The airport in Dar was like a sauna!

Kivunge Cottage Hospital, Zanzibar

Before going to the Kivunge clinic, we visited the Chief Minister's Office for a press conference with the new prime minister(?) (seated). I represented our team and Crossroads. Later, we presented the donated medicines to the PM who then presented the medicines to the Minister of Health and Social Welfare. Bishop Mgullu also had some wheelchairs on-hand donated by "Free Wheel Chair Mission" here in the U.S. We presented these wheelchairs together to the Minister's who then presented them to Ms. Saide, the new Zanzibar Director of the Disabled. Melanie later visited with the new Director to discuss the hearing diabled and how she can help next year. Melanie is a hearing specialist.


Here we are at Kivunge. Before starting clinic we had additional formal presentation proceedings. Then we gave away about 20 wheelchairs to the disabled. The wheelchairs are so empowering! Words are not needed here as the joy and happiness of these children says it all!

This is our pharmacy. In the foreground are our team nurses, Jocelyn and Nimfa and Dr. Ikongo, in the blue dress shirt. They all put in 12 hour shifts each day filling presciptions and seeing patients! Over 650 patients were seen from Monday through Thursday in this rural community. The medicines on the shelves are the ones we presented to the Government which were purchased with generous donations from Crossroads in San Jose and the Lions Club 500 in Modesto.

THANK YOU CROSSROADS AND LIONS CLUB!!!!!!

Here is Melanie talking to some cute kids and passing out some candy while they wait to be seen by one of the doctors. Melanie worked very hard in assisting the nurses and doctors with a myriad of duties.

More to come!

VBS DODOMA DAY 2/CLINIC ZANZIBAR DAY 3(thursday)

The older kids put on a welcoming performance for us. Very sweet(:
This was the orphans center; where we were was about fifteen feet away.

Me working away on the blog!!
The younger kids were dressed in yellow ang green. I loved the little girl's pink hoodie

These kids were waiting to be checked for height and weight.
The older kids were wearing white and blue.

The clinic team was extremely busy today. By the time the team got there, people were lined up outside and all around. It was hard for even the nurses and doctors to get inside, let alone the patients. Some patients even sat on the floor in the pharmacy, which is not very big. So the team got right into it, with barely any time to breathe. They worked their hardesr, and did a really awesome job.

The Vacation Bible School team went to Changombe Village and met with Pastor Donald Malongo. We the began to catalog the names and biographies of the children, and took their pictures for the sponsors at Green Valley Christian Church. It was full of kids whose ages ranged from four to seventeen. I checked their weights by lifting them up and estimating(because we forgot our scale), and their height by comparing them to my height of 5'9". We discovered that four children have AIDS, one child may have cancer in her left leg, and a few were coughing up blood which is a symptom of TB.

After the evaluations, we held VBS. We sang the kids songs like, "My God Is So Big", "This Little Light of Mine", and their favorite was "If You're Happy And You Know It". Cris read them a Bible story, Jesus The Good Shepherd, we gave them coloring pages and crayons, and snacks.
Lastly, we gave every one of them a shoebox gift provided by Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse.

Quick Story!
When we were passing out the shoeboxes, I gave one to a little boy who couldn't have been more than about 2'4". It was one of the large shoeboxes, meant for a child about 13. He was lugging this thing around, with both arms wrapped around it, having no idea what to do with it. It was very cute[:

Then we said Kwaheri(goodbye), it was very sad)':

We concluded our day with a home-cooked dinner at Pastor Li's house. Pastor Li and his family are from Fiji. He ministers to the Muslim community in Dodoma. This Muslim community is the largest one on the mainland.
Fun things in store for tomorrow as we head back to Dar.
God is good.
The team is great.

Special thanks to Kathy for helping me do this blog...THREE TIMES((:

Goodnight.

DRIVE TO DODOMA/CLINIC DAY 2(wednesday)

Marsha and Jocelyn counting pills and reading prescriptions-all day.
Melanie, Suzanne, and DougR-he's awake!(:

Suzanne was unpacking some supplies out of one of the boxes
The clinic team was very patient-some of them didn't leave that little room all day!
The lollipops are very important in the clinic. They keep everybody happy =D
Nimfa waving hello!
I think these were a few patients at the clinic waiting to be helped.

Good day, readers. Today was pretty uneventful for the team doing Vacation Bible School(I relly like this color blue!). We took the ferry to Dar Es Salaam, then we sat on the bus for SIX HOURS(not so fun!), going to Dodoma. Once we got there, we were pretty tired, despite our inactivity on the bus[: , so we had dinner, and went off to bed.

On the other hand, the team at the clinic had a very busy day! Filling out prescriptions one after the other and passing out medication round the clock. It was nonstop work-a-palooza for Doug M, Melanie, Nimfa, Jocelyn, and Suzanne(Marsha came with us this time). But in the end, their hard work helped hundreds of people and is greatly appreciated(:

Tomorrow my team will visit 103 AIDS orphans(that means that one or both parents died of AIDS) at Changombe Orphanage.

The clinic team will begin their third full day of medical clinic at Kivunge Cottage Hospital which is located in the poorest community in Unguja Island, Zanzibar.

CLINIC SETUP(monday)

These are the medicines that we used in the clinic.
One happy little girl that received a wheelchair.
Doug R. has a tendency to doze off...anywhere(:
This was the giant spider I was talking about, it must have been about five inches long-no joke!
After we passed out the wheelchairs.

We were on television all across Tanzania!

These are the wheelchairs that we donated to the people of Zanzibar.
Hello again, my fellow bloggers and blog readers. It's me again, reporting live from somewhere in Africa. How did you sleep? Excellent! Today was very eventful here on Zanzibar. In the morning. around six, we had breakfast. Then the team and I, AKA team Shok Shok-

Quick Story!
Shok Shok, pronounced Shook Shook, is an African fruit that looks somewhat like a red sea urchin on the outside, and the part that you eat is inside of it, and that part looks just like a peeled grape. We came up with the team name because Kathy and I were laughing at how it sounded, but were surprised at how good it tasted! So bam! Team Shok Shok it is. Now back to your original programming.

-Went to the Chief Ministers Office for a conference. During this conference, we presented the Chief Minister the medicine that we would be using in the free clinic on behalf of Crossroads Bible Church. Then he presented them to the Minister of Health and Social Welfare. Wheelchairs were also presented. Next we all got onto the bus and made our way to the clinic. Once there, the wheelchairs to those who needed them. The people who received them were the happiest people you have ever seen! They just smiled and smiled. After passing out the wheelchairs, we looked around the clinic to see what would go where, had an encounter with a giant spider, and left not to long after. We went to the hotel, and had a relaxing evening.

Remember, pictures coming when we get back!

<3
-Team Shok Shok.

ZANZIBAR!(sunday)

Dee fell in love(:
The kids were saying goodbye to the team. It was very cute. And kind of sad.
This was on the ferry to Zanzibar.
Kathy and Jenori waiting for our boxes to get off the ferry.

The boxes were pretty beat up after three plane rides, a ferry ride, an endless loading and unloading, but they survived!
I think this group was called New Generation.
The band was really good!
The church put on a Swahili wedding ceremony for Doug and Melanie!

Kathy and Cathleen were dancing outside the church.
Hey! It's Sunday and we're in Zanzibar! This is Savannah reporting from Tanzania, East Africa. This morning the team went to church, of course. Let me just say, that that was the funnest church experience I have ever had. It was loud and everyone was lively. Later we took the 4P.M. ferry and got to Zanzibar at 6:15ish. We checked into our hotel and then had a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant across the street (By the way, not as good as American food!). So today was pretty mellow, oh, except I forgot to mention that a guy at church asked me for my phone number and the customs agent here proposed to me!

Lots of love,
Savannah[:

Boy are we tired!

Hi all, azuri sana, Savannah will be reporting soon! Sorry for the delay but we did not have an internet connection all week! :) And then there was this trip on the ferry, and then their was this traffic jam and then there were these roadside vendors and then there was this fruit called chuk chuk (Savannah will explain) and oh, oh, sorry...anyway, Savannah will be reporting to you soon....kwaheri (over and out) in Tanzania.

Kaptain Krunch...uh...Kathy :

Saturday-Dar es Salaam ... more and more

Hi all, we are trying to upload photos but the USB connections aren't working!!!!! So, we will have photos for you as soon as we can! Please be patient.

We made it through out first day. It is so good to see Bishop Mgullu and Davota and the many pastors again. We started our day with our devotional and prayer time and then began to get ready for the week. So far everyone's health is very good and we're rested.

Savannah is having a GREAT time. She is such a sweet girl (she's 13), very positive and has brought much joy to our team! Keira, mommy and Savannah miss you and your dad too and love you very much! :) They'll be home soon and will bring a special surprise for you both!

Larry, Ellie says hello and he loves you and is sad you weren't able to make it this time! He considers you his brother. He sends his greetings and wants to see you next year for sure.

Hey Heidi, Liz and Val, Cris says JAMBO! Cris is doing great! She's fine, rested and feeling well. Today she's wearing a DRESS for church. Just thought you might enjoy knowing that. :}

DougR and DougM met with Jenory at the computer learning center and installed the internet cafe. There's still a little work to be done as well as training before it's ready for use.

While they were doing that, Davota took us girls SHOPPING! Yes, Melanie, Marsha, Dahlia, Savannah, Cris and I hit the textile section of Dar and found some beautiful fabric and kanga's to bring back home. We even bought African dresses. Then we went to the bazaar and and found fun trinkets and met wonderful people along the way. Did I mention, shoes? "Shopping" and shopping for "shoes" is a universal language between women all over the world in case you didn't know!!

After that we went to the airport to pick up Nimfa and Jocelyn at 3:30 and they heartily agreed it was very long flight! Despite being tired, they looked great and are raring to go! They brought the last two boxes of medical supplies and we had a bit of trouble getting those out of customs but Davota cleared it all up and we were on our way to the Mgullu's for a special welcome dinner. We love our Tanzanian food and hospitality.

Today we go to Mgullu's church, our message today will be about Representing Jesus Christ to the Watching World. We have visiting pastors from Fiji speaking as well and we can't wait to hear their updates. God is good and the unity of spirit is among us and our common bond in Christ is readily apparent. We are so blessed to be here sharing with fellow brothers and sisters half a world away.

We board the ferry to Zanzibar at 4PM today. We'll have a press conference with the chief ministers on Monday morning as we present the medicines to them for clinic. Then we begin the work we came to do! Thank you for your support and continuing prayers.

We Arrived!

Hujambo! We are here after 20 hours of flying time and 6 hours of layovers. The weather is warm, muggy and overcast and not a mosquito in site --yet. Thank you all for your prayers, God was gracious with us! We made it without a hitch, our flights and connections went very smoothly, even with Emirates Airlines! And, everyone traveled very well.

We just finished our welcome dinner with Mgullu and Davota and toasted the beginning of the ministry with a full round of Orange Fanta's! Picture will follow soon!

Tomorrow we'll spend the day with Davota around Dar soaking in some sites, buying some groceries, and some other goodies plus buy our ferry tickets for Zanzibar. DougR and DougM will be at the church with Mgullu and Jenory setting up the soon to be Internet Cafe. The earnings from the cafe will be used to sustain the learning center. Later in the day Nimfa and Jocelyn arrive and then off to a BBQ at Mgullu's we go.

We'll have a wedding celebration on Sunday for DougR and Melanie. They were fitted with their wedding clothing today! I can't wait!

Okay, I too, am off to slumber-land. We'll log in again tomorrow and hopefully post some photos for you!

Tanzania Benefit Concert-Sunday, July 27 at 7:00 PM

Please join us for a fantastic evening at Crossroads this Sunday for our Tanzania Benefit Concert. All proceeds will go toward the medical clinic and related projects. Our worship team will perform Tanzanian music and songs, we will have a slide show about our work and ministry, introduce our team members and introduce our guest speaker, Abebe Amedie, of Horn of Africa Mission, who will give us an update on the region.