Life in Tanzania

I am adapting to life in Tanzania, and the Lord has been so faithful to me here. Although, I do have to say that there are so many times where I look at my pictures from Uganda, and I just tear up. I miss those kids with all of my heart!

Last weekend, I went to an orphanage, wanting to volunteer in some way while I am here as well as hoping to ease the ache of holding my kids at Smile. It was quite the adventure of getting there... walked around for about an hour. Finally, I found the place, and I was ushered into a room full of women who spoke only Swahili. Now, my Swahili is very pathetic right now, but I tried to tell them that I was from Iringa International School and that I wanted to help with the kids. Then I kept asking, "watotos wapi?" (where are the kids?) The woman all looked at me, so confused. It was really awkward. Finally, I found some of the girls that lived there. It was a small orphanage and for girls only. There were about 15 girls around, and none of them could speak English, and not one even shook my hand. I couldn't help but think how at Smile, I would be assaulted by hugs the moment I stepped through the gates.

This is the church right next to my apartment. Isn't it beautiful? 

The first week of school is finished! I'm teaching P3 and P4 (which is like 2nd and 3rd grade), and I have 15 kids from over 8 different countries! All the kids are so sweet, and I think I'm going to enjoy it a lot. It's not an uncommon site to see "Ms. Stacy" flying down the soccer field in her dress with the kids at break time. The kids love it. I love it. It's great.


This is the view that I see on my walk to school every morning! The rock jutting up is Gangilonga rock, which we hiked up yesterday!

I also found a really good church, which I'm excited about! It's only every other week, and it's a group of about 40 mzungus that gather together. There's not a pastor, but people take turns preaching and leading worship. It was so refreshing to be able to sing in English and to sing songs that I knew. It was such a sweet time of worship and fellowship. There's a Bible study every Tuesday, and in a few weekends, there will be a retreat that I'm going to. The Lord completely provided Christians to be in fellowship with, and it's been so good.

This is at Neema Crafts- a coffee shop and craft store that serves as a ministry for deaf and disabled people in Tanzania. It's one of my favorite places to go in Iringa, and I often do my work there and have a chapatti and samosas... my African food favorites!

Some of the teachers and I at the top of Gangilonga rock!

This last weekend, some of the teachers and I hiked up Gangilonga rock, which was both beautiful and fun! Then, we went over to the Phillip's farm (a family who has a daughter at Iringa International School and who goes to the church I went to). Every Saturday, they have people over for volleyball. They live in this peaceful, quiet little area in the mountains, and it is beautiful there! We had a wonderful afternoon of playing volleyball, soccer, and chatting with various people. To finish it off, I went to the other teachers' apartments and had some pizza... so amazing! And I got a warm shower there to boot... could it get any better?!


This is the Phillip's farm house. So quaint... I love it!



playing some volleyball!

one of the many beautiful African sunsets

Some of the teachers eating our delicious pizza!



“You smile because you know. You know that in the end you are not really giving away anything at all. Instead you are gaining… so with joy-with joy!-you sell it all, you abandon it all. Why? Because you have found something worth losing everything else for.” –David Platt

I want to spend the rest of my life abandoning/gaining everything because He is worth it all.   

Miss you all so much!