Well 2024 has gotten off to a very fast start at Tumaini (Hope) Evangelistic Pre & Primary School in Kiruani, Tanzania. Before the school opened for the year we had 285 students registered and had to stop accepting new students to prevent overcrowding in the classrooms. This was roughly 15 more students than we expected to register for the year. Pictured below are most of our new students.

We also have a new headmaster at the school. Fortunately this one has more experience than the ones we have had in the past and we look forward to his leadership. We also have a couple of new teachers and a new day guard. In addition teacher Caroline is on maternity leave having just had her second child.

In January we had significant rains that are very out of season to finish off the December rains that were out of season. Normally rainy season here is end of March to beginning of May. The rains have put off normal planting of crops in the area to prepare for the regular rainy season, so there is great fear about this year’s harvest and food prices. The rains also have done significant damage to the roads in the area including the attempt to build a paved road between TPC sugar plantation and Msitu wa Tembo which the area that floods the worse. Fortunately the area of the worst flooding survived with only minimal damage but just pass that it completely wiped out half a year’s work to build up and prepare an area. It is completely washed away. It also washed away several of the small bridges including the one in the picture below. Where you see the broken concrete was the road.

The rains have also completely changed the look around here as everything is green and growing which does not even happen during rainy season, but because the El Nino rains lasted for so long they made real changes.

Unfortunately the extra rains did not deter February from being extremely hot again. This is the time of the year it often maxes out my temperature gauge which can read up to 119 degrees F. That did not stop this year. Making February a miserable collection of hot, humid and filled with mosquitoes. It actually got to the point that between the heat and all the medicines the doctors put me on despite having no idea what is wrong with my digestive system I lost all appetite and would have to force myself to eat at least a snack once a day. Still wanted to throw up a lot more than I was eating most days.

They have finally installed the electrical meters at the site. However when it came time to buy electricity for my meter I found out the one for my house does not work. So technically I still don’t have grid electricity. Fortunately I got another solar power battery and have that system working.

I did go ahead and purchase a new refrigerator for the house. You may notice the water dispenser on the front. No it is not hooked up the water system but uses a tank inside the door of the refrigerator. I will admit that was what first caught my attention about this unit, but then I realized that only meant I did not have to open the door to get cold water and decided it was not worth the extra cost. It did however have a smaller freezer compartment meaning the refrigerator section had a lot more room which I did need. Not much to freeze other than ice here so don’t need anything that big.

Interestingly the smaller freezer unit was described in the operational book as the HUGE freezer and HUGE freezer door.

Also on the note of in accurate descriptions have been ketchup bottle and other items for food around here. Specifically products of Canadian Harvest which clearly say they are a Tanzanian product and American Garden products from the United Arab Emirates. What I really love is the Honest Goodness line right after misleading name about where it is from.