Steve and Barnabas in Tanzania

This week are some odds and ends for the school before we head into the spelling bee and mathematics competitions.  First and foremost is our "new" van (the quotations are because it is new to us).  We even had this one painted school bus yellow (a requirement here in Tanzania).  The new van is already in service and providing our students with those much needed rides.  Our previous van actually belonged to the local minister and had become more of a repair nightmare than something useful.  He was forced to get rid of it and we used a Landcruiser Prado for a short time but that was not a good vehicle for student transport.  You can help defer some of the cost of the van by making donations to Blessed2BlessU Ministries, Inc. PO Box 2016, Femont, NC 27830. I have finished inventory of all the items left by the Mauldin UMC team in July and have distributed items to various teachers.  I am proud to say all our classrooms have multiple educat...

This will be a shorter blog as I have just finished up my required 90 day trip to Kenya and then stopped in Arusha to purchase a lot of items for the site including solar power systems for the classrooms.  It was a log trip and I have been frustrated recently due to the lack of communication I was getting from some involved with the ministry here in Tanzania, lack of any good sleep as I travel, and my recurring chest cold for the last two months.  I was tired and looking forward to getting back to my house and going to sleep early.  I should know by now that Tanzania just never lets that happen from the constant fishbowl affect to recurring visitors for no reason other than they want to see the "white guy."  The fishbowl affect is basically that I feel like I am in a fishbowl or aquarium always on view for everyone to look at and comment on and talk about.  It is a real thing and I have talked about it with many other missionaries and peace corp volunteers....

Trying to keep the blog balanced so I am going back to Tiny House Tanzania episodes.  This one is about the Kitchen and Sitting Room area.  I may cover some areas I have already touched on but it has been a while so hopefully you will not mind. To start off I purchased a small handheld sewing machine while in the states and have used it to hem my curtains in the house finally.  It is nice to finally get them off the floor so it is easier to clean the edges.  It also makes them look nicer.  I also had enough scrap material to make a window topper for the kitchen window. The kitchen area is one where I have to do as much as I can to keep things organized.  The house built for at this site does not have the critter problems I had at the previous house.  I still keep the food in containers as much as possible because it keeps insects out and I use them to keep things organized.  As mentioned in previous episodes, organization is vital t...

As you are aware, I like to brag about how our students are doing.   Unfortunately, due to some of the laws of the host nation I cannot truly explain why the grades of our students are so much to brag about.   Here they use a different grading scale and when I have tried to raise our standard at my previous site to something more like the rest of the world, I was told they would only ever use the government scale.   At my current site they have adopted our use of the grading scale for most developed countries, though we are required to still report to the government using their grading scale.   In fact, when I post grades for all the standard classes and for highest level of Pre-Unity, I write the Tanzanian grade and then the grade they would get using the grading scale I grew up with (the basic 10 points per grade starting at 60 for passing).   I have been proud that the kids strive to get good grades on my scale to the point I have started providing awards f...

This is the final installment for the recent mission team visit.  Every team that comes over should in fact do a safari because it is a part of the overall experience that is traveling to Tanzania.  In the past I have always recommended going to Ngorongoro for a one day trip and it is still an excellent place to go.  However, it is more expensive than most of the other trips because they charge per person and for the vehicle both and it is one of the most popular safari sites in Tanzania which leads to a lot of people being there.  In fact during the June-August tourist season it is not uncommon to have wait in a vehicle line of 10 or more safari trucks trying to roll their group into picture taking position of the main attractions.  Some times it feels a little more like a zoo than a safari. I have started to recommend Tarangire more often because it is less expensive and the only vehicle crowding issues are at the lunch spots.  They have a great vi...