Mambo from the 'Zia!
Today was another great day in Tarime! We started out with a quick little breakfast of sweet potatoes (which are white here and quite tasty!) and fruit before we headed to our final day of youth program. Today's topic was choosing God, even in the midst of tough situations. The youth from Our Father's House really opened up and we were able to discuss some of the common issues we all face. For the last thirty minutes, we gave them some free time to choose any active they wanted and they chose coloring! This ended up being so much fun and we all enjoyed some time getting to know each other and draw some fun pictures.
The house was quiet during lunch today and we enjoyed some much needed down time. Everyone took a little time to nap and rejuvenate before our afternoon!
This afternoon my team continued teaching English. I think today was one of the most fun lessons since we covered body parts, which allowed us to play lots of fun educational games! We sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and played some Simon Says to practice. For me, teaching English has been one of the most rewarding parts of the trip, because the kids have been so engaged with us and are so smart and quick to learn. It's hard to explain the feeling when you see a kid really grasp a concept and gain confidence in their learning. Every day they come ready to learn and have fun with us!
Our stove team was able to continue introducing the brick stoves as well as trying out some charcoal stoves and other new ideas to make the stoves work better. Hearing about the stove team talk about not only getting to introduce a technology that the community really appreciates, but also hearing about the relationships that they are forming has been so cool! They've been so flexible with adapting to the realities of Tanzania and the members of the community are always excited to work with them! Between the Swahili songs we have learned and getting to teach them English, it's a really cool experience to be able to start to converse with both the children and adults (mostly in some fun combination of English, Swahili , or gesturing).
Tonight, our common room has been filled with lots of chatter and card games as well as planning as we head into our last 3 days working in Tarime. We are ready to finish strong, but are sad that over a week has flown by already. Getting to know the people in this community has been such a blessing!
Personally, it's been incredible to watch our team adjust and work together to make the absolute most of our time in Tarime and with our different groups of youth. Being on a different continent can be hard, but it's easier with a group that is so willing to give grace and serve their neighbor. Each night one of us shares a devotion, and it's been really neat to see that the themes of service and selfless love continue to be present in all of our discussions.
We so appreciate all of you prayers and support!
Peace and Love,
Sydney
Good Evening! (Gud Ee-vehn-ing)
Teaching English can be so much fun! There is so much repetition, over pronouncing words; it honestly makes me question if it's a word at all sometimes. There's only so many ways you can change up the song "Head , shoulders, knees, and toes", but it's a little embarrassing when your singing the song to teach them the parts of the body and you get it wrong. Eh, they knew what I meant...
We're wrapping up here in Tarime. We have a few more days within this community before we move onto Gabbimori. I find it incredible that we have learned and accomplished so much in a short week. Sydney summed up everything going on here, so this chick is off to bed!
In Christ's Name,
2017 Tanzania Team
I saw a cat fall off a roof today.