There is ALWAYS Time for Soccer

Monday and Wednesday evenings are designated "Sports and Games" for students to play football (soccer), netball, and volleyball. The schedule is interrupted at times by work projects, but that can't be helped when you are building the classrooms you will occupy during the next school year.

Every so often, the boy teachers will challenge the students to a match. There is always a big crowd of students and locals to watch these matches. The students always seem to come out on top, which only adds to the enjoyment and esteem of the student body.


They will talk for days afterward about the good plays performed by their teachers. No, they have never been successful in getting "Babu" to make a fool of himself trying to keep up in this game of constant motion. I enjoy taking pictures and socializing on the sidelines.

Your Hands & Feet in Tanzania,

Gary & Joanne

Bus

Here is another audio presentation, a narrative in Gary's own voice, telling a story about what transportation is like in their part of Tanzania.

To play back the audio recording, be sure to first turn on the speakers of your computer, and either scroll down the right side of the blog to reach the "Featured Audio Clip" or click on the "Audio Clips" tab across the top of the blog to open a new page that holds the archive of all the audio clips.

Enjoy!

John Williams, Your Hands & Feet blogmaster (for the Grenells)

Blood Drive Comes to Idigima

It was not quite what you would be used to in the States! Students lined the windows of the classroom that had been converted into a blood donor station. The standard interview and questionnaire about your health was present and the dreaded finger prick.

Differences?

The questionnaire did not have the usual questions about your sexual activities. Instead, you are informed that your blood will be tested for five different diseases, including HIV. The iodine cleansing was not present. In place of that was a swipe of something. Whatever it was, it did not really have a strong odor of alcohol. The blood bag is placed in your lap or on the desk top, if you were not fortunate enough to lie down on the cot.

Soda and biscuits are your reward, in addition to the knowledge that healthy blood is a very rare and precious commodity in Africa. We were blessed to hear some students echo our thoughts, "Jesus gave his blood to give life, so I will do it in this way."

Many students and teachers did not donate. Their reasons were interesting, apart from the legitimate one that you must be 17, were: "Our diet does not allow for healthy blood or the replenishment of blood to our bodies." Or, "I don't have enough blood to spare." (I guess they haven't had that topic in biology class yet).


But, the reason some students donated was more telling: "I want to receive the report if I have HIV positive or other disease in my blood."

Your Hands & Feet in Tanzania,

Gary & Joanne

Prayer is a Priority

On November 7 through 14 (2011), Form II students participated in the National Exams. The Saturday prior, nine local pastors joined teachers and students for an all-day prayer service for their success.

Your Hands & Feet in Tanzania,

Gary & Joanne

Pre-Form I Classes Continue to Grow

In addition to the Bible Knowledge classes, Gary has added Pre-Form I-C stream English to his schedule. The class has grown from 85 to over 135 in the past few weeks.






And, a new student will show up at the door nearly every day or two. We hope to split the newer and slower students into a "D" Stream this week (11-14-2011).






Joanne's students have been with here since last January, with the newest coming in June.







They are in Book 9 of 14, while Gary's are in Book 5, and the Stream "B" students are in Book 6.




Your Hands & Feet in Tanzania,

Gary & Joanne

Electricity Comes to the Villages

We don't talk politics, but this is humorous . . . and perhaps universal in application. Politicians have for years garnered votes in the villages by promising electricity.

Years before, poles were installed along many of the roads. These poles have tipped and rotted and were replaced during the most recent election campaign.












But lo and behold, insulators were installed after the election, and recently wire was strung.



Our hopes soared that perhaps a promotional price would allow Idigima to be on the grid. Sadly, we recently found out that there was not enough of a customer base in Iyula-B, our nearest village, to warrant a transformer.






And, Idigima is too isolated from the transformers in Iyula-A and Idiwili to allow us to join either of them.




Back to the good old diesel generator. We've purchased a household regulator in hopes of providing some safety for laptop use.

Although we are able to charge our laptops by solar panel, it takes a couple of days of good sun to get above 80%, and with us being away from the house teaching during the heat of day, we've not felt good about leaving this technology sitting outside for the children and wondering livestock to investigate.

You may recall our post from December 2011 that spoke of our solar panel: http://grenell.blogspot.com/2011/12/dont-let-sun-go-down-on-me.html

We will get along, as always, by the grace of God.

Your Hands & Feet in Tanzania,

Gary & Joanne