Sorry but the team has had electrical and internet problems, but I keep in touch with them every day through my Tanzanian Assistant Julius, so I know they are doing fine and doing some great things for the glory of God.
Blog from 12/21/15:
We awoke this morning thankful for yet another day here at Light in Africa. After another wonderful and filling breakfast we made our way to the Butterfly Gardens to work on our project of a pathway/border around the perimeter of the garden. We had some quality bonding time pulling weeds until the sun became too intense and hot to work in. On our way back we played with the kids on the playground where we practiced spelling our names in the dirt and Tarynne learned some more Swahili words 😉
After lunch we started to make Christmas ornaments with the children. The children from the Happy House came first and we watched and helped them color an assortment of reindeer, snowmen and Santa Clause. The older girls then got a turn in making their own unique ornaments and scenes of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. The children really seemed to enjoy getting creative and personalizing their own ornaments. Once the tree arrives with Julius from Arusha we will hang their ornaments on the tree and they will be able to see their beautiful creations on Christmas day.
I think the sun definitely got to us this morning and we laid down for the rest of the evening until supper. When we entered the dining hall we could hear and see the biggest beetle any of us have ever seen flying around. While I was taking a drink of water, the beetle decided to take a pit stop on my head! What happened next was a blur but I spit out my water, pushed my chair back, Tarynne screamed, the chair fell over, and I brushed the beetle off my head. As Julius and the girls in the kitchen laughed, Julius removed the beetle from the scene. We all laugh at what just happened and everyone was thankful it happened to me and not them! We had to explain to Julius that we have never seen a beetle that big before in Iowa!
We are making wonderful memories here in Tanzania amongst each other and with the children and people of Tanzania. During our devotional we commented that we were all very thankful that we were able to have these couple of weeks to learn more about the culture of Tanzania. I am very thankful for all of my colleagues as they all have very kind, giving, and patient hearts that make the time in Tanzania that much more amazing.God Bless,
Taylor Kavaya
This is the blog I received today from them 12/22/15:
We had quite the adventure today in Tanzania! We headed off to Mererani, which is where some of the mines are located. It is also a very rural and poor village in the country. The difference between experiencing this town and Moshi are heartbreaking and extreme, but we know God is still always with them and looking over them.
We first met the wonderful Dr. Richard and other doctors and staff at the hospital. Then Dr. Richard gave us a tour of the hospital, which to my surprise only took about 10 minutes because it is so small, although I know that it is a blessing to them all that they have this hospital to go to. We then split up to shadow different parts of it. Olivia and Tarynne were in the family planning area of the hospital which includes weighing children and consulting with patients about birth control and general family planning. Taylor and myself(alli) were with Dr. Richard, which included pulling a patients tooth and then an ultrasound on a young female.
Dr. Richard shared with us that he learned how to do both practices, thanks to God sending wonderful medical volunteers to his hospital to teach him. The team then went to tour and meet the children of the light in Africa home in Mererani. They welcomed us with a beautiful song! We stayed for a while and then ventured to deliver food to a family Gayle has been helping out with. Unfortunately, upon our arrival we discovered the family had moved (to my understanding) and we were unable to get in contact with them. May God help us contact them so we can deliver them a delicious meal. This completed our day and we headed back to Tudor Village. We thank God for the safe travels to and from Mererani and for the incredible experience we got today in the hospital. May God bless all of you back home and have safe travels as well with the approaching holiday!
Allison Leinen
