The Tremendous Tanzania Team!

Okay - so there are like, 75 pictures here. And I only picked highlights! And only from my photos...I have not even looked at Alice's or Alex's...some of them will explain themselves and some I will caption...but this will be primarily a photo journey for you...
Above - luggage in the back of our shuttle and below are Gusti, Alex, Harold and Jim at the London airport (where we discovered that our Virgin Airlines flight to Nairobi had been cancelled!)...
...we were transferred to a Kenya Airlines flight...but not all of our bags were transferred!
Here we are waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting in Nairobi...I think we waited long enough for all the bags to be transferred, but no - 3 did not make it to Tanzania until a few days after we did - so they were bussed to us.
here is a shot Jim took from the airplane - this is the top of Mt. Kilamanjaro!

Top and bottom are photos of our first night in Arusha, Tanzania. We are sitting down to a delicious dinner. Top L to R is Alex, Jim, Alice and Gusti. Bottom L to R is Gusti, Martha, William, Harold and Alex.

The next morning...

Our room in Singida - the town we stayed in for several days...

Yulansoni Valley - this is where we drove to from Singida, and where Full Dimension Ministry is. That's Pastor William taking a photo with his new camera. We learned the meaning of 'bush break' on this trip - I will let you figure out what that means...hint - we were on one when I took this photo.
Praise and worship in the clinic - this is how we started each day...the man in plaid is Pastor Charles - he is William's partner in Full Dimension Ministries (FDM)
This is Sunday so we went to church - yep that's it...it was a Lutheran service...

The kids gave a presentation during the service - very African...several children came forward and asked a Bible question of the congregation...it is a fun game...



After church we visited the hut of a family living in Barbaig...this is a people that William is trying to reach out to. We met Esther with her two small siblings. Her parents were out working.
Afternoon fellowship in the preschool building...I think this little girl fell in love with Alice...
Then we took a tour of the new ward building. This will allow overnight stays for expecting mothers and people who need to be watched by the doctor. There is much work yet to be done.
Our first day of work - walking to the preschool...
The sunflower is a major crop in this area...I just love them!

Alex and Gusti worked in the preschool for four days...teaching the kids how to count to twenty in English...and how to sing 'Jesus Loves Me'...

...while Alice, Harold and Jim worked on the hole for the future pit latrine for the kids...




In case you are beginning to think I was doing nothing, I decided to take a shot of my very important job - supplying shade for the guys in the hole!

They went down over 10 feet!

And Alice got to paint!

While Alice painted the fascia of the back of the ward building, Harold and Jim worked digging a leach field...yeah I don't know what that is either...but it has something to do with the baths...



Alex ran home on our second day to print pictures for the kids and teacher - she was a hit!
Jim, William and a helper proudly display the stump they removed - it was quite a job!

And Alice & Jim each finally decided the other is okay...
this is not the first mission trip they have done together...

On our third day out all but Alex and Gusti visited a church to help them lay the flooring... hmmm...seems a whole lot like moving rocks to me!


We finished off with praise and worship - and a collection! And Jim made a new friend (below)
Random shot of the Choo (pronounced with a long "o") commonly known as the toilet...
I just thought this was a cool shot of Alice's paint bucket hanging from a nail on her 'ladder'
If you look real close you will see a cistern to capture rain water - sorry it is not a better shot, but it is just one of the many services FDM offers the community.


The next day we visited another church and helped them put the first layer of bricks on the foundation for their new building.

The cornersone...

Father and son...

William has a dream to replace some of the trees that have been cut down in this valley, causing tremendous erosion. This used to be a vital river providing water for many people...it has diminished dramatically while huge gullies are being formed throughout the valley...
Our last day in the Singida area was spent visiting an orphanage where we made bricks all day. It really was fun! and alot of work...starting with carrying water from the river...

The bucket brigade! Full buckets are passed along accompanied by the word "MUD!" and empty buckets are serenaded with "empty!" I think we were trying to teach english to the kids!

I thought the brick making process was fascinating!

In the beginning empty buckets were being tossed...the boys loved that!

At the end of the day - evidence of our handy work! Over 400 bricks...
All the children sang for us and then the girls came forward with a song and dance...
I loved the rock formations...two of those little people in the foreground are Alice and Gusti.

Alex makes friends everywhere she goes.
This is the 'mama' of the orphanage with sweet potatoes...

She showed us the girl's dormitory...very well kept.

In Arusha, where William and Martha live, we visited a small orphanage that also has a school...



Then end of our time included a safari (no batteries in my camera...if you really want to see animal pictures, email me and I will pull them from Alex's photos and do an entry) and shopping as well as this visit to the orphanage. This was Gusti's first mission trip, although you would never know it - she was great! And we just came together like we had been doing this forever.

To God be the glory for a successful and awesome mission!