Human Needs

Each morning and evening we have different reflection topics. This helps us open up as a group and encourages growth among each group member. The first morning the quote was:

“Every person has a longing to be significant; to make a contribution; to be a part of something noble and purposeful.”  John C Maxwell

How true is this quote? What does it mean to you? Both of us felt this hit the nail on the head when it comes to where we were a couple months back. For us, this meant following our passion to help others and grow His kingdom where we left our hearts (yes, we know we’ve talked about this many times!). But to someone else it could be something different—to feel significant, to make a contribution, to be a part of something noble and purposeful could happen right at home, in your own community. This can be as simple as giving someone a hug when they’re having a bad day, helping a neighbor out who needs an extra hand or volunteering at a local school or non-profit.

Most of us seek out significance around things like your job, job title, how much money you make, where you live, how many things you have etc... but what you don't always understand is that your CONTRIBUTIONS lead to feelings of SIGNIFICANCE. Rather than basing your significance around things like your job, title, how much money you make, where you live, how many things you have etc... you can also feel significance by contributing through ways mentioned above. Challenge yourself to think about this, try it out and see how you feel. 

Here are some videos and pictures of what we’ve been up to the last couple of days. We actually drilled a new well in Kitayawa (so exciting!) and have visited a number of different villages and group. We also did our walk for water—see images below.

With Love,

Ty + Michelle

The well in Mangalali is working great.

Loving the selfies!

Our welcoming song/dance in Kitayawa-- this was an emotional experience to see how excited the school and community were to have us there. Shows how BIG the need is. 

Kids from Kitayawa-- these smiles are contagious.

A woman in Kitayawa helping me adjust the bucket on my head. You wear a little Kitenge in between your head and the bucket for a little added cushion. 

Ty's turn!

During our walk, the children constantly came up to us asking if they could help or take our bucket from us. 

The E.P.I.C. group after we finished -- sore necks after our hour and a half walk. Most people in this village do this walk at least 3 times per day (sometimes up to 12 if they're using more water for washing). This was a very humbling experience for each of us. To think, in the states, we easily drink 10 cups a water per day and have a difficult time getting up to get the water. Also, on average, one person taking a "regular" shower, uses about 1 bucket per minute. If you take a 5 minute shower, you're using about 5 buckets. This experience definitely puts things into perspective. 

Ty showing the kids some basketball tricks-- they loved it!

1...2...3... Do a funny face! :) 

Pound it!

Teaching some yoga, stretches and exercises-- they picked up on this so quickly!

Our group with the women from Mangalali. These women have created an internally funded small women's group that offers micro lending for people in their group and the community. We hope that they're able to teach their model to other villages which will help educate and empower other women in the villages in the Iringa region and continue to spread throughout Tanzania!