Graduation Ceremony for Form IV Students

The campus was charged to its highest level. Villagers from round about brought their wares and set up an open market beside the school buildings. The sports field was enclosed with bamboo structures covered with plastic tarps. A gas generator and sound system was brought in, and about three hours after the scheduled start time (that’s Africa!), the graduates, dressed in black and white, came dancing into the enclosure and took their seats in a special shelter from the mid-day heat.

A six hour program followed which included singing and dancing; speeches from school officials, board members, and invited dignitaries; gymnastics of a home-spun style; and finally a meal of goat, rice, potatoes, greens and soda for the graduates and their families and invited guests.

Part of the ceremony that proved to be a big hit last year was a fund-raiser where family members and friends made a donation and fed a bite of cake to their graduate. Last year, Joanne was asked to make a single cake that was cut into inch-square pieces. Needless to say, it didn’t last long. This year, Joanne made three cakes. Families gathered for professional photographs of their graduate receiving the bite of cake. The fund-raiser brought in more than 200,000 shillings.

Without a doubt, the longest day since our return in September, and one of the most memorable.

Yours in Christ’s labors,

Gary and Joanne

"Chapel Gives Opportunities"

-an article by (now alumni) student Nestory Njeza

As many of you may recall, Nestory has written another article that was posted on our blog in May 2011 - Nestory's Story.

Nestory graduated from Idigima Secondary School in November 2012 and at last report is seeking employment in the city of Mbeya. His eventual goal is to attend Bible college.

Your Hands & Feet in Tanzania,

Gary & Joanne

(Editor's note: Nestory’s article was forwarded as typewritten words in an e-mail, with edit helps by Gary & Joanne that are in parenthesis. It is unknown if Nestory typed the article himself, dictated as it was typed, or written on paper and later typed out by Gary or Joanne. Assuming the latter, while maintaining it as unedited, for visual impact I took the liberty to change the font to simulate handwritten words and to display it on tablet paper images to better replicate what Nestory's original article may have looked like.)

Dinnertime Surprise

Here is an audio presentation, about a dinner surprise Joanne encountered in a bowl of rice and beans, Joanne's own voice.

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 will eventually hold the archive of all the audio clips.

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

Laptops Go To Work

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

The laptops donated during our stay in America this past summer have gone to work. Here (in red) is our Registrar, Mr. Sifaeli, training the Headmaster of our new Mbeya Region school of Salejeli, Mr. Dominik. With the new schools receiving laptops and training, record keeping and reporting will be greatly advanced and save a lot of time, travel, and hand-written reports. It seems like only a short time ago that we were sitting for hours with Mr. Sifaeli, assisting him in understanding or completing his reports. Now he is the trainer and we are seldom involved. Another national taught to fish, you might say.

All our love and best wishes,

Gary and Joanne Grenell

"Effort is Key to Success"

-an article by student Christopher Mwasenga

(Editor's note: Christopher’s article was forwarded, unedited, as typewritten words in an e-mail. It is unknown if Christopher typed the article himself, dictated as it was typed, or written on paper and later typed out by Gary or Joanne.

Assuming the latter, while maintaining it as unedited, for visual impact I took the liberty to change the font to simulate handwritten words and to display it on tablet paper images to better replicate what Christopher's original article may have looked like.)

Your Hands & Feet in Tanzania,

Gary & Joanne

Visitors Come and Go

Mr. Ayubu was a much-loved teacher of last year who was accepted for training at the Kilimanjaro Medical Center. We rejoiced with his selection last June, but were so sad to see him go. He was a very frequent visitor to our house. Many students and teachers are shy about using their English skills and as a result don’t socialize very much. Mr. Ayubu, however, enjoyed very much discussing religion, politics and social differences between America and Tanzania. He would come and sit for an hour or more just to share in what we were doing at the house and to talk. He returned to Idigima all the way from the other extreme side of the nation to visit for just a couple of days. It just goes to show how important relationships are in this culture.

Mr. Thomas is another of our favorite and frequent visitors at the house. Like Mr. Ayubu, he has a deep bass voice and hearty laugh…and is interested in talking about anything and everything.

Mr. Thomas has been accepted for studies at the same university in Dar-es-Salaam as our friends and former teachers Mr. Mnuka and Mr. Adebert. We had a happy/sad visit with Mr. Thomas and, as we’ve made a custom of doing, prayed over our departing friend with a blessing before his leaving. He will be studying English as his major.

Then there are the students, always dropping in to see what we are up to or for assistance of some sort. These girls came to have a school skirt repaired. When Joanne told them it would take an hour or more, they said they would wait. With an hour or more to wait, we broke out a laptop and plugged in the JESUS FILM…in Swahili…always a favorite.

Another renewed ministry is the pumping up of leaking bicycle tires. We are so thankful to a friend in Iowa who donated a quality pump. The pumps we have been buying here seem to need repair constantly…and are soon more trouble than they are worth.

We are in an Internet café in Mbeya sending this update. A girl here started up a conversation about how great it would be for her to go to America and become a rich actress or entertainer. (They use black American celebrities in advertising here to sell most anything.) It strikes us as a bit sad when people don’t see the riches of their own culture and social relationships. The grass seems always greener on the other side of the fence… How many Americans might be dreaming of the kind of social unity and peace we enjoy in Tanzania?

Your brother and sister in Christ,

Gary and Joanne Grenell

Financial Advice

Dear support partners,

Perhaps you enjoy proverbs and sayings from other lands. Last spring I started collecting some of the African sayings common to our area in rural Tanzania.

Here is the first one I heard, which really kicked the whole idea off of forming a collection.

“Don’t eat beyond the length of your rope.”

The advice comes from a staked animal eating within a circle, limited by the length of its rope. The application is that our income is the length of our rope, and if we try to live beyond our means, it could strangle us.

Your Hands & Feet in Tanzania,

Gary & Joanne