Friday, March 28, 2014

Daniel's trip through S. Senegal

 On the way they had some adventures...a flat tire...
 They saw a termite hill...
 The radiator overheated...
 And finally...the New Tribes Guest house (whew!)
 Some of the things they saw included classrooms for literacy...
 Lots of small villages (and lots of grass roofed huts)

 The Gambian River
 Another classroom
 Daniel outside of the one of the "guesthouses" he stayed in
 Mosquito nets ...a normal and necessary part of our life here
Yes, these are the bathrooms. Don't be worryin' none about turning on a fan!
And after you use the bathroom...you might see some goats or sheep?


 Yep, you know what that is:)
 Daniel and Augustin, a new friend (and pastor)

 Daniel rode down with Jim and his daughter, and here they are reading a Bible story in these kids' heart language.
The crew coming back up to Dakar (including one of our Senegalese colleagues and family)

Monday, March 17, 2014

Daniel hard at work

Since Daniel started working at SIL again in January, he's done a number of different maintenance type projects, but his favorite is working on vehicles/motorycycles that need repair. Since he doesn't have automotive training (officially anyway!) he's been doing tons of research as well as just "figuring things out". One of the big hurdles/skills is needing to be creative/patient everyday since there are not the correct tools available (its not a full shop where he is currently working) and getting the parts is often a half-full day process and that's often just ordering the part. Life is certainly different and more challenging in Africa, but we are learning and growing in our new "roles". Here are some pictures of Daniel hard at work:






One of the challenges you might notice is that everything is always covered in a thick layer of dust.  Often the skies are brown from the dust and within a few hours of cleaning something there will be a new layer. 

Daniel will also be taking a break from this role for a week and a half starting this week to do some traveling here in Senegal and look into possible projects for our future here (as well as seeing more of "rural" Senegal).  We are excited for this opportunity!