Time keeps a moving, I cannot believe that in one month it will be Christmas 2013 already! The fact that time is moving along at quite a pace at least means the our first 3 months apart has gone by quite quickly. It has not been easy, but thanks to technology we have mostly been able to keep in good contact. In less than 3 weeks Amelia will visit Arusha on a one month break. We have been counting down the months, weeks and days towards this first milestone. One of the good things is that Amelia is really enjoying the course and the experience she is gaining from it. At the moment they are traveling in Venezuela which is the birthplace of El Sistema. Visiting some of the many El Sistema inspired music centers they are learning from the experience of others. Read more about her time and experience on her blog.
In the meantime busy times were also the easier times for me. With our Dodoma pilot moving on the the larger Caravan aircraft and eventually relocating to South Sudan, I have been covering the clinics from Dodoma as well. This meant 5-6 days of flying out of Dodoma the first week of each month. The second week I'd be home in Arusha with 2-3 flying days, 3rd week in South Maasai for 2 days and the last week of each month for 3 days in North Maasai.
At the mobile clinics I have slowly moved up from only helping with the weighing of babies, to opening syringes and giving oral vaccines, to loading syringes and even recently I gave some tetanus shots to adults. I can now identify all the vaccines, interpret the clinic cards and I know who gets what and where to give the injections. But I'm not quite ready to make the babies cry...
Recently I did some test landings at 2 new airstrips in the South Maasai area, it was great to be the first person to land a plane at these villages. I was greeted with cheers, tears, songs and prayers. We pray that we will be in a position to reach these communities with regular flights.
There are some more photos of this joyful day on the Wings4Christ Facebook group. I also sent out a W4C October 2013 newsletter, get it here if you missed it (quality is better if you download it).
Thank you for the support and prayers, pray especially for us as we face many challenges and changes in order to operate cost effectively in Tanzania while continuing to serve those in need.
In the meantime busy times were also the easier times for me. With our Dodoma pilot moving on the the larger Caravan aircraft and eventually relocating to South Sudan, I have been covering the clinics from Dodoma as well. This meant 5-6 days of flying out of Dodoma the first week of each month. The second week I'd be home in Arusha with 2-3 flying days, 3rd week in South Maasai for 2 days and the last week of each month for 3 days in North Maasai.
At the mobile clinics I have slowly moved up from only helping with the weighing of babies, to opening syringes and giving oral vaccines, to loading syringes and even recently I gave some tetanus shots to adults. I can now identify all the vaccines, interpret the clinic cards and I know who gets what and where to give the injections. But I'm not quite ready to make the babies cry...
Recently I did some test landings at 2 new airstrips in the South Maasai area, it was great to be the first person to land a plane at these villages. I was greeted with cheers, tears, songs and prayers. We pray that we will be in a position to reach these communities with regular flights.
There are some more photos of this joyful day on the Wings4Christ Facebook group. I also sent out a W4C October 2013 newsletter, get it here if you missed it (quality is better if you download it).
Thank you for the support and prayers, pray especially for us as we face many challenges and changes in order to operate cost effectively in Tanzania while continuing to serve those in need.
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