a contribution from Jeanette.  I explained in great detail I wanted the kids to say thanks and demonstrate some of their new knowledge.  What I got from Standard I and Pre-Unity were bible verses the teachers wrote for the students and then they drew a picture to represent that.  Communication is often more difficult with the staff than the kids.  The pre-unity got the idea and did exactly what I asked for.  Regardless the kids are thankful for your thoughts, prayers and support.  Here are some of their drawings to show that appreciation.

Also if you did not see the video on Facebook about the kids dancing to a music video then please enjoy here:








































Location: Arusha Chini, Tanzania

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