Be It Ever So Humble, There’s No Place Like Home!

Dear Supportive Friends,

May God bless you richly in His grace as you grow in the knowledge of His will. We are so encouraged and strengthened in the spirit when we consider your faithfulness and joy in sharing the inheritance of Christ and the citizenship in His kingdom now and forever. Let Him be glorified!

Our blogmaster, John, recently reminded us that we had promised an update showing a tour of our home. Sorry for the delay, if this was something you have wanted to see; student ministry stories and school projects are hopefully represented as a priority in our blog.

While we consider our living conditions here of minor importance, they are quite time-consuming and different than urban America. The house is more than adequate for our needs, and we are often convicted of it spaciousness when we consider the ghetto rooms of our students and communal living of the other teachers. Chalk up a point for marriage considerations and our supportive role here at the school. Actually, if you removed the space used for ministry, we would be living in a single room much like all the rest.

So, let the tour begin!

The flower and shrub beds in front of the house were built

and planted by students to provide them with money for living expenses.

As you enter the front door, there is the “great room,” which regularly floods during the rainy season. Storm doors, weather stripping and thresholds are unknown in this rural setting.

The great room is seldom used apart from large gatherings for games and meals. This was Joanne’s birthday party, to which she invited some of the students who regularly help us with grounds work, sewing, and language projects.

Turning right from the front door takes you into Gary’s office, or the twiga (giraffe) room, as we call it.

We had villagers build the table and book shelf. We’ve brought personal library items from the States as well as stocked the shelf with some books from the school library. Students enjoy sitting in the quiet of our home to study. Notice the solar panel in the window. Life here is definitely “off the grid.”

The next room has had quite a history. Our first year here, it housed chickens we’d hoped would provide meat and eggs. It proved labor-intensive and expensive, being unable to allow them to free range. Besides, who wants a rooster crowing in the house at 4:30 in the morning? At the end of that first tour and the second year, it housed guinea pigs, which were much less noisy and much more entertaining, but again proved to be expensive to maintain, as we were paying students a lot of money to collect greens. Yes, they are a tasty source of protein here.

This year, the room is being used for storage of tools and harvested maize, which we provide to needy students.






The back hall provides a run for a much-needed clothesline during the rainy season. Notice the bins and buckets for storing beans, flour and rice. The open buckets of water and basin at the corner are for hand-washing.

The hall leads to the bathing room and much-acclaimed squatty potty. These rooms represent the extent of our “indoor plumbing.”

The “running water” for bathing and flushing of the toilet is accomplished with buckets and pitchers.

At the back of the house is the cooking area, with a large bin of water, bucket of cooking (palm) oil and the “jiko” charcoal cooking stoves. We’ve hung a “katangi” curtain in the doorway to keep the cooking smoke less intrusive.

Villagers make charcoal and deliver it in large bags. Usually, it is good quality on top, but turns to chips and woody consistency as you progress through the bag. We’ve learned to keep them honest by having them fill our bags instead of exchanging bags.

Coming back into the great room and turning right is the location of our food preparation counter. Again, an area carpenter built the cabinet for us. Rice, beans, flour and some spices are the daily cooking staples.

The green container on the shelf houses our silverware, and the green bucket underneath holds our dishes.

We recently added some color to the back entrance porch. Notice the chicken coop; one of the students Joanne sewed for gave her a hen.

Children of a couple of the other teachers like to hang out with Grandpa when he is doing projects outside.

The “bustani” (garden) between our house and the neighbor’s provides potatoes, fresh green beans, carrots, zucchini, squash and greens…including weeds.

Surprisingly, many of the “weeds” we pull in America are edible. As a result . . . we don’t do as much weeding as would be expected anywhere else.

This room is used primarily for Joanne’s sewing ministry. We call it the pundamilia (zebra) room. It is usually crowded with students. Much of Joanne’s “salary” goes into this ministry. Although most of the students are expected to pay for their uniforms, many do work projects in exchange,

assisting with the sewing, weeding the flower beds, washing dishes, etc. Even then, the prices charged seldom cover the cost of the materials. This is purposeful, to make sure there is a message of Christ’s love and compassion going out the door with every shirt, skirt, trouser, scarf and tie.

In this culture, curtains are used in doorways designated for privacy. This is our bedroom. We’ve had a mold problem on the exterior walls during this rainy season, so have the head of the bed towards the door.

We are back at the front door, and look…the Tanzanian lawn mower has arrived. Let’s hope he doesn’t get carried away and groom the flower beds.

Your Hands & Feet in Tanzania,

Gary & Joanne