Friday, March 28, 2008

Week 1

Hello Friends!

We are writing to you from the office of Hananasif Orphanage Center, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania!
We arrived late Sunday night. Everything with the airlines went very well. No problems there ~

We have spent most of our week at the Shamba Center, about 55 Km outside Dar es Salaam. We have been teaching English, math, guitar, and science.

A typical day:
We wake up around 5A.M. and start the day by watching the beauitful sunrise while we collect sand for plaster. We have worship and then we begin classes. There are two class levels, form 1 and Form 2. After about 2 hours of class, we take a break for breakfast, and then classes resume. After classes are over, we have lunch and then free time. This is when we teach guitar (the kids are very excited about it - thanks to all who donated instruments!) and play football. The kids teach us Swahili during this time as well. At 4:00, we have irrigation. We collect water from teh river and irrigate the garden. The river is about 100 yards away. Then we have more worship and eat dinner. The generator turns on at about 8 and powers the lights. We study with the kids, giving special one on one time to students who want help. At about 12:30 we go to bed and rest for the next day!

The worship is incredible. All the kids gather in a classroom and sing their hearts out for 45 minutes. They all have beautiful voices. One student will start a song in Swahili, and all of the others will quickly join in. It is very beautiful.

Our diet consists of a LOT of Ugali and beans :) It is very filling, we have not been hungry yet.

The Shamba is a beautiful place. There are about 70 students there in secondary school.

We have been healthy all week. Last night we returned to the center in Dar, but got caught in a horrible traffic jam. It rained very hard during the day, which turned the dirt road into a mud road. We ended up stopped in traffic for about 3 hours, which included a good stop for a dead batttery. The entire trip took a little over 5 hours!

We will spend the weekend here in the city gathering supplies for construction. Then we will return to the Shamba and begin work.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Pray especially for: Dennis ( the headmaster of the shool ). His baby son just passed away from pneumonia. Dietrich - may be suffering from malaria. Work with the government, that we could get things up and running and licensed as soon as possible.

And if anyone has a spare $20,000 for solar power....it would be greatly appreciated. yo.

-paul and lee

7 comments:

Brandon said...

That Picture is amazing.

Anonymous said...

I agree!
You guys are amazing too!
Love,
Mama Paul

Anonymous said...

Hey,
You guys do a great job! Sorry for the long and rough way to Shamba but 5 hours is still average. Be prepared for more trouble with road & river. Please pass my special regards to Dietrich and tell him I still wear his bracelet and to all the other students at Shamba. I miss them.
*Dada Suez*

Anonymous said...

I'm so proud of you both! -Heather Patton Griffin

Sven said...

I wish I could be there and listen to the worship with you guys!
So what does Ugali taste like?
I'm praying for you guys- for God to strengthen you and protect you, for God to fill you and surround you with His love and that He would help you to walk in a manner worthy of His calling!
You guys are doing the Hebrews 11 walk.
much love,
Stephen

Anonymous said...

Can't wait for the next update!
Hope you are well, guys. I know that you are having an amazing experience, and God is working through you.
Mama Paul

Anonymous said...

thank goodness for technology.
many prayers and much love from home.
-sara