Some Pictures!

Hello friends and family, here are some pictures from our trip so far. Now that we have internet in the city, I will be uploading new pictures about every two weeks. Take a look:

Sir Issack Newton using one of the cameras I brought. They have been using the cameras to document everything.

We call him Dr. Issack because he is going to be a doctor one day in the future. His knowledge of Biology is amazing.

David Focas recovering from Malaria. He had a particularly bad case and had to be hospitalized for nine days.

Students fetching water from the river. Those buckets are so heavy.

Juma doing his morning chores at Shamba.

Group picture of all of the students and teachers and staff at Shamba. I had to stand precariously on a ladder made with nails and 2x4's to take this picture.

Students working on batik- a very popular craft similar to tie-dye.

Mbeck, one of the smallest at Shamba, during class.

The students love to sing and worship every day.

This crazy bird lives at Shamba and has a tail twice the length of its body. It sings beautiful songs, though.

Thank you for your love and prayers!

Until next time,
Scott!

Yes, we are alive AND well.

Hello friends and family.

We are halfway. (as of Friday)

I must apologise for the loss of contact. We've been out at the shamba for two weeks now. The last time we were in the city we were unable to get an internet connection anywhere.

Tanzania is good. Crazy, but good. There have been many changes at Shamba in the past few weeks, but that's what happens when you're trying to develop a secondary school in a third-world country.

There have been a number of volunteers coming in. The peak wazungu (American) count was 16- way more than we could accomodate. It was tough, but we made it through. A group of high-schoolers from Gainesville (super-short-term-youth-missions) came through for 6 days. Way too short in my opinion, but they fell in love with the place and the students of Hananasif fell in love with them.

Hope Runs has started their running program, which has really surprised me. The girl students especially have really taken to the program, and the volunteers are kind, upbeat, and humble about the conditions. The guest house is pretty much finished. All the remains a bit of touch up paint and some windows.

Life here is completely different than the US, but the fellowship here is amazing. I can certainly see myself working at a place like this some time in the future. There is an atmosphere of learning always, and I have so many people to pray with and talk to. Mr. Pig, one of the teachers, has taken a fire to teaching me Swahili, which has been reletively successful. I can hold conversations, handle my own in the market, and make jokes. It's been pretty incredible.

Chris is doing wonderfully, as always. He killed a snake on Friday- a viper, very poisonous. He has been pressing some pretty remarkable flowers, also. He is at Shamba now while I am in the city to type and print the students' term examinations.

Thank you for the love and patience and prayers. We love you all and cannot wait to see you again.

Love love love,
Scott

(PS- the first place I'm going when I get home is Satchel's. I hope you can join me.)

Paul and Lee are Back!

Paul and I made it back to America. We flew out of Dar at 11:00pm last Thursday and flew into Miami on Friday night. I slept well on the plane, Paul wasn't quite as lucky. Erin and Goat drove us to Gainesville that night and we arrived at about 3am. The cookies and milk was a wonderful snack, thanks Mrs. Benton. I want to thank all of you who came to the welcome home party. It was so excited to see all your faces and here about what is going on on this side of the earth.
I am definitely going to miss Tanzania. I can't wait to get another opportunity to serve over there again. All the kids are amazing. They have a heart full of faith, love, discipline and hope. It was incredible hearing the stories and lives of my new friends. One of my friends, Dennis, took me aside the day before I left to tell me his heart wrenching story, and afterwards he told me not to forget him. I don't think I could forget him or any of them for that matter. Each one of them made such a huge impact on me that I really don't know how to express my thanks.
They are "watoto wa Mungu" (Children of God). They lived it out like no one I have ever seen. It was so beautiful and genuine. I couldn't help but see that God sees me as His child and cares for me as much as he cares for all of his children. God used the my friends in Tanzania to show me what my relationship with God was supposed to look like. So incredibly awesome. It is kind of hard to explain, you really just have to experience it to know what I am talking about.
Let me recap what we did while we were there. After we got acclimated to the time change, culture, schedule of the day, we planned out what we wanted to do and what the next steps were for the Center. We came up with some objectives and goals for our time. Hezekia has such a huge vision for this place and there is so many things that need to happen. It was fun trying to figure out what would work and what was reasonable.
While we were in the city our goals were to:
-Teach the staff computer programs
-Quicken: to keep the budget and finances in order (Joan and Ima now use it)
-CD label and design: for the new CDs and DVDs that they are producing (Ima is theman)
-and basic how to use a computer efficiently
-Interact with the kids to improve their English: we taught them songs and played
games and just hung out with them. awesome!
-teach some of the students computer skills (Kasimu and Omary know how to type
-Share ideas with the staff and students
-build bunks for the new compound (2 were built, more still needed)
-tables for new compound (2 were built, more still needed)
while at the shamba:
-Teach math class
-Teach English class (we focused a lot on writing and grammar)
-work in the garden
-learn to cook Chapate and mandazi
-Teach informally outside of class by just talking in English.
-Teach guitar
-find and purchase and transport material to Shamba
-teachers cottage
-plaster(finished)
-flooring (we filled it with sand and the flooring will go in soon)
-ceiling board (we have the material but not enough time)
-Painting (didn't get that far)
-build bunk beds(2 were complete and 6 more almost ready for assembly)
-classrooms
-electrical wiring put in (complete)
-ceiling board frames (complete)
-ceiling board (we have the material but not enough time)
-Guest house (two bedroom/two bathroom)
-foundation (complete)
-walls (complete)
-roof (complete)
-plaster (complete)
-flooring (we filled it with sand and the cement was to be put in soon after we left)

It was so incredible. Working, studying, and just hanging out with the kids was by far my favorite part of my time there. I want to thank you all for you help in supporting this kids.
We are raising money for the irrigation system through these shirts that rosaloves.com designed and is now selling. So if you want a sweet shirt for an awesome cause go to their website.
Love you guys,

Lee

Beginnings and Endings.

Hello again friends and family.

Scott from Tanzania here. The past week has been wonderful. We've been at the shamba and the weather has been, dare I say it, cool at times. I woke up with a chill on at least two different mornings. The shamba is doing amazing. The guest house is going up so quickly. It may be done in the next two weeks- we'll see. Everyone has been healthy save for the few stomach-aches. Getting used to the oily food here has been difficult for me.

However, the one delicacy that I have come to love is Passionfruit juice, which can be bought by the glass for 30 cents at a bar about two minutes from the city center. It comes cool and bright orange in a tall glass mug with a plastic bendy-straw. I've only had it twice, but I savor it each time. So refreshing. You can feel it resting in your stomach and cooling your innards for at least an hour after consumption. Nothing quite like it.

Sadly, Lee and Paul are leaving for the States tonight. Their flight is at 10:50pm. Everyone is really sad to have them leave, including me. They've had an amazing time here in Tanzania, and it's really cool to see how much they have come to know the students and teachers here. On Tusesday morning at the Shamba, the students gave them a royal farewell complete with songs, speeches, and special prayers. It was very heartfelt.

Evy and Alex from Orlando (UCF) arrived safely in Dar last week and will be working hard on the art program for the next four weeks. We're going to do batik and tie-dye with the students at the shamba.

Chris and I are returning to the Shamba tomorrow. On Saturday I will start filming the drama that the students have created. I'm used to droll high school dramas in the USA, but this one is amazing. They get reallly into it. Hopefully I'll be able to load a preview in the next few weeks, we'll see.

I want to thank everyone for your prayers and kind thoughts. I am out of time on the computer, so I'll update in a week or two.

Love love love,
Scott!

Tumeja! We have arrived.

Chris and I arrived on Thursday night and have been in the city since then. We missed our connecting flight in Zurich and had to stay in the city for a day. Things here are very different than the US. Food and medicine are super cheap, but books cost $40-50. Very backwards from the USA. The first whole day we had here, Chris accidentally drank some kerosene (it was put into an empty water bottle to be used while staining wood.) We had to take him to he hospital where he laid in a room on an IV drip for 1.5 hours, flushing the chemical out of his system. The whole hospital visit and everything cost about $30- at a nice hospital. He was back up on his feet the next day, so all is fine. Thank you for your prayers.

Yesterday we went on a Safari in Mikumi National Park. We saw elephants, baboons, starlings, giraffes, zebra, hippos, and water buffalo. It was pretty amazing. Our friend Noah was our guide; he is in school to become a Safar guide, but so far as I'm concerned, he already is. Instead of paying for a Safari truck, we took a taxi from Morogoro (about an hour from the park) and drove around in that- all five of us (Chris, Paul, Lee, Noah, and I) crammed in tight. It was so much fun.

In about an hour we are going out to the Shamba center. We spent the morning gathering supplies for building bunk beds and desks. We will be working on those for the next 9 days before Paul and Lee take their leave for the USA. The kids are very excited about me filming a drama that they have prepared. The kids are amazed at Chris' arm muscles and insist on arm-wrestling him, ten against one. It is a hilarious sight.

I'm out of time at the Internet Cafe, so no time to load pictures. Talk to you all later.

Love love love,

Scott

Here are some pictures from the first few weeks of our trip.....
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005785&l=c6946&id=1096920053
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005692&l=218ea&id=1096920053

Greetings from Dar es Salaam!  We're about halfway through our trip and it has been unreal so far.....
This week has been great. I feel much better thanks to some great antibiotics. :) Thanks for all the prayers from back home. Lee has stayed perfectly healthy, and except for a few days last week, so have I. That has been great.
I've had some time this week to step back and examine where I am. We've been spending most of our time at a big farm on 300 acres about 30 miles outside the city.  We call it the Shamba.  There are about 70 kids there, 5 teachers, me and Lee - and the whole place runs on $90/day.  Crazy.  Hezekiah is trying to make the place entirely self-sustainable.  He has huge dreams.....and man it's so awesome to be a part of them.  God is at work here, no doubt.  He has already blessed this orphanage and grown it out of nothing.  Now there are two centers (the shamba and one in the city), two students are studying in USA w/ host families, there is an agriculture program that is set to generate income, a poultry-prouction program in the works, and Lee and I are working on the 4th and 5th buildings at the farm.  All this from the only secondary school in Tanzania that doesn't charge tuition.....
Lee and I have been working with Keyando installing more frames in the classrooms and ceiling boards in some of the verandas this week. We are still waiting for an electrician to finish his work in the classrooms so we can finish putting the rest of the ceiling boards in. It is a lot of fun working with Keyando. He is a great carpenter. He is amazed at how tall Lee is. Keyando has to climb halfway up a ladder to put nails into the frames, but Lee only has to stand on his toes. It's pretty funny to watch the two working together.
Lee and I worked with Hezekiah on a loose schedule for the remainder of our time at Hananasif. We have a lot we still want to get done, and not a lot of time to do it....please pray that we will manage our time well and work quickly! This week construction has begun on a new guest house. The foundation is already complete and the bricks are drying for the weekend. We've been working on the teacher's cottage with our friend Gabby. It is also coming along quickly.
It has been raining a lot over the last couple of weeks, which makes work and transportation slower. We'll keep working through it, but we are hoping for a good stretch of sunny days soon....
I'm in Dar this week to help move the kids into a new compound a little down the road.  It's bigger than the church we are sharing space with now.  It's also a safer location, and we found a donor who is willing to pay all the costs for the place!  So we're stoked for that.  The kids in the city are younger than the ones at the farm, and most of them don't speak English - but it's so much fun hanging out with them, having arm-wrestling tournaments, playing tag in the middle of a church service, spinning them around in the air by their arms (that's their favorite), and trying to speak Swahili with them.  
We are so amped for Chris and Scott's arrival in just a few days....we can't wait to see them and we're excited to see how God will use them over the next 3 months. Lee and I have been telling the kids about our American friends, and they are excited to meet them too. Can't wait.

faith. hope. love.

-paul

philippians 1:9-11

A Verse and Preparations.

     Hello good friends and family! Christopher Kirchman pointed me to a verse that he described as perfect for our trip. It fits the impact and truth of our mission nearly head on. I think he found the one verse that we will see lived out while in Tanzania. Here it is:

Live under the protection of God Most High

and stay in the shadow of God All-Powerful.

Then you will say to the Lord,

"You are my fortress, my place of safety,

you are my God, and I trust You."

The Lord will keep you safe

from secret traps and deadly diseases.

He will spread his wings over you

and keep you secure.

His faithfulness is like a shield or city wall.

You will not be worried about dangers at night

or arrows during the day.

And you won't fear diseases that strike in the dark

or sudden disaster at noon.

You will not be harmed, though thousands fall around you.

And with your own eyes you will see

the punishment of the wicked

by the Lord Most High, He is your fortress.

Run to Him for safety,

and no terrible disasters will strike you

or your home.

God will command his angels 

to protect you wherever you go.

They will carry you in their arms,

and you won't hurt your feet on the stones.

You will overpower the strongest lions

and the most deadly snakes.

The Lord will say,

"If you love me and truly know who I am,

I will rescue you and keep you safe.

When you are in trouble, call out to me.

I will answer and be there

to protect and honor you.

You will live a long life

and see my saving power."

- Psalm 91

     Lee and Paul are now at the Shamba site with a refreshed stock of building supplies. They are happily busying themselves with installing ceilings in the teacher quarters and classrooms. Lee unfortunately had his wallet snatched while riding the daladala (a small bus usually packed to the brink with people). Luckily he was smart to keep his important documents and belongings in a safer location. Lee and Paul have been teaching Form 1 and Form 2 and doing an awesome job. They will likely be at the Shamba for the next two weeks and therefore will not have a chance to update the blog. I will be in contact with them and keep everyone promptly updated here.

     Chris Kirchman and I are gearing up to leave for Tanzania on May 6th- just 11 short days. We would like to thank everyone for your awesome support. We will be having one more garage sale on Saturday, May 3rd to raise some more support for Hananasif. If you have anything lying about your house that you would like to donate to our garage sale, please call me (Scott) at 352.278.9276. We are so excited to be joining Lee and Paul so soon and we will have a complimentary hug delivery service for anyone who is interested. On a more serious note, if you would like Chris and I to deliver letters to Lee and/or Paul, we would love to make that happen. Just get in touch with us. Thank you again.

Best Regards,

Scott Robertson